A shopping aholic geek lost in China (ehm... Macau)
By ChiaraInThePond. Monday, 10. December 2007, 11:13:21
Friday the 7th.
After a full day shopping I feel excited to start a new day in Guangzhou, south of China.
I finally decide to open my tired eyes at 10 and immidiately I start Opera as every morning on mobile....
What can I do today? My shopping excursion in Guangzhou is over and I need new destinations where to carry my HUGE backpack full of whatever brand new fashionable cheap clothes.
I google map with Opera Mobile on my Nokia E60 and.... hmmm what I see there!
Macau!! Not too far away...
Ok! Let's go! That's my destination for today
. I grab all my staff and wear my cutest brand new shoes (that means with a bit of a high hill....not really practical but really fashionable). I do not care of taking dictionary, travel book or maps. I've 3 (Nokia E60, Nokia 2650, and yes, even iPhone) mobiles with me and I want to have a strong impact with what expects me there. To know the history, I'll get in contact with people, I'll look around, close my eyes, do a complete swing on myself while smelling, listening, wondering and.... PUF! Yes, I'll got an idea of where I'll be.
In case my imagination will not work, I can always check in wikipedia
.
Time to go: my collegues and friends give to me a small card with written (in chinese characters) the bus station in guangzhou and a mysterious bus destination.
I'll not reach directly Macau but a chinese city on the borter with the little ex. colony.
With no clear idea of what expects me or any chinese communication skill, I leave!
I sort of manage to catch a bus and then .... what a wonderfull trip! Bananas trees, rice fields, coconuts trees, big rivers alternate continuously along the way. I cannot keep my lips closed for the wonder....
After 2 hours I arrive... Well, arrive.... the bus driver tells me that (somehow, no English spoken) ....
I can only see that I ended up in a huge mall (the bus just stopped in the mall's parking space), and that I am not in Macau yet.
Of course I end up to do some additional shopping (making my huge bag growing even more!), but that's the only way to ask people the way to Macau, isn't it.
I finally reach the ex. Portugese colony and I start looking around to understand where I ended up.
Everything is quite different.... No bicycle but lots and lots of scooters, no western people, very few turists, lots of old european buildings but no track of the old owners or their descendants...
And I walk, walk, walk, with my huge bag, my eyes looking into the buildings, people, cars, shops, streets.... But after a while, I can start feeling my legs tired and my backpack heaview and heavier so I decide to look for an hotel, a guest house, a pension, a hostel.... something to sleep on!!
But nothing!!!! While I was wondering around I got lost.
I am almost on the freeway, nearby the sea and no one to ask to...
But I have my 3 mobiles, my guts and after all I'm still a fully fashionable girl!
Anyway I need to take actions:
- I change shoes for more practical ones: not anymore high hills but fancy monkey shoes
- I take out the iPhone as I feel is great to listen songs: I need them to increase my mind strength!
- And now let's browse around! No, better not by walking since I'm already lost: let's take my Nokia E60, start Mini to have a quick idea of Macau's hotels and such... Hmm.... Impressivly fast!! But I still have no idea where I am
- Let's update facebook status to have help and (more than that) supports from friends! WOW! People are strangely supportive: they ask me more about my new shoes than where I ended up!!!
- Still LOST. Better to ask help to some more helpfull friend in this case: Opera Mobile (I did not do before to keep the phone bill down)... Ok now checking the maps I got an idea of where I am!!!!!
I follow the mobile map, the fresh sea, the wind and, more than that, my hotel hunting instinct!
Well... The result is: I end up in a Casino'! :O .... This becomes my very fashionable place to sleep for a nigth.
Of course, not before having made aware all my friends that I am safe, happy and... fashionable geeky via facebook
N.B. The picture was taken the day after when I decided to give up fashion (no more high hill shoes, no more fancy dress, and sleeping in extremly cheap hostel) for comphort and to avoid to be completly bankrupted!!!
After a full day shopping I feel excited to start a new day in Guangzhou, south of China.
I finally decide to open my tired eyes at 10 and immidiately I start Opera as every morning on mobile....
What can I do today? My shopping excursion in Guangzhou is over and I need new destinations where to carry my HUGE backpack full of whatever brand new fashionable cheap clothes.
I google map with Opera Mobile on my Nokia E60 and.... hmmm what I see there!
Macau!! Not too far away...
Ok! Let's go! That's my destination for today
. I grab all my staff and wear my cutest brand new shoes (that means with a bit of a high hill....not really practical but really fashionable). I do not care of taking dictionary, travel book or maps. I've 3 (Nokia E60, Nokia 2650, and yes, even iPhone) mobiles with me and I want to have a strong impact with what expects me there. To know the history, I'll get in contact with people, I'll look around, close my eyes, do a complete swing on myself while smelling, listening, wondering and.... PUF! Yes, I'll got an idea of where I'll be.In case my imagination will not work, I can always check in wikipedia
.Time to go: my collegues and friends give to me a small card with written (in chinese characters) the bus station in guangzhou and a mysterious bus destination.
I'll not reach directly Macau but a chinese city on the borter with the little ex. colony.
With no clear idea of what expects me or any chinese communication skill, I leave!
I sort of manage to catch a bus and then .... what a wonderfull trip! Bananas trees, rice fields, coconuts trees, big rivers alternate continuously along the way. I cannot keep my lips closed for the wonder....
After 2 hours I arrive... Well, arrive.... the bus driver tells me that (somehow, no English spoken) ....
I can only see that I ended up in a huge mall (the bus just stopped in the mall's parking space), and that I am not in Macau yet.
Of course I end up to do some additional shopping (making my huge bag growing even more!), but that's the only way to ask people the way to Macau, isn't it
.I finally reach the ex. Portugese colony and I start looking around to understand where I ended up.
Everything is quite different.... No bicycle but lots and lots of scooters, no western people, very few turists, lots of old european buildings but no track of the old owners or their descendants...
And I walk, walk, walk, with my huge bag, my eyes looking into the buildings, people, cars, shops, streets.... But after a while, I can start feeling my legs tired and my backpack heaview and heavier so I decide to look for an hotel, a guest house, a pension, a hostel.... something to sleep on!!
But nothing!!!! While I was wondering around I got lost.
I am almost on the freeway, nearby the sea and no one to ask to...
But I have my 3 mobiles, my guts and after all I'm still a fully fashionable girl!
Anyway I need to take actions:
- I change shoes for more practical ones: not anymore high hills but fancy monkey shoes
- I take out the iPhone as I feel is great to listen songs: I need them to increase my mind strength!
- And now let's browse around! No, better not by walking since I'm already lost: let's take my Nokia E60, start Mini to have a quick idea of Macau's hotels and such... Hmm.... Impressivly fast!! But I still have no idea where I am
- Let's update facebook status to have help and (more than that) supports from friends! WOW! People are strangely supportive: they ask me more about my new shoes than where I ended up!!!
- Still LOST. Better to ask help to some more helpfull friend in this case: Opera Mobile (I did not do before to keep the phone bill down)... Ok now checking the maps I got an idea of where I am!!!!!
I follow the mobile map, the fresh sea, the wind and, more than that, my hotel hunting instinct!
Well... The result is: I end up in a Casino'! :O .... This becomes my very fashionable place to sleep for a nigth.
Of course, not before having made aware all my friends that I am safe, happy and... fashionable geeky via facebook
N.B. The picture was taken the day after when I decided to give up fashion (no more high hill shoes, no more fancy dress, and sleeping in extremly cheap hostel) for comphort and to avoid to be completly bankrupted!!!
