plane was super cramped, worse than jetstar. it was probably made worse by the fact that we were seated in front of the emergency exit and couldn't recline. but we managed some shut-eye cause we were just too damn tired. flight was 3.5 hours long and we reached at about 11am. mum's business contact picked us up at the airport and ferried us to 十甫假日酒店 holiday inn. it's kind of funny to see everything in chinese/ hanyu pinyin. it's left hand drive in guangzhou, opposite from singapore, and they regulate their roads by indicating type of vehicles and speed limit- 慢车,快车,小型车.
hotel was located right in the centre of the shopping street, which was great news for us. hahaha, but first we had to eat lunch and get some sleep.
i quite agree with mum that this fast food chain is not bad. it's called gongfu restaurant, and uses a cartoon bruce lee to advertise itself. mainly serves steamed meats with rice. 3 of us shared 2 sets (cause i was still reeling from too much bbq food, and damn sleepy), one a black pepper garlic pork, one a sesame chicken. complete with veggies, a drink and a dessert, total bill was about RMB50, which is less than SGD10. quite value-for-money where fast food is concerned.
after lunch, we just crashed. super tired. woke up to shop at the street near our hotel before eating dinner at a place called 南信. the culture in guangzhou is largely similar to hongkong. residents mainly speak cantonese, and the food is pretty much the same fare.
shopping was super cheap!!! clothes selling at below 10SGD, shoes for 7SGD, lost all sense lo! wahahaha and back at the hotel, i cajoled my brother into taking my customary shots of photographing all that we bought.pretty much a shop and eat trip. it's not my fault that my bro bought so little, cause he wasn't looking for clothes, only jeans, bags and shoes. his stuff is nothing compared to mine. it's not my fault my mum bought so little too, because her foot was hurting more or less constantly (and she didn't want me to know) so it kinda affected her shopping enthusiasm.
what we did in the hotel after a tiring day-photo taking and hot foot bath. look at the amount of water we prepare for our day!!! street opposite our hotel sells puppies for 100SGD!!
dimsum breakfast one morning at 广州酒家, felt like noobs there, with everyone being very pro at making tea. 
unglam shots--we put masks at night before we sleep!i think i tekan them too much with all the walking, they fell asleep, and i had to peel the mask off for them hahaha
i like the couples' tee my bro bought. haha cause it's so lame.
made a side trip to hongkong on wednesday, after a snap decision by my mum on tuesday night. the train from 广州东站 to hongkong hung hom was pretty fast, about 2.5hours. but the frantic frenzy at the train station/ customs were a bit scarier than at the hongkong/macau ferry terminals. first time on a train! it was pretty clean and comfortable, although the chinese do tend to be really lllooouuuddd.
walked into ymca salisbury hoping to find a room, and i wasn't surprised there was none available. we went to check out other hotels, and so we randomly shot some things. 
we finally settled on hankow hotel (now hanchung)--see my brother's happy introduction, whereas i was just being retarded LOL. located at hankow road opposite HMV, it's actually a nondescript place located on the 3rd floor with only 9 rooms. but, for 700HKD a night, it's considered cheaper than the other Tsim Sha Tsui hotels. location's not too bad, and the place was well kept. 
two beds, two TVs!! the tumblers were damn cute!we almost bought nothing in hongkong, except a bag for my bro and a dress for myself. both of us agreed that guangzhou's cheap things have spoilt us for good, we'll never look at things and think that it's cheap again. damn. fashion wise, hongkong is still better, but price wise, guangzhou wins hands down.
dinner at la vie along ladies market + dessert at hui lau shan!
dimsum breakfast again at a place called 稻香. not bad=)two revelations made in hongkong- (1)decor of the ymca salisbury front lobby has changed drastically after renovation. (2)esprit factory outlet has closed down, and instead there's a new esprit building one street behind the orginal location. things aren't as cheap, cause it's a retail and not an outlet store.
the revelations made me realise 人事已非.EVERYTHING changes, nothing stays forever.
ate breakfast at the airport before our return flight home. super expensive!! 3 coffees, 3 sandwiches and it costs 60SGD!!! should have just ordered cup noodles on the plane la. 
and our flight was delayed an hour 'due to airline arrangement'. WTF!!! mum went to buy some souvenirs, and then the 2 of them caught a nap. 
managed some shut-eye on the plane, and woke to see a beautiful sky =) before the trip, i was slightly worried because i don't know what to expect on a 5 day trip with my mother and brother. there was no itinerary, and on reaching there, did we realise there's actually no guide too. but everything turned out quite good, just that my mum drives me crazy with some of her eccentricities. maybe from this trip, i can learn some lessons, and plan a better taiwan trip. and i really must add, my bro is super nice. nice to talk to, lame with, make sarcastic comments, shop with, super filial and considerate of me and mum at all times.
really super fortunate to have him as my little bro, ♥♥♥!must plan nicely for taiwan trip, the so rare family trip! =)=)=) i love my family!