First up, woe is me, for I have been ill.
Woe too, therefore, to my faithful regular readership which has more than doubled (from 2 to 5!!!)
But the show must go on. And gritting my teeth, and trying to handle my infirmity with utmost fortitude, I do a short review today.
It's almost been half a year since, because of envy and jealousy borne out of Jac's rich pickings in blog ad revenues, I tried beat a path for myself and make some money on the side as well.
Alas, sad to say, the going has not been smooth so far. Readership, despite its phenomenal doubling over the last month, is low in absolute terms, to say the least. And the stats show that for a long time, my most-read post was Chick Magnet - My Pussy.
That puzzled me for a while - and then it all made sense. Especially when I delved a little further into the stats that the good people at Blogger.com automatically collate for all earnest bloggers like myself. I looked under the section Keyword Search and when I saw "friendly + pussies", I couldn't resist a chuckle. I could just imagine a hormone-charged teen keying in the words "Chick + Pussies + Stroke + Pictures" under the Search function of blogger and then reading the first few lines of that particular post, which quoted a female friend of mine saying "... I cannot resist stroking your pussy behind a closed door" only to scroll down and see pictures of my two very adorable cats. That must surely have gotten him (or her?!?!) down (hmm... should a pun be intended?)
As Jac told me, if one blogs only for the money, then it is most probable that one would not be able to keep it up. Indeed, after a few months, I've discovered that there is a bizarre (and sometimes perverse) thrill to putting into writing one's thoughts and posting pictures for others so that they see the world, however briefly, through our eyes and it's more than enough if it at least one person appreciates it. As Jac pointed out, most people would read your blog at least once because you told or asked them to, but only a few would continuously go back to it because they genuinely think it is a good read - it is for those few people who you dedicatedly and assiduously write for (and sometimes to).
That said, more hits and more readership, serendipitously obtained or otherwise, is most welcome. And that is why this post will appear to anybody who enters into a Keyword Search the following:- "Virgin" and "Pussy" and "Pictures".
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
On A Whim - Asian Games!!! - Part 2
We didn't know it at the time, but Shang Xia Jiu, the well-known bazaar cum mall cum street food paradise cum shopping complex, was nearby to Shamian Island, so I took my Dad for a look, even though I had been there but two weeks ago.
All I can say is that the place is more thronging and crowded in the late afternoon on a Saturday than perhaps anytime of the week.
My Dad was hoping to find cheap T-shirts of the short-sleeved variety but could not find any. Winter was just at the door-step after all. It was on that note that we decided to give Carrefour a try, since they seemed to have everything the last time I visited them at Shenzhen.
Carrefour Guangzhou had almost everything but alas, not cheap short-sleeved T-shirts. (Dad, if you are reading, I assure you it was only because winter was impending and not a result of divine conspiracy.)
My Dad, who had been anxious to leave and catch the night's badminton on our rooms giant TV screen, was finally jolted into a buying spree when he saw the 'Discount Section' along the escalator.
I thought it was really intelligent of those people at Carrefour Guangzhou to place exceedingly cheap stuff along the aisles of a moving escalator to induce people into making snap buys. My Dad told me that he'd seen the same thing in Singapore (was it Giant?) but I certainly haven't. Anyway, we went up and down the escalator 4 times.
Anyhow, by the time we finished shopping at Carrefour, it was peak hour, which meant no taxis and - horror of horrors - that the only means of transport back to the hotel was the Guangzhou MTR. I had written about it in an earlier post so will not say too much here, only that I had earnestly hoped not to put my 72-year-old Dad through the ordeal and further that this time, unlike the last, I got to take some pictures of the crowd at the platform.
And that was about it for the trip to Guangzhou, for the next day, we rose early to catch a taxi to the airport, pictures of which I had already posted earlier.
I did take a few pictures at the Games Park in the early morning which I thought would be very nice, if not for the confounded fog/smog/mist which had enveloped the city.
Oh, and at the airport, after we had cleared immigration, my Dad was asked if he wanted to ride in a buggy. Well, nobody turns down free rides. So he said 'Yes', only to discover that it wasn't a free ride but 20 Yuan per person. That said, our departure gate was quite far away and it was very cool having the wind blow in your face in the airport....
All I can say is that the place is more thronging and crowded in the late afternoon on a Saturday than perhaps anytime of the week.
My Dad was hoping to find cheap T-shirts of the short-sleeved variety but could not find any. Winter was just at the door-step after all. It was on that note that we decided to give Carrefour a try, since they seemed to have everything the last time I visited them at Shenzhen.
Carrefour Guangzhou had almost everything but alas, not cheap short-sleeved T-shirts. (Dad, if you are reading, I assure you it was only because winter was impending and not a result of divine conspiracy.)
My Dad, who had been anxious to leave and catch the night's badminton on our rooms giant TV screen, was finally jolted into a buying spree when he saw the 'Discount Section' along the escalator.
I thought it was really intelligent of those people at Carrefour Guangzhou to place exceedingly cheap stuff along the aisles of a moving escalator to induce people into making snap buys. My Dad told me that he'd seen the same thing in Singapore (was it Giant?) but I certainly haven't. Anyway, we went up and down the escalator 4 times.
Anyhow, by the time we finished shopping at Carrefour, it was peak hour, which meant no taxis and - horror of horrors - that the only means of transport back to the hotel was the Guangzhou MTR. I had written about it in an earlier post so will not say too much here, only that I had earnestly hoped not to put my 72-year-old Dad through the ordeal and further that this time, unlike the last, I got to take some pictures of the crowd at the platform.
And that was about it for the trip to Guangzhou, for the next day, we rose early to catch a taxi to the airport, pictures of which I had already posted earlier.
I did take a few pictures at the Games Park in the early morning which I thought would be very nice, if not for the confounded fog/smog/mist which had enveloped the city.
Oh, and at the airport, after we had cleared immigration, my Dad was asked if he wanted to ride in a buggy. Well, nobody turns down free rides. So he said 'Yes', only to discover that it wasn't a free ride but 20 Yuan per person. That said, our departure gate was quite far away and it was very cool having the wind blow in your face in the airport....
On A Whim - Asian Games!!! - Shamian Island
Our hunger for sports being satisfied, we turned our attention to some sight-seeing and headed to Shamian Island, which from what we heard was one of the first places where foreigners were allowed to establish a settlement.
No surprise then, that what with all the European architecture, there were also quaint walkways and gardens which evoked a rustic kind of feel.
While the overhanging branches of large but well-pruned trees contributed no end to the atmosphere of the place...
I was happy to say that even in a place like this where there was a very colonial, European theme, some contrasts could be seen. From stately buildings revealing glimpses of the island's past...
To the large number of visitors showing that there is no avoiding the fact that this has turned from what was a European enclave into a tourist attraction.
Still, there are some people who call this place home, like this group of old ladies having their mahjong session in open, enjoying the pleasant late afternoon air, seemingly oblivious to the sweeping changes taking hold all over their little island, their city, and China on the whole.
No surprise then, that what with all the European architecture, there were also quaint walkways and gardens which evoked a rustic kind of feel.
While the overhanging branches of large but well-pruned trees contributed no end to the atmosphere of the place...
I was happy to say that even in a place like this where there was a very colonial, European theme, some contrasts could be seen. From stately buildings revealing glimpses of the island's past...
To the large number of visitors showing that there is no avoiding the fact that this has turned from what was a European enclave into a tourist attraction.
Still, there are some people who call this place home, like this group of old ladies having their mahjong session in open, enjoying the pleasant late afternoon air, seemingly oblivious to the sweeping changes taking hold all over their little island, their city, and China on the whole.
Monday, November 22, 2010
On A Whim - Asian Games!!! - Guangzhou Olympic Sports Complex
Remember that the previous post I said that we were told to meet up with some kids the next day to collect tix for the Games? The rendezvous place was the Guangzhou Olympic Sport Complex so there we went.
As we milled around the entrance to the Complex, my Dad was quite excited as we had been promised Athletics tickets. I, on the other hand, was a bit skeptical as the Games website showed that the Athletics programme did not begin until Sunday.
And it turned out that I was correct. For the kid turned up with hockey tickets and asked for 380 Yuan. We did not really want to watch hockey but I told my Dad that the tickets would at least allow us to go in and see the facilities up close so we bargained down to 350 Yuan a piece and bought them, relieved in a way that they did not cost the 1200 Yuan we had been offered the day before.
We then proceeded to queue - for quite a long while - to get in...
And then just as we were about to get in, the kid called saying that he now had tickets for tennis, which was ongoing in the same complex and asked whether we would care for tickets at 600 Yuan a piece. Considering that my Dad watches a lot more tennis than hockey and considering that Peng Shuai is one of my Dad's favourite Chinese female players, we bargained down to 550 Yuan each and bought them.
We were quite pleased with our purchased actually - until we saw the offical selling price - 10 Yuan.
Minor glitch there. And we did not let it get us down as we feasted our sights at the magnificient Complex. Now, you know I'm a sucker for neatly ordered wide open spaces so its no surprise that I was very impressed by the layout of the place.
These are some of the pictures we took of the facilities and the decorative artifices...
But enough of the surrounding scenery. On to the Games proper. As I said just now, we had tickets for tennis. The Centre Court was a colossal crucible-like structure. The way it was shaped made for a tremendous atmosphere - great if the crowd was with you, intimidating to say the least if it was not.
Also, no measure was spared to ensure that the players could concentrate as fully as possible on the match at hand. To that end, we could only enter Centre Court in between points. This is a picture of us waiting to get inside...
And what we saw the minute we stepped in...
These are some of the views of the arena...
And this was the giant screen in showing goings-on in between points (Not during, because I presume it may distract the players). Notice how the crowd sits within the shade only?
Anyhow... On to the match we were waiting for... It was between Peng Shuai, this lovely girl here...
And Chang Kai-Zhen, this equally comely lass...
Peng was from China and Chang from Chinese Taipei. Despite that slight difference in geography, it was clear whose side the crowd, and my Dad, was on. Peng won in the end, after a tight second set. When she won the Gold medal a few days later, we were delighted to have watched the eventual women's champion.
Before that had happened however, I had queued 20 minutes....
To purchase this. It was very fragrant 'French Bread'. It did not have any fillings, but it was filling, but partly fulfilling. We were full - and filled - but not quite fulfilled.... (Ok, I know... This is overkill, right?)
I also had a chance to pass by Court No. 1, where the top seed Kimiko Date had apparently just beaten what, from a distance, looked like a cute Korean player by the name of Lee. I noticed that the seats there allowed far greater proximity to the players. Darn, maybe I should have watched there too.
But by the time the tennis matches ended, we hardly had time for the hockey, which, being between Japan and Hong Kong, didn't appeal to us that much after all...
So not so many pictures of that... Anyhow, that was our brief but tantalizing first-hand experience of the Games...
Sunday, November 21, 2010
On A Whim - Asian Games!!! - Part 1
My Dad was to have undergone a minor medical procedure on Friday morning. I had taken leave to accompany him to the hospital.
When I returned home on Thursday night, he told me that the operation had been postponed. Without wanting to give further details, he said this, "It's just as well. I get to watch the Asian Games. Who knows, it may be my last Asian Games..."
I don't know what got over me. But I replied, "No Dad, it will be your first..."
My Dad thought I was crazy, but he is, if anything, adventurous. So hence began another spontaneous, last-minute, spur of the moment journey as I sought to let my Dad watch his first Asian Games in-person, on site.
To do that, we had to get to Guangzhou. And we had a few hours left to plot our journey. I tried to plan an itinerary which would give us enough time to spend at the Games but still allow me adequate time to get back for work on Monday. It had also to be preferably one which would allow me and my 72-year-old father to travel in relative comfort without us having to pawn the family furniture, what with last-minute tickets being notoriously expensive.
The way I saw it, either we downgraded the hotel or the plane trip. I opted to downgrade the plane trip. That meant that we had to fly budget the first thing in the morning to Hong Kong, before making our way overland to Guangzhou - the other alternatives were just too expensive.
Now, I know I have recently posted about a very identical trip so I won't bore all of you with the same old details and same old pictures of the same old places. To that end, I will moslty only put up pictures of things and places which were done and seen for the first time.
*************
HONG KONG
We landed in Hong Kong close to 11am and made our way to Tsim Sha Tsui, firstly because my best friend had done all she could to prevail upon me to buy her another box of Jenny's cookies (I now know how to get to Jenny Bakery in Stanley, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui), and secondly because it gave me an opportunity to change out my glut of Hong Kong dollars into Renminbi at a better rate.
We then headed North to Tai Po Market. Remember some posts ago I said how disappointed I was to have arrived at the Tai Po Market Food Centre in the late afternoon to discover that there was no more Dim Sum? I was not to be denied this time and returned with my Dad, luggage and all to the 4th storey of the Food Centre. Only to discover that by lunch time, there were only two items left. Oh well....
They tasted just about ok, by the way...
**********
SHENZHEN
It was then up North via the Hong Kong MTR again to Shenzhen, from where we once again took the speed train to Guangzhou.
I have already previously posted pictures of the train so....
**********
GUANGZHOU
We arrived in our hotel at Guangzhou in the mid-afternoon, where we had a present surprised. As I had booked the rooms last minute, I had merely selected the cheapest available room and presumed it was a Standard Room. I didn't know that I had purchased the Club package, which meant that we could check in at, and had unlimited access to the Hyatt Grand Club.
This was an exclusive area where entitled guests could sit all day long, nurse a drink and savour the quite delectable cookies while talking business or simply savouring the view at a table overlooking the 'Games Park', with the Canton Tower as a backdrop. Here, exclusive does mean exclusive, for the place was at all times quiet, with not more than three tables taken up at any one time.
By the time we settled ourselves in our room, it was already dark (Light starts to fade at around 5pm in this part of the world during this time of the year) so we went to the Club for cocktails, which are from 5.30pm to 8.00pm daily.
And this is what you see looking out of the Club window...
Having seen what it looked like from afar, we would have been stupid not to see the Park up close. And what a difference two weeks made! I had walked along the very same path 12 days ago but this time, the array of lights were far more stunning and the atmosphere just that more palpable.
How's this for a view?
Here again is the venue where the Opening Ceremony was held. It certainly looked different from the last time I saw it.
And this is the Asian Games Flame burning bright...
It was also here that we met some kids who claimed to have tickets for the Games. We had tried to purchase them through official channels but were told they had all been sold out.
They told us that there weren't any tickets for the night's badminton but that if we met them at the Olympic Stadium the next day, they would get us some.
We decided to go to the badminton hall anyway. There, we were offered tickets by scalpers at 1200Yuan a piece. My Dad and I walked away for a bit, shocked at the horrendous mark-up but later decided to go back and purchase them all the same. But by then the tickets had already been sold. Ho hum. The view from TV was so much better anyway.
And this was our first day at the Games...
When I returned home on Thursday night, he told me that the operation had been postponed. Without wanting to give further details, he said this, "It's just as well. I get to watch the Asian Games. Who knows, it may be my last Asian Games..."
I don't know what got over me. But I replied, "No Dad, it will be your first..."
My Dad thought I was crazy, but he is, if anything, adventurous. So hence began another spontaneous, last-minute, spur of the moment journey as I sought to let my Dad watch his first Asian Games in-person, on site.
To do that, we had to get to Guangzhou. And we had a few hours left to plot our journey. I tried to plan an itinerary which would give us enough time to spend at the Games but still allow me adequate time to get back for work on Monday. It had also to be preferably one which would allow me and my 72-year-old father to travel in relative comfort without us having to pawn the family furniture, what with last-minute tickets being notoriously expensive.
The way I saw it, either we downgraded the hotel or the plane trip. I opted to downgrade the plane trip. That meant that we had to fly budget the first thing in the morning to Hong Kong, before making our way overland to Guangzhou - the other alternatives were just too expensive.
Now, I know I have recently posted about a very identical trip so I won't bore all of you with the same old details and same old pictures of the same old places. To that end, I will moslty only put up pictures of things and places which were done and seen for the first time.
*************
HONG KONG
We landed in Hong Kong close to 11am and made our way to Tsim Sha Tsui, firstly because my best friend had done all she could to prevail upon me to buy her another box of Jenny's cookies (I now know how to get to Jenny Bakery in Stanley, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui), and secondly because it gave me an opportunity to change out my glut of Hong Kong dollars into Renminbi at a better rate.
We then headed North to Tai Po Market. Remember some posts ago I said how disappointed I was to have arrived at the Tai Po Market Food Centre in the late afternoon to discover that there was no more Dim Sum? I was not to be denied this time and returned with my Dad, luggage and all to the 4th storey of the Food Centre. Only to discover that by lunch time, there were only two items left. Oh well....
They tasted just about ok, by the way...
**********
SHENZHEN
It was then up North via the Hong Kong MTR again to Shenzhen, from where we once again took the speed train to Guangzhou.
I have already previously posted pictures of the train so....
**********
GUANGZHOU
We arrived in our hotel at Guangzhou in the mid-afternoon, where we had a present surprised. As I had booked the rooms last minute, I had merely selected the cheapest available room and presumed it was a Standard Room. I didn't know that I had purchased the Club package, which meant that we could check in at, and had unlimited access to the Hyatt Grand Club.
This was an exclusive area where entitled guests could sit all day long, nurse a drink and savour the quite delectable cookies while talking business or simply savouring the view at a table overlooking the 'Games Park', with the Canton Tower as a backdrop. Here, exclusive does mean exclusive, for the place was at all times quiet, with not more than three tables taken up at any one time.
By the time we settled ourselves in our room, it was already dark (Light starts to fade at around 5pm in this part of the world during this time of the year) so we went to the Club for cocktails, which are from 5.30pm to 8.00pm daily.
And this is what you see looking out of the Club window...
Having seen what it looked like from afar, we would have been stupid not to see the Park up close. And what a difference two weeks made! I had walked along the very same path 12 days ago but this time, the array of lights were far more stunning and the atmosphere just that more palpable.
How's this for a view?
Here again is the venue where the Opening Ceremony was held. It certainly looked different from the last time I saw it.
And this is the Asian Games Flame burning bright...
It was also here that we met some kids who claimed to have tickets for the Games. We had tried to purchase them through official channels but were told they had all been sold out.
They told us that there weren't any tickets for the night's badminton but that if we met them at the Olympic Stadium the next day, they would get us some.
We decided to go to the badminton hall anyway. There, we were offered tickets by scalpers at 1200Yuan a piece. My Dad and I walked away for a bit, shocked at the horrendous mark-up but later decided to go back and purchase them all the same. But by then the tickets had already been sold. Ho hum. The view from TV was so much better anyway.
And this was our first day at the Games...
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