I've been here in Beijing for almost two weeks now.

I haven't been getting that home sickness thing really since I'm with my Pinoy team.

Some basic facts I learned here:
- when walking the streeets of Beijing, you have to be wary of the ground your walking on because the natives spit on the streets like there's no tomorrow. (Ewww)
- when shopping, if the tag says 40% then that would mean you will only pay 40% of the original price. (so unlike the sales in Manila)
- when riding the bus, you have to be careful in identifying where the entrance and exit is if you don't want the conductor to shout some Chinese what-have-you's once you've entered the bus.
- if you're on board the bus and you know you're stop is just around the corner, make sure you stand near the exit because if you so only miss a beat and lag behind the crowd then expect the bus driver to close the doors even before you can say 'Para!'
- bargaining in tiangges and flea markets here is considered an art. One shouldn't feel guilty when haggling a 200RMB-worth sweater for 90RMB coz these guys wouldn't sell you an item if they're really not gonna benefit from the sale. I've never enjoyed shopping this much!!!
- renting an apartment here wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg compared to renting condos in Manila. It's cheap and fully furnished! With the population in Beijing..it's no wonder they never resorted to building bungalows. It was smart of them to put up dozens of apartments and leave the bungalows to the outskirts and provinces.

So you can tell I'm pretty much enjoying my stay here. I'm just having a hard time reminding myself that I'm not a tourist but an OFW here...coz geez..everything's so cheap here!

*pics to follow..