Who thinks it is a nine hour trip to Banaue, errs. It's maybe a 5 hour bus ride and another 4 hours of digging around. Every 1.5 hour our bus stops in some remote place. Food stalls are readily lined up to offer 3 in 1 “coffee”, cup noodles, chicheron, and chips. Toilet facilities get more and more simple and are eventually limited to the street side (good luck to us ladies). But anyway, I can't even drink so fast to need a pit stop every 90 minutes! After a while I wonder if I paid 400 Pesos for a bus ride or a parking ticket!
On top of the artificially prolonged trip, the temperature in the bus is nowhere near any normal human habitat (except for the North Pole, maybe). I’m wearing two pairs of socks, an outdoor jacket designed for heavy rains and winds over my t-shirt and sweater. Still, I’m close to losing limbs to frost bite.
It is so cold inside the bus that the water condensates on the outside and I can’t even appreciate the landscape rushing by. When we finally get off the bus in Banaue I can’t use my camera for another 40 minutes as the lens is fogged. All the while I thought I’m in the tropics!
The sailing season has started in the Philippines! For two days, a light yet fluky wind carried nine Hobie Cats and three Hobie Getaways around the history-laden islands of Corregidor and 'Fort Drum'.
The Corregidor Regatta was the first of six races of the Travellers Series, an eight-month long sailing event organized by the Philippine Interisland Sailing Foundation.
Glenn and I, alias team Tiger Gambas, started the Traveler Series with a promising 3rd place! The first time ever we took a trophy home! Despite a torn trampoline (due to be replaced within the week), a missing fixtures one of the shrouds (which could have easily de-masted the boat), a few tactical and technical lapses (which buoy is the windward mark?) we managed to reap in two first places! Our combined fighting weight of 287 pounds (only 2 pounds above the minimum racing weight requirement) surely helped in the rather light wind conditions of around 8 to 10 knots.
While s(n)ailing our way from Puerto Azul Marina to Caballo Island just off of Corregidor, we had to cross the South Channel which connects the South China sea with Manila Bay. How exciting it was to tack last minute to evade a commercial fisher boat (yes, we saw it and heard its warning horn!) or to duck the Super Ferry to not be run over by it! Although our Cats are fast considering their size, there is no use in trying to bully a floating condo building.
The scenery of the race was great! Rounding Caballo Island we could see the remnants of buildings, once the bastion of the American military and later the battle ground during the Japanese invasion. Just then, the wind picked up. With good boat speed we passed Fort Drum, formerly a natural islets. With a considerable amount of concrete, the island was transformed into what looks like a war ship.
“Tiger Gambas” is definitely not a war ship. But, we are ready to battle for a good overall place in the Travellers Series! A third place is a good start, I’d say.
The early bird catches the worm. And, sure enough, the good old saying worked for me when I got up early and went to the World Financial Tower before 9 AM. I literally walked right into the elevator of this impressive high rise building which, given its sky bridge on the 100th floor, reminds me of the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Within 60 seconds, I'm on the upper most floor in 474 meters height.
Again, I get a great view over Shanghai. This time I get to see the city skyline in broad day light, which gives away the outskirts of the city beyond the skyscrapers. Hundreds and hundreds of what look like two or three story houses clustered in strict lines with their roof colors matching as to identify a neighborhood. No wonder, given the city is home to more than 19 million people.
China's population is immense and growing, despite the one-child policy. It took me a day or two to realize what is missing in the picture (especially compared to Manila and the Philippines at large): children. My Chinese friend, a single child, of course, explains to me the one child policy that was implemented to counterfeit a growing population and shrinking resources to feed and house them. The policy imposes a hefty one time fine and usually job-loss for parents with more than one child. According to her, there are exceptions from the one-child rule. Two children are allowed if both parents are single children or, if they represent one of the 55 ethnic minority groups.
What comes along with the policy is a progressive reproductive health education, which my friend remembers to have undergone in middle school. At the same time, contraceptives are available.
As a big fan of self-determination, it is hard for me to take a stand on the one-child policy, which is one of the biggest interference in the individual decision making of the Chinese people. On the other hand, I do agree that we run out of space and resources for the mass of people on this planet. But, what good is a one child policy in China, when countries like the Philippines grow at a rate of almost 2 percent?
I wonder if, with a growing and more affluent middle class in China, a second child will become a status symbol of wealth.
Wealth seems to be all around me in Shanghai. The malls are packed with expensive brands. Lancôme, Mont Blanc, Louis Vuitton - you name it.
After a lazy stroll through Shanghai Old Town which houses not only fancy souvenir shops in colonial style buildings but also Haagen Daz, Starbucks and a Paulaner Biergarten just to name a few common culinary establishments, I make my way back to the Expo.
Knowing my way around already makes things much easier. Although, the distances in the maps are quite misguiding. My feet are flat by the time I reach the Germany pavilion. The line promises at least 3 hours waiting time. I proceed to the UK pavilion, which is called the Seed Cathedral and has fascinated me ever since I saw the first picture of it online. Thousands of fiberglass rods filled with seeds make the cube appear like a porcupine during mating season!
As soon as the sun has set, the crowd is getting lighter. I get the chance to visit a few pavilions, some more others less interesting. The Czech Republic was quite impressive with funky installations and displays of green technology and scientific advances. Norway presented itself from the cold side, with bear footprints molded in metal and frozen over. The Philippines did what the Filipinos are good at: perform. Under the theme 'performing cities' the crowd rocked when a local female singer started her performance. What a great glimpse of the Philippines!
Soon, I would face a whole world of impressions, gathered here in Shanghai this year: the World Expo.
The Expo area covers 5.3 square kilometer and is spread out on both sides of the Huangpu River. Eight gates serve as entrances and exits. I am opting for the evening tickets, which allow admission starting at 5 PM for various reasons. First, at 90 Yuan they are the cheapest ticket option. Second, I hope the crowd is lighter in the evening. Third, it's not as hot as during the day. Fourth, the area is illuminated (which is a photographic challenge but a great spectacle for the eye!).
My plan pretty much works out. I walk right through the airport-like security control, including bag and body scanner. An expo-shuttle takes the crowd around in a big loop and across the river, so do ferry boats and the subway.
For day 1, I explore the Asia square. The big red China pavilion is seen from afar, so is the communication center, which looks like a big flying saucer.
The lines in front of some of the pavilions are simply incredible. I pass the Saudi Arabia pavilion, which hit record waiting times of 9 hours! I see the queue and wonder what must be in there to see to justify a 9-hour wait!
I've set my expectations for the Expo rather low. I'm already happy to see the pavilions from the outside and get an impression of what a World Expo feels like, for this is my first time visiting one.
I give it a shot at the Laos and Myanmar pavilion since lines there are really short. The interior is little impressive: a few pictures of the respective countries, a few installments displaying traditional building styles, and typical products.
I'm happy to be out and exploring again, which to me is taking this whole place in. The infrastructure besides the great architecture of some pavilions strikes me. Restrooms, water fountains, and volunteers to help you out (even though their English is limited, they are friendly and try to help), all of this is available and well signposted.
By 8 PM I'm down at the Huangpu River to watch the Music Fountain performance at the Waterside Terrace. What a great spectacle! With the Shanghai skyline as the backdrop, I hear classical Western and traditional Chinese music and see illuminated water fountains do a choreographed dance.
After almost 5 hours at the Expo my feet are flat and I’m ready to head home. Little did I know that the longest queue, and unavoidable for that matter, was still ahead of me: the cab queue.
The flood of people headed for the same exit like me already got me suspecting the worst. When I finally see the main road and the cab lane, I'm emotionally all geared up for another 2 hour wait. To my surprise, the line, strictly monitored by police officers, is moving quickly. No pushing, no jumping lines, no preferred service (not even for a mom with her sleeping 2-year old on her arm!). Whoever, especially tourists obviously not familiar with the rules of the game, tries to get ahead of the line gets disciplined with loud and angry sounding words right away. Not just by the police but also the crowd. Whatever I learned about the Chinese non-confrontational and indirect communication culture, I scrap it right here and now.
