Taking the CRH fast train from Shanghai to Beijing, and back!

Last year, we took the fast train from Taipei to Taichung. It was modern enough. But nothing prepared me for the massive expanse of glass and steel that is the Shanghai Hongquiao Railway Station. It looks bigger than our airport terminal in Manila. Okay, I will vote for the next Philippine president who will build a train station like this :D (riding PNR is something I never tried, or plan to do)

Shanghai train station

Flying to Beijing from Shanghai was tempting. But I guess taking the night ‘D’ trains with soft sleepers that depart around 9:30 p.m. and arrive at 7:30 a.m. the next day was cheaper and time-efficient. Doze off when you board and wake up in your destination when the morning sets in. Plus, you get to see the countryside.

One way tickets cost about $110 each , and are best procured at your hotel if you don’t know where to buy it in the city. It’s not really cheap, but remember, you get to save spending for a hotel room by sleeping on the train.

If you want to take the train route to traverse the 1,305 km distance from Shanghai to Beijing (and back), best to wait until June 20, 2011 when the new high-speed railway service is inaugurated. The new line is expected to cut travel time from the present ten hours to just three hours, 58 minutes:)

China trains are very safe. There are metal detectors when you enter the terminal (and even at the subways). There are English translations for the announcements and everywhere I found out that the young Chinese know their basic English so there’s no problem.

Some pictures:

You can choose from a few restaurants while waiting for boarding. I chose to hang out in this one because it’s got wifi :D

Shanghai train station

The D trains normally have two double-deck beds that accommodate four people (two upper and two lower berths). Each room has a small table to put your food and drinks. Each berth is provided with a pillow, a sheet, a quilt and a hanger for your coat. There’s also a reading light and a small LCD TV with channel and volume controls.

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There’s also a wash room and a choice between Western-type and squatting toilets. But no showers! Meanwhile, here’s how the dining area looks like:

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The attractive stewardesses check the tickets and attend to passengers’ concerns

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Koronadal South Cotabato’s T’nalak Festival 2011

Preparations are now in full swing as South Cotabato holds its annual T’nalak Festival 2011. The festival coincides with the founding anniversary of the province. This year South Cotabato celebrates its 45th year while the T’nalak Festival is now on its 12th.

T'boli Tribe

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Read the rest of Koronadal South Cotabato’s T’nalak Festival 2011



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JDV’s connection to Gaddafi

Gaddafi

In the light of the United Nations Security Council’s strong action Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi, former House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s letter to the beleaguered strongman seems an exercise in futility and just a boast of his international connections.

jdv

The 15-nation UN Security U.N. Security Council Saturday unanimously imposed travel bans and froze the assets of Gaddafi, members of his family and inner circle as he continued to crack down on escalating protests against his 42-year authoritarian rule.

More than a thousand have already been killed and more blood is expected to spill on the streets of Tripoli, where Gaddafi is expected to hold firm as long as he could. He won’t do a Hosni Mubarak. He had warned, “At the suitable time, we will open the arms depot so all Libyans and tribes become armed, so that Libya becomes red with fire.”

But his supporters are abandoning him. Libya’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Ibrahim Dabbashi has defected saying the Gaddafi government has lost credibility. His constant travel companion, a “voluptuous blonde nurse” Galyna Kolotnytska, is reported to be heading home to Ukraine.

JDV’s letter was written Friday before the UN sanction, coursed through Acting Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario. Vintage JDV, it praised Gaddafi’s achievements in “modernizing” and abandoning its nuclear power program. Then he suggested for the Libyan strong man to form an “Interim, Transition Government of National Salvation” might still offer the Tripoli leadership, its urban opposition, Libyan civil society, and Libya’s tribal groupings a political framework for sitting down and reasoning together.”

He also suggested that.” Under the aegis of the United Nations, perhaps your Government should urgently invite a special United Nations Mediation Team to mediate the crisis in Libya before it metes out more suffering and bloodshed among the Libyan people and prevent the dreaded final confrontation between citizens protesters, private militia and the Armed Forces.”

Is JDV being presumptuous in writing Gaddafi? Maybe not. Actually, JDV’s “friendship” with Gaddafi dates back to the Marcos years when his Landoil Corporation was doing a lot of business (this is another controversial project, especially the one in Iraq, which would require a separate column) in the Middle East and Africa.

It should be recalled that the Marcos has sought the help of Gaddafi in brokering the agreement with Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation. That’s why there’s the “Tripoli Agreement” promising for an autonomous region that would include 13 provinces “subject to constitutional processes.”

Marcos utilized wife Imelda in seeking the help of Gaddaffi. She was received in his luxurious desert tent.

JDV with FVR also had also visited Gaddafi in his dessert tent. In late 1991, FVR disappeared during the pre-election campaign period. All sorts of rumor circulated about that trip. One was that he had to rush London to comfort someone very close who was feeling despondent.

When FVR was already president, he revealed to the late Nelly Sindayen of Time Magazine, that he had a secret meeting with Gaddafi arranged by JDV, who was with him during the trip. The official explanation was that he sought the help of Gaddafi with the MNLF.
There were so many loopholes in that story because FVR was still a candidate at that time. What was his authority to deal with Gaddafi?

One rumor that was never confirmed but refused to die was that the trip had something to do with funds that was used during FVR’s campaign. We will never know the truth about that mysterious trip except that they met with Gaddafi and they had photos to prove that.

JDV’s letter may have been overtaken by events. But there was no loss in his effort to appeal to Gaddafi’s “statesmanship” which he had been privileged to witness. Besides, anything that would help save Filipino workers trapped in Libya is never futile.

Shanghai, China: great views, big city

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I female student I met on this trip told me: “Shanghai is not the real China.” Maybe like me, she came from the typical small town (in my case, small country) who was in awe at seeing the mega city for the first time. Still, modern Shanghai is an apparent indication of what China will be in the very near future and what it is now… an emerging economic powerhouse of the world.

State of the art architecture greets one upon arriving in the Pudong International Airport, accessible via subway and the super-fast Maglev trains.

Pudong International Airport (departure lounge)

As a tourist, I loved being in Shanghai because of its cosmopolitan vibe, its high technology and how everything runs so efficiently – from the very moment you step in the airport till the time you use the subway. Don’t forget to count the lovely February weather and the wide array of food choices (deserving of another post)

One travel tip I can share: savor the breathtaking views of the city. This can be done in many ways. Like in Hong Kong , one can ride the ferry to cross between The Bund (old side) and Pudong (new side). Or make the Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) your pit stop.

If you don’t want to pay the $20 or so entrance fee for using their 100th floor observation deck, consider dining at the Park Hyatt Shanghai which occupies the 79th to 93rd floor of SWFC and is the highest hotel in the world. Or enjoy a drink at the hotel’s The Music Bar on the 92nd floor which is the tallest in the world.

Here’s a sampling – daytime view:

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Night view -

Shanghai skyline at night

From the 94th floor Sky Arena of the SWFC, accessible to the public by paying a a fee of $22 or 150 yuan, even the toilet had this view :D …..

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A public square near our hotel, the Pudong Shangri-La, encircled on all sides by pedestrian escalators…

Shanghai

Ang konsyerto ng mga palaka

My sanggumay. Still a beauty but not so fragrant anymore.

Habang nagkakantahan at nasasayawan sina Pangulong Aquino sa EDSAnoong Biyernes sa kanilang pagdiwang ng 25 taong anibersayo ng People Power, ako ay nakikinig sa kunsiyerto ng mga palaka.
Tuloy-tuloy hanggang lampas ng hatinggabi ang kunsiyerto ng mga palaka. Minsan may nagso-solo,pagkatapos pumapasok na parang background music. Ang galing. Talo si Ogie Alcasid at ang kanyang mga all-stars performers sa EDSA.

Sobra isang linggo na ako sa aming baryo sa Guisijan sa Antique at talaga namang nakaka-relax ang sariwang hangin, sariwang isda at sariwang gulay.


Nasubukan nyo na ba ang masaheng alon? ‘Yan ang nangyari sa akin noong isang linggo. Pinaghahampas kami ng alon. Masaya kaya lang masakit sa katawan.

Hindi masyadong damdam ng mga kapitbahay namin dito and selebrasyon ng EDSA1. Natutuwa lang ang mga bata dahil wala silang pasok kaya naligo kami sa dagat. Nang gabi nga nasalubong ko ang aming kapitbahay at sinabi niya makikinood daw siya kanyang katabing bahay ng “Willing-Willie.” Mukhang mas mabenta ang Willing-Willie kaysa EDSA1 na palabas.

Parang hindi masyadong ramdam ng mga tao sa baryo ang pamahalaang nasyunal.Nagpapatuloy ang buhay at wala namang pagkaka-iba ang kanilang buhay kahit sinong presidente.

Ngayon ang problema ng mga magsasaka sa amin ay ang hindi maintindihan na panahon. Apektado raw ang kanilang mga pananim. Malamig sa gabi ngunit maiinit sa araw. Sabi nila parang hindi na tumutugma ang mga dating kinaugali-an at ang panahon.

Kahit nga mga bulaklak na mabango katulad ng sanggumay at ilang-ilang hindi na masyadong mabango. Nagtataka ako na namumulaklak ang aking sanggumay at ilang-ilang ngunit hindi na humalimuyak katulad noon. Baka siguro sa insecticide na siyempre nahalo na rin sa hangin at kapaligiran.

Sabi n gaming kapitbahay, ang konsiyerto ng mga palaka daw ay nagpapahiwatig na uulan kinabukasan. Gabi-gabi maingay sila ngunit hindi naman umuulan. Nababahala ang mga magsasaka na baka tuloy-tuloy na itong init hanggang summer. Matutuyuan ang kanilang tinanim.

Ang isang problema pa ng mga magsasaka ay daga. Ang dami daw ng mga daga at kinakain nila ang mga palay at tubo. Yung isang kapitbahay namin, isang gabi lang inubos ng mga daga ang kanyang tinamin na palay. Wala na siyang aanihin.

Ang solusyon sa kanila pang araw-araw na problem ang gusto sana nilang marinig kay Pangulong Aquino at sa kanyang mga opisyal.Kaya hindi nila gets masyado ang EDSA1 na konsyerto. Mas pinapakinggan nila ang mga palaka.
***
Tingnan mo nga naman ang Pilipinas, sabi ng blogger na si Bayonic: “25 years ago, ang ating presidente ay si Ferdinand Marcos at isa sa mga senador ay si Sen. Benigno Aquino, Jr. Ngayon, ang ating presidente ay si Beningno Aquino III at ang isa sa mga senador ay si Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.”

Kaya tanong ni Bayonic, “Ano ang umiba?

Kumuha si Bayonic ng mensahe sa kantang “Tatsulok.”

” Hindi pula’t dilaw tunay na magkalaban
Ang kulay at tatak ay di syang dahilan
Hangga’t marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan
At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman

Habang may tatsulok at sila ang nasa tuktok
Di matatapos itong gulo . . . ”
Totoy , kumilos ka , baliktarin ang tatsulok.”