Batam Trip 2

Day 1 - 11th Jan 2013

Harbourfront 1

Went Batam Trip with my xiao gu, uncle and grandma from 11th Jan to 12th Jan 2013 (My xiao gu bought the voucher deal online - 2D1N). I met up with them at Harbourfront Ferry Terminal at 7am (soooo early....sleepy....) and went to collect out ferry tickets. When we got our immigration cards, the DOB and names were printed wrongly. So we had to wait for them to re-print the cards again. Then we went to have our breakfast at Toast Box, after that we went to take our ferry. We reached Batam (Harbour Bay Terminal) at around 9am, the terminal was super empty...then we got out to find our day tour guide. The guide's name is Louise, he eh...looks really sissy for a guy. My grandma still asked mi whether the guide is a guy or a lady...hohoho...Then the guide gave us our return ferry tickets and told us to board the bus first. The bus was a old model type, like those old old school buses, and the seats are super cramped and the walkway also super cramped. Luckily mi and my grandma are very quite thin, we can squeeze into 1 row. But my xiao gu and uncle had to sit on separate rows, cos too cramped for them. There was a couple, the husband was quite big sized, he had to squeeze into the seats with his wife...After everyone had boarded, we set off to the 1st attraction - Batam Chocolate House. The guide was speaking in 2 languages, Malay and Mandarin, cos he said his English cannot make it. Anyway there were Malays in our group too. There was a young Malay couple with a super cute baby sitting at the end of the bus...the baby really cute...We bought a few chocolate back, and my grandma got to talk to another elder from our bus...and was chatting happily...

Mi Le Fu

After the chocolate house, we went to Mi Le Fu Temple (Maha  Vihara Duta Maitreya). The temple was quite large and there were 3  levels. And there were alot of cute Mi Le Fu statues around the  temple...you see the Mi Le Fu holding microphone, music  instruments...etc....inside the temple, there were also quite a few  Budhha statues, even have Wen Shu Bodhisattva. But the temple  looks like newly built....There was a guy who keep talking to my  grandma, then after that, switched to talk to my uncle and he really  keep talking...like trying to get people to join their temple....We  were the last ones to go up the bus... :P....The Malay groups didn't  went down and the other family of 6..doesn't seems like to be  coming for sight-seeing....After this, we made our way down to a  Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet for some shopping. But when we looked at the prices, not so cheap leh...even after discount...anyway also nothing to buy after seeing the prices...hahahaa...My grandma ended up talking to the same elderly again there...and we got her up the bus when she started to tell her sad story again....After this, the guide brought us a house where layer cakes are made..but the bus can only stop along the main road and we had to walk in to the house. It is called Diana Layer Cakes. Basically he brought us there, then let us try on the layer cakes and u tell him how many boxes and what flavor you want, and the guide will take down all the orders and help us make orders.The cakes will be given after the cakes are delivery to him later in the afternoon. After tasting the layer cakes, we went down to Otak Otak Factory. It was a small shop which sells alot of different flavors of otak...ohh!!..the otaks are nice...i like their sotong otak...really got sotong inside...and the otak putih..it's a white colored otak (like fish cake), which you need to dip in a sauce..very nice to eat...We bought 25 sticks for SGD$9.....After the otak tasting, we made our way to have our lunch...all hungry....The lunch place is the same place which i went the 1st time i came to Batam...except the show is not included here..The guide made it optional for us...So when we arrived, the guide first brought us to walk through the shop to buy coffee powder....Then we went to the restaurant to have our lunch...My xiao gu and uncle got the super big coconuts...they said it was sour....kekeke...The food were the same as the previous time i came....But this time we were seated with the family of 6...Wah...when they sat down with all the goods bought from the provision shop there, they started to scope whatever food that was on the table....(Machiam a bunch of hungry ghosts just got released out..). We can't even turned the lazy daisy to our side to get the food......But we still managed to get food to eat...Then they were complaining on the coconuts tasting sour and no flesh inside..and the fish was abit stink....Bought slippers for my grandma too (She wore a pair of 'open-mouthed' shoes to Batam...faintz..).

Miniature Houses

 After lunch, the guide bought us to Yong Heng Food Trading  Shop. It was a provision food like that..brought 2 bottle of metos  for my grandma (She kept wanting to pay for it when she doesn't  have any rupies on her..haiz...). Then after this, the guide brought  us to the golden bench where the paint ball, miniature houses and  the go kart were...So the guide told us to go around on our own  when we reached there..Then we went to see the miniature  houses...and walked 1 round inside...i tried to take some photos  for my grandma to keep her happy. Then we went to Golden  Factory Outlet, it was beside the Go Kart circuit. So we just went  to walk walk and at the same time, had some aircon...There was  selling clothes too, Polo Ralph...i bought a cap for myself...  kekeke... :)....After here, the guide brought us the batik factory (the same place i bought souvenirs last time). I bought souvenirs at the same place again this time..hahaha...Then we crossed over the 1st Factory Outlet to shop again...Luckily this time, the massage place is not nearby here..so we don't have to wait here  doing nothing for those people going for massage. After spending some time here, the guide brought us to a shopping mall - Plaza Top 100. The massage place was also nearby here, so the guide brought those who are going massage to the massage place and those who are not, will spend their time in the shopping mall (which was what we did). So we went around shopping in the mall, bought a proper shoes for my grandma and went shopping for some maggi mee in the supermarket there...got their ABC chilli sauce too....Had some snacks at Texas Chicken and it was raining at the time...Later after this, we went to Batam City Square for shopping again...We just walked around the place and had our dinner there..Ayam penyet with our otaks...After that, we went to a sports shop where mi and my xiao gu bought a pair of shoes there...very cheap (less than SGD$20)...kekeke...Then...finally is back to the hotel.....so tiring....When we reached the hotel, the lobby was super big..But the staff told us that they were doing cleaning on their water tanks, so due to this, the shower water may come out yellow and stinky (for hot water)..So ok...then we went up to our room level...wah!! the lift lobby there was super big and there were at least 2 long corridors to walk to the rooms (and there were alot of oil paintings around the hotel too)....but when we entered our room...it was small and no bathtub (i was expecting a big room and maybe got bathtub...but don't have). But luckily the hot water in my room was not yellowish and doesn't have stinky smell (My xiao gu's room shower was having the stinky smell)...So after shower, we went down to main lobby and explore (their swimming pool and gym were at level 6, and got lions with wings statues as decoration), at the same time use their wifi....there was live singing too with piano..so we just sat there and listened...then we went back up to rest for the day...

Day 2 - 12th Dec 2012
Whole night cannot sleep...due to my grandma can't sleep..she was walking around the room and the room is not so big..she walked from the bed to the door and to the toliet, then from the toilet to her bed again..and she was doing her packing...packed finished and then took out her clothes and packed again. Then she suddenly told me she was hungry, cannot sleep..So i woke up to make her coffee and she ate her bread (which she brought from home yesterday morning). Then i on tv to let her watch too and she was telling me her 'stories' again (my grandma so cute)....Woke up at 8am anyway, and got ready to leave. And also trying to convince my grandma to go take shower. Then we went down to have our breakfast provided by the hotel. Not very fantastic...so-so...The guide will come to pick us to the ferry terminal at around 12pm, so we had some free time to spare. After breakfast, mi and my grandma went up to our room..i just wanted to nua in the room, my xiao gu went walking around the hotel...i ended up sleeping on the bed while my grandma packing her clothes again..hahaha....

By noon, we went down to check-out our rooms..and waited for the tour guide to come fetch us..Then after that, we boarded the bus. The bus this time was slightly bigger but not very clean..kind of itch when sitting on the seats...then the bus went along the way to fetch other passengers from other hotels too. Then we alighted on Harbour Bay Ferry Terminal and we got to stay there for 2 hours...there is nothing to shop there..there was a shopping mall beside it but it was empty..not many shops inside...But i still brought my grandma walk around the mall and my xiao gu and uncle stayed to look after our bags (Grandma complaining again...). So we passed the time there and went to take our ferry back to Singapore. When we reached Singapore, we went to Vivo City to have our dinner. We went to 黑社会 (Bosses Restaurant), we got a set meal which was having 6 dishes. The food is quite nice..not bad...kekeke...but my grandma started grumble again throughout the dinner and our way back..and it got worse...haiz...After that, my uncle brought me home. Luckily i got a Sunday for resting...


Places visited:
1. Batam Chocolate House
2.  Maha  Vihara Duta Maitreya
3.  Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet
4.  Diana Layer Cakes
5.  Otak Otak Factory
6. Golden Prawn 933
7.  Yong Heng Food Trading  Shop
8. Miniature Houses/Go Kart/Golden Factory Outlet
9. Batik factory/ 1st Factory Outlet
10. Plaza Top 100 Shopping Mall
11. Batam City Square
12. Harbour Bay Shopping Mall

Hotel Stayed:
Harmoni One Hotel
 

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 9

Day 11 - 27th Dec 2012

Set of 17 xiao chi dishes

Ahh...last day in Chengdu today. So we ended up sleeping until 10 plus, skipping the hotel breakfast. I woke up at around 10 plus and went to have a nice shower. My friend still nuaing on bed...kekeke...I had the roasted chestnuts which we bough last night. It was 500g and i ate half of it for breakfast...eat until abit scared...(came back liao..don't want to eat again for the time being...hahaha). After nuaing for the whole morning, we checked out at 1.30pm and went out for lunch. We went to Lai Tang Yuan and ordered a set of 17 items (small serving of each item) for RMB$40 each person. The set consists of rabbit meat, dumplings, dan dan noodles, fish, tang yuan, duck and etc. There were alot of people eating there as well as those taking away..good business there....The xiao chi are not bad, but some of them are quite ma la...i like the zhong shui jiao (dumpling with a red sauce..sweet one). The tang yuan also nice...After eating, we went to take the metro to head down to Wen Shu Temple.

Wen Shu Fang

After coming out from the metro, we walked a short distance to the entrance. The ticket booth was a small small window in the wall, where u can only see the hands of the staff. Then i bought the tickets (RMB$5 each) and we went in to explore explore. It was very big too (like Qing Yang Gong) but there were a few places in Wen Shu Temple that were not open to public. There was a bigger temple inside too for devotees to chant and pray. There were also alot of meaningful wordings displayed around the temple, there even have a room to let troubled person to pour out their troubles. We walked until around 4 plus, then as it was about time to get back. Then we slowly made our way back to Chun Xi Road. We walked around as it was still early for dinner, went shopping for jackets...After shopping around, we went to Long Chaoshou restaurant for dinner. It was having 4 levels, the first level is like a food court place and they were selling all their xiao chi separately. On the 2nd level, it's more like restaurant class and they were selling their set meals. So we headed up to their 2nd level as the 1st level was packed with people and cannot see any empty seats around. We ordered a set of 16 items for RMB$58 each..There were some dishes different from Lai Tang Yuan, but still like the zhong shui jiao best (there was more meat here, compared to Lai Tang Yuan..but still nice..). After eating dinner, we walked back to the hotel to take a cab down to the airport. When we boarded the cab, the cab driver was trying to get us to pay RMB$90 for the journey as he said still got don't know what road taxes/charges but we knew that the journey actually would only cost around RMB$60. But our luggage were all loaded up in the cab...haiz...so we went ahead with it...After a long ride, we finally reached the airport. It looked empty when you entered, not many people around there. We walked and shopped abit to see what else we can buy..bought some fruits back too..hahaha..
Then it was flight back to Singapore....and which ended my trip to Si Chuan... ^-^

Places visited:
1. Wen Shu Temple

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 8

Day 9 - 25th Dec 2012

Mask

Today, we are going to walk around Chengdu by ourselves. So we got up slightly late (not very late too..hohohho), and got ready to go down for breakfast. It is buffet breakfast, and have cornflakes too..finally got cornflakes to eat...After breakfast, we went back to our room to take our bag and set off. We went to take metro down to Jin Sha Ruins Museum, but when we came out of the metro station, we still have a quite a distance to the museum (and it is not very near...). Finally we reached the museum entrance and bought the tickets (RMB$80 each...). Then we went in to explore the place, there were 5 halls, contained all the artifacts dug out from the site. They had preserved the whole site and let it for public display. There also had videos giving introduction on how it was first found and as they dug, the more artifacts they discovered. We even went for a 4D show, showing the life of the Jin Shan people's life (Can feel the snakes crawling very fast on your butt and can feel an arrow strike on your back...). The 4D show is RMB$20 per person...a bit exp...After that, we walked to another area to see the site where the artifacts are dug out from. We stayed there until 3 plus, then we went to buy admission tickets for the next place - Du Fu Thatched Cottage (RMB$60 each). Suppose there is a free ride between 3 places if you purchase the tickets for the 3 places (which is Jin Sha Ruins Museum, Du Fu Thatched Cottage and Wu Hou Ci Memorial Temple..didn't managed to visit the 3rd place as not enough time), so we expect there is a free ride to the cottage. Instead the lady from the museum told us that the free bus is not operating now as there was road construction going on, so she took us to a bus stop and take their public transport FOC to the cottage. She didn't take with us, she told us to alight after 4 or 5 stops. Luckily the alighting bus stop is near to the cottage entrance.

Du Fu Thatched Cottage

And so, we went to explore the house of Du Fu. The place was also big, spent an hour or so exploring the place. There was a 4 storey high tower inside, i climbed up to 2nd storey and took some photos. When i came down, my friend was nowhere to be found. So i tried to search for her around the area..Gosh..i walked in and out the tower and even climbed up to the 4th level (when i don't have the intention too in the first place). Finally i gave up looking around the tower and walked to another area, there she was...(from far saw her walking at another area..haiz..). She still asked our friends in singapore to send sms to me to meet up at the south gate (already saw her before i saw the sms...kekeke). After done exploring the house, we headed out to Kuan Zhai Alley. We exited at the other gate of the cottage house, and we walked for about 15 mins to the bus stop to take the bus. It was 2 or 3 stops away. But when we alighted, we don't know where to head too...later when asked a passerby where is the alley, she told us it is just opposite the road..the name for the alley is super not easy to see, (unless you know ancient Chinese characters....hohohoho). And so we walked in the alley, there was not much people too....very nice and not squeezing to walk in the alley...We ate some xiao chi as dinner and went back to our hotel after eating..After reaching the hotel, my friend went down to shop around while i stayed in our room to watch tv... kekeke..tv time!!

Day 10 - 26th Dec 2012

Schwarze Ziege

Today, woke up at around 8 plus to get ready for breakfast. After breakfast, we made our way to the bus stop to Qing Yang Gong (青羊宫）. It was 4 or 5 stops away from our hotel, and it stopped at the bus stop opposite the temple...Quite convenient compared to taking their metro.....Apparently the places of interest are near to bus stops, rather to metro stations...And when we reached, we still need to pay an entrance fee of RMB$10 to go in (A Taoist just sat outside and issues the tickets..). The Taoist temple is the oldest and biggest of its kind in the area, located in the west of downtown. While it has a long history, the buildings are modern, cheaply-made concrete constructions, and it quite frequently shows. The statues inside are also cheap modern constructions of no real interest.All the things inside are very old, and the place is super big. There were  a lot of gods inside, and there was an animal statue (shown on the left). It was made up from a small part of the 12 zodiac animals'. (Can you figure out?) We spent about half a day exploring the temple, saw a Taoist washing her super long hair too....really super long (going to touch the ground)...And there was a place for tea too, at the back of the temple. After exploring the temple, we set off out for lunch..hungry...We decided to go back to Chun Xi Road, after finding out the original place we wanted to go had closed. But along the journey back, we alighted at Tong Hui Men Road and went to walk at a street (Qin Tai Lu) where the whole street was filled with gold jewellery shops. After walking for a while, we decided to go into a restaurant there - Tanyoto....MaLa Steamboat time.....

MaLa Huo Guo

We went in and ordered steamboat with mala and tomato soup based...and ordered a fish head, mixtures of balls (got pork, cuttlefish and prawns), lotus root, cucumber, a duck (cold dish) and got a free side dish (corn..don't know what is it called...but still nice to eat..hahaha). We waited for some time before all the food came...The fish head was divided into 2 and boiled in both the soups (i took the mala and my friend took the tomato....). Wah!! The mala is super super ma....cannot tahan...When i ate the fish, my tongue was ma...until cannot talk already...hahhaa..i almost wanted to cry out....really cannot tahan...I told my friend to put all the rest of the food into the tomato-based soup...Cannot eat any more with the food in mala....We spent 2 or 3 hours for this meal..hahaha....Super full after eating....Then we slowly made our way back to Chun Xi Road for shopping (snacks and souvenirs time....). We went back to hotel room to rest for awhile first..then we went down to shop around and bought souvenirs (panda items) and snacks back...After bringing back the stuffs back to the hotel, we went down again to buy some food back...heavy lunch...can't even eat proper dinner...Bought alot of snacks again in the supermarket...kekeke...We had instant noodles for dinner and my friend bought a few yogurts back to try...after that, we went back to hotel to make our noodles...ahh..the instant noodles also oily and no taste..plain plain de...kekkee...Then is back to tv and ipad's time...night night!


Stay tune for the last day's journey in Chengdu..... ^_^

Places visited:
1. Jin Sha Ruins Museum
2. Du Fu Thatched Cottage
3. Kuan Zhai Alley
4. Qing Yang Gong
5. Qin Tai Lu
6. Chun Xi Road

Hotel Stayed:
Haiyatt Hotel

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 7

Day 8 - 24th Dec 2012

Baby Giant Panda

Today was the last of the tour package and it is Christmas's eve....we woke up early and left out luggage outside the hotel room. Went down to have our breakfast and we left to begin our tour for today..Going to see Pandas in Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base...Cute cute pandas...hohohoho....We reached the place early, and we took the battery car up to the panda nursery. There is a little small panda inside, sleeping soundly...cute cute....After this, we went to the next area, to see more pandas...Luckily we were the first group to arrive to see the pandas, so we had more time to take photos of the pandas. There were 2 pandas sitting on the tree, eating their bamboo. One of the pandas was hanging on the tree for a while, it can't get over to the other side..so cute..There were another 3 more at the bottom playing with each other too. Everyone was busy taking photos of the pandas and enjoying looking at them.After some time, the tour guides chased us to go another area, but the pandas were not released out for breakfast yet. So the tour guides brought to another area further up, where there were 2 pandas sitting there, eating their breakfast. So funny, they can eat until they just lie down and continue eating the bamboos.hohoho....After some time there, we walked back to the previous enclosure. Then the pandas came out, 1 by 1...they walked towards to the bamboos to eat..they just sat there and started to eat...After spending some time watching the pandas, we walked to a pond, where there were alot of fishes and you can feed them...the tour guide went and got some fish food and started to feed the fishes..even the swans came over to snatch food with the fishes. After feeding the fishes, we took the battery car and went back to the entrance, where we shopped for some souvenirs. My friend got a super cute polar bear wearing panda costume stuffed toy from the shop...(super cute!!Kidnap it home..it is the cutest one in the shop..even those shops in Chun xi road also not so cute..hohoho...). After shopping, we went off to the next stop - Tianmai Jewellery (Jade Museum). When we were there, the lady introduced us how jade is being found and she brought us to a room and in there, she continued to chat with us. She suddenly called out to a young man and asked him whether he wants to introduce himself. He looked kind of blur but still came and introduce himself..Then one of our group members asked him whether he was from Hong Kong and he said he is and asked us whether we understand Cantonese. We said yes and he started to speak in Cantonese. I don't understand all what he said...but roughly he was telling us that he actually was a teacher in HK and he just came over to help out cos his brother was in US for some other meetings. Then he told us that he is still learning on jade and how he got to believe that jades can help to ward off evil after he got an accident a few years back. He even showed us his own big jade. Then he told about how young people should be filial to parents, etc etc...(He can't stop talking...hohoho...). Finally he told his staff to bring out some jades to let us see..he even told us if we cannot take off after wearing, we can bring back free of charge but if only we like it and is only own buying...hohohoho...After this, we went for lunch. It was our upgraded lunch in the whole package - Mushroom Hotpot.

Mushroom Hotpot Lunch

We reached the place, the staff started the hotpot.First of, they let us drink the soup without all the mushrooms. After that, they put in all types of mushrooms in. There was a side dish, pancake type..Quite nice...but is only 1 piece each. The tour guide told us that the staffs will come in and sings during customers are eating..but there was none for us when we were there.. After eating, we set off to the next stop - Dibao Silk. When we arrived, the tour guide passed us to a lady. She was a trainee from Malaysia, who had came here for internship. She was quite cute and she was mixing mandarin,hokkien and cantonese when she is doing the introduction..she basically told us what to look out for when choosing silk. There are different generations of the silks, now is on 5th generation.And she also told us which can buy or cannot buy from the place.hahaha....After spending some time in buying silk bedsheets home, we made our way to Chun Xi Road, which is Chengdu's shopping place (it is like our Orchard Road). It is the last stop of the whole package too. When we arrived, we said goodbye to all the other tour members and the tour guide and leader escorted us to our hotel to check in. After checking in, we went up to our room to rest for a while. Next we went down to explore Chun Xi Road and find food for our dinner. We had korean BBQ for dinner for that night and my friend bought a super big bubble tea for supper...hahhaa...

To be cont'd.....

Places visited:
1. Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
2. Tianmai Jewellery
3. Dibao Silk
4. Chun Xi Road

Hotel Stayed:
Haiyatt Hotel

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 6

Day 7 - 23rd Dec 2012

Bao Shu Tang

Today we woke up slightly late and prepared for the day. left our luggage outside the room and went down for breakfast and slowly eat until it is time to board the bus. It was about a 2 hr ride from ErMei back to Chengdu.
First stop, we went to Bao Shu Tang, a place where they sell....dun know what they sell. Got mediated plasters for aches, cream for face and herbal drink. We were brought in a room, where there was a guy and  he started to promote all their products. He also let us try some for testing...After his 'speech', they started to see who wants to buy..then after that, we left for the next stop - Pearl Jewellery Outlet. It was a short distance to the pearl outlet. When we reached, there was a lady explaining how the pearl was taken out and was made into jewellery. After the explanation, she brought us to see their finished products for sale. She even took 1 pearl necklace out and put on one of the ladies in our group. Later then, is shopping time again. The boss even came out and gave us his offers. There was a cream made using pearl and ginseng/lingzhi. He was giving his offer, buy 1 box of 6, free another box and free another 2 bottles...like very attracting o....hohohohho....Some of them shared the cost and bought back..from the boss, we also got to know that our tour guide is the top 3 best tour guide ranking. Then we went to another room, where they are selling pearls jewellery (taken from sea)..more expensive...the lady who was still wearing the pearl necklace was deciding with her husband whether to buy it..hohoho..She tried to negotiate the price with the boss. The boss asked her what is the price she wants,  一口价 $3000 sgd..the boss said ok to her wo and even threw in a ring and earrings to make it a set. Her husband was 'sweating'...lol...After the payment, the boss took out another more expensive necklace and tried to persuade her to get it too.. for a price of $6000 sgd and even  throw in a ring and earring to make it a set. He even told her if she gets this, he will refund her the $3000 she paid for the earlier set, so to make it a free set (this is how they make business...hohoho...). She decided not to get it..as the 2nd offer doesn't sound worth. There was another family who also bought a nice necklace back..The husband was also getting 'worried' on the price..hahaha..It was funny to see all the husbands when the wives are shopping for jewellery..The rest of us were just walking around the shop to pass time..and we were getting very hungry as it was near to lunchtime. My friend and me went on to the bus to wait for the rest. The 2 kids and the grandparents of another family were on the bus too. Wah...the older kid actually shouted vulgarities at his grandma and the younger one followed...The grandma was also complaining to us that the 2 kids scolded her for eating their mum's snacks and the 2 kids were just kept shouting at the grandma...Kids these days.....

Lunch Place

Finally, all came out and we were off for our lunch. It was a feast of herbal dishes, which the tour guide told us it was actually dishes made in palace for the royals and it was later passed down the generations. We reached the restaurant and started our lunch, there was a small wine too for drinking or you can pour into their chicken herbal soup to drink. The wine has a super strong taste sia...don't like..anyway the waitress spilled mine on the table when she was putting the dishes on the table. The sweet and sour pork was nice....gone very fast...lol...The food was nice in this place...After lunch, we made our way down to Huanhuaxi Garden, where there is a path that Chinese poems are printed on the ground (诗歌大道). But it was a Sunday..the garden was packed with people when we arrived..and the tour guide still asked us to pick a poem to recite when we come back to the bus..Sianz...so we just walked around the garden to pass the time...and bought ice cream to eat before getting back on the bus. After that, we made our way to JinLi Alley for shopping. During the journey, the tour guide really got a person from every family to recite a poem. My friend went to recite..kekeke...

JinLi Alley Entrance

We arrived at JinLi Alley and the tour guide let us to walk around the place for shopping. So we just walked around the alley and see see...there are people standing there to help you wax your ears too..kekeke..There was a panda house, selling panda stuffs too...and there was a area selling snacks, there was restaurants and pubs there too. We saw a guy eating chicken wings and he just throw the bone on the ground. Even when we saw him again at Liu Xiang's tomb, he also throw the bone in front of the tomb...wah piangz...cannot find a dustbin to throw de leh...After walking for some time and was crowded with people, we walked towards to the entrance and waited for the tour guide to fetch us. The tour guides came and fetched us all at around 6 plus, then they brought us to our dinner place. It was a beautiful place, we even had the original mala tofqu and gong bao ji ding. After the dinner, we went for SiChuan Opera...We were seated in the 1st row and not allowed to take photos or videos...(but we bought their DVD to keep). There were a few short plays in the whole performance. First to start of was the brotherhood of the 3 brothers (Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei) from the Three Kingdoms. Followed by the battle of Liu Bei, then followed by a performance of Liu Bei with Sun Shang Xiang. Then it was a puppet show, showing He Xian Gu admiring the lives of the humans. After that, it was a performance of hand shadowing, showing animals and humans from shadows...it was interesting...Next was a comedy of a wife punishing her husband from getting home late after gambling. It was funny and the wife was trying to get the husband to blow out the candle on his head without using his hands...The whole conversation was in Chengdu language..it was hard to make out what they are saying but there was translation on the side tvs...hohoho...Next was a performance on Erhu Solo...nice music...After that, was the highlight of the show - Face changing. There were 3 persons doing the face changing, one of them was actually a puppet. It can also perform face changing too..Amazing...At the last part, they even did a clothes changing. The whole show lasted about 1 hr plus..Very entertaining...nice nice (Make sure you go for this performance if you are in Chengdu). After that, we went to check in our hotel - Crowne Plaza Chengdu Panda Garden. When we arrived, there was a big christmas tree, there were masks all around the tree. And we went into our room, there were a small gift on our beds, cookies was inside (My sis ate up the cookies..lol). It was a big and spacious room, quite nice...there was a partition that can open up from the toilet to the room and there was a bath tub too. But too bad, only staying for 1 night nia...heater was strong and we can't open the window as there was some burning going on outside (got smoke smell)...Anyway we stayed up quite late before going to bed...kekeke...

To be cont'd.....

Places visited:
1. Bao Shu Tang
2. Pearl Jewellery Outlet
3. Huanhuaxi Garden
4. Jin Li Alley
5. SiChuan Opera

Hotel Stayed:
Crowne Plaza Chengdu Panda Garden

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 5

Day 6 - 22nd Dec 2012

Mount ErMei

Today woke up super early again (everyday woke up early, much earlier than work days...hohohoho). We went down to the hotel's restaurant after getting ready for our buffet breakfast. Ahh...oily food for breakfast again..nothing much and nice to eat too...We saw Annie they all and sat with them for breakfast, we also asked them whether their toilet in their room smells...kekeke...Apparently theirs too, and the heater was also strong, which the room too warm. Had to open window to sleep. Their room was near to the lift, they could even hear people outside pulling luggage and talking..lol...And they told us their experience on their full body massage the night before. So funny, it was not a good and disappointed experience for them..hohoho..
After breakfast, we all boarded the bus to set off to Mount Er Mei.The tour guide gave us an introduction on the 4 scared mountains and the 4 Great Bodhisattva in China (for Buddhism). These are:
1.  Er Mei Shan - House of Puxian Bodhisattva
2. Wutai Shan - House of Wen Shu Bodhisattva (Bodhisattva of Wisdom)
3. Putuo Shan - House of Guan Yin Bodhisattva (Bodhisattva of Compassion)
4. JiuHua Shan - House of Dizhang Bodhisattva (taking care of the afterlife beings in hell realms)
Then the tour guide also told us the 4 weird sights in Er Mei Shan -> Sunrise, Fu Guang (really needs to depend on your luck), Ermei Monkeys (very brown and super big) and frogs sounded like singing.
 
We reached the mouth of Er Mei Shan at around 8 plus (going to 9am), then we went for a toilet break while the tour guide went to get out tickets. The tour guides later distributed out the tickets to us and we went in to wait for a mini bus to go up to somewhere near to the top (It is a 2 hour ride up there and we still need to take a few mins cable car ride up to top summit). So we went up the bus and went off..We stopped a shop halfway after 1 hour late, in the shop, they sell Lingzhi too, big big ones. Then we continued the way up..the bus stopped after some time, to put chains underneath the bus as the road is having ice on it. Then the bus continued moving up...We also put on the so-called to prevent slipping socks over our shoes. It felt like normal socks (costs RMB$20 for a pair), anyway we just put on.

ErMei Monkey

Finally it reached, we all got off and it started to snow.  Then we started to climb a very long stairs to walk up to the cable car entrance. On the way, we saw stalls selling gloves, anti-slip socks, corns, sausages, etc and monkeys. The monkeys are very big and people are throwing fruits to them to eat. The tour guide had told us that the monkeys are very fierce there and tend to snatch tourists' bags if they see you open your bag and digging to take something out. And even plastic bags, they may even snatch it from your hands if you are carrying them. But when we saw the monkeys, they are busy eating their food and a lot of people were trying to take photos of them. Then we continued to climb up, so tiring and it was very cold..the stairs are slippery too as some of them are already frozen with ice. Finally reached cable car entrance after 1 hour later, we went in. The cable car was so cramped with people (luckily it was only for a few mins...). Then we reached and alighted, we even bought some sausages to eat, got hungry. Nice to eat in old weather...kekeke..There is another type of hot dog..smells good, luckily we didn't buy it cos later we got to know it was ma la flavored hot dog. Christina's family they bought and they were all saying very ma...tongues cannot feel anything liao..hahaha...We continued to walk up to the golden summit, but when we really reached the golden summit, it was a super white scene greeting us. The fog had covered all the temples and statues. Cannot see anything beyond, everything was white. Cannot even see the giant golden PuXian Statue..i can only see the 4 elephants at the below, managed to see the bronze and sliver temples though. Didn't went up to see the golden temple, but we went to light the candles to wish for families' health...When i came out, i saw a group of people taking photos of the mini elephants around the giant Puxian statue. One of them was really an idiot, he was standing on top of the mini elephants and posing to take photo. Our tour guide saw that, and went over, politely asked him to come down as the elephants are also scared. When he did that, whatever good he did was gone. hohohoho....Then i continued to make my way downhill to the cable car station for meetup, near the cable car station, there was a stall selling locks for wishes. You can buy the locks, write down your wishes and lock it there. While waiting for the others in the cable car station, we bought some food to eat...still hungry...lol....

Skiing Ground

After everyone had arrived, we made our way to the cable car and waited for the car to come. After waiting for 5 mins, it came and everyone was forcing their way up to the car. Again it was packed with people...haiz...the car went down and when you see outside, the whole place was super white..We arrived and alighted from the car, some of the people wanted to take the sedan downhill, my friend also took it..hohoho...It was a sedan carried by 2 person and instead of you do the walking down the stairs, they carry you down for a price of RMB$220. But they were fast..i was still slowly climbing down the stairs, they were already gone from our sights. The stairs were really slippery, as some ice was formed, i almost slipped a few times. Was grabbing on the sides to help climb down...also saw people slipped when climbing the stairs. The tour leader told us that he last time brought a group here, the stairs were actually covered with ice, they literally needed to slide down to get down. And the people there actually put water to let the stairs covered with ice, so that they can sell those socks to walk on ice. I finally reached at the bottom of the stairs after 20 mins later...kekeke..feeling tired already....Then we went for our lunch...many dishes...and with fried egg omelette (having omelette for days and for every lunch and dinner...lol). After lunch, the group was split..one group to go skiing and the other to go back to hotel. My friend and me went for the skiing, then the tour guide took us to the skiing place. We didn't play..just watching other people play. Bought sausages to eat again..hahaha....My friend went to hide inside the rental house with Annie, then i went to take photos around with Annie' friend. After 1 hour, finally can leave the place..cold cold and nothing to do there...our tour leader brought some of us down to the main entrance first while those playing will stay on...My friend and Annie were so fast in getting out of the place, mi and Annie's friend were calling loudly from behind, but they didn't hear us shouting..hahaha..in the end, we just walked and hope the 2 of them will stop at the top of the stairs to wait up..hohoho....

As we were walking up, we heard the song that was sung during the Zhan Zu's performance.hohoho....the road was white color (already covered with snow)...then we waited for a while for the tour leader to come..then we walked down to the car park to take the bus downhill..which is a 2 hrs ride again...soo sleepy, almost fall asleep in the bus...Finally we reached the mouth of Mount Ermei and we got on our tour bus (bus B). The tour leader told us we need to wait for those still up there skiing..so in the meantime, the driver played a movie for us to kill time..it was a china movie, a comedy (stupid one...kekeke)...Finally the rest appeared, we went back to the hotel for dinner and to rest for the day.

To be cont'd.....

Places visited:
1. Mount ErMei

Hotel Stayed:
Jiajiang Venie Hotel

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 4

Day 5 - 21st Dec 2012

Rice in Bamboo

Today woke up early again...got ready and put our luggage outside our room and went for breakfast. Simple dishes for breakfast, there was a bowl of soya too which doesn't taste like it. I can't find my battery pack...sad..don't know where it went to (until now, also cannot find it). After breakfast, we boarded our bus to set off our journey. First stop, we were going to Highland Bee Farm. There, the guide brought us to a room, where the staff started to introduce to their honey products..i almost fell asleep there (due to sleepless nights from the previous days).....he let us tried their honey jelly too, which is the best of all. And after the introduction, he led us to another room where they are selling their products there...Mi and my friend just walked out and went to toilet. Hahahaha....don't want to get cheated again...So we just went up to the bus to wait for the others. After that, we traveled back down the mountain (it's a long journey ride down) and went to China's bamboo City where we had our lunch there. Along the way, the tour guide told us about the bamboo city and bamboo was being used in making pictures....The dishes for our lunch were quite slow in serving...in fact when they had served until the 4th or 5th dishes, everyone was already full. But there were still some more dishes being served, which we didn't even touch. There was a dish quite nice from this meal, which is the bamboo rice. They had cooked the rice in bamboo...too bad only 1 serving for each..if 2nd serving of rice is asked, they only give white rice.  The tour guides gave us cold drinks and beers to drink too....as the ban is lifted (not allowed to drink cold drinks/beers while staying at high altitude). After lunch, we started our tour in the bamboo city.

Holders made of Bamboo

The tour guide introduced us to the local guide of bamboo city and she led us around their exhibit to see their masterpieces. The master (don't remember the name..still alive...) is a great person and he even have classes to teach people how to do this art (people from around the world actually comes and learn the art from him). After showing us the products made from bamboo, we were led to a room where there is a demo - step by step how a picture is being done by using bamboo. It was very amazing, and it really really takes up a lot of patience. There is a master piece - a picture of Guan Yin. It will go invisible if you are seeing straight from the front. But if you turn the picture to slightly sideway, the picture of Guan Yin will appear before you (It is called 'The Invisible Guan Yin') and it is made from bamboo! They even have colored bamboo, there is a piece of art - where it has 99 tigers in it. It is made by using colored bamboo. There is another art piece where ancient kings & queens faces (total of 100 kings & queens) are created in it. They even made a calendar, wireless keyboard and mouse from bamboo, very interesting. Amazingly the feel on the keyboard feels good...hohohoho...After spending some time for bamboo products shopping, we set out for our next stop - Leshan Buddha.

LeShan Giant Buddha

We arrived at the ferry jetty, our tour guide went to the ticket counter to help us to get our tickets. Then we made our way down to the boat. And we are required to wear a super orange colored life jackets. We also waited for some time, cos our boat was not full yet. We waited for at least 10 or 15 mins, finally our boat left the port. It was first started by a monk called Haitong, but the construction took too long to complete. He died before it was completed, the Buddha was later completed by his disciples. The whole place looks like a giant sleeping Buddha and where Leshan Buddha is, the 'heart' of the sleeping Buddha. And so, the boat set off and arrived in front of Leshan Buddha. We were told that we only have 7 or 8 minutes to take the photo of the Buddha. They even provide service to help you take professional photos. After that, the boat brought us back to the port and that's it (Tour ended...hohoho..). Then we made our way to our new hotel in Jiajiang - Venie Hotel. Ohh...there were some of the tour members who went for body massage when the rest went back to the hotel. So dinner was set at around 7.45pm. We didn't went for the massage, so we were brought to the hotel first. We arrived at around 6 plus, then we went up to check out our room. The room was slightly better than the previous ones and there is heater in the room (too strong...hahaha..). Anyway the room was facing the main road (too much noise by cars), so we requested to change room. Our tour leader changed the room with us, which is not facing the main road. My friend went to the toilet and then followed by mi. We both thought the toilet had a smell after that (she thought it was me and i thought it was her..hahaha). Anyway after settled our stuffs in our room, we went down to the lobby for internet. Dinnertime....we finally had dinner without wearing our outer jackets. Heater was strong enough to keep our food warm. After dinner, we wanted to go the mall opposite the hotel but we need to cross a super big road with no traffic lights and there were alot of big trucks passing. It was very dark and it started to rain. So we gave up the idea and went back to our room, by then there was a super strong stench coming from the toilet. My friend still went in to take a shower...with the smelly stench...hohoho..I tried to call the housekeeper to come and take a look after her shower, the housekeeper just washed the drainholes with water and sprayed some air fresher. After the housekeeper left, i went to smell the toilet. Gosh!! It's a mixture of smelly drain smell and air fresher...wanted to faintz....So i went to look for our tour guide and request for a change of room again. Luckily the hotel has available room to change for us. So we moved from 1 end to the other end, and we went to check out the toilet, whether got stench. There was none, for start. Don't know why, the stench started to come later by the night...Sianz sia....we needed to stay in this hotel for 2 nights and we got a smelly toilet....But luckily the stench in the 3rd room is not so heavy than the previous room..so just bear with it and tuned in for the night....My friend complained too hot to sleep cos the heater was too strong, causing the room too warm for her to sleep well...But for me, i finally slept (really feel like i am sleeping) after 4 days of no proper sleep (think craving for sleep by this time)..hahaha....

To be cont'd.....

Places visited:
1. China's Bamboo City
2. LeShan Giant Buddha

Hotel Stayed:
Jiajiang Venie Hotel

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 3

Day 4 - 20th Dec 2012

Western Gemstone and Jade Outlet

Today, we woke up early too..ahh..didn't manage to sleep well too. We checked out of New JiuZhai Hotel and went off to start our day...(Breakfast not nice anyway....). The tour guide let us get off by a road to experience the coldness...wah...it is really really cold...and there were snow on the ground....Later we drove off to Western Gemstone and Jade Outlet, during the ride, the tour guide told us how Tian Zhu come about and how to identify a real tian zhu and what to look out for. It was believed to be one of the expensive beads for Zhan Zu people. The tour guide also told us that he had bought one about 16 years old and had been wearing since. He told us to look out the bead's transparency, lines (hua wen), and how it glows (don't really remember the last one..hohoho...). Anyway, we arrived at around 10 am. The tour guide passed on to the guide in the factory and the guide started to introduce us to how the gemstones come about, and introduced on the different gemstones..like tian zhu （天珠）, mao yan (猫眼) and Amber. The guide also told us how to identify the real and the fake for all these gems...For tian zhu, there are the 3 points to identify which is the transparency and the lines. For tian zhu, there was so called '新天珠‘ and '老天珠‘. As for the lao tian zhu ('老天珠‘), they are normally kept for a long time and its transparency is much more, compared to xin tian zhu ('新天珠). So they are normally much much more expensive. And there are many patterns printed on every tian zhu, there are called 1 eye to 10 eyes, plus there are still other patterns which there are different meaning to every pattern. To identify the real mao yan, the guide told us to let it reflect with the light, there will be a line that will open and close like a cat's eye. As for the Amber, the real thing will need to identify by using its weight, it will float in water if it is the real thing. After the demo, the guide brought us to use a microscope to identify the tian zhu. After that, he brought to their main shop to do shopping for their tian zhu and there was a 50% discount now as they are closing for holidays. So we walked around and see. My friend and me bought a RMB$3400 (which is sgd$692) for a 9 eyes tian zhu...and we each also bought another 'turtle shell' pattern for RMB$300 (which is sgd$60 plus). Xiong....After shopping for some time here, we left for the next shopping shop....Zhan Zu Tea Outlet

茶马古道

Next, we arrived at a outlet (茶马古道） which is selling their tea. We were introduced to how their tea was being carried out for exports/imports by using the silk road. Then later we were introduced to the creator of tea and the super big and old tea tree. After that, We were brought to a small room, where everyone was seated. There was a lady who started to introduce their tea to us, there were 3 other ladies at the back preparing the tea. Then they let us to try on their 1st tea - 七叶胆...it smelled nice and sweet, quite refreshing..and the lady also told us how to hold the teacup when drinking...Later she later us try on the 2nd tea (don't know what is being called)...She also showed us how to drink the tea...it was funny..(somehow you will need to hold the tea in your mouth and suck it in instead of swallowing down..and you need to make sucking sound as loud as possible when drinking...lol). For the 3rd tea, it is called Zhan Cha - 藏茶. And during each tea testing, the lady told us that the benefits of the 3 types of tea. The lady told us that it was after the 2008 earthquake that they were selling this tea now, and half of the $ will be donated to charity for those children who had lost their homes/families during the earthquakes. And these tea are donated by their living buddha...And she also said that if you get their 10 pieces of zhan cha, you can actually send back the last 2 pieces to them and they will send a new box of 10 pieces to you. So in a way, you are paying 1 time and getting endless tea. And she said it is up to us whether to get the tea anot and it is still limited edition (but if you are getting endless tea when send back, how will it be limited edition leh??? Haiz....) Me and my friend actually bought 1 packet of the 1st tea we tried..and already went out of the place..Suay suay, the lady came out and got us another offer to get another packet of the 1st tea and she will give us 1 more packet for free...Once we went in again...that's it sia....she started to persuade us to get that zhan cha. Gosh....even the tour guide was also persuading us to buy the tea for charity... -_-"...In the end, i just agreed to buy them...(3 pieces for RMB$1000 instead of RMB$1800). My credit card even bounced when i went to do the payment..hahaha...(Should have run off when it bounced..lol). In the end, my friend helped mi to pay for it first...Haiz....Lesson learnt..if really want to buy, always get the 1st offer..don't take their 2nd offer...hohohoho...

After shopping at these 2 places, we went for our lunch. Nothing fantastic too, one of our tour group member even got ice in her rice...hohoho...the food area was cold too, no heater...and the food was also not hot...the 2nd round of rice is also half-cooked, hard hard one... After lunch, it was a super long ride down from JiuZhaiGou to Mao Xian. So the tour guide entertained us by telling us some information of how the 2008 earthquake had affected him...After that, he let us to take a nap on the bus. We arrived at the same pitstop where the bus got its bath and i went down to buy fruits. The stall owners were trying very hard to get business for their own...After the bus had its bath, we continued our journey down the mountain. By 4 pm, we arrived at a Qiang Zu Village. It was built for them after the 2008 earthquake. All the houses are newly built, some are even quite modern and all are at least 2 storeys high. The tour guide even went in one of the locals' houses and asked for permission whether we can go in the house to take a look. It was a 3 storeys high house and up on the 3rd floor, it had a super nice view of the mountains....After we came down, the tour guide tried to talk to the house owner, who has 3 daughters. After that, we took a walk around the village and the wind was blowing....very cold there...After spending about 1 and half hour there, we all went back to the bus as it was really getting cold. Then we made our way to the hotel - Maoxian International Hotel and our dinner was prepared by the hotel too. The restaurant was on another building beside the hotel and their wifi wasn't working when we were there...the hotel staffs said their router was having some issues, so it is unable to work (what to expect when staying on mountain areas?? lol). So we had our dinner there, again there was no heater in the restaurant...and food was so so too..During dinnertime, our tour guide told us that breakfast will be served as ala-carte dishes and on time too. So everyone needs to be punctual to have breakfast the next day. After dinner, we went back to our hotel room to rest. I called back to Citibank as my card was bounced earlier today...and the call lasted 18 mins, including a 3 mins call i made earlier, which got cut off. $72...heart pain sia...The hotel room is small and the only heater available is the heater blanket...and mine doesn't even get heat up...I was shivering the whole night during my stay there (luckily it is only 1 night...can't take it...was even wearing my fleece jacket and pocket warmer to sleep sia...i just quickly did everything i needed to do and crawled into my bed and don't want to come out..hohoho...). And still the hotel stopped their whole power at midnight to save electricity...Again, i was unable to sleep well due to the coldness.... 

For these few days, the tour guide had also told us information about Zhan Zu - how they come about, their culture and even their burial methods. They are actually people from Tibet,who have chose to stay on in China after their wars. They also put up colored flags around their houses, and on the flags, scriptures are printed on the flags. The flags are called '经幡'. One thing i find interesting is their ways of burial, there are actually 5 burial ways according to their customs:
1. 火葬 -  Fire burial (Is to cremate by fire)
2. 水葬 - Water burial (Is to buried in the sea and let the fishes to eat the corpse. Normally this is done for young infants/children who died. This is the reason too why Zhan Zu folks don't eat fishes.)
3. 土葬 - Earth burial (Is to buried underneath the ground)
4. 天葬 - Sky burial (For this burial, the zhan people actually chop up their loved ones' corpse into many small pieces and let the vultures to feast on it. Even after the bones are left, they will still chop the bones into smaller pieces and let the vultures to feed on them. By this burial, they believed that all the sins committed in this life by the dead person is being cleansed. Therefore, nothing is to be left behind.)
5. 塔葬 - Pagoda burial (This burial is normally for Dala Lama, or high monks. They are to be buried in pagoda and expensive items will also be buried together with it.)

To be cont'd..........

Hotel Stayed:
MaoXian International Hotel

Places visited:
Western Gemstone and Jade Outlet
Zhan Cha Outlet

Si Chuan, China Trip 2012 - Part 2

Day 3 - 19th Dec 2012

Jiu Zhai Gou

Today is a day tour to Jiu Zhai Gou (九寨沟),so we all wake up early to have our breakfast at the hotel. It was buffet style, but the food served are meat and vegetables,like having lunch/dinner. It was oily too,it really turned off our appetite.So we just get some light food and went to board the bus to set off to Jiu Zhai Gou.We reached the car park and we needed to walk a distance to the main gate.We reached around 9 am,and the tour guide went to help to get us our tickets.Our group had also booked a private bus but as the bus can only accommodate 21 people but our group consists of 27 people.So 6 of us needs to volunteer out to take the public buses.And so,i volunteered out, together with 5 others and my friend went with the private bus.Luckily it was our tour leader, Steve to bring us around instead of bus B tour guide.Anyway the group in bus B didn't book a private bus.There was wi-fi there too.Ahh..It started to snow too..First time see snow fall down from the sky...After getting the tixs,the tour guide leaded us to the entrance and we queued to get in.From there no, we went separate ways with the main group. They went on to get on the private bus and Steve took us to catch the public bus.Once on the bus,there was a tour member who was also alone. So i sat with her,and she said since we both are alone,can walk together. Her name is Annie.Another who had volunteered out was a family of 4, Christina and Jason and their 2 sons.Steve first brought us to Chang Hai (长海),the scenery was very beautiful.We took some photos and there are some vendors selling stuffs around there. After that, we went on to take the public bus again for our next stop.The bus was clean and there was not many people, actually the ride was quite ok (not like the tour guide had told us that it was super packed with people and we had to squeeze our way in. But again,it was during Spring time. Since it is winter period,there were not so many people visiting).

五彩池

Our next stop is Wu Cai Chi (五彩池). The water was very clear and beautiful (There supposed to have 5 colours in the lake). We spent some time there and had some photos taken. After that, we made our way down to the bus stop and saw bus B group too at the bus.We went for a short toilet break and walked down to bus stop.When we boarded the bus,Steve asked the lady guide on bus where the bus is heading. She told us that it was going to a Zhan Zu (藏族) village instead of the lunch place we are going.So we went ahead and got off at the village.It was a small village, there was shop selling their local stuffs.There were alot of colourful flags around the village and the local had written their scriptures on the flags. It was said that when the wind blows the flags,it will be counted as 1 time that the scriptures are being read (It was done cos the locals are getting more busier now).After that,we walked our way slowly to our lunch place.We reached earlier than the other group and our lunch vouchers are with the tour guide, so we had to wait for them to arrive before we can have our lunch.So Steve let us to walk around the place first while waiting. There was a performance at the stage too. Finally the other group arrived,and we finally can have our lunch.I met up with my friend and had lunch together. The lunch was buffet style..but...everyone had to take a tray (like those in campus/camp) then we had to queue to take our food. There wasn't much selection and the rice was out when i went to take. Actually some of the food was already gone and the staffs were slow in bringing out the refills.And i had to finished my lunch 15 mins earlier than the other group..sad...

珍珠滩瀑布

After lunch,my group went off first and we went to take the bus down to our next stop. Our next stop was Panda Lake (熊猫海),there was a small part of the lake got frozen.There was a small waterfall at the opposite side which got really frozen...white white...After spending some time here, we made our way to the next stop.Next Stop: 五花海.....it was very big lake with mountains surrounding it...All the water in the lakes are super clear, you can see what is underneath the water and it can show the reflections of the mountains clearly. After that, we went down to Pear Shoal (珍珠滩). It was a huge waterfall, we walked from the top down to the below of the waterfall by the stairs...We caught up with Bus B group too. So we just walked slowly down to our next stop after taking photos here. Our next stop is another waterfall, Nuorilang Falls (诺日朗瀑布). It was super huge too...and all the water were gushing down...After this, Steve took us to take the bus to the next stop..Tiger Lake (老虎海). And from here (after taking photos here), we walked down to another waterfall called SuZheng Waterfall (树正瀑布). Then we walked slowly down back to bus stop..to get back to the entrance. At the entrance, the tour guide took us to a fast food restaurant, called Dico's. So we had some food there, and i tabao back for my friend, who was already back to the hotel. Hohoho...we even took cab back to our hotel. Later i got to know that my friend had befriend with Annie's partner during the tour too. Hohoho..new friends made...and we too got to know who are in our bus, had got to know them during mealtimes too. Hahaha..everyone was asking us on SingTel mobile plans and whether there are any Christmas promotions coming out once they got to know where we are working. We all rested in our hotel room before dinner, tonight we are going for a show by 藏族 after dinner...(Skipped dinner part).It was a few mins ride from our hotel to the theatre. During the ride to the theatre,the tour guide was telling us that how 藏族人 will greet us when we arrive and what we need to say when they greet us (扎西德勒....). When we arrived, there was a group of people lining up to welcome us and gave us a white scarf (I lost mine after the show...sad). Anyway the show started with a marriage of the King and Queen and later followed by a few dances performance and there were 2 singers singing their 藏族 songs. There was a flute performance from Qiang Zu (羌族),the performer was blowing a whole melody without changing his breath (Quite amazing..). Then the host was asking for 4 males volunteers from the audience and to go up stage to perform a small tug of war match, and the winner can 'win' himself a wife back (provided the lady agreed). It was quite a funny scene, after that, the show ended with a performance by their boys band group. (You can purchase their CD with their autographs outside too). Bad about during the performance was people smoking in the theatre and there is no heater (We got super cold during midst of the show...lol). After the show, the tour guide gave us instructions for the next day during the ride back to the hotel and we went back to our hotel,which ended our day.

To be cont'd..........

Hotel Stayed:
New JiuZhai Hotel

Places Visited:
Jiu Zhai Gou