SLEEPLESS NIGHT

Sleepless night once again. I just couldn’t force myself to go back to sleep. I don’t know. Maybe because I am going to meet my all time best friend from the Philippines in Shanghai today, or maybe because it’s my first time to go there, too. I am like a little child so excited about something promised to be brought to somewhere or to be given something for a job well done.

Another thing, we haven’t meet for like 3 years now. So, it’s quite a long time. We’ve got lots of stories to exchange and another sleepless nights pretty sure. Hahahahaha. Looking forward to know all those stories about life back home. Well, I gotta go people, got to prepare myself for the trip. See you and take care. Have a great time...

You can also visit me in my other sites:
http://eternallyyours-tax.blogspot.com
http://d-role-model.blogspot.com

08-08-08

It happens once in a blue moon, twelve times in a century. So we are so lucky when it happens. We should mark our calendar for this. Only few people experience this moment. Well, what makes it special, anyway?

For the world, it is important for there was an international event on this day where majority of the nations participated. And for China, it is even more important for it hosted the said event, the Olympic games, where they got almost all the golds and eventually lead them to get the highest achievement in the event. They were the champions. So, does the date matters? Does it give meaning to them? For them, eight (8) is a lucky number. So does it explain?

Anyway, where were you on this very day? Could you still remember? As for me, it was kinda special and a mix feelings. I was so excited for I was going home for the first time on this day. I was in two countries during this moment. Kinda peculiar, right? But it was. My flight to the Philippines was 9:15 in the evening on this day and we arrived in the Philippine airport at around 12 midnight or more. I am not so sure of the exact time for what I was feeling was excitement and exhilaration. Though we didn’t land yet, but i am sure that we were already in the border of the Philippines before it turns 12 midnight.

So, what is your 08-08-08 story? Is this date significant for you?

You can also visit me in my other sites:
http://eternallyyours-tax.blogspot.com
http://d-role-model.blogspot.com

…mY fIrSt TiMe

On my first day in Wuhan, I was bloody tired for I wasn’t able to rest the night before on the train. Then we had a lot of activities like playing badminton, going to park, crossing the Yangtze river and so on. Absolutely busy schedule we had that day.

Yes, my first time to cross Yangtze river by Ferry. I did several times by bus before. It was a great experience. The ferry is kinda big compared to ferries we have back home. This time, crossing only a river, it’s a nice and different feeling. Before back home, we had it crossing the sea, but here, just a river, which is comparable to a sea, too big for a river. We were around 10 to 15 minutes on the river. We had a wonderful moment as we crossed. We took pictures along the way, capturing the beautiful sites around it, the tower, tall buildings, cargo ferries, bridge, and the grayish-brown water. Maybelle, thanks for taking me there and experience a such marvelous instant. Thanks once again.

…iNsPiReD

After having several classes, leaving my yahoo messenger available to everyone, I received a lot of messages from my friends who have visited and read my posts in my blog, as I opened the monitor of my computer. I was touched by the heartfelt contents of their messages, saying they like my posts. Such an inspiring ones.

To everyone there who has visited my blog and read it, thank you so much for your time. You are my inspirations to make it best. Thanks for your comments and for passing by. I am totally inspired to do more. Thanks for the chance of touching your life. I just hope you go with me as I go through and be always there by my side. You are truly my inspirations. Thanks again and have a good time. “Always do your best and God will do the rest.”

…SpRiNg FeStIvAl

What did you do last Spring Festival or Chinese New Year? Did you celebrate? Did you travel? Or just stay at home. Or where did you go? Who do you celebrate with? Was it great? What did you prepare?

Spring Festival is Chinese’s most important festival as Christmas for most of the western countries. On this day, they prepared a great dinner with all members of the family together. They usually eat dumplings. Children receive money from their folks and parents. They prepared for this event for several days. They usually clean their houses and wash all their dirty clothes, that they are clean to meet the new year. It’s one of their practices on this marvelous event.

It was really great for me ‘coz we had more than a month vacation. So I traveled around to meet some of my friends. My first stop was in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province where I stayed for a night. Then I moved to Chuzhou the next day, still a city of Anhui, where my colleague in another branch is residing, a Filipino. I stayed there most of my time. We supposed to go to Guangzhou, but because of the snow storm, we decided to stay. Days after, we went to Nanjing in another province, Jiangsu Province. It used to be the capital of China. We roamed around there by subway for the entire day. Then we went back to Chuzhou in the evening by train. My friend toured me around the city. I also met a lot of friends there. I even plan to go back there soon.

My first Spring Festival in China was really great. We also had a big dinner. Our fellow Filipinos prepared a big banquet. There were 8 Filipinos that time, all teachers and a Chinese, my friend’s colleague. I ate a lot for they served Filipino dishes which I missed for so long. We perfectly had a fantastic dinner together.

Then one day, we went boating in Chuzhou’s South Lake. We had a lot of fun. We preferred to rent a manual one that we could have a race. Everybody enjoyed the activity. Then we went to sauna, massage parlor and shopping. T’was really a perfect moment.

I somehow forgot my problems that time. Completely funny. I stayed there for almost three (3) weeks. Then I went back to Hefei again. We also had different celebration with some Filipino friends there. I could really say, Spring Festival is one of my best memories in China. What about you, do you have one?

…I wAs PaRt Of It

One time, I was astonished because I was called to the office and was told I am going to have classes in a middle school in a county of my city. It was so because my colleague, an American guy, is going to Hongkong to process his working visa. I had no choice. I had to take all his 14 classes there, in addition to my own classes. Pretty tough, huh!

Upon reaching the school’s vicinity, I was amused by its grand beauty. Its location is perfect, away from the noise of the city. It’s surrounded by nature. Right across the school is a big lake which I can compare to a sea in the Philippines. At its back is a huge mountain. It’s also bordered by fruit trees. It’s indeed a perfect location.

The school caters students living from far-flung places. So they have to live in the school’s dormitories. They can only come home once a month for four (4) days, meaning, their weekends are accumulated and taken as one. Teachers are also living in the teacher’s dormitory for it’s really quite far from the city. Its population also is quite huge. There are more than 1000 students, purely senior high school students.

As for me, I didn’t stay there. I kept going home everyday ‘coz I have also a class at night, which made me much tired. I slept in the teacher’s dorm, though during lunch break before my class for it usually starts at 2:50. I was completely overwhelmed by the students’s pleasing character as well as that of the teachers’s. They are very friendly, kind and hospitable that made my stay unforgetable. They were hoping that I would stay longer but it’s out of my jurisdiction.

My short stay there was absolutely a memorable one. I just wish them success in their endeavor, the students, the teachers and the school as a whole. “Do you best and God will take care of the rest,” I powerfully believe.

…HuAnGsHaN – tHe MoSt BeAuTiFuL mOuNtAiN iN cHiNa

Nature is eversince very beautiful. It existed for thousands of years, but its grandeur is still very eminent that no human creation can surpass. Its beauty is unending and never fading. It was, it is, and it will still be the same in the future. It is worth nurturing and taking care of.

Last year, when China celebrated its National Holiday (on the first week of October), people from different walks of life wandered around and visit some famous sites to celebrate the week of no work, including myself and some other friends. We visited Huangshan – the most beautiful mountain in China. We spent three (3) days there starting from September 29th until October 1st. It’s a four (4) hours away by bus from my place. But before reaching the mountain, our agent toured us to a nearby town which was built during the Qing Dynasty. Then, we continued to our destination. We stayed in a hotel at the foot of the mountain.

I’ve heard so much about this mountain long before from my students. But I just want to experience and witness how splendid the beauty of the mountain. I want to see it through my naked eyes.

Early the next morning, we hurriedly ate our breakfast to catch the sunrise on top. There I saw such a crowd going to the mountain.

Cable cars are also one of the highlights of the mountain. Since it is very steep, we decided to ride the cable car and perfect, because we were six (6) together and a cable car can only accommodate six people. Surprisingly, we saw its fabulous beauty as the cable car went up passing through gorgeous natural landscapes and a little spring approximately 1000 meters right down our cable car. About ten (10) minutes later, we reached the endpoint of the cable car, halfway to the top. We had to climb through slippery stairs because it was so foggy. We saw the sun once in a while and I extremely appreciate the color of the mountain, because it turns yellow once reflected by sunrays. That’s how beautiful the mountain is. They said it has different colors in different seasons. We spent our whole day climbing up and down from them and each has its own beauty to attract people.

I was totally amazed because there’s a hotel on top of the mountain, but it’s pretty expensive. When we stepped our feet on the highest portion, it felt so great knowing that we were about 2000 meters above sea level. Though very tiresome but it’s worth it. We rode another cable car as we went down at the other side of the mountains. As we reached our hotel, we were like logs lying on our bed after a short dinner because everyone is bloody tired from the whole day adventure.

On the third day, buying of souvenirs and traveling time going back to our respective places. Even if we slept soundly for about ten (10) hours, we still felt the fatigue brought about by the activity the day before. So we were also sleeping on our way.

Huangshan is indeed a great place to be visited. As Chinese people say, you won’t long of going to other famous mountains if you have visited Huangshan. Somewhat all the beauties of other mountains were put together in one place, and it is Huangshan. Waterfalls, springs, lake, natural landscapes, cable cars, restaurants, hotels, trees, all in one place. I absolutely had a well spent National Holiday.

So, everyone out there, if you have enough time, don’t miss to experience the magnificent Huangshan… And once again, thank you for your time and for passing by. Catch me up on my next blog. Have it in mind always, everything happens for a reason. Have a good time and take care always.

…JiUhUaShAn – ThE TeMpLe MoUnTaIn

As we often hear the quotation, “The only constant in this world is change,” we should try not to be stagnant, we should keep on keeping on. Since life is a journey, we should always attempt to keep on moving on. As for me, I don’t want to be stuck in one place. I always want to wander around and see the beauty that the world has to offer because it’s unfolding and welcoming us to reminisce its grandeur.

Eight months ago, I and some friends went to Jiuhuashan – a temple mountain. In fact, there are 99 temples and the montain is very famous especially to the followers and believers of Buddha. It was known since 719 AD during the Tang dynasty in China. We spent two (2) days on the mountain.

I just couldn’t imagine why we were having that experience without a meticlulous plan, no preparations at all. It’s just that a friend of us mentioned when we were eating at McDonalds that she and her student were going to that mountain the day after. We jokingly said we want to go with them. She immediately phoned her student to book for two (2) more people to the agency. We were just lucky that it was not peak season. So we went there early the next morning.

As we approached the mountain, we were shocked seeing the green and picturesque mountain on top. We landed at the middle of the mountain and put our things in the hotel where we stayed in. After lunch, we started climbing and visiting those temples that the mountain is known for. I highly appreciated how splendid the temples are. They are highly preserved and taken cared of by the monks who are living there. We went in and out from one temple to the other, and each has its beauty to present. They were built thousands of years ago. It was really a fascinating experience. We were very exhausted as we went down and proceeded to our hotel and restfully slept that night.

We were awaken by a hard knock at our door saying, “Please prepare because in few minutes, we are going at the back of the mountain.” We were surprised for we didn’t know our schedule. But actually, instructions and activities for the next day were given after our dinner but we were not there because we went out to buy some souvenirs. It was also our fault. We hurriedly prepared ourselves and took a shower hastily. Unfortunately, they had gone as we went out from the hotel. The guard told us that we can wait for the next bus. Anyway, there were many visible buses around.

As we were on the bus to the other side of the mountain, I was enjoying capturing pictures for it’s astonishingly magnificent, and clouds were just directly under the mountain. After reaching the endpoint for buses, we still had to walk for about 20 minutes to get to the cable car station. You could actually climb to the top with 1000 steps if you have that vigor to reach the topmost. We had a very great moment seeing the beauty of nature seen from the top.

There, as we wandered around, we saw the Phoenix tree – the

oldest pine tree in China. It was planted around 1400 years ago. I was overwhelmed with great joy watching and taking pictures with the tree. We didn’t want to leave the place for we are surrounded by nature, clean and green tress, fresh air, water, temples, cable cars, hotels and well-developed road system, such a comfortable life in there. We took another route to go back to our hotel for lunch. Then, we packed our things because we had to leave a short while after.

I can truly say that my two (2) days there were perfectly spent. Experiencing the glorious beauty of nature is such a wonderful page added to my short stay in this passing life. I just wish that all of us, dear friends, treasure every single minute of our lives. Brilliantly spend each day for tomorrow is another day. Once again, thanks a lot for passing by and remember, everything happens for a reason. Have a joyous day to all of us. Have a good time and more powers.

...congRATulatIONs...

I was just puzzled when I received this message a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't believe about it. Mixed emotions were felt that time upon reading it. Imagine that? Well, the message goes this way...


Ref: 435062725
Batch: 7050470902/189
Winning no: GB8101/LPRC


CONGRATULATIONS!!!


Dear Winner,


We are delighted to inform you of your prize which was released on the 14th of March 2008,from the Australian International Lottery programme,which is fully based on an electronic selection of winners using their e-mail addresses from some sites. Your email address was attached to ticket number; 47001725 07056490102 and serial number 7741134002. This batch draws the lucky numbers as follows 5-13-33-37-42 and bonus number 17, which consequently won the lottery in the second category.

You hereby have been approved a lump sum pay of US$1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION DOLLARS) in cash credit file ref: ILP/HW47509/09 from the total cash prize shared amongst eight lucky winners in this category. All participants were selected through a computer balloting system drawn form Nine hundred thousand E-mail addresses from Canada, Australia,United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceania as part of our international promotion program which is conducted annually. This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by a conglomerate of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have an operational base.

Furthermore, your details(e-mail address) falls within our European representative office in Amsterdam, Holland as indicated in your play coupon and your prize of US$1,000,000.00 will be released to you from this regional branch office in NIGERIA. We hope that with part of your prize, you will participate in our end of year high stakes for US$1.3 Billion international draw.To file for your claim, please contact our claims department through the claims agent:

Name: Mr.Howard Greg
Tell: +234 803-2467781
E-mail:howardgreg.claimsagent111@yahoo.co.uk or
howard_greg@hotmail.com

Please quote your reference, batch and winning number which can be found on the top left corner of this notification as well as your full name, address and telephone number to help locate your file easily.For security reasons, we advice all winners to keep this information confidential from the public until your claim is processed and your prize released to you.This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted taking advantage of this programme by non-participants or unofficial personnel.Note: all winnings MUST be claimed by the 30th April, 2008; otherwise all funds will be returned as Unclaimed and eventually donated to charity organizations.


YOURS SINCERELY,

Mr.James Ross
Australian Lottery International (co-ordinator).



I am hoping somebody could tell me something about it. Does this exist? Is it true? Did someone got the same message before? What happened? What did you do? Please your thoughts about it. Thanks in advance...