IT'S TUESDAY, I MUST BE IN CHENGDU

Yes! The travel cold-streak is over! I get to go back to the land of deep, profound meaning to the LLDDL… ShoeMart!

Well, to be more accurate, Chengdu. But it had a ShoeMart! And, of course, the PhilDel had to make a pilgrimage there (because, as you know, there are so few SM’s in the Philippines).

Actually, I didn’t get to go to the ShoeMart photo-op, nor get to see much of the city because of the very tight work schedule. Fortunately, Chengdu had the same just-out-of-the-box feel of the other Chinese cities that I went through the last time I visited (except Guilin, which was Tolkienesque). In fact, to save me the effort, lemme just copy and paste what I wrote during my previous trip:

"All the cities we passed through were up-and-comers, showing signs of rapid transition from rural past to modern present. You always start from a remote airport, take a new expressway through some farmlands, get lulled by some modest buildings and housing en route, then, without so much as a highway off-ramp, you find your road has cut through the city center. and you're now completely surrounded on all sides by high-rises, condos and convention centers. Seriously, you feel like an entire large city had tiptoed behind your car, tapped on the window, then yelled "SURPRISE!". And know this about Chinese cities...whether its on their buildings, their bridges or their road railings: they sure love their multicolored neon trimming."

Sounds about right.

PLACE KINDA REMINDS ME OF: Nanning, which reminded me of Nanchang, which kinda looked like Xiamen.

I like this shot. It's the VIP table for the official luncheon, but looks like an elaborate wedding cake from the balcony. Those gray seats at the outermost ring are for the translators (or, as we like to call them, "The Minister Whisperers")

Well, I'll be! The hotel got dem one of dem heated bathroom mirror thingies that don't fog up in the center! (they were very practical, but it was a bit startling to step out of the shower and see a perfectly clear rectangle in the middle of a steamy bathroom, like someone was just in there and wiped the mirror. It felt like that urban legend where you turn off the bedroom light and see glow-in-the-dark "I'm in the house" lettering on the ceiling)

Sound advice

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