A new year getaway...

hoho... new year come liao. Holidays 7 days long. So my friends and I landed ourselves in the ancient city of xi-an. Going thr a 15 hr train ride was no joke... before I go over, I got the thinking like if the train will be like the one in harry potter movie. But it was different. .15 hrs on the train in harry potter movie I think I will puke blood. This train got bed for the passengers to sleep on. But it does not have seat. There are a total of 6 beds, 3 on each side. After the torturous ordeal, we checked in to this hotel Its like a oasis in the desert sia... the room was nice and cosy, and of cause our mood took the turn for the better.

First day was jalan jalan... second day, the fun starts... we went to 华山. It was a bloody tall mountain made of rocks. There is a choice. 1 - walk up yourself(approx.4k steps; free) or cable car up(seated; 103rmb) The choice is obvious. The 4k steps only lead to the cable car station near the lowest peak. After that still have to climb alot alot...There are a few peaks to attack. Managed to conquer a few summits but we did not reach the top as we had not alot of time.

And that the last stretch was like a 2 hrs straight flight of steps to the top. The steps were small, and the gradient was disgusting... But if we have more time I would consider going up. Night was lantern festival the city of xi-an, in the middle of the city, there is this city wall. Very much like those you see in the jay chou movie de. I think if singapore build 1 wall like that around the country, then war that time we just camp on top and shoot machine guns down. Sure very good. Last time arrow already so good liao. Many huge lanterns we saw, and our camera flash never stops... haha...
Last day ofcause is the mission that every tourist come to xi-an have to do... terra-cotta warriors! in chinese is 兵马俑. We first go for a sieok sieok hot spring bath. Then we wack the terra-cotta.
The whole tomb was like around 1+ to 2 km. So the tour busses have to park at a far away carpark then walk in. Well in total have 3 pits. The first one was the oldest pit, only consisted of soldiers and horses. Its like they dig out everything already. Then they have to piece back and put inside for display. But a huge part was still covered with soil. This is because if they took everything out, they do not have the technology to preserve them. The warriors actually have organic paints on them. But then a few min when they touch the air, the paints just vanish... very scary. So they are quite careful. Some people might feel very pissed off, everything covered in soil. see wat see. Some people also don care the "no flash" sign. Just trigger happy and shoot their way thr.

When the sun sets on that day, it marks the end of our trip. We took the bloody train back and when we reach shanghai, we wacked the most expensive dinner we have ever eaten since we got here so far. The place is "Face". It is a villa type hotel in an elegant setting. There is one small lake, three separate but connected garden and four villas of different European styles. We had thai food at the restaurant call Lan Na Thai. Just imagine, the first thing you step inside, you feel like you go back to 60 70 years. Everything is made of wood, its like those Shanghai building where there are girls in cheongsum walking around. The restaurant is at the second floor. First thing we go in, my mouth was wide open.The only lightning comes from the spot lights that were hanging over the tables. The first appetizer was bbq chicken wrapped in leaves. Then they changed the plates and after which all the food was served... we had green curry, gang kong, roast chicken and alot others. But wat blew me away is the desert.
Seated in the rectangle long plate, the trio packed a punch each. Far left was a rum ice-cream with a thin piece of sugar coated biscuit. In the middle, its the pudding, and lastly on the right, its the chocolate muffin with hot chocolate oozing out. When you put a little of all 3 into the small spoon, and put it inside your mouth... I dunno how to describe that feeling...

When you are about to enjoy the good thing, the feeling of anticipation is sieok. When you are enjoying it, the feeling is even more sieok, and after you enjoyed it, the sweet memory will keep you company for a very very long time. As I think back on the trip, the second day, 20Feb 2007, for me, is the best of the best day I ever lived so far...

Life's an enjoyment

One week has passed again... . This week is my company de new year dinner. .It was held at this hotel. From far its like a mini city... like suntec or ngee ann city in singapore. But yes. This is a hotel and nothing else. And one more thing is this is a full suite hotel. As you walked to the entrance, you will find that inside the grand marble entrance, there is an old entrance made of wood. This hotel has a freaking long history and the wooden entrance is the entrance of the old building. Then after upgrade they conserved the old entrance and build the new building behind it. The hotel food quite ok only. But the reason why its freaking ass expensive is because the hotel is littered with antiques... from a old trishaw, to super old bank notes, to ancient stone structures... they have it all. Even the freaking toilet look so posh that you don mind having tea inside.

Anyway, as the night draws to a close, it also marks the start of the weekend, the weekend that we all yearn. However, its like a few weeks more before our school starts... when that happen, its like 8 30 we need to report to the uni. Friday study to 4 30 and sat study to 11 30. not cool at all. Cannot imagine the war scene at the mrt in the morning. Nevertheless, yesterday, which is sat, was one of the happiest sat in my life. In the morning my aunty and my little cousins all come to my apartment. We watch tv while the maid do some cleaning. After which off we go to a soup restaurant. The food there was quite ok. The soup is cooked in a tall pot, like the 佛跳墙. The rest of the food also quite nice, although they are pretty simple, like fried rice and normal vege fried with garlic. After which my aunty took me to 7宝古城. Cos last sat my friends went but I din have a chance to go with them. My aunty everything also buy abit for us to eat. From smelly toufu, to giant 汤圆(the size of a baby's fist), 麦芽糖and串串. Eat until I so full. The place like those old china streets, with very small alley, and wooden shop houses by the sides.

At night, I had new year dinner with my aunty and some of her relatives. After the dinner, I went home to a sweet phonecall and a good rest. Well I guess compare this weekend to the others, this weekend might be a bit less eventful, basically just hang out with my aunty's family and resting at home. However, spending time with my cute little cousins, see them say things that are even more witty than adults, see my little cousin wear shoe on his own, now I know why my aunty although how busy she is, every weekend she will spend time with family. For me, I came to this place throwing everything I have in Singapore, only to gain things I can never ever imagine. To sum up everything in 4 words, it would be- Life's really an enjoyment...

Warmth...

Its the weekend again... 5 torturous days have finally passed. Nothing special really much happened during the week except that we are given this goodies bag. Inside, the biggest thing is a bottle of baileys. Secondly is a bottle of olive oil, butter cookies, belgian chocolates, sweets, nuts and mixed dried fruits... However, we have yet gotten our pay... I think they are trying to bribe us with the goodies bag. Anyway, 4.45pm on the dot, I just close all the program on my computer and chop chop leave the company... after that its steamboat at my apartment as usual. After which we go down stairs and play with fireworks. Its not those like fly up in the sky and explode de. Its a mini version. Fly up around 1 meter high and explode less violent. 6 shots cost 15 rmb...

The saturday sun rises up with me sleeping like a pig on my bed... I was hoping this weekend would be a restful one. Because I am pretty sick of walking aimlessly around Shanghai looking at those buildings liao. Sat as usual I went to my aunty house and we had dim sum for brunch while my friends go visit the 七宝古城. After which I joined them for dinner. Dinner was at this ultra posh restaurant. Its nothing like the pekin duck palace setting. This one is more power... This is zen like, one look you know the restaurant mean business. We have a total of 14 pax. And we booked the restaurant 1 week in advance. So while alot of people is waiting ourside to be seated, we just go in like vip. We had a room like the vip room, inside is a long dining table. The restaurant is a stamboat restaurant. But the special thing is that its a personal steamboat. You can choose from a large variety of soup base and the food is shared. We ordered hell alot of shit... from all kinds of balls, to beef, to vege, to fish paste and also mushrooms...Usually those pekin duck, those chinese restaurant very nice and grand at most only 50+ rmb per person. This super posh meal cost us 100 rmb each... by far the most expensive shit I've ever eaten. After dinner its the usual clubbing. However I gave it a skip. I returned home to my beloved bed and... a sweet phone call.

Sunday my friends were saying we go find some good food... so that we can get our morale high before the start of the week. In the end, we found this power restaurant that serves..... Sinapore food! From Laksa, to fried guay tiao, to hokien mee to chicken rice... and sides include sambal kangkong, cuttlefish with beansprout, otah, and many many more like chilli crab and fried carrot cake. Although the meal cost around 60+ rmb, we were more than happy to pay for it... the desert was an ice cold bobochacha... sieok!

After I eaten the meal, I had the same feeling as when I go outside the building... the weather is getting better and the sun is shining quite brightly... Yes the feeling is warmth. Warmth comes in many ways, sometimes obvious, sometimes subtle... But wat I know is right now, right here, sitting on the foor of my living room, I felt warmth...