I never had a thing for planning I always take the decision for trips or places for photo-ops spontaneously. So far so good, I never felt disappointed or probably I just don’t expect too much and enjoy whatever comes with it.

It’s a good thing that there are social online community such as this site Shenzhenstuff.com which provide information about activities which foreigners might be interested to go to. I came across a post about China SuperBike Championship (CSBK). I got curious, check some site, though about it and decided its time to talk to Jeff, my traveling buddy.

Jeff and I wanted to check out Zhuhai and explore the place which is regarded as one of the best cities in China. It never happened because we think it’s not interesting enough like Guangzhou for an overnight trip. With the CSBK racing event suddenly Zhuhai was an interesting place to see culture. So, we decided to go for these reasons; the need for speed and hopefully there would be plenty of models. As for exploring Zhuhai scenic culture who cares. 8)

I went to HK on Thursday, March 20, 2008 to attend the Apple Aperture World Tour at the Regal Hotel Causeway bay. Bringing with me my Macbook Pro, Sigma 70-200 f2.8 II mounted to a Canon 20D, Canon 10-22 EFs mounted to a 40D and a walk around Sigma 18-50 EX F2.8 Macro. All of these was put in a Crumpler Large Barge backpack bag. I also brought my Manfrotto MagFiber tripod 190MF3. The question is whether or not its was worth to bring these equipment knowing that there’s a chance of a hazy evening in HK. Lately, I haven’t been shooting anything I was planning to go to Victoria Harbor or Tsim Sha Tsui after the seminar so, I took the chance.

From Causeway bay I started shooting and got really hooked with the Tram as a subject. I was enjoying the moment that I’ve decided to take the Tram to go back to Central. This is not my usual route as I always take the MTR which is more convenient for me. After three years in Shenzhen, China this was my first time to ride a Tram by myself. Talking about spontaneity.

As I rode the Tram, I positioned my self at the back, standing beside the opposite of the entrance door. The weather was perfect the breeze of air was cool, standing up holding my camera with a 70-200 mm lens I started shooting to my hearts content.

My colleagues tells me that Guangzhou is twice or trice as big as Shenzhen, so just imagine how crowded the City is. I’m not going to give you facts about this city as googling it makes more sense than reading it here.

Jeff and I went there to attend the 5th China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition. For the past three years that I’ve been living in Shenzhen, yearly I’ve been receiving eMails with pictures content of the motor show held in this city. Base from the pictures the cars that were on exhibit are awesome and the models, what can I say grrrrrrr... Lucky me a ex-colleague told me in advance that a show will be held on this particular date.

Riding the train was fun it was very relaxing but for a non-speaking mandarin foreigner getting from point A to B is very tricky. In the train station there are no English signs and good luck asking directions. Its a good thing that jeff can speak mandarin and had been to Guangzhou already. Getting out of the train station to the intercity-subway-train is also confusing but at least there are English signs that you can start with. Hong Kong subway stations as complex as they are to first time tourist, Guangzhou is a labyrinth in comparison.

When we went to the show, all I saw was people and more people. Though the show was twice as big as the Shenzhen show still the people that attended was like an ant population. This is the first time I can only comprehend the magnitude how many chinese people there are. Jeff and I still stayed there for about 3 hours it was still fun but not seeing the hot models and cars but merely people watching.

I had more fun seeing the Beijing Road and the following day Shamian Beijie. Overall it was a good Guanzhou photo-opportunity trip and thanks to Jeffrey who showed me to these places.

For comments and sharing please send it to melvin.recon@mac.com

Its a good thing that Hong Kong is just 45 minutes train ride from Shenzhen, China. There is nothing more exciting to celebrate Christmas in China than going to Hong Kong. In Manila, Philippines, I can only find these kind of crowd in Quiapo, Baclaran, Divisoria and Caloocan. But these places are not safe for strolling and its not as nice as Tsim Sha Tsui (TST). Hong Kong Vibrant as it is on a regular day, definitely splendid festivities on Christmas eve.

This was my second trip to Yang Shou and it was good trip to take pictures. Second time around was a charm. It was the first time I get to experience riding the sleeper bus and I like it since it was a 11 hours ride. We were so worried about the temperature since it’s already november and we knew that it might be very cold trip experience.