A touch of Sweetness

Monday, March 29, 2010

Its been two weeks since we came back from beijing. miss the weather, miss the fun and miss the nothing to think about life. before we left for the airport i was having high fever and i had to use all means to bring my fever down. panadol, chinese medicine, cold tower, drinking water etc. lucky when we left for airport my fever went down. at the airport we met our tour leader jin long and the rest of the tour members. gen, gwy and i were like the youngest in the whole group. our flight was delayed due to bad weather at beijing. had to wait for like nearly 4 hrs before we could bored the plane. it was the first time we were slacked around in the airport, from T1 to T3 and back to T1. when we finally could bored the plane, i could not wait till we arrived at beijing. at about 10am, we finally arrived at beijing and the moment i stepped out of the plane, i could feel the below 10 degrees c weather. it was just so nice. after passing through immigration and collecting our luggage, we had to change into our thermal wear and winter jackets. i was wearing 5 layers without my winter jacket and the only thing i did not change was my shoes. i was still wearing my comfy wedges. when i stepped out of the airport, the cold air was just so wow. and i was thinking if i should change into shoes since my toes could take the cold air but we had lots of walking to do that day so i decided to change into flats after lunch. on the way to our first destination - the place we had our lunch, we met our tour guide mr paul dong. his mandarin is super cheem. i could understand the basic but once he starts taking about some history and places of interest hoho.. brain switched off. after lunch we went to national grand theatre, tiananmen square, forbidden city, had a rickshaw ride, dinner and to the hotel. while we were at national theatre, tiananmen square and forbidden city, i finally experienced winter. snow were everywhere and the wind was super strong. so strong that our faces had natural botox. and i wished i could lie on the snow and build a snowman too but we had no time for that. finally felt some warmth after we arrived at the hotel which was around 9. the room was a wow. comfy bed but the bathroom was see through and the only thing that was covering were the blinds. it was kind of weird but yea no choice. after settling down, i was channel surfing. all were china shows. and finally found a channel that was showing something i know. got to watch 'you are my destiny' again. every night 930pm to 1030pm. and another was the MTV channel.
the next day had to wake up at 6, dress up, down for breakfast and gather at 815am. weather for that day, not as cold as the day before and the sky was blue. our first stop was the jade factory, gen, gwy and i were stoning there was there was nothing for us to buy and see. if they stayed on any longer i could have fallen asleep on the sofa. after that we proceeded to the Great Wall. it was... no words could describe the wall. when i was climbing the great wall there was only two words to it tiring and scary. the snow were all over the stairs making it even more challenging and slippery. i had to stop 1 and a half station later as i did not have the energy to climb any further was i was sick and the stairs are freaking high. having freaked out at the choir loft, i definitely freaked out at the Great Wall. Dad, gen and gwy climbed still the second station while mum and i were waiting. after they came back down, we went to play with snow and had a snow fight. it was just so fun. throwing snow at one another, throwing it in the air... after all the fun at the Great Wall, we went for lunch before heading down to The Ming Tombs. A historical place, more history to learn and there i go.. brain off. was walking around the group taking photos so that i will not fall asleep. and the moment we saw snow, we went to play again. gen, gwy and i made a snowball and placed it in dad's hoody. but he was smart enough to know. we tired it on mum. we started laughing non stop as she did not know continued walking. we laughed so loud till jin long asked why were we laughing. i could not tell him as i was laughing like mad. so we showed him mum's hoody and we placed it over her head. gen and gwy ran off after that. LOL!!! and jin long had to clear the snow off her hoody and hair.. hahahaha.. it was just so funny. when we stepped out of The Ming Tomb, there were more snow. gen and i tried to make a snowman but we had not enough time again. by the time we managed to stack the snow up, everyone came out. we started running on the snow and jin long went 'bu yao bao. dei dao wo jiu ma fan le.' we proceeded to strawberry farm. each of us are entitled to pick 8 strawberries. all of us were looking for big fat and red strawberries. we went over the Dr. Tea before heading for dinner and our last destination for the day was Wangfujing Street. finally i see shops that i know. Mango, G2000 etc. saw a top and shorts at mango. but the top was too big and the shorts was too small. argh.. none of it had my size. went back to the bus empty handed except for my mango dessert. how sad. by the time we returned to the hotel it was already 9 plus nearly 10. went over to gen's room to have my dessert and took funny shots. when mum came over a super funny incident happened. i could not take the sight and smell, i decided to go back to my room, wash up and sleep on my comfy bed.
On the third day, we had the same routine. not as cold sun was shinning super brightly (regretted not bringing my sunglasses along). did not wear my thermal pants as i was having allergy reaction to the material but brought it along for in case. first destination beihai park. a place for senior citizens to hang out. felt the cold wind there, thus had to wear my thermal and my legs were itching super badly. saw the nine wall dragon, bought a pretty wind mill for chloe and myself. after that we went over the the temple of heaven. another historical place. brain switched off after viewing the surroundings while the rest went to explore the little museum. while waiting for the rest of the tour members, i was trying to avoid the sun while sitting on the stairs. the sun was super glaring and it was so warm that i had to remove my jackets till my last thin cardigan. finally we went for lunch. after lunch we went to another boring place. capital museum. gen, gwy and i were like ok.. what do we see? the exhibitions there were not for us. we regretted not going to the cafe and slacking on the bus instead. and i could no longer take the itch. i had to remove my thermal and i felt so much better. my legs had little red spots and it. soon after, we proceed to qianmen street. another place for gen and i. and the best thing is H&M is there!! wuhoo!! we ran into that shop and were on our shopping mode. but sadly the clothes were not really nice but i managed to grab bangles =D finally got to satisfy my shopping crave. we took some artistic shots and it was really nice. love it alot. went for dinner after that kungfu show. was falling asleep during the show. before we returned to the hotel, we had a tour of Chang An Street. the banks there were cool. they had bank of this bank of that. after that back to the hotel. took my shower and then my comfy bed.
Day 4. a super windy day. but i got use to the weather. no thermal pants, no hat and sometimes no gloves. our first destination was the silk factory. another place for us to stone. the rest of the tour members were shopping for bed sheets, mum and grandma shopping for silk cloth. dad went to supervise on what they were getting. while the three of us were stoning at a little corner of the factory wondering when we could leave the place. bad thing to leave my itouch in the bus. if not i could have my entertainment during the waiting time. after that we proceeded to the Olympic City. went into the Bird's Nest. super cool super glorious. was taking more shots. saw the Water Cube and toured round the Olympic City on our mini tram. it was already windy enough plus the wind from the moving tram, my face went numb. next on our list was lunch at Summer Palace before touring the Summer Palace. Another historical place but the only thing was that there was more walking and more things for us to see. so it was not that bad. at Summer Palace it was even more windy as we were near the lake. even the benches we sat on were cold. but in order to rest our legs we had to freeze our butts while the aunties and uncles went for toilet break. soon after we went to visit the panda.. like finally!! they were so cute and adorable. but most of them were sleeping. and jin long was super cute and funny. he got so excited he knocked his head against the glass panel. LOL!! after visiting the pandas, we headed to i can't remember where. but its a tourist attraction where the whole building is selling imitation goods. and obviously its not for me to shop at. so headed to the next street for mac and my Starbucks java chip :) went back the the bus, we were like 30 mins early. slacking in the bus, playing tap tap and eating cake in the dark. how cool. after everyone came back, headed down to some grand theatre for Beijing Night. Dinner cum show. We were kind of late. Plus gen and i went to the washroom. so we were the last to go in and we were seated right in front. like first class seats and view of the show. the food was not really good. but ate alittle as i was really hungry. but was too engrossed with the show and photo taking so stopped eating after a few mouth of food. gwy was the best. she was totally concentrating on the show, her chopsticks were still in her hand but her head was turned to the stage. after that was back to the hotel and packing up. the thing i hate to do. packing up in the hotel cause the next day will be to the airport and home.
Day 5. although it was the last day, we still had the same routine. but just that we assembled later as we had to check out of the hotel and settle our luggage. weather was about the same as the previous days and i was wearing my wedges. and jin long was shocked and said 'mei li dong ren'. before heading to the airport, we had a foot massage and shopping at Yaxiu something. another place for imitation goods =( at our foot massage something funny happened. hilarious but it kind of made my hair stand. gen, gwy, mum and jin long were laughing at me. all because of that china guy. -_- after that our last stop was yaxiu. boring place. had our lunch there and some free time. went over the the next street instead. went into mango. saw a pair of sunglasses but mum said not nice. so too bad. and had our last serving of ice cream in the cold. dreaded the trip to the airport. i did not want to go back to Singapore and face the reality of being school-less, jobless and no plans in mind. at the airport did our checking in. i started taking out one layer after another till my normal tshirt could be seen. after everything was settled, went to the toilet, removed my thermal, makeup and contact lens. thought we still had a little time to shop at DFS but the walk to our plane was so freaking long. after all the walk i thought i could see the plane but we had to take the bus out to our plane. when i saw the plane, i realised oh oh in the cold with just one tshirt and my normal jacket. how cool is that. thank god it was not really windy. before going up the plane i ask jin long if i can don't board the plane. haiz.. the end of my 5 days tour in beijing.
overall the experience was wow. had to converse in mandarin when shopping and of course talking to jin long. the weather was the best. the food was ok.. kind of salty and oily. the 'best' were the toilets. it was the first time i had to pee in the dark. like total darkness. not even a ray of light in the cubical. i wished the 5 days could stood still for me to full absorb the fun.

-geri :) ;