June 24, 2008 (Tuesday) - Flight AK5209 Depart Shenzhen at 20:05
All of us woke up early as my family and I would be going back to Lo Wu Commercial City because, among other things, we had to pick up my suit. Tariq, Intan and Ngah decided to stay back and maybe just explore Dongmen for one final round. However we were to early and the Commercial City was still sleeping when we got there so we just killed the time by hanging around. As soon as the fabric shopping area was opened we were the first in and we got our first customer advantage and discounts. I picked out my suit which was a bit disappointment. I was warned by my colleague but I ignored his advice and paid the price. The jacket was ok but the pant was not what I wanted. My advice to anybody cutting a suit there please make sure either you have a sample with you or you spent enough time patiently explaining the exact thing that you want to do.
However, we were not finished with our shopping, I thought we were, and taking the first customer advantage Sam bought few more fabrics and I squeezed in two more for suiting. I’ve learned my lessons. We took the train back to Loajie and since we had couple more hours we stopped at the McD on Dongmen street to eat.
Once back at the hotel the first thing that I did was to ask for late checkout, that I got until 1400, and booked a transport to the airport. After lengthy explanation and translation I was offered a mini van, I thought it was a mini van that could fit 13 of us, at 400 yuan. When it came at 1600 it was actually a mini bus. Thus we had a nice comfortable ride to the airport.
Shenzhen airport was quite a big airport that served as a hub in the south serving other major cities in China. We were dropped by the bus driver at the end of the airport where the International wing was and it was not a small wing serving just few major countries and destination like Taiwan, Bangkok and KL. Actually there was no indication as to where our checkin counter was from the outside. We walked the entire airport we could not see anything until we backtracked to where we were dropped off then only we saw a small handwritten notice stand stating our flight number. I enquired from the staff nearby and was told to come back to lineup at where he was one hour before flight time. Without nothing much to do we just hang around there to wait. One thing I do not like taking a low cost carrier is that most passengers tend to be a little bit kiasu. In fact this what exactly happened when we were outside lining up to enter the checkin counters and inside the waiting area when we were to board. I just could not understand how some people just do not have a brain to give way to mothers with small children and old folks. It was not really a long flight that they had to be too particular to get a seat. When I boarded trying to sit at the isle I politely asked two Chinese nationals if I could sit there and they reacted as if they own the plane. I remarked loudly in English, ‘Why you do not want me to sit here. I do not think I smell and furthermore I paid to be on the plane.’ Obviously they did not know what I was saying and I ignored them the whole flight home.
Obviously everyone were hungry – hungry for rice and anything resemblance to Malaysian food could not wait for the flight attendants to start with their round. I left Baqir to order the lot for most of us and when he did that the flight attendant almost feinted. Yes, Baqir is a big size young man and would tend to eat a lot but what he ordered to the flight attendant could feed an elephant. Only when he passed the food around she realized the situation. The flight attendant joked about it.
We landed safely at LCCT at 0045 on Wednesday.
Showing posts with label Cuti Cuti Asia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cuti Cuti Asia. Show all posts
Friday, October 31, 2008
CUTI CUTI ASIA SHENZHEN (HONG KONG) June 19-24, 2008 (Day 5)
June 23, 2008 (Monday)
Hong Kong
I have been to Hong Kong before and went through the immigration and custom check point to enter Shenzhen so I was confident we could go in easily. Because of that we left the Hotel for Lowu quite late. It was a mistake to do so I found out later.
As I anticipated we did not have any problem at the border check point and passed through easy enough. We rushed to buy our tickets to Lim Shia Shiue and boarded our train that was already on the platform. Actually there were three trains waiting and all were going down the same line. I knew the train was clean and good so we enjoyed our journey down to Hong Kong. We left the hotel around 0630 and was on the train to Hong Kong around 0815. Around 0900 we walked out of the Tsim Sha Tsui underground station into Kowloon air. We headed straight to the ferry but before we crossed we stopped at the McD for breakfast.
While my family was having breakfast I walked out to the tourist center at the ferry terminal to gather some information and maps.
My plan was to take them across to Hong Kong island on the ferry and later back using the train. Once across we used the bridge footpath to walk around and my first destination was the Maybank Centre as I wanted to withdraw some money. While on the way there we stopped at whatever shops that we fancy to either shop or check out the items.
The first time I was in Kong Kong I did not have time to go to the Peak so I decided to take my family there. Looking at my option I could take them on the double decker or just walked to the hill station. I decided to walk and gave Baqir the map and instruction to lead because I knew I would have casualties at the back later. If they did not know it yet they knew then I loved to walk so they persevered. If not no more excursion with Abah, Pak Cu or Tok Cu ever again LOL. With sweat falling like Niagara Falls we reach the Peak Ground station and bought tickets to the very top. The ride to the top was fun and faster compare to Bukit Bendera. The view was also a bit better. Along the way we could see the multimillionaires of Hong Kong building their houses along he way. Once at the top we climbed up to the highest point in the observation deck. There were two types of prices for the Peak the cheaper one was for the Peak area and the slightly expensive one for the rooftop of the observation building. We paid for the rooftop for better viewing and photography. Since we paid that much we stayed as long as it worth the payment that we made. The kids enjoyed themselves there but not Sam as she is phobia with height. We did not go down straight away but lingered on at the Peak to enjoy the place. I would say it was worth paying that much to be there.
It was almost 2pm when we were back at the bottom and my instinct straight away told me to move fast as we do not have much time to do the rest of Hong Kong. I decided to walk again took them along the financial and eventually the shopping zones. All the branded items shopping complex were there that also means a very expensive stuff. But we were tourist and we had to do tourist things by walking along with Hongkies gawking at their malls. Eventually we reached Queen’s Place at Queen’s Road Central. To save time I decided not walked up the Place as well as going to the Escalator but instead decided to turn back and find a Metro station to cross to Kowloon. I however gave them times for them to explore a bit of Queen’s Place. When we turned back I also took them through the alley bazaar to check for things worth buying.
Of course the train crossing to Kowloon would be going through an undersea tunnel the fact that I mentioned to my family but somehow my children did not believe me. I indicated the route on the map to them and ask them a simple question of how then would the train cross the sea. We crossed and came out at a road just before the Kowloon Mosque. The plan was to pray, eat some rice and shopping till night time and we did all three in much gusto and bravado, especially the shopping part. But when we came out at Kowloon everyone were already complaining of being hungry so I had no choice but to find a place to eat rice. Yes, after three days without rice they almost strangled me for not taking them to where the rice was fast enough. Before they decided to picket there in front all the resident of Hong Kong I dragged them to the nice Indian Restaurant that I had eaten before. Unfortunately I made a mistake of thinking it was on Lock Road while the restaurant was actually on the Hankow Road the next road. We turned back and I entered Chungking Mansion to be accosted by touts working for various entities in the buildings. Most of them would be Indian, Pakistanis or even Afghan touting for establishments like restaurants and budget hotels in the upper floor of the building. I decided on one Pakistani Restaurant on the floor. To make life a bit more interesting one of the small lifts was out of order and we had to line up to use just one tiny lift going up.
Thinking the serving was like in Malaysia they ordered aggressively and they realized their mistake when the food arrived. Of course I knew this but I just kept quite. Hey, do you want to argue with hungry mob? They could kill you, you know. Now they had too much rice I just laugh at them. Going down I decided to use the stairs and once on the ground we walked straight to the mosque.
With just few more hours left for shopping I decided to just make do with what Nathan Road could offer and it offered us plenty. Suddenly everyone was in the mood for shopping and with their stomach full they were demanding at times :). As long as they were happy I was there to oblige. Lucky they did not go berserk shopping like mad cow searching for a drink. Dia orang dengan sopan santun shopping.
Eventually after I extended the shopping hour till 2000 hours we had to leave for Shenzhen. I knew the train service would not end before midnight still I did not want to risk the whole thing. As they say there is always another day for Hong Kong. So went down the subway and walked to Tsim Sha Tsui KDR station to take our train back to Shenzhen.
One minute to 2100 hours we walked out of the train at Lo Wu station and crossed the border without much problem. Few minutes after that we were already strolling Dongmen back to our hotel. Back at the hotel reality started to sink in that our holiday was about to end. I guess everyone went to sleep reluctantly that night hoping the time would stand still.
Hong Kong
I have been to Hong Kong before and went through the immigration and custom check point to enter Shenzhen so I was confident we could go in easily. Because of that we left the Hotel for Lowu quite late. It was a mistake to do so I found out later.
As I anticipated we did not have any problem at the border check point and passed through easy enough. We rushed to buy our tickets to Lim Shia Shiue and boarded our train that was already on the platform. Actually there were three trains waiting and all were going down the same line. I knew the train was clean and good so we enjoyed our journey down to Hong Kong. We left the hotel around 0630 and was on the train to Hong Kong around 0815. Around 0900 we walked out of the Tsim Sha Tsui underground station into Kowloon air. We headed straight to the ferry but before we crossed we stopped at the McD for breakfast.
While my family was having breakfast I walked out to the tourist center at the ferry terminal to gather some information and maps.
My plan was to take them across to Hong Kong island on the ferry and later back using the train. Once across we used the bridge footpath to walk around and my first destination was the Maybank Centre as I wanted to withdraw some money. While on the way there we stopped at whatever shops that we fancy to either shop or check out the items.
The first time I was in Kong Kong I did not have time to go to the Peak so I decided to take my family there. Looking at my option I could take them on the double decker or just walked to the hill station. I decided to walk and gave Baqir the map and instruction to lead because I knew I would have casualties at the back later. If they did not know it yet they knew then I loved to walk so they persevered. If not no more excursion with Abah, Pak Cu or Tok Cu ever again LOL. With sweat falling like Niagara Falls we reach the Peak Ground station and bought tickets to the very top. The ride to the top was fun and faster compare to Bukit Bendera. The view was also a bit better. Along the way we could see the multimillionaires of Hong Kong building their houses along he way. Once at the top we climbed up to the highest point in the observation deck. There were two types of prices for the Peak the cheaper one was for the Peak area and the slightly expensive one for the rooftop of the observation building. We paid for the rooftop for better viewing and photography. Since we paid that much we stayed as long as it worth the payment that we made. The kids enjoyed themselves there but not Sam as she is phobia with height. We did not go down straight away but lingered on at the Peak to enjoy the place. I would say it was worth paying that much to be there.
It was almost 2pm when we were back at the bottom and my instinct straight away told me to move fast as we do not have much time to do the rest of Hong Kong. I decided to walk again took them along the financial and eventually the shopping zones. All the branded items shopping complex were there that also means a very expensive stuff. But we were tourist and we had to do tourist things by walking along with Hongkies gawking at their malls. Eventually we reached Queen’s Place at Queen’s Road Central. To save time I decided not walked up the Place as well as going to the Escalator but instead decided to turn back and find a Metro station to cross to Kowloon. I however gave them times for them to explore a bit of Queen’s Place. When we turned back I also took them through the alley bazaar to check for things worth buying.
Of course the train crossing to Kowloon would be going through an undersea tunnel the fact that I mentioned to my family but somehow my children did not believe me. I indicated the route on the map to them and ask them a simple question of how then would the train cross the sea. We crossed and came out at a road just before the Kowloon Mosque. The plan was to pray, eat some rice and shopping till night time and we did all three in much gusto and bravado, especially the shopping part. But when we came out at Kowloon everyone were already complaining of being hungry so I had no choice but to find a place to eat rice. Yes, after three days without rice they almost strangled me for not taking them to where the rice was fast enough. Before they decided to picket there in front all the resident of Hong Kong I dragged them to the nice Indian Restaurant that I had eaten before. Unfortunately I made a mistake of thinking it was on Lock Road while the restaurant was actually on the Hankow Road the next road. We turned back and I entered Chungking Mansion to be accosted by touts working for various entities in the buildings. Most of them would be Indian, Pakistanis or even Afghan touting for establishments like restaurants and budget hotels in the upper floor of the building. I decided on one Pakistani Restaurant on the floor. To make life a bit more interesting one of the small lifts was out of order and we had to line up to use just one tiny lift going up.
Thinking the serving was like in Malaysia they ordered aggressively and they realized their mistake when the food arrived. Of course I knew this but I just kept quite. Hey, do you want to argue with hungry mob? They could kill you, you know. Now they had too much rice I just laugh at them. Going down I decided to use the stairs and once on the ground we walked straight to the mosque.
With just few more hours left for shopping I decided to just make do with what Nathan Road could offer and it offered us plenty. Suddenly everyone was in the mood for shopping and with their stomach full they were demanding at times :). As long as they were happy I was there to oblige. Lucky they did not go berserk shopping like mad cow searching for a drink. Dia orang dengan sopan santun shopping.
Eventually after I extended the shopping hour till 2000 hours we had to leave for Shenzhen. I knew the train service would not end before midnight still I did not want to risk the whole thing. As they say there is always another day for Hong Kong. So went down the subway and walked to Tsim Sha Tsui KDR station to take our train back to Shenzhen.
One minute to 2100 hours we walked out of the train at Lo Wu station and crossed the border without much problem. Few minutes after that we were already strolling Dongmen back to our hotel. Back at the hotel reality started to sink in that our holiday was about to end. I guess everyone went to sleep reluctantly that night hoping the time would stand still.
CUTI CUTI ASIA SHENZHEN (HONG KONG) June 19-24, 2008 (Day 4)
June 22, 2008 (Sunday)
The days in Shenzhen became too long for us as we have found out nothing much else to do. I guess if I had hired a van it would be different but then looking at the surrounding we were better off using the train. The night before I asked the rest what should we be doing the next day and I gave three options.
1. Window of the World
2. Splendid China
3. More endless walking and possibly shopping
The first two were close to one another but you have to pay a separate entrance of Yuan 120 each. I figured two costly to do both and the third option was not feasible as everyone trying to save some money for Hong Kong. We decided to go to the Cultural China. Actually I was thinking of The Windows of the World at first as Windows of the World would showcases famous site in the world in miniature form. But I decided I did not wish to see them as we were in China we should look at things Chinese rather then Eiffel Tower and such.
At 0900 we walked out of the hotel to our home station Laojie and took the train to Hua Qiao Cheng. The Splendid China was just next to the station. When we arrived there around 1030 the heat was really prickly and I was sweating like mad. I could see it would be a challenge to walk the whole place but since we were there already we paid for our tickets and entered the place. We walked slowly trying to absorb the place and an early indication of the place tells us that it was a well done place. However the heat was too much for the kids. After walking a bit half of us abandoned the plan to walk everything took a short cut and rest at the performing area to wait. I did not know it then but we actually broke into three groups. Ngah, Sam and Mar raised a white flag, well at least Sam and Ngah. While Tariq and family went the other way. So it was left to Ghazi, Baqir, Kak Cik and I to make sure our entrance fees were worthwhile. We went around the whole area and enjoyed ourselves. What they did with the place was excellent as they showcased most of the culture of the ethnic groups in China. There were their different abodes and way of life. Within that they included live culture shows as well as acting out some of the major history of China like the great horseback battle. It was really a good work out for me but the heat proved to be a problem. We were just as glad and relieve when we finished touring the whole place. Tariq and family chose to board the tram to see the rest of the area and the rest of us sat at the entrance drinking coconut to cool off and waited for them.
At 1436 we walked up the staircase to exit the area.
We took the train back and I decided to stop- at another shopping complex where there was another Jusco. Again, mainly to buy some foodstuff for the night and the next day. But of course we ended up buying other things as well. One of the things that we found out when you shop in Shenzhen is that they do not provide you with a plastic bag or such for the things that you bought. That was the reason why we saw most Chinese with bags and trolley when we went out shopping. So at the Jusco we had to pay for our plastic bags. To save a little bit we just put everything in our knapsacks. Ngah bought a shoe without a plastics bag meant she would have to carry the box just like that. So she took out the shoe put in a bag and threw away the box. I could survive on bread alone as I was used to it but I did not know how long more the rest of my family could last without rice.
We were home at the hotel on time for our prayers and stayed in the rest of the night because everyone was preparing to explore Hong Kong the next day.
The days in Shenzhen became too long for us as we have found out nothing much else to do. I guess if I had hired a van it would be different but then looking at the surrounding we were better off using the train. The night before I asked the rest what should we be doing the next day and I gave three options.
1. Window of the World
2. Splendid China
3. More endless walking and possibly shopping
The first two were close to one another but you have to pay a separate entrance of Yuan 120 each. I figured two costly to do both and the third option was not feasible as everyone trying to save some money for Hong Kong. We decided to go to the Cultural China. Actually I was thinking of The Windows of the World at first as Windows of the World would showcases famous site in the world in miniature form. But I decided I did not wish to see them as we were in China we should look at things Chinese rather then Eiffel Tower and such.
At 0900 we walked out of the hotel to our home station Laojie and took the train to Hua Qiao Cheng. The Splendid China was just next to the station. When we arrived there around 1030 the heat was really prickly and I was sweating like mad. I could see it would be a challenge to walk the whole place but since we were there already we paid for our tickets and entered the place. We walked slowly trying to absorb the place and an early indication of the place tells us that it was a well done place. However the heat was too much for the kids. After walking a bit half of us abandoned the plan to walk everything took a short cut and rest at the performing area to wait. I did not know it then but we actually broke into three groups. Ngah, Sam and Mar raised a white flag, well at least Sam and Ngah. While Tariq and family went the other way. So it was left to Ghazi, Baqir, Kak Cik and I to make sure our entrance fees were worthwhile. We went around the whole area and enjoyed ourselves. What they did with the place was excellent as they showcased most of the culture of the ethnic groups in China. There were their different abodes and way of life. Within that they included live culture shows as well as acting out some of the major history of China like the great horseback battle. It was really a good work out for me but the heat proved to be a problem. We were just as glad and relieve when we finished touring the whole place. Tariq and family chose to board the tram to see the rest of the area and the rest of us sat at the entrance drinking coconut to cool off and waited for them.
At 1436 we walked up the staircase to exit the area.
We took the train back and I decided to stop- at another shopping complex where there was another Jusco. Again, mainly to buy some foodstuff for the night and the next day. But of course we ended up buying other things as well. One of the things that we found out when you shop in Shenzhen is that they do not provide you with a plastic bag or such for the things that you bought. That was the reason why we saw most Chinese with bags and trolley when we went out shopping. So at the Jusco we had to pay for our plastic bags. To save a little bit we just put everything in our knapsacks. Ngah bought a shoe without a plastics bag meant she would have to carry the box just like that. So she took out the shoe put in a bag and threw away the box. I could survive on bread alone as I was used to it but I did not know how long more the rest of my family could last without rice.
We were home at the hotel on time for our prayers and stayed in the rest of the night because everyone was preparing to explore Hong Kong the next day.
CUTI CUTI ASIA SHENZHEN (HONG KONG) June 19-24, 2008 (Day 3)
June 21, 2008 (Saturday)
I spent quite a bit of my time last night studying the map and searching for Muslim eateries on the Net. I came up with quite a list. To make my life easier I capture the image of the list in my Nikon for easy reference later. So my plan for the day was to take everyone to experience the fashion wholesale market, back to Lowu for my fitting and off on the train to explore a new shopping area where there was a Jusco. My intention of going to Jusco was familiarity and to shop for something familiar to eat and ration.
The Gang minus Yours TrulyWe stopped at McD first to have breakfast. Of course we ordered whatever we could eat except for Imah who thought she was in Malaysia by buying a beef petty. She was about to eat it when I saw her packaging looked different so I asked her what she ordered and my instinct was on the dot. We laughed at her and kidded her for a while. She sort of annoyed for awhile by it. We took some pictures there and left immediately after all of us had eaten.
The first stop after breakfast was easy as the fashion wholesale market was at Dongmen and once we were inside it was a maze of wholesale selling in big plastic bags or bundles. Most of the buyers were of course small town sellers from other precincts or districts. We mingled in perfectly but know our different taste we split with the ladies going in one direction and Ghazi, Baqir, Mar and myself to another. You can get most of what you need in a bundle and they do sell you a piece or two but you could not bargain anymore unless you were buying a lot. In terms of quality it depends on what you are buying. Generally they were ok but most not my taste as I found most of them were too tacky for me. Baqir decided he needed a set of fake adidas basketball uniform. Other than that I advise for them not to buy anything unless it is really good and necessary. The ladies were actually enjoying the maze and we had to wait for quite a while until they emerged onto the square. Kakak came out to me saying how amazing the experience was and mentioned to me we should come again the next day. She could not believe what she just saw and experienced. I almost told her, ‘Welcome to China the land of imitation and cheap stuff.’ From there we walked to our Metro station and boarded for Lowu. My only reason for going back there was to fit the suit that I made the previous day and to window shop a bit. For the ladies apart from continuing where they left off they planned to look for brooches and stuff like that. When I was there the first time a year ago a lot of that stuff was on the ground floor. So when we got there that was the first place I took them and I was surprised to find out there were not there anymore. So I concluded they must have moved somewhere and by that time Sam was complaining aloud already. So we proceeded to the top floor. Initially I thought we were going to be very quick there but when I was fitting the suit they were still busy buying fabrics and even more then the day before. I was amazed and tired of waiting I took the kids walking around the complex trying to find something worthwhile to buy. The suit that I made was fine only the pant was not properly tailored and so Sam’s blouse. It was not that the quality was not good but they failed to get our instruction right. So if you were to tailor anything there please make sure they really, really understand what you want. The best is to bring a sample.
The ladies eventfully joined us somewhere on the second floor and while going around we found the trinkets, brooches and stuff bazaar there on the second floor. So we left them there and continued walking the complex with the kids until we were hungry. I bought few things for Mar because she insisted on buying something there but I held off Along and Baqir as I thought what they wanted to buy were not value for money. Furthermore I was getting fedup with all the ‘lookin’, ‘lookin’ and they were so adamant of selling to us at exorbitant price. I decided then it would be better if we were to wait for Hong Kong.
So with no possible eating place insight I decided to take everyone to the newly completed shopping area where I knew from my research the night before would be a Jusco shopping complex. With something familiar to us I thought we could get something decent. So we took the train there. Gong Wu Gong Yuan station was our destination and true enough as we exited the station there was Jusco almost in front of us. We went straight in and we found what we need to make a decent lunch and food for the next day. We bought a couple of breads, several can of sardine and tuna as well as several bottle of waters. I did not realize how hungry we were until I saw everyone’s purchases at the checkout counter LOL. The best thing as well I could use my ‘plastic’ that I could save my Yuans for other shopping. I was the last to make payment at the check out counter and once I was outside there was my family having picnic at the seating area inside the mall. We couldn’t careless what the others think we just sat on the floor, opened our cans and bread and made the biggest sandwiches for ourselves. To the Chinese we sure looked like immigrants or runaways that have not eaten for days. But then our mannerism and attire would tell them we were tourist. That day I found out eating a decent acceptable food for our palate could be a problem in China. Indeed they have Halal restaurant but the cooking if you were not familiar could be a problem. I tolerated only for a day and before going back to bread. After we had our lunch we decided, actually I decided and the rest just followed :), to check out the rest of the new shopping complex and cultural centre. Everything were new full with branded items but very expensive. Even the cinema would cost us about RM15 a ticket. So we just enjoyed ourselves walking around until some of our legs went dead. Before heading back we stopped at the Jusco to buy few more things for dinner and ration for the next day.
We took the train back and walked straight to our hotel as most were too tired to explore Dongmen. It was 1815 when we walked through Dongmen. By now Dongmen was nothing to us. What we did not like was that once the darkness crept in a lot of beggars emerged from the crowds. I knew they were really poor but they were very persistent to the point of annoying as well.
CUTI CUTI ASIA SHENZHEN (HONG KONG) June 19-24, 2008 (Day 2)
June 20, 2008 (Friday)
Suboh was at 0430 and around 0500 I did not know what to do so I put on my shoe and walked out alone. I did not want to disturb Kakcik and told my wife that I was checking out the surrounding if there were anything decent for breakfast. I have no idea where I should be going but my instinct said to follow the main road behind the hotel downwards. By that time it was 0600 and the sun was already out and bright. The streets we mostly empty except for hard labourer pulling heavy carts for the customers. I knew there was a wet market nearby and most of them came out from there. To me that was an indication of a hard live for some of the residents of Shenzhen and I am pretty sure some of them are not locals. What they are wearing also like a uniform with license plat on their back. I guess the have to get a license to do such job.
Our hotel apartment
Still a lot of bicycles
Because of the heat I zigzagged in and out of the building sort of to acclimatize everyone with the heat. Once I thought they were ready we headed towards Dongmen for our official visit to Shenzhen. Of course Dongmen is famous for being a shopping zone where at nights the street will be filled with people from all walks of life. Neon lights would shine the street to look like a Chinese New Year day. There was no light of course when we walked the street and the obvious thing was China also was very much colonized by the business chains. Starbucks, McD, Body Glove, KFC and the like were everywhere. However the Chinese now are getting smarter. They made good on their years of being copycat by producing the own quality brands.
Dongmen coming alive
My target was the Laojie Metro subway station somewhere at the end of Dongmen but with the lack of proper direction we were of target. So with the map I asked several people. The first guy after looking at the map confidently directed to backtrack a lane and turn right but it took us to another lane with no sign or indication of the metro station. So I asked what looked like a street police man and it was even worse as he could not even understand us. Even with the map he asked us to turn back. We went around a bit until we just went with our instinct until we saw the small Metro sign on a wall of a shopping mall. Well, it was not even a mall but a building full with small time traders. We went down the escalator and suddenly the sign went dead and we were pissing off our steam until a guy who must have seen this a few times pointed us to the right direction inside the mall.
Just underneath the bridge was a Muslim restaurant
Their train service was excellent
I still remember when I was small having my hair cut underneath a rambutan tree
Our home base Metro station was Loajie, not sure how to pronounce that but we made do with Laojie, and the fare to Lowu was 2 Yuan per person so it was 14 Yuan for our family. The metro was brand new and efficient. I was told and read in someone’s blog that there was not any English signage then. I was really afraid of that and prepared for the worst. However I had a nice surprise to find Romanized name and English announcement on the train. I was really please and impressed. No doubt they have learned their lesson and learning very well. It was a short ride to Lowu and of course our destination was the Lowu Commercial Complex that was full with cheap, very cheap, fabrics and other stuff. It would be a field day for my wife and other ladies. From Loajie Lowu was just two stations away. If you have been to Shenzhen you know that Lowu Commercial Centre was just outside of the border point to HK. I have been there before. The weather was a bit hot then the usual again and we barely managed. Staying indoor was the best.option and we did not have any problem doing that as the place was full with cheap things especially fabric. What you can get there are cheap quality fabric and silks, all kind of fakes t-shirts, jeans, electronics, handphones and handbags. But I do not advice buying any electronic, well unless you have a lot of money to burn. The t-shirts were mostly top of the line fakes but you have to bargain hard. We were at this one shops selling t-shirts and stuff and we were ready to buy some. We started to cut the prices by half the lady came back with another price and suddenly in the middle of the haggling she started to quote us in US dollar. I was really shocked and stared at her astonished. Then walked in two Caucasians and seems to like another foreigner and the lady started to ignore us after we were ready to conclude the deal. We had selected a few already and we had to wait for her to deal with the other foreigners. Getting fed up with the treatment all of us just walked out. As we were about 20 steps away I heard her running and calling after us. We just ignored her and served her right as we were the ones with the money to spend. Then we just walked around with no particular things in mind. Or course Baqir was relentless with his nagging for handphones. I decided they were not worth it. In the end I just bought a few things and cut a suit at the price of 500 Yuan. I had to come back the next day for fitting.
We arrived at the place around 1115 and we left the place at around 1400 due to two main reasons.
1. The ladies almost bustered their shopping budget in record time, and
2. We need to find a place to have lunch.
We were actually not prepared for the first day and we made the mistake assuming that there would be at least a place to eat at Lowu. We actually went around the place as well as the train station and we did not find any. What we should have done was to pack sandwiches or something. But then the problem was we did not find a decent place to buy bread. People in China hardly eat any bread so another blunder on our part. We had no choice but to head for home and eat at the Muslim restaurant near the hotel. We were there at 1430.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to rest. I was not that tired but because of the heat I decided we need to really cool off for awhile and maybe go out again after dark.
It was Friday night and Dongmen was strewn with all sorts of mostly young people. I saw bad influence from the west had already sat in the Shenzhen young generation. Their dressing and the way they handle themselves were westernized in so many ways. I would have loved it if it was a Sunday night market kind atmosphere but Dongmen was different. The smell from the food vendors and the place were something that we were not used to so we were a little bit uncomfortable. Worse when the beggars started to pester us excessively. Actually the place was not that bad as I said we would have enjoyed it. I was expecting it to be like Hong Kong but the mentality is obviously different. There wasn’t anything that attracted me to buy either so we just walked endlessly until we were bored and walked back to the hotel.
We got Broadband connection and China is pretty advanced in providing broadband access
Suboh was at 0430 and around 0500 I did not know what to do so I put on my shoe and walked out alone. I did not want to disturb Kakcik and told my wife that I was checking out the surrounding if there were anything decent for breakfast. I have no idea where I should be going but my instinct said to follow the main road behind the hotel downwards. By that time it was 0600 and the sun was already out and bright. The streets we mostly empty except for hard labourer pulling heavy carts for the customers. I knew there was a wet market nearby and most of them came out from there. To me that was an indication of a hard live for some of the residents of Shenzhen and I am pretty sure some of them are not locals. What they are wearing also like a uniform with license plat on their back. I guess the have to get a license to do such job.
0600 in the morning
A prove of global world. The bad thing it is creating a world culture at the expense of the ethnic uniqueness But would you ever thought of McD stack below KFC
Going to work
I knew there was a wet market close by and men pushing carts like this are common sight
In two hours this street will be jam packed with activities
Our hotel apartment
Still a lot of bicycles
I walked on until it was already hot, the heat was the kind that I used to experience while I was studying in the US so it was prickly. I worried about the others. In order to get myself familiarize with the streets and how things were in Shenzhen I walked west on the way back with the hope I could find something good to eat. That was when I realized that all the trees beside the roads were actually mango trees. They were quite nice and my only assessment to that was probably Shenzhen was built on top of swarm. On the map indicated that there was a train station close by and I tried to locate it. After a few turns it proved to be illusive and I abandoned the search. I found two bakeries but I was not confident in buying any of them. They looked delightfully suspicious with that I walked back towards Dongmen on my way back to the hotel. When I was about to get to the pedestrian bridge at the hotel I decided to have coffee at the McD there. By then it was only 0752 and it was already really hot. Of course by now there were a lot of people already on the streets including school children in their uniform. I ordered coffee and egg burger and stayed long enough to finish my coffee. By 0830 I was back in the room and ready to roll out with the rest to explore Shenzhen.
You may laugh at this but watch up they are learning fast and soon will conquer the world
Every morning a crew will wash Dongmen
Dongmen coming alive
Just underneath the bridge was a Muslim restaurant
Their train service was excellent
I still remember when I was small having my hair cut underneath a rambutan tree
We arrived at the place around 1115 and we left the place at around 1400 due to two main reasons.
1. The ladies almost bustered their shopping budget in record time, and
2. We need to find a place to have lunch.
We were actually not prepared for the first day and we made the mistake assuming that there would be at least a place to eat at Lowu. We actually went around the place as well as the train station and we did not find any. What we should have done was to pack sandwiches or something. But then the problem was we did not find a decent place to buy bread. People in China hardly eat any bread so another blunder on our part. We had no choice but to head for home and eat at the Muslim restaurant near the hotel. We were there at 1430.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to rest. I was not that tired but because of the heat I decided we need to really cool off for awhile and maybe go out again after dark.
It was Friday night and Dongmen was strewn with all sorts of mostly young people. I saw bad influence from the west had already sat in the Shenzhen young generation. Their dressing and the way they handle themselves were westernized in so many ways. I would have loved it if it was a Sunday night market kind atmosphere but Dongmen was different. The smell from the food vendors and the place were something that we were not used to so we were a little bit uncomfortable. Worse when the beggars started to pester us excessively. Actually the place was not that bad as I said we would have enjoyed it. I was expecting it to be like Hong Kong but the mentality is obviously different. There wasn’t anything that attracted me to buy either so we just walked endlessly until we were bored and walked back to the hotel.
CUTI CUTI ASIA SHENZHEN (HONG KONG) June 19-24, 2008 (Day 1)
June 19, 2008 (Thursday)
LCCT – Shenzhen - Flight AK88
We had to rush even with our best effort to be as early as possible. I hate being late and I hate rushing but it happened. Nothing we could do about it as it was Airasia’s checkin counter mess. I knew why we were rushed to the plane because Mr Fenandez recently came out to announce that they will compensate all flyers if they were delayed. With small children how can we move that fast? Luckily, even we did not get seats next to one another at least close enough to each other. I just wanted to read and sleep as soon as I was on board but Mar and hunger distracted me. Both Along and Baqir were fast asleep the minute they were seated. That’s because they had been staying up the whole night. One of my colleagues in the office recently remarked that Airasia is not ready for international flight and having had the first hand experience I guess she has a point. Another thing that disturbed me was the kiasu behaviour of most of the passengers. Yes, we know we did not have our seat assigned but do we have to be like children to board. I am not about to insult them but it was as if that was their first time on a plane. All the decency and courtesy suddenly just went out of the windows when we were ready to board. I hope time will change that.
On a short flight I normally like to have an isle seat so I just settled myself next to two China nationals. When I decided to sit there they sort of made sound complaint and I said to them in English that, ‘I bought my ticket legally as well you know and may picked any seat that I wish because Mr Fanendez decided you all had to fight for them.’ Obviously with their limited English they did not have a clue to what I said and I just smiled at them. My agenda as soon as we boarded was to read and maybe doze off in preparation for the days in China, Mar’s was to order her favourite hotdogs, Baqir and Ghazi their lunch but they were fast asleep already so I let them sleep. It was a short 4 hour flight where the takeoff was lousy.
Since I was in the isle seat I could not see Shenzhen’s bright city lights when we approached to land but by the glimpsed I judged it to be quite a big city. Everyone was excited and we landed safely at around 2030. It was a breeze to get through the immigration where the only small incident was when the immigration lady attending to my travel documents being OA. Of course I had my US visa and just returned from the US and having the Visa does not mean I am a US citizen. Still she found it necessary to notify her superior that I had a US visa. On hearing her explanation her supervisor just gave a dry smile as if just to please her. Maybe she was just that type of person. Of course all these were conducted in Chinese and my guess would not be that far from the truth.
After that was the hard part – how to figure out the best way to go to our hotel. My instinct said taxi but I needed to explore other alternatives, if there was any. I asked the lady at the tourist bus ticket counter and she misunderstood my question. Then I asked one airport security guy he replied to me in Chinese. Well he tried his best to be helpful, I salute him for that, and in the end both of us sort of agreed that the best way is to take taxi. For us it meant three taxis. With that I pull out the small hotel map with the hotel name in Chinese and get everyone to wait at the taxi stand. I showed the first driver our destination and he understood immediately and I asked Ngah, Tariq and family to take the first one. I showed the map to
the second driver and he was confused, how could that be the hotel name was in Chinese, and when the first driver saw us struggling with the second driver he came over to explain and he did the same with the third driver. With that off we went into Shenzhen’s night. From inside the taxi I could see Shenzhen was very dry and no sign of rain at all let alone flood as reported in other part of southern China. I was worried that we will end up with a wet holiday but by all indications thus far was encouraging.
Early on we realized that taxi driver would want to rule the road in Shenzhen and their best friend is the horn. As they kept on blaring the horn at every opportunity. The drive was fast and smooth it was just like from KLIA to KL, from the kampong area into the city. Observing the traffic on the highway I could fit in straight away and I will enjoy it as well because in Shenzhen even the trucks and busses were ‘mencilok’, jumping, from lane to lane. Shenzhen as a city began to take shape as we rode in and it was definitely a big city where development had been rapid. It was too early to get my bearing but I did recognize certain areas from my first short visit.
To our surprise our taxi was the first one to arrive and I straight away check ourselves in. We had to wait for a while before the others to arrive. I was worried for a while there and was calling everyone to make sure they were on the way. Tired and smelly we staggered to our room and was surprised to find out that it was actually not a three rooms apartment. I went down to the counter to enquire and with their limited English they said that the apartment that I booked was actually 3 bed apartment not a 3 bedrooms apartment. I just laughed in their face when I heard the explanation. I had no choice as they ddi not have a three rooms actually so we decided, all 13 of us, to squeeze into the two bedroom apartment. After all it is just going to be a place for us to sleep. With our luggage in the room I announced that we were going out for dinner. We were lucky when we came in I saw the word Muslim on one of the restaurant’s door nearby and we walked there. The night was quite humid that should have warned us for the days ahead. But we were too happy to be derailed by things like the weather. The dinner was ok and I could guess we could only last for two days on that kind of food. The taste and the ingredients used were not for our palate. But because we were hungry we just ate. I paid around 200 yuan for the meal that was roughly around RM100. When we came in there was already a Malay family eating and I say Malay because the lady was wearing tudung and they looked Malay. When they were finished they were good enough to come over to our table to say hello and chat. They were actually from Brunei and would be leaving Shenzhen the next day. She shared about her, mostly, shopping experience, and when we said that we will be staying for five days she excitedly exclaimed lamanya! Well that is relative for a shopping mad individuals and it may not be enough he he. And before they left they warned us about pickpockets as well as Yuan conman. If we were to use a 100 yuan bill they will switch it with a fake one and tell us our bill is fake. So my advice is not to use 100 yuan bill in any small outlet and only use them in big shopping complex. Even then please be careful.
I thought we were going to walk to check out the rest of the place there but everyone was tired. Tired? It was only a 4 hour flight and they were tired. Since we were going to have an early morning I relented. All of us accept those watching the EURO 08 went to sleep early. The room came with a free broadband internet and I spent some time surfing and reading my emails.
LCCT – Shenzhen - Flight AK88
We had to rush even with our best effort to be as early as possible. I hate being late and I hate rushing but it happened. Nothing we could do about it as it was Airasia’s checkin counter mess. I knew why we were rushed to the plane because Mr Fenandez recently came out to announce that they will compensate all flyers if they were delayed. With small children how can we move that fast? Luckily, even we did not get seats next to one another at least close enough to each other. I just wanted to read and sleep as soon as I was on board but Mar and hunger distracted me. Both Along and Baqir were fast asleep the minute they were seated. That’s because they had been staying up the whole night. One of my colleagues in the office recently remarked that Airasia is not ready for international flight and having had the first hand experience I guess she has a point. Another thing that disturbed me was the kiasu behaviour of most of the passengers. Yes, we know we did not have our seat assigned but do we have to be like children to board. I am not about to insult them but it was as if that was their first time on a plane. All the decency and courtesy suddenly just went out of the windows when we were ready to board. I hope time will change that.
On a short flight I normally like to have an isle seat so I just settled myself next to two China nationals. When I decided to sit there they sort of made sound complaint and I said to them in English that, ‘I bought my ticket legally as well you know and may picked any seat that I wish because Mr Fanendez decided you all had to fight for them.’ Obviously with their limited English they did not have a clue to what I said and I just smiled at them. My agenda as soon as we boarded was to read and maybe doze off in preparation for the days in China, Mar’s was to order her favourite hotdogs, Baqir and Ghazi their lunch but they were fast asleep already so I let them sleep. It was a short 4 hour flight where the takeoff was lousy.
Since I was in the isle seat I could not see Shenzhen’s bright city lights when we approached to land but by the glimpsed I judged it to be quite a big city. Everyone was excited and we landed safely at around 2030. It was a breeze to get through the immigration where the only small incident was when the immigration lady attending to my travel documents being OA. Of course I had my US visa and just returned from the US and having the Visa does not mean I am a US citizen. Still she found it necessary to notify her superior that I had a US visa. On hearing her explanation her supervisor just gave a dry smile as if just to please her. Maybe she was just that type of person. Of course all these were conducted in Chinese and my guess would not be that far from the truth.
After that was the hard part – how to figure out the best way to go to our hotel. My instinct said taxi but I needed to explore other alternatives, if there was any. I asked the lady at the tourist bus ticket counter and she misunderstood my question. Then I asked one airport security guy he replied to me in Chinese. Well he tried his best to be helpful, I salute him for that, and in the end both of us sort of agreed that the best way is to take taxi. For us it meant three taxis. With that I pull out the small hotel map with the hotel name in Chinese and get everyone to wait at the taxi stand. I showed the first driver our destination and he understood immediately and I asked Ngah, Tariq and family to take the first one. I showed the map to
the second driver and he was confused, how could that be the hotel name was in Chinese, and when the first driver saw us struggling with the second driver he came over to explain and he did the same with the third driver. With that off we went into Shenzhen’s night. From inside the taxi I could see Shenzhen was very dry and no sign of rain at all let alone flood as reported in other part of southern China. I was worried that we will end up with a wet holiday but by all indications thus far was encouraging.Early on we realized that taxi driver would want to rule the road in Shenzhen and their best friend is the horn. As they kept on blaring the horn at every opportunity. The drive was fast and smooth it was just like from KLIA to KL, from the kampong area into the city. Observing the traffic on the highway I could fit in straight away and I will enjoy it as well because in Shenzhen even the trucks and busses were ‘mencilok’, jumping, from lane to lane. Shenzhen as a city began to take shape as we rode in and it was definitely a big city where development had been rapid. It was too early to get my bearing but I did recognize certain areas from my first short visit.
To our surprise our taxi was the first one to arrive and I straight away check ourselves in. We had to wait for a while before the others to arrive. I was worried for a while there and was calling everyone to make sure they were on the way. Tired and smelly we staggered to our room and was surprised to find out that it was actually not a three rooms apartment. I went down to the counter to enquire and with their limited English they said that the apartment that I booked was actually 3 bed apartment not a 3 bedrooms apartment. I just laughed in their face when I heard the explanation. I had no choice as they ddi not have a three rooms actually so we decided, all 13 of us, to squeeze into the two bedroom apartment. After all it is just going to be a place for us to sleep. With our luggage in the room I announced that we were going out for dinner. We were lucky when we came in I saw the word Muslim on one of the restaurant’s door nearby and we walked there. The night was quite humid that should have warned us for the days ahead. But we were too happy to be derailed by things like the weather. The dinner was ok and I could guess we could only last for two days on that kind of food. The taste and the ingredients used were not for our palate. But because we were hungry we just ate. I paid around 200 yuan for the meal that was roughly around RM100. When we came in there was already a Malay family eating and I say Malay because the lady was wearing tudung and they looked Malay. When they were finished they were good enough to come over to our table to say hello and chat. They were actually from Brunei and would be leaving Shenzhen the next day. She shared about her, mostly, shopping experience, and when we said that we will be staying for five days she excitedly exclaimed lamanya! Well that is relative for a shopping mad individuals and it may not be enough he he. And before they left they warned us about pickpockets as well as Yuan conman. If we were to use a 100 yuan bill they will switch it with a fake one and tell us our bill is fake. So my advice is not to use 100 yuan bill in any small outlet and only use them in big shopping complex. Even then please be careful.
I thought we were going to walk to check out the rest of the place there but everyone was tired. Tired? It was only a 4 hour flight and they were tired. Since we were going to have an early morning I relented. All of us accept those watching the EURO 08 went to sleep early. The room came with a free broadband internet and I spent some time surfing and reading my emails.
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