Life in Guangzhou

Today marks my 3rd day in Guangzhou. And also my 3rd trip here. 1st trip, I travelled with my aunt and her sister and brother-in-law. 2nd trip I came alone. This trip I am alone again.

I've been warned not to travel alone and not to carry too much cash around. I might get robbed, mugged, pushed and trampled over. But each time, God kept me safe. I go to the night spots alone. Trying to blend in with the crowd.

In Guangzhou, I heard from friends here that there is a road called Beijing Lu or Beijing Road. That is a hot spot for locals and tourists to come for shopping, food and more shopping.

So each time I travel here, I make a trip to this place. And yet each time I come here, I find nothing I can buy. Or should I say, nothing I like. This is a paradise for people like my daughters, my niece, Tricia, my sister, Wiu. But definitely not for me!





And possibly not a place for my dear hubby too. He hates crowds. Just look at the crowds here ..in every corner.

The food here is cheap..compared with Singapore. Unless you know where to order decent chinese food, its safer to eat fast food from McDonalds or KFC. There seems to be an endless queue for everything. From fruit juices to BBQ seafood on a skewer stick. You have to pay first, pick up a ticket and go and queue for a stick of BBQ squid!



Taxi are abundant here. Just watch for the "Empty Taxi" sign that is flash in bright red in the front driver's window. Then you just hail for it. It will stop, you hop in and tell the driver where you want to go. Half the time I couldn't get the right accent of the chinese roads, thankfully, my Guangzhou friends have written notes for me to show the driver.

You won't get lost here. As long as you can speak some Chinese. Even if you speak only English, most restaurants have English menu for you to pick and choose. And will have staff who can understand you and help you with the menu.

The only thing I wonder is Halal food. Almost every restaurant or food stall here sells pork in the menu. And I have seen Malay maciks shopping in Guangzhou. I wonder what they eat or where they go for food.

Eating at some restaurants here are cheap. Most of the times I just point at the picture they have on the banner. Half the time I couldn't figure out the fancy names they have given to the dishes. Whenever I come to Guangzhou, I will eat at this particular cafe near the hotel I was staying. Its cheap and good.

Some days I would ask for Beef noodles in soup and a side dish of vegetables. Other days I will order a Wanton noodle soup with vegetables too. And this only costs RMB 8 or S$1.60. That's a steal!



But tonight I wanna go for a double boil tonic soup..this is my favourite : Ginseng Chicken soup. And that's RMB 15 only.