China Touch & Go trip, Shenzhen, Hong Kong & Guangzhou - 30th November to 4th November 2011

It has been very long since the last time I blogged in. And today, 25th December 2012, I have made my mind to resume blogging which I think is the best way to reminisce my journeys exploring every country, every continent on Earth. I am glad that You still let me live on this temporary beautiful heaven you created for me, to other human beings and creatures. Praise be to you...

30th November 2011

A Uygur lady selling various types of nuts

I boarded AirAsia flight to Shenzhen at 6.30 am with mum. A wee bit of nervousness appeared as we are going to a country where English is not a common language spoken here. On top of that, we did not book any tour package for this trip and decided to rely on translations (especially on places I decided to go) copied from Wikitravel. Owh, by the way, it did help us a lot and next time if there is any 'requirement' to travel to China, I must keep this in mind.

Halal food shop at Gangxia eat street

The flight took around 4 hours to arrive Shenzhen Bao'an airport. Visibility was not that good, most probably due to the status of Shenzhen as an industrial city. Temperature was around 30'C though expected temperature to be 24-25'C at this point of time. We took a shuttle bus that brought us directly in front of Vienna Hotel. The room was small but facilities are basic and enough for us. There is a small shop (or small 'semi-convenient' store) where I purchased a local starter sim pack. This is the most important thing that I need to have so that I can keep in touch with the closest ones at home country. Later, we took a bus to the Longhua Metro station. Mum complained that she was starving and need to have proper meal. With the list of places I prepared, we head to Gangxia where there is a place called 'eat-street'. At the exit of the Gangxia Metro station, we passed through several carts selling various nuts, breads and kababs. The sellers are easily recognized as the Uygurs, one of Western Chinese

Muslim communities. The lady selling various kinds of nuts was talking to us as if we understand Mandarin (Putonghua). Luckily body language is a universal language that everybody on Earth can understand. So mum made a 'eat' sign so she showed us direction to the eat street.

Freshly prepared noodles

Honestly, we felt a deep relief to find a small restaurant (shop is better) selling halal food. The owner is a Chinese Muslim and I don't think they are Uygurs. We ordered 2 plates of noodle, or precisely freshly made noodle, with spiced beef topping. I will always remember it as 'mee tarik'. And mum ordered a plate of mushrooms cooked with capsicums and egg tofu. It was such a big portion and we didn't finish them but it's super yummy. I wonder how can the Chinese ladies (well, MOST of Chinese ladies) are slim and slender, when they eat that much every meal. Arriving Shenzhen in less than a day enabled us to make conclusions on the question. Firstly, they walk really fast, as if there is no tomorrow, which means they are exercising whenever they walk and slash off the excessive calories. And secondly, their foods are less fatty and they eat raw garlic as a salad. These may be hold true, and may be not. Whatever!!

Before we return to the hotel, we bought some boiled groundnuts, fruits (longan and banana), 2 pieces of Uygur style bread and a pack of walnut, just in case if we feel hungry before bedtime.

1st December 2011

Cute Stitch

We woke up and started to feel that chilly winter was about to begin. Thank God I packed light warm clothing (though they didn't really fully warm me up). And the best part, mum didn't bring any sweaters or jackets for this dry and cold weather. We started our day by traveling to Luohu border, heading to Hong Kong Disneyland. We didn't have time to get a proper meal for breakfast, so we

pack the edible stuff we bought last night. We took a metro to Luohu, went through immigration clearance, and took the MTR to Disneyland Resort which costs HKD51 per person, per way. Pfffttttt....it's seriously expensive and to add the damage, we paid HKD399 for the entry ticket to Disneyland. Nice, really nice. But it was worth to visit the land full of fun and joy. I always love Walt Disney cartoons and movies, and I love all Disney's characters; Mickey, Minnie, Stitch, Tinkerbell and

Sweet and cute Tinkerbell

others. I was hoping to buy souvenirs for the people I have in mind. And the cheapest item bought was a fridge magnet, costing HKD40, which is equivalent to RM16.

Mickey & Minnie

Yaikkkssss....which means that I can't afford to buy more Disney stuff. This day was a perfect day to practice my photography skills. Not many pictures taken but at least I have something nice to include in my photoalbums. It would have been perfect if the weather was sunny, and it would have been more interesting if we arrived Disneyland much earlier. And it would be far less comfortable if there was less Disneyland visitors. The time that I enjoyed during the parade where all Disney characters came out on colourfully decorated wagons with lovely songs played as background musics.

However, we missed the starting of the parade and I couldn't get perfect shots during the parade. But all in all, I did enjoy Disneyland and there are reasons to visit Disneylands again. Witnessing the parade at night would be marvellous too. However, since we need at least 2 hours to return to Shenzhen, it was best to say goodbye to Disneyland before night approached. Looking forward to checking up Tokyo Disneyland in February 2012.

On our way back to the hotel, we disembarked at Gangxia metro to have another meal at the halal food restaurant. This time we ordered a plate of rice with beef topping, and a plate of sweetsour egg and beef. It was really delicious.

2nd December 2011

Today, we decided to return to Hong Kong and head to the famous attractions such as the Peak, Stanley market and Victoria harbor. With a cup of black tea and Uygur bread, we head to Luohu border,and mum said she needed new cloth or something that can warm her up a bit. So, we wasted some time to do the unnecessary shopping at Luohu commercial centre. The unnecessary becomes a little beneficial when I got myself a pair of leather glove and a snow cap at a very cheap price. And just beside that shop selling all winter accessories, we shopped for several souvenirs i.e 2 paintings, 2 hand fans and 2 trendy watches. I was looking for a fridge magnet with Shenzhen written on it but couldn't find it anywhere. I wonder where did those FM collectors got it. 

Kowloon Mosque, Hong Kong

After an hour or two, we took the MTR heading Tsim Tsa Shui where the Kowloon Mosque is located.The Tsim Tsa Shui station is super huge and there are many exits too. It took us some times to get out at the right exit. Too much walking and mum couldn't do it any further.  Mum  was tired and needed a lunch, and according to her, it was better to fulfill the stomach and do the 'exploration' after that. We had lunch at this restaurant owned by Arab guy (my guess) and as expected, it was bloody expensive. I think I should have surveyed places to go for cheaper food in Hong Kong. After meal, we planned to go to the Peak and embarked the Metro to the Central. Too many people and looking at the traffic, we felt uncomfortable because it was not easy to get to the places we intent to. And time didn't permit us to go to any of the places, so with disappointment, we headed back to Luohu. It was already dark when we arrive Luohu, and since we had a little more time, I wanted to do some photography thing. The only clearly visible landmark was the Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen. It didn't look easy to get a nice picture during night time, which means that was the time to apply the concept of ISO, shutter speed and f-stop. Many shots were taken and I managed to get the shots that I want.

3rd December 2012

Guangzhou, here we come!!! Another chilly and sunny day, just perfect to see Guangzhou at a glance. We took an express train at Shenzhen Railway Station (just opposite Luohu commercial centre). The train ticket costed RMB 80 per way and it took about 1 hour 45 minutes to arrive Guangzhou East station. The ride was pleasant and the train was nice too.In Guangzhou, we didn't have much time because we got out from the

Flower Pagoda @Temple of Six Banyan Tre

hotel quite late. The places we went were only the Liurong temple (also known as temple of six banyan trees) and Huaisheng Mosque. While we were trying  to figure out which way to go from the MTR station, there was a Chinese uncle approaching us. I tried to ask people around that area how to get to Liurong temple, and showed them the address but all of them didn't know that place, until that uncle came and offer his help.Wow, he knew that we are Malaysians!! He didn't really know the

location of the temple but he helped us by asking people around in his language, Mandarin I guess. And we got the direction. That uncle told us he was in Malaysia before for 6 months (if not mistaken) and from there he knew how Malaysians look like. My guess was that he must have been treated nicely by our Malaysians during his stay in Malaysia, and that was the reason why he was more than willing to help us though we didn't even think to ask him. Thank you so much uncle.

Huaisheng Mosque prayer hall

We walked for a few minutes and finally arrived the temple. The entry ticket was RMB5. I just love to photograph any unique buildings (according to my own definition of uniqueness).  Lucky me that mum didn't complain much while I was photographing at the temple too long. It wasn't easy to get nice pictures for an amateur like me, so sacrificing some times for such purpose were worth the try.   After spending a few minutes at Liurong Temple, we took the MTR to Ximenkou to get to the Huaisheng Mosque. Our stomachs start to growl

Chinese Muslim women attending Qur'anic studies class

the moment we saw lamb kebabs on the grill. A young Uygur guy was grilling it and there was a Chinese guy enjoying the kebabs in front of the grill set. I wonder if he speaks English, and yes he speaks English. I think there are more Chinese who can speak reasonably well English in Guangzhou than Shenzhen.That Chinese guy told me the price of the kebab (5 pieces for RMB15) and said they were really delicious. So they were!!! 

I took this opportunity to ask the friendly guy if he knew how to get to Huaisheng mosque. And it seemed that he also knew the location of that mosque. It was not that hard to find the mosque. It was near to the kebabs stall. The road to the mosque was quite empty and quite. To confirm that we were on the right direction, we stopped at a shop where a Chinese guy stood. As I recall, his name is Burhanuddin. He gave Salam to us and that was a bit shocked for us as we didn't expect to meet Muslims that early. Burhanuddin is working in a shop, owned by his cousin, selling various products from Western China, to be precise, Urumqi. I told my mum that Burhanuddin would  probably a UIA student. And after several minutes conversation, it was proven that I am nearly correct. He is going to register himself as UIA student in January 2012. 

Uygur guy selling grilled lamb

Finally, we reached the mosque after confirming the right direction from Burhanuddin. The mosque is small but tidy and clean, as should all mosques in the world do. It is the oldest mosque in Guangzhou, according to the guide, Abdullah. There are 4 mosques in Guangzhou alone and the tomb of Abu Waqas, a Muslim who was responsible to spread Islam in Guangzhou and other parts of China. Here, was where I heard they recite the calling for prayer (azan) in Chinese way, for the 1st time. I couldn't describe my feeling when I heard azan in a part of a country where Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucius are more dominant than Islam. We met a Malaysian, Mohamed, who married to a Chinese Muslim and settled in Guangzhou. He suggested that the best way to travel around China is by train. He did give a very important tip which I have already start to plan my trip to China, starting in Chengdu, and end in Hangzhou. It will take maximum of two weeks, and I am ready for this adventure. We chit chatted with Mohamed and later had dinner in a restaurant in front of the mosque. It was getting dark and time to return to Shenzhen. We didn't have time to buy souvenirs at the place suggested by Mohamed (I forgot the name of the place..it's something with Square).

It is true what my sweetheart has told me about visiting many places at a short time. I was hoping to visit Sun Yat Sen memorial hall and several otherplaces in Guangzhou, but we didn't get the chance to do so. Time passed very fast and our time management was bad. I concluded that we might have more time if we stay at a hotel located in the Shenzhen uptown, went out earlier i.e 8.30 from the hotel and spend less time at the places of attractions.

4th December 2011

Our trip to China was about to end. We head to Luohu once again, hoping that we could find any fridge magnets there. We had lunch at a restaurant, owned by Indian, in  front of City Plaza Hotel (or something like that). On our way back to the hotel, traffic congestion was horrible. No cabs were seen to pass by the bus stop where we normally waited. The buses were not passing through our hotel so the only option was to take the cab. We were worried that we couldn't return to the hotel on time. Luckily, there was a Chinese version of tuk-tuk passed by and we showed the tuk-tuk rider the hotel card. We arrived the hotel, get our luggages, and waited for the taxi to the airport. There was nothing much to see or to buy in Bao'an Airport. We boarded the flight around 10.15 pm and touched down LCCT around 2.15 am. Glad to be back home. Phewwwww