Philippines

November 15

I caught the night bus from mong kok to the airport for only 23 hkd, which is a steal! Drawback was having to sleep at the airport at 4 in the morning. If only the seats weren't separated by the arm rests, I would have had a better horizontal sleep. I ended up sleeping in a curl position on one of the end tables. Overall it was OK but not as Haneda airport in Japan. I highly recommend this website suggested to me by David called sleepinairports.net.

The flight to Manila was pretty short and uneventful unlike my taxi experience. I had been told to look for the yellow taxis and avoid the white ones that some locals use. Naturally I didn't listen and got into one that hustled me out of 400 pesos and dropped me off far from my destination. I was lucky enough to catch a jeepney for 8 pesos instead. So jeepneys are essentially wagon Jeeps where they load people in by the herd. Pretty cool experience.

it's unfortunate that the Philippines has experienced so many natural disasters as of late. There are many relief efforts underway and more volunteers are needed.  At my hostel, Our Melting Pot, there's a signup sheet for volunteer shifts.

November 16

checked out of my hostel and took a super early bus to Vigan in the Ilocos region. It's consider a historic site. The bus ride was 10 hours but felt much longer due to the frequent stops. Vigan was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO know 1992 and has retained much of the old architecture and history. In the evening I tried their famous empanada, which is a fried taco with veggies and meat. The other interesting item I had was sinanglaw, which is boiled beef intestines. Taste is OK but still pretty chewy. I also had one of my favorite ilocano dishes called pinakbet, which is a good mixture of garden veggies.

November 17

Spent the morning checking out souvenir stores and syquia mansion, home of elpidio quirino, the first Ilocano president. After that it was a walk to the river to check out some weaving. The other cool thing was the hidden garden where I had some more pinakbet and halo halo. Their halo halo is a bit different from what I am used to. It was in a pretty shallow dish as opposed to a glass so mixing was a bit of a challenge. Overall a slow day of sightseeing.

November 18

started the morning with a traditional Filipino breakfast consisting of rice, fried egg, and bangus or milk fish in English.  Then headed out to see some pottery making which was a bit of a letdown. After that I checked out the bantay belltower and witnessed a funeral procession at the church next door. The afternoon was spent going to Santa and the Quirino Bridge.

Dinner included pinakbet and a soup made of ampalaya or bitter melon, saluyot (a leafy green vegetable) and clams. All pretty tasty! Back on the 10 hr bus back to Manila! Bye Vigan.

Observation: the many modes of transportation include calesa or horse, tricycle,  motorbike, vans, bus and jeepneys.  I think I've tried it all but horse. Interesting enough,  I did have horse in Japan: )

November 19

I checked back into Our Melting Pot and luckily I was able to do early check-in. I asked the guys in the front for some things to do in Manila and they suggested Intermurals. Getting there was an adventure that consisted of bus and jeepney.  Once I got there, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I did get solicitations from tricycle guys about doing a tour. I always prefer to walk so I declined and just explored on my own. Not much for report back on.

For my return I decided to catch the train instead. It was relatively quick and efficient. I met a Tita who helped me navigate the right route.

Back at the hostel, I decided to join 2 of the staff members and go help with the super typhoon Yolanda relief efforts.  We took a taxi to Villamor Air Base and jumped right in. There was a line of volunteers waiting for orientation but we said screw it and just went in and started working. We sacked huge bags with rice, canned goods and other non-perishable items. Then were tied and hauled the bags away. At one point we were  carrying 50kg rice bags from trucks into the warehouse.
There were volunteers of all ages, gender and ethnicities. It was amazing to see strangers working side by side in unity.

I went in with no expectations and left feeling overwhelmed to see so many local Filipinos and volunteers from all around the world coming together for a common cause. We bagged dry food, hauled 50 kg rice bags from trucks, and loaded food into the warehouse this evening. I'm very impressed by the spirit of the Filipinos. Despite unthinkable hardships, they are resilient people who always find a way to see sunshine through darkness with their impromptu songs, happy dances, and easy smiles. Mabuhay!

November 20

I woke up pretty exhausted from the night before. I guess I'm a little out of shape since I haven't been to the gym since September before I started my travels. At breakfast I met Susanna from Montana, who was just wrapping up her stay in the Philippines and had a flight in the afternoon for Sri Lanka. She told me that she needed to go to the mall and buy a fake ring in hopes that it would ward off strangers in Sri Lanka. I went along with her since I had not checked out Greenbelt and Landmark Mall yet. I gotta as admit Susanna is pretty easy when it comes to ring shopping. Within minutes we found the perfect ring in terms of appearance, size, and price. She joked that this may be her one time getting a ring so we made it official with me getting on one knee and slipping the ring on her finger. The Filipinas who worked there loved it. We joked that it was a short marriage...especially with her leaving that same day.

When I got back to the hostel, I discovered that uncle Vic was closeby. Soon after he picked me up and we headed to Antipolo to see his school and some other businesses.  I took some photos to share with Donna later. Later in the day we went to the mall and walked around to kill time. Then we headed to this bar/restaurant for some San Miguel beer. Argh too many San Migs... still have a headache now.

Back at the hostel, this Aussie Clark Kent guy and a Pakistani joined up with me to explore Burgos St. I think the most interesting thing we saw was midget boxing at this bar. Nuff said.

BTW, all over China they call restrooms toilet. In the Philippines it's called CR, which stands for Comfort Room.

Oh and be careful of ladyboys. This Israeli guy at my hostel told me to pay attention to elbow shape, feet size and walk...

November 21

I checked out of the hostel early in order to catch my flight to Boracay. I've heard from many that Boracay is a bit touristy but still worth a visit if you have never been. The flight was delayed a couple of hours due to all the air traffic related to the Yolanda relief. To get to Boracay you have to fly into Kalibo and board an hour long van ride to the port. From there you pay a couple of taxes before riding a ferry over to boracay.  I spent the evening listening to some Filipino reggae band play right on the beach. Overall a pretty laid back day.

November 22

negotiated with some street vendors for an island hopping and helmet diving tour. Helmet diving does not require a certificate and pretty straight forward.  They plop a huge helmet on u that provides oxygen and u slowly sink to the seafloor.  There's not much to see in that area but worth the experience.  The island hopping allows you to snorkel and swim at various points. Pretty relaxing and I even fell asleep on the boat.

November 23

Got sick in Boracay.  Not sure what I ate but I felt horrible...almost like I was in labor with stomach cramps. Didn't do anything today but rest.

November 24

met a girl from Cali on the flight back to Manila. Turns out we are both going to be in palawan around the same time so we made plans to meet up. Today is the Pacquiao fight and to put in perspective how big a deal it is, it was the first time that I have seen no traffic in manila. I met a couple of guys from Canada and we decided to do the free intramuros tour that Ate Chateau was conducting. I guess it was better the second time around with a guide since now I understood more of what I was seeing.

I capped off the night by playing pisoy dos with a couple of guys from the hostel. Pisoy is a Filipino card game similar to big 2, vc,  and 13 card poker. We even taught one of the Canadians how to play. Unfortunately he was the big loser and kept asking his buddy for more money.

November 25

I woke up early to catch my flight to Puerto Princess, Palawan.  I've been really looking forward to Palawan based on the way people rave about it. It was a quick 1 hr flight. I still had not made up my mind on whether to go to El nido first or stay know Puerto. I decided to get some assistance from the booking agents at the airport.  It was advised to me to stay in Puerto, get my underground river permit, hit it up the next day and then head to El nido in the evening.  With the afternoon to kill, I decided to book a city tour. Overall, I would rate it as just OK. There were some nonvalue added shopping stops. The highlight was probably the indigenous palawan visit where we met some of the aboriginal aboriginals. They even rolled a banana leaf cigarette for me. The other cool things were the poison dart weapon demo and the big ass snake that they draped around my neck.

In the evening, I met up with the girl I saw on the plane. Had a couple of drinks with her and her roommate and then called it a night.

November 26

I got picked up early for the underground river tour since it's almost a 2 hour van ride to Sebang. The first stop was for some caving and spelunking.  It was pretty fun inside the cave and the climbing effort was pretty minimal.  After that we headed out for a buffet lunch that had a decent spread of Filipino food. Then we made our way to the underground river. To get there you take a boat to this part of the island that truly looks like the set of Lost. It's hard to put into words the look and feel of this place. The greenery is truly amazing. The underground river itself is about a 1.5 km ride gondola style. You are inside this pitch dark cave and hydrogen pretty interesting for the first few minutes. Then I fell asleep. I'm not sure whether I was tired or something about that cave that lulls you to sleep. Afterwards I got dropped off at the van terminal for El Nido.  I was crammed into a van with 13 other people bound for a 5 to 6 hour ride. I met a Chinese dude from LA named Kent who's pretty cool. We passed the time by sharing backpacking stories.  One observation about the night van to El Nido - it stops for no one. At one of the pitstops,  I swear one guy got out to use the bathroom but we may have left him behind. We don't take headcounts : ) by the way, the road is dark and curvy and at one point I heard a huge bump and a loud squeal. We think it was a dog or a person. The van kept going.

We made it to El Nido near midnight and got lucky with a cheap room at La Banane aka the banana. No AC,  no Wi-Fi,  no thrills but it was still a roof over my head.

November 27

I ended up booking the option A island hopping package. Dont really know the difference in the tours but everyone says A is good.  The pickup for the tour is right at the beach and my hostel is literally steps from the water. The view is spectacular with a great shot of a mountain and various islands along the horizon. The boat took us to a couple of lagoons to swim and play in. This is what parades feels like. I was totally relaxed and really feeling like I was in heaven. The water is this amazing blue green hue that just invites you to jump in. Not to be second fiddle, is the beautiful mountain and caves covered in lush green vegetation. I swam and I snorkled...so much fun. The lunch that we grilled on the boat was so good too. We had grilled fish, squid, chicken, pork and eggplant. Very yummy.

November 28

I checked out of my place and headed for the van terminal to catch my 6 hour van. The ride back to Puerto is extremely bumpy because the national highway is not finished. On the ride back, I sat next to this dude who is planning an adventure called surviving Asia where he .attempt to travel around Asia for 1 year by spending 0 of his own money. Should be a cool challenge. I did give him the suggestion of including north Korea since that would intrigue people a bit more.

November 29

There's an opportunity to have a stake in a new hostel opening up in El Nido.  The idea of being associated with a hostel is intriguing and I will have to review this a bit further. I met with one of the partners today to learn more about the opportunity. In the evening I met up with uncle Vic and JP for dinner. Ahhh nothing like a Filipino buffet as my final meal in the Philippines.  Overall it has been a great experience here the past two weeks. Many eye opening moments from volunteering at the typhoon relief efforts to meeting locals and fellow travelers. I've also come to understand the Filipino culture a bit more and perhaps gained a new found perspective. Now off to Vietnam. Link to pictures: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=7164950015/a=9293579_9293579/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ 

Hong Kong

November 11

woke up and caught the subway to the train station. At this stop it's an easy walk to pass through immigration and into Hong Kong. I passed immigration relatively easy with no questions asked. In hong Kong they use this thing called an octopus card for all transportation. I was in line getting my card when I noticed a sign saying meeting spot. I thought back to the night before and how that would of been useful with David. Then I turned around and the person behind me was no other than David! Talk about a trippy feeling. Small world right? We boarded the train together for Mong Kok,  which literally means busy corner in Cantonese. We said our goodbyes shortly but I have a feeling that I will see that guy again somewhere in the world.

After checking in at mg hostel, I met up with Sarah, a girl I met in Shenzhen. We decided to take the tram up to The Peak. Spectacular view from atop. Afterwards we checked out her hostel and when I entered, I ran into this Turkish guy I met at Lazy Gaga. Man what a small world. The rest of the evening was just walking and exploring Hong kong.

November 12

met this guy from Germany named Thees and we went to get breakfast together. I have been trying to find that comfort dish called seafood baked rice with cheese on top. But unfortunately they only serve it later in the day. Afterwards we met up with Martin, another dude from the Lazy Gaga. Marty is a pretty cool guy as I mentioned before. We just walked around a bit before heading home. Quick rest and then I met Marty again for a drink. We sat by the harbor and watched the boats go by. It's pretty cool drinking beer by the water with the rain pouring down. We talked about life and the future. It's good to shoot the breeze with him. I had to leave early and meet a local couchsurfer named Angel. Real cool chick who gave me a brief tour of mong kok.  We even got my baked seafood rice!

November 13

Lately I have been waking up early and averaging around 4 hours of sleep. I think it's the combination of my open window at the hostel and the construction outside. In the morning I felt like doing nothing at all. I did hop on the computer to firm up some travel plans in the Philippines. The recent typhoon has devastated much of Tacloban and there's talks of how the relief efforts are slow. I'm headed to Manila, palawan, and boracay.

I met up with Annissa around noon for lunch. We had some coffee and satay beef noodle soup. Afterwards we walked around the city and headed to the museum area. At the space museum I tried this gravity moon walk...eh forgettable. Then we took a city tram and enjoyed some sightseeing views from above. Annissa grew up in Hong Kong but has the travel bug too. She was super informative and took time to explain sights to me in English and Cantonese. In the evening we caught a viewing of Titans of the Ice Age at the Stanley Ho Space Theater. Pretty good film on the woolly mammoth during the Ice Age. Lyuba is a mummified baby woolly found know Siberia and was prominently featured. After the show we grabbed some yummy mom and pop diner food. In cantonese we call it cha ton teng.

On the walk back to my hostel, we saw all these people getting black and white pictures taken. Annissa  told me it's a hk craze that started a couple years back. So when in Rome, get your picture taken too.

Back at the hostel I was checking email in the lobby and I always see this girl from Malaysia. We swapped info and told me to look her up when I go to KL. She's here in Global with 4 of her friends. They were quite the loud bunch last night. Around 2 am they came out and gave me a beer offering. Per global etiquette it's rude to refuse so I took it and ended up drinking with them for the next hour. Woke up in the middle of the night buzzed and with a leg cramp. I think my screaming woke up the elderly British lady in the bunk next to me. Still hurts.

November 14

I bumped into my new Malaysian friends during checkout so we all ended up having brunch together and doing some street shopping. The rest of the day was quiet until I met up with CK, another local couchsurfer. She's amazingly cool and we had loads of conversations around life and cultures. I really feel that I've learned so much from her and I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to spend time with her.

We had snake for dinner and that was a first time for me. The texture reminds me of pork and it's OK.

Hong Kong is truly an international city that has no rivals. From the densely packed buildings to the neverending sea of people at all sorts of hours, Hong Kong Is unique. Thank you for the memories. Here's the photo link: http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=7107151015/a=9293579_9293579/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Shenzhen

November 9

I realized that I put November 10 as my last entry in Guangzhou...oops.  lately dates, days and time have been mixed up for it. I don't have a watch nor a phone so often times I have no clue.

So shenzhen is a relatively new modern city that was once a fishing village. To me it's a bit posh and pretentious. Enough about that.

I met an Indian friend at the gaga in Guangzhou who happens to live in shenzhen so he told me to drop in on him. Shortly after checking in at the grand theater hostel, I met a girl who told me she stayed at the GaGa too and knows the Indian guy and would gladly take me to find him. So we set off to his place and hung out for a bit. Vibhu was a great host and showed me around town. We met up with his Cantonese friend Edmond for dinner. He's a super nice guy and they have great chemistry together. Overall an early night since I felt very tired after Guangzhou.

November 10

started the morning with dim sum with Vibhu and Edmond. It was quite tasty and probably the only unique dish that I have never had before was something that looks like egg tart but is filled with frog ovaries. Not bad...

After dim sum I took a super long nap and just chilled. David from the GaGa was also in town so we made plans to meet up. Remember my prior experiences with meeting up with people in foreign places. Yep it is always a challenge. So David tells me to meet him at McDonald's in this area and provides me with GPS coordinates latitude and longitude. David you are such a nerd. I hope you are reading this. The problem with coordinates is that it's slightly off and the problem with picking McDonalds to meet at in china is that there are tons near each us. I passed along the info to Vibhu to meet us too. For 2 hours we all could not find one another and it didn't help that we had no phones too. Somehow while walking back we all managed to run into each other. Oh shenzhen....

November 11

in China they have a special singles day on 11/11...get it all the lonely 1s?

today I leave for Hong Kong. Yep short stop oh n shenzhen. Originally I was going to spend a week here..luckily it ended up being just 2 days.

As I was packing my bags, the dude in the top bunk leans down and points at my beard. Then he proceeds tl take his hand and strokes my chin. Did I mention he was only wearing tight white briefs? Oh shenzhen...

Guangzhou / Huadu

November 3

oh my God that train felt forever. I tried to busy myself by writing in this journal, uploading pictures, clearing my tablet, playing solitaire and angry birds. I think I've been on trains in China for over 50 hours now...and counting.

I found the Lazy GaGa hostel pretty easily. Yes, it really is called the Lazy GaGa. I Made quick friends with this guy from new York named Josh, another guy from California named David and lastly someone from shenzhen named Vibhu. Didnt do much except get some dinner and walk around the Pearl River. For dinner i had spare ribs and rice and also won ton noodle soup.

Theres something about being in Guangzhou that gives me a sense of familiarity...almost like being home finally. From the language to the food and to the women...all beautiful! As much as everyone says Sichuan has the most beautiful girls, i kind of think Guangzhou is better. Guess everyone has different tastes. I do get the sense that Guangzhou is more liberal than the rest of China and there does appear to be an attitude of resistance to conformity here. From appearance, it does remind me of chinatown in san francisco.

November 4

What stands out about Guangzhou is definitely the greenery everywhere. So different from the other major cities that I have visited thus far. Additionally, I feel that the driving is less reckless here and you can actually safely cross the streets without fear of being roadkill.

I had some dim sum for breakfast and for almost 2 usd you can easily load up. The rest of my day was spent taking the bus to white cloud mountain. The view from the top is pretty spectacular. There's also a temple at the top. I paid 40 rmb tl write my name and Riley's on a red sheet of paper that a monk will read off later for blessings.

Later I caught up with David for dinner and a well needed foot massage at the parlor around the corner.

Side note: there's a guy who snores incredibly loud in my 4 bed dorm. After a bit, some other dude started syncing up with him in a snorchestra.

November 5

It's funny how my broken Cantonese from back home has improved so much in China. I'm actually teaching two mandarin speakers now at the hostel. Diana is from outside of Beijing and in Guangzhou now for an interview with Emirate to be a flight attendant. They told her she needs to be able to speak some Cantonese so I've been helping her prepare for her interview. Then theres a sichuan girl named little pear who works the front desk at the lazy gaga and she too wants to learn Cantonese.

Little Pear has been helpful in researching for me on how to get to hua yuen which is known as huado these days. The only reason I'm really in Guangzhou is to find my grandfather's home.

Diana took David and I to a nearby place to get Congress for breakfast since the weather was cold and rainy. My cargo pants have rip away leggings so they double as shorts but I think I lost one leg and now the pants have to permanently be shorts.

I took Little Pear out for lunch as an appreciation for all her help. We bad some yummy rice steamed in bamboo containers. On top of the rice was bbq pork and fish. Very tasty. I'm always fascinated by people's life stories and Little Pear had a good one!

in the afternoon I decided to go this other mountain park called yue could mountain . It's famous for being a sun yat sen memorial. But for me it was watching these two grandmothers play badminton at the base square. I sat and watched for a while and then asked if I could play. I've never really played in my life and grandma whooped me. I didnt feel bad and she even took a picture with me. 

I started feeling sick towards the evening. Argh my first time being sick on the road. Horrible.

November 6

I woke up early to find my grandfather's home. All I have to go by is 徐錦章, 三华, which is his name and the area. To complicate things, names have changed and I have no physical address. My grandfather left his village as a teenager to find work in Vietnam. That was nearly 80 years ago and my grandfather has been dead for 12 years. So this really is a needle in a hay stack scenario. Even my dad has never searched. What I have gathered thus far is the city is called huado and the district is 3 wa dim which has been renamed 3 wa churn. This is near the biggest airport in Guangzhou. From Guangzhou take the 527 bus to 807 bus until you are in huado... the stop says computers at the end of it. From there start asking people until they lead you to an alley area that opens up to a farming and merchant street shops area.

I asked around and everyone told me to look for a man who sells tobacco. When I finally found him he told me the name I am looking for is his father. Sure enough the man died around the same time as my grandfather but after more sharing we concluded that they are two different people. The challenge here is that everyone has my family name....there are 10,000 of us here in this village. Apparently we are all related because the founder of this village in ancient times is my ancestor.

Later in the evening I met an Aussie/Chinese guy who lives in LA named Martin. Pretty cool guy who's in the music business. Used to drum and travels a lot. We've had some great conversations over beer at night sitting on the steps outside of the hostel. Two French guys joined us as well. I ended the evening with foot massages with the French guys. They have been walking for days and were very happy with the parlor we went to. Inside the parlor we ran into another guy from the hostel named Derrick or baller as I call him...he's a fast talker and has his hands in many jars. Overall a good day with new characters.

November 7

had a slow morning where I didnt feel like doing anything. Called my dad and gave him some info on our home village so now he's interested in making a trip in the future.

I walked around town and ate some duck and a rice plate. Did a quick walk to the Pearl river area and visited the shaman island and witnesses over 10 couples taking wedding photos.

I even took the 50 cent ferry back and forth to pass the time.

Later I went back to yue xiu, my favorite park to find my badminton friends. Again the elderly ladies whooped me. I decided to try hoola hooping instead. I suck at that too. I did wander over to another area where 10 ladies were singing old patriotic songs for china. I asked if I could film them and they obliged happily. I told them I would email them a video but they told me they don't have email. We chatted for a good bit.

Afterwards I met a new friend, Demi, from the hostel for dinner...it was short cuz I had to meet Oliver for basketball.  The game is quite different here in China as they call various touchy fouls. Oliver works at the hostel and has been trying to select an English name. I think he had one before but didn't like it. And some French guy called him Olivier and he was OK with that. I suggested Oliver and he liked it. After basketball I met Demi for dessert and then we walked around the river for a few hours. Demi has similar life experiences as me but less jaded. She has a very positive outlook on life that is refreshing. Also she can speak mandarin, Cantonese, English, Spanish, and French!

There's also a Polish traveler named Dominic who has cycled to Asia via Poland. Instead of going the easy route through Russia, he decided to go west Europe and back down to Asia. While in Guangzhou I saw him buy parts to convert Ghana bicycle into a motorbike...very nicely done. He worked on it in the hostel lobby for 3 days. My one contribution was negotiating the purchase of motor oil for him from a street vendor because no place would sell to him. His plan is to ride all over Asia.

Side note: I patched up one T-shirt and one jacket with the sewing kit that I got from the hotel in Beijing. I'm actually quite proud of myself  : )

November 8

I was supposed to check out today and head to shenzhen but I felt at home in Guangzhou so I stayed an extra day. There's something about the weather, food, culture, language and people that feel all so familiar to me. I started the day with a walk around the neighborhood. I almost feel like a local...dodging traffic casually, spitting on the floor, buying groceries at the local market, and I even helped an old Cantonese lady understand what a mandarin speaking cashier was saying. For some reason the people in Guangzhou think I speak Cantonese pretty well. It's only when I say things oh n English that they ask me where I'm from.

I went back to yue xiu in the afternoon but didn't see any badminton action going on so I decided to west on one of the stone benches. I was feeling quite knackered out since I didn't sleep till after 2am earlier. I found the perfect bench under a shady tree at the footsteps of the Sun Yat Sen memorial. When you look up you see a field of bright lime colored leaves dangling from lively brown branches. It was more perfect than any trippy hallucination. And then I fell asleep at peace. It was perfect until I was woken by security telling me sleeping was not allowed. Damn.

In the evening, i caught the metro and met Demi near where she works. We grabbed some ice cream and then she showed me the new place that she plans to sublet. It's in of the old Canton villages that has remarkably kept much of it's old character. Demi was really happy and excited about the area and told me how she plans to buy a bicycle and explore the village. We ate at a local restaurant and had one of my favorite dishes - beef with bitter melon.

Afterwards we took a double Decker bus and did some night sightseeing. The Canton Tower is gorgeous with it's ever-changing ensemble of bright flashy colors. We walked along the Pearl river again but wisely took a bus at midpoint to get back to the hostel. The Pearl is a long walk!

Made it back to GaGa and saw the usual suspects sitting outside on the entrance deck drinking beer. The French guys, the Columbia (really a texan), and a couple other. After saying good night to Demi, I joined the lads for the usual drink and talk. It pretty amazing that we all come from all over the world and have the unique opportunity to bond over beer and share stories usually about futbol, travel and of course girls lol. We were drinking till about 2am and then it happened. Out of nowhere we hear something fall from the sky with a thunderous splat on the ground. We were covered in water! The GaGa shares common walls with other apt building and apparently that's the warning to go inside and stop making noises. Instead of a verbal warning, we got a water splash from a faceless bomber. We were a bit worried that bomb 2 would be something worse than water...use your imagination.

November 10

Woke up early and had some warm congee with Demi and then took a stroll to a nearby temple. Then we went to a university up north because she was volunteering with some French group. Said our goodbyes and I headed back to GaGa to pack my bags for shenzhen. The French guys were headed there too so we made plans to catch the train together. On the way out of the hostel I came across an Austrian musician named Water who was playing the sitar, a beautiful guitar from India that north Jones dad made popular. He played a bit flexible me and the sounds are so lovely. 20 strings so you can imagine how tuning can be a chore!

we headed to the train station and with our oversized backpacks and certainly attracted a lot of attention from the locals. We got our tickets fairly easy. Goodbye Guangzhou. Thank you for the memories. I've had the chance to walk the same streets in the village where my grandfather and ancestors once walked. I've met so many awesome people. For a place that was originally not on my itinerary and only added a week prior, its amazingly been my favorite place. I think that really sums up travel and life. It's not really the planned destinations but rather the journey itself that opens not only our eyes and mind, but also our heart.

XiangYang

October 31

I've attempted to keep up with a diary or a journal many times in my life but have never been disciplined enough to keep up with it. This has been the longest stretch for me thus far. One of the motivations for keeping up with the journal on my trip this time is because places and days all blend in after a while and it's hard for me to keep track. So write I must.

My train yesterday was a bit late but Fred was right outside to pick me up. He told me that he just stepped out of an evening meeting with some architects over new real estate developments and would have to return. So yes, I got to go and listen in. The meeting was in mandarin and they showed a lot of drawings. That's as much as I gathered. Oh and the fact that people smoked in meetings.

Today is Halloween and for the first time ever I was not busy trick or treating or passing out candy. Seeing pictures of everyone's kids dressed in costumes made me miss Riley. He's Captain America this year.

Fred and I had lunch with his childhood friend Ms. Zhang, who also happens to be his boss. We had some delicious congee followed by a walk at this state park that's famous for being the site that this military strategist lived. He was so good that the emperor personally seemed him out 3 times to recruit him.

Afterwards, Fred had to go to work so Ms. Zhang and another good friend of Fred's had dinner with me. Despite not speaking a common language, we still had lengthy conversations. One skill that I have enhanced during this trip is my communication - both verbal and nonverbal.

After dinner we decided to get foot massages. I've come to appreciate massages since I've been in China. Then another friend named Ms. Li joined for ktv or karaoke as we call it. Ms. Li, or Stacy, teaches English to children so she was able to act as an interpreter for everyone. Overall a pretty fun day with new people.

November 1

I can't believe it's November already and that I've been gone for a month. Some days feel fast and some slow. I guess thats just the nature of travel.

Fred had to leave for Wuhan early in the morning...a similar repeat of Shanghai where he left me his key. This time I would hand it to one of his friends when I leave Xiangyang.

Stacy was kind enough to show me around today. The weather was a bit cold and rainy but we still walked everywhere. I finally got to try the local specialty - spicy beef noodle soup and it was indeed spicy! We walked everywhere and Stacy shared the history of Confusing and how it used to be two cities that were separated by a river but now they are united as one city. Similar to Xi'an they have city walls and gates to keep out intruders. Additional they have a moat. We met up with Stacy's cousin Andie for lunch. Andie is a university student studying English. After lunch we went and got hair washes. It's quite popular in China. For 15 rmb you get a relaxing head massage and wash. The guy who dried my hair said that my hair was getting long and I would look better with a haircut so I went ahead and let him cut it.

November 2

Started the day with a hike up a mountain with Stacy and her boyfriend. I got to ride in Stacy's electric bike. Almost everyone has one because it's affordable and convenient while navigating the busy streets of China. I asked her if I could ride her bike and she laughed. It's quite fun. I felt like a kid riding it in the parking lot.

The hike was quite nice and the mountain air was a good change from the smog that I have grown accustomed to. At random times I would hear primal screams as we ventured up the mountain. I was told that it's a call of the wild thing for men and that if you scream, someone will respond back with a scream. So naturally I tried and of course I got a response back.

We met up with Ms. Zhang for lunch. She bought me some special tea as a gift. I tried to refuse but to no avail. They have all been so kind and generous to me. Ms. Zhang also happens to be Ann's cousin, who I met in Shanghai. For lunch we had turtle : ) so soft and delicious. We had also picked some wild flowers by the mountain during the hike and I was told that they make a good tea. We asked the restaurant to brew the flowers during lunch. The taste was a very pleasant bitterness!

in the evening, Stacy and her boyfriend took me to the train station. Despite my reassurance that I'm used to trains in China, Stacy still worried for my safety and personally escorted me to my sleeper on the train. Again, the kindness of new friends never ceases to amaze me.

I'm bound for a 17 hour train ride to Guangzhou. I have not been successful in contacting Uncle Chan, Uncle Yeung, nor Peter from my Beijing tour. They are all oh n Guangzhou now so hopefully we can meet up. I am looking forward to going back to the home of where my ancestors are from know Guangzhou.