wootsome

Vietnamese pho at restaurant prices in elegant setting. I can't bring myself to do this as much as I crave it, not even if the restaurant is just 3min from where I stay.

In other pho-related news, I had a nice bowl of pho at Canton Road recently (though it could certainly do with some fresh herb garnishes). Wish I had time to head to the other pho eateries in Hong Kong. I guess the hunt continues... in Singapore next.

So Chungking Mansion isn't as skanky as it is rumored to be. I think it actually resembles Golden Mile Complex in Singapore or Malaysia's Puduraya. Would I stay there again? Yes yes, in a heartbeat.

Hong Kong seems to have a lot more expat families than Singapore and Shanghai combined.

Sweltering hot weather and full-blast air-conditioning in shopping malls don't go together. I'm sticky with sweat yet if I head indoors, I can't help but wish I have a cardigan on.

Run-down buildings in dire need of a new coat of paint make awesome architecture. So much character.

Dodgy men are everywhere. If you don't respond to their overzealous friendliness or go into dark alleys with them, they should be manageable (at least most of them).

I haven't had chicken tandoori this delicious since India '04. It definitely can't compare to the well-roasted gastronomical goodness from the grimy hole-in-the-wall eatery I've been craving for these four years, but it will have to do for now. The name to remember, Delhi Club.

I miss the convenience of late night metro service (eh listen up, Shanghai).

A few days in Hong Kong can do wonders for one's Cantonese. Enough for me to grapple convincingly to the fruit seller lady that I need to make an important phone call using her cellphone.

• Conspiracy theories aside, the bus explosion has led to heightened security in Shanghai these couple days. Sniffer dogs sighted everywhere.

 

Big night tomorrow, my spec ads definitely can't compare to those by people who went to ad school, did placements, etc. So I'm prepared for a load of criticisms, if this is what it takes to know if I stand a flicker of a chance at all to soldier on.

Our driver brought us to his childhood home where his parents still live on the top of lovely mountains amid apple and walnut trees. We're invited to go pick apples come Autumn, oh tempting. Then he plucked some wild flowers/fruits and made us try them, oh rural treats.

More than a little disappointed with Linfen, because it didn't turn out to be what it appears to be. In some parts of the city, it even resembles Pudong.

I went to D's house party and met some very random and drunk people.

Trapped in smoky, coal dusty air, awful smells and a questionable grimy seat for hours - this is the reality of overland bus travels in China. Really, people shouldn't be smoking in buses.

This short trip to Shanxi reminds me how much I'd missed traveling, backpacking. If I want to take half/ a year off sometime soon, I need to start saving up.

• Last weekend in Shanxi, I took a random bus to a middle-of-nowhere mining town in the mountains and almost missed my flight.