The adage goes, " Eat in Chaozhou, Die in Hangzhou. ".
Hangzhou has the best wood for coffin and Chaozhou has the best food for your palate and some of the best teas around.
Everything's freshly plucked and prepared, some of the noodles are even prepared with spring water from the Phoenix Hill. Tea, of course, is a daily affair and common sight. Almost every household has more than 1 Kungfu tea set.
I landed at 2 am, 8 hours ago, and slept at 3 am. I still couldn't come to terms with reality that I'm back in warm, humid Singapore so I turned on the air-con full blast to give myself one last sleep 'in Chaozhou'. I miss the cold floors, cold feet and hands. I miss wrapping myself up in 2 thick blankets every night.
Chaozhou was a good break away from Law and Order. Every road and street there is unofficially bi-directional. So even a small alley between houses can have 2 cars coming head-on but yet pass through freely (but not that small an alley of course!). Vehicles there don't waste time travelling, they don't need traffic lights or lane markings to cut across a dual-carriage way. They just cut across the lane with on-coming traffic, braving the massive load of traffic.
The best part is their U-turn. They just turn whenever they want. Heh. Thus creating a jam.
Despite all these irritating manoeuvres, Chaozhou citizens never frown. They are surprisingly zen and calm about all these hazards and their accidents rates, according to my cousin, is quite low. 40km/h is the usual speed in the hectic Chaozhou city, but the necessary traffic weaving and siam-ing is really painfully tough, even my dad says he doesn't dare to drive. Conclusion : Chaozhou drivers really have good driving technique.
Upon my departure at Shantou airport, I noticed at the bookstore that they actually sell books with nude models in it. It's China and they have this stuff?! Wow, daring. Haha. Msg me for the pic if you're
horny curious about it. Meanwhile I caught a glimpse of a pair of flies mating, a rather rare footage I'd say.
I transferred frm Chaozhou to Guangzhou and the flight home-bound was delayed 50 mins. Sigh. Thankfully I had a deep unconscious sleep on board. =)
Finally after 20 years, I got my hands on 7 pieces of fireworks. Their strength is the equivlaent of those you see being lit in Chinatown. Woohoo! Haha. Too bad I don't know how to stream videos of those fireworks. Till then!
