Huanglong

Personally, I enjoyed Huanglong a lot more than Jiuzhaigou. Despite hearing conflicting rumours about whether Huanglong was open to visitors in the off-peak season, we decided to risk it anyway. To our delight, the park was near-empty upon our arrival – I counted less than 15 visitors I saw in the 4 hours we were there.

My travel companions and I took a leisurely walk (not as easy as it sounds since i get really breathless at higher altitude!) up to the highest point (3600m above sea-level), stopping to take in the numerous shimmering multi-coloured ponds, lakes, a completely frozen waterfall, and of course its famed travertine formations.

The calcium carbonate in the pools give off different hues in the sunshine

A waterfall completely frozen in motion - surreal!

Travertine (i learnt a new word!) formations formed by calcium and other mineral deposits

Tibetan temple near the top of the park

If you listened carefully enough, you could hear gurgling sounds of water rushing beneath the frozen surface.

Jiuzhaigou

Well-known amongst local and foreign visitors for its captivating scenery, Jiuzhaigou (literally means “Nine-Stockade Valley”) in the Aba county of Sichuan boasts several scenic lakes, waterfalls and peaks. Bestowed with a UNESCO World Heritage Site title as well as designated a China AAAA class scenic spot title also means, unfortunately that this area has became vastly commercialized and crass.

Since the early 1980s (or was it the 70s?), the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area has been developed rapidly, and ticket prices reflect its status as a top tourist destination Entry tickets are a whopping 200RMB during peak season and that’s excluding the bus that runs within the park (that costs another 90RMB).

Historically, Jiuzhaigou was mainly occupied by Tibetans and Qiang ethnic minorities but that is probably no longer the case. The villages leading to the gates of the national park are swamped with countless insipid hotels, souvenir stores, restaurants, amenities etc, in uniform concrete buildings (painted to look Tibetan-style) catering to the masses, and these are run mostly by Han Chinese. There are also performance theatres promising “authentic” Tibetan singing and dancing performances.

During the off-peak season, which is when I visited, this area is a dismal ghost-town with most of the restaurants, theatres and shops shut. The relative peace and quiet was much welcomed though. Less visitors meant I didn’t have to book transport or accommodation in advance. The bus-station and vast coach-parks built to cope with peak season crowds are deserted, taxis cruise empty, honking desperately at tourists and the Sheraton glows eerily, with its shiny Christmas lights and tinsel. Not that I stayed there of course –I was merely passing by. In fact, I probably stayed in the opposite extreme of a 5 star luxury hotel – a 20RMB per night dorm bed in a youth hostel. The only heating we had in this sub-zero weather was an electric blanket!

I met some fellow travelers en-route to Jiuzhaigou - we hunkered down in the same dorm and spent an amiable few days together. During the day, we visited Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong national parks, and during the evenings, we gathered round the coal-fired stove to play cards, drink tea and chat.

My take on Jiuzhaigou – Well, it was indeed beautiful, with its alpine forests, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls and aquamarine lakes. But, I couldn’t help but think that I saw all this pristine beauty in Norway couple years back, sans gated entry, constant signs and reminders not to smoke, litter or feed the fishes,and &*@# touts!! At every scenic spot that the bus off-loaded us, touts peddled jewelry, souvenirs, “1-minute instant photos” that came complete with slip-on Tibetan costumes so you can really look the part. I know they are just trying to make a living but we were hassled incessantly and that just killed it for me.

Also, it was annoying that the park closed off several scenic spots and walkways due to some dubious reason of “high danger of fire hazards”. This meant effectively that a) we couldn’t see ALL the stuff we wanted to see and b) we were forced to pay extra for the bus, get off, snap a picture, and board the bus repeatedly in order to tour the park. I had come to Jiuzhaigou prepared to walk and take in the scenery quietly over a couple of days, but now I was forced to see the park with bus-loads of other tourists in such a restricted mode. Cramping my style! I shudder to think what this place must be like in peak-season.

Sichuan Revisited [2008]

My first visit to Sichuan was in Nov 2006, as a somewhat carefree backpacker. From Zhongdian (Yunnan), my travel companions Will, Hazel and myself crossed over to west Sichuan into a little town called Daocheng, and thereafter taking long bus rides to Litang and Kangding on the way to Chengdu. Even though i complained inccessantly then about those colourful, long bus rides in freezing weather, they were, in fact one of the most memorable parts of my trip!

Looking back at my posts from 2 years ago, I am no doubt amused by the stuff I used to be amused about. I can sense a different mood in my writing then and now - I was definitely more carefree and adventurous before! Back then, I was new to China, and new to the country’s culture, language, and ‘the way things worked”. Everything was a lot more fresh and exciting and I discovered new things everyday.

Admittedly, this novelty has since waned significantly now that I’ve spent 2 years now in China, and I’m familiar with “the system”. (Or perhaps growing older makes you more cynical generally?) I don’t think so hard about eating in hole-in-the-walls and wondering whether I’ll get food poisoning, my Mandarin and bargaining skills have significantly improved and allowed me to research a lot more local information, travel more inconspicuously ( not a blatant laowai), and navigate my way around like any other seasoned Chinese traveller.

I remember Yingtze and I chanced upon a lamian shop in Yunnan and excitedly watched the guy shave slivers of dough into a pot of boiling water – my very first Lanzhou daoxiao mian experience! We gawked and even took pictures. Later on, I realized that Lanzhou lamian stalls were so ubiquitous they were in every other street corner in every city in every province!!

I don’t want to lose this sense of adventure and joie de vivre – Life would be so bland if one became blasé and jaded about everything, no? Although my trip this time was short, it was, in many ways, a timely reminder for me to “rediscover my sense of discovery” so to speak.

While living in Hangzhou, I took short trips here and there, but nothing beats going on a long trip on your own. It’s been awhile since I’ve travelled solo – and I missed that feeling (and perhaps I might not have many more chances to do so in future!), being on the road, taking in new scenery and meeting people. So with about 10 days to spare, once again, I stuffed my rucksack with warm clothing, and “just-in-case supplies”, and boarded a plane for Chengdu with a vague plan to explore North Sichuan.

Leaving Hangzhou, next stop: Beijing

I had a busy 2-3 months prior to leaving Hangzhou for good. In between work, my weekly schedule of yoga, running and drinking, my parents visited China and i spent some time with them. Then there was a decadent Shanghai weekend trip squeezed in, visits to Beijing, the HZ mountain race, HZ marathon, a raucous Halloween party and countless other reasons i was in the bar - birthdays, farewells and such.

It goes without saying that by now i have developed a strong attachment to the city, not least because of my friends here that have made me feel at home in Hangzhou. But at the same time, towards the last 6 months, i had a growing restlessness and a niggly feeling that it was time for me to move on. Perhaps my only regret is I could have achieved more work-wise. It was hard to prise myself away from my friends and my life in Hangzhou. To relocate to a new city, find a new job, new friends, and have a new life would mean scrapping the rythym and stability i had acquired and starting from zero all over again.

But hey, this is what life is all about - There's much more to be done and experienced elsewhere!Change is the only constant, as the cliche goes. Keep on dancing!

"The wheels of the bus go round and round.. "

So goes the tune of the children's song...

My favourite bus in Hangzhou is the tourist bus Y4. Here's why - for a start, it goes past 2 of my favourite bars - Seven and Maya. Then it goes down leafy, tree-lined Shuguang lu and swings west into the countryside - passing through the Hangzhou botanical gardens, rows of picturesque teahouses, the "new" west lake, and some new-ancient Buddhist temples. Then it chugs into the Meiling tunnel and emerges on to the winding road leading to Meijiawu and Yunxi bamboo forest, where both have excellent trails leading up to the hills. Best of all, it costs next to nothing, and its a joy when you get the window seat and get to snap photos of the scenes passing by.

Evidence presented below :-)

Huang-ni-ling （黄泥岭）

Meijiawu valley

Cute - its a toy-boat by the way.

Mao Jia Bu (茅家埠）

Opposite Yunxi bamboo trail (云栖竹径）

2008/08/08 18:08:00 hrs

Countdown: Only 120 minutes more to go to the opening ceremony

Probably fair to say 1 billion people in China will be glued to their telly tonight at 8.08pm.

Beijingers got a day off work today (presumably to clear up the smog and clear the streets of errant motorists), and over here in Hangzhou, some offices closed half day, and we got off work an hour earlier in my company just so we can go home early and view The Event of the year.
Popped into C-store (Hangzhou's answer to seven-eleven) earlier and everyone is busy buying up snacks and drinks - potato chips, guazi, bacardi breezers, beer, etc.

The hype had been steadily building up over the past few months on every available media and its been hard to ignore or escape from it.

Everyone here, i mean EVERYONE is waiting in anticipation and today O-fever hits new heights. Shops, and supermarkets are going to shut early, even taxi-drivers are planning to abandon the streets in favour of watching China's glorious moment. Several cars are already sporting "Go China" flags and decals.

The opening ceremony, as i am cynically thinking, is going to be one big giant parade with thousands of people waving synchronised placards and flags. Oh and fireworks - loads of it. But having said that, I do like watching sports events, especially the Olympics and the mood here is infectious.

So, excuse me while i get ready to go to my friend's pad for the Olympics party (yes, i've already bagged my potato chips) *fingers crossed i get a cab!*

1.5years in Hangzhou

Arrived fresh off the boat 1.5years ago in Hangzhou and started work.
Looked back at my Feb 5, 2007 post and laughed my head off.
http://travelpede.blogspot.com/2007/02/hangzhou-survival-101.html

All that excitement, panic and anxiety i experienced relocating to a new place, my communicado problems, that terrible weather, navigating around the city, colleagues, protocols, landlords, agents, etc seemed so long ago.

So i've came some way in improving my Chinese. Actually, i don't know if its an improvement or an actual deterioration of my language skills when these days, i sometimes blank out and can't remember an English word, but can find a word in Chinese to perfectly describe something (!!)

I know now more about working in China - not the expert but suffice to say the more i know, the more i realise i don't know. when i say Chinese protocol and working culture = Lake Baikal, its an understatement.

Time to take stock - what i have accomplished thus far, what i need to do next.

Time to move on - do something else, be something else, try something different.

Time to leave Hangzhou, and move on to other pastures.

Suzhou snapshot

Dad visited Shanghai on a business trip in June and yours truly went up there and spent a weekend with him. We decided on a day trip to Suzhou since neither of us have been.

To be honest, Suzhouw as a bit of a disappointment, and we didn't get to see everything we wanted, in part due to my own balls-up with the return train tickets.

Nevertheless, it was nice to spend time with the old man. He seemed quite taken with the trishaws and we went everywhere in them, paying 10-15kuai a pop each time (probably ripped off!). Helluva fun as we weaved in and out of the streets dodging cars, people, bicycles and other trishaws. Dad keeps getting mistaken as a Japanese tourist and I, the translator for some reason - perhaps its because i'm doing all the navigation and bargaining! Plus we tip them extra. And then he says to them in broken chinese "We are from Singapore, and she (pointing to me) is my daughter!" somewhat indignantly.

Cue aplogetic look from trishaw riders. i didn't think too much about it until they apologised effusively. Maybe, there are, um, other sorts of older Japanese tourists accompanied by other sorts of younger multi-tasking translators. Who knows?

Dad remarks that Suzhou city looks similar to Hangzhou but as a sign that i'm now a seasoned Hangzhouvian, i immediately rejected that idea - Hangzhou looks mucho better!

We visited a couple of the requisite tourist sites (pagodas and temples) , strolled around leisurely and then had lunch at a local noodle eatery - cheap and deeeelicious. After that, we both telephatically signalled to each to other it was time for coffee, spotted a Xing-ba-ke and made a beeline for it. Always count on the MickeyD's of coffee when you need a caffeine fix.

The Suzhou museum had a long queue snaking out of its entrance and we both decided it was too much of a hassle to wait. It was the "wrong season" to visit the famed gardens apparently because there are't too many flowers in bloom - Ugh.

We got the train back to Shanghai, but not before his camera got picked amidst the heaving crowds at Suzhou train station. Dad sulks for about half the journey back but he quickly regained his jovial mood and persuaded me (it wasn't difficult) to go to the hotel bar for a couple of pre-dinner drinks. That was followed by a quick dinner, we said our goodbyes and i hopped back on a train to Hangzhou.

Ah well, i'll have to visit Suzhou again. Maybe better luck next time.

L: Austere-looking Suzhou museum designed by I.M. Pei. Very distinctive - i like.
R: Dad smiling... until his camera got picked at the train station!

L: Cheap tricks: A wooden clothes-peg solves the age-old problem of flapping trouser-cuffs when you're riding your tri-shaw.

R: Boat-woman paddling and singing along one of the canals.

Taishan & Jinan, Shandong

Summer trip to Taishan & Jinan in Shandong

Took a weekend camping and hiking trip to Shandong during the Dragon-boat festival break to climb Taishan and spend a day in Jinan.

Like any other "famous mountains" and "must-see" attractions in China (e.g. Huangshan), the main "Imperial" route up the mountain was bustling. Tourist hordes with megaphone-toting tour guides, students, touts, sedan-chair coolies all blend into the melee that is a 6000-step artery all the way to the summit. Amongst all the goods on offer, notable ones peddled include gaudy red "I conquered Taishan" headbands, good-luck mini-statues of assorted Tao deities (pretty cheap luck at only 1yuan a piece) for people needing blessings for health, exams, lottery,etc. , T-shirts & flags (again in the same vein of "I conquered Taishan"), whistles (that sound like birds or crickets), towels, sun-shades, instant photo services etc. What amazed me more was the fact that people actually bought them.

Thankfully, we took a quieter back route up the mountain and it was virtually empty. It offered some great views of the rugged range, waterfalls, springs and swathes of pine forests. Here, you could stop whenever you want to enjoy the scenery, listend to birds chirping (real ones, not those bloody annoying whistles) or take a snack break in peace. In fact, there were few shops we passed and most of them called out lackadasically to you to buy something, have a rest or some tea but were never pushy. At one point we ran out of bottled water and filled our bottles with sweet, refreshing spring water. I did worry at some point about giardia and other nasty parasites (You can take me out of Singapore, but can't take the Singaporean out in me!) but decided to flirt with danger anyway .

5pm, almost sunset and a few hundred metres altitude to go. We had made slow progress in part due to the heat and heavy backpacks. A cable-car station loomed in sight and looked extremely tempting. It was a case of Cable-up-and-enjoy-the-sunset vs continue-heaving-reach-the-top-possibly-in dark.

Surely it would be extremely wimpish to take a cable up to the top after we've made it this far on legs! Wouldn't i be relegated to those "softies" (that i usually scorn) who take the easy way up? So weak! so wimpish! Ugh.

In the end, Cable-car won. To hell with pride. The cable (more like a ski-lift) zipped us and our heavy backpacks to the top in cool efficiency and for only 20kuai (4SGD). It was an awesome ride and definitely a different experience to feel the breeze, look down and see the tops of trees whizzing past beneath your feet. Made a mental note to try the soft option more often in future.

The summit offered -you guessed it - more souvenir shops, instant photo services and of course temples. It was almost sunset when we finally reached the top and we hurriedly pitched our tent, sat outside the tent watching the beautiful red and orange glow in the sky with a bottle of red. Dinner was a simple, hurried affair in a tiny eatery - as the wind howled outside, we wolfed down steaming bowls of noodles with fried vegetables and eggplant. And then we scurried back to the tent again to escape the wind.

Stars in the night sky - lots of them.

Early start at 4am after a particularly uncomfortable sleep (in part due to some other noisy campers) for the famed Taishan sunrise - but we didn't get to see it due to too much cloud cover.

Oh well - time to de-camp and head down!

We tried to weave through the crowds as quickly as we could via the "imperial" route. The route up was much more pleasant than the way down! I had a vague feeling that Taishan (esp the main route) isn't the sort of place to get away from the crowds or to have some quiet contemplation of the navel. Even the temples atop seemed rather commercialised and had lost its "sacred" aura.

6000 steps downhill wasn't a piece of cake like i envisioned, and after about 4000 of them, we caved-in once again to the comfortable option - a BUS!

And so, that was Tai-shan crossed of my long "To-do" list.

Clockwise from L (Sedan chairs to carry visitors up the mountain, Taishan, sunset with some satellite dishes camouflaged under a pagoda, and yours truly bringing my own bar up to Taishan)

"Webpage not found" ..or dare i say it...

So.. i'm messing around the settings in blogspot and pressed "view blog" just for kicks - even though i knew it would bounce back with a "webpage not found" type error.... and
OMG - it actually opened! Magic!!
For 1.5years now (which is, how long i've been here btw), i've been able to post via blogger.com but not actually open my blog on blogspot.com, nor keep up with any of my friends' blogs. Happiness!

I wonder how long this is gonna last though... as with the Great Firewall of China, you never really know when they'll randomly decide to pull the plug again. Is this some sort of Olympics amnesty? Youtube, Wiki, and BBC news have all been un-banned this year in China - now is this progress or what?

Rainbow-scape

It's not everyday you see a rainbow, and it's the equivalent of striking lottery when you see one in China.

What's at the end of the rainbow? Who knows, eh?

Sprung

Spring in Hangzhou came and went in a flash - i woke up and realised its been 3 months since i've blogged - well i've been keeping busy (and facebook is evil).

In the short few months of spring, i saw an explosion of colour in the city. For a start, the trees were a brilliant shade of emerald, then there were cream and pink magnolias in February, then delicate plum blossoms and yellow cole in March before the tulips and a few sleeping lotuses in April. The cool breezes, bright sunshine and fresh colours instantly lighten everyone's moods and most people around me were more amiable and sociable ( i think its called spring fever!)

Well aware that it was probably my last spring in Hangzhou, i made a conscious effort to spend more time outdoors exploring the city with my friends - walks and picnics by the lake, lazy boat trips and lots of hikes around the hills.

April was also tea-picking month, and since Hangzhou is Longjing tea capital, that makes alot of locals excited - its the time of the year where you can enjoy freshly picked, primero grade of Longjing aka (Pre-Qingming tea) - i'm not a tea connoisseur but hey, when in China, do as the Chinese do - so i trooped off to the tea village to sample the brew too.

Before i knew it, the sun started to warm up just that little more that i had to wear sunglasses and shed the jumper, Chinese girls started toting umbrellas to prevent their fair skin from tanning (heaven forbid!), and the buses started to smell just a little bit more ... athletic.

Oh well, spring has sprung.

You know you've been out of the country for too long when...

*your long-lost friends greet your phonecall with "You're alive!!!"

* Malays, Indians, and Angmohs all look foreign to you.

* You're taken aback when someone addresses you in English

* you go misty-eyed at the sight of hummus, avocados and REAL wholemeal bread at Cold Storage. and OMG - Carrot Cake! with egg & chilli!!

* people drive on the "wrong side" of the road, and guess what, they actually DO give way to pedestrians!

* You forget how good the sun feels on your dry, pasty-white skin and wonder why whiny singaporeans complain "so hot! need air-con!"

*you scream in shock at your receipt when you realise that GST has risen to 7%

*you forget to tap your EZ-link card before you get off the bus and that cost you 10RMB - you can buy a big bowl of noodles in china with that!

*a waitress from mainland China is amazed you can actually order food in fluent, perfect mandarin.

Here, there, everywhere... they must have followed me home...

Hangzhou in snow

January was a lark, with record-breakingly bad weather not just in Hangzhou and other parts of China as well. The days got progressively more chilly, cold rain turned into slushy ice beating down on my flimsy umbrella and soon that turned into snow. and that meant only one thing - snowball fights! ;-)

It didn't matter how many layers of clothes i wore - it didn't make me feel any warmer. It was equally cold inside the house AND outside even with my heater on at full blast. I guess a major reason is because the apartment i live in is a little old, and most houses in the south don't have internal heating or double-glazed windows.

The snow didn't stop Mao from his long march.. nor us from our weekly run ...

My "First Year in Hangzhou" anniversay was spent fretting all day because it was the day before i was supposed to leave Hangzhou but snow was falling fast and thick outside - very ominous.

There was a record snowfall of 32cm in Hangzhou city the next day- the biggest in a hundred years and threw the Hangzhou airport, trains and highways into complete chaos. The planes were grounded, the highways were iced-over and too dangerous to drive on. Needless to say that got me into a major panic but there was nothing i could do but wait.

For lack of better things to do while waiting to get out of Hangzhou, i trudged out to make a snowman. I had to pry myself away from my laptop - to stop myself from refreshing the weather and airport information webpages every 10 seconds! Family back home were getting antsy too - Mum suggested that i called the Singapore consulate - would they be able to charter a plane to take all the stranded singaporeans home for the lunar new year? [The answer from the embassy was a polite "um, no, because this is not a humanitarian crisis and therefore no evacuation required - which of course made sense]

[It is a long story but i will summarise it as] After much difficulty, i made it back to Singapore via Shanghai Pudong airport on 4th Feb - 2 days later than scheduled. At the immaculate and highly-efficient Changi airport, i cleared myself through immigration via the automated booth within 20seconds - no human immigration officer required.

I could not have been more glad to arrive home.

New Year's day hike

Eva, Karolina and I kicked off the first day of 2008 with a walk along the hills. No hangover as i was sensible enough to leave Caris' new year eve party before it was too late (specifically, tequila shots were introduced later on and i escaped!) The weather was perfect for a nice little hike - crisp cold air but sunny!

New Year offerings at the temple on top of Wu-yun mountain.

Meijiawu's unfortunate ducks ...

Because just like school bags and bedlinen, ducks need to be sunned.

Fowl and fishy...

overdue ..

Ok, so i'm aware that its already a month and half into 2008, but i didn't manage to post some december events of 2007.

In between business trips, i went on a weekend hiking trip with Eva, and we had a great time at the Tianmushan national park strolling amidsts the tall cypress trees and bamboo forests. It was so peaceful and tranquil out there we didn't want to leave at all. We both agreed this is the perfect place to run away to if you'd like some quiet time to contemplate your naval or just sort out your thoughts. The owners of the guesthouse where we stayed at were incredibly friendly and hospitable and it felt more like a cosy homestay experience. Our meals were taken together with the family, we played with the feisty 10 year old kid and even attempted to help her with her schoolwork (with limited success). We warmed our hands and roasted sweet tapioca over a charcoal pit[indoors!] while watching TV together and discussing the culture differences between Singapore, Slovakia and China. This is just the sort of travel experience i can't get enough of ...

Cypress trees that stretched way up into the sky ...

i tried climbing but i didn't get very far...


Junwen also visited me in December and it was nice for me to show him my hangzhou - my usual haunts, my favourite Xinjiang noodle shop in my 'hood, and for him to meet my friends.

Here, Junwen attempts to hold up the Baochu Pagoda on Baoshi hill, until he got thirsty...

Here's looking back at 2007

Here's looking back at 2007 ..

If 2006 was the year of change, where I had quit my job and travelled around Asia and Europe for about 8 months, then I suppose 2007 could be summarized as a year of “adapting to change”.

I began the year in Singapore, and a month later, started a new life in Hangzhou. The fact that everything was in Chinese language, and living in a new country was exciting and scary at the same time. I cannot begin to describe the drastic changes involved working for a true-blue Chinese IT company IN China. I wasn't sure how long i'd last. The frustration I've experienced at work because of the culture shock, my language (dis)ability and also because I was taking on a new role radically different from what I used to do was getting to me and I was close to giving up after just 3 months.

I had to navigate my way around archaic regulations (both written and unwritten), protocol and management practices of the company. Reading and writing Chinese took me hours and I had the dictionary permanently open. It also didn't help that IT people are not generally blessed with natural communication skills either (sorry, but its true!), especially when communicating with an IT-idiot like me.

With all that, I learnt to persevere, and take everything with a good dose of patience and humour and most importantly “Choose your battles!”. (Whining to Ying-tze over MSN helped a lot. In fact, it was extremely therapeutic since she had lived and work in Dalian before and knew EXACTLY what I was talking about!) When in China, do as the Chinese do…

My colleagues are extremely nice and I'm immensely grateful to them for helping me out so much. They patiently explained alien concepts such as “hukou” and “fapiao” and rescued me from my language disasters. Outside of work, we didn't have too many common interests. They liked shopping and Korean dramas. I liked going outdoors. I went exploring Hangzhou a lot on my own just to recharge after a frustrating week at work. One Sunday afternoon, I decided to join the Hangzhou Hash Hounds on a run just to see if I would like it. Afterall, their slogan was “Run like hell, drink like fish!” –how bad could that be?

The Hashers were made up of a bunch of fun-loving foreigners and locals who loved hiking, running, and travelling. Every week explored a different part of the Hangzhou hills. It was exactly what I needed to recharge. Running, hiking, and having some good conversations over some food and drinks! We regularly swap stories and laugh over the western vs chinese cultural misunderstandings and language mishaps that we face on a daily occurrence, help each other to get over culture shocks of working and living in a foreign country.

My Chinese improved ever so slowly and work picked up gradually. I can't say I now understand the Chinese psyche completely but at least I have made some inroads. It still is challenging but at least i can cope!

I travelled a lot for work in the later part of the year within China, and even managed to score a trip to Singapore and Hong Kong. The HK trip was a much needed trip outside of Mainland china as I was getting antsy with the travel bug. With my visitors, I climbed Yellow mountain with Yingtze, and went to Beijing with Junwen. They both loved Xinjiang lamian. I hosted a few couchsurfers and showed them my Hangzhou. Not surprisingly, time went really quickly with so much work and activities on the weekends.

2007 has also been an active year where I’ve accomplished a few personal milestones such as taking part in a mountain race as well as my very first half-marathon. I’m pleased that I’ve managed to spend time outdoors in the blazing heat of summer and the cold of winter!

I enjoy the seasonal changes that I would otherwise not get to experience in Singapore and also a couple of hurricanes! Both came with generous lashings of strong wind and rain, and the second – Hurricane Krosa flooded my neighbourhood so much I couldn’t get to work. – not exactly a disaster ;-)

I've managed lose my wallet AGAIN – it is indeed a regular occurrence or curse as some might say. Grrrr...I was so close to keeping my driving license or credit cards for more than 12 months.
After 11 months in here, I feel some sort of attachment to the city already. My colleagues and friends have certainly helped me out and contributed to my sense of belonging. I now feel like I have Hangzhou in my hand – I can find my way around the city easily, take public transport almost anywhere, know the best places to hang out, the cheapest places to shop and bargain like everybody does, figure out i've where a Chinese was from by their accent and picked up some Hangzhou dialect. I learnt to shrug most things that I'm disagreeable with as “This is China, take it as it is” and just take it as part of my experience here.

Ooh, I even ended up on the front pages of 3 newspapers (not in a bad way!) on Boxing day, haha. http://zjrb.zjol.com.cn/html/2007-12/26/content_1911950.htm

2007 has been a good year for me and 2008 might just be as exciting, if not more.

Happy New Year everybody!