Ah Qing's memorial journal # 3 - Beijing, China

[#3] 17/6/2000-23/6/2000 Ah Qing was 14 yrs old
Well..i think i had waited for another trip for too long..haha! Hmm...we went to Beijing,Tian jin & Cheng de during the 7 days trip & we took SIA again...( didnt really enjoyed the journey when i was on my way back...something wrong with my ears...pain..sobbzzz but the salmon dinner was nice..whaha) First day went to see za ji performance @ a hall...their standard is ok..but i think there are a few more professional ones...(like from shenyang etc) Went to visit Gu Gong as well as Tian An Men square..really ren shan ren hai sia~ haha! met other fellow singaporeans too..u know ctc got many groups of aunties ..lolx! The sad thing abt tt day was we cannot enter the building where mao ze dong's embalmed body lies...haiz...it was closed for maintanance i think...ke xi ! Also saw rem min da hui tang...magnificant!
There were many parks in beijing lah..like bei hai gong yuan & the famous yu he yuan...very scenetic.....The ming dynasty wax museum was full of different sections showing different ming kings i think...
Mei shang guo chang cheng fei nai zi han! ya!!! must climb the great wall mah! haiz..my mum & I quite shi bai lah..becoz we were affected by the altitude of the great wall..started kenna running nose..nvm..sis and dad climbed really far...ok..i think they reached the 5th stop or what..haha! some foreigners were siao de...run down the stairs lor..ok lah they were confident they wont fall lah...ahha! but i think better dun try that out...once u fall ah dunno where u will land.
Tian tan was really a magnificant building...forgot abt the story behind it..haha!
took a 5 hrs bus ride to cheng de..a small city outside beijing ba..haha!
we were brought to this place where "huan zhu ge ge" was filmed at..also we visited da guan yuan...really shi qing hua yi ne~the most tedious thing on that day was to climb the xiao bu da la gong ( a tibetan temple ) dunno how many steps ah...250++? haiz...go china bo bian have to climb here and there u c...haha! anyway the real bu da la gong is in tibet ah..think much higher than the china one...u could view great sceneries when u reached the top of the temple..hoho!
Visted yong he gong...i think it was related to the qing emperor yong zheng? haha! anyway, qing buildings were quite special somehow lah..like at the entrance there was a "pai" saying the name of the building, with inscripts of the Qing language beside the chinese words.
I bought a chinese chess set @ tian jin..then also bought a set of chinese cha ju..whahaha! my sis and i even had a few rounds of wu zi qi with the tour guide richard..hoho! we win lah of coz! eh..tian jin's famous bao called gou bu li bao zi is not nice to eat ok...haha! u know..even dogs dun wan to eat the bao..nice meh? Tian jin's food was much better than beijing..coz they got fresh seafood...beijing's food was rather "terrible" damn oily and meaty..they hardly eat vegetables de..sobbzz! Had my stay in beijing international hotel, not bad lah...many singaporeans stayed there too...
Go china sure they will bring u to those tea house/shops where u can buy different kinds of tea lah..butta actually dun need to buy so much de..not that cheap also. Eh .. i remembered abt a meal called "huang di can" or the meal of the emperor..wah seh...many plates of chicken and eggs in different style...damn sianz..bei fang ren ate alot of meat..so bo bian lah.
Didnt eat much fish there...remembered i ate one which got a strong ni tu smell..alamak...fainted!
beijing's famous xiu shui jie had gone le lah...becoz the govt wants to revamp that area...it was near those embassys of other countries..saw singapore de...pink house..wahahah! Anyway that street was full of imitations lah..alot alot hor..and dun be surprised to see ang mohs k? haha!
u can also see the red army soldiers marching on the streets..think 45 degrees huh? wah seh very neat eh...kaoz!
the shopping centres there dun sell cheap stuff..i think now maybe more expensive..haha! I dun like the shou du airport also...very metallic and quiet..haha! ok it was new then lah..maybe now better liao...who knows?
the haiding area is famous also..becoz it is the home of many beijing's universities..haha! i got passed by Peking uni's entrance ah...haha! Anyway, can try to visit there too...

Ah Qing's memorial journal # 2 -Thailand

[#2] 4/12/1995-10/12/1995 Ah Qing was 9 yrs old
My first trip to Thailand...first time boarded SIA..shiok! haha! Anyway, first stop to Thailand was not Bangkok lah..I went to the city of Pattaya..which was dunno how many km south of Bangkok...also a place for resorts & sea sports ba! First day watched a cultural performance there, then saw the elephants show..dunno ke lian the animals or the ppl..haiz! Think that night my parents went to watch "tiger show"..( got sexual content ba?) My sis and i stayed alone in the hotel room..felt asleep with the door locked..haha! dad n mum " fei le jiu niu er hu zhi li" to open the door lock lah..muhahaha! kenna scolding the next morning..
Went to coral island...damn a beautiful island ah...many sea sports were held there too! The sea ah was blue colour de hor! muhahaha! ( dont worry the island still exist..not affected by tsunami) we took the sampan ride to see the corals lah...very nice, but somehow scared of the sampan..haha! btw, we took speed boats to coral island lah..kaoz those drivers also " tiao gang" drove their boats damn fast and made big turns..shiok lah..but kenna wet...hahaha!
We went to see the mini-siam ( or xiao ren guo) think is in bangkok ba? haha! Can see alot of world's famous structure and buildings there lah...( think world's xiao ren guos are almost the same?)
Took a boat ride to have the buffet meal in a restaurant by the mei nan river..ate one kind of seashells ( those green ones..) wah seh really kns! from then onwards i dont dare to eat that seashell again..till recently finally dare to eat...in pasta restaurants..hahaha!
went to chiang lai..which is at the northern tip of thailand...weather was very cooling in dec..think ard 10++ degrees c? went to visit a cottage..got many many trees with colourful flowers...the roses there were so big lor..haha! also, went to visit the thai-mynamar-laos border..sometimes called" jin san jiao"..there got a natural "wen quan" ba..can cooked eggs there de wor...
the most memoriable part of the trip was the 16 hrs bus ride from chiang lai to thailand's 2nd city chiang mai..( but thailand only got one big city...u know geography? haha!) Back to the ride, wah seh...cold cold cold...till u cant sleep...the only fella who slept like piggy was my sis!!! kaoz called her wake up also failed...and my parents n i couldnt sleep..Really pei fu my sis..coz she fell asleep liao she didnt feel cold..sobbz..took her blanket away! hahah!
Took a break @ a nearby coffeeshop..drank milo...kaoz my hands were shaking terribly...and u know what...when we talked got smoke eh! wah....really as if i was in dunno what cold land! hahah! the experience was rather bad but then shiok lor...so contradicting..diaoz!
Visited many temples in thailand...cant remember much...the bangkok one was the most magnificant one...made of gold...shining! took thai airways from chiang mai airport to bangkok..the trip was comfortable..that yr was sea games also..held in thailand ba..hoho!
back to bangkok lah...went to their ocean park..quite similar to what we have lah..also went to their safari zoo...but in the day lah..their crocodile farm was really...magnificant..compared to sg de ba? ( havent visit the croco farm in sg yet..but i think it is small lah)
Basically, these was how much i can recall back abt my thailand trip lah..thanks to my photos.
thinking of visiting thailand again...too bad no chance to go to phuket lah..haiz! I think bangkok now got more places to shop compared to last time ba? i bought quite a few handicrafts from there wor...very cute...still at my hm "rotting"..haha! err..i got a pair of earrings carved from wood de..but nv wore it b4..haiz...
wanna go overseas again~

Ah Qing's memorial journal #1- Medan, Indonesia

[#1] dont get me wrong, i am not writing this becoz of the tsunami tragedy. haha! wanna share some of my overseas experience with you. well, just treat it like a story of mine! i will appreciate it very much!
13/12/1994 to 17/12/1994 - Ah Qing was 8 yrs old.
Indonesia was the 1st place i had ever been outside my homeland. Dun ask me why i didnt go jakarta lah, i went to medan instead. Medan is a city in the island of sumatra, which is also near the province of Aceh. Well, sotong qing was already very unhappy with Garuda airways...my 1st airplane trip sux..haha! medan's airport was ridiculous, coz it was so small. i couldnt remember much of that airport liao, maybe it had changed over the years. butta, i still remember that airport building looked like a "big kampung" building. haha! u cant believe it...it was worse than the domestic airports in thailand or china.
One of the famous spot in medan is Lake Toba, which was a volcano crater actually. Lake Toba was bigger than singapore! haiz...surprisingly, i had one of my best stays in indonesia. their hotels were fantastic! actually, i wondered if they were hotels. coz they looked more like resorts to me.
i took my first horse ride there too...inside the hotel named " Brastagi Cottage". u can even see a volcano nearby. fantastic scenery!
Also, went to see their traditional "long houses". a little like those in Sarawak. Their costumes are so colourful! not like those malay dressings. haha! Another hotel (which is like a resort too) got a better scenery...i could still remembered! outside the room, u can see great sceneries @ the mega big balcony. u know what u see? Sea & islands! my parents bought durians at the back of our rooms..haha! We also went to the honey moon island and waterfall.
Dont remind me the journey back..haiz...
[sunday] many things will happen on this day. got a zhui dao hui for those who had died in the tsunami tragedy. got ren ci charity show on channel u! also, py bdae...going to meet her & my si dang. gotta plan the gathering ah...haha! why am i always the organiser? haiz....
[ mum's big dae] 20 more days to go..dunno how to celebrate...must plan ! hehe!

My Hong Kong Journal Day 7

[day 7] well, didnt do much today. we just went walking around nathan road. went to shang yin bookshop to see books. saw shen xue's latest book..and pf bought it! haiz..envy ah! me long time didnt buy any books le! haiz...

anyway, we checked out @ 12 pm..gotta stroll ard till 5 pm ba..for the bus to fetch us to the airport. on our way there..most of us fell asleep, dunno why so tired.

went to the cathay pacific booth, that lady said our plane got some prob and might be delayed. she asked us to volunteer to switch to United Airlines..but we dun wan. haiz..in the end we got a voucher from Cathay..but we gotta wait for 1.5 hrs more to fly back home! regret we didnt choose UA...coz the plane left @ 8.25 am and cathay's @ 8.50pm! damn sianz!

the 5 of us were seperated...mum and aunt joanna sitted @ the back..me and pf sitted @ the wings..my sis was the only one sitting by herself..a little worried for her. actually wanna changed her seat with the man beside me..but gave up the idea..that guy was a foreigner..and his pals were sitted near him..he wont want to change place de..bo bian..

wondered if that guy knew how to use the controller...kept pressing the icon which was to call for help...and that air stewardress kept coming to our seats..and she always looked at me..as if i was the one who pressed the help button! not me ah! kaoz...i think this happened for abt 5 times! i got so paiseh eh..wanna told tt guy dun anyhow press..butta gave up again. coz i think he dun really understand chinese. kaoz! the whole journey was uncomfortable. dunno why i found my seat damn crampy. it was the same plane i took to hk eh..but how come i felt so diff? haiz..

the food was rather tasty..with haagen diaz ice cream! ahah! first time eating that...wahhaha! butta taste like normal ones..not much diff...diaoz!

i was a little irritated.wanna pass a piece of ham to pf..butta it dropped. then my knife dropped and landed beside the guy..alamak! then my fork nearly dropped! kaoz...what is happening to me ah? finally..reaching sg le..think the plane started to land..my head suddenly pain ah...and the pain seems to come in 2 directions...and finally..i kenna a damn sharp pain! pf said i kenna migraine, i dunno ah...never kenna migraine b4..dunno why so unlucky de! haiz...the headache only ended when i was on my way home...haiz...

guess i wont travel on cathay pacific again for sometime...a little disappointed with them. haha!

I got a job + My Hong Kong Journal Day 5

[employed] yes! i am going to start work on monday le! working full-time..monday to sat (half day)..cant imagine what will happen on my 1st day of work. hoped that sc can get a job too, i shall wait for her call tml. Anyway, got other new pple will join me on monday lah...hehe!

[shopping] went to orchard OG to shop for some new clothes. bought 2 LEE jeans @ an offered price. Levis's jeans got offer too, butta still ex! haiz..also bought a Kappa bag..haha!

bought a non-sleeve shirt from ocean fly too..quite nice! quite satisfied with my shopping trip today...didnt spend over $100! amazing! wahaha!

passed by bee cheng hiang...bakkwa got offer...damn cheap butta only for 3 days! mum bought one packet..hehe! they changed the packaging le..the bag nicer le..got festive mood. butta dunno if they will continue to use this bag...

saw sun yan zi's autograph seesion @ heeren..sis was there queueing up with the fan club from morning till 5 pm plus. siaoz! weather was bad and tt place was small..the crowd not very big lah...butta many pple was drenched & still wanna see sun yan zi..finally she appeared lah..sang "ben". didnt wait for my sis lah..went to takashimaya to wait for her..haiz

[day 5] we took a train to sheung wan & reached the hk macau ferry pier. bought ticketes from turbojet and met tt rude old lady.diaoz! anyway, the trip to macau was abt an hr...turbojet is a 喷射船..can travel very fast. the whole journey was comfortable lah..as if we were on a plane. haha!

we hired a tour guide @ a reasonable prx..he brought us to some famous spots in macau lah. like the new guan yin statue, the tourist tower, da san ba ( the church remains..left a wall), 炮台..something like our siloso in sentosa. saw stanley ho's 4th wife de house..damn big! sceneries of zhu jiang (china)..which is just opposite of macau..another modern city..wow!

we ate portuguese egg tars and drank coffee @ margaret..very nice..butta just as the same as those in sg.

there were 2 long bridges to travel to taipa..another island of macau. went to buy almond biscuits and other stuffs in a famous shop..haha! macau is going to be the host for 2005 asian games i think..a new olympic stadium is on the way...aunt joanna ate a famous bun @ taipa. a big chicken chop in a bun eh! haha! taste not bad ah! must try !

the tallest building in macau is the bank of china (38 storeys)..dunno why they dun wan to build higher. their housing are similar to hk lah..small. roads are more horrible than hk...many of them are made of rough stones made by the portuguese and alot of small roads only had one lane..beside were full of cars and scooters...

our final stop was SANDS casino..opened by the americans. went to take a look lah..only my sis couldnt get in..gotta wait for us downstairs. pple of 18 yrs old & above can go in lah. i think 80% of the gamblers were from china..alamak! very smoky there and i dun like it. mum said the casino was bigger than the casino in genting. got alot of jackpot machines lah, saw pple playing diff kinds of games lah. i dun like tt place lah, but it was an eye opener. hehe!

thursday thursday+ My Hong Kong Journal Day 6

[today] went for my life's first interview...haha! heng! i think i made it somehow..with sc! haha! tt company is located @ defu lah...damn ulu! haiz...quite a big electrical company ...and they speak mandarin de! bingo! i am more fluent in that lang sia...phew~ anyway, going down there tml again to hand our photos and to discuss the details again ba...hope i can confirm my place...coz got other interviewers b4 me..the boss quite friendly lah...hope that i can pass thru the interview easy breezy! anyway, relief teaching is somehow out now....coz the job is not stable and i gotta call up the schs...damn sianz...cant be waiting for their replies mah...aniwae, wish sh luck lah..hope she can get a relief teaching job..

kumon finally replied my email le...haiz...butta now i am not quite sure if i got employed by the other company. kumon's job is quite ok lah...so i am trying to get my sis that job instead..me leh? perhaps part time? dunno...seems to be too busy and tiring of having 2 jobs @ the same time ba?

went to woodlands regional lib after the interview...long time didnt go there le..borrowed two books while my mum and sis made up the rest. hehe! finally now i can start my reading again..thesedays read a number of novels..most of them are movie or drama novels lah. damn happy to read "dae jang geum"...a korean drama by lee young ae..quite boring but somehow interesting eh..saw the drama showing in a malaysian channel..tv 8! haiz...no chance to see!

[day 6] i really cant believe i am so heng to see TVB shooting drama @ jordan eh! ya...aunt joanna told us when we were having our breakfast...then we kpo and walked to see them shooting..guess who we saw? charmaine sheh(佘诗曼) and raymond lam(林峰). i think they were shooting for the drama" yummy yummy" which channel u also got co-operate.really damn heng! haha! they were sitting in a BMW..hehe! today was like a temple visit...haha! went to 2 buddhist temples & wong tai sin temple..taoist de. the first one was @ diamond hill...zi lian jing yan..a very classy temple. very zen/japanese style..very few pple there..butta very peaceful too. the buddha statues there are diff from the common ones i see in sg. well, buddhist statues dun have a fix posture or what lah..butta those in hk are abit diff from ours lah...quite unique.

then we went to the famous wong tai sin temple..got many pple there ah..again most of them were from china. i hardly been to any taoist temples lah...so this was a gd chance. the temple got many smaller temples with different gods inside...surprisingly they dun use statues de..instead they used pictures...drawings..wonder why...anyway, must made a small donation b4 entering the main temple...actually it was compulsory..got guard sitting beside the donation box..

then we travelled the kcr to shatin..went to ten thousand buddha temple...got 400+steps..along the way were two lanes full of monks statues..very special..the dou hua @ the temple taste different.i tried the cold dou hua...conclusion..hot ones are nicer! haha!

after that went to a nearby shopping centre @ shatin...there got snoopy world..it was actually more for kids lah but i still like tt place..haha!

miss out day 5 le...nvm..will blog in my next entry!

feeling like a santa claus+My Hong Kong Journal-Day 4

[today] met sherry @ hg mall. didnt expect her to buy me n pf x'mas gifts. it was a hp holder. mine was a sheep while pf's was a dog. sherry said sheep represents aries...yeah..and her bdae was 5 days b4 mine..wahah! how come she knows my bdae huh? haha! anyway, arigato ne!

boarded the train too early..reached orchard mrt @ abt 12.30pm..sianz. lucky ch was early too...accompanied me to wait..then came gc and sc..we were betting who would be the last one to come...we were right...HM! haiz...always very late ah gal!

well, we were exchanging gifts here & there..haha! so fun sia! glad tt everybody got something to get from each other! wanna thank sc for ur x'mas cards!

py had found an admin job lah...congrats..butta ur job seems to be very demanding eh? haiz..u looked so stress sia...think u will kenna many OTs ah...poor gal. ch good ah...still can study in poly..sobbzz..sc like me ah...still floating ard....haiz...continue with our job hunt ba! hm leh? kaoz this rich gal can now concentrate on ur driving lessons lah! wish u luck in ur coming test ah! haha!

watched "national treasure" @ lido...didnt expect the cinema to be full house...siaoz...anyway, first time met pple scolding each other in cinema..all i can say was pple...pls be more reasonable, pple didnt purposely hurt ur leg or what...some more u guys are adults..dun throw ur own face...and ladies..pls sit properly...er lang tui is for men sia! haiz....anyway, didnt waste my $6.50 lah..tt show not bad lah..quite interesting...the show was tense too..shiok! nicolas cage's acting..thumbs up!

hope to see u guys soon..though it will be even harder to organise another gathering again...

[day 4] tim sum breakfast @ gold dynasty restaurant along nathan road...very tasty! haha! the har gao was so crystal clear ah! the congee was very smooth..yummy!

too mtr to lantau island. went to visit the great buddha statue & po lam monastery. from tung chung we took a bus to our destination...1 hr..the whole journey was...cool! haha! we gotta travel on mountainous roads and the driver's skill was good ah! cant describe le..haha!

the dou hua @ po lam monastery was fantastic! not too sweet yet tasty! the vegetarian restaurant was full of pple..mainly were tourists from package tours..i didnt have the chance to eat though.

200+ steps to climb @ the great buddha area...not as challenging as the great wall butta quite tiring too...i gotta stopped abit @ a time..really gotta pei fu my sis...she just climbed without stopping...damn good stamina! haha! anyway, the buddha was magnificant lah! very grand and peaceful. i must comment on the toilet @ po lam...really looked like those in china...which i saw 4 yrs back..haha! the cubicals were half covered by the doors...hard to describe lah! really no an quan gan. phew~

went back to kowloon to shop in night mkts again...pf bought a pair of earrings...i didnt buy much ba? haha...a pair of earrings for my cousin..hehe! anyway, pf looked damn hiao back in the hotel room, when she put on her necklace and earrings..haha! guys! must ask her to wear it if u r meeting her! perhaps with her new tube-skirt? haha! so lady~