Spaced out!

I'm in Shenzhen! My first trip back to Mainland China in almost 5 years, and my first foray into what most people call "Hong Kong's poor brother."

First impression: There's so much space!

If you're used to staying in Hong Kong, you equally get used to living in cramped spaces. Here, the roads -- even the main highways -- are a bit narrower than usual. The sidewalks are quite sparse, and it you add the hundreds of thousands of people plying them the whole day, then they're almost non-existent.

But after stepping out of the railway station, I was immediately treated to a huge, concrete plaza which was practically empty, save for a few well-wishers waiting for people to return from Hong Kong.

While waiting for Melvin, I went around the area, and it was just SO refreshing to not have someone within 3 feet away from you while walking.

When he arrived, we took a mini-bus from the station to his flat. And again, the highways here are massive. It's like EDSA, sans the MRT in the middle. Despite the size, there was some congested areas here and there -- typical Friday night rush hour, as I'd learn.

We went down at Di Wang, which is the area where Melvin's flat and office are located. Again, the spacious sidewalks offered me a welcome change. In some areas, the sidewalks are so wide, you can even drive a car through it. Makes me want to look for a scooter or a skateboard and zig zag all the way around.

After dropping off my stuff at the flat, we proceeded to Shenzhen's version of Divisoria. This was my first exposure to how cheap stuff are in Shenzhen. They have office pants for RMB15! That's roughly P105! (This sounds sooooo Oh Tokyo! I can almost hear Ellen saying: Mura lang po ito, RMB15, sa pera po natin, P105 lang! Mura po, di ba?!)

Compare it to the usual HK$450 pants at G2000, that price is definitely a steal.

The supermarkets are also a sight to behold. Being a "supermarket junkie," it's one of the first places I visit whenever i'm in a foreign land. My fondest memories of my travels abroad are the supermarkets i've visited: Soriana's in Mexico, Albertheijn in the Netherlands, El Corte Ingles in Spain, Walmart in the US, Carrefour in France -- among others.

The Park and Shop in Shenzhen is humongous compared to its tiny brothers in HK. There's so much aisle space and so many things to buy. I could spend half a day just exploring the place, but it's almost 11. Melvin just grabbed a tub of ice cream and we were on our way back home to his flat. Of course, we walked along the wide, wide streets going there.

I think i'm going to like it here...