I seldom get the chance to talk to my friends and keep them up-to-date with what's going on with my life...
well, this is it. My online journal. Yah, another personal blog,just exactly what the world needs now. Let's be realistic, it's cheaper than overseas calls. Less tiring than novel-like emails.
About Me
Name: celgee Home: Philippines About Me: just read through my entries and you'll get to know me :) See my complete profile
While in Hang Zhou, I have been taking a lot of pictures... (Yah, because I am trying to see if I can consume all 512mb he-he). And some of the pictures I have taken are expressions of what I feel.. like the one below --
Just like my family. This picture reminds me of the times I used to have with my mom and dad. We seldom go out together now that I am all grown up. :( I still live with them back home (all folks in manila do, not unless you're married of course...) it's just that I barely get to have moments like that, where I could be with both of them, doing nothing but be with each other. I am starting to get sentimental here.... *sniff* *sniff*
Oh well, I'll try to spend more time with them when I get back to Manila. :)
Woke up early today. We'll be taking the 7am train to Hang Zhou, a nearby province, 180 kilometers away from Shanghai. It'll be a group outing today for all the Manila RA's - April, Lala, Rina, Mike, Bachii, Nats and me. The train ride was okay, except that I did like sitting in the opposite direction of where the train is heading, Makes me feel dizzy. :( We visited a lot of nice sites… I think it'll be better if I just show you some of the pictures... :)
I woke up at 9am today. Rina, Tapasi (our Application Specialist from Midland, Michigan) and I will be going out to visit some temples here in Shanghai. We took the subway (it's my first time to take the subway here). Wow, sooo many people. Well, what should I expect, I am in China... umm.. most populated country??? Ok, so we first went to Xujiahue to check the Digital Mall, or should I say malls? There were malls side by side, and all of which are selling digital stuff, - mp3s, laptops, flat screen tvs, digital cams, ipods, and a lot more. The nice thing about these shops is you can ask for some discounts or try to bargain. :) OK, I went there to buy a compact flash for my camera. I just had 32MB, which was the default CF for my camera. Rina and Tapasi were teasing me that I can only take 36 shots just like an ordinary cam, hehehe. So I bought a new CF.. one with 512MB memory. I am now ready to start taking pictures... Ha-ha!
We then took the subway again to get to the Jingan Temple.
We also went to the Jade Buddha Temple, unfortunately we weren't allowed to take a picture of the Jade Buddha. Too bad. Anyway, here are some pics of the buddhas I was able to take a photo of:
Aurora is the name of the building where I will be working for the next 9 weeks. The building really looks nice.. but wait till you get inside. It looks like a hotel... complete with a really nice chandelier, grand stairs and elegant elevators. This will be my second home in Shanghai, 9-6pm Mondays to Fridays.
You might say that I am not the type of person who loves watching F1 or car racing, YUP.. you're right! I am not really into those things.. I don't even know who the race car drivers are.. maybe just Michael Schumaker. Okay, at first I told myself that I won't watch the F1 race... it's too expensive, and i don't think I'd enjoy it. Given that I do not have any plans for today, I went with Rina and Mike as they buy the tickets for the race. I told them that I will join but maybe just wait for them outside. However, seeing all the people buying the tickets and gathering around to buy the earplugs, I started thinking twice. Hmmm... should I watch this? How often would I get the chance to be in the country where they are having the F1 Race? I guess it will be a wonderful experience.. ok, ok.. i'll just add it to my shanghai experience. The original price of the ticket was 1,880 rmb (that's Php 13,160), good thing we were able to convince the scalper to lower the price given that the original price was intended for 3 days, and given that we're only watching the last day of the race, it should only be 1/3 the price. So there I was, taking out 600 rmb from my wallet... I finally got hold of my F1 ticket, and of course I have to have my picture taken with it... :)
And so, we went to the race stadium through the shuttle (that's included in the ticket we have bought.) It took us about an hour and a half to get to there. We have finally arrived!!!
WOW!!! There were soooo many people...
OK, now it's time to look for our seats. The place was enormous. After 30 minutes of walking,we have finally found our seats. We are seated near the race track (as shown in the picture in the right) Not bad :). I guess the only thing I didn't like about where we are seated is that there isn't any roof that would protect me from the sun. Hey, I'm already 'morena' and I am not really fond of the sun as it will make me look darker... (People in manila prefer to have a fair skin...). And so I bought a cap... nice huh!
I also an F1 bought a cap for my honey and my cousin's hubby, as he is fond of car racing. :)
Watching the F1 race was a nice experience. I don't regret watching it, as it will surely be a wonderful thing I could look back to and share with my friends back home.
I left home today at 8am. I was a bit teary-eyed to leave the people I love behind. Yup, I know my assignment isn't really that long, but it's just sooo hard to say goodbye. I am not good at saying goodbye, and I'm pretty sure that this one won't be easy as well. I arrived the airport at 9:15. Checked-in my bags, passed through the immigration and waited for the announcement for us to start boarding the plane. My flight is scheduled at 12:15, so I still had 3 hours to wait. I started texting my mom, my boyfriend, friends and officemates. Nothing mushy, just some plain reminders -- "don't forget to call me", blah-blah.. OK, it's already 12pm. Sending out my last text messages while still in Manila.. "I'm leaving, see you soon.. I'll miss you.." When I got in the plane, the sad feeling I had while waiting has been replaced with a feeling of excitement. I am about to see new places, gain more friends and eat a lot of chinese food. :) Anyway, knowing myself, I just slept most of the time -- it was just a 3hr trip, but I still got to sleep despite my seatmates pestering me to adjust my seat, or stand coz they can't get out their seats (yah, I am seated near the aisle) or borrow a pen.
Shanghai, China. I arrived in Shanghai for my 9-week assignment together with an officemate at 4:30pm. The taxi ride from the Pudong International Airport to the serviced apartment where we will be staying took about an hour, and of course I felt it was more than an hour because I kept on loooking through the window and checking where I am heading. I felt like it took me forever to get to the Diamond Court.
When we got to the apartment, I was amazed at how big my apartment was. Fully-furnished and so spacious, just exactly how it looks like from the pictures in the internet. Right after I have unpacked my stuff, I called Rina up, and met her in her room. I was in building A, rm 603 and she was on the same building rm 406. Bachii was on bldg B (since he is on a short-term assignment) and he also said he will be joining us for dinner. Just 2 blocks away from the apartment is the Carrefour (pronouced as 'Cha-le-fo' by the locals). This is where I had my first dinner in Shanghai. We had to buy a pre-paid card in order to buy the meal we want in the food court. It wasn't too expensive. My meal I had costs 18rmb, and it's already a complete set - with soup, appetizer, rice & something like braised beef. (I forgot the name of it)
After dinner, we went to the supermarket to buy all the stuff we will be needing for the rest of our stay in Shanghai. I bought just the basic stuff, or should I say food I can cook.. I don't think 'cook' is the correct term because I don't have that much experience in the kitchen.. okay, okay.. fry is the most appropriate term. I bought a kilo of bacon, eggs, bread, dumplings, chips, additional hangers (coz they're sooo cute and colorful hehe).
When we got back the apartment, we met some of the other RA's (Rotational Assignees, like me). Most of them were from the Accenture office in Southfield, and some were our projectmates in Manila. Rina, Bachii and I joined them for a few drinks and then Rina and I went home early because we have to wake up at 7am for our next gig. :)
Just like my family. This picture reminds me of the times I used to have with my mom and dad. We seldom go out together now that I am all grown up. :( I still live with them back home (all folks in manila do, not unless you're married of course...) it's just that I barely get to have moments like that, where I could be with both of them, doing nothing but be with each other. I am starting to get sentimental here.... *sniff* *sniff* 
