Chilly China

 Just before I left for the China trip, I was busy with Applied Graphic Design II till the last day of that school term – 13 December. I needed a break badly – I was drifting to holiday mood for the last two weeks of school, but yet had to keep my focus on my final assignment. Handing it up after all those editing and printing, it felt like blindfold off my eyes. Before I could relax in my cosy room and new laptop, I had to pack my bag to a cold country. Despite the fact that I kept telling myself throughout the whole of last week of school to pack, I had only one day to get everything inside my luggage. A trip I felt like I totally needed it rather than wanting to visit, I wasn’t really excited about going to China honestly because I was in for anything. Though I thought that 3 weeks of break in December was too little to feel like a year end, more so when we were schooling during the start of the ’School Holidays’ as stated in the regular calandar. I feel old to be in school.

 

13 December 2008

 

We packed our luggage and waited for Joan’s parents to pick us up to the airport. The 4 of us squeezed into the van with the luggage behind while Leslie drove. Mom and Pa took the car with Joan’s parents. Exactly where, I had no idea – I only knew we were going overseas and to a land called China. Inside Terminal 3, we had about an hour to walk around for the first time, without rushing. Without fail, Pa went straight for the smoking room while we walked around aimlessly, exploring. We settled down in a Chinese restarent to have the last taste for Singapore’s local dishes like Mee Siam, Laksa, Prawn Mee, etc, in small bowl samplers which seemed to be premade. It tasted quite delicious and very appealing to my tastebuds however I thought the price was quite expensive for local delights. We explored the empty terminal and entered the gate at 12am.

 

14 December 2008

Sitting at the waiting area in the gate, I switched off my phone and thought how I would want to spend my holidays when I reach home. Before I could even think about it, I felt overwhelmed to be spending time not doing any homework for three solid weeks, and before I could even think of that, we were in the plane ready for take off. After getting angry at us for taking our time to get prepared to load the luggage in the van, Mom and Pa was seen sleeping, head to head, still with their frowns on which looked as though they wanted to try to put the worries behind with a deep sleep before the day’s tour. I decided to watch the Chiwawa show as Nitendo Games was not working for me. Nevertheless, I took some sleep and was awoken by the clanging of utensils at 4am. I took chicken with mixed vegetables and rice and continued with the movie.

Within two hours, we had touched down in Shanghai, Pu Dong Airport. The terminal was spanking clean, even more empty than Terminal 3! 

 

By 7:30am, we were introduced to our tour guide, Xiao Huang, who would be leading a group of 14 Singaporeans. In total there were 4 groups – A family of 4, a couple, mother and daughter and the 6 of us. The bus journey started and Pa took the opportunity to catch up on his sleep behind me, at the back of the bus. An hour later, we had our first toilet stop. Joan wanted to use the toilet so I accompanied her. As we walked towards the toilet, she started shivering, her teeth started chattering because of the cold.

 

 

By the next hour, we reached our first tourist attraction – Xitang Water Village. The weather was chilly and it felt abit like Venice where waterways cut the piece of land hile the bridges linking them. While walking, we came across this T-junction and saw the Mission Impossible poster which we guessed that they filmed a portion of it at that location.

 

We had our first meal at this random corner. As there were 14 of us, it was wise that we split equally 7 on each table. However there were 6 of us and it would be awkward to have 1 extra person to just join in. That would meanin every meal, there will be 8 and 6 to a table respectively. This was good because we didn’t feel shy about taking more food but the tour guide would be like saying ‘so wasted, the dishes [like fish] are not even half eaten..’

 

We made our way back to the bus while some went for toilet breaks. While waiting for Mom, Papa was stalked by this old lady who works as a shoe cleaner. On her right hand, she hand-carried her equipments and pestering Pa by placing a chair right in front of him. Hilarious! These shoe cleaners don’t go around looking people in their eyes – they stare at your feet.

 

 

We were already in Hangzhou. Checked into our first hotel – Xiang Chi Hotel. Honestly, I will never remember the hotel names. The room was simple with its necessity and a heater while a piller located by the side of the room which seems very ‘ting tey’. Leslie couldn’t wait to open his A380 model plane bought from the flight here while we all rested for awhile and met the rest for dinner.

 

Afterwhich, we went to watch this chinese circus. I had never been to a circus, so this was actually my first time. It was really spectacular, satisfying both the sense of sight and hearing. One part of the stage could elevate and the center stage could revolve. I was really impressed by this show because I didn’t expect so much from energy in their performance. One thing in my mind was that – do these people still hold onto their jobs when they grow older?

 

We then met Claire (in yellow), Leslie’s friend he met in China, who took a 5 hour ride to meet us at Macdonalds (while we people in Singapore complain, day in day out, that we spend an hour plus just to get from one place to another) and walked the streets and a shopping mall before settling into Macdonalds for supper and chatting. She called a friend from a local university to help her book a hotel around that area. The gesture alone of meeting an overseas friend means so much to them says so much. I feel that I admire people who are independent and are able to do what they want without fearing that they cannot make it or what others think. I learned that every couple in China are only allowed to give birth once. Only farmers whose first child is a female could have another child – however if the second child is still a female, they have to stop at 2. If you think about it, they learn through everything through the friends they make and are mature faster.

 

 15 December 2008

 

Packing our bags in the morning, we ate breakfast at the hotel and left for West Lake. The place seems like a place I would go to relax if I’m really stressed out but too bad you can’t find this in Singapore. It does look like any ancient Chinese kinda scenery (actually the whole of China does looks like that) which is beautiful with the mountains or trees as background, water as forground while a bridge cuts the land.

 

 

we took a cruise to another location called "Hua Gang Guan Yu". Yes, I didn’t remember it, I’m looking at the itinery and you wanna know what it says? The itinery says "You can look at fish, admire flowers, touch trees, listen to birds chirping, and witness the exodus of spring and the arrival of Summer" Its more or less what they mentioned, to clear things up the chirping of birds are actually from speakers.

 

Back to the bus, we alighted at this tea place. they taught us about those tea leaves and all and I learned that we could actually eat those tea leaves in the tea instead of just drinking the tea. As I’m typing, I am trying to revive the feeling when I was eating those leaves because it really taste good and green tea had never tasted so good before. Just as they ended the talk about tea leaves, they pulled out a packet of green tea sweet. Yummy stuff!! We kept eating it on the bus.

 

A quick lunch and visited this weird stone factory. They invited us inside to the room where they would usually sell us their products. However while this sales lady was trying to tell us how the stones were so unique, she said that we seemed very sleepy or didn’t understand what she was talking about. She then ask where were we from and seemed stunned that we were from Singapore. She went out to call the Chairman (I believe) and it felt like a real meeting because he talked to us very formally but not about the products the company was selling. He showed us the place around it and told us not to buy. Within 15 minutes, we were out of the building. Pa came out with a theory that they didn’t know we were from Singapore and this place may only target at people from the other China cities. We made our way to Yi Wu.

 

We stayed at Ying Ping Guan Hotel for that night and met the rest again for dinner. The food I must say started to taste better in general. We were enjoying (and snatching) the meat as seen below with onion (beef or deer meet right?) was damn yummy after all those days of the same things.

 

 

Not much entertainment. This hotel was like a chalet. There were table tennis, mahjong, chess and card rooms. The lights and switches seemed like those energy saving whereby if no one uses, it automatically switches off – which made the hotel quite errie. We did it all except chess and card games after dinner. Feeling hungry, Leslie and I went to get instant noodles to eat before retiring early for the night to kill bordom.

 

 

 

16 December 2008

 

I started to feel uncomfortable. My throat was dry and urgh. It felt like there was a barrier inside, disallowing me to swallor properly. I woke up feeling lousy. With our luggage all packed up, we had our breakfast at the same location as the night before. Ever heard of hot orange juice? It could burn your fingers and it certainly burnt mine. Ahah!

 

 

We made our way to the local Yiwu shopping center. The place was huge with many things and it was somewhat like the size of Singapore Expo but bigger and more levels. Filled with different things ranging from bags to shoes to hardware to ahh so many stuff when all  I needed was a pair of glove I lost!

 

Feeling disgusted at children peeing and shiting on the floor, Joan decided to make use of the cleaning shoe service. Papa then also decided to get his cleaned too.

 

 

We ate at a nearby place called Ba Jie. The food was the worst of all days. See the tomato and egg soup? Leslie said that it was somewhat a national dish whereby it could appear in any form – be it fried, steamed, baked, cooked, etc. Tasteless.

 

 

Buying junk food, we got onto the bus and Joan sat beside me. This is a Pocky stick and nope its not some maggots living on it – trust me, it taste just as good ahah! A long bus ride and we alighted by at a very random area where we can see a 2000-year-old building.

 

 

 The main purpose I guess was to pick up a local guide from Su Zhou - Amy. She brought us to this Technology Garden which showcase the ties between Singapore and China which I thought it was a silly place to drop by.

 

We went to have dinner and there was a dish which had loads of oil in it – glutinous rice was the best! They came with buns and 3 layer pork. It tasted so yummy.

 

 

After eating, we walked around Guanqian Street where the weather was by far the coldest. We went to various shops like Girodano and Semir. Purchased fast food and went back to our room to eat.

 

 

Haha, this hotel in Suzhou. Su Xiang Mern Ti Hotel. We could see through the toilets and know what the person inside is doing. Ahah! We were finding ways how to protect our privacy and laughing at how the rest of our tour members handle this problem. At night, Leslie and I went to visit the hotel opposite the street, Sheraton Hotel which looked like part of the Great Wall, and came back to check our email.

 

 

17 December 2008

 

On our way to Nanjing, Hanshan Temple where we just followed the guide and took pictures at this wall. Its weird because at this point of time, we thought to ourselves that why must we take a picture when told to? We could take just anywhere else. Random thoughts. Walked around a circle a few times to increase the number of days to live. Auspicious? Just do it la, no harm anyway.

 

 

Amy brought us around to tell us about silk. She told and demostrated to us that there’s a way to tell which is real silk and which is fake. By burning it, the real silk will not spread the fire like how the fake one will be. So if you see anyone bringing a lighter to Mustafa in the sari section, we know the reason why. ;D

 

 

All these time, we have been travelling on the roads, visiting new places and new local guides. Trying new food and experiencing the culture in China. Thinking back and reflecting if we could turn on the shower and drink straight from there or without feeling the need to switch on the heater at night and worrying if you would have a sore throat. Always being cautious because in the cold as we will easily get cuts. You wished all these would not happen to you when you’re back in Singapore. Thoughts racing as we speed pass the highway on our way to Nanjing and guess what we saw?

 

 

We visited this art gallery which seemed quite nice however we couldn’t take pictures and I was lazy to bring the camera down but I know there was a change in tour guide. We had dinner and when night came, we visited this shopping place which is called Fuzi Temple in Nanjing. Beautiful scenery with shops everywhere. I remember Semir where all the sales stuff are like in their own semir world.  I wonder why they call it a temple.

 

Back at Niang Fa Hotel, I could finally enjoy hot water cos its just so shiok. The rest of the other toilets didn’t had that jet I needed to clear my nose and keep me warm. I spent about 20 minutes just letting the hot water rush down my head. Since Joan didn’t try the ‘Lao Beijing’ from KFC, we bought it and had a picnic in our room before going to sleep.
 

 

18 December 2008

 

We were ready to move on to Wuxi then to Shanghai. We made our way to "Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge". If you stand below, you can’t see the end. I remember waking up and thinking like ‘huh? we gotta walk through that?’ but I kept quiet as I think its a silly thing to do if we have to (because the bridge runs over a river). We climbed upstairs and saw the view above – as beautiful as the bottom. Went to the toilet and right above the urinal, it reads "The Warm Hint: Carefully Slip".

 

 

We took the lift down and we thought we were going back to the bus but we stopped at this level and yes, we were visiting another factory thingy. Not really factory I would say its more of like this guy who paints differently – he paints inside of a ball. It looks nice as if you take a magifying glass, you could see all the strokes he did. Leslie wanted to test him by making him do two of the same kind and compare to see if its real while Jiejie wanted to shake his hand (wth). 

 

 

Nope, our next stop wasn’t the Great Wall, it was the Confucius Temple. Confused? Well, its just this wall where we could climb up and make it to the top. It seems really high but its climbable with just 3 flights of steps. At first we saw this guy from below taking a shot of the scenery then we said ‘wah he siow ah wanna die’ then the next moment, we were standing at the same position and I guess the next batch will say the same thing. haha!

 

 

Familar?

 

 

We reached Wuxi and checked into Donglin Grand Hotel – I believe its the most grand of them all. They drop us at Parkson after dinner and we walked around and took some pictures outside before crossing the street to get KFC. We went back to the hotel and bought instant noodles and yes, the one that Leslie recommended tasted so damn good. The person looking after the store at the hotel lobby seemed so bored that we started a mini conversation. We saw I Not Stupid on a CCTV6 where they show movies from overseas – it was cool they had the movie title and below it, they show where the movie originated!

 

 

19 December 2008

 

We were going to Shanghai! We left to this place where celebrities would film shows. The summed-up performance of the history of China seems interesting. The cold air was really chilly! Oh yeah, Sam and Joan wrote their name down and gave it to this master (which he maybe an actor I presume cos he don’t really look like the one in the picture shown) and he wrote a poem out of it. We took the tram around this place because its way too big and we would save time inside. A sign onboard the tram reads "Please do not standing or spanning seats during bus is running; sitting in stable and never spreading your arm or body outside of the window; going up or taking off the bus after the bus stopped." 

 

 

We had lunch and they dropped us to some random park. Then again it was another local guide – her name was simple called Zhu. We went to two factory visits with her – one was selling pearl and the other sells chrysanthemum. Papa bought something from the pearl place and bought the cheapest item at chrysanthemum just so they don’t bug us lol! Smart purbey was sitted at our table ahah!

 

 

Feeling (abit) excited after I woke up from the long journey as we were at the gateway to Shanghai which would mean better food!

 

 

Ate dinner at a restaurent after we checking into Shanghai’s Yi Dou Big Hotel and we loved the duck so much! The sauce wasn’t too sweet nor bland right.

 

 

And yes, finally we visited the skyscraper of Shanghai! Finally. Amazingly, Shanghai isn’t what I know in my mind. In my mind I kept thinking all are low buildings and only the Oriental Pearl Tower standing up. Everything seems so modernized and even the streets have LCD screens.

 

 

Went up and took some pictures. Leslie joked saying that the items they were selling up there was what our tour itinery were selling with some other extras. We took ice cream and when back down.

 

 

What if the lift stalls, I wonder.

 

 

Did some shopping and walking to stock up our food and drinks over at the Nanjing Road. Took away Yoshinoya and we can officially say that we had tried it in Singapore, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

 

 

20 December 2008

 

We hopped onto the bus without our bags as we will stay in Shanghai for another night and visited the Old Shanghai somewhere near Central Fangbang Road. They had Starbucks in an old ancient building and we ate tang yuen with sesame inside as well as cocktail. Some last minute shopping and we were back on the bus. 
 

 

Oh No. Poor guy who did my feet saw the callous. You know they were smart. They called students to massage our foot and make us ticklish. A few doctors went around checking our palm if we needed anything. How can we concentrate what the doctor is talking when our legs are being massage? Smart technique. Yes, I couldn’t help but laugh all the way.

 

 

More shopping. This was the worst place to bargain. The stall holders are very persistant. Leslie wanted to buy a bino and we went to this stall offering about 160 yuen. Another stall’s starting price was selling 200 yuen and cut until 80 yuen. It was just simply crazy. You’ll never know if you’ve been cheated at a high price.

 

 

Christmas? oh come on. We felt like we were eating in a tribe restaurant. When we first entered, they were hitting their tambourines enthusiastically while all the diners walk in with the sian lian face. Afterwards, we visited another circus performance. Spotted a few mistakes here and there and very clean for it to be called a circus.

 

 

21 December 2008

 

 

Very last day. Packed our bags and it was the coldest day of them all! We visited the Shanghai Tan again but this time in the morning and visited a Sight-seeing Tunnel Exhibition which was a total waste of money building it and a waste of time visiting it. Its just LCD screens, flashing neon lights, with chessy sound effects. On a functional note, it actually brought us to the opposite side where we saw the Oriental Pearl Tower. There we tried the red balls I call it (san ja).

 

We were back at Nanjing Road and Leslie suddenly exclaimed "we will be back in Singapore later tonight" Interesting thought. We ate at this pasta place after buying last minute sweets. The fries were huge.

 

 

We then had proper lunch on this badly slanted ship.

 

 

Took a train from Maglev Longyang Road Station and the speed was like we were about to take off any moment. Haha! Its maximum speed was 430 km/h.

 

 

On the way back home, Papa nearly forget his jacket which contains his wallet! Lucky he did remember while at the check in counter.

 

 

Finally on the plane back to Singapore. Everyone slowly removes their 2nd layer to adjust to the temperature.

 

 

Joan’s parents helped us with loading the luggage into the van and car and we were anticipating to get home quickly.

 

 

Barking and tail wagging like you never see before – August was standing by the gate with her ears standing up. There and then, I told myself that we were home sweet home.

 

 

derek