Happy, Safe & Sound

WAH. I'm rushing my final report now, though I'm pretty much out of ideas.

But I remembered this blog, and thought maybe I can act hardworking

and type a lot in this post. Haha.

Actually, life here has settled down a lot these past 2 months, and I can dare

say I've grown a lot used to the people here, the culture, the roads.

I know how to make a point to other people that I want to alight at this train stop.

That's a good skill by the way.

Weather has gotten much colder since I last posted.

But I like! As long as the wind doesn't blow my hoodie off!

Have already 'graduated' from Fudan.

Ah, loved my time there. Professors are pretty nice.

And they write us personalized 书法 messages.

It's winter now, and the best thing to have in cold weather is HOT POT.

MUAHAHAHAHAHA.

I'm trying to think back what has happened since my last post.

Time has gone so quickly, I can't remember things in chronological order.

Left with less than a month here, I'm starting to think that everyday is

going to be real precious before I head back to Singapore.

No matter what angst has happened these past few weeks, I want to

spend my time to the fullest here with friends, and eat good food.

And my Amelia and I will be going HK+Macau during Christmas.

Talking about good food, I'm sure HK will have a lot.

(I must plan exercise routine when I return to Singapore, lol.)

(Guess what my prof replied me when I asked him for an IA Interview?

'No need unless there are some things you want to talk about. I am happy with

your progress and you seem to be happy, safe and sound.')

Currently Reading:

Sputnik Sweetheart, by Haruki Murakami.

Not too bad a story, almost finishing, just need a bit more time in Starbucks.

Last week was fiery with many things to do, WY's & KN's birthdays were

celebrated in our apartment. Well, too bad for having the biggest house in GIP.

But anyway, it was fun! John's wonderful idea of ordering M'sian food, and we

bought a lot of BBQ food from downstairs. It has been a long time since

I had Asam fish, pineapple rice, curry chicken (with baguette!) and even

sambal kangkong.

Went to explore a bit of Shanghai a couple of weeks ago.

Jun Long took me to Thames Town, a very British-like residential-

cum-park place. In fact, the whole place is a miniature UK.

There's a (active) Catholic church and that's the main spotlight for

wedding photo shoots. Haha, next time, I'll post a photo showing the whole lot of

wedding couples 'queuing' for a shot with the cathedral as backdrop.

It was hilarious, because there were a lot of funny wedding gowns, and a lot

of out-of-this-world (in terms of fashion sense) tuxedoes.

I'm pretty much drained because I've planned so much for my year-end trip,

and because of various reasons, I've dropped the idea.

Well, not that I'm unhappy, but I should have expected that.

So! (KYP if you're reading this...)

Was thinking, I'll just spend Christmas with Amelia and then the rest of the

time packing up stuff before my flight back. I don't think I'll head out to

Harbin (a trip too long) or Moganshan (I'm not too interested in this after

what WY said, LOL). Korea? Nah, they've already booked their tickets.

Maybe I should go and climb Huang Shang's Lotus Peak since I missed it.

Nah, I'll prolly slip and roll down the steep slope. North Korea!

Impossible, even if the guys are planning to head there from Shen Yang,

because there will be so many objections back at home.

Xi'an! Shaan'xi! Xinjiang (dangerous)! Tibet! Far north, and winter there

will be not much fun other than wrapping up like a dumpling.

Xiamen! Good food there, and according to the GIP-peeps who went

there during Golden Week, they can speak Fujian without problems

with locals understanding them. Haha, China is sure big.

Any suggestions anyone?

Actually, Shanghai is big enough and I've never explored much since

I'm here... apart from the touristy areas and more uniquely known ones.

I've got to go off to prepare for work now. NEED TO IRON MY SHIRT.

BYE! OH CRAP. I'M SUDDENLY REMINDED ABOUT THE ESSAY AND

REPORT THAT I'VE GOT TO SUBMIT IN THE COMING WEEKS! BAH.

城市发展与历史维护

Ah, finally, a nice and boring Sunday for me to fill up this blog.

Not that I have nothing to do... (I've got a report to submit!!!)

Days have passed by lightning quick! Work's still as mundane as ever.

Let's see, we had school excursion to Suzhou's 同里, which is a 水镇.

Well, if you've been to Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden,

this place is no different...

Housemates around me were sick for some time... Amelia came up with

a scary 39.2 degree celcius fever. Freaked me out. But! There's a

Raffles Medical here in Shanghai, and a cool 20% discount for students...

Plus the Singapore passport of course. She's getting well.

My hair's growing long! And because I don't really trust the salons here...

I will just leave it till I come back. Haha, my shaggy shaggy hair.

A bit frustrating, but considering that winter's here... keeping my hair long

is good right?

A few of us went to 豫园 to eat the famous 南翔小笼包 after school that day,

and it was terrible. Bite a little hole, and hoping that I can suck up all the

tasty soup... there was barely a sip. SAD! And the skin was really thick,

I mean, yea, Shanghai 小笼包 is made with thicker skin as compared to

Taiwan... but, because there wasn't much soup, I was literally chewing

on dough. The meat was tasty though. In some way. Oh well.

Still prefer 鼎泰丰 over 南翔. Oh wait, there's this even nicer one that we

found, and much cheaper. But this tiny place is always packed with people.

There's this really nice dessert shop near my school. They sell Taiwan's

烧仙草... WAH, good good! It's 仙草 submersed in milk tea, and there's

black pearl, yam balls (芋圆, my favorite thing in the whole bowl), red beans,

and peanut (optional). Really nice. Best without red beans and peanut,

haha, because I don't like them.

Hmmm... other than the usual touristy areas in Shanghai, I've found this

brilliant place to chill out, best visited at night, but afternoon is cool too.

It's called 田子访. Small alleyways with bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants packed

in both sides of the alleys. There are a lot of small indie shops that sell

postcards, cute stuff, vintage items, self-designed clothing, imported goods.

It feels like Haji Lane of Singapore, BUT! I prefer this place better because

though crowded, the small alleys are actually quite comfortable and cozy

to stroll through. Of course, there are still a lot of foreigners, but everybody's

there to chill out and just spend their time catching up with their friends.

Alright then, I will try to keep this blog updated in coming weeks.

Not many weeks left actually. Till the next post! Cheers!

内蒙 in Autumn

(This post has been prepared since I was back from Inner Mongolia,

but was having problems with uploading the big photos)

I am back after an extremely long break.

What a week. In Inner Mongolia. And here's a super long

(and well-remembered) recount of my trip.

Well, I didn't get to enjoy myself fully, partly because I woke up with

stomach upset (which then 'upgraded' to a case of stomach flu) on the third day.

So, let's go through my trip day-by-day.

Arrived at Hohhot on Sunday night. The budget flight was pretty alright,

but really. We cannot expect much from a small plane, with steep ascend and landing.

Just had to bear 3.5 hours in my lonely window seat. Upon arrival, the nice people

of Anda Guesthouse picked us up and drove us to the hostel in an awesome

Discovery Channel jeep. (Don't ask me where they got the jeep from, maybe the

Discovery Channel decal is fake).

Funny, the hostel told us they couldn't accommodate us due to full house situation,

so... they put us up in a nearby hotel. (which, I tell you, is definitely much better

because of private toilet) We managed to settle the Mongol tour package with them,

and we picked the 3 days 2 nights Desert & Grassland tour. At Anda Guesthouse,

their tour packages are very attractive, and at really good value. That tour we picked

costs us 750RMB each. That's less then SGD100. Most meals are included, and inclusive

of horse ride. But soon enough... yea, I'll get on to that part.

Woke up early and joined the other Anda guests for the tour. Bumped into the 浦西 gand

(aka 交通 gang). Actually, can't say that we bumped... we did know that they were going

Inner Mongolia too. So! A total of 15 GIP students in the tour group, plus 2 Hollanders,

and 1 German.

Our bus took a real long journey to the desert. On the way, we had this lunch...

which looked like 满汉全席. Really, there's a mini fountain in the middle of the lazy susan.

The lazy susan rotates automatically. And most importantly, the entire lazy susan was

packed with dishes. Braised lamb shank even. It was that sumptuous.

(Haha, only this lunch was good. Only.)

Carried on our super long journey. We were told that our group was running 2 hours late.

Well, can't be helped. There was a massive traffic jam on a 2-lane road (One way)

But eventually, we reached the 'entrance' to the desert. The bus couldn't drive further,

we had to board this monster truck to get across sand dunes.

I really liked the monster truck ride. Haha, zipping fast on the bumps and high humps.

Thrilling.

The further the truck took us, I felt like we were transported to Egypt (minus the mirage).

The sand is very fine, not coarse at all. And turning back, looking all around, you can

only see heaps and heaps of sand dunes. Plus the sun. And the good cool wind. Nice!

At the desert, there were many activities we can choose to do. Of course, at our own expense.

Not too expensive. Went for sand sliding (lol, good for kids). Then camel riding.

Then some went off to play sand volleyball. We spent ages trying to get the perfect jump shot,

and also other silhouette poses. I tried to take a shot of the sunset, but it wasn't good.

All in all, it's just quite relaxing. I like the idea that we can choose what activities to do.

Running short of time, we zipped back off on the monster truck. Ok, though it's just

'going back'... but apparently, the journey back was even more fun. The sudden humps

took me by surprise... worse part, I sat right at the back. So it was like Viking with no

seat belt. That's how I got bruises on my left hip, and almost hurt my tail bone. Ouch!

(Flew out of my seat and landed on the truck floor). Haha, I couldn't stop laughing

after that.

We were to spend our night at this Lamasery, which was super far, and plus the traffic

jam, we got there super late, and super hungry. And that's when we know we're going

to freeze at night. Temperatures dipped quickly when the sun set. Late dinner was instant

rice with funny curry paste. No need to shower, unless you want to catch a cold. Toilet was

just a hole. Ok, sleeping was difficult because it was just so cold. Plus the hard bed, and the

beany pillow... but, I'm not complaining here, have to adapt wherever I go!

So, next day, without much sleep, I woke up. Stomach wasn't feeling too good. And nausea

feeling came up. This carried on for a long long time till even the entire trip ended. So,

I deemed myself as a stomach flu patient. Anyway, breakfast was scary. For me. I could

have any moment throw up the Chinese ham+Capsicum+Tomato sandwich. Oh, people

there drink their hot milk tea with salt.

But thank goodness for friends yea. Ate pochai pills, ate charcoal pill, ate nausea pill.

(I think I took too many kinds of medication LOL). Went on to tour the temple

(aka Lamasery). Udaan Lama temple I think. In Chinese, 五当召. Pretty interesting,

in terms of architecture and paintings. I like structures that are very intricate, it's as if

people in the past painstakingly took 100 years to carve every corner of the building.

The bus ride to the 草原 was bumpy, and again, the jam was just horrifying. I puked.

Haha, all the pochai pills came out. Luckily my Amelia had a plastic bag ready. Sigh,

just felt nausea all the time. Didn't eat well too. Survived on bananas. My favorite fruit,

but heavy on detoxification. The bus almost broke down nearing our destination, which

means, only grass around us. Luckily it was only a fault in the gearbox, so we remained

in Gear 2 (at most 3) throughout. Pretty nice actually, like a tram ride.

Got to the grasslands in one piece. Honestly, the bus ride was so dangerous! The way

we overtook those humongous trucks... Wow. I am sure amazed by the driver's skills.

Ah, refreshing air at the grasslands! 一片黄黄的草... and zero clouds, brightest moon,

brightest stars.

Our dinner and sleep was spent in the 蒙古包. Dinner was lamb feast. HAHA.

Really nice porridge that's induced with lamb taste. Then there's their famous

手抓羊肉. Sigh, but I had no appetite. Heading out into the grasslands can be either a

joy or pure pain. Joy because the air is just so fresh, and the view's superb all around.

Classic Mongolian style. Pain because it's so cold. The wind comes by and I can just

shiver shiver. Even in 羽绒服.

Oh, I haven't mentioned that there's no toilet. They stuck a note in our yurt (AKA 蒙古包),

saying, 'There's no toilet in the grasslands. Please go to the tall grasses. Refrain from

doing near the yurt.' Something like that. And yea, so we bunch of girls, right after we got

off the long (close to 7 hours) bus ride, ran into the patches of tall grass, pick our spots,

and just... let go. They called it, Peeing Expedition. It was hilarious, truth be told. There's

really no toilet there, no kidding. And we must make sure out vision ranges out to the FARM

and 蒙古包 area, so that we are not exposing our butts to everyone in the areas of human

activity.

Night came quickly and by the time the moon and stars were super bright in the sky,

we were standing outside, below 0 degrees. The hosts prepared a mini bonfire, and there

were a lot of people surrounding the nice warmth. Some drank beer. Some ventured out into

the grasslands. Some went to the tall grassy areas. We tried taking more jump shots. Lol.

Anyway, I still wasn't feeling well enough, in fact, I thought I was going come down with a

fever because my head was heavy.

Sleeping time wasn't fun. Skin warm, body inside shivering like crazy. Couldn't sleep properly

and scared the hell out of my Amelia. The guys had to sacrifice their only blanket for me

(no blanket in that kind of climate... I can't imagine how they even slept through the night,

and still wake up at 430am to catch sunrise). Somehow I managed to become really warm

and woke up in the middle of the night. (Thanks to heat packs). Haha.

Ah, my Amelia and I didn't catch the sunrise. Bet it was beautiful. Oh well. I felt much better

in the morning. Love the sun! And somehow I liked the breakfast. This time, it's hot milk tea,

with your choice of SUGAR or SALT (SUGAR FTW). We get to add this 炒米 (can't remember

how to write it) into our milk tea, and it becomes like cereal with milk. Nice.

Our group split up, one went for the earlier horse-riding activity, while the other wander

around the field (or do archery), then vice versa. Horse-riding was pretty cool! Mongolian

horses are smaller breeds. Horses are my friends. But, your butt will hurt a bit, because

when the horse gallops... and you're glued to the saddle, you're going to bounce all the time.

That's why, incline your body, stand up a little, so that horse-riding is much more comfortable.

I don't remember doing horse-riding before, maybe just pony-riding? But anyhow, this is the

first time I galloped on horse. Big achievement. It was also awesome I didn't feel sick at that

time. (Apparently, I only feel nausea when I'm surrounded by food.)

So, right after the horse-riding activity, our tour has ended, and took the same bus (this time

speedy enough) back to Anda. Everyone was really tired. And can't wait to bathe. Haha,

imagine the different kinds of poo we step on everyday (camel, cow, horse, chicken, dog,

etc.). Anyway, on a side note, Anda Guesthouse shortchanged our trip, we didn't have our

promised 7 meals, unless, they counted bananas+apples+white bread as lunch on board

the bus. And there were some screw-ups in the journey because of the super duper long bus

rides. Ah but never mind, at least we GOT THERE. The 浦西 gang had to catch a night flight

back to Shanghai, so we bid farewell... we still have 3 more days to go.

After washing up and all, we made our way for dinner... BUFFET dinner at this revolving

restaurant. Pretty cheap too. 2-digit figure, means... less than 20SGD. LOL. Ok, given my

condition at that time... surrounded by food, and revolving at the same time... No good.

I had only 1 plate of stuff and enjoyed the night scenery. (It's really interesting that I couldn't

stand the sight of food). After that, we just walked around the shopping area, the guys went

off to their Vienna pub with the Hollanders, and then Amelia and I hitched a cab to get back.

We made a nice decision to 自然醒 the next morning. Haha, actually that's one of the best night

sleeping in so many days there. Ah, went to have KFC breakfast... Went to 五塔寺 (I think) after

that. Can't remember much from this temple, but it's peaceful there.

Then off to 大召寺. A big vicinity that holds different temples. There was a Chinese opera going

on when we were there. And there's a cool shopping street that sells 特产. There's a 玉佛殿

inside the temple, and the 释迦摩尼 is really made up of 白玉, with red rubies and diamond

studs. I forgot how many jewels are there on the shrine, but apparently the number means

something. It's just magnificent, and I think that's the coldest 殿 because of the jade. And

there's the 千手千眼观音 shrine, which is just as big and majestic. What I really enjoy is seeing

how detailed the paintings are. Some tell a story, and some just implies something. The night

view around 大召寺 is awesome, warm yellow light floods the entire temple.

Haha, evening... we walked real far, thinking where can we put our firework and crackers. In

the end, we settled for the street near our hotel. (Yes, we happily moved out of Anda and into

the hotel, for almost the same price per night!) The nice 灌饼 shop owners told us to fire away

outside their tiny stall. Should watch the video I took, it was epic. How we retreated to safety

was hilarious. The 炮竹 was deafening. I rather the guys buy more 烟火 than 炮竹. Oh well. But

it was nice. The guys went for dinner after the celebration frenzy, I happily went back to hotel

to rest. (Still no appetite, though the 灌饼 was tempting).

I pulled out of the [Great Wall of China] 1-day tour the next day. (260RMB FYI). Sent my

Amelia to go with them. Good thing I was alone. I had diarrhea the whole morning. YES,

back like in 黄山 I regretted not climbing 莲花峰, I regretted not hiking the Great Wall now.

UGH. And they said it was really awesome. But they did mention the bus ride was too bumpy,

and the hiking was kind of tough (they had to trek very narrow passages carefully, if not, a

tiny slip will send you down to the bottom of the Wall). Some places were too steep to go

down, so they had to slide down instead. But it all sounds fun to me.

Yes, that's their 1-day tour. A different view of Great Wall when you're at Inner Mongolia

and not Beijing. As for me, I spent my awesome day (not counting the toilet-visiting morning)

finishing my book, 'Norwegian Wood'. Then napped for 2 hours. (I needed to make sure that

my stomach was dormant for at least 2 hours, so that means I'm safe to go out). Guess where

I went? Back to 大召寺! Haha, I even paid for entrance inside again, because we did miss some

殿 previously. It's kind of dangerous for me to hitch a 黑车 ride there, but there weren't any

cabs that would stop for me!

It's different walking alone. I could take my own sweet time looking at each shrine. I could sit

down anywhere, eat an apple and banana, and walk to someplace else. Nice. Went down to

九久街, the shopping street, got this guy to sign my name in many styles. Interesting. Then,

I took a TUKTUK back to the hotel, which cost me more than a cab. Weird.

Almost through with the trip, our last day was spent... back at 大召寺 area. LOL, well, that's

because we can find all the 特产 there... The 奶酪糖, 风干牛肉, 奶酒. We were supposed to go

白塔寺, but given the amount of barang barang we had, there's no way we can climb the pagoda

at ease. So we wanted to visit 小召, and some other temple near 大召, but apparently, they all

look the same. Worse, 小召 was demolished, left with only the gate. I bought 2.5 斤 of 奶酪糖,

didn't even try, LOL, pretty scared how my stomach will lurch. Then going back to hotel, left

our goodies with the luggage, went out for lunch, as well as some window shopping.

And then! The flight back was uncomfortable. There was this kid that couldn't stop crying.

I perfectly understood the pain. (Thinking back on my flight to-and-fro Australia when I was

still a little kid). Haha, but this kid annoyed Justin and the other passengers quite badly. Thank

goodness it was a 3.5 hours flight. I exchanged my seat with Zeyan for an aisle (or else, I'll

be at an unventilated window seat again). Things turned bad for me on the way back, nausea

and head ached a little. There's not much 空调 in the plane. You should see how relieved I

was when the plane door opened and I stepped out onto the aerobridge.

Ah, all in all, the trip was a SUCCESS and SMOOTHLY PLANNED. Only downside was my

weak stomach. But nevertheless, I think the grasslands and desert were the biggest eye-opener.

And not to mention, the people of Inner Mongolia are generally friendlier. The lady who

hosted us at the grasslands was very nice! One thing that I haven't mentioned, the air in the

city is ultimately the worst. Even more worse than Shanghai. The dusts, sand, whatever that is.

But that is in Hohhot city.

Grateful to friends who took care of me, lol, I must have been a difficult patient. 'Do you have

a plastic bag?' is a scary question to ask my Amelia.

Summary: Go Inner Mongolia! Visit the desert and grasslands!

School's Good.

I like school. We have interesting lessons. And!

Interesting professors (who are actually quite famous, from what I heard).

There's this prof who talks a lot about China's Cultural Revolution and

how he is an anti-Mao. Which is something that Chinese shouldn't say too loudly.

But he is like Singapore's typical taxi drivers, complaining about the political

situation, and complaining about how certain policies are pointless...

Most importantly, he shared his experience on the Revolution with us.

We watched a movie in class today. It's called 芙蓉镇 (Hibiscus Town).

It talks about a beautiful lady who lived through the turmoil during

Cultural Revolution. The movie was real long, about 3.5 hours, but I quite

like the development. And from the plot, it showed a side of Cultural Revolution

that wasn't at all beneficial for the people. For the people.

Especially when China's power lie in their population.

Mao Zedong. I think I will need to revisit my History textbook all over again.

Haha, cannot remember what was the 革命 about.

(By the way, I have developed a habit of folding my money notes with Mao's face in front, this is to distinguished that THAT is my money, lol)

Aside from learning about China's painful past, we have other lessons.

A real stressful one, is 汉语汉字 lesson.

We have to 朗读标准汉词与句子... we have to express in good Chinese,

we have to 造句! It's like Primary/Secondary school all over again,

but at a much higher level because we have to present in front of the class,

and our prof can be a little pushy.

Ok, honestly, it's difficult to keep myself awake in most of the lessons,

(except the movie one)...

And just a quick glance across the classroom, many of us were finding it hard

to pay attention, something common during lectures back in Singapore, haha.

Oh well, but I think the best part of going to school is still seeing familiar faces.

Always happy to be in a big group of happy people, yea?

黄山之旅

Dear blog, I've returned from my 黄山 trip, and I simply loved it.

The four of us (WY, John, Xiao Long) bumped into Kah Sing at the bus terminal,

haha, what a coincidence, and all of us took a 7 hour bus ride all the way to 汤口,

which is also 黄山's foot.

Our first day was spent there, and we visited the 翡翠谷,

one of the attractions being 情人桥 (nothing special really, just a lot of evidences

from couples who attach engraved locks along the railings.)

The water flowing down from 黄山 is so blue at this valley. Really nice.

And the cool weather just makes everything feel better.

From 汤口, we took a short bus ride to the starting point of 黄山.

To quicken the pace, we hitched the cable car to the trekking point.

(if we climb up, journey takes around 2 hours, cable car was 10 minutes!)

THE VIEW FROM THE CABLE CAR UPWARDS WAS AMAZING.

THE VIEW RIGHT THERE AT 黄山 WAS EVEN BETTER.

Our climb from there to many peaks on 黄山 was tiring,

but it was worth it! Different angles, different heights, but this place is...

an eye-opener. Though there were quite a lot of people due to mid-autumn holiday,

I didn't quite mind the fact that my dormitory was fully packed.

Ah, mid-autumn festival, cannot miss the moon, especially when we are staying

1680m above sea level. Fantastic view.

We did trek to 步仙桥, which was treacherous, because there weren't much

support on the way. And what's worse, to get there, we had to climb a lot of

stairs DOWN. (and think about the way back... A LOT OF STAIRS UP!)

But oh yea, we eventually got there.

By the way, James Cameron's Avatar was filmed there!

And no kidding, when I think back on the battle between blue creatures and humans,

yes, the backdrop of the battle was definitely 黄山, no doubts about that.

I didn't went up 光明顶 catch sunset, because my calves were killing me.

And though the guys tried, the sunset was pretty much obstructed by the fog.

Day one of climbing was just chiong-ing through a lot of stairs, that's why my

calf muscles contracted till they hurt every step I climb.

But, like I said, worth it. And I'm thankful for the guys, haha, they had to

wait for me at every resting stop. Best of all to them for carrying my load.

Day two. Alarm was set at 4am. Got up. Set off at 430am to a peak near our hostel.

GOOD WEATHER + LITTLE CLOUD COVER = PERFECT SUN RISE

Ah, the crowd went AHHHHHHHH AWWWWWWW, and we just sat there and

took in everything we saw. My first time watching sun rise!

From there, we continued the climb towards 莲花蜂.

The highest peak, standing at 1864m above sea level.

(光明顶 was 1860m, and I almost crawled there on Day One)

By this time, I was really tired, calves were burnt out,

and I was mentally drained because I pushed myself too much on Day One.

So! I left the guys to finish 莲花蜂 (HAHA, they were tired too, but stay strong, right)

while I head back down to help them buy cable car ticket.

Even going down is tiring, because my legs felt jelly.

Yes, I regretted not getting on top of 莲花蜂, but I was totally drained.

Just too burnt to carry on. BUT, I really regretted, because the guys had a great time there.

Ah well. But WY bought me this medal souvenir, engraved with my name,

HAHA, the medal says that I've conquered 莲花蜂 at 1864m. Thanks sister.

So! I highly recommend everyone to go 黄山.

People say, go 黄山 China is enough to see most of China's beauty.

Let me divert back to Shanghai now, because the wind is howling,

just like the time when typhoon was here. It's really loud out there.

Temperature has gone down, and I think it will continue to go down.

Getting cooler, around 18 degrees tonight, and I like it!

Next stop in China, Inner Mongolia! =)

Chow Chow Mian

Meet roadside chow-chow.

He's terribly dirty, but still fluffy and huggable (no, I didn't hug it).

Went out for dinner with my fellow intern friends yesterday.

And we tried this North-Eastern Chinese cuisine, which tasted exotic.

No, I'm not kidding, it's exotic. Besides the meat dumplings, we had fake beef,

cold pig trotters, garlic sausage (Chinese-style), no vegetables at all (coriander only).

Incredible that time passes so quickly,

school has just started, and we had a school tour around the campus.

Huge campus, huge, and beautiful architecture (will post photos of it next time).

The professors (apparently quite famous) said after these few weeks in Fudan,

we will be alumni forever with their University. Splendid.

We will have interesting lessons there. Calligraphy, excursions, Chinese films, etc.

The best part of going school now, is that I don't have to work on Fridays.

And! We can finally see other NTU peeps every week.

Went to 鼎泰丰 last weekend to celebrate Kelvin's birthday.

Not exactly what we expected in terms of taste, but oh well, I still

like the 小笼包. But I've heard of better ones... heh heh, time to recce around.

*NOTE*

By the time I write this paragraph, and eventually posting it later,

this post has ben overdued by 2 weeks.

I saved it in drafts, and left it there to rot.

So here I am, after my trip to 黄山 for the mid-autumn weekend.

Many things have happened in between, and I forgot what passed by

except for the fact that I went 黄山, because it. was. extremely. beautiful.

Alright, till then! =)

The Fast Train To Monday

Meet my buddy from work.

Marlyse's an awesome buddy and she's here for internship as well.

But hers is much shorter.

She keeps me sane at work. Haha, at least, the coffee she makes does.

Well, another weekend has passed by so quickly.

Didn't even do much. Went around 南京西路 on Saturday,

and Kerry Park (again! but it's a great place, trust me) on Sunday.

Oddly, I got dragged to a hip church service on Saturday night.

Obviously, I don't feel like I belong there, but still, I just pretend

I'm back in weekly school church service, with added crunch.

At least I remember the Bible stories. This is what 10 years of

Presbyterian school education has given me.

My factory visits were... pretty boring, but!

I listened to what their locals say, and some other stories, that

make me realise that actually, we are not any different then them.

Oh, did I mention the Hyogo-breed grapes? 巨蜂-breed.

It's only... 3RMB per kilogram. 3RMB = SGD0.60!

And it's superb! Really sweet, maybe just missing the shiny

and round appearance you see in Japan.

Haha, the locals bought it for us (since my company is the customer),

and seriously, all we do is just sit in the meeting room,

munch on grapes, pizza (or KFC, depending on which day), chit-chat,

look at travel photos, AND, finally, the 'work' part involves me inspecting

product packaging. It's pretty simple, only thing is,

when I have 4 pairs of eyes staring and waiting for my final verdict,

on whether the color of the packaging matches the benchmark.

(most of the time, no. sadly)

Alright, I bet this week is going to pass by super duper fast again.

Which I don't mind, really. Because... Mid-autumn fest is coming!

And that means, holiday! and mooncake! Wahahahaha!

Tchüss!

Work & Study

This weekend has been quite alright, spent our time outside,

going to their big IT mall, which can be quite terrifying because

walking down the aisle of booths is like, having zombies pulling

you in on all sides.

Ventured to the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum, which

is just one train stop away from where we live.

We went on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Let me emphasize, on a Saturday.

You know, the science centre has this electronic counter, it tracks

the number of people visiting on that day. And just that morning,

this counter clocked an amazing 15,000 (around there) people.

And wow, I was blown away by the huge crowd, and the huge

company of kids. Everybody was just talking so loud, and

everybody's pushing their way around, we really couldn't see

or learn much from the museum.

Nevertheless, the museum is big, exhibits are classified into

a number of subjects. Total of 3 levels.

Well, I think it will be awesome if we went during a weekday.

School starts next week for me.

For some, 交通大学 batch is this week.

And we'll have weekly Suzhou friends coming down to stay

with us starting this week. How exciting.

(a little bit of sacarsm)

Anyhow, I'm heading to work now. Tchüss! =)

I'm Back!

大家好！新加坡的朋友们，你们好不好？

Haha, sorry that I haven't been posting much updates,

been kind of busy after work everyday.

We have been cooking a lot at home, and constantly buying groceries

from the supermart. Great start right!

Well, I must say the good thing about my 'family' here in Shanghai

is that we cook together. Most of the time, there will be at least 6 hands

in the kitchen. Making a terrible mess, but we will be all filled at the end of the day.

Typhoon 梅花 (Muifa) went past us with super loud howling winds,

and really strong too. But not much of precipitation.

Amelia and I went down the block to catch some wind, and it's really nice.

The next day, we see rubbish bins overturned, and loads of fallen leaves.

Good thing is... the sky is nice and clear again! Smog gone!

My parents came by Shanghai last week, and I was so relieved to see them,

and I bet they were relieved to see me too. Really glad they came.

And sorry that they have to lug so many things along throughout the trip.

Shared stories and ate good meals, they've met my housemates and yea,

it was pretty much heartwarming. Not to mention our excitement when

we saw SinSin chilli bottles.

Went 苏州 (Suzhou) for the weekend, and joined up with the other

guys living there. I must say, Suzhou is extraordinary as compared to Shanghai.

The air is so much fresher and more breathable. Cleaner as well. In some way.

We went to 拙政园 (Humble Administrator's Garden) and then it started raining.

Nothing special really, just a lot of people.

Then we went down to a famous shopping street... can't remember the name though,

but we didn't really spent much time there because when it comes to shopping,

I think Shanghai is still the best.

Kelvin brought us to the lake in the evening, unfortunately, the bridges and the area

around us weren't lit with beautiful lights that night, so everything's in the dark.

BUT! Because there isn't light, the full moon looked exceptional.

There's actually much resemblance between Suzhou and Singapore.

We saw a (terrible) replica of our Merlion at Suzhou's Times Square the next day.

The Times Square was so quiet even though it's a Sunday...

Wonder how businesses survive over there.

Ah, but, there's a 久光百货! The same one in Shanghai 陆家嘴!

And this mall is a true Japanese supermart. LOVED IT!

The funny feeling while in Suzhou was that I missed home in Shanghai.

Weird right. Haha! Maybe because Kelvin's apartment were all super-hard beds.

REALLY HARD. I just have to poke a bit, I can already feel the spring

and iron mattress frame. But still, thanks to him for letting out all the rooms

to all 7 Shanghai-ers... when his other housemates were out in 黄山 (Huang Shan).

Oh! Heard Huang Shan is awesome, the place where they filmed Avatar!

See the photo of that dog above? It's NOT a soft toy!

Haha, it's a really clever and well-trained dog running around 静安寺 (Jing'an Si).

His owner was hiding behind pillars and walls, and this cute thing will

run everywhere to find him. Then the owner (uncle) saw me wanting to take

photo of his dog, he actually made his dog sit and let me do photo shoot.

Then he made his dog stand on 2 legs! (though he did mention one of the legs

was injured) Cutest thing ever. Will post more photos of it next time.

Alright, my internal alarm clock is ringing for me to go sleep!

Till next time! =)

Typhoon Alert!

Typhoon season has begun!

These couple of days we saw heavy rain and thunder.

Thought the rain could clear the air better, but when I

put my nose outside, smells horrible.

This week has been a little bit hectic,

with Johnathan waking up late enough for us to take cab.

But at work, I guess there's finally things for me to do.

I am not feeling too good about it though, because I made

a couple of mistakes, and even missed a meeting.

(my mobile was on silent mode with no vibration)

When I was given a set of instructions to follow, I thought I could

do it when the real thing comes. But when the real thing comes,

I don't know where to start. Haha, is that common?

Realised my breakfast these days all come from a nearby bakery

called 'La Paleta'. Sounds quite expensive, but still more worth it

than BreadTalk. Bigger and tastier breads.

We didn't go out much this week, I guess because we were quite

drained, and we haven't thought much of where next to explore.

Oh, but the street down from our house have a long row of restaurants.

Tried the Japanese food, (twice in this week!) and it's pretty quiet,

and most importantly, affordable.

And, there's this wonderful 烧腊 shop just downstairs from our house.

(did I mention this before?)

Hope my parents are having fun in China. Haha, hopefully the typhoon

doesn't deter their trip, and my trip to see them off at the airport.

Ok, I'm off to work now, tata~

Miscellaneous Weekend

I'm not going to go town on Friday nights. NOT!

The crowd is so horrifying! It's worse than Chinatown during CNY.

Train packed to the brim, I could have just hugged the guy standing in front.

Shopping mall, impossible to walk through.

Finding dinner, easily took 30 minutes.

We went to Raffles City Shopping Centre at 人民广场 that evening.

Shopping concept and even the mall structure is the same as Singapore.

There's BeeChengHiang Bakkwa! Cold Stone Creamery, and a couple more

familiar shops around. But I think all the shopping malls are just too similar.

Ah, Saturday breakfast. (Lunch, but All-Day-Breakfast, Cedele-style)

Amelia brought me to Kerry Park, located... 'near' where we stay.

Just around 20 minutes walk.

That place is going to be a HOT place when it officially opens.

GAP's opening soon, H&M still renovating, and some other shops

that are already in operation are really great.

There are a couple of indie shops, OH! and I saw this really really nice

jigsaw puzzle (2000-pieces) set, haha, tempted to buy, but just cannot

think of a way to bring it back to S'pore.

Anyhow, the food was great, I particularly liked their berry smoothie.

Conclusion: Kerry Park, must go.

Thankfully there aren't people around because the mall's not really up yet.

Mostly are hotel guests (Kerry Park Hotel linked) touring.

And then we went to Thumb Plaza, 大拇指广场.

Big names like Zara, Sephora, and sports brands.

Honestly, I do see Zara everywhere in Shanghai.

And their stuff is pretty cheap, maybe because of final summer sale.

Well, then Sunday came. And I am now at home.

Woke up at a shocking 1:15pm, I seriously do not know how I

manage to wake up this late. Felt so guilty because Amelia made

eggs and toast for breakfast.

Don't worry! I put it into the microwave oven for extra freshness.

Then all of them went out.

Amelia and Jon went church, Wee Yong went far far away to see IT stuff.

And I think I made the wisest choice of staying home, because,

for the first time since I'm here, there's going to be a big storm coming!

Oh boy, the trees are swaying like no tomorrow outside.

Hope everyone's under shelter!

1 Week Anniversary

1 week has gone by really quickly.

The house feels like house now, packed nicely with food,

and clean air-con. Haha, we are all clean freaks.

We went to pretty places last weekend, to celebrate day-before-work-starts.

The Bund! Unfortunately, we went in the evening, and it's really packed.

Shopping area that resembles really close to S'pore's Orchard Road.

Actually, there wasn't much to see at the bund, maybe because it was

pretty hazy and the air wasn't too good.

I prefer the view of 上海滩 to the city skyline. Colonial buildings look superb.

First day of work was... boring. The boss went on work trip,

and won't be back till next Monday. So, there's nothing for me to do?

Well, for the past 3 days, nothing.

But tomorrow, let's make a change, I'm going to ask for work.

(SHOULD HAVE DONE IT EARLIER)

Feel so guilty not having anything to do for the whole day.

Interesting point: my desk is IN the pantry.

Behind me there's a coffee machine, sink, and water dispenser.

Might as well let me be the tea lady.

But thankfully, the pantry is superbly clean and tidy,

there's cleaning ladies who will pop by every hour to check.

I must say, working condition is 9/10, even if I'm in the pantry.

I like it! And best of all, lunch is included!

Only thing is, I've got to strategise how much credits (in RMB) to

lunch everyday, because the amount stored in the card is fixed.

There's nothing I can complain, even transport's provided.

Maybe just one thing, why don't they understand that Singaporeans

are bilingual! Everybody says, '你听的懂华语啊? 会写和说吗?

Worse, when you shop, they ask, '你是从日本还是韩国来的?' when I'm

already conversing in Chinese with them.

Should have answered Anyunghasaeyo, Kamsahamidah, Konichiwa, Sayonara!

Seaweed soup for today!

Haha, 1 word, BLAND.

But it's alright, first try is always like that.

Next time, we should double-boil the seaweed soup, haha.

Off to lala land.

Buy 2 packs of 饺子, free 1 pack of wanton. Good deal.

Movie nights are the best.

Watched 武侠 the day before. And then 哈利波特 Deathly Hallows (PART 2!) yesterday.

Don't ask where the source came from, haha.

After settling some phone line business, we went around the shopping area.

Honestly, their shopping malls are not any different from Singapore.

Prices, can be even higher.

Haha, we bought Breadtalk for next day's breakfast.

Same standard. Variety also quite good!

Actually, my first day here...

Hmm... The very first impression, and the strongest, is the horrible traffic.

No wonder people tell me it's very difficult to get China's driving license

when you're holding an international one.

I don't think I can get through their traffic from my apartment to the hypermart.

Their red light, is their green light.

Their zebra crossing, is their green right-turn light.

Their motorcyclists, don't need helmets.

Their horn, is used almost every minute.

Pretty dangerous, right?

That's why, when we pedestrians cross the road, we have to look

left-right-left 3 times.

Don't walk, run.

But! 1 good thing I've observed just on my first bus ride,

is they have a road lane just for cyclists.

Bicycle or electric-bicycle, all travel on that lane.

You don't see pedestrians walk on the lane.

(Unlike what we have in S'pore)

So it's pretty orderly when pedestrians walk on the pavement.

(Of course, some MOTORCYCLISTS will still weave along)

My nose almost dropped yesterday.

We were all cleaning the living room and balcony,

oh man, you should see the amount of dust fumes that looked like mushroom clouds.

We wore masks, but it was too late.

Nose = running tap water.

Anyhow, we went for some more household shopping at the hypermart.

Bought myself a clothes rack. And I fixed it up like a pro.

We bought tidbits, and a lot of 饺子.

And Cornetto minis, wah, buy 2 boxes, give free cooler bag.

Of course must buy. Haha.

Really think we should start cooking in the kitchen.

We did, we cooked up a wanton dinner yesterday.

ALL 75 wantons. We didn't count before putting everything into the pot!

Should start having home-cooked dinner, like that can save money.

Leftovers can become next day's bento lunch.

Ah, then breakfast can be cereal with milk. (bought Cheerios!)

But milk wise, we were quite perplex on which brand to pick.

Oh well, just give it a go I guess?

Alright, I'm going off now, should settle bank stuff today.

And maybe more walkabouts.

~tata!

Wah seh, XLB for breakfast.

你好！

I've safely settled into the apartment, and yesterday was pretty hectic.

Considering the amount of things we need to change/add into the apartment,

the four of us spent half a day at the hypermart, 2 trips.

The plane landed, and the captain said, 'the current temperature outside

is 27 degrees celcius'. And when I stepped out, no, it wasn't 27 degrees celcius.

It was a dreadful heat, though the sky's a little dark.

Desmond picked me and the other guys from the terminals,

and we headed for the NTU Office.

Breakfast (photo above) was provided, 油条, 粥, 豆奶, and... 小笼包.

My stomach became a little runny, but ok, I'm still adapting to the new flavors here.

The other Shanghai batch with my housemates joined us,

so, pretty heartwarming to see everyone.

From there, the bus took us to our apartment.

Haha, outside really looks rundown.

But, inside's perfectly fine. Really nice.

Just. Dusty.

Went out to the hypermart straight after,

bought a lot of household items, a lot a lot.

And before we left, it started to rain heavily.

Haha, we made a wet dash back to the apartment, carrying so many bags.

(yes, we had umbrellas)

By the way, they do charge for plastic carrying bags,

and they don't really like us buying plastic bags,

so we bought the mart's shopping bag.

Back home, lunchtime, but raining.

And couldn't call for 外卖 also, because none of us have China number yet.

Thankfully, rain stopped quickly.

So, out we go again!

To the HYPERMART again!

Second round of shopping, still a lot of things to buy.

BUT! I'm smart. I brought all my baggu bags.

So, we don't have to buy any plastic bags.

Stupid thing is, we forgot to bring out the mart's shopping bag.

Anyhow, my baggus are truly the life saver.

Lunch out after putting all the barang barang at home.

Ate at a nearby 烧腊 shop, pretty cheap and nice.

Funny that they gave us free lemon tea (hot).

Got new phone numbers after that.

And then went home for the Ultimate Spring-Cleaning Experience.

Wah, the dust. Can kill.

Mold. Can kill.

Dropped hair. Can kill.

Quite hectic for the rest of the day, but managed to clean the bulk of stuff.

8 pairs of hands, we made use of them to the fullest.

Really tired after all the frenzy, so dinner was Dominos.

Ok, here, the Dominos have an unique taste.

We can't really describe it, but hmmm...

the chicken sausages and ham taste really Chinese.

Alright, I'm ending soon here, hang on.

After dinner, supper was more cleaning.

The whole day ended with us playing laser light.

THE END.

P.S. Thanks to all for the best wishes. As well as those who came.

P.S.S. I may not have time to post here often enough when work+school starts, sorry!

Test Flight 1

I've spent the entire day trying to figure out why I can't get my blog running up from scratch. And to no avail, there's no progress. So, I'm using the template (with my own edits, of course) from blogger. And another pissing off point is that I can't get my flash to work here. It's simply. Frustrating. So, no flash. Does the music scare you in the beginning? Maybe I should turn off autoplay...

Ok, nevertheless, this is the pre-opening of my based-in-Shanghai blog. Maybe someone should try to do exhaustive testing for debugging purposes. Leave comments, I'll read, if I remember. Not sure how's the connectivity in Shanghai going to be like, but let's all hope that there's wireless or 3G (doubtful) over there. Tchüss!