Snow in Beijing -the first for the year

Beijing has been relatively snow-less this winter.. until today. Apparently its global warming. Thats the explanation for any freakish weather anyway. From the warmth and comfort of the apartment,i can see lots of excited kids (and their parents) playing outside amidst the flurries.

Brr... i don't want to be outside, especially when i've just came back from 30deg C weather. Just as well i'm stuck at home job-hunting eh?

This reminds me, i've yet to post my Harbin /Heilongjiang photos from new year's day... I suppose i'll get it out soon.

Catharsis

Been doing a major bout of spring-cleaning of my room (yeah, i know, its AFTER chinese new year, but what the heck, it has to be done).

It is very nostalgic to be reacquainted with lots of old stuff that's been tucked away for years, such as:

Postcards and maps.
i've actually forgotten i have a veritable postcard collection and now i don't know what to do with this huge stash of cardboard - maybe i should just stick stamps and post them out to random friends. Ugh. fortunately, i STILL collect maps!

Correspondence
Bunch of letters, aerograms and cards from assorted ex-boyfriends, friends and cousins.
I used to write and enjoy receiving snail-mail, esp in my UK university days. I still like it now, but email and e-cards offer so much more instant gratification. Besides, my handwriting has degraded over the years to an untidy scrawl from lack of practice. - perhaps its time for me to revive the ancient art of letter-writing again.
Meanwhile, someone tell me what to do with old love-letters from ex-boyfriends...? Keep vs shred? I read them all over again and remininsced about those trials and tribulations i've gone through. Sigh - i did break a couple of hearts but hey, I got mine broken too (and i got rid of their stuff as soon as they broke mine!)

Miscelleaneous junk.
bits and bobs i can only describe as "STUFF". old jewellery, makeup, stationery, notebooks (i think i had a notebook fetish), bank statements from 1999, photos of my "pop idols" when i was 14 (cringe!!!) , a film compact camera (antique!), discman (before the age of MP3 players), old pay-slips...

Journal from 1997 - full of teenage angst and insecurities. Growing up was/is painful. I wrote alot in this journal when my aunt was in severely ill and i was by her bed-side in hospital everyday until she passed away.

A quick flip-through my 2003 diary and i realised that i used to like running on threadmills (yuck -emphasis on the "used to"). I forgot that i've taken a business chinese course then as well and i think i should put it on my CV! I used to volunteer and i think i should get back to it again when i return to Beijing - you know, be useful and such. I started to enjoy the great outdoors just about then and never looked back since. And, I STILL enjoy drinking for free at ladies nights, haha!

So.. anyway while i sneezed away from all that dust, it was kinda interesting to remind myself of the "me" back then, if you know what i mean - my previous interests, hangups, tastes in music, food, etc., friends i used to hang out with, and take stock of my "evolution". I've changed alot in the past decade. There are some some ghosts that need putting away, friendships that need re-affirming and skills that still need improving (map-reading and navigation is one).

And we continue...
adding to and purging stuff from our lives every single day

Imprints

It takes leaving the country for awhile and then returning to see things in a different light. You take things for granted when you live in the same place for too long. I've never found old shophouses interesting until now. I felt like a tourist wandering around these new-old buildings - everything looks different and yet vaguely familiar. I notice the intricate designs on the mosaic tiles, the panelled double-doors of the entrances, and delicate, narrow spiral-staircases at the back of the buildings. Maybe i'm afraid that when i come back again to Singapore again, they might be gone, or simply fade away from my memories again.

Crowds at Chinatown shopping for new-year goodies

Word pun on the phrase "扭(牛）转乾坤" in the year of the Ox - which means "to have immense power to change nature or the established order of a country" (Hey, i checked the dictionary!) The oxen sculptures of the Sri Mariamman temple conveniently sit beside this banner.

Old buildings - i seem to get nostalgic about them lately.

Old shophouses reincarnated as offices

Porthole window




Perpetual state of construction and deconstruction

It's great to be home ...

I get to :

--Spend time with my family and friends. My brother is back from Australia so we get to catch up, take walks together and stuff. He gets to annoy me just like the good old days.

--It's nice and warm! the birds are chirping, the sun is shining and i'm surrounded by lush greenery. And, I don't have to dress in multiple layers of clothes and look/ feel like the michelin-man. Those short winter up north do get a bit dreary.

--Eat all the local food i've missed out on - "i have a list, and i'm checking it twice" and conscientiously ticking them off everyday.

--Swim (do the hamster equivalent of just laps and laps around the pool - its something i really enjoy and it clears my head out because i'm just concentrating on making every kick and stroke right. I've swam only once in the whole time i've been in China.

Oh, and i don't get zapped by static electricity here, EVER!! its made me so wary of opening door handles, or touching anything with my bare hands. i resorted to closing taxi doors by poking the window with one finger when i was in beijing...

So, the poor inflight entertainment on my way back gave me a chance to do some reflection and take stock of the year that's just past, and the one coming up.

2008 recap:

Jan - i started the year with a hike with 2 close friends in Hangzhou. Shivered through the rest of the month. 2 of my schoolfriends (whom i've known since we were 15) gave birth to healthy little babies and i was really happy for them.

Feb - Massive snowfall in HZ and I almost couldn't get home for chinese new year. When i returned to HZ, a few of us hashers went on an epic hike, where we circumnavigated HZ's hills in 11 hrs - by the time we finished at wushan square, it was 8pm and we were ready to collapse, but with an immense sense of satisfaction.

Mar - Dad visited Hangzhou. I went for a bad haircut and ended up with a really dorky fringe.

Apr - Arrival of spring. Picnics, boat rides, tea-drinking, tulip festival - all in all a happy month.

May - Flew home to attend one of my best friend's wedding in Singapore - one of the nicer, intimate weddings i've attended, but the after-party was a different story. Then the 8.0 earthquake struck.

June - Suzhou and shanghai with Dad. Preparations as well as the actual Hash 50th run -complete blast. Climbed up Taishan single and came down engaged - the boyfriend's proposal on bended knee at the summit took me by complete surprise.

July, Aug, Sept - hot and sweaty summer, the Olympics, oh and i turned 29.

Oct - meet the parents session in beijing and qingdao (great success!), mountain race relay in hangzhou, and left my job!

Nov - ran a 21k race

Dec - Offically relocated to beijing. Then, promptly went on a 10day trip to Sichuan. Ended the year with my wallet picked in freezing Harbin. [This whole wallet business happens annually (this is the 4th year running) and i almost made it to 365 days without losing it.. until 31 Dec 2008 6pm that is] I'm convinced it is a curse so this time, i've chosen to maintain some stoicism. But, the boyfriend said to count my blessings - my passport was intact so i made it home. And my driving licence wasn't stolen this time (because it was lost in last year's wallet incident, i made a new one and had yet to collect it!)

my new year resolutions (drumroll..... )

** Not sure if i should fight this curse but i really don't want to lose my wallet AGAIN.

** Keep up my fitness and health - running, biking, outdoor sports and all.

** Learn to conquer my fear of falling on a ski-slope (so i don't continue to ski like a wimp)

**Be more green/ eco-friendly (like, more recycling, eat less meat, use less resources etc.)

**Be more budget conscious. guess i'm used to earning and spending on whatever i want, but i really should save money for rainy days, or for that matter, snow, hailstones and all.

and then there's the usual ones on every year's list - do more travelling, do more good, count my blessings and be thankful for everything i have!

happy new year everyone !

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...