HomeThis is my new home. It shows nothing except what I told Jason. “Penguin stays where I sleep.”
Transportation
On our first day to school, we rode this bus with smelly people in it. Another time, we waited for 35 minutes for a bus that goes to the university but in vain. We ended up taking a cab. Ivy and I agreed that we should take the special bus at SM to go to school. Ordinary buses costs 1rmb for non-ac and 2rmb for those with ac. The pretty bus costs 3rmb. It’s new, clean and almost like our private bus. Once, I met my Korean classmate who’s also taking the same bus. We were the only three passengers (me, ivy and my classmate) until we reached the end of the terminal. Normally, there were about 5 passengers. Oks pa mga drivers. They are not drivers from hell. Magpapaka-burgis nalang ako kahit mahal.
School
My school building is up on a hill, with no Ikot or Toki to take me there. Everyday, it’s a long walk. I have to wear rubber shoes as much as possible coz I’m afraid that the cheapo planet chinelas would break down.
The school has a lake instead of a Sunken Garden.
Food
I’ve mentioned this before… ayoko na ng food dito. As much as possible, we prepare our own food.
I already tried the Filipino food here. There’s a restaurant called Venezia, owned by a Tsinoy. Ang sarap ng sisig and sinigang! Benta rin sa Indonesian friends ko yung sisig, sobra crunchy kasi. Although there’s no kalamansi. They used lemon instead.
Since there is no Starbucks around, I substituted coffee for milk tea. I crave for it everyday. Standard pa naman dito na ang milk tea may kasamang pearls na parang sa Zagu. Overdose na ko ng sago ngayon.
People
I’ve met a lot of different kinds of people here. May weirdo, may masungit, may overly friendly…
One day, Ivy, me and Novi (our friend from Indonesia) went to hang out in a place na may super sarap na milk tea. 6rmb… that’s the most expensive milk tea that I’ve tried. But the place is ok,… with cozy lounge seats. Then there came this waiter who took our order. He realized that we’re not locals. He brought his English books tapos nagpapaturo samin. He wrote out his name and gave his number. Nakikipag-appointment na samin kung kelan daw kami free to teach him. We pretended that we cannot understand him to make him go away. Grabe… nakakatakot sha.
On another time, Ivy and I are waiting on a bus station. A guy approached us to ask where the bookstore is. I told him that we are not from here and we don’t know the place. Tapos parang na excite sha. He asked where we are from and if we can speak English. He’s a local, from another province, but his English is quite good. Medjo nerdy lang impression ko coz he talked about the best universities and cities in China and all that. Memorize pa ata nya yung ranking. Top 20 daw Xiamen University. Great, 20 lang?!
On our way home last Saturday, we rode the pretty bus with, as usual, with about 5 people. Another guy of about 40 asked me where the bus route goes. E medjo mabilis, sabi ko sa kanya, di ko sha maintindihan coz I’m not from here. Na-excite nanaman, just like the other guy. He asked me why I don’t look like a foreigner. Tapos yun na… interview…like what I’m doing here, how long is the course in school, where my ancestors came from, pang ilang generation na ako… Grabe… eto talaga the ultimate Mandarin Challenge. Pahirapan. Di ko pa masabi in Mandarin the province of my grandparents. Sinulat ko, then he taught me how to say it. (At least I learned something). He gave me his calling card. He works in a shipping company, sending goods to Thailand, but he came from this so and so province from way up north na lagging may snow. (O diba, naintindihan ko!) He told me that my Mandarin level is pang Grade 2. Dunno if I should be flattered or not, coz I’m only Grade 1 level 3 in school. (Grade 4 is the highest, wala na Grade 5.) Anyway, it so happened that he also went down at the SM bus terminal. Ang kulit talaga nya. He invited us to this store selling clothes tapos sobrang *close* sila ng owner ng store who’s a girl of my age. Di naman talaga sha bibili dun, as in tambay lang. Labo talaga. Nakipagchikahan kami sa owner ng store, named Michelle. Grabe, the Mandarin Challenge continues….Wala lang… they just wanna make friends with alien creatures. Labo talaga.
I know a lot of people here cannot be trusted, topak, no manners, but there are some friendly people here, or dunno if they only act that way to foreigners.
Shopping - “Stop it! Stop it!”
It’s hard to resist Giordano and Bossini when they are on sale. I was able to buy 4 shirts already… e hello, wala pa ko one month dito. Sobra cheaper as compared to Manila. Actually, masmura pa as compared to the export overrun shirts sa Greenhills. When they’re on sale, they usually have my size. It’s not like Bayo na pag sale panay large or x-large nalang. Mom was right when she told me not to bring too much clothes. Dito nalang daw ako bumili. Good thing I did not bring in too much.
Ivy and I saw this spectacular jacket at Bossini, black or white with copper–colored beads… pero super mahal, 235rmb. Wala na, hanggang tingin nalang kami. I told her to wait for the end of autumn sale, baka 50% off na. Although kahit 50% off, di ko yun bibilhin. Mahal parin.
About two and a half years ago, Panny and I visited a lot of Nike outlets in Manila in search for this basic black Nike chinelas na wala na ang size ko. Yesterday, I found it! There’s an outlet for sale items of Nike and Addidas at Huo Che Zhan (Train Station) and there it is, the only one, on sale, and it’s my size! Finally, I got my pretty black chinelas!
Stop it! Stop it!
We went to Zhong Shan Lu, the ultimate shopping district here. We are actually in search for the night market, but we only found a strip of collapsible stores. I don't think that's the one.
Their shopping district is quite busy at night. They have street performances for free.
