Beijing! 2006 [Chapter 3]

Hongkong

After 4 freezing days in Beijing, we proceeded to HK! Woke up at 3am for the morning flight. Wth, we should never have booked the morning flight man. I was sleeping while waiting for us to get into the plane. Pity I couldn't buy the 2008 Olympic Drumbag at the airport. Quite ex though, S$30+

Nothing much to do in the plane. Watched Tokyo Drift lor and regretted not sleeping. Zzzz....

After another 3h of flight, we finally reached HK! Yayyyy, was looking fwd to HK since I was there before, and it was quite a good experience. We were on our own so we decided to take a cab to our hotel which was at Tsing Yi. Crap, the Cab was damn smoky so it wasn't a very comfortable ride -_- And dammit the meters in HK beep whenever they increase. Apparently, ours was increasing every 6 seconds by HKD$1.40. I almost had a heart-attack.

Well, S$1=HKS$5. Not so bad I guess, but its still 30cents!

We finally reached our hotel after the eventful taxi ride. We stayed in Mexan Harbour Hotel. The exterior looked sleek and professional.

Our hotel was near this cargo port so the view was pretty... box-y. Look.

What a box-y sight!

I think we stayed in this apartment-like hotel, since the rooms looked rather... apartment-ish. It was damn small also lah! Even smaller than my living room man, and thats inclusive of the toilet and all. My parents changed room because their room was seriously far too small. They couldn't even walk properly lah!

Xiuxian in the background. Can't really see much huh.

We doodled around in the apartment for a while. There wasn't much to do lah, read my book and watched a bit of chinese MTV. The TV here wasn't as nice as Day Inn's, but at least they had the chinese MTV channel, which was more than enough :)

Went to Mongkok at night. 女人街 is situated there, and woahh there's a lot of stuff to buy there man. Those road side stores selling many many stuff lah, like caps, shirts, souvenirs ballalaa. Didn't buy much from there. Ohhh, I saw this Inuyasha poster that I thought Kristy would like!It was around a3 size, cloth. Damn nice. Hehehe but I didn't buy it too~! There was the fatestaynight design too, but also didn't buy it lah.

Lights at 女人街

I realise that there are many smokers in HK. Everywhere that I go I see someone smoking... Quite unhealthy though. There were some roadside stores selling those seafood but pop didn't allow us to eat them since they were probably dirty. Zzz, a bit sad lah.

Woah and the school uniforms in HK are really cool! Although every school's design looks about the same: sweater, tie, blouse, skirt/pants, blalalalala.. Xiuxian was commenting on how high their socks are LOL. Perhaps protection from the cold I guess. Didn't manage to get a picture of it though.

I wasn't feeling that well too lah on that day. Just felt really sleepy throughout the whole outing. Heh, so just hit the sack when we returned to the hotel, slept at around 1030 without changing my clothes lol.

Disneyland

Yeahh, this was the mainpoint of the day! Disneyland yay yay yay. It turned out to be better tha I expected, since I couldn't remember much about the Japan one. It was really cool, we took this expressway to Disneyland from Sunny Bay.

We are being good citizens to let others sit while we stand LOL.

Collector's Item! Micky Mouse Ticket

It was really grand when we entered Disneyland. There was this long pathway leading to this waterfountain. Some whale spraying Mickey up on his .... spout and Donald pouting in one corner. Look!

Catch your Wave~

We entered Disneyland and took some crap pictures. Disneyland looked quite big to me, but actually it was nothing much lah. Just that the deco is good.

A map of Disneyland. Looks quite small huh.

Heh, we took a train to travel around Disneyland... Stopped at uh, Fantasyland from uh, Main Street USA. It was this miniature cargo train which could contain around 200+ people.

A model of how the train looks like

The train ride was boring since all we could see were trees and trees and trees. Smart of them to place plants blocking the scenary eh. There were also fake zebras and giraffes and butterflies. Oooo but thankfully I saw a real butterfly too.

We alighted at Fantasy Land and headed for the Merry-go-Round since Xiuxian wanted to. Our turn came quite fast although there was a long queue. Very efficient! Or perhaps it was due to the fact that each ride was about 30s -__-

Went for this Winnie the Pooh Adventure ride after that HAHAHA. (真的是没有童年）luckily we had the fast pass so we could get into the Ride fast enough XD There was a long queue right behind muahahhaa. Managed to take some pictures although the ride was rather bumpy.

Carrots is spelt as Kerits and Cabbage is spelt as Cabege

The performances in Disneyland were entertaining! The 3D (or rather 5D since there was smell and touch involved) show was realistic man. It was damn cool. There was also the Lion King performance which was quite nice too, mostly song and dancing lah.

Went for this river cruise thing which we queued up long for too... It was quite cool, with all the special effects and everything. LOL, our guide's name is called Tony, or in HONGKONG ACCENT, Tonaye. Mai name is Tonaye. He was overly, enthusiastic about everything else. And he's damn funny also lah, like: say b'bye to the people there~~!! B'bye!!!! Just picture it in the HK accent and it'll be damn funny. Oh well, but the river cruise was pleasant, and mm, quite thriling also nia.

TONAYE

Fire-gods!

Skeletons (fake)

There wasn't anything much after that. There was this parade with Disney Characters, all the standard Micky Mouse and Donald Duck stuff lah. Shall post one up for fun although I don't quite fancy it.

Stereotypic overly-enthusiastic Disney Characters

Nothing much after that. There was this Tarzan's Treehouse thingy. The whole structure looked quite realistic from afar though. Take a look!

All fake

After all that, there wasn't anything much on. Went onto the Space Mountain with Xiuxian and my mom. Xiulun couldn't go since she was too scared so my father accompanied her. While waiting for the ride, it didn't feel so bad. Not until I saw the sign saying: Last time for you to exit. WTS, that's really great publicity man.

Oh well, XX and my mom sat tgt since XX needed someone to sit with her. I decided to sacrifice myself and sit alone lah. Zzz... I was sort of day-dreamig until SUDDENLY, this american guy jumped into the seat beside me. I was kind of taken aback by this sudden figure, but yeah well, he was friendly. His name is Adam. Its pronounced as "EH-dam" in his accent LOL.

Adam: Hey, you know what, I'm really excited aren't you? You know, I could like, bounce off all these walls right now, but I can't, cos my legs are like, stuck here, you know?
Me: ...Oh, yeah. I'm excited too.

Adam: You know when I ride these rides, I get really scared. So if I hold you or anything then yeah.
Me: Oh nevermind its okay. (i couldnt think of anything else to say)

Adam: *pointing to people in front* they're your friends?
Me: No, they're my family
Me: Where're your friends?
Adam: Aww, they're right behind there. So yeah I'm alone here... Would you like to keep me company?
Me: ....Ehehehehe nonononono.

DURING THE RIDE

Adam: HEY! I'm gonna scream!
Me: What??
Adam: I'm gonna scream!
Me: Okay!
Adam: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Omg, he screams worse than a girl. But loll, he was friendly lah. It was quite funny. I was quite scared throughout the ride cos I could see the stands and everything so I was kinda scared that I would knock onto one of them. I was lying low all the while.

Left Disneyland after that. It was around 7+ so we went out for dinner and all... Ate noodles. The food in HK is really good, as in they really know how to cook man. Those roadside stalls cook better than restaurants in Singapore.

Then went home the day after. Nothiing much happened then. I got a pair of shoes for myself. Cost HKD50. Quite cheap lah I guess.

LOL, literally jumping for joy

Beijing! 2006 [Chapter 2]

Beijing

Heehee, and after travelling for 6h, we finally reached Beijing airport! There were fans waiting for us you know. Damn shuang. ^^

...no lah, they were actually waiting for this Korean Star who was going to Beijing for a concert. Heard from the tourguide that there were 2 Korean and 1 Taiwanese Stars going to Beijing on that day. O_O What a timing.



We stayed at Day Inn in Beijing. It was a quaint little 4-story hotel. Zzz, the breakfast catered sucks though, although it was catered. But they served Haagen Daaz icecream!! Didn't manage to eat any though ): And there was even a plasma tv in the room itself!

Our desktop by the beds in the hotel.

Woke up pretty early the next day, like around 0700 so the whole group could leave the place at 0830. Dammit man, Beijing is COLD. Actually I think Korea was colder: lowest was -18C. It wasn't as bad in Beijing, but the winds were the one which made it freezing. The winds could practically blow my face away.

Yep we went to 人民大会堂 first.

At 天安门！We have wonderful hairstyles. Especially Mom.

The 天安门 was really grand. Lots of History and all, which I will cover later. (Frankly speaking I cant remember anything :S) This is my logo for the 天安门！

painting of 毛泽东

A soldier who has to stand in front of 天安门 at all times. Praise him!!

Beijing was obviously all about the historical sites and all. Everything about the emperor... the concubines... the gods... Blablabla. It would have been interesting if it wasn't so cold ):

Some of the 殿s in 天安门.

Some stuff on the politics of the Imperial Palace. The front of 天安门 was restricted only to men. That means women cannot go in. :S I don't see any difference between the frontier and back of any place at all. Perhaps it was some gauge of status. Forgot whether men can enter the female side though.

The Emperor's Throne

The craftsmanship for the architecture was really SUPERB. They really carve every design out very carefully and all. It doesn't look that nice in those pictures above though. They barred entrance to the Emperor's Throne though. Prevention of vandalism I suppose.

Went to 御花园 later....

Some 松树 which I guess is approx 50o years old. O_O They had many of these in the garden. Hardy trees aren't they.

2 Trees joined with one another! 夫妻树

After viewing 天安门，we went to this temple which commemorates the death of Emperor Yizong of Ming Dynasty. He hung himself on one of the trees in the garden because he couldn't suppress the ongoing rebel in the country. And, the tree is still there!

Oh I just remembered we can't take picture of the tree. Taking pictures of a scene of death is ominous man. Later we see this person dangling there then wah, die man.

Entrance to the garden. No, we didn't go up to that building up there. That would be suicide.

Oh, and there was this old man who was writing calligraphy on the floor with his super big brush! I wonder where he bought the brush from. It was really cool though!

Cool chap!

Squiggly Calligraphy

2nd day, woke up even earlier, like around 0630. Zzzz sian, what kind of holiday is this man. And LOL, the wind was even stronger than the day before. 6th or 7th intensity I think. Scary man...

Went to 天坛公园...

How the 天坛 looks like.

Interior model of the 天坛

The main event of that day was the Great Wall! We went to the 八达岭 one, and wts, it was full of staircases man. One bloody long staircase from one fenghuotai to the other. Heard from Minlu that this Great Wall was built on a valley and that explains the steep slopes. Danggggg...

We have NOT conquered the Great Wall. We were merely posing.

Great View!

It was really tiring climbing up the Great Wall. Firstly, the steps of the staircases were uneven, like one short one tall, and there were many curves. It was very steep too. Nearly fell down when I walked down O_O Felt that I couldn't breathe properly while climbing halfway too. Perhaps its my stamina, or the thin air, or my momentum.

Secondly, the wind was damn strong lah! While climbing up, the chilly wind is blowing right into your face and zzz, that feeling is not nice at all. My whole nose seemed frozen, like it was about to drop off. (hey that reminds me of michael jackson o_O) My father and my sisters had icy toe pops too! Icy toe pops hurt and are numbing.

Dead Beat!

Despite all that, it was still fun climbing the Great Wall. Get this sense of satisfaction after climbing it lah although xiuxian and I didn't beat this guy who was practically sprinting all the way up

Ate lunch later. Woah those restaurants love serving food in BIGGGG portions. Its like a ten course meal everytime! The food was delicious though :D The tourguide says that they add lots of oil. Lol, I thought the food tasted quite fine.

Went for this trishaw ride to 北海公园 after that.

Sadly, Xiulun's and my driver didn't talk much to us ):

We travelled through alley and old houses. They're really like those that you see in old martial arts TV serials! And there're still people staying there.

I'm toppling the 白塔

Picture at 九龙壁. The craftmanship is equally excellent.

Went to the Summer Palace after that! It was the place where Cixi Taihou went when it was yeah, Summer. The Royalties really don't knw how to spend their money wisely. What's the use of a financial advisor??

This is a 麒麟 (its qi2 lin2, I didn't expect it to look so chim O_O) I don't think I'm suppose to take this picture omg.

Place where the Empress sleeps in. The bed of the Empress is very long and narrow so as to make sure that she is always a symbol of the phoenix, which is, long and narrow too. -_-

Oh, and there was this big weathered rock behind one of the rooms in this palace. History says that it was found somewhere between Mongolia and China, and since it would make a nice ornament, the Emperor decided to place it in her mother's (Cixi) Summer palace. It was too big, so the Emperor (BEING LOADED) decided to break down the door so he could bring the rock in. Too bad, it was supposedly an ominous sign to break one's door, so yeah, it "brought the downfall of the Ming Dynasty"

See, that teaches you not to spend money carelessly. We couldn't take a picture of the rock though.

Posing at Summer Palace. The lake behind is frozen! There were people on it!

Third Day. I think I woke up at 0600 again. SO SIAN. Oh well, at least I slept in the shuttle bus. Went to some temple. Zzz... its getting boring isn't it?

Temple which houses this BIGGGG BUDDHA. Its 4-STORIES HIGH OMG. I think its 2 LT5s combined together. Sadly, we couldn't take a picture too ): It was made of wood.

Proceeded to this Wax Musuem after that. It was a trilogy of the lives of 3 emperors during the Ming Dynasty, and it was one of the two most famous wax musuems in the world! Really, the wax figures were really realistic.

The Imperial Court

Woah I love the effect on this picture. An emperor is punishing an official.

The Emperor addressing his Crown Prince

Emperor Yizong who hung himself since Ming Dynasty was in shambles.

We went to this silk factory too. Silk is really smooth and exquisite. They showed us how they got the silk out from the cocoon too. But well, they had to kill the silkworm larva first so that's pretty cruel. Heard that the slightest tremor would kill the silkworm larva immediately too. My mother kopped a silkworm cocoon home X_X Perhaps it can accompany pro bug.

Life Cycle of a silk worm. That is Silkworm Shit in the middle. They use it to brew tea. Beware the next time you drink chinese tea dear people.

Bolts of Silk!

Spreading the Silk apart! Silk is hardy material man. It looks like a spiderweb.

I didn't have pictures for the rest of the Beijing part, but basically we watched two performances, this Shaolin one and this acrobatic one. They were both really good and could see why China's gymnastics are one of the top in the world O_O The Shaolin troupe was quite famous in the world too, and I heard that have to give performances during the one week in Beijing. And its off to Japan for them! Wah... Poor Monks. But it was really worth the money though. About 180RMB/person.

We had this free 脚底按摩 sponsered by the tour company too. It was comfortable and I was prooud of myself that I didn't scream. Then I heard that they didn't really exert that much force since my sisters and I were underaged. Chey...

But it was quite fun though. I kept laughing for no reason throughout the whole massage -___-LAME LAH... The masseau who helped Xiulun was quite friendly and asked a question to us, since Xiulun says her maths is very pro LOL.

Masseau: 1+1 在什么情况下等于3？(speak in 北京腔 for more effect)
Xiulun: ..... 再加1咯。

*ALL (whywhywhy) Masseaus give a look as if they don't know what we're talking about*

Masseau: *slowly* 1+1, 在什么情况下，等于3？
Xiurong: ....... 这是冷笑话吧？

*ALL masseaus give another stupid look*
*give up!!*

Masseau: 1+1 在错误的情况下等于3。
XX, XL and I: ................................................................

*for polite's sake, I decided to laugh a little.*

Lol... that was all pretty lame...

China can really do business too. At the massage parlor, my grandma had this pain in her knee since it was an old ailment. It wasn't so bad to me actually, but omg the masseaus can really exaggerate on her problem like its some life-threatening disease. 什么什么...发炎啊...非治不可啊... that's what the doctors at 同仁堂 told my Grandma too. In the end she bought 1000+ RMB worth of health tablets. O_O she bought some of them from the massage parlor too. Omg, I can just faint from looking at the reciept.

Nevermind, at least I had my fairshare of cheap stuff. The stuff in China are easily bargainable! My mother can like, bargain something from 400+ to 200 RMB!! Omg, it was really really cool man. There was this IT shop that sold PSP games! I bought this 2GB Memory card for $40. Wasn't that much of a bargain..

The uncle was really funny too. When we went there and asked that we wanted to buy something, he was like,

uncle: 正版还是翻版的？
us: 正版多少？
uncle: 很贵哦，８０RMB.
us: 哇！那翻版的多少？
uncle: 哦，那个便宜咯。

*takes out a CD and a list with around 100+ games*

uncle: 那，这光碟里１００多游戏，１５０RMB

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

in the end I didn't buy it. SIAN LAH NOW I REGRET, there was this need for speed game which was really good. Zzz... But mainly because they didn't have Bleach Heat the Soul 3. Damn sad.... ZHUOCHUN 帮我下载！！

that's all. it is very very very very late. better sleep.

Beijing! 2006 [Chapter 1]

Again! I am blogging at an absurd timing. XD I guess the habit of sleeping early when I was overseas has been kicked off already. That's sad.

Ohyah, I've returned from overseas! Yay, back to revive my dead blog. It seems kinda dead (since I have the habit of blogging everyday :S) Hahahaha, but must still thank those people who livened it by tagging when I was away nia... :)


This post is going to be picture-y and long.

At the Airport

LOL, yeah I took some pictures at the Singapore airport too. Cool man, proof of me having nothing better to do. We took quite a long time while checking-in, because we have 7 baggages.
We had one baggage full of winterclothing. Such a bother.

LOL, excited people. Xiulun and my pop. Oh and I.

Plane rides are fun at times. LOL, I have a strange thrill for turbulences I don't know why. Perhaps it was the previous experience in Korea I guess. Woah we just plummeted from the sky above lah. It was sort of like a roller coaster ride, plus our life on the line. LOL.

My sisters and I on the plane. HAHA, so lame.

Hmm, didn't do much in the plane too. I was spending time watching movies since that was the only thing available and interesting enough there. Watched 4 movies for all my 4 flights: Monster House, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, Pirates of the Carribean: The Black Pearl and You, me and Dupree. The other movies were quite nice, but I think Tokyo Drift seems a bit crap. Initial D is of course so much better.

Xiulun was irritating XiuXian and I with her continuous ranting of "Brace Brace!" That's what you do in when there's an emergeny in the plane. You'll understand if you travel with Cathay Pacific.

Xiulun is lame.

Before landing in Beijing, we had to stop by HongKong first. It was the same for the return trip to Singapore. Oh well thats the loophole for Cathay Pacific flights. Hahaha, but at least we got to extend our holiday for 3 days in HK. I got a fright when I saw the vending machine too LOL. $10 for one can of apple juice?!

Then I realised that it was in HKD so mmm, S$1=HKD$5. Not so bad.

At least I got 4 more air tickets! :D

Hehehe that's about it for the AIRPORT. LOL, long way more to go.