As Seen by TV

Since I only spent a night and day in Manila I can’t say anything definitively, but at first glance it’s not my favorite place. Although I did enjoy (completely by accident) walking into a bar with a stage full of girls on it. In all honesty, I just wanted to grab a beer somewhere and my girl wanted a pool table, so we walked into the first place we spotted… and got a little more than we bargained for. Interestingly enough, my first beer in the Philippines was the most expensive of the entire trip (150 PHP / US$ 3.50), which is funny because the same thing happened upon arrival here in Shanghai.

Luckily the day after I arrived we took the +6hr bus up into the highlands towards Baguio City… ah, how I miss that fresh air. And being able to see the stars.

*UPDATE* Typhoon Magi, that hit the Philippines a couple days ago, wiped out most, if not all, the fields in the second-to-last image, the infamous strawberry fields of La Trinidad.

A one hour drive east of Shanghai (map) is Zhouzhuang, the “Venice of the East” (although they call a hand-full of other towns the same thing).  So, now I’ve been to the Venice of the East, the Venice of the North (Bruges, Belgium), the other Venice of the North (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Venice Beach (California), and of course, the Venice.

Last weekend, my company had a team-building workshop near this picturesque ancient town (over two and half centuries worth), so the night before I decided to head into the old town and snap some flix…

Foiling Schemes of Mara

I mixed some pleasure with business and hit up Wuxi last week, a “town” (population 4.5 million) a 2hr drive north-west from Shanghai (map here).
Visited the Ling Shan Buddhist Scenic Spot, which includes Nanchan Temple, “5 Signet’s” Temple, the 88m Grand Buddha (8th tallest in the world), and the impressive [¥ 2billion] Brahma Palace, which you may only enter if you wear shoe covers.