As of the last two months, I basically disappeared to a different country. I haven't been back to China since my first trip alone 4 years ago. I no longer need to take connecting flights as there is one that goes straight to Guangzhou. I have multiple entries on my visa and it lasts for ten years. What an improvement for those of us overseas! I had high expectations and great plans in my head only to find out that this vacation would be much different than four years ago.
This time I had a traveling partner, my mom. It was about time to check up on my grandparents. They are old and they need help from time to time. Seeing us would cheer them up and brighten up their days. I was prepared to put down everything including Internet connection. I wanted to shut out everything and focus solely on my time in China. To be honest, I didn't tell a single soul where I went so no one had any idea where I disappeared to. Though I think most people don't really give two shits about it and probably didn't acknowledge my existence in the first place. So much for having a social network.
At the airport, the security line was long. We had really heavy hand carry baggage since we couldn't cram everything into our luggage. This time I wanted to try to bring the empty water bottle. Last time my mom did it, they took it away. After doing heavy pre-flight research, I'd figure I should do it anyway. We got lucky this time. We were riding with China Southern Airlines and they always came around with water and drinks to keep the passengers hydrated. The air conditioning wasn't freezing cold and we got an empty seat. Ahh ... no more restless legs. But seats on China Southern are pretty small compared to Cathay Pacific.
Probably the worst things that happened during this trip was me getting extremely air sick and being unable to sleep. I know for sure now that I can't handle air sickness. I couldn't eat anything no matter how tasty it looked and China Southern serves good food. The sensation of nausea would well up to throat and I had to turn to my only option; ginger. The snacks I brought along with me remained uneaten throughout the flight. Gosh, I hate air sickness. On the 14 hour flight, I couldn't sleep for the most part until the last six hours or so. There was a child on the plane who would not stop crying no matter what. Just when you think he stopped, he will cry again ten minutes later to no end. I try to lull myself to sleep and ended up putting on headphones to listen to music nonstop. Somehow those long hours manage to pass.
Once we reached China, it was a great surprise. For the very first time I am wearing long sleeves and not sweating like hell. Our first week was surprisingly cool. Then it just got really hot and himd. We got SIM cards for our phones and I found out that having a Google phone would be the worst thing to carry. I had no idea that even Yahoo pulled out of the Chinese market so the browser would always direct itself to Yahoo Singapore. How the hell was I suppose to search something? The worker at the phone store suggested I use Baidu as it is widely used here. I later found out that Bing works really well. Youtube is blocked here, but I downloaded a Tudou app to satisfy my anime watching. That's how I manage to enjoy my Cantonese dubbed Kyou Kara Ore Wa. Tumblr can take a while to load, but it's not blocked. I got a lot of my entertainment news from there.
I was sorely reminded how weak my body could be. During the first month of vacation, I had serious allergies. What?! I never have allergies when I come back so why now? After much thinking throughout the month, it was probably due to the dusty air I was breathing in. The weather was fairly dry at that time and there was a hell lot of dust from the nearby construction. Plus I haven't came back in such a long time, my body needed some time to adjust, not to mention some serious jetlag. My grandparents' house was also old and dusty which triggered my symptoms. I also got really sick that month. This would change in the second month. I felt absolutely fine and there were certain things that I noticed I had improved upon. For instance, I never felt sore legs even after a full day of walking. The exercising I had done for the past year was working.
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