Well, I could actually blog from here.. I can't and I won't cuz I can't even view my own blog.. BUT I can log into blogger.com.. BUT even if I could view my blog, it wouldn't be interesting if I wrote about my day because there'll be no pictures to accompany the post. And if you know me very well, I'm not the type to write super long entries. I rather post pictures cuz a picture's worth a thousand words. Plus, it's so much easier to elaborate from pictures. Heeheehee. Spoken like a true lazy person. Bleh.
I'll blog more about my days in Shenzhen probably the week after I return to KL. Would definitely need more than just one entry. Have about 3 film rolls of pictures. Yep, using the good old traditional Olympus camera while the digital camera lies idle at home.
Just a few golden rules of survival in China. My dad calls them Sun Tzu's Art of War: The 21st Century.
Please watch your steps at ALL times. There is a probability of 97% that you will step on either urine or vomit or spilt stuff or food or shit or human. From there, there's a 50-50 chance of stepping on a combination of more than two listed above. Note to self: Please remember to wash my boots.. can't endure thinking all those disgusting stuff I've been trampling on. Eeewwww..
Please watch the people around you and be careful especially when you hear anyone nearby you clearing their throat. Walk far, FAR away and stay clear. You might just get spit on :) Just imagine 1 million people walking along the same street and spitting at the same time. Yuck. You start to wonder whether you are walking along the street or you are caught in the middle of a football field with an ongoing match between Manchester United versus AS Roma.
During festive season, stay clear of young unpatronized children with fireworks. They might just throw one at you. Read: Not NEAR you, but AT you.
Worldwide, "ladies first", "children first" and "elderly first" may be common practices. But here, it's the "ME first" culture. Pushing and nudging are two extremely necessary skills to polish in order to survive here. If you can't fight them, join them. Hahahaa. Yeah girls, remember to guard your assets too. Just remember to switch off pushing-and-nudging once you're out of here. It is NOT a nice, at all, mannerism to adopt.
Don't smile too much, the police may render you suspicious.
Beware of peeing toddlers. They do their business anytime, anyhow and anywhere. And I mean it. Into the garbage bins in the subway station, drains at the side of the road or middle of the sidewalk, etc.
Please check the doors of toilet cubicles before you decide to use it. Sometimes the doors may not lock. Sometimes the floor may be puke-fied. Sometimes you may find the "contents" of the rubbish bin exposed with really disgusting stuff. Sometimes there is NO DOOR! Sometimes there're even no cubicles.. so pleasure doing business staring at one another. However, the last two do not apply to Shenzhen though cuz it's a planned city (bandar terancang).. thank God! The last time I went to upper north of China, I was told to bring along an umbrella - big enough to cover my butt - in case I need to do my business cuz in some areas where toilets don't even exist! Unless you count areas behind bushes and trees.
Beware of people who try to trick you into paying for them. We were at this 2 yuan shop, where all the stuffs sell for 2 yuan lar as you can tell. Decent stuff selling for ridiculously low price. You can imagine what the crowd was like in there. This is where nudge-and-push culture is at large rather annoyingly. Anyway, my mom bought a whole basketful of stuff and was paying up. Then there was this "nice" lady whom we shall refer to as Kee Kuai Zha Bor (Miss Weirdo) for the remaining of my story.
You see. As my mom was taking out money to pay AND the cashier was NOT looking, Miss Kee Kuai Zha Bor, holding a few items of her own, threw her items into my mom's basket thinking that my mom nor the cashier wouldn't notice and my mom would pay up for her items as well. You know the trick - mix your stuff with others, let them pay, then run off with their items as well as yours. Unfortunately for Miss Kee Kuai Zha Bor, she thought my mom was one she eh sai tipu one. Who would be dumb enough to try mess with my mom and her two brilliant *cough cough* daughters? My mom did tell the cashier which were her stuff and which were not, much to her dismay. Padan muka! Can't believe how cheapskate people can get.. I mean this Zha Bor had only 5-7 items in her hand which would add up to RMB10 to RMB14 (RM1 = RMB 2) and she wouldn't even pay for it?? Geez.
Beware of desperate salespeople. Think Malaysian salesmen/women are bad? Try the Chinese. Yes, you do stand an excellent chance of getting dirt cheap prices for just about everything. But once you start bargaining on an item, you better get it. Or risk getting pulled by your clothes/hands or even blocked from getting out of the shop. Forever.
Here, you also have pro-active beggars. They would walk around with bowls, chasing after people for about 50 yards for money. Oh yeah. You not only have professional accountants, lawyers, engineers and doctors.. you have professional beggars. My dad told me once that some would find easy money by throwing their food into the dustbin and eating from there while carrying a toddler or two. All these to squeeze money by manipulating the public's compassion and kind hearts. Just like a story, right? I thought so too... initially. Until one fine day, my dad, my brother and I actually caught one "professional" beggar doing exactly that. The things people would do for easy money.
What joy to be going back to civilization this Friday.
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