Chad Is Everywhere

I just had to share this funny yet useful impromptu moment as provided by our wonderful tour guide from Chengdu. We were walking around Leshan Buddha site at the time. In a moment of rest she started to go through some Tai Chi. At which point someone mentioned they'd like learn how it went. And this was the funny basic series she provided to us. I'm sure its legit as a training method when introducing the artistic form to kids. I don't mind, I'm a big kid, and it brought on a smile. And as my former chiropractor always used to say. Why do we stop skipping? It's good for us, and it brings a smile. Forevermore I will always remember Tai Chi as slicing the watermelon in half and offering half to each side. Thank you Alina for this wonderful moment of levity on the trip. 

I took the opportunity to visit Layess, my former Brisbane flatmate, as a part of my Panda trip. The idea was that I could make a side trip to her home city of Chongqing from Chengdu. It was about 2 hours by train. This was easy enough to complete in theory. I just had to figure out myself how to get there.  Which meant navigating the long distance trains myself after managing to buy a ticket. Easier said than done. The first step was easy. I just had to retrace our trip from the Chengdu Train station we had arrived into. Then I just had to board the right train at the station. It was fairly easy on the way to Chengdu. But then we had guided instruction on what to do from the tour. Although we didn't actually have the guide with us every time we were inside the station we were seemingly under the safety blanket beingtold what to expect. This trip has no such support. I was alone and had my memory to rely on.   I had no ability to book my train tickets onlin...

  Chengdu as a destination wasn't just about Pandas. I mean sure if I left Chengdu and all I could say I saw was the Panda Base I'd still feel a sense of achievement. However There was much more to the 3 nights on the tour in Chengdu, and then the extra nights I stayed there after making a side trip to Chongqing. Immediately after the tour of the Panda base we went for a lunch at perhaps the most basic of the restaurants we visited whilst on the tour. Unfortunately for our guide this restaurant was awkward. There was no menu in English, and she hadn't really explained to us it was cheap. We were seemingly locked into a group lunch experience unknown relying on the guide to order. The main table which was mainly non vegetarians was fine. A mix of hot and not so hot dishes came out. Although we were still tentative about what to expect. However the vegetarians at a second table (due to the group size) were left to the whim of the hosts too. So they got the same long bean ...

Ha. I made a quirky little video presentation from the plaques of the panda we saw in Chengdu. Just a bit of harmless fun.