The city is very interesting. Reminds me a bit of a mixture of Indonesia and Malaysia. What with the smell of the smog from the buses (reminds me a bit of Beijing, but this is not as worse). First impression: The city has that warm and friendly aura. Of course, one has to watch out for those pick-pockets. The people: they are very welcoming & friendly. Always a smile on their faces. When they see a stranger, esp. a non-Hispanic looking person, they'll eyes just lit up. Except for the language. They'll speak to you in Spanish, eventhough they know one is not able to fully communicate...Some do speak English but on a limited basis. And of course, the latina ladies are as muy bonito.. Weather: Pretty warm and humid. But not as humid as SE Asia. Road/street/neighborhood: Old and not taken care of..But the traffic is not too bad, pretty organized..A lot of old, historical buildings for tourists. Transportation: Decent. There are a couple of MRT/LRT, subway trains lines, but they're not as complex and huge as other cities. Thank goodness for taxi! One way ride from my hotel to the stadium is about 40-50 pesos ($4-$5); abt close to a 10 minute ride. Public buses are available but they'll take a bit of time. The exchange rate is about $1 = 10,000 pesos (similar to INA Rupiahs). And no, there are no drug gang shootings or battle on the street...Guadalajara is very safe!!.. Tomorrow, more adventure (yes, i just left my handphone battery in one of the 24-hrs mart after chatting w/this friendly lady. Hope they'll keep it til tomorrow). Some pics of Day 1 travel: Arriba!!.. Just past the Baja Peninsula and about to enter Mexico Above Mexico (a very mountainous terrain) Mexican snacks....muy sabroso (very yummy) La bienvenida a Guadalajara (welcome to Guadalajara) Inside the terminal (the airport is quite small). I had to pay about $23-$24 for a 30-min. taxi ride from the airport. A couple of the buildings in downtown Guadalajara Near the stadium (Code de Jalisco), around the circulacion Just like in Indonesia and Malaysia...several rows of street food hawkers, the foods look and smell good..I swear, i was so tempted to go and buy from them..i think i'm gonna go and try them tomorrow night...might bring some INA or Malaysian players.. my hotel room..
Umm Chris, your hotel room is bigger than our "luxury room" at Delhi ..... Keep it coming, some pix of the stadium and people in action would do nicely. Though I don't really expect you to take a BC World Junior title ....... surely you are overaged ...... wakakakakaka.
^^No problem..^^ - I will try to squeeze in a few hours of sightseeing of downtown Guadalajara. From my initial impression, it's a lively town (i came back to hotel around past 9 pm and there are still people on the street)..Of course it's not as lively as in KL. The only downside is the lack of easy public transport (e.g. trains, subways that will link me from the hotel to the stadium). - Hotel room is actually quite small, maybe the picture tells a different story. Even the bathroom is small. I think it's a junior suite. - Baddy pics are & will be on the other thread (i purposely separate them).
Yes, keep coming, chris...! Please post who the players U bring for those hawkers food.........hehehe
..after i ask him to go (yes, we can call this one a vacation), i think i have to ask a more important individual if he is to go: kwun's significant other..she'll be asking "wait, you're going on a vacation and you're not taking me along??".. ..the churches (most if not all of them are Catholic churches) are in Espanol (Spanish) only...if i were to attend, i could only understand when to stand up and sit down.. ..unfortunately, i asked some of the players and they all told me they ate at the hotel's restaurant...i don't think anyone of them would want to try one of the street food hawker stalls..
A few "daylight" pics on 2nd day in Guadalajara.. ..i finally experienced the congested traffic jam & i could smell the fume..It's bad, but i'd say it's about the same as in other metro cities. Still organized. For some reason, Guadalajara has been getting some nice cool breeze the last couple of days.. Yes, i saw 3 Chinese restaurants on my way to the stadium and to the hotel..i have yet to try their dishes...maybe it'll taste w/a Chinese-Mexican flavor.. At one of the restaurants near the stadium.. One of the older buildings in downtown Guadalajara..and the traffic..
^^Many Chinese restaurants??..^^ ..there are only a few...and i don't know how they taste.. Okay, a couple more (non-badminton related) videos to share: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRFQn5-K_sU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6tbG_y6-fg
If you look for them, you'll find them.. Strawberry flavored horchata (rice drink) and tortas ahogada (left, it is a Guadalajara specialty sandwich; it's drowned in sauce, served in a French type bread and filled with pork and other ingredients...mmmmm..). Inside one of the gallerias.. I only saw 5 items at this chinese fast food kiosk.. Roast chicken kiosk..
^^What???..^^ ..where did you hear that idea from??..there are no cactus plants in Mexico, at least not widely known.. They eat rice, beans, corns, potatoes also in Mexico. Just cooked differently than in Asia.. Btw, the rice drink (horchata) is very2 good. Ask kwun, he might have tried it before..
^^muy poco..^^ ..si...it's very easy to learn...i was going to take a Spanish class when i was in high school, but instead took a French class...Boy, was that a mistake or what, as it was much harder. Nowadays, i only remember a few French words/statements..
erm no cactus? u sure u are in mexico? u dont know how famous the cactus is? read this http://www.google.com.my/#hl=en&sou...=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=df20217f46d28bf9 perhaps u are still dizzy
^^i don't see 'em..^^ ..maybe that's a different part of Mexico...and no, they don't make drinks out of cactus, unless one wants to get choked up by their gluey juice..
Heheheh... It seems that that choice was somewhat useless But if you can understand French you can at least understand a few words in Spanish because of the common roots
