Itinerary today

I told you all (well, my Plurk friends anyway) that I'm meeting Jenn (May's friend), right?

Well, today, we're planning to meet her in Causeway Bay coz that's where she is (getting a mani).

(11:42:09 AM) may: anyway, puwedeng brunch lang tayo sa Maritime tapos i meet natin si Jenn sa Causeway Bay. Andun kasi siya today. Subukan natin yung cheesecake place.
(11:42:42 AM) may: Go around the area a bit (andun yung high-end shops_ + Ikea. Tapos punta tayo IFC, take Star Ferry. Mas maganda kasi pag gabi.

I'm now in Hong Kong!

Hello there. How are you all doing? It's 1:15 in the morning and I'm not sure why I'm still up. I feel sleepy but I also feel like I should not sleep yet. I know, it doesn't make sense. So here I am typing away while Mayomee is sleeping. Yup, I'm finally in Mayomee's flat. Hehe! She has to go to work tomorrow and I'm going to sleep in a bit before going out to meet up with her after she's done with work.

It was an interesting ride to Hong Kong. Instead of taking the ferry like I did the first time I was here, I took the company shuttle with DS and with a bunch of other folks from the company who were also going to HK. It was too long a car ride and I don't think I'll do that again (if I ever have to go to Shenzhen again). The ferry, even though it made me feel dizzy, was a shorter, better ride than taking the car.

So May met me at the airport and she treated me to dinner at Delifrance. I got pasta (linguine bolognese) and hot lemon tea. We then took the train to go to where she lives. We went through a mall where I was sorely tempted to buy tops at G2000. The store had stuff on sale, too! It was an awesome walk towards her building. I loved it! It was cold but I wasn't feeling cold (I have an awesome jacket from the Weatherproof Company that I got at Marshalls real cheap). I could live in Hong Kong! :-D I want weather like this. Cold but no snow. It's awesome!

Oh at lunch today (or yesterday), DS shared some interesting stories from his college days touring with a band in Japan. It was also my first time to eat duck. The verdict? I don't like duck. The meat is too tough. I'll take chicken any time.


I have to remember to blog about my stay in Shenzhen. So far this has been my most tiring trip. Tiring because I was actually working from 8 to 5 throughout the duration of my stay. It *really* was a business trip. LOL. I'm just glad that this trip gave me the opportunity to drop by HK and finally visit May.

Okay, I think I'm ready to sleep. Till next time, folks!

Second to the last day in Shenzhen

I was going to go downstairs but I wasn't sure what to do. It's not like I want to go to the theme park (there is one across the hotel). Spending money buying stuff I wouldn't use doesn't seem like a good plan. And it's not like I'm not going to shop in Hong Kong because I'm sure I'll be shopping some, if not a lot. There's nowhere else to go unless I take a cab and ask to be taken to a mall. Never mind. I have some work to do anyway so I'll just stay in my room. I was actually on my way to the elevator thinking all this when I turned back and decided to just stay in the room. Hay, life.

So now I don't know what to get for dinner. I'm kind of thinking, maybe, pizza? But what about dessert? I've had the tiramisu and the cheesecake. There's nothing else on the menu that's calling out to me. I kind of want to have the cheesecake again, haha! Even though I wasn't really all that happy with it. I don't know what it is with me lately but I've been craving cheesecakes like nobody's business! I hope there's a place where I can get good cheesecakes in Hong Kong. Paging, May!

So... my colleague and I chatted a bit in the car on the way back to the hotel. He was telling me about his family. I was mostly listening and commenting---okay, *mostly* listening. I tend not to talk a lot when I have only met someone for the first time. It's not that I'm uncomfortable being around him, no, it's more like I don't know what to say because I'm not interesting and I don't do anything interesting. I don't have any activities outside of work and home. Malling and eating out are notinteresting activities. He's an interesting guy, very nerdy, very geeky. You should hear him talk about the project we're doing---very intense! Too bad he's married. LOL He has a twin brother, though, but with my luck he's probably also married. And, no, I don't have a crush on the dude. But I will admit that he is crushable. I mean, hello, someone who is the chief officer and chair of a standards organization? C'mon, how many times do you meet guys like that? I can't tell you what organization it is because it's a dead giveaway. And he might be someone who googles himself. I don't want him clicking on my blog.

I gotta tell you, the hainan chicken rice (or hainanese chicken) that I had for din din last night was not what I expected it to be. I mean, sure, there's a lot of it but it didn't taste as good as I thought it would. I've had better hainanese chicken in the Philippines.

Hello from Shenzhen!

In my hotel room at the Crowne Plaza, Shenzhen, China.

Almost set for China

Well, I'm almost packed for my trip to Shenzhen tomorrow. The only thing I have not packed is my shoes. I'm not putting it in yet because I'm airing it out in our garage/laundry area.

I ended up bringing my huge suitcase because I packed a *lot* of clothes. I know I'll only be in Shenzhen for four days, and then I'm spending half of Friday till Sunday in Hong Kong with May, but I packed more than 4 days' worth of clothes. I'm still thinking about whether I should only bring my trusty white Keds (it saw me through my trip to Munich last year) or bring another pair of shoes (flats).

*sigh* I hate thinking about whether I have enough space for the stuff I will shop for in Hong Kong. There's not enough space left in my suitcase. But I really would not be able to shop that much (now that I think about it) because I did not save for this trip to HK.

*****
My tummy's still buggy. I feel slashes of pain in the stomach area every now and then, and I haven't told my mom about it because I don't want her to worry about how I'll be when I'm in China. My UTI is almost gone. I got checked Thursday afternoon and the result showed very significant improvement.

Let's talk about the trip to Hyderabad

I'm sure it's obvious that I'm back from Hyderabad. I got home Wednesday afternoon, around 4 p.m. Thankfully there were no delays on the flights. We even left Hyderabad a couple minutes earlier than scheduled. I love trips like that!

Unfortunately I did not get to shop as much as I had been planning to in Changi Airport. I did not get much sleep because my flight was at 12:20 a.m. (GMT+5.5). In Changi I had to keep going back and forth because the gate where we got in was far from the gate where I'm to board the flight to Manila. And I did not see any sign about what direction to take to get to Gate E28 (We got in gate E7 or something). I did not even get a decent breakfast at Changi, even though I wanted to. I was just too tired and did not feel like eating. I had maybe $20 to spend on breakfast and all I got at Spinelli's was Earl Grey tea. Blech. I managed to buy a neck pillow at that $20 store in Changi. I did not bring my blow-up neck pillow and was having a heck of a time sleeping because I couldn't position my head comfortably.

Anyway, you obviously also know that I had a great time in Hyderabad. I wasn't sad or weepy or anything. Not like I was my first two days in Munich. You know, I forget why I was sad my first two days in Munich. I better go dig up that blog post about it. I'm sure I'll laugh reading it because I can't imagine why I was sad and weepy then. All I could think of is that Munich is the first city I've been to where people spoke languages other than English, and I wasn't used to it. I felt lost, and scared that I will stay lost. And the town where my hotel is is a place where very, very few people spoke English. The up-side to the Munich trip was that I wasn't as apprehensive going out by myself, taking public transportation. In Hyderabad, I was advised by a Hyderabadi not to take the auto-rickshaws. I e-mailed this guy whom I found online. He had a website about Hyderabad. A week before my trip I asked him what places would be nice to visit and where I could find so and so stuff. He told me a bunch of things including what kind of transportation to take.

My teammates met me at my hotel, Ista, on Sunday morning, 11 a.m. Before I go into what we did, let me tell you about the Ista Hotel. The Ista is a wonderful hotel! I totally loved my stay there. It was my first time to stay at a five star hotel so you can just imagine how awed I was by the service and the facilities. They were so wonderful! I've mentioned it once here, I know, but I want to say it again: I still think those two boys from in-room dining are very, very cute! I only got one of the names, though—Jacob, I'll never forget you! If I could've stayed pen pals or e-mail pals with you, I would. You are too cute! I wish I could've gotten the name of the chinky-eyed dude. He was also cute.

At the end of my stay I gladly filled out the guest survey form and made sure to give it to them. In return, one of the hotel managers sent me an e-mail to thank me for taking the time to fill out the form. How about that! Too bad I never got the chance to check out the pool. I was wanting to but I found out that some people from our other sites (one from Tempe and one from Marlborough were also in Hyderabad visiting our office) were also billeted at the same hotel. I didn't want to run into them at the pool. Yeah, I'm shy that way (as if you didn't know).

So... I felt a little stupid when I first met my teammates. I immediately handed them the stuff I got for them (dried mangoes and a mini jeepney to remember the Philippines by haha!) and after saying hi and asking who was who, I led them outside so we could look for the driver and the car I had reserved for that day. When we were in the car, I was mentally smacking my head—I should've sat down at the hotel lobby with them first and gone over the itinerary. I'm stupid, what can I say. Plus I was also feeling way too shy and felt that I needed to keep things moving/going so I won't have time to feel so absolutely shy.

We first went to the Golconda Fort. I had read about it in an online forum and thought it would be a nice place to see. It was a nice place to see, but the timing could've been better. We should've gone there later in the day when the sun wasn't so annoyingly bright and hot. We didn't get to go to the top of the fort because 1) it was tiring, and 2) it was super hot. We'd have collapsed had we tried. I had fun looking at the empty rooms in the fort. You'll just have to get on Wikipedia to read about it because I can't remember half of the details. What was interesting about the place was their means of informing each other when there's trouble. Several places had this diamond-shaped depressions in the ceiling. This structure created an effect that helped them communicate with each other over long distances. For example, if you stood in the center of the place where the diamond-shaped depressions were, you could clap and the clap would echo 24 times (I think is what they said) and you could hear the clap from way beyond. There's also this room where they said the guests of the king were made to wait or sit, and in that room, whatever they talked about could be heard by the king from way up in his room! It had the same diamond-shaped things in the corners of the ceiling.

Oh, funny story at the Golconda. There's an entrance fee and it's 5 rupees per person and 100 rupees for a foreigner. The guy at the ticket booth said I was okay to go in for 5 rupees but the security guard would not let me get away with just 5 rupees. My teammates argued with him about it and they told him that I was from Northern India and that's why I looked the way I did. So then the security guard started talking to me in Hindi and I was like, "I'm sorry? What are you saying?" LOL! Raj had to pay the 100 rupees for me to get in. It was really funny.



We finished at the Golconda at past 1 in the afternoon. We went to a shopping mall and had lunch at an Indian restaurant. Seena treated us to lunch as it was her birthday the week before. Lunch was very good. Unfortunately I took no pictures. I was too hungry and didn't want to make them think I was weird or something if I had to make them wait before they could eat just so I could take pictures. Plus the server started serving the food as soon as it was on our table so I could hardly ask him to stop and put things back. LOL. I'm glad my teammates were not into anything too spicy. I asked them to keep things less spicy because I wanted to be able to eat the food and taste it. :-D They were very accommodating.

Hyderabad is a lot like Metro Manila—the crowd, the traffic, the driving, the motorcycles, it was all similar and very familiar to me. They have places that remind me of Quiapo, Divisoria, Quezon Avenue, etc. The area where the Charminar is looks very, very much like Quiapo and Divisoria. You can buy all sorts of stuff there. I got my sister's beads and stones at some stall in Charminar. But Seena says that the Charminar isn't the cheapest place to buy souvenirs. She says it's even more expensive there as it is a tourist spot. I'm thinking the vendors at the Charminar know how to play the tourists.

I'm glad I was with my teammates when I bought my sister's stuff. If they were not with me, I'd have probably been scammed! You won't believe how much one dude was charging me for a couple of strands of stones and pendants. It was crazy.

We didn't get to visit too many places that Sunday but I still had fun. They showed me the Hussain Sagar Lake and we drove around it before we went back to the hotel. I was so tired that evening that it was easy to fall asleep. I had a very, very good dinner of Murg Ka Raab soup and lemon cheesecake.

It was back to work on Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday I took them to lunch at The Spicy Venue restaurant, and then they took me to this crafts village near the office. Unfortunately, we did not get to go through the whole place because I had to get back to work to get in touch with someone. :-( There were so many cool things to buy at the crafts village and it would've been nice if I had had the chance to go through each stall and bought stuff to give to friends. Not having enough time is a bitch, I tell you.

I wish I had stayed one more day like I had originally planned. But I had stuff to do back home. I'm hoping there will be a next time. I want to spend time with them again! They are my teammates after all and I manage them now. Hopefully the company will allow a second business trip to Hyderabad?

Click here to see pictures in my Hyderabad Flickr set.

Trust what you know about yourself

I always, always think I will change or be better at accepting things especially when it comes to food. This evening I learned (what my mind keeps saying to me time and again, and yet I fail to listen) that I could only do 'heat' at the jenfur (i.e., me) level, and never the level that Indians or whoever else likes spicy things could. I ordered Dum Biryani for dinner and asked if they could make it less spicy. Unfortunately the mix is pre-done so they couldn't adjust the heat. After maybe five spoonfuls of the thing (I valiantly tried, mind you), I quit. I just couldn't take the heat. I couldn't taste the food anymore because it was too spicy (for me). But boy could I smell it. It smelled so good, so delicious. But it was too spicy. :-(

I don't know why I keep insisting on doing things the opposite way, the way I'm unaccustomed to. It's insane that I keep trying because past experiences show that there are things that are meant to be done the way I have always done them. No amount of pepping or getting egged on will change it. In the end, if I do things a different way, try things I normally would stay away from, I become sorely disappointed. And then I mentally smack my own head for thinking that I could do things differently.

And, yes, the second para also hints at a recent situation at work. If you're in Plurk, you know what I'm talking about.

Saturday in Hyderabad

I haven't done much except call R and talk about the plans for tomorrow.

I finally got my dollars exchanged for rupees. I also just ordered lunch; it's 2:18 p.m. here and I'm hungry. I had to wait for the guy that I was getting my Indian currency from and had to get bigger notes changed to smaller ones to use for tipping.

I also called for transportation because I need to go to the bookstore and to the supermarket to get some supplies. The food items in the mini bar are too expensive! I already opened the Doritos they had because I was so hungry! I did this at 2 a.m. this morning as I was still up then. I have to get paper bags for the dried mangoes and miniature jeepneys I got my teammates for souvenirs from the Philippines.

Tomorrow we're all going out! :-D I hope the transportation service isn't too expensive for our trip tomorrow.

Cute guy alert

A cute guy brought up the breakfast I ordered earlier. He was *really* cute! I wish I had asked if I could take his picture. I just don't know what reason to give. I hope I run into him again (if I manage to venture out of my room!) and take photos of him in secret. LOL!

Man, I'm hungry.

I created a photo set for Hyderabad in Flickr. The photos that are up were taken in Changi and some are pictures of my hotel room. Hehe! Just keep checking my photostream for updates.

Hello from Hyderabad, India!

Yes, friends, I am in Hyderabad.

I am holed up in my room enjoying air-conditioning. It looks to be quite hot outside, just judging by how bright the sun is.

I am staying at the Ista Hotel in Gachibowli. While my room isn't as big as what I'm used to when I go on a business trip to the US, it *is* pretty nice. I just discovered a couple minutes ago that the TV automatically mutes when you are on the phone (room landline)! How cool is that? I've never been in a hotel where they had that feature. Amazing!

I don't feel too good, though. It may be because of all the coughing and sneezing at the boarding area last night in Changi airport, while I was waiting to board the flight to Hyderabad. I am ordering breakfast in the room because I don't feel too well to go downstairs to get breakfast.

Today I have to call my teammate to tell him what time is okay to start tomorrow. Yes, my teammates are all meeting me tomorrow here at my hotel and they are going to take me around the city! I am so excited about this! Then I have to call the travel agency to ask them to have someone from their company come over so I can change US dollars to India rupees. I had US$100 changed in Changi last night so I have money to pay for the cab. The exchange rate was INR41 to US$1 so I got INR4100. I'm missing INR600, if we are to go by the going exchange rate. But 41 to a US$1 is still a pretty good deal I would say. Not like when I changed US$1000 to Euros in Schiphol. I only got around 600 Euros for US$1000. Can you believe that?!

I am waiting for breakfast while typing up this post. I should try to remove the SD card from my mobile phone so I can use my card reader to download pics. Windows sucks in that I can't use the bluetooth to connect to the phone and browse the SD card. Sucks! That's one of the things I love about my Mac---it lets me connect wirelessly to devices and browse its contents. The annoying thing with my phone (a Nokia 6700 classic) is that the SD card is a pain to take out! I think the probability of me taking off a fingernail is higher than getting the damn card out.