Early March 2010: it was my first overseas trip in almost 10 years.

The People’s Republic of China – I kept reminding myself: remember, you’re in a communist country. That wasn’t too difficult to keep up: at many buildings the red flag could be seen.

It takes less than 3 hours direct flight via Air Asia from Kota Kinabalu.

5 days, 4 nights – first 2 days were surprisingly warm – only slightly less warm than El Nino shrouded Sabah. Then the last 2 days were cold: must’ve been below 10C at night.

Other tidbits seen/learnt:

China is really Engrish-land and Feng Shui-land.

They really take International Women’s Day seriously, which fell on 8th March, our last day there. Women get preferential treatment, like jumping queues at popular shows, on that day. We ordered takeaway at McDonald’s on Monday morning, and they included FOC what else but tea for my wife.

Rosedale Hotel in Guangzhou (4 stars) had spacious, excellent rooms. The other one at Shenzhen, Malaysian-owned Sunon Holiday Villa had much smaller rooms (like Cititel MidValley KL). But they had astoundingly many channels on the hotel TV: 42 in Guangzhou and 63 at Shenzhen!

Every meal in the tour was heavy. 11-course lunches are the norm.

They serve local beer with every meal: either Tsingtao or Kingway. There’s another local brand I saw: Pearl River. All very cheap, equivalent of about RM2 even at 7-11.

Some said I could find pork at KFC / McDonald’s there but went I went to check them out – couldn’t find any in the menu.

Went to one of those 3-door-to-go-thru “warehouses” at Lo Wu City, Shenzhen (I’d call them Sarang Tikus Sdn Bhd) where fake (some say “used actual raw material”) designer goods can be bought at probably a quarter of the original asking price, and merely observing negotiations underway is an interesting social experiment in itself, even if you don’t understand a word being said. If I learnt and applied anything in this respect, it’s “stand your ground, no matter what tantrum they throw, then walk away slowly”: most of the time they’d call out and give you what you want.

Another person said prices at Shenzen, probably the fake goods capital of the world, is not like it used to be: much higher now.

Anything and everything was on sale, electronic cigarettes included. But perhaps the most unforgettable sight of the whole trip was seeing, with my own eyes, centipedes and scorpions on sticks being sold on one of the pedestrian streets in Guangzhou.

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When I was small, I remember that many of the houses that I visited had animals heads hung on walls, like so:

Popular animals seem to be the buffalo and the deer – with the horns being the centrepiece.

Definitely adds an exotic touch to the home living room – if ever I get hold of one of those highly sought after Outer banks foreclosures, I’d consider putting one of these babies on them walls.

It seems to be very much “in fashion” now, but amongst younger Sabahans, this is probably not practiced anymore. Modern small kids could be terrified of these heads jutting out of walls with unblinking big eyes staring right at them.

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Last year Ethan was page boy (sounds better than flower boy, and he’s not the ringbearer) at an in-law’s wedding. I thought he looked fabulous in this photo taken just before making the trip to church:

As a BrideOnline mentioned:

… Pageboys (ring bearers) add an element of innocent childlike charm and warmth to any wedding ceremony. The gorgeous sight of your niece dressed in a flowing pink dress with ballet slippers is enough to melt even the most cynical of hearts.

In other words, one could say they make perfect wedding accessories, but at the same time, at the very end of the church service, where there are countless group photos being taken and the kids are expected to be smiling angelically throughout the whole ordeal, one could see the transition of angelic to monstrous, or at least smiley to grumpy.

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There are many private dentists in Kota Kinabalu, but it seems only a few of them are listed in Yellow Pages. I am sure some are better than others when dealing with kids or those suffering from odonthophobia, can vouch for that from personal experience.

A few days ago I visited one to do what I think 2 rather minor things, not really dental implants Mexico style, only took a few minutes, and it cost me RM150!

When I was a student overseas, I dealt with 2 dentists, both I’d rate first class, and with one of them I underwent the fearsome root canal.

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In the middle of Tuaran there’s a clock tower, and it has been there for as long as I remember.

A few days before Christmas 2009 I noticed that it has become so:

A close up:

Isn’t that a little like thinking murad reviews is all about reviewing persons with the name Murad!

I wonder how long has it been like that, and when it will be fixed.

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On 19th November 2009 I went to have lunch at one of the small coffee shops at Kepayan Ridge which I haven’t visited in quite a while.

They served drinks in recycled bottles, or perhaps more accurately, glass containers:

Personally, I haven’t seen any other place doing this – perhaps I need to go out of the country via Branson vacation packages in order to do so.

Are there any guidelines as to what eateries can use to serve food to their customers? Is what the proprietor doing allowed by law?

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Salim Khan Kabor, the proprietor of the Salim chain of restaurants has been inviting lion, unicorn and dragon dance troupes to perform at his premises during Chinese New Year for the past 10 years.

Is he the first, and only Indian Muslim restaurant owner in Malaysia to do this?

This year he did it on the 15th of February. It was supposed to start at 9.30pm, but I was informed that due to one troupe being held back and had to travel all the way from Telipok, the show only started around 10.45pm.

Some photos & videos I took when I was there.

The crowd started growing at 9 something, but it would be 1 more hour before the show actually starts. What it was like at 9.30pm:

View from another angle:

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We spent some time at the third beach of Tanjung Aru on the second day of Chinese New Year 2010, and I let my son use the camera. So he went off on a photography excursion.

When I looked through the photos he took later, one of them gave me a shock:

Of course it’s only a photo of someone playing bury-me-in-the-sand (sand is acne medicine?), but with that awkward hand gesture, that non-visible face and the 2 persons seemingly discovering the “body,” don’t you think it looks like somebody had drowned, or that there was a tsunami in Tanjung Aru?

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In early December 2009 I was sitting next to the sushi train at Wagamama Japanese Restaurant, Lintas when I noticed this piece of paper on the wall:

Therefore, I think parents with kids should NOT sit next to the counter. After all, which kid in the world can refrain from disturbing a moving toy train? That’s like saying everybody has read strivectin reviews, no?

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For Chinese New Year 2010, as usual we had a family reunion dinner on CNY eve.

Sometime during the evening, angpau (red packet containing money) giving out sessions would commence. Some would say it’s better to give than to receive, or even giving is the best anti aging product due to the warm buzz and general wellbeing it generates.

That night, everybody who is single gets something, even the kids of the Indonesian workers:

They even got presents during Christmas!

But what happens to the money given afterwards is another story.

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