Beijing Chronicles - was it all a scam?

Now I really feel stupid. :(

Recalling my Shanghai and Beijing trip experience made me check the Internet regarding china tour scams and my gut feeling is telling me that we have been scammed. :(

I am normally very sceptic about things and something felt staged but I don't know why we will fell into the trap.

I arranged our Shanghai and Beijing trip via universal holidays travel located in Dusit hotel here in Manila. Everything looked straighgforward.

We chose to have a tour guide with us because we thought it was impossible to enjoy the place if we don't have someone with us who can speak mandarin.

Hotel was good. Food was ok 90 percent of the time and the tour guide looked decent.

Michelle was our guide in Beijing and she looked very educated and kind hearted. Someone who wouldn't do anything deliberately bad.

I should have been more wary. I should have been more careful. Looking back, I realize that all her stories and side-kwentos about her jade bracelet and weight loss because of puer tea all were tiny traps that was planted in our subconscious.

One of her first story was what things were exclusive for the imperial family during their reign.

Silk. Cloisonné. Pearl. Tea and Jade.

Im sure there is some truth in her stories but I just feel that it was just too misleading.

First there was the silk factory in jiangnan.


Silk Beddings. Sold.

Then the Jade factory. She showed us her jade bracelet and that she has been wearing it for 10 years already. Her story was flawless. She made it sound magical.



Up next was the free tea tasting.



On our way to the Kung Fu show she told us that we still had time before the show so we can pass by Mr Tea where we will have a free tea tasting ceremony.

She said that she lost 10 kilos in two months by taking puer tea.


Sold.

The last one was the saddest one of all.

She asked us how our feet was with all the walking that we did. Thanks to the Uggs that besty lent me, my feet were just fine, thank you.

How about a foot massage then? Who would say no to that right?


We were then taken to a government run facility... for a massage???

While having our foot massage, a "dr" came in and started explaining acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine. No harm in that.

But then a burly man in a suit came in followed by two assistants. They made him appear very important. Kesyo presidente nila and very important traditional doctor and we were were lucky that he was around.

He went to "diagnose" my mom just by looking at her and feeling her pulse. Then went on to prescribe her Chinese herbal medicine that will cure her of her hypertension. When he saw that we were skeptical, he offered to take a better look at my mom and went to perform a "cleansing ritual". He scared my mom and us by saying that my mom has to take a one year supply of his prescribed medicine as a supplement. The price was just too crazy. When my mom pretended that her credit card was not working, they called on us, the "daughters" to help out out mom and give our mom money for her medicine. HALLER!!!

Good thing we did not fall into this scam.

The sold bedsheets I can live with. They do feel soft and luxurious. The jade bracelet? I can do without it but I'll wear it. The tea? I'll drink it.

But looking back and realizing how dumb I am and stupid for not being able to protect my mom and sister from this scam makes me want to vomit. :(

I didn't want to think much about it but reading too many similar scams in the Internet makes me really dumb. And stupid. And stupid. And dumb.

All of these side trips were not on the original itinerary.


I always thought that people are innately good. Then I get conned. It doesn't feel good :(

The silk place, the cloisonné, the tea place and the foot massage place were all "government run place" with the best quality for the lowest price. yeah right.

So I won't be blogging about the rest of our China trip.

I will just blog about how I got scammed in China.

Mano po 2? Never again.


I am sorry Ma and Che. :(



Please do share my experience to others. I am not telling you not to go to Beijing or shanghai but if you do, please be very careful.

Cannot Breathe

I am stuck in the middle of traffic in Beijing and I cannot breathe.

I cannot imagine traversing this road on a daily basis. Thank goodness I don't have to. We are crawling on a turtle pace and smog is smothering us. The cold air is not helping one bit.




The air is thick and the car fumes is clogging our lungs.



I don't know what is causing the gasoline smell reach the inside of this cab.

I just hope we reach our destination soon.

Cannot Breathe

I am stuck in the middle of traffic in Beijing and I cannot breathe.

I cannot imagine traversing this road on a daily basis. Thank goodness I don't have to. We are crawling on a turtle pace and smog is smothering us. The cold air is not helping one bit.




The air is thick and the car fumes is clogging our lungs.



I don't know what is causing the gasoline smell reach the inside of this cab.

I just hope we reach our destination soon.


Wahhhhhhh.

Shanghai Express Part 2

Night was as full packed as our day was. :)

Dinner was yummy :) I had xió long pao and hairy river crab. I need to de-clog my vessels asap! :)



Eat me! Eat me! - hairy rivet crab :)


Instructions for eating.

One tiny bite and let the steam out.

Put chinese vinegar then Slurp slurp. :)

Night ended with a heart stopping yet amazing Acrobatic show.

No pictures allowed :(


This was taken during the break :)

I would recommend this show to anyone! :) although my heart was beating so fast and I couldn't bear to watch the whole thing, I had lots of fun :)









:) Tom we will be on our way to Beijing :)

Shanghai Express

Just more than 24 hours in Shanghai and we had to make the most out of it. :)

First stop: The Bund. Brrrrr. Good thing we bundled up. The weather in Shanghai that day was odd. It would swing from 9-16 degrees in just a few minutes. :/


Here is Mader and Che... pretending to listen to the tour guide. Lol.


Next up was Maglev train ride. Super fast. 301 km / hour.


Vrooooom! :)


Next stop. Hold up area number one. Silk.


100 percent silk bedsheets and Duvet cover. Why not? Sarap :) thank MA! :)

Then off to the Temple number one. Temple of heaven :)


To be continued :)

Day One - you get what you pay for :)

Day one of the crazies minus 2 trip to Shanghai and Beijing. :)



Was choosing Cebu Pacific the right choice?


My experience with Cebu Pac can be summed up as "You get what you pay for" :/

Being a budget airline has its downside. No food and bad seats.


Chippy and 7 up for dinner. :) Whats a beggar got to do? :)


Itawa mo na lang :)

Trip was fast and uneventful. We landed Pudiong Airport at 11 pm and the place was almost deserted.


We got to our hotel at around 1230 and slept :) excited for our Shanghai experience the day after! :) zzzzzzzzz


Sleep tight :)

Date Night

Finally went out on a date with hubby and the Saulers :) (used to be the Ps) :)

A lot of firsts last night.

First time to go to Resort World :)




First time to have dinner in Beurre Blanc.

First time to watch a movie in newport cinema :) lazy boys and free popcorn and drinks :)


Had a fun time :) see you again :) Harry Potter night ? :)

Location:11th Ave,Taguig City,Philippines

Sister Act

Born just 20 months apart, I am blessed that my younger sister and I are the best of friends :)


Even if we were not together in high school, we made up for lost time in college :) We were housemates and she was my driver :) lol. She tolerated my craziness and spoiled me to death :)

She's my baby sister and 2nd mom rolled into one beautiful package (na Belo ba din yan lol) :)

I can say so many good things about this girl but there wouldn't be enough words :)




Today is your 33rd birthday sisterou. Enjoy! Let go of all the stressors in your life because as I've always said, Life is too short :)

Hakuna matata :)

Thank you for being an angel in my life. No joke :) Thank you for accepting and loving me unconditionally :)

I am so blessed to have you and Achie as my sisters :) di ko kayo ipagpapalit Sa isang milyong birkins :) Kay papa Derek baka mapaisip pa ako :) lol :)



I pray that you have a wonderful and carefree year ahead of you :)

See you in Shanghai ! Yahooooo!

I love you sisterou :)

Remember. Hakuna matata.

Location:11th Ave,Taguig City,Philippines

Top 6 reasons why ...

About 328 kilometers from here, there is a P.A.R.T.Y. :)

It's Mama's 62nd birthday :)



In honor of your birthday, I am listing down the top 5 reasons why you look young :)


You don't look 62! :) and here are the reasons why :)

5. You have made God the center of your life. (kaya malakas ka Kay Lord :) )

4. You drink you veggie juice and barley supplements daily :)

3. You exercise regularly. A.k.a. - you dance with your inner wheel buddies. Haha

2. You are naturally blessed ... NASA dugo ...

Or could it be because ...

1. May anak ka na taga Belo! :) yiheee! :)

Lol. We love you ma.

We thank God that we are blessed with the most loving and selfless mom in the world. Isusubo mo na lang, you will still prefer to give it to us :) We can never repay the kindness that you have showered me, che and Achie plus our hubbies and kids :)

Thank you for the unconditional love :)

I know this day is not complete because your loving boyfriend, Mariano, is up in heaven but he only wants you to be happy :) So smile! :) he's looking down on us and watching you dance the night away.






We love you ! :)

Location:11th Ave,Taguig City,Philippines

Muji-Muji

Finally had the chance to go to the Japanese specialty store Muji.

I was really excited to go. Verdict?

Hmmm so so.




Store was nice. Merchandise was good but price point was a bit too high for me.

Ended up buying pens and card holder.

Total price: Php 720




Oh well.

Still holding my breath for Ikea.

Location:Salcedo,Makati City,Philippines

In denial.

I refuse.

I refuse to look at his tombstone.

I avoid looking at his pictures on the wall of pictures of dearly departed relatives in the mausoleum.

It makes things real. And I like being in denial.

It's not healthy for me but it keeps me sane. For now.

So what did I do in the cemetery on nov 1st.

Stared into space and reconnected with my cousins. :) I had a blast laughing with them. :)

Dada


Yana


Achie Moni and Ate Sheila. Ate maita too.

It was fun laughing with them.

We realized that we still haven't grown up. Kinda :)

We still don't have signature recipes for parties and we still wait for our moms to fix things up. :)




Someday we will grow up.

Someday I will look at his picture without chocking up.

This post is definitely bipolar. Haissss.

Location:11th Ave,Taguig City,Philippines