Sunday, December 18, 2005
China, Hong Kong, and Clams.
No. More. Clams.
Thanks to those, I got food poisoning for the whole of Thursday, just as I was about to go out and do some serious shopping.
I had diarrehoa at 6:30am, followed by a slew of stomachaches that followed me right through till 7pm at night, when I started shivering as if I had fits of some sort. That lasted for about half an hour before things calmed down. I took a lot of warm water (which was a very, very BIG mistake!), and then I threw up so bad I went to the office to request for a change in the bed linings and towels. By then I couldn't even keep my focus and my head straight, so I was sent to hospital, where I was diagnosed with food poisoning that gave me a record high of 40.6degC.
Nuts.
It was just so weird having that kind of violent reaction to any food. I'd never had anything as violent as that. Or at least, in memory. But I will definitely NEVER touch clams, oysters, and mussels again... EVER!
Anyway...
I wouldn't say that China was a blast or anything. It did give me a chance to learn more about the great people in class (and the not-so-great ones..., *cough cough sneeze sneeze*). It also gave me a chance to see what the big hoo-hah about China was about. We went to the Pearl River Delta region and visited the companies there to check things out.
In all honesty, while they're doing great, I think they have a lot of issues to settle like:
1. Polluted air - it was like breathing in a smoking area 24/7. Coming back home was like breathing through an oxygen tank.
2. Toilets - While some weren't as bad as I'd heard, they don't even provide toilet paper.
3. Common courtesy - all they do is push and shove. And yell. Very rude.
4. Traffic - Now I know why people talk about the traffic there. It is utter CHAOS. Sure they follow the traffic light rules and everything, but that's just about it. They squeeze into everything and anything that remotely fits their vehicle, oncoming traffic or no.
5. Food - great food, but they could afford something less oily. I feel like I'm carrying a pot of lard in my tummy right now. Where's the sushi?!
And then there's Hong Kong. Ah, the WTO riots. We weren't there, thank goodness. Or we were in the area, but there weren't any demonstrators around at all. We were on Hong Kong Island on Wednesday, and we visited the streets where there were bars and clubs and everything. Very nice night life. VERY nice branded boutiques! There was Nine West, Armani, and the likes. I WANTED to go! But it was already 10 and they were CLOSED.
Hong Kong CBD was beautiful, and all the more so from Victoria's Peak, where we took the tram and everything. The thing was going at a 45-degree angle. Interesting experience. But it was really nice to be at the top and see everything. I'll be it would've been better if not for the BLARDY SMOG!!!
And then came the food poisoning. Sigh.
Oh well, at least I had a lot of time to catch up with a lot of sleep, which I didn't get enough of since we were always out till midnight or 1 in the morning.
Conclusion: China is NOT the place I want to be. Not even for work. Maybe Zhuhai's not so bad, and if you put me in Hong Kong Island, I might consider. Just DON'T MAKE ME LIVE IN MONGKOK AND I'LL BE VERY HAPPY ALREADY!
I should've taken a picture of the toilet to show you how we lived in HK. Oh well. I guess no one would want to show that. Haha!
But the room was surprisingly cozy. I slept well at MongKok.
Sigh.
Thanks to those, I got food poisoning for the whole of Thursday, just as I was about to go out and do some serious shopping.
I had diarrehoa at 6:30am, followed by a slew of stomachaches that followed me right through till 7pm at night, when I started shivering as if I had fits of some sort. That lasted for about half an hour before things calmed down. I took a lot of warm water (which was a very, very BIG mistake!), and then I threw up so bad I went to the office to request for a change in the bed linings and towels. By then I couldn't even keep my focus and my head straight, so I was sent to hospital, where I was diagnosed with food poisoning that gave me a record high of 40.6degC.
Nuts.
It was just so weird having that kind of violent reaction to any food. I'd never had anything as violent as that. Or at least, in memory. But I will definitely NEVER touch clams, oysters, and mussels again... EVER!
Anyway...
I wouldn't say that China was a blast or anything. It did give me a chance to learn more about the great people in class (and the not-so-great ones..., *cough cough sneeze sneeze*). It also gave me a chance to see what the big hoo-hah about China was about. We went to the Pearl River Delta region and visited the companies there to check things out.
In all honesty, while they're doing great, I think they have a lot of issues to settle like:
1. Polluted air - it was like breathing in a smoking area 24/7. Coming back home was like breathing through an oxygen tank.
2. Toilets - While some weren't as bad as I'd heard, they don't even provide toilet paper.
3. Common courtesy - all they do is push and shove. And yell. Very rude.
4. Traffic - Now I know why people talk about the traffic there. It is utter CHAOS. Sure they follow the traffic light rules and everything, but that's just about it. They squeeze into everything and anything that remotely fits their vehicle, oncoming traffic or no.
5. Food - great food, but they could afford something less oily. I feel like I'm carrying a pot of lard in my tummy right now. Where's the sushi?!
And then there's Hong Kong. Ah, the WTO riots. We weren't there, thank goodness. Or we were in the area, but there weren't any demonstrators around at all. We were on Hong Kong Island on Wednesday, and we visited the streets where there were bars and clubs and everything. Very nice night life. VERY nice branded boutiques! There was Nine West, Armani, and the likes. I WANTED to go! But it was already 10 and they were CLOSED.
Hong Kong CBD was beautiful, and all the more so from Victoria's Peak, where we took the tram and everything. The thing was going at a 45-degree angle. Interesting experience. But it was really nice to be at the top and see everything. I'll be it would've been better if not for the BLARDY SMOG!!!
And then came the food poisoning. Sigh.
Oh well, at least I had a lot of time to catch up with a lot of sleep, which I didn't get enough of since we were always out till midnight or 1 in the morning.
Conclusion: China is NOT the place I want to be. Not even for work. Maybe Zhuhai's not so bad, and if you put me in Hong Kong Island, I might consider. Just DON'T MAKE ME LIVE IN MONGKOK AND I'LL BE VERY HAPPY ALREADY!
I should've taken a picture of the toilet to show you how we lived in HK. Oh well. I guess no one would want to show that. Haha!
But the room was surprisingly cozy. I slept well at MongKok.
Sigh.
8:23 PM//Keep this post! 
