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prrrrl

131 Blog Entries
9 Trips
80 Photos

Trips:

Liaoning, 2013
Beijing I, 2012
Yunnan, China
Beijing 2012 II
Beijing 2011
Philippines!
China 2009
Beijing, 2010 or Liaoning, 2013. They are appear to be mixed up!
Beijing 2015

Shorthand link:

http://blogabond.com/prrrrl




But equal?

Manila, Philippines

Did you know that there are two lines for security screening at the Manila Airport? One for men and one for women. I did not notice until I told a man that 'last call' for my flight had been announced and could I cut in the block long line to the metal detector. He directed me to the women's line. All were very polite and understanding of my rush.

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 30, 2011 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: Philippines!
tagged Manila, AirportSecurity and SingleSex
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Dive! Dive! Dive!

Dumaguete, Philippines

I did my first negative buoyancy dive from a boat today. Scary in that I did not drop like a stone as I was suppose to. I drifted into the boat. The boats are well designed, fortunately, with the propeller at the back and the dive platform at the front. The dive master grabbed me and helped me start my descent.

The current was very strong - great if you know where you are going and want to get there fast. Bad if you're a new-again diver and have never seen the route before. I just kept a close eye on the dive master.

In my three dives I saw wiggling fish [more than just a general observation - it was two particular fish and it was probably a communication behavior], zig-zag gaping clams [a personal favorite of mine], spiraling yellow 'Christmas tree' coral filtering mouths pull in quickly to their rock like base when I passed over, a large polka dot fish that had small polka dots in the large polka dots, zig-zag topped fish, one highly venomous [making rattle snakes seem like wimps] sea snake, shrimp smaller than a pea. Some fish were super bright; others were highly camouflaged. All were very interesting.

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 28, 2011 from Dumaguete, Philippines
from the travel blog: Philippines!
tagged Diving, Coral, TropicalReefs and NegativeBuoyancy
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My First Pedicure!

Dumaguete, Philippines

There's a salon in town that caters to locals, not tourists. I enjoyed their $4, one hour massage the other day. Yesterday I went back for the $2 pedicure, my very first. My toe nails are now a strong tangerine orange.

They took forever to dry I had a nice conversation with my pedicurist. She is almost 29 and not married. I showed her pictures of my travels in her country, I showed her pictures of my family. Unlike locals I met in Jordan and Madagascar, she did not ask me to bring her to the States.

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 28, 2011 from Dumaguete, Philippines
from the travel blog: Philippines!
tagged Pedicure, Converstation and USImmigration
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Slow down!

Dumaguete, Philippines

One often sees cautionary road signs. "Slow down, construction zone." "Slow down, school zone." "Slow down, congested area ahead." But, "Slow down, fish vendor ahead?" We were traveling too fast for me to snap a photo of it but it was there, trust me.

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 28, 2011 from Dumaguete, Philippines
from the travel blog: Philippines!
tagged FishVendor and SlowDown
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Rhymes with 'new spagetti.'

Dumaguete, Philippines

I passed through Manila briefly and have spent an entire week in Dumaguete City, Negros Island. [For pronunciation, see title of this entry!] Been a little bit lazy but not enough. Been a little bit adventurous and it's been great. This place makes Beijing look expensive!

Too hot to stay in this internet cafe!! Later!

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 27, 2011 from Dumaguete, Philippines
from the travel blog: Philippines!
tagged Heat, Dumaguete and Costs
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Phew!!!

Beijing, China

I JUST learned that the Philippines is home to chocolate production. All will soon be right with the world... I ran out of my S. American slavery-free chocolate yesterday. Only 48 more hours of forced withdrawal symptoms. (One symptom: bad spelling. Trust me, that's the obvious cause...)

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 17, 2011 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: Beijing 2011
tagged Chocolate, Philippines, Addiction and Spelling
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But, but, butt....

Garner, United States

Yea, google voice for translating a butt dial of rustling clothes, footsteps in dirt, a starting car (BMW?) and Diane Reemes into a boy band song. If only I could copy & paste here. Trust me, it was funny!

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 15, 2011 from Garner, United States
from the travel blog: Beijing 2011
tagged Funny, ButtDial and Garner
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"Please get ready for rival"

Beijing, China

Vowels are not given much consideration.  Consonents often come preloaded with a vowel sound. Children are not taught, 'b', 'p', 'm', 'f' but 'baw', 'paw', 'maw', 'faw'.  Ns come preloaded  with a leading 'i' so that a word spelled, 'tun' is pronounced, 'twin'.  What I heard on the bus: "Please get ready for rival". Turns out it was not an invitation to spar but lack of respect for the lowly first letter of our alphabet which, when preceding 'rival' helps us not miss our bus stop.

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 15, 2011 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: Beijing 2011
tagged Chinese, Vowels, Consonents and Pronunciation
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Stopover in Canada

Beijing, China

My ride was probably losing hope.  So many people waiting, so many bags not making it off the luggage go round.  Those waiting with me trickled down from a full Boing 747 to three.  Lost?  The couple in front of me at the lost luggage counter were joyfully reunited with their bags.  The third person persisted at the carousel.  I was told my clothes, toiletries, sandals, gifts, snorkel gear and Chinese English dictionary were in Toronto.  Bagless, I was pleased to find that my ride waited still, "Jan Tu" sign in hand just past the 'nothing to declare' lane.  William and his wife graciously wisked me to an ATM machine and then my guest House.  So far, so luggageless...      

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 14, 2011 from Beijing, China
from the travel blog: Beijing 2011
tagged Waiting, Hope and LostLuggage
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Sock buying vocabulary intact

Beijin, China

Though pleased that long haul trans-polar flights are not sweat inducing, the more fresh clothes I have, the better.  On the flight I had attempted to eavesdrop on two mandarin speakers and was perturbed that I couldn't even get the gist of their conversation.  On the streets of after dark Beijing I came upon a socks out of a box vendor.  I purchased 4 pair.  You'll be happy to know that my sock buying vocabulary is most satisfactory.  Yao wadzi ma.  They were obviously not discussing footware on the plane.  If you ever are in China and have a sock emergency I'm the translator for you!  

permalink written by  prrrrl on March 14, 2011 from Beijin, China
from the travel blog: Beijing 2011
tagged Socks, Vocabulary, Translate and Eavesdropping
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