I guess 8-15 Dec was 1 of my best weeks in tis yr, or maybe even my life. was away in beijing wif ajco at tt time. the trip was really fulfilling, and it certainly felt different if u're travelling in a big group, and everyone noes each other.
for the bad stuff, i jus felt pissed wif
someone on many occasions. the stuff he said. hmm i shall nt elaborate. i'm sure many others wld agree wif me. yup.
first day: wells, i sat between fu kang and xiaoting on the plane. hw bad can tis get?! luckily, i switched to the side soon aft and had becca for company. the plane trip seemed super long for me. 6 hrs. hmmm. didnt slp much on the plane and there were nth nice to watch. i was quite tired when we reached. i could feel the cold air soon aft i left the plane even when everything's indoors!
we met our tour guide, xiao qiang for the 1st time. his real name's 要强 anyw. but soon, almost everyone jus called him cockroach behind his back. jus had dinner and then went back to the hotel.
the location of my hotel room was great, coz its situated between peini and shuwen, and sophia and yoketheng's room. tis means i could disturb them anytime! too bad becca, dawn and sim wan were at the other side but it could be accessible by a shortcut. the bathroom looks kinda old but there was tis balcony like space which i liked. u nd to pay a deposit of RMB50 for a hairdryer. but then, the weather's so cold that our hair dried up in no time even without the hair dryer.
we went to check out the hotel facilities oso. the only places u could play were their bowling alley, billiard and pool tables. they've sauna and messaging services too. there's oso 2 reataurants, 1 western and 1 chinese. we had western and chinese meals on alternate days. there was oso nth much nearby our hotel, except for some shops.
anyw, i was damn hungry tt nite coz i didn't dare to eat much during dinner, so xia's cup noodles came in handy! the problem is, i had no chopsticks. so i called frm hse keeping to the restaurant to room service and finally to the assistant manager. yes, it was jus for a pair of chopsticks.
second day: visited tiananmen in the morning. we first posed for a photo in front of tiananmen. the winds were quite strong, butu could still see lotsa ppl milling ard. chew xia gt fascinated by the guards in green there. anyw, those guards were standing on tis platform, and ppl were actually thinking of posing for a photo wif the green guards! hahas. i muz admit they looked quite zai in their uniforms.
there was tis underground pass leadin to 景山公园. the tchrs bought us sweet potatoes and corn jus outside the garden. it was really delicious! the corn tasted abit elastic but the sweet potatoes were big and sweet! it was really unlike the ones i ate in singapore. somemore, its really a great feeling to be eating piping hot sweet potatoes in extreme cold weather. there was tis tree in the garden where some emperor hanged himself. we were fascinated by the tree mans. according to xiao qiang, the emperor was quite a responsible emperor, jus tt he took the throne at a very young age and wif all the famines (I tink) and other natural disasters, he couldn't rule the country well ba. and thus, he hanged himself as a way of taking responsibility?
went to the underground tunnel nxt. it was opened in 2000. initially, it was built to house millions of ppl during the possible outbreak of a war betw. china and russia. they used silk stuff lk blankets and clothing as a way to protect the ppl against 风湿病. there were oso those basic amenties lk libraries, cinemas etc there. there seemed to be alot of maozedong portraits ard the tunnel. which reminded me of my history text. hahas. talk abt propaganda. we entered tis silk shop nxt where they into-ed to us abt silk and its uses. i guessed no one bought their silk blankets except the tchrs.
watched a concert put up by the 3rd and 4th yr students of 中央音乐学院 at nite.there was only 1 word to describe them: speechless. and i heard frm someone tt they only needed 3 days to prac all those songs. saw my 笛子 ou xiang 戴亚 again! woohoo! he played tis song which he played wif sco last yr oso, but apparently the feeling's different. saw some really zai ppl frm percussion. *grins* but then, the section i liked the most was their xian yue ba. to summarize it, they've a great impact on me. their music's so clean and yet it sounds so impactful. can't be blamed. they probably prac frm mon to sun every wk. unlike us. hmmm.
we springed a pre bday surprise on wan wan tt nite oso. heh.kian seng, becca, dawn and I went into her room at 12am to sing or rather, shout a bday song for her. we were chased back to our rooms by ms chua, ms tan and fk. grrr. tink kian seng was hiding in the toilet wif becca when the tchrs came. hahas. becca bought tis magnet cake for her and we gave her the wooden board which we coloured. hahas. too bad there wasn't a real cake present then.
third day:it was wan wan's bday! anyw,
we had our 1st music exchange in the morning wif 北苑中学. its located at the outermost 环 in beijing. we were busy scuttling for the multi purpose hall (MPH) when we reached the sch coz the weather was colder than usual. there was tis attendant ( I tink) frm the sch hu kept using his video cam to shoot us as we made our way to their MPH. i felt lk i was being stalked.
the students were alr waiting for us in the hall. there were the usual speeches and we heard them play and all tt. we didn't play except for a few soloists coz there were nt enough instruments so everyone jus stood ard and talked. the students frm the sch all came frm different parts of china to study in beijing. their family backgrounds are nt tt rich oso, but frm the convo we had wif them, i found them to be really sincere and nice! and they're passionate abt co music oso! their conductor's oso in charge of teaching all the instruments and tuning. lk us, they oso regard co as an co-curriculum activity. everyone took more photos aft tt. 1 of the most interesting stuff i heard frm the ruan ppl was that slowest eater in their class took 5 min only. and considering tt their food portion was much bigger than ours, i was speechless. we oso saw a banner outside the school welcoming us. u can really see the effort they've put in. sometimes, i wonder whether we wld hav done the same if another sch came for an exchange wif us.
ying he garden was nxt. heard tt it was a garden where the emperor could rest wif his 妃子 or others. hahas. the view there's of coz scenic, wif a pond and a 塔 tt was under renovation. the paths became more and more narrow as we went deeper and deeper into the garden coz it was meant for the emperor and his wives to walk only. the pond there was alr frozen and we could see ppl walking on it. maybe i could try ice skating on it nxt time. heh.
walked thru tis pavilion wif 100 over diff drawings. tink tt each pic dipicts a diff story or sth. wonderful creativity.
we visited yuan ming garden aft tis. heard that it was destroyed by the russians or sth. the ruins provided a good background for photography. oso tried walking ard tis maze which becca claimed was v 无聊 coz she imagined the 皇上 playing 捉迷藏 wif the 妃子 ard the maze. hahas.
dinner was quite interesting coz shao hong appeared wif a banana for wan wan. he asked wan to "blow" the candle, and then tried to let go of the banana skins aft she did tt, having the effect of a "blown candle". had a gd laugh ov it. hahas.
watched the acrobics show at nite. yuqian managed to buy the bday cake at tt time without wan noticing.heh. the show had alot of tricks which i've nv seen before! i was busy taking photos as usual. hahas. the peformers could jump and stretch lk nobody's business lo. maybe they could teach me standing broad jump for part time nxt time. hahas.
we celebrated wan wan's bday hrs aft we returned to the hotel! tis time it was more obvious than ever tt we would celebrate for her lo. she was in the bathroom bathing when almost the whole tanbo "stomped" into the room. its almost impossible nt to make any voice wif over 10 ppl trying to sneak into the room wif the lights off. there would be occasional "shhhhh" when someone stepped on someone else's foot or sth else. our plan was to switch off the lights and to sing wan wan a bday song when she comes out frm the bathroom. however, the bathroom went into darkness oso when we took off the room card! hmmph. but still, we managed to sing the bday songs, cut the cake and pose for many self timed photos! luckily there were nobody to shoo us away tis time round.
anyw, the cake was bought frm tis cake shop who happens to be set up by the same person hu set up breadtalk. the ting is, their cake are so much nicer than ours!!!!! wan wan has tis paper "crown" which she had to wear, and the candles could oso produce bday music when lighted! and the decorations on the cake was damn nice. plus all tis only comes at RMB88 lo. which is less than S$20.
Day 4: The whole day was spent wif the 中国戏曲学院附中 ppl. the ppl frm there lined up in 2 rows to welcome us la. in tis kinda weather somemore. anyw, i didn't even look at them when i entered the institute coz i was busy rushing inside. its too cold ma. anyw, i guess the 中戏 ppl were cold oso, coz they frantically entered the hall aft us. as usual, the speeches and stuff, and then we prepared for practice. the effect was horrendous, even wif the good ruans they provided us. i guess we were nt used to the cold weather. heard frm sophia that their di mo would break the instant they blew into it coz of the weather.
the thing abt china is tt the ppl there liked to call each other by the full names. there was tis guy hu was called li meng zhe. it sounds lk 5566's xu meng zhe when the tchr was calling. so i always tot 5566 was there or sth when the tchr called tt guy. hahas.
i totally threw my face when i told my partner i had learnt the ruan for 4-5 yrs when i assumed she had learnt for a much longer time than me. turns out she had only learnt for 3.5 yrs. i felt lk digging a hole and burying myself tt instant. they're alr playing lk grade 6-7 songs. and i'm still at most at grade 3? wat the hell.
the songs were hard. and considering my side reading sucks, i was struggling in no time. i played so softly that the girl tot i could nt follow the song, and she had to stop halfway to show me where they were. the way the song's played quite different frm the 1 i'm exposed to coz its the 戏曲 kinda song. the 2nd song was more horrendous. i was 混-ing more obviously than usual. but there were the opera singers singing too. sounds nice.
aft lunch, i was faced wif more nightmares as i still could nt catch up wif the song. finally gave up in the end. i was dumbfounded. and
someone told us our standards were on par wif the 中戏 ppl. i felt ashamed of myself. seriously. heard tt they practiced frm mon to sun, and each person could play 2 instruments, majoring and minoring in 1. we watched them rehearse for the 1st time and i gt more and more depressed by the minute. hahas. they were so natural, while i would always shiver whenever i'm on stage. see the contrast?
aft the rehearsal it was free time. wanted to prac on my scores but wan, yuqian, becca, dawn and I ended up in the girls' hostel instead tks to dawn's partner's invitation! in the hostel, 6 girls live in a room and the room looked spacious and neat. the girls were super friendly! my impression of them totally changed lo. initially, i tot they looked quite dao and arrogant. we started chattering and somehow i realized tt their lives' nt only filled wif co only. hahas.
i was shocked tt the girls liked the way we mixed chinese and english tgt in our convos. maybe its due to the lack of exposure ba. its jus lk we found the way they speak chinese equally fascinating. we even sang '童话' tgt, and exchanged numbers and took photos! it was definitely fun. hee.
aft tt, we had to rush to the performance hall for the actual performance. tt place was dreadfully cold. we were all choinging for the 2 small heaters at the sides of the hall. it was dinner aft rehearsal. the bad thing was tt the dinner hall was located at a separate building frm the main hall, so i had to run in the cold towards the dinner hall. nice sophia helped me eat all the beef. hahas. as usual, nearly all of us could nt finish our food.
we had to change in the toilet prior to the concert. the toilet was well, nt v nice. imagine all the girls were squeezed inside the toilet, and u get the whole picture. yuqian dropped her scarf in 1 of the cubicles. OMG. i was wearing an attire tt was nowhere here and nowhere there coz i forgot to bring my tie and long sleeved shirt. wth.
the performance was better than during the rehearsal! i was nt nervous coz i knew i would nt see the audience ever again. so i was intent in 混-ing all the way and throwing my face and jus quickly get out of there and nt see them again. argh. we were finally allowed to wear our big coats coz it was too cold. if tt was arranged before we wouldn't even had needed the tie and long sleeved shirt in the first place la. haiz.
nearly lost my ruan aft the concert. i guess my partner was irritated wif me coz i was running ard lk a kan choing spider finding nth in particular. finally managed to find it in the end. phew.
went for supper nxt. the meal was quite memorable wif jia he ard. wahaha. he mistook the vinegar for soy sauce (i tink) and poured it in his porridge. ltr, shuwen and him were fighting over tis last piece of 饺子 on the plate and we psycho-ed dawson to koup the last piece. so whilst they were fighting (wif scissors paper stone or watever), dawson was stretching his hands to the middle of the table, and we were laughing too hard to talk. however, the fun part was when the 2 of them finished playing and they started realizing tt the 饺子 was gone. somehw they knew it was dawson hu had done it. but maybe they didn't noe it was us hu put him to it. wahaha.
at the other table, it turned out tt shao hong was trying to imitate chen lao shi's voice to call xiao qiang ge. he was hiding at tis flap, waiting for xiao qiang ge to enter. however, xiao qiang entered thru another flap! he didn't hear shaohong on his 1st attempt, so shaohong shifted to the flap where xiao qiang was standing. he tried again and xiao qiang really turned ard! but, he seemed to realize sth was wrong and only went to the table where chen lao shi was aft we told him tt chen lao shi "called" him. only then did he realize he was tricked. hahas.
Day 5: Earliest day I had to wake up. anyw, nice nice chew xia was always the one picking up the wake up calls, while i had my last 10-15min of slp. anyw, we had to wake up early coz we had to reach 长城 early in the morning to prevent congestion. it takes 2 hrs to reach there lo. somehow, the journey felt shorter, maybe coz i was slp-ing thru out the whole journey. as it turned out, 长城 was the coldest place we went thru out out whole trip! the fiercer than ever wind was blowing at us when we left the bus. ppl were rushing to the toilet while the rest were standing near each other for warmth. but tink tt provided min. effect oso. hahas. frm the car park, we still had to walk for some distance before reaching the actual gate. by tt time, i was sneezing lk hell. the feeling's nt great mans. heard frm xq that there r actually 3 versions of the 长城, and the 秦始皇's version was nt actually the biggest in scale. 长城's nt only in beijing. if u walk frm the beijing 长城 to dunno where in china, it takes 2 yrs of continuous walking! so imagine hw long 长城 is!!! there were diff. purposes for the diff. versions of 长城 too.
initially, the climb was quite ok, but it gt more and more tedious as we gt up (obviously) soon, more and more ppl were stopping to rest. the winds gt stronger and stronger too. i tink xq, liang ying, yao sheng and kian seng were the fastest mans. thru out the whole thing, they were rite behind xq lo. soon, the 4 of them were like at the top le and we were still struggling below! i kept pulling along poor sophia oso. she's a great climber sia. we saw a few stalls and even camels! at tt time i really wished i was a camel mans. anyw, i wondered hw these ppl could stand the cold. some, frm wat i saw, were alr having red faces due to the winds. tsk tsk.
aft much struggling, we finally reached the top! there was oso the cable car available to another peak. hw i wished i could tak tt up. but upon thinking, the view would be more magnificant if u had climbed up urself rite? the view was lk wow! v nice!!! but the height was freaking me out ba. i dared nt even look at the bottom coz i'll imagine myself tumbling down the stairs. hahas. we quickly took some photos and sophia and I climbed down.
the climb down was more tedious than the climb up! the winds oso gt more and more strong. haiz. we saw wan and siew ping halfway down. so, sophia, wan and I climbed down tgt, wif our hands clinged to each other tks to the wind. really hav to thank them oso coz without them i would hav freaked out at the steep stairs and the wind would hav blown me over mans. we were lk choinging down the stairs as soon as the wind had subsided! the sight was damn funny. jus imagine 3 ppl staggering in the wind and screaming whenever the wind comes. i even saw tis china guy laughing at us. hmmph. i was super relieved when we reached the bottom mans. got a sense of achievement for climbing, of coz wif the help of others la. hahas.
thru out the trip to the restaurant for our lunch on the bus and during lunch, i was nearly frozen. serious. i dared nt tak off my coat immediatly even when we were in the restaurant coz i was still shivering!
aft lunch it was the visit to the central conservatory of music. the look was diff. frm wat i expected. dunno why. hahas. we were waiting and waiting at the central lobby coz we were late in reporting to the conservatory and the ppl had alr started practicing. jing hang, guojun, kristine and I gt into the wrong floor when we were in the lift. the person in charge was jus busy shoo-ing us all in the lift and it was then then we realized tt the person didn't say which floor we were supposed to stop at! and so we started searching frm the top floor for the others.
the nice thing abt the conservatory was tt there were small individual rooms for practice. heard that u've to book the rooms in advance in u wanna use it. heard ppl playing the yangqin and zheng. the yangqin girl was, wow. the song she played sound too chim. the zheng girl alr had actions when she was playing. i so wanted to videotape her and show jason. but somehow she found us looking at her and she kept peering out at us subsequently.
we finally reached the room where the orchestra were practicing. it turned out that we were watching the 1st and 2nd years practicing, whilst the ppl where we heard at the concert were the 3rd and 4th yrs! This means i missed the chance to see the zai percussion ppl in action. so sad! but anyw, we were allowed to stay for long coz the prac hall was too small, and nt everyone could see them practicing. according to them, tt prac hall was the biggest in the conservatory le. too bad. aft everything, we shopped for stuff at their bookstore. their co books are so cheap. saw quite a few ppl in the co buying stuff. hahas. bought some stuff for myself and jing feng's bday presents frm there. too bad i couldn't find any books tt was suitable for jason there.
we headed for dinner and went back to the hotel aft tt. xq was saying he was named some tai qiu xiao wang zi and chen lao shi was challenged to a billiard match at nite, at the hotel. turned up to watch chen lao shi being thrashed. heh. turns out tt xq thrashed everyone at nite. nt bad.
Day 6: visited 1 of the more famous hu tong areas in the morning on trishaws. the ride was quite comfortable. sad to say, i've nt even tried the trishaws in spore before. we jus weaved in and out of the hutong. the hses were all concentrated in the same area, but each hse was quite huge, we realized when we visited 1 of the hses nxt. the old lady living there was a v nice and entertaining host! we were all squeezed up in the living room while listening to her. her children had all moved out and so only her husband and her were left. the hse was breezy during the hot summer and warm during cold winter. it was oso more spacious compared to the small hses tt the chinese live in nowadays. during winter, they would use some black coal like substance to burn to provide warmth. it takes skill to pile all the substance tgt and light the whole pile at 1 go. the disadvantage was tt it wasn't v safe. the old lady oso had many pets for company, and the ppl living in the hutong had a common toilet. they lived on the pension given by the govt ba.
there were oso trees grown in their courtyard, and the fruits grown actually has a significance. for instance, the pessimons (shi zi) grown actually rep "shi shi ru yi".
we took the trishaws out of the hutong aft the visit. we actually heard the drivers complaining abt no tips frm us. heard it but i didn't bother. hahas.
the ice carving exhibition was nxt. saw nice carvings at the exhibition. surprisingly, the ice exhibition was warmer than outdoors. there was oso a slide where i was too timid to tak. hahas. peini actually took the slide 5-6 times, and sophia, 3 times! peini was lk taking the slide again when I didn't managed to capture the moment on the camera.
spent the afternoo rotting at lao she tea hse. the decorations were great, looks v chinese. there was tis chinese guy welcoming us in a language tt sounds and doesn't sound lk mandarin. couldn't understand wat he was saying.
there was oso a small stature of lao she at the floor where we were to have our tea. finally saw his face for the first time. their tea was v fragrant and nice, much as i'm nt a appreciator of tea. hahas. stupid me tot that the tea pot was to refill the tea when it was actually boiling water inside. the tea leaves jus nd to be filled wif water for the tea to brew ma. there was tis guy hu was walking ard pouring tea for us using a teapot wif a super long tip. he looks zai mans! when i saw him approaching our table, i frantically grabbed my cup and started finishing the tea coz i wanted him to pour for me so i could tak photos ma. my frens were shocked at my action i tink. however, he said sth abt me nt finishing the tea before he could refill. my frens were laughing at me when he said tt lo. hmmph. i was thinking whether tt was an excuse for him to refill his pot coz he went to the kitchen aft saying ma.
whilst he was pouring the water for someone else, i mentioned sth lk "zhe ge pattern wo pai guo le" i guess he heard tt coz he did tis totally new and zai stance when he was pouring mine. GREAT. i totally threw my face and it was rude of my comments oso. i didn't mean for him to hear it ma. and he burnt his hand in the process oso. wonderful. i totally blew his day i tink. haiz.
managed to buy olympic stuff frm their olympic stall in the tea hse oso! so happy! bought tis orange mascot called ying ying and a limited edition coin. woohoo. if only i could buy the whole set of mascots mans. but tt wld mean burning a big hole in my pocket. so i gave up on the idea.
there was oso a shop selling the tea stuff downstairs. bought some more stuff frm there oso. heard tt the staff was quite stingy in giving ppr bags. hahas. there was oso performances by 2 ladies playing the pipa and erhu. v cultural restaurant indeed.
stopped by tis supermarket selling beijing tu chan before dinner. saw a large variety of sweets tt i've nv seen in spore. they were oso selling packaged beijing kao ya.
during dinner, we had the chance to watch a performance by the restaurant. saw tis girl hu really looked lk becca and my fren, jenny! the time spent on watching the performance was spent on taking photos of her instead. aft the performance, we requested to tak a photo wif the jenny look-alike and she agreed! however, we realized tt jenny didn't really look like her when we looked at her up close. hahas.
at nite, we went back to the hotel early again and it was our gossip session! had great fun tt nite gossiping. peini was bathing and doing tis and tt and so missed quite a big chunk of our convo. some others went exploring round the hotel area. there was nth much ba, jus a supermarket at a considerable distance away somemore. but then, all the shops in beijing close at 9pm coz they wun expect much ppl to be visiting the shops in winter at nite. so tis means no late nite shopping for us.
Day 6: went to tian tan in the morning. the chinese emperors visited it during every dong zhi to prey to the gods for gd harvest etc. the whole place was super big and spacious. we could see many elderly exercising, singing, and even 1 old guy was playing the er hu wif gloves. 1st time i ever saw tt mans. there were oso ppl palying tis badminton like game wif tai ji actions. so instead of jus catching the ball wif the bat lk in badminton, they had to leave the ball on the bat before swinging it back. their actions were damn graceful lo.
the co ppl tried shouting at this long piece of wall and tiles which was supposed to carry echos. we oso saw the exterior of the hses where the emperor was to become vegetarian for 3 days leading to the actual praying day coz a person muz be the "purest" and "cleanest" when praying to god ma. some of us oso tried making wishes on tis piece of stone. hope it cums true. heh.
shopping was nxt on our itinery. we finally had the chance to shop aft lk so many days. went to yue xiu shopping mall which is near where zhi guang lives in beijing i tink, coz its in chao yang. the malls in china normally sell imitation goods i guess, and it looks quite lk the actual ones. there was a whole floor specially for selling bags and wallets, 1 floor for clothes etc.
1 hr was nt really enough for shopping ba. we were trying to bargain which is nt common in spore. realized tt the ladies all said the same stuff, stuff lk they wanna be frens wif us, and the prices we quote were too high. grrr. and if they chased u, or rather pulled u by ur hands back to their shop aft u took the usual tactic of walking away, it means ur price's reasonable. the gd thing abt tis is of coz u could hav stuff cheap, while the bad thing was tt the prices everyone quote's different, so someone could actually buy the same product at a cheaper price than someone else.
wang fu jing was our nxt destination. it was the place for branded and more high quality goods. we couldn't bargain at tt area oso. it looks abit lk orchard road, wif 2 rows of shops and the road in the middle. the difference was tt it looks more spacious than orchard road, naturally. walking out on the streets was quite a chore for me oso coz of the cold weather. i was ever happy to enter the shop which was much warmer. didn't buy much stuff coz their branded goods lk nike were sold at about the same price as in spore. went to a gigantic toys shop coz we had nth else to shop le. hahs. it seemed almost as huge as toys 'R' rus? their barbie dolls were actually clothed in cheong sans and carrying a pipa. they oso sold those toys lk saucers which could fly when used wif a remote. oso saw quite a few shops selling co instruments. their ruans were much more cheap than in spore!
i finally found heaven when i entered tis CD shop in the end. they sold quite alot of CDs, and at a much cheaper price! wan wan and becca bought korean dramas at an amazingly cheap price oso! it was really a gd harvest frm tt shop mans. the shop has 7 floors i tink, wif floors specially dedicated to selling CDs, VCDs and books etc. wow.
went to another super nice looking restaurant for dinner again. its called babylon or sth. we were to watch dance and song performances oso. their toilet rocks oso. their basin was tis rectangular like structure wif water flowing thru the gap in the ctr. dunno y, but as it was quite cold in the path frm the eating area to the toilet area.
the dance performance was quite ok la, jus tt i kept gg to the toilet wif dawn when the ppl were dancing. hahas. oso tried tis bbq-ed mutton? which looks lk our satay, except tt it was salty.
there was the host for the whole performance. she could nt only host but sings well oso. wah. alt there were other ppl eating in the restaurant and even upstairs, she seems to be addressing our grp only coz we were sitting rite infront of the stage. hahas. i guess she was quite proud of where she came frm frm the pride in her tone.
there was tis segment where tis lady in bikini was to dance wif
someone but tt
someone asked mr sng to go instead. mr sng's face was quite amusing anyw. he looked like that dancer was gg to eat him up. hahas. shu wen was telling me tt dawson was saying tt mr sng looked lk tan san zang while the dancer looked lk some demon waiting to seduce him. hahas.
anyw, tis person was enthusiatically pulling ppl frm co to the stage at the last segment except himself. wth. if u dun wanna go on stage dun go ard pulling ppl up the stage. shao hong was smart enough to ask the host to call for tt someone when he pulled shao hong to the stage. and so shao hong walked back to his seat unscattered while the host called someone. gd for him.
Day 8: It was our last day in beijing! i was having fun so much tt i dun feel lk returning home. haiz. did some last min shopping in the morning. the shopping mall we visited tis time was newly constructed and sold more stuff? it was quite true frm the look of their toilets which looked lk salons to me. hahas. but then, the sales ppl there talked in the same manner as those in yue xiu ar. it gets pretty tiring when u see ppl trying to pull u to buy their stuff when u walked away everytime.
saw really nice bags at tis leather shop and i tried bargaining. but it was only then did i realize that tt shop was nt available for much bargaining coz they sold genuine leather goods? eventually, we ended up at tis shop where we were bargaining for a lower price for weiling's handbag. aft a while, more and more co ppl entered and were trying to bargain.jus imagine a grp of ppl trying to shout the quoted price to tt 1 lady. i guess the boss gt irritated wif us coz we kept trying to lower the price. lastly, even ms chua stepped in to help. by then we were alr late for the bus coz it was there when we learnt tt our flight would be delayed for 4 hrs, frm the 3sthpm plane we were to tak initially. i was quite happy coz tis means i could have more time for shopping. the sad thing was tt we still gt scolded terribly by someone.
my last lunch in beijing was quite fun. our table sort of forced xq to memorize our names. it was quite funny seeing xq glancing at the namelist in his hand every now and then to memorize. we were interrupted by someone but no one cared much abt him. heh. we even changed seats to make sure that xq really gt our names rite. he did.
the last place we visited was some jin tai lang factory where we could see the workers making the jin tai lang pieces. each vase takes up to 45 days to make i tink, and i guess much patience is needed esp when u're piecing the metal pieces tgt.
their store was of coz selling all the jin tai lang stuff and i even saw earthquake detectors.
left for the airport where we were to say goodbye to our tour guide. managed to tak more photos and then we were rushed into the passport area to fill up forms and stuff. the plane was once again delayed for sometime and so we only boarded the plane at 8 sth at nite! plus 6 hrs and one wld noe wat was the time we reached spore. didn't really slp well on the plane. the stranger sitting beside me was slp-ing thru out the whole journey tt he didn't even wake up to eat. soon, i was bored and luckily i gt to change seats wif veron and kah hoe so as to sit beside peini and shu wen, who were the few nt slp-ing. the co was oso quite scattered in the plane coz some ppl lk wan were sitting v infront while the rest was behind.
only slept at 4sth am. xia's dad was staying up for her ba, coz he immediatly went downstairs to mit her when my dad drove to her block. my dad and kor rocks too, for turning up to carry my stuff! hahas.
so the trip's over jus lk tt. aft tt its back to the boring life i used to lead again.
