Never would I dream that this trip to China would be the beginning of many more trips there. I was mesmerized by the beauty of not only the people in the country but also the scenic landscapes. Indeed this world is large and as an individual I have yet to see it all. The intricate formation of rock structures to the meandering bends of the river, I am humbled each time I crossed path with it. The meeting of various cultures has always interest me as it helps me grow to be a citizen of the world. While the use of language is to communicate and facilitate understanding among people, the establishment of culture tells the world the history and roots of the particular group. I used to think that since many parts of China uses mandarin, it is therefore common to witness a homogenous group of people. Nevertheless I was proved wrong. In the following accounts, I will relate and share various accounts of my trip to the beautiful city of Guilin, Yangshou, Longsheng and Hong Kong.



Picture of My Dearest Travel Mates
Abang Lai Chi Wah, Kakak Yip Pei Yi and Linda Tan Chwee Luan

I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks to my dearest Kakak (Yip Peiyi) whom did all the research on the various places of interest in Guilin. Indeed this trip would not have been possible without her. Thank you kakak. You are the best.

12 Dec 06

Taking a budget air from Changi to Guangzhou, I did not know what lies ahead for us. (which hotel to stay in GZ, how do we get there and many other questions was baffling my mind). We were fortunate because we meet Kenny on the flight. Kenny a businessman advises us to take a cab to Foshan. Foshan is another city near GZ. The main reason he stated was that Foshan was safer and cheaper as compared to GZ. GZ has 11.5 million people. It is very crowded. The cab ride was about 30 minutes and cost us 160 yuan. (Note: China is left hand drive – cos for a moment I thought Kenny was driving the cab) We stayed at the Health Hotel where the rates each night was 168 yuan for twin sharing. (A point to note: while on the flight or train to any destination make friends with the person beside you especially if the person is a local in the destination you are heading for. It is useful to get the local insights on the places to stay, eat etc.)



Abang and Kakak at Budget Terminal
(Please Q as early as you can to get the best seats on the Plane)



Now you know ....


Ginger Milk Pudding.... Very Nice

13 /14 Dec 06

After settling our stuff, we went out for supper. Of course they had to try the porridge there. Guangzhou is well known for their porridge. The porridge is different from the Teochew porridge found in Singapore.  While the 3 of them had supper, I tried my luck on their dessert. Milk ginger pudding. It was really great and nice.

While in Foshan, we were surprise to find Jusco as one of the shopping centre there. It is rather a develop city. Due to the rainy weather, we were unable to visit many places. However, we went to the Hong Fei Hong Temple and manage to have a 2 hour massage session for 50 yuan. The massage was good for Abang and myself but the gals dislike the massage. So choose the correct masseuse. 


Me and Ms Tan outside Hong Fei Hong Temple

During my stay in Foshan, Abang came across a Muslim restaurant selling halal food. Gosh, I was glad to have fried rice. And they serve very nice food there. Prices are reasonable. Whenever I find a muslim stall, I packed my lunch and dinner together. In case, I dun get to eat rice for the next few days.



They have an open kitchen where the chef makes his noodle from dough. Don't both abang and myself fit well with the rest of the kitchen crew. After lunch, we had to make our way to GZ railway station.

From Foshan train station, we managed to book train tickets on the ‘hard beds’. According to kakak (and I do agree with her), ‘if we take the hard beds, maybe we can meet more backpackers and chat with them’. And she was correct. We meet an American (Peter, whom has been traveling from south asia to south east asia) and a local Chinese Steven from GZ. Each hard bed cost us 215 yuan. From Foshan, we took a bus (14 yuan) to Guangzhou. It took us about 1 hr. It is rather a long walk of about 10 to 15 mins from the bus station to the train station. Once at the train station, be sure to look for the platform to board the train. As there are many different trains leaving at various timings, be sure to be at the correct platform for your train. Check your tickets. It tells you the platform, carriage number and your seat/bed number. AND listen to announcement they might make because they might change the platform for your particular train. Be careful with your luggage because people tending the luggage booth tend to over charge tourist and not use their normal rates.


Foshan Bus station, heading to GZ railstation

(stay tune for part 2/3/4/5)...

My Dearest Charlie’s Angels ( From Left Fizah, Diana and Shuyi)

After a long period of absence Fizah is back. She is ever pretty and always ready to go. Glad she is back. Diana is going away. My once upon a time gal is leaving to pursue her dreams in Biblical counselling in States. And Shuyi, hehe is currently dating a halal guy. Great. Love this gal such a joy to be around her. And that sweet gal fizah got all of us a little something. Guess what she got me?



She got me this Genie cookies. 
Yet to Open but the Genie is cute. Real nice both the Gals got something too. 
Thanks Fiz.



We had our meeting at BeansTalk. Here are the two proud owner of the cafe. Ben and Huiyi. 
Great host. Ben made me a warm cup of Hot chocolate with mashmarlows. Yummy ....
And they serve the best pepper chips in town. Serious.





Huiyi made this beautiful design latte. Wonder how she did it.




Charlie's Angels with the Bosses of BeansTalk



Of Course Charlie with his Angels... haha

One of the great things abt meeting up is finding out what has been happening in each other's life. The bond bet 4 of us started back during our attachment days at Student Care centre. Since then many events have taken place in our lives. Many many. Despite all that, it is good that we keep in touch and rekindle those fond memories and at the same time enrich ourselves with new memories.We share and exchange views and ideas on life. More importantly is that we support each other despite we might have differences. To the charlie's Angles, here is to a more beautiful an lasting frienship.

Mooncake Festival 06

Once again, we are back to perform for this year mooncake festival. Having a great talented class to help me out once again, we sang Moonlight represent my heart in Mandarin to an audience in the song canteen. I say that 3D has many great individual potential and they will be big stars in days to come.

On top of that the guys including myself sang Isabella, a rock song from the 80s. WhaT A BLAST. Great show.

Check out the Video below too... Isabella

It was really great to be able to perform with this bunch of talented students... Love ya guys...

Teacher's Wacky Bowl (Me, Wen Hong, Ramesh, Linda, Shuli and Kasma)

It was really fun. Whacky Bowl? More like noisy bowling. SO much shouting and cheering going on. The Hot Strike was really great. Although we were no bowlers, we came in second (670 point). Thanks to Joseph ( PSG member, who was the best bolwer). However, it was not the title we were interested in, it was the fun and shouting even though your team member strike to LONGKANG.




My Lovely Class of 1D

What a blast. I was powdered with flour as students played games during the celebration. Dressed in my JC uniform, it was really a nice felling to be interaction with the entire class and also with my other students. There were so much food for everyone and I can see that each and everyone of the students put in effort in organising the event. They event lined up games. That was when I went mad and start to dance around. Hehe. 




Powdered from Head to Toe




Liayna and Nisa with me and the Photoframe they gave me 




Well done 5B students. What a great host your class played. 
Reall enjoyable and memorable class party.




Teacher'd Day Dinner at Raffles Country Club
Ms Mullai and Myself



Guess who is the Gal behind the Mask?? 





Well what do u see from the picture. My Face at someone else's butt. Yup! During one of the table games, Shuli chosed me to be her partner and we had to do a series of actions with the ballon. We were the best. Really good. The last instruction was to burst the ballon. And boy did i try hard. Only god knows. I bite and squeze shuli hard but hey... Ramesh and Mrs Nair came in tops. Thanks to Mrs Nair's blouse button.

It was really a good dinner with good company and good laugh. Who can forget lau Ta ( Mr Tan KH) whom was dressed in a Sari. It took 2 women to dress him up. Gosh it was real funny. Cant wait for next years teacher's day. Indeed with Cikgu Manan and Mrs Nair's retiring or retired, things will change. The old would have to make ways for the young. I missed them.

My first fireworks photography on the 8 of Aug using my Nikon D70s 




 


How? Nice? Most of the shots I am using Shutter speed. 
Dont really know how to manipulate this complicated camera.. still learning... 





 


Interesting array of fireworks... Still on 8 Aug 




 






Great Fireworks on the 12 Aug 

This time round after learning from my first experience on the 8 Aug. I went there early and manage to get a rather good spot with Fazli. Laying out our mat and smoke food, we chat and waited for the fireworks at nine. Always enjoy the times I spend with Fazli.  And indeed the fireworks that nite was wonderful. There was this Mickey Mouse fireworks will made everyone went Auuwww...







I think this is very nice... so many fireworks..

BeansTalk Cafe!

That the newest Cafe in Town opened by Ben and Yi!
Serving aromatic gourmet coffee and delicous sanwiches, BeansTalk is the place to be. U might even get to make ya own coffee if you can get the attention of the BOSS, ben, whom allowed me to make my own latte and mocha... ooh.. Nice... So Congrats Ben & Yi on the opening of ya cafe... 

So Social Workers and Teachers( who needs a place to mark) head down to BeansTalk....

So do check it out... 62 circular road and I am sure u have a good time there