[Wat Phra Srisanpetch] Three ancient pagodas...with many medium sized buddhas around one of them. Tuan climbed all the way up to view what's inside of the pagoda. (Me lazy to climb lah, it was much higher than the pagoda i climbed @ ayutthaya city ruins.) Saw one magnificant sleeping buddha too, though it was relatively new compared to other buddha statues i had seen.
[Bang Pa In Summer Palace] Very westernised, with one of the buildings in Chinese style architecture. We actually only visited the outer palace area, what's inside I cant see lah. It was very hot at the palace...not suitable to siam summer liao lor. Hahaha! There's one building still in use by the royal family. Compared to the summer palace in Cheng De, China, this one was average la. The most impt factor is the chinese summer palace was very cooling.
[Bangkok] I will do a Bangkok special after Day 7 entry.
Supposed to have our free time here. However, we have to meet again for dinner and check in hotel @ Prince Palace. So Simon decided to plan something for us. First stop was the snake farm, of coz actually the main purpose there was to make us buy those medicine made from snake body parts. Nobody in our group bought anything, though the "professor" was really funny when he intro his stuffs.
Next, to a company selling honey & other related products. On our way there, there was a massive traffic jam. It's horrible to stuck there in a bus..i started to feel unwell la. Sianzz..
Anyway, that guy who brief us was from HK, his mandarin was very "accurate" ah. Hahaha! All of us cleared up the honey drink they served us, and we tried their products. Many people bought stuffs from them. Mum only bought a bottle of honey for us lah. Hehe!
[Erawan Shrine] Commonly known as "four-faced buddha". Just to clear up, it is not a buddhist god or what ah. It is a Hindu god. Hehehe! Many people praying there as usual. Traffic around it was terrible..lol! After snapping pics we went to the McDonald's near by...while waiting for our coach to make a big u-turn. Saying about their Mac, it was slightly cheaper than SG la. However, their chili & ketchup thing was like those in Cafe Cartel, self-service hor. I think many Thais cant understand english well, so had some difficulties talking to them. I had to use "sign language" to ask for a plastic bag. Lol!
[Bird nest] Forgot the name again. It was a small eating house cum store selling packet food, bird nest, sharks fins etc. Ate a bowl of bird nest while Tuan tried the same thing in the coconut.
The guy in the shop was a Hong Konger too...mum said he wasnt "happy" to take our orders ah..(coz we order so little ah? Lolz...)
[Prince Palace] I am back again. New room at 18th floor. Some lucky ones got rooms @ 22th floor. It was a big surprise for mum & aunt jo, coz their room was BIG. Yeah..deluxe room or something? It's a big 凹-shaped room. If u draw the curtains, the view was just WOW! My room was bigger than the previous one @ 15th floor. Think another family also excited about their room too..big mah. Mum's room has a queen size bed, whole set dining table, sofa, a long corridor. Even the toilet is different! Haiz...i should have picked that room!
Bascially we had some world cup actions again la. Not like sg tv so giam...kns!
The view from our rooms were terrific. Can see many monuments from afar..like Golden Mount Temple, Democracy Monument etc. Hehe!
Friday, 23 June 2006
Thursday, 22 June 2006
Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 3
[Floating Nun] Went to a buddhist temple to see the performance. She meditated in the water with various formations of the Buddha Image..no need to kick her legs to remain on water wor...However, mum wasnt really happy that she offered some massage service using a unique medical oil. Well, may be Thailand nuns are not as strict like those in Da Cheng Buddhism.
[Jeath War Museum] It was not a big museum as I thought, looked like some long hut. Hahaha! Anyway, it showed weapons used during WW2 and pictures of war prisoners with Japanese soldiers. Also, there were paintings showing pics in Thailand and our Changi prison area. There were stalls selling stuffs again, testing your bargaining skills..hahaha!
[War Cemetary] Located near my hotel. It was the biggest among the few cemetaries found in Kanchanaburi. Around 6000 over Commonwealth and Netherlands soldiers were being buried/remembered here. (I dont think all were buried down there la) Many were young soldiers at the age of 21,22 etc. Salute!
[River Kwai Bridge] See entry on Day 2. Paiseh wrote wrongly. Haha!
[Suphanburi rice research centre] On our way to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, we stopped by this place, though not in our initerary. Walked for quite a distance to see the jasmine rice fields..and many people bought 1 or 2 kg of rice back. Super cheap! hahaha! 1kg of brown rice costed about 1.45sgd...hoho!
[Great Buddha] Didnt take note the name of the temple. The buddha was located at the main hall, very tall & magnificant.
[Ayutthaya city ruins] Many pagoda-style buildings, though many were destroyed during ancient war with Myanmar. Basically, u could see such ruins in any part of the city. I remembered i climbed all the way up to the pagoda to take pics. very magnificant. Hoho...
[Dinner] At a restaurant by the riverside, could see the Mae Krong river with boat restaurants passing by. (ppl singing karaoke lor..so loud)
[U-Thong Inn] Back to the town area, the lobby was posh, but the wing(tower) we stayed in was like average la. Another wing has better rooms lor..hehe!
---------
[Photos] Just saw the developed photos of my Pulau Ubin & Thailand trip. My good buddy Mr Pentax did a goob job, the pics were very rich in colours, though a few photos were kinda "blurred" because of water vapour ba.Hehe!
[HP] Mr Chean changed a new Hp yday. We are still a Samsung family..haha! His new X-650 cost 0 bucks, and the functions are "too good" for him. Lol! Anyway, he is the 3rd person to use a black colour HP le..so Empress Wang kenna outcast liao..hahahaha!
[Jeath War Museum] It was not a big museum as I thought, looked like some long hut. Hahaha! Anyway, it showed weapons used during WW2 and pictures of war prisoners with Japanese soldiers. Also, there were paintings showing pics in Thailand and our Changi prison area. There were stalls selling stuffs again, testing your bargaining skills..hahaha!
[War Cemetary] Located near my hotel. It was the biggest among the few cemetaries found in Kanchanaburi. Around 6000 over Commonwealth and Netherlands soldiers were being buried/remembered here. (I dont think all were buried down there la) Many were young soldiers at the age of 21,22 etc. Salute!
[River Kwai Bridge] See entry on Day 2. Paiseh wrote wrongly. Haha!
[Suphanburi rice research centre] On our way to the ancient city of Ayutthaya, we stopped by this place, though not in our initerary. Walked for quite a distance to see the jasmine rice fields..and many people bought 1 or 2 kg of rice back. Super cheap! hahaha! 1kg of brown rice costed about 1.45sgd...hoho!
[Great Buddha] Didnt take note the name of the temple. The buddha was located at the main hall, very tall & magnificant.
[Ayutthaya city ruins] Many pagoda-style buildings, though many were destroyed during ancient war with Myanmar. Basically, u could see such ruins in any part of the city. I remembered i climbed all the way up to the pagoda to take pics. very magnificant. Hoho...
[Dinner] At a restaurant by the riverside, could see the Mae Krong river with boat restaurants passing by. (ppl singing karaoke lor..so loud)
[U-Thong Inn] Back to the town area, the lobby was posh, but the wing(tower) we stayed in was like average la. Another wing has better rooms lor..hehe!
---------
[Photos] Just saw the developed photos of my Pulau Ubin & Thailand trip. My good buddy Mr Pentax did a goob job, the pics were very rich in colours, though a few photos were kinda "blurred" because of water vapour ba.Hehe!
[HP] Mr Chean changed a new Hp yday. We are still a Samsung family..haha! His new X-650 cost 0 bucks, and the functions are "too good" for him. Lol! Anyway, he is the 3rd person to use a black colour HP le..so Empress Wang kenna outcast liao..hahahaha!
Wednesday, 21 June 2006
Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 2 [edited version]
Wake up call at 6.30am (SG time 7.30am). Had buffet breakfast...food was average. Took a 2 hours bus ride to Daemnernsaduak Floating Market. Before reaching the market, we had to take a boat to the market lah. The journey was about 10-15 mins long. On our way, saw many houses beside the small river. Every house has their own boat, so that they can travel to buy stuffs.
[Floating mkt] The place was full of tourists, especially those from Japan. We stopped at a souvenir shop and started to walk around. Basically the most common stuffs there were tropical fruits and bags (got fake LV bags wor..even Ang Moh also buying!) Another way to do your shopping is to hire a boat and stop beside those boats selling things.
[Phra Pathom Chedi] Located at Nakhon Pathorn, the pagoda is the tallest and largest in the world! (really big man!) The present chedi was started by King Rama IV and completed under King Rama V. Simon, our tour guide re-arranged our itinerary. So I will be going to the death railway first.
[Train ride @ death railway] The feeling was contradicting. So many lives were lost because of this railway, but now tourists were happily snapping pictures of it. While waiting for the train to arrive, saw many youngsters riding motorbikes! Think they dont need licence ah. Must ask them to teach me how to ride ah. Anyway, many village kids travel via train everyday to school. Their homes were very ulu lor. I am really fortunate lah..still complaining 1 hr bus ride to sch is like hell. hahahaha!
[River Kwai Hotel] One of the best in the town. Room service was super efficient...lol! Watched world cup match also. Saw some scenes of Dae Jang Geum in Thai! hohoho!
[Dinner] At a Thai Chinese coffeeshop ba, surprisingly the food was nice. We were walking to a small scale night mkt when another family told us it was not opened. Wah lao wasted my energy! So nearly all the families we met went to shop at the 24hr "shopping mall"..7-eleven. Hahaha!
[Floating mkt] The place was full of tourists, especially those from Japan. We stopped at a souvenir shop and started to walk around. Basically the most common stuffs there were tropical fruits and bags (got fake LV bags wor..even Ang Moh also buying!) Another way to do your shopping is to hire a boat and stop beside those boats selling things.
[Phra Pathom Chedi] Located at Nakhon Pathorn, the pagoda is the tallest and largest in the world! (really big man!) The present chedi was started by King Rama IV and completed under King Rama V. Simon, our tour guide re-arranged our itinerary. So I will be going to the death railway first.
[Lunch] The only thing I could remember was the Tom Yam Soup, very QIANG! shiok!
[River Kwai Bridge @ Day 3] Located in Kanchanaburi province. The bridge was assembled by world war 2 prisoners. But what we saw wasnt the original bridge, that's a pity though. Beside the bridge were stalls selling lots of stuffs. However, didnt buy much la...except coconut. Hahaha! If I am not wrong the temperature was about 36 degrees. Buay tahan![Train ride @ death railway] The feeling was contradicting. So many lives were lost because of this railway, but now tourists were happily snapping pictures of it. While waiting for the train to arrive, saw many youngsters riding motorbikes! Think they dont need licence ah. Must ask them to teach me how to ride ah. Anyway, many village kids travel via train everyday to school. Their homes were very ulu lor. I am really fortunate lah..still complaining 1 hr bus ride to sch is like hell. hahahaha!
[River Kwai Hotel] One of the best in the town. Room service was super efficient...lol! Watched world cup match also. Saw some scenes of Dae Jang Geum in Thai! hohoho!
[Dinner] At a Thai Chinese coffeeshop ba, surprisingly the food was nice. We were walking to a small scale night mkt when another family told us it was not opened. Wah lao wasted my energy! So nearly all the families we met went to shop at the 24hr "shopping mall"..7-eleven. Hahaha!
Tuesday, 20 June 2006
Sawatdee Ka Siam! - Day 1/ Day 2 [edited version]
[changi airport] Left home at about 6.30pm. Reached Changi at about 7pm or so. Had a little snack before checking in our luggage. Our group was a big one, with 34 people. Long time didnt see so many kids in a group, I felt so old leh. Hahahaha!
Used the internet too, not very fast as I thought. Managed to chat a little with my pals, but sadly the blogger site was too slow for me. Bought some Sakae Sushi before going to our gate.
Boarded Finnair AY98 at about 9pm plus..took off at 9.50pm. The plane looked a little old on the outside. The seat was not spacious, but lucky I didnt feel very crampy.
[Finnair] The flight lasted for 1 hr 55min. This was my first flight experience with a european airline. Think they didnt set an age limit for their crew members. Most air stewardress are quite old, and they are in all "sizes". (compared to Asian airlines with stringent criterias)
Not much in-flight entertainment, lucky I can still enjoy some music lah. Everything was alright except their food. No choices! I ate fried chicken plus rice...haiz...! (how i wish i was with SQ). hahaha! Landing was perfect!!! So smooth that I didnt realised that I had landed. Hahahaha!
They have Thai crew too who made chinese annoucements. Not very accurate in pronounciation lah, but better than nothing.
[Don Muang Int'l airport] Still the same as before. Had to queue for quite sometime before i can get my luggage. Walked for quite a distance to board our coach. Our tour guide Simon is an ethic Thai who can speak quite fluent mandarin. A not-so- short journey to my hotel, with expressways towering the roads and trains...hoho...
12.30am (SG time 1.30am!)...met a traffic jam on our way to hotel..what the heck?! Could still see some street decorations for their king's 60th anniversary to throne. Thailand flag and king's flag all along the roadsides and on buildings.
[Prince Palace Hotel] Located at the old town (Rattakosin), very near the palace the royal family is staying. Also, it is near Chinatown and the Grand Palace area. A new 4 stars hotel, located directly in the Bobae wholesale market (will talk about it more in my last entry).
My room was at the 15th floor, could see nice city view of the old town.
2.30am...settled everything and went to bed..could only sleep for 4 hours.
Used the internet too, not very fast as I thought. Managed to chat a little with my pals, but sadly the blogger site was too slow for me. Bought some Sakae Sushi before going to our gate.
Boarded Finnair AY98 at about 9pm plus..took off at 9.50pm. The plane looked a little old on the outside. The seat was not spacious, but lucky I didnt feel very crampy.
[Finnair] The flight lasted for 1 hr 55min. This was my first flight experience with a european airline. Think they didnt set an age limit for their crew members. Most air stewardress are quite old, and they are in all "sizes". (compared to Asian airlines with stringent criterias)
Not much in-flight entertainment, lucky I can still enjoy some music lah. Everything was alright except their food. No choices! I ate fried chicken plus rice...haiz...! (how i wish i was with SQ). hahaha! Landing was perfect!!! So smooth that I didnt realised that I had landed. Hahahaha!
They have Thai crew too who made chinese annoucements. Not very accurate in pronounciation lah, but better than nothing.
[Don Muang Int'l airport] Still the same as before. Had to queue for quite sometime before i can get my luggage. Walked for quite a distance to board our coach. Our tour guide Simon is an ethic Thai who can speak quite fluent mandarin. A not-so- short journey to my hotel, with expressways towering the roads and trains...hoho...
12.30am (SG time 1.30am!)...met a traffic jam on our way to hotel..what the heck?! Could still see some street decorations for their king's 60th anniversary to throne. Thailand flag and king's flag all along the roadsides and on buildings.
[Prince Palace Hotel] Located at the old town (Rattakosin), very near the palace the royal family is staying. Also, it is near Chinatown and the Grand Palace area. A new 4 stars hotel, located directly in the Bobae wholesale market (will talk about it more in my last entry).
My room was at the 15th floor, could see nice city view of the old town.
2.30am...settled everything and went to bed..could only sleep for 4 hours.
Thursday, 8 June 2006
--Overseas Trip--
Location: Bangkok & Central Thailand
Date: 13/6/2006-19/6/2006
Flight details: Night flight to BKK & Afternoon flight back to SIN via Finnair
Type: Grouped Tour / Free & easy
Agency: Newly Tour
My second trip to Thailand after 1995. This time round my trip would focus on the historical sites of Thailand as well as the shopping heaven, Bangkok. (though shopping wasnt the purpose of my trip..haha!)
I will be visiting Kanchanaburi, River Kwai and the ancient capital Ayutthaya. After this, I will be touring round Bangkok F&E lah.
Hopefully, by then I would be able to plan trips to Thailand with my pals.Shall update more till i return lah.
P.S: Pray hard nothing happens to my plane. It is Boeing MD-11! You can check on Google how the plane looks like. It is not very common now but Finnair still using it ah...alamak...why using such old planes...faints >.<|||
Date: 13/6/2006-19/6/2006
Flight details: Night flight to BKK & Afternoon flight back to SIN via Finnair
Type: Grouped Tour / Free & easy
Agency: Newly Tour
My second trip to Thailand after 1995. This time round my trip would focus on the historical sites of Thailand as well as the shopping heaven, Bangkok. (though shopping wasnt the purpose of my trip..haha!)
I will be visiting Kanchanaburi, River Kwai and the ancient capital Ayutthaya. After this, I will be touring round Bangkok F&E lah.
Hopefully, by then I would be able to plan trips to Thailand with my pals.Shall update more till i return lah.
P.S: Pray hard nothing happens to my plane. It is Boeing MD-11! You can check on Google how the plane looks like. It is not very common now but Finnair still using it ah...alamak...why using such old planes...faints >.<|||
Sunday, 31 July 2005
Ah Qing's memorial journal final episode - Fujian, China
[#5] 02/06/2002-08/06/2002 Ah Qing was 16 yrs old.
It was really a great experience to tour China again with a big grp of ppl ( ard 80). Well, went with my sec sch's CO to Fujian Province for a concert cum tour lah. Some of my pals didnt go but this time round, my CelloBass gang folks were with me ( my juniors basically). Thanks alot guys, you had made this trip a memorable one! hehe!
Reached Xiamen after my 4 hrs plus flight with Air China. On the whole the flight was alright..the plane was kinda old to me...and the food sux. I could only complain about that lah..though dont have inflight entertainment service, I was not really that bored. haha! Actually i remembered i was praying hard when the plane started to fly, thanks to the 911 incident. hahaha! Xiamen airport was kinda small, but a pleasant one. Didnt have much chance to look around anyway, we hopped into the bus and travelled to Quan Zhou. pathetic 5 hrs..gosh. PY and me kenna seperated frm the CB gang..coz we were the seniors..lolz! ya..the seniors took the small bus with the teachers & parents lah...song bo? lucky we gotta watch videos on the way, or else bored to death. hahaha! think the rest was not so lucky lah! hehehe! China's expressway was really "empty" lah...besides the road u can only see the sceneries..hardly any trees. haha!
stopped by at a little mart to buy stuffs. Haiz..when we reached..the souls from the other 2 buses had already chiong into the mart and grabbed the stuffs! damn it! lolz! alright..the mart was pathetic when i reached lah..nearly emptied by us?! hahaha! nothing much left for us anyway, most of them bought bottles of soft drinks & cup noodles. think the mart had a great day ya? hahaha!
Finally, reached the hotel lah. along the way, Quan Zhou really dont looked like a city to me. Little modernised buildings plus there was only a main road ba? It was located at a mountainous area...the whole scene i got really doesnt fit into the "city" category. We had a very warm welcome at the hotel...got TV crew to film us leh?! lolz...we were superstars ah? The hotel main door had this red cloth hanged up there to welcome us...really shiok sia!!! Felt so dua pai..hehe!
Went to visit a vocational school after that...attracted a big crowd. think we went to see a performance, and some of us were invited up on stage. lolz! the china ppl were very friendly wor? waved to us when we were leaving the place...song! Watched the news on the tv, saw our pals on the tv! hahaha! ok lah..think the whole grp was excited lah..imagined we were on tv?!
Had our little concert the next day, basically the cellos were giving me big probs! haiz..hate tuning them..and scared the strings snapped. haiz...it was really ma fan to carry the instruments here and there...and i was the only senior frm CB..haiz. My only regret was i didnt get the photos for the concert..haiz!
Visited the 海外交通史博物馆，清源山老君岩 & the pagodas ( forgot the name). Then at night, we took 6 hrs train ride to 武夷山. it was one of the 四大名山. hehe! Anyway, our grp booked the first class seats lah..but not all of us can fit in..coz too many ppl. so some of us gotta sacrificed. CB gang did..coz we wanted to sit together...( 1st class gotta in grps of 4) So we sit in the "economy" class lah..err..nt very comfortable..6 together...think got ppl smoked in the train...u shld know who they were right? hahaha! had a cup noodle on the train...and played games lah...terrible 6 hrs..haha!
Finally, we reached le！the first stop was the 九曲溪. geog students! it was really a place to see what we had studied on our bks. Anyway, we took a wooden raft to tour ard the area. The water was so sparkling clear and cool! yes...we could feel the water hor..even saw a small water snake swam across our raft..hahaha! really a nice experience! Next, was to climb 武夷山. Haiz..i hate climbing...once u climbed cannot "go stan"...one way traffic. The tour guide told us that we cld end up climbing with both our hands & legs..tt was true. i really did that at the steep part. it was safer and faster to climb that way..haha! finally reached the top of the mountain, got a temple there lah..cld see the 九曲溪 frm the top...damn beautiful! visited the 朱嘉纪念馆 too.
somewhere during the trip we passed by fuzhou. sadly, i only had lunch there, then we carried on our trip..Fuzhou was the provincal capital of Fujian lah...very modernised too!
Took a domestic flight to Xiamen frm wu yi shan airport ( which was located at somewhere high) very small...and we gotta walked to the plane..dun have tt bridge ( wat was it called?) Anyway, took the New Xiamen airlines...first time travelled in a small plane...lucky the journey was stable..wah seh..when we took off cld see the mountains like beside us wor! haha terrific!
Yeah..back in xiamen! I was taken by surprised that the city was so modernised! haha! sua gu lah! visited 陈嘉庚's tomb...it was really magnificant. Also, saw the 集美学村. Xiamen was actually on an island btw. Visited the crocodile farm and on our way to 南普陀寺，our coaches drove into 厦门大学. one of the top unis in south china.
had a vegetarian lunch @ the temple..met some chinese who smoked in the air-con restaurant..we requested our tour guide to tell them nt to smoke..hahaha! i was watching the world cup match..germany vs saudi arabia! hahaha! Then, we went to shop at the 大学街,most of us bought stuffs frm the cd shop..hehee!
A must-see in xiamen was to go to the 鼓浪屿, an offshore island..took ferry there. Heard that ppl who lived there had piano in their hses..forgot abt the details...haha! Took cable car to reach the top of the island..hehe! can see the xiamen city view...cool! visited the bird park too...
The plane we took was frm another model ba? only got biz & econs class. anyway the seat was so big and comfty...shiok! haha..i think our grp nearly "booked" the whole plane lah..hahaha! food was still kinda sucky to me..and they showed "101 dalmations"..which i had seen upteen times..gosh! luckily i bought cds ah..or else bored to death sia! hehe!
Well, recommend u guys to visit Fujian if u have the chance...southern china food was definitely much better than northern china cuisine. lolz!
It was really a great experience to tour China again with a big grp of ppl ( ard 80). Well, went with my sec sch's CO to Fujian Province for a concert cum tour lah. Some of my pals didnt go but this time round, my CelloBass gang folks were with me ( my juniors basically). Thanks alot guys, you had made this trip a memorable one! hehe!
Reached Xiamen after my 4 hrs plus flight with Air China. On the whole the flight was alright..the plane was kinda old to me...and the food sux. I could only complain about that lah..though dont have inflight entertainment service, I was not really that bored. haha! Actually i remembered i was praying hard when the plane started to fly, thanks to the 911 incident. hahaha! Xiamen airport was kinda small, but a pleasant one. Didnt have much chance to look around anyway, we hopped into the bus and travelled to Quan Zhou. pathetic 5 hrs..gosh. PY and me kenna seperated frm the CB gang..coz we were the seniors..lolz! ya..the seniors took the small bus with the teachers & parents lah...song bo? lucky we gotta watch videos on the way, or else bored to death. hahaha! think the rest was not so lucky lah! hehehe! China's expressway was really "empty" lah...besides the road u can only see the sceneries..hardly any trees. haha!
stopped by at a little mart to buy stuffs. Haiz..when we reached..the souls from the other 2 buses had already chiong into the mart and grabbed the stuffs! damn it! lolz! alright..the mart was pathetic when i reached lah..nearly emptied by us?! hahaha! nothing much left for us anyway, most of them bought bottles of soft drinks & cup noodles. think the mart had a great day ya? hahaha!
Finally, reached the hotel lah. along the way, Quan Zhou really dont looked like a city to me. Little modernised buildings plus there was only a main road ba? It was located at a mountainous area...the whole scene i got really doesnt fit into the "city" category. We had a very warm welcome at the hotel...got TV crew to film us leh?! lolz...we were superstars ah? The hotel main door had this red cloth hanged up there to welcome us...really shiok sia!!! Felt so dua pai..hehe!
Went to visit a vocational school after that...attracted a big crowd. think we went to see a performance, and some of us were invited up on stage. lolz! the china ppl were very friendly wor? waved to us when we were leaving the place...song! Watched the news on the tv, saw our pals on the tv! hahaha! ok lah..think the whole grp was excited lah..imagined we were on tv?!
Had our little concert the next day, basically the cellos were giving me big probs! haiz..hate tuning them..and scared the strings snapped. haiz...it was really ma fan to carry the instruments here and there...and i was the only senior frm CB..haiz. My only regret was i didnt get the photos for the concert..haiz!
Visited the 海外交通史博物馆，清源山老君岩 & the pagodas ( forgot the name). Then at night, we took 6 hrs train ride to 武夷山. it was one of the 四大名山. hehe! Anyway, our grp booked the first class seats lah..but not all of us can fit in..coz too many ppl. so some of us gotta sacrificed. CB gang did..coz we wanted to sit together...( 1st class gotta in grps of 4) So we sit in the "economy" class lah..err..nt very comfortable..6 together...think got ppl smoked in the train...u shld know who they were right? hahaha! had a cup noodle on the train...and played games lah...terrible 6 hrs..haha!
Finally, we reached le！the first stop was the 九曲溪. geog students! it was really a place to see what we had studied on our bks. Anyway, we took a wooden raft to tour ard the area. The water was so sparkling clear and cool! yes...we could feel the water hor..even saw a small water snake swam across our raft..hahaha! really a nice experience! Next, was to climb 武夷山. Haiz..i hate climbing...once u climbed cannot "go stan"...one way traffic. The tour guide told us that we cld end up climbing with both our hands & legs..tt was true. i really did that at the steep part. it was safer and faster to climb that way..haha! finally reached the top of the mountain, got a temple there lah..cld see the 九曲溪 frm the top...damn beautiful! visited the 朱嘉纪念馆 too.
somewhere during the trip we passed by fuzhou. sadly, i only had lunch there, then we carried on our trip..Fuzhou was the provincal capital of Fujian lah...very modernised too!
Took a domestic flight to Xiamen frm wu yi shan airport ( which was located at somewhere high) very small...and we gotta walked to the plane..dun have tt bridge ( wat was it called?) Anyway, took the New Xiamen airlines...first time travelled in a small plane...lucky the journey was stable..wah seh..when we took off cld see the mountains like beside us wor! haha terrific!
Yeah..back in xiamen! I was taken by surprised that the city was so modernised! haha! sua gu lah! visited 陈嘉庚's tomb...it was really magnificant. Also, saw the 集美学村. Xiamen was actually on an island btw. Visited the crocodile farm and on our way to 南普陀寺，our coaches drove into 厦门大学. one of the top unis in south china.
had a vegetarian lunch @ the temple..met some chinese who smoked in the air-con restaurant..we requested our tour guide to tell them nt to smoke..hahaha! i was watching the world cup match..germany vs saudi arabia! hahaha! Then, we went to shop at the 大学街,most of us bought stuffs frm the cd shop..hehee!
A must-see in xiamen was to go to the 鼓浪屿, an offshore island..took ferry there. Heard that ppl who lived there had piano in their hses..forgot abt the details...haha! Took cable car to reach the top of the island..hehe! can see the xiamen city view...cool! visited the bird park too...
The plane we took was frm another model ba? only got biz & econs class. anyway the seat was so big and comfty...shiok! haha..i think our grp nearly "booked" the whole plane lah..hahaha! food was still kinda sucky to me..and they showed "101 dalmations"..which i had seen upteen times..gosh! luckily i bought cds ah..or else bored to death sia! hehe!
Well, recommend u guys to visit Fujian if u have the chance...southern china food was definitely much better than northern china cuisine. lolz!
Tuesday, 24 May 2005
Ah Qing's memorial journal # 4 - Perth, Australia
[#4] 11/12/2000-17/12/2000 Ah Qing was 14 years old.
Eh..got 5 "1st-times" happened. First, 1st time went to Australia. 2nd, 1st time went overseas without family ( i went with chinese orchestra). 3rd, 1st time i went overseas twice in a yr ( went to china in june). 4th, 1st time travelled in a night flight.5th, ate kangaroo meat.
Ok..went to a "remote" part of Aus..Western Aus...perth lah! haha! why say remote leh..coz it was out of the place mah..most Aus cities were at the eastern or south-eastern part of the continent..perth was in the west..
well, impression of perth..BORING! haha! dunno why leh...no tv entertainment ( the tv @ the hotel was spoiled! ) eh...the ppl there tends to slp early..haah ( we were too noisy in the hotel so kenna complaint many times by other ppl..they slpt damn early like 9 something at night..WTH?!) shopping was kinda boring too..( shops closed early on weekdays, weekends at the most opened till 9.30pm..which was considered quite early too. Things were not cheap too..haha! though the swatch watches there were cheaper than sg de..but that was in yr 2000 lah..now i dun think so)
went there in summer mah..pretty hot..the sky there quite cloudless lah..so cld feel the sunlight "hitting" on ur skin directly...sianz..weather dry too...alamak!
Perth's airport was located @ somewhere rural ba..got a dist from perth city..the airport quite old and small too..compared to asian airports..haiz! i think it was worst than china's domestic airports i had been.
lucky perth was not so far frm sg..4 hrs flight..quite fun lah! the food was considered great..if i wanna compared it with SIA's china flight..they got gave us chocolate ice-creams wor?! haha!
anyway, reached perth in the early mornings...couldnt slp (4am liao) haha!
Went to Forest Place to shop around..the post office there was quite grand lah..nice building! we actually had an outdoor performance there..but the place was kinda small so we kenna squeezed together..quite hard to play lah..had my mcdonald meal there..quite big size wor? nice! haha! the packaging was a little better than sg.
went to a high school to perform ( forgot the sch name) eh..their concert band also performed for us..like an exchange performance ya? got quite a no. of asians in that sch wor? haha! got interaction with them and had a meal there..gotta forced myself to eat hotdog bun..alamak! terrible! eh..after that we visited Yan Chep National Park! saw koala bears!!! so cute!!! Also, went to Crystal Cave..ah..saw what i learnt in geography..stalagmites, helictites, columns and shawls. amazing leh! some stalagmites were like statues..cool!
Tumbulgum farm was my 1st visit to a farm lah..all sorts of animals u can imagine..saw how they shaved the sheep's skin..quite can ren..haha! also saw emu and kangaroos there..had my lunch..eh..in bbq style..got emu & kangaroo meat lah..i dun dare to eat emu meat..lolz! kangaroo meat was ok..like beef lah..butta given a chance again i wont eat lah..sicko leh!
Caversham wildlife park was something like the safari zoo in daytime..saw some animals that we wont get to see in sg lah. had camel ride..which was my 1st time too..haha! err..the ride wasnt very comfortable to me..haha!
next, went to a small city near perth called Fremantle. nice sunny place by the beach!!! haha!
australian beach was just so diff from our east coast ah! the sea was so clear man! and of coz got tons of babes and hunks there lah..lolz! went to visit fremantle monument,fremantle prison and had lunch @ a fish & chip restaurant by the sea...wah seh! their fish & chip super large! can be shared by 2 persons lah..haha! ( dunno how i finished it?) Other places i had visited included Lake Monger, King's Park state war memorial ( near my hotel)..can see the skyline view of perth...like our shenton way!
Eh..basically the roads were quite empty at night lah ( 8pm onwards) not safe for young ppl to walk alone or two lah..got bad guys out there..haha! only those pubs wld opened late lah..so siam those places also..got lots of drunkards! eh...the flies there were larger than our sg flies too..haha! they dun fly off ur hands or whatever so easily de wor?! lolz!
Perth...in my opinion..is a nice place to tour lah..overall. though i wondered why so many ppl said it was so nice to live in..diaoz...boring place man!
Eh..got 5 "1st-times" happened. First, 1st time went to Australia. 2nd, 1st time went overseas without family ( i went with chinese orchestra). 3rd, 1st time i went overseas twice in a yr ( went to china in june). 4th, 1st time travelled in a night flight.5th, ate kangaroo meat.
Ok..went to a "remote" part of Aus..Western Aus...perth lah! haha! why say remote leh..coz it was out of the place mah..most Aus cities were at the eastern or south-eastern part of the continent..perth was in the west..
well, impression of perth..BORING! haha! dunno why leh...no tv entertainment ( the tv @ the hotel was spoiled! ) eh...the ppl there tends to slp early..haah ( we were too noisy in the hotel so kenna complaint many times by other ppl..they slpt damn early like 9 something at night..WTH?!) shopping was kinda boring too..( shops closed early on weekdays, weekends at the most opened till 9.30pm..which was considered quite early too. Things were not cheap too..haha! though the swatch watches there were cheaper than sg de..but that was in yr 2000 lah..now i dun think so)
went there in summer mah..pretty hot..the sky there quite cloudless lah..so cld feel the sunlight "hitting" on ur skin directly...sianz..weather dry too...alamak!
Perth's airport was located @ somewhere rural ba..got a dist from perth city..the airport quite old and small too..compared to asian airports..haiz! i think it was worst than china's domestic airports i had been.
lucky perth was not so far frm sg..4 hrs flight..quite fun lah! the food was considered great..if i wanna compared it with SIA's china flight..they got gave us chocolate ice-creams wor?! haha!
anyway, reached perth in the early mornings...couldnt slp (4am liao) haha!
Went to Forest Place to shop around..the post office there was quite grand lah..nice building! we actually had an outdoor performance there..but the place was kinda small so we kenna squeezed together..quite hard to play lah..had my mcdonald meal there..quite big size wor? nice! haha! the packaging was a little better than sg.
went to a high school to perform ( forgot the sch name) eh..their concert band also performed for us..like an exchange performance ya? got quite a no. of asians in that sch wor? haha! got interaction with them and had a meal there..gotta forced myself to eat hotdog bun..alamak! terrible! eh..after that we visited Yan Chep National Park! saw koala bears!!! so cute!!! Also, went to Crystal Cave..ah..saw what i learnt in geography..stalagmites, helictites, columns and shawls. amazing leh! some stalagmites were like statues..cool!
Tumbulgum farm was my 1st visit to a farm lah..all sorts of animals u can imagine..saw how they shaved the sheep's skin..quite can ren..haha! also saw emu and kangaroos there..had my lunch..eh..in bbq style..got emu & kangaroo meat lah..i dun dare to eat emu meat..lolz! kangaroo meat was ok..like beef lah..butta given a chance again i wont eat lah..sicko leh!
Caversham wildlife park was something like the safari zoo in daytime..saw some animals that we wont get to see in sg lah. had camel ride..which was my 1st time too..haha! err..the ride wasnt very comfortable to me..haha!
next, went to a small city near perth called Fremantle. nice sunny place by the beach!!! haha!
australian beach was just so diff from our east coast ah! the sea was so clear man! and of coz got tons of babes and hunks there lah..lolz! went to visit fremantle monument,fremantle prison and had lunch @ a fish & chip restaurant by the sea...wah seh! their fish & chip super large! can be shared by 2 persons lah..haha! ( dunno how i finished it?) Other places i had visited included Lake Monger, King's Park state war memorial ( near my hotel)..can see the skyline view of perth...like our shenton way!
Eh..basically the roads were quite empty at night lah ( 8pm onwards) not safe for young ppl to walk alone or two lah..got bad guys out there..haha! only those pubs wld opened late lah..so siam those places also..got lots of drunkards! eh...the flies there were larger than our sg flies too..haha! they dun fly off ur hands or whatever so easily de wor?! lolz!
Perth...in my opinion..is a nice place to tour lah..overall. though i wondered why so many ppl said it was so nice to live in..diaoz...boring place man!
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