January 31
Goodbye Malaysia. I had a great time with Amelia and her family. Truly great people and I'm already missing Amelia! I took a super early flight from Kuala Lumpur to Guangzhou. From the airport, I took the subway to go back to the lazy gaga. Everything felt so familiar again... Like going back home. All the festivities were crazy for Chinese new year. I ended up walking to a temple to observe some of the celebrations. I met up with CK at night and we walked to the waterfront.
Feb 1
Adventures finding dim sum...settled for some roast goose instead lol. Walked towards shamian island, huge church and this shopping district called shurn, ha, gow. An old lady also commented on my knowledge of Cantonese dishes... Made me happy lol. Oh also had some homemade Chinese sausage from Chongqing with the famous Sichuan flower peppers that numbs your tongue! It's such a trippy experience to not feel your tongue and yet u know its salivating on its own!
Feb 2
Went to an area called seck gei to meet CK for dim sum...still no luck finding low sa bow...need to find it. We went to this temple on Lotus Hill after lunch to do some traditional cny offering. That place was jammed pack with people carrying incense. Everyone makes their pilgrimage to the top of the hill where a huge statue of "goon yum lern lern" sits. Inside this park there is a pond with stepping stones you can use to cross. On one of the jumps to a stone, my Buddhist bracelet from Vietnam flew off into the middle of the pond. I was very disappointed since that was my souvenir from Vietnam! Later when we were headed to the exit, I told CK that if we go back to the pond and the bracelet is washed up near the shore then it means good luck for me because goon yum lern lern offered it back to me. Sure enough it was closer to the shore and I was able to fish it out with a broom. Yay!!! In the evening I walked to Costco and bought some bitter gourd to cook for my dinner at the hostel. Oh and I'm the only one in my dorm room so hopefully it stays that way tonight.
Feb 3
I woke up pretty early to go buy my bus ticket. After getting inaccurate information that led me to the wrong bus station, I had to renavigate myself. Then I went back to the Gaga and had dim sum with this new friend I met named Winsome from Hong Kong...I know 3 days in a row of dim sum with someone from Hong Kong. My Cantonese is slightly better...apparently its more impressive with Malaysians than it is with Hong Kong folks. I did however learn the meaning behind the finger tap when someone pours you tea and I learned what 'but pa yut mun, yee pa mun yut'. The former is related to an emperor who was in disguise while out drinking tea and the other means to be careful.
Later, I found out that this new guy who works at the Gaga is from the same village as my ancestors... Fa yuen which is flower garden in Guangzhou! Small world indeed. Then later I met this other guest who has the same Chinese last name as me and lived in Quincy, MA...a place I'm very familiar with since my great aunt is a from there and I would visit often when I was in Malden. The dude even bought my dinner and Winsome jokingly told him to call me wooso gar gar or bearded brother lol. Apparently Asians are impresses by my beard here.
The bus ticket that I have to Yangshuo is an overnighter and should take 6 hours.
Feb 4
Hmm bad information again. I was told earlier that the bus stops for 3 hours of rest and arrives around 6 in Yangshou. Instead there were no stops and arrived at 2 am which made it quite difficult to find lodging. Luckily I was able to use the wifi at this fully booked place called Vienna to search for places. I rested there till 7 am because it was too cold and too dark outside to find anything. I ended up staying at this place called 89 inn off Guihua road. Big big mistake. The guy would not honor the hostel.com price claiming rates would be higher because of the lunar holiday. At that point I was tired and a bit worried that most places would be fully booked so I agreed. Lesson learn is to walk away and be patient...there are always options. The room was tiny and the bathroom had no lights. Additionally I'm next to the heater that makes a loud noise every time someone uses the water. I can hear every conversation in the reception area because I'm that close! There's more...
I looked at the weather forecast for Xingping, which is a nearby quiet town, and it predicted rain for the rest of the week so I decided today would be the day I bike there. Its a 25 km trek each way and I greatly misjudged my abilities. Let's just say I'm aching all over from the bike ride. It took me about 2 hours each way to cover 25 km because there are tons of hills. At one point there was a tunnel and no bike lane and I had this bus behind me. I kept on cursing and praying that I would make it out of that dark tunnel. Other than that, it is a scenic ride through the hills where you get to see a lot of rural villages.
In Xingping, I rode past a wedding at the restaurant and was offered a treat from this plate that the best man holds out. It's a traditional gesture to offer treats to all. I rode some more until I found the place that's on the back of the 20 rmb note. Afterwards I rode back to Yangshuo...was not really looking forward to it. I figured there would be other cyclists but nope I guess I was the only one dumb enough to do it.
I made it back to my room and found my bag of clothes missing. I went and told the owner and he had the nerves to say I must have left it on the bus or didnt even bring it. I said I swore that I took it out from my backpack to lighten the load for my ride. Ultimately he refused to accept responsibility. I was so annoyed and pissed...pretty much ruined the whole evening and my impression of Yangshuo.
February 5
I felt so sick from the night before. I think the combination of being up since 2am, the 50 km I rode, and me losing all my clothes just weaken me. I woke up with a sore throat and lots of phlem. Bleh bleh bleh. All I did today was buy my ticket to Guangzhou for Friday night. I walked around a bit and even tried the famous beer fish dish here. Not bad...not great either. Good night
.
February 6
Felt slightly better in terms of health...still a bit under the weather. Finally went out and got some clothes. Spent the rest of the day cycling around Yangshuo snapping pictures. I even tried fresh passion fruit for the first time...you cut the top off and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Its tangy and sweet in taste.
Yangshuo, itself, is a small place and only takes about 2 days to fully explore everything.
February 7
Eh cold and brutal rain all day. I'm sneezing like crazy. My bus back to Guangzhou is not till 9 pm so I'm killing time sitting in the hotel lobby. The sucky part about these overnight buses is that they arrive at 2am and you're stuck at a station till the subway opens at 6 am. Oh well...oh well. Tradeoff for not paying for a night somewhere I guess.
February 8
I ended up camping out at a 24 hr McDonalds till 6am...not bad, could of been worse I guess. I checked back in at the Lazy Gaga but not before stopping off at the neighborhood street dim sum joint. Apparently their prices jumped so much in a couple of months. Last time I was able to get about 4 sieu mi, 3 lar bok go and some dessert and soy milk for 10 rmb...oh well. The rest of the day was spent looking for tennis shoes since the one I bought in Vietnam around November already has holes. I managed to get a pair of fake red addidas for only 25 rmb because the colors weren't an exact match. The lady gave me a sizable discount. Later, I got a much needed massage! Ive been feeling sickly the past few days due to the lack of sleep and the cold wet weather. Runny nose and nagging cough. The weather in Guangzhou was just as bad as Yangshuo. For dinner, I ended up just buying some goose and bitter melon from Costco.
February 9
Woke up early because I slept so early the night before. I decided that today would be the day I get that elusive lo sa bao. I was at the dim sum place before 8 am and damn there were already a crowd there. Apparently people in Guangzhou eat dim sum at midnight and early morning too! So I finally got a chance to try it but something was off....no salted egg. So I asked and the people told me that it does not come with salted egg... Hmm makes me feel like I still have not had real authentic traditional lo sa bao. The quest continues. The rest of the day was spent buying underwear, socks and gloves to replenish the stuff that I lost. The tricky part about currency is that I hate having leftover change so ive done a real good job of always using up all my money. The challenge today was that the Chinese ATM machine requires you to withdraw at 100 rmb denominations. After everything, I had exactly 32 rmb left. Reserving 7 for my subway ride to the airport, that left me 25 for either dinner or a foot massage. I couls pull another 100 but then I would have change leftover. So I opted for the foot massage since my feet were killing me. The sign said 25...which is pretty cheap. I was chatting away with this older Cantonese couple when I found out that the massage was bumped up to 30 cuz of the new year....crap...I had budgeted enough just a 25 massage. Luckily the couple bailed me out and paid 5 for me...I felt so bad and they said no worries and thanked me for the chat. They were real surprised that I was from America because they said my Cantonese was good lol. After the massage, I went back to the Gaga and found Winsome and she bailed me out too by making me some noodle soup....woohoo saved! Off to the airport now to fly back to Kuala Lumpur for some much needed warm weather! Can't wait to see Amelia again. Really missing her.
Feb 1
Adventures finding dim sum...settled for some roast goose instead lol. Walked towards shamian island, huge church and this shopping district called shurn, ha, gow. An old lady also commented on my knowledge of Cantonese dishes... Made me happy lol. Oh also had some homemade Chinese sausage from Chongqing with the famous Sichuan flower peppers that numbs your tongue! It's such a trippy experience to not feel your tongue and yet u know its salivating on its own!
Feb 2
Went to an area called seck gei to meet CK for dim sum...still no luck finding low sa bow...need to find it. We went to this temple on Lotus Hill after lunch to do some traditional cny offering. That place was jammed pack with people carrying incense. Everyone makes their pilgrimage to the top of the hill where a huge statue of "goon yum lern lern" sits. Inside this park there is a pond with stepping stones you can use to cross. On one of the jumps to a stone, my Buddhist bracelet from Vietnam flew off into the middle of the pond. I was very disappointed since that was my souvenir from Vietnam! Later when we were headed to the exit, I told CK that if we go back to the pond and the bracelet is washed up near the shore then it means good luck for me because goon yum lern lern offered it back to me. Sure enough it was closer to the shore and I was able to fish it out with a broom. Yay!!! In the evening I walked to Costco and bought some bitter gourd to cook for my dinner at the hostel. Oh and I'm the only one in my dorm room so hopefully it stays that way tonight.
Feb 3
I woke up pretty early to go buy my bus ticket. After getting inaccurate information that led me to the wrong bus station, I had to renavigate myself. Then I went back to the Gaga and had dim sum with this new friend I met named Winsome from Hong Kong...I know 3 days in a row of dim sum with someone from Hong Kong. My Cantonese is slightly better...apparently its more impressive with Malaysians than it is with Hong Kong folks. I did however learn the meaning behind the finger tap when someone pours you tea and I learned what 'but pa yut mun, yee pa mun yut'. The former is related to an emperor who was in disguise while out drinking tea and the other means to be careful.
Later, I found out that this new guy who works at the Gaga is from the same village as my ancestors... Fa yuen which is flower garden in Guangzhou! Small world indeed. Then later I met this other guest who has the same Chinese last name as me and lived in Quincy, MA...a place I'm very familiar with since my great aunt is a from there and I would visit often when I was in Malden. The dude even bought my dinner and Winsome jokingly told him to call me wooso gar gar or bearded brother lol. Apparently Asians are impresses by my beard here.
The bus ticket that I have to Yangshuo is an overnighter and should take 6 hours.
Feb 4
Hmm bad information again. I was told earlier that the bus stops for 3 hours of rest and arrives around 6 in Yangshou. Instead there were no stops and arrived at 2 am which made it quite difficult to find lodging. Luckily I was able to use the wifi at this fully booked place called Vienna to search for places. I rested there till 7 am because it was too cold and too dark outside to find anything. I ended up staying at this place called 89 inn off Guihua road. Big big mistake. The guy would not honor the hostel.com price claiming rates would be higher because of the lunar holiday. At that point I was tired and a bit worried that most places would be fully booked so I agreed. Lesson learn is to walk away and be patient...there are always options. The room was tiny and the bathroom had no lights. Additionally I'm next to the heater that makes a loud noise every time someone uses the water. I can hear every conversation in the reception area because I'm that close! There's more...
I looked at the weather forecast for Xingping, which is a nearby quiet town, and it predicted rain for the rest of the week so I decided today would be the day I bike there. Its a 25 km trek each way and I greatly misjudged my abilities. Let's just say I'm aching all over from the bike ride. It took me about 2 hours each way to cover 25 km because there are tons of hills. At one point there was a tunnel and no bike lane and I had this bus behind me. I kept on cursing and praying that I would make it out of that dark tunnel. Other than that, it is a scenic ride through the hills where you get to see a lot of rural villages.
In Xingping, I rode past a wedding at the restaurant and was offered a treat from this plate that the best man holds out. It's a traditional gesture to offer treats to all. I rode some more until I found the place that's on the back of the 20 rmb note. Afterwards I rode back to Yangshuo...was not really looking forward to it. I figured there would be other cyclists but nope I guess I was the only one dumb enough to do it.
February 8
I ended up camping out at a 24 hr McDonalds till 6am...not bad, could of been worse I guess. I checked back in at the Lazy Gaga but not before stopping off at the neighborhood street dim sum joint. Apparently their prices jumped so much in a couple of months. Last time I was able to get about 4 sieu mi, 3 lar bok go and some dessert and soy milk for 10 rmb...oh well. The rest of the day was spent looking for tennis shoes since the one I bought in Vietnam around November already has holes. I managed to get a pair of fake red addidas for only 25 rmb because the colors weren't an exact match. The lady gave me a sizable discount. Later, I got a much needed massage! Ive been feeling sickly the past few days due to the lack of sleep and the cold wet weather. Runny nose and nagging cough. The weather in Guangzhou was just as bad as Yangshuo. For dinner, I ended up just buying some goose and bitter melon from Costco.
February 9
Woke up early because I slept so early the night before. I decided that today would be the day I get that elusive lo sa bao. I was at the dim sum place before 8 am and damn there were already a crowd there. Apparently people in Guangzhou eat dim sum at midnight and early morning too! So I finally got a chance to try it but something was off....no salted egg. So I asked and the people told me that it does not come with salted egg... Hmm makes me feel like I still have not had real authentic traditional lo sa bao. The quest continues. The rest of the day was spent buying underwear, socks and gloves to replenish the stuff that I lost. The tricky part about currency is that I hate having leftover change so ive done a real good job of always using up all my money. The challenge today was that the Chinese ATM machine requires you to withdraw at 100 rmb denominations. After everything, I had exactly 32 rmb left. Reserving 7 for my subway ride to the airport, that left me 25 for either dinner or a foot massage. I couls pull another 100 but then I would have change leftover. So I opted for the foot massage since my feet were killing me. The sign said 25...which is pretty cheap. I was chatting away with this older Cantonese couple when I found out that the massage was bumped up to 30 cuz of the new year....crap...I had budgeted enough just a 25 massage. Luckily the couple bailed me out and paid 5 for me...I felt so bad and they said no worries and thanked me for the chat. They were real surprised that I was from America because they said my Cantonese was good lol. After the massage, I went back to the Gaga and found Winsome and she bailed me out too by making me some noodle soup....woohoo saved! Off to the airport now to fly back to Kuala Lumpur for some much needed warm weather! Can't wait to see Amelia again. Really missing her.
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