People in Digital China usually plan team-building activities the day before the actual event. It was a few hours before office hours were over when Tong Xiaoxia, the manager of the DCFS-Misys project team, came to us to invite us to join the Integration group climb the Cui Hua mountain. It was not really my cup of tea, but I never hesitated to say "Yes" because it was a good opportunity for me to get out of my nest in the weekend. I was aware of the consequences but I thought it was part of the experience. So not knowing about our rendezvous the next day, I headed off to leave the office to hopefully as early as I could to be more physically prepared for my first mountain climbing experience.
The first thing I did when I got to my apartment after dining out was to charge my camera's battery. After watching a few episodes of Heroes Season 2 which I was able to completely download from a torrent site, I finally fell asleep. I even forgot to turn off the lights. The next thing I knew was I staring at my wall clock, not believing it was already 8:43 in the morning. I couldn't help myself to utter, "Shit!"
I immediately grabbed my phone and sent a text message to the organizer of the activity, Pu Dexiang. He was one of the junior Java programmers from the Integration group and a close friend. I gave him an English name -"Peter". I asked him what time we were supposed to meet and where. I did not wait for his reply, I immediately ran to the bathroom to have a quick hot morning shower.
I heard my mobile phone ringing twice in a row, and some message alerts, while I was in the bathroom. I knew it was either Peter or someone who would ask if I would still be joining or not. I never cared to check them. I could not waste 5 minutes more of my time to take the pressure. Suddenly, I realized it was my first time to take a bath without even thinking what I was going to wear! I felt like hugging myself when I found some appropriate clothes already ironed weeks ago hanging in my closet. Xiaoxia said I should not wear very thick jackets for it might be warm at noon in the mountains. I got myself an old pink knitted sweater I brought from the Philippines and put on a couple of thin "Kamiseta" shirts. To complete my "get-up", I brought one of my many caps -I chose to bring the one I just recently bought from an ESPRIT factory outlet in Hong Kong.
I put on some facial moisturizer and some moist powder to complete my morning routine. The wind nowadays in China is strong and can easily dry up anyone's skin. I still found time to put some "blush on" despite knowing I was too late... Hahahaha... The last thing I should not forget -putting my signature perfume ("Beauty" from Elizabeth Arden which I have been using for five years. Rustan's in PH no longer sell it, got a couple from Singapore last year and saw some too at many cosmetic shops in Hong Kong last month).
I was startled when I heard knocks on my door. "What the --?" I knew it was Bao Jinlu. I somehow anticipated he would be fetching me. He was one my constant companions here in Xi'an and the only person who would always make people panic -someone like an alarm clock that automatically snoozes every two minutes. He belongs to the Development group and works for Khristine's team as an RPG programmer. He would be mountain climbing with the Integration guys because he failed to be part of the Development group's team building activity two weeks ago.
When I opened the door, I saw Peter too. Whoa! I must have been very very late. I saw the clock, it was 9:05. It was actually record-breaking for me -being almost prepared in 20 minutes. All I had to do was to brush my hair. I grabbed all my accessories and put them all in my bag. Brought my passport and ATM card (I had no cash!) and a huge grocery bag so we could pick and bring home for free some fresh fruits from the mountain. Peter and Bowen (Bao Jinlu's self-chosen English name) kept on yelling "Oh! Why do you keep on doing this?!" They said the bus was already waiting in front of my apartment building. Yeah, I think I am known for making people wait. I was always late. It's probably in my blood. Hahahaha.
We left the apartment without my hair combed. I was too guilty, making all those people wait for 40 minutes!!!
The service vehicle was a mini coaster rented by DCFS for the whole day. When I got on it, I saw all those people staring at me, maybe thinking how special I was to almost stand them up. Khristine was also there, who was not supposed to join due to an earlier commitment to play badminton in the afternoon with some fellow Filipinos working in Fiserv. I got a seat behind the driver, next to Bowen. There were plenty of mineral water and bread just in case someone gets hungry. Others brought their own "baon" too.
I was unusually quiet the whole trip, not only because of too much guilt, but because it would be my first time to take a long day out. After a few months of staying in china, I felt sickly. It may be a psychological effect of being far from home, adjusting to Chinese food and cold weather, being less sociable, or just physically deteriorating with age. The trip to the foot of the mountain took more than an hour. Bao kept taking pictures of the city during the trip while unendlessly asking why I was not talking.
It was around 10:30 when we reached Cui Hua Shan. There were a few souvenir stores with stuff that you could actually buy from the city streets. I felt better when I saw that there were not much people around, it meant we were probably early. It should be a good excuse for me not to spoil the whole day blaming myself about being late. The weather was warmer than usual and I had to take off my jacket to feel nature's very own breath.
.
The mountain was setup so tourists could easily explore it. Even non-climbers can reach the top with no difficulty using the artificially-made trails. The way up was a challenge, though, for the mountain was steep and the collapsed ruins were disturbing -a slight tremor might cause the big rock fragments to roll all the way down to the foot of the mountain. There was not much to amaze any climber along the way except the breath-taking view from the higher grounds. There were only the usual trees with autumn-colored leaves, no birds, no anything except the large stone fragments held in place to form caves, creeks and familiar shapes. These structures were caused by a landslide when a great earthquake hit the center of Shaanxi province in 780 B.C.
.
.
The scenery at the highest point we reached was not something worth-remembering. The big lake which they called the "Sky Pool" was dry, and a few vendors and restaurants somehow prevented us from completely realizing we were actually close to the peak of the mountain. Cars were everywhere, too, for those who did not choose to climb. The Sky Pool area almost looked like a National Park for me; I almost forgot we are on a preserved mountain. On the other hand, the "Tomb-raider"-like adventure while inside the caves, where I could not almost pass through, was scary but memorable.
We tried to look for a good place where we could take our late lunch. It took us around two and a half hours to reach the Sky Pool and we were all very hungry. The biscuits and bread we had during the climb were not enough to nourish us. After checking out some restaurants (which I observed were all empty), we decided to head back to the city to get a well-served lunch. .
.
I did not expect the trip back from the peak would be more exhausting. We forgot about taking pictures because we were all hungry and anxious to reach the coaster. We took a different direction to descend and it was not anything easier than the way up. My legs were shaking when I attempted to pause, and I could not seem to stop from running down the slope because gravity kept pulling me down the tracks. I also should watch each step for any excess move could be the end of me. The descent was more dangerous and stressful, but we managed to return to the foot of the mountain in less than two hours.
.
When we reached the coaster, my stomach was grumbling, and my feet and legs were aching like hell. I was crying like a baby inside the bus while massaging my feet until I finally dozed off. We were in the city when I woke up. The bus was instructed by Song Jiangbing (I call him "Shawn"), the team leader of the Integration group, to take us to a fancy restaurant that serves "Eat-all-you-can" food. It was almost 5:00PM then. Foods at the buffet table were not served yet and the restaurant could not give one table to seat us all. Thus, we were in two groups.
.
.
The buffet table was finally filled with fine dishes at around 5:30. The fried rice was good as the others we had in other restaurants. The "pansit" though was a little sour, so I honestly did not appreciate it. I especially liked the breaded squid and the sushi. The restaurant obviously served all sorts of food. Aside from the buffet, a little bit of more than twenty dishes were served one at a time on each plate -pizza, seafood, chicken, pork, duck, fruits, etc. It was amazing that each person was only charged 48RMB (bottomless drinks included) -48RMB was just one Pork Steak rice meal (without drink) from a coffee shop near my apartment...
.
.
When dinner was over and just as we thought that everything ended well, Khristine realized she could not find her bag anywhere. Initially, we were thinking someone might be playing some trick on us. Her bag was a small back pack, with her digital camera, mobile phone and some cash inside. The thief would surely be very very lucky. Our Chinese colleagues were humiliated about the incident, constantly saying they were sorry it happened to us in China. The kept on arguing with the restaurant manager, who later called the police, who honestly could not help anyways. Khristine repeatedly asked us to leave 'coz every minute of thinking about what she lost tortured her. (By the way, it was her second time to be robbed here in China. The first time happened in Beijing.)
The three of us, Bao Jinlu, Khristine and I, decided to drop by Citadines Hotel with Zahid (our Functional Consultant from Bangladesh) primary to get Khristine's laptop from our other colleague, Arlene. Unfortunately, she was out for dinner so we ended up at Zahid's hotel room eating some pears. We waited there hoping Arlene would arrive soon. We left at around 8:45PM after agreeing that Arlene might return to the hotel much later than we could wait.
I reached my apartment at around 9:00PM from Citadines. I immediately changed to my thermal clothes and thicker socks, then laid on bed. Again, my legs started to ache like I was going to die in pain. Unwillingly, I took two tablets of pain reliever (which a Chinese doctor prescribed for my stiff neck) and placed a Salompas-like patch on each of my legs which I bought a couple of weeks ago from a Chinese pharmacy. I was bursting to tears thinking someone might have been massaging my feet if I were only in the Philippines. I could not remember what time I blacked out.
The next morning, I could not move my legs. Generally, I could not move at all! The pain was worse than the day before. Yet, the soreness was no bigger deal than the exciting adventure I had with those wonderful people. As a matter of fact, I did not want to forget any of it so I decided to write this blog.
For more pictures, please go to http://www.friendster.com/piapetillucero
.JPG)
0 comments:
Post a Comment