Travelling November

Just noticed that I haven't been updating this blog for almost 3 months.
Life have been pretty hectic coming towards the end of the year.

I have been travelling a lot since end of October.
It started with a trip to Bangkok with my high school friend and her family in October, which I planned since early this year. It was more like a revenge to my husband's active night life/social life, because I hardly get to see him earlier this year due to his frequent mamak time with his friends. So I thought I should give myself some time off too. But I guess things somehow turned out quite too much...

After returning from the 4 days shopping trip in Bangkok, I was told by the MD to go to South Korea, and was also asked by the US colleague if I could join him in his visit to China. So, I headed off to South Korea and jumped to China.

This trip to South Korea gave me some chance to look around, as my flight to China was over the weekend. I went to the Changdeokgong palace, and had some peaceful moment on my own inside the king's secret garden.

Seoul is a very vibrant city, and Gangnam is especially high-tech. I was lost in Gangnam, and came to realize that the huge black pillars that served like the street lights, are also multipurpose interactive tourist boards that have maps etc.

In my China trip, I saw some living history in one of the China factories, see below.

This image looks exactly like one of those we seen in our history text books, talking about industrial revolutions. But the picture was taken when these people were working right before my eyes. I guess only engineers could appreciate this? The manual labour involved in this is enormous.

Of course, there were also some real kick-ass state-of-art Aluminium foundry we saw, but I couldn't take any pictures. China reminded me a little of USA -- everything is big.

Right after returning from China, my trip to Philippines has been arranged. The trip was meant for two weeks travelling from North to South of Philippines, but the job site in the South had some demonstrations, so our trip to Philippines was shortened to only a week. (I travelled with Mr. Experience in Philippines.)

I was extremely tired when returning from China, and was secretly feeling glad that this trip to Philippines is only a week instead of two. Although I still have to return again early next year to the South.

This trip to Philippines also coincide with my birthday, it falls on a Saturday. I spent my birthday in the job site climbing 60 ft above the ground, walking on thin structures and frames. Although I like engineering, but kinda feeling sad that I have to work over the weekend and my birthday, while the office politicians have been shooting arrows at my back.

I met our representative in the birthday evening, we celebrated in the hotel restaurant with half a coconut cake and a bouquet of lilies. I doubt I could bring the flowers back to Malaysia -- It wouldn't worth quarantine it in the airport.

The plants are in some remote places in Philippines. On our way to the plants, I saw a river was entirely filled by the volcano sludge and turned into very unique grey/black stripes of land, stretching miles and miles.

I saw large sugarcane fields and padi fields along the highway that has no ends, the large stretch of light purple sugarcane flowers under the huge dead volcano was giving a oddly peaceful aura.

I also saw mountainful of coconut trees with huge underground geothermal steam pipes snake around it and around the villages to get into the plant. Coconut trees were sweeping as the wind blows, and the geothermal steam merged with the moving white clouds, everything is so dreamy and serene. If it weren't the hot sun, the sweat, the machine and construction sounds we made, it would be a heaven.

Back to reality, one thing I find common in all these 3 countries, is the horrible traffic jam.