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.

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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...

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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....

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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...