Faith in Humanity

Finding Solace

2010-07-02T09:46:00.004+08:00

It's funny... this feeling... I want to be left alone but I don't want to be alone. I want to be a face in a sea of faces. I want to disappear for just 1 night.

It's funny that I can only find solace and solitude in a room full of strangers...

加油！加油！加油！

2010-06-28T09:39:00.002+08:00

Things have not been going well for me lately. Seems like whatever I want will happen in the exact opposite way. It is as if Lady Luck left for a holiday and left me a mess to clean up.

A friend (who, by the way, told me to have "Faith in Humanity" a few years back) has a theory for this. She believes that a critical mass of "Suayness" (Bad luck) must be reached before any change can be seen. According to her, it is apparent(?) that I have yet to hit that critical mass so I should expect to sink lower before any good can come out of this.

So I better brace myself for more bad luck in the next few weeks. As another friend would put it, (when you are at the bottom of the valley) "The only way is up!"

加油！

Pain in the Backside...

2010-06-17T11:00:00.002+08:00

I haven't felt like this in a while. That pain in the backside that you feel when someone you confide in tells on you... Furthermore, the tale is carried to the man on top...

#!@#!#!@

Get me out of here!!!

Stuffed Nose? I have the solution...

2010-06-10T09:29:00.003+08:00

Don't you just love it when you encounter problems and people are there to provide you with solutions?

Stuffed Nose? No problem, just stick your head into the freezer then breath in from your nose and out from your mouth. Stuffed Closet? No problem, just move your husband's clothes out of his closet and put your stuff inside. I am sure he won't mind. Stuffed Wallet? No problem, just give it to the hubby during the PC show. I am sure it will be unstuffed in no time.

But this post is not about people with solutions. Rather, this post is about people and their non-solutions. What are non-solutions? They are basically solutions that sound like solutions but do absolutely nothing to help your situation. Perhaps non-solutions are born out of good intentions, (or maybe they are just born out of kaypohness or the need to feel less guilty after you gloat at someone's misfortunes) but when you are caught in a rut, when you are stuck in the bottom of that emotional valley, non-solutions will seem like big rocks rolling down that valley.

Another characteristic of a non-solution is that unlike solutions, you don't have to ask for them, they will come looking for you. Need some examples?

It's Chinese New Year. You are sitting in the corner of your in-laws house, eating your gua1 zi3, minding your own business when suddenly Auntie 3 and Granny 6 surrounds you. Granny 6 asks you "when are you having children?" Auntie 3 reaffirms "My Ah Girl already have 3. Better start now." Maybe I didn't get the memo but when did child bearing become a race or a competition?

Then the barrage of non-solutions begins. You should go home earlier, don't play outside so much. (Duh, I go home straight after work everyday, even on saturdays and sundays). You got try talking to your wife or not? (Sex Education 101: Talking does not give you kids! Holding hands does.). You got go doctor and check whose problem it is or not? (You can make children by finger pointing? well, it depends on which finger I decide to use). Don't worry, You keep trying sure will get one. Don't give up ok? (Did we say we want kids in the first place?)

With that said, I think the solution to non-solutions is emphathy. Before giving solutions/ non-solutions, maybe you should hold back for 1 second and consider what the receiver needs. Does he really need comforting words or advice from you? Or maybe all he needs is a should to cry on, a pair of listening ears, a pat on the back and a mouth that is firmly closed?

A Man in a Silly Red Sheet...

2010-06-09T15:52:00.003+08:00

If I had to make the current state of my life into a TV series, it would be named "Lost". How I wish I could do a "Flash Forward" and see where I would be six months in the future. Would there be "gLee" in my life or would I still be stuck in "The Office" trying to pull a "Prison Break"?

Did someone "Lie to mE" and duped me into "CSI" - "Career Suicide Incognito"? Were I blind to the "Damages" that this would cause? Can I blame it on the "Supernatural", a strange "Ghost Whisperer" coercing me to do what I did? Or is this part of a greater scheme of things, "The Fringe" of what I am to become? Whatever it is, I am no longer "24" and like Jules in "Cougar Town", youth and vigor are no longer "Friends" of mine.

I know its about time I put on that super suit and become like Ironman, Spiderman, Ah Ma and Lao Po, all "Heroes" in their own right. Right now though, I feel like I am Superman and I can't fly...

因为超人不能流眼泪...

On my way home...

2009-04-23T22:15:00.001+08:00

It's 10.16pm and I am at the airport waiting for my 11.30pm flight to Singapore.

Thank God for Coffee and Internet!

I chose to take train instead of the a taxi. In that way, I can save money (train cost only 25 yuan but taxi cost 100 yuan) and also no jam which explains why it's 10.16pm and I am at the airport waiting for my 11.30pm flight. On one hand, I think I will miss my friends in Beijing but on the other, I can't wait to see 10 and Brandy! (In that particular order...)

Goodbye Beijing, Hellow Singapore!

Studying (too much) is hazardous for health!

2009-04-14T20:07:00.004+08:00

Somehow, I get this strange feeling that I am studying too much these days... I wonder why... Hmmm...

P.S. Check out the lady behind me checking me out... I wonder why... Hmmm...

Flowers from Beijing...

2009-04-05T22:13:00.002+08:00

I haven't bought flowers for 10 in a while... So I decided to get a bouquet from Beijiing...

Love you!

Beauty...

2009-04-05T22:11:00.001+08:00

Beauty lies in everything...

You just have to take your time to find it...

Spring - Part 2

2009-04-05T21:46:00.002+08:00

It's a nice and clear day today...

So my classmates and I decided to 赏花 (see flowers) in the botanical gardens.

Don't ask me who the girl is... cos I really don't know... Took me a long time to wait for the sign to clear because it was super crowded!

Isn't this beautiful? I love flowers... err... and all other kind of MANLY stuff...

Even SpongBob was happy!

It was such a beautiful day that we decided to rent a small boat and take it for a spin on the park lake...

The happiest 烧猪 basking in the sun!

I was designated driver for the boat!

The boat was very very fast.... I nearly lost control!

I don't think anyone but me could handle a 5km/hour (ultra-slow) speedboat... There were boats of all shapes and sizes on the lake! Check out the sampan (which went faster than my 5km/hour (ultra-slow) speedboat)...

People were also swimming in the lake!

I personally liked the guy on the right with light blue trunks...errr... and all other things MANLY!

Nuff said...I leave you with more pictures of our beautiful day... I love SPRING!

Spring... Part 1

2009-04-05T21:19:00.003+08:00

Spring is finally here. The university is beautiful... Flowers abound... so colourful!

Even cherry blossoms!

Just imagine it was like this 2 weeks ago!

Stars for 5 mins!

2009-04-01T00:32:00.003+08:00

We (4 of us, including me and my korean guy classmate) were walking out of the cafeteria this afternoon when a chinese girl suddenly stopped us and asked me and Korean friend to take a picture with her. She identified herself as one of the 服务员 in the cafeteria. When my friends asked her why she wanted to take a photo with us, the 服务员 replied "因为我很喜欢你们!", fingers pointing to Korean friend and me... We felt like stars! well, not really...

I think we were too shocked to refuse so we said yes (probably not a good idea, thinking back)...Added to our shock (mostly me and my fellow victim's) was that while photo taking, she grabbed me and my Korean friend's arm like we were her long lost friends even though it was the first time that we met. We were seriously shying away from her now ...

After photo taking, she even asked for our numbers which we refused. Our excuse was that we didn't understand Chinese and we were rushing for class...

So if you see a photo of me, Korean guy and a Chinese girl in some random blog or website, you now know why...

So wierd!

Chinese 101

2009-03-31T23:54:00.002+08:00

I thought that it would be nice for me to record some of the words that I learnt from China from my stay here in Beijing. Without these words, I probably wouldn't have had such a good time as I did.

1. 打车 - means to take a taxi. You probably don't want to use this in Singapore. 2 reasons: One is that it'll probably hurt a ton, Second is that you probably be caught by the 公安。

2. 公安 - You guessed it, it means the police. Mentioning 警察 here wouldn't have such a great effect than if you mention 公安. Not to be mistaken with 保安, security guards (even though sometimes i feel they wear almost the same uniform).

3. 扯 - it means "to retreat" literally. But in Beijing, you use this when you want the service staff to clear the table for you. E.g. 服务员，帮忙把碟子扯一扯，谢谢! This is a must-have unless you want the table to be full of plates and bowls...

4. 服务员 - means Service Staff in restaurants. Say it with force and gusto when you need service... say it like you would when you propose a toast or when you YAM SENG... or else no one will service you. Trust me, it is more effective than "excuse me" or "could you help me?"

5. 土豆 - ask 10 singaporeans and 11 will tell you this means peanuts. No guys, this means Potato. They have a dish called "清炒土豆丝"。 I was so excited to see how sliced peanuts looked like... can you imagine? What about 土豆泥？ Mashed peanuts?

I think that is enough for today class. One last note before I go... remember to add ”儿" to the end of of sentence. Sometimes I 打车 to school and here is how the conversation always go:

Me: 你好！北大东门...
Taxi Uncle: Huh? 哪儿？不会去！
Me: 北大东门...东门...
Taxi Uncle: 不会去！
Me: 那好儿呗...就到北大东门儿吧...
Taxi Uncle: 那儿我会去啊。早点说嘛...
Me: ...

下儿一儿次儿再儿见儿，Bye儿 Bye儿!

Wha Wha Wha Wha Wha Wha Wha....

2009-03-29T17:44:00.002+08:00

I feel like Charlie Brown... I am in the middle of class on a sunday evening, looking out the windown and not really paying attention...

The teacher sounds like "Wha Wha Wha Wha Wha..."

I can't wait for class to end...

Another Dinner, Another 方便面。。。

2009-03-24T22:57:00.002+08:00

Seems like I am having 方便面 aka Maggi Mee every day...Oh... I AM having 方便面 aka Maggi Mee every day...

Oh... let's not forget the pseudo sausages that taste like corn... Yum Yum!

After a sumptious one course dinner that I ALMOST couldn't finish, it's off to the KTV... at home! Singing in front of a 12 inch screen alone has never been so fun... Fun Fun!

What's KTV without some drinks? Guess what we are having tonight (and every night?) CEBTW... what's that, you ask? Calcium Enriched Boiled Tap Water (in a coffee cup cos I ran out of coffee powder) of course... Gulp Gulp...

Wooo... before I ALMOST get drunk from that dastardly alcholicless CEBTW... I better go and sleep on my 20 thread count bedsheet... Zzz Zzz..

Another exciting night spent in 上地... Guess what I am going to do tomorrow... More of the same... YAY!..ZZ..z.z....

上帝救救我吧。。。

Day 8 and 9 - Su Zhou and Zhou Zhuang

2009-03-14T21:42:00.002+08:00

Su Zhou and Zhou Zhuang are 2 attractions close to Shanghai. We took a 1 hour train from Shanghai to Su Zhou and then a 1 hour bus from Su Zhou to Zhou Zhuang the next day.

Su Zhou was a city filled with history with numerous water canals running through it. Beautiful Architecture and Beautiful girls... oh.. but this beautiful girl is from Singapore though...

Our first stop was a temple. It was supposed to be 500 years of history.

It was very well restored and the carvings and interior was really beautiful!

One bad thing though... We (accidentally) walked into a sourvenir shop in the temple and were awed by their hard sell tactics. They were selling artifact replicas and literally pushed the stuff into our faces... I thought we would never get out... This little boy simply gave up...

View from the top of a pavillion in the temple.

Ahhhh... RAYZILLA!

Where was Fatty Tan and the Water Bottle Princess? Did they perish in the last battle? No time to find out... Who will save us now...?

Oh... its the "Not-so-Invisible" Man... With his "Not-so-invisible" Smile, he blinds Rayzilla and kicks him off the Pavillion... Yay.... This must be the end of Rayzilla... But where did the "Not-so-Invisible" Man go? No one knows...

Look at the size of Ray's B....ELL! (you dirty minded people!)

Lunch! Cheap and good!

Next stop we went to the Lion' hill (or something like that...) Built along side the hill was the manor of a rich man's house... quite beautiful! and tiring...

Jackie Tan and Ray Fei Hong! (Eat) Snake style vs Rayzilla Fist... Dun play play!

This is the leaning tower of Suzhou... the first 6 levels are leaning. They built the 7th level straight to prevent the tower from further leaning and ultimately collasping... Amazing!

No... you are not drunk... the door is leaning...

We visited Zhou Zhuang the next day! A fishing village with narrow pathways and people selling handicraft... It is such a beautiful place!

They had ladies on little boats ferrying people around the water ways of the village... If you pay her 10 yuan, she will even sing 3 songs for you... traditional songs that they sung when they were ferrying people around 100 years ago...

So concludes our 9 day tour around China... it was fun, very fattening and an eye opener indeed!

Day 7 - Shanghai

2009-03-03T14:37:00.002+08:00

Lazy Tan is back from a long break of laziness...Back to our adventures... Next stop, Shanghai!

Guess what we saw at the airport... Ever wondered what a Dong Fang Ji Bai (translate to Hokkien and have a good laugh) tasted like? Try this restaurant...

We checked into our hotel and it was a 2 storey room...first time i see a 2 storey hotel room...

The architecture in Shanghai is quite unique...Look a handbag!

A rocket ship ready to blast off...

Someone once told me that her favorite food is 大娘饺子 and that I must try when I go Shanghai... of course, I did!

Even took a picture with the legendary 大娘。。。孙大娘!

This is 上海滩。。。the "He-Man" sword is also known as the 东方明珠塔！

This is 和平饭店, Peace hotel... did see Chow Yun Fatt here though... It was closed for renovation in 2006... not sure when it will reopen again..

After defeating Rayzilla in Macau, Fatty Tan and the Water Bottle princess thought they would never see the monster again... Little did they know, Rayzilla was attacking innocent clio coddles, i mean crocodile, I mean henggheediles?, in Shanghai!

Their only hope... the HE-MAN sword... "by the power of Merlion, we have the power!!"

Rayzilla tries to mangle the sword from Fatty..

But fails and is slain... The people of Shanghai rejoice! Rayzilla is gone!

Or is he?

It's Snowing!

2009-02-18T18:42:00.004+08:00

Snow feels like sand... only colder... whiter...and it melts... Ok, it is not like sand...

As seen from my apartment...

Around my apartment...

Beijing University!

Footprints in the snow...

Snowmen galore!

Day 5 - 6 - Shenzhen

2009-02-16T23:32:00.003+08:00

Day 5 of our adventure was Shenzhen (SZ). My first impression of SZ was that it was not as safe as the other places we had visited so far. After checking into the hotel, we went shopping at a place called 老街 (Old Street). Maybe it was me but I had a feeling that everyone was eyeballing our wallets and valuables.

There was a group of kid beggars (3 to 7 years old) holding roses. Their modus operantus was that the oldest kid would distract you while the youngest kid would run from another direction and grab onto your leg. If you were caught in this kiddy grapple hold, you could only give the kid money or kick him away. People usually chose the former. 10 and I had to be very careful of these kids, pickpockets and also touts from all angles.

Our first meal of the day! 大家乐！It is a restaurant selling HK and Macau food (fast food style). It was also 10's favourite... She had been pointing 大家乐s out since we touched down at Macau. We ordered Pork Chop Sandwiches and Macoroni... Not too shabby but not filling leh!

They have pirated versions of everything in Shenzhen... They even managed to pirate Taipei's XiMenDing. It is called (creatively) DongMenDing!

Don't you think the name of this bakery sounds a bit... wrong? (I think only Singaporeans would understand)

Dinner was at the largest japanese restaurant in SZ (maybe even in Asia). It was 2 stories and was huge...

We had a personal chef cook for us vegetables, beef slices, frog legs and saba fish... Heavenly...

Yes, we were wearing 情侣装...

Our SZ hotel... now that's another story all together... we went back to our hotel and realised that the plumbing for the toilet had gone hay wire. The water from the shower could not flow out and we had a flooded toilet. But the worst thing was that the toilet bowl was spoilt and we could not flush. After eating so much, having a toilet that we cannot flush is a BAD, BAD thing! Maybe we should have followed the instructions before using...

Maybe not...

Look at what we had for breakfast the following morning...

Traditional Dim Sum... so good...

The rest of day was spent at a massage centre where we had foot/ body massages. 10 was not feeling well so she could not join us. Thank you for waiting for us for such a long time, dear. THANK YOU!

Next up: Shanghai! The city of bad air and blacker faces...

Day 3 and 4 - Hong Kong

2009-02-10T23:29:00.002+08:00

We took a ferry from Zhu Hai to Hong Kong in the morning and checked into our hotel near 上环. First thing on our agenda... Need you ask? FOOD!!!

云吞 and Fried Udon with Pork Chop for breakfast... Yummy yummy yummy, we got love in our tummy!

We needed to take an electric tram to reach the nearest MRT station. Despite being to HK 5 to 6 times, this was my first experience taking the tram... so exciting!

Took the time on the tram to nourish our mal-nourish bodies (yeah right!) with "Mango Delux with Aloe Vera" (Basically a Mango drink with aloe and pomelo bits... Good stuff, cannot bluff...)

(10) Spent the whole afternoon shopping, shopping and more shopping... 2nd last stop on our agenda was 女人街, a large flea market baazaar place, something like Bugis...Oh, Ray met a celebrity at 女人街. Even took a picture with him... Think his name is 方大肚 or 方大臀...(not to be mistaken with 方大同)...lucky Ray!

So what's the last stop, you may be asking? FOOOD!!!

I had 车仔面 (not shown in the pic below), basically a combination of noodles, pig's blood, fish balls, radish etc... If you watched 食神， this was the dish that got 食神 in trouble... (a quote from the movie "大肠里面还有一坨屎，失败中的失败!"Unquote). Mine was 屎-free and very nice!!! Lucky lucky!

We also shared a bowl of prawn dumplings which was not in the picture for obvious reasons (because we couldn't wait...) and fried chee cheong fun (dish in the middle). Shoik!

10 had fried nissin noodles with egg and vegetables while Ray had the same thing with chicken wings (which by the way came very very late... Me thinks the chicken wings flew themselves in from Brazil... that's why it took so long.)

A little trivial for you: Did you know I acted in 赤壁? I am sure you saw me. I was the guy who got stab (x5) while chionging... oh, and also the guy who got burned and ran around in a blaze of fire... oh and I also doubled for 梁朝伟...'s leg hair. Don't believe? I got picture to proof...

We met Leidia and her cousin in Lan Kwai Fong, a famous HK drinking place for (what else...DUH) drinks...

Think I drank a bit too much that night but don't you think the beer in Hong Kong look a lot bigger than in Singapore?

To clear the alcohol, we simply had to have supper after drinks... simply had to lor...

Next day, we went Lantau island to visit the Big Buddha Temple. I am sure that is not the name of the temple but it is what the temple is famous for. Check it out!

Ray had been a real good boy this past year... *Pat on your head! Well done!

Will conclude today's post with pictures from the Big Buddha cos I feel that they are really nice and well, a picture paints a thousand words right?

Stay tuned as Rayzilla, Fatty Tan and the Water Bottle Princess make their way to Shenzhen and Shanghai NEXT! (Que Music from "The Bund" ... Deng Deng Deng... Deng Deng Deng...)

Day 1 and 2 - Macau and Zhu Hai

2009-02-09T20:32:00.002+08:00

Ray, 10 and me left for our 10-day adventure on 30 Jan 2009. Here are the happy troopers!

It was 10's and my first experience taking a budget airline and we had prepared for the worst. It was not bad actually. It got us to our location on time and in one piece =).

Our first stop was Macau Airport.

Guess what??!! There is a Yaohan in Macau...

For those who don't know what Yaohan is, lucky for you...If you remember what Yaohan is, then you are my generation (or older) le... tee hee hee

We checked into our hotel in Zhu Hai and went in search of FOOD. P.S. you will see lots of pictures of food and us posing with food in the next few posts, so be prepared...

We had 煲仔饭 (Rice in Claypot) and for dessert, Mango Sago, Black Sesame paste and some egg thingie... It was GUUDDDD!!!

Now get this... even though Zhu Hai and Macau are seperated by a STREET... we had to clear customs every time we wanted to cross over to the other side. This was a mammoth task because...

of the 100000000000 people trying to cross over as well...

Do you know what Macau is famous for?

Egg Tarts?

Dong Ling Cha (Ice Lemon Tea)? Zhu Pa Bao (Pork Chop Sandwich)?

We had them all!!! Jealous or not...

We visited the Ma Zhu Ge (妈祖阁) next. Sailors used to pray for safety and protection in this temple before every voyage. Now, people bought windmills and offered it as a symbol of 风调雨顺 and 一路顺风.

After a temple, we visted a church on top of a hill... Didn't catch the name of the church though...

We were basking in the smoldering sunset...

when all of a sudden, in the distance, we spotted Rayzilla attacking an observation tower...

Who will save us? Will it be the King of Fighters, Fatty Tan?

Or 10 the Water Bottle Princess?

Casinos were next and we visited the Venetian, one of the newest and grandest casinos in Macau...

Cirque du Soliel was there but we didn't catch it cos it was too expensive and the timing did not fit our schedule.

Kua Dio Guee!!!

Didn't take much pictures in Zhu Hai cos we were too busy shopping and having massages. Do you believe that we went for body and foot massages at 11pm and finished at 3.30am? Shoik!

Didn't try this though... But I am sure if I tried it, I will have the 初恋的feel. 古人说得好：举头望明月，低头思故乡。好诗，好诗...

This is Lover's road in Zhu Hai.

This is the view of Macau from Zhu Hai.

Next Post: Hong Kong... Stay tuned!

元宵快乐！月圆人团圆。。。

2009-02-09T18:31:00.002+08:00

Happy Yuan Xiao (15th day of Chinese New Year) to all! According to Chinese tradition, this is a day of reunion when family get together and eat 汤圆。。。 Ironically I am in Beijing away from family, eating 泡面... Not too bad lar...

Chinese New Year is so different in Beijing... Everyone is letting off firecrackers and fireworks (YES... Fireworks!) even as I am blogging now... So COOL!! Sounds like a war happening out there man...

This is what I see from my window...

On a separate note, I arrived in Beijing last night via train from Shanghai. Took a cab from the train station and thought I could finally relax in the comfort of home after a 9 hour train ride. I opened the door only to find that there was no electricity at home.

In China, all the utilities (water, gas, ELECTRICITY) are prepaid and after a 1.5 month hiatus, I had "run out" of electricity... We tend to take things for granted and I learnt this the hard way yesterday. Without electricity, I had no TV, no internet, no lights. More importantly, without electricity, I had no heater and in turn, no heating and no hot water... My plans to relax at home had to be shut down literally. (Geddit, Geddit?? No sense of humor one...) I could only huddle under my blanket in the dark and wait for daylight... I never felt so homeless, albeit in my own home...hahaha...

Some of you may be thinking why I took a train from Shanghai... Well, I went for a 10-day trip covering, Macau, Zhu Hai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Su Zhou and Zhou Zhuang with my MBA buddy Raymond and my wife... Will blog about my experiences and post the pictures in my next few blogs... Look out for it... (Just like 赤壁 but more sequels.. hehe)

Homecoming...

2008-12-22T12:26:00.001+08:00

Going home tonight... Yay!

HELLO Singapore~

冬至 - Experiencing Winter solstice

2008-12-22T12:13:00.002+08:00

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice (冬至).

We only hear about Winter Solstice (冬至) in Singapore but never know what it is really like. To us, it may be just another rainy day on a hot sunny island.

冬至 is suppose to be midwinter, the start of a new year, the coldest day of winter. Indeed the temperature fell to (-9 degrees /-17 degrees) (day/night).

I went to school with wet hair but found the water in my hair froze and ice formed in my hair within a few minutes... 发如雪...

Oh ya, remember to eat your dumplings for 冬至 or your ears will fall off!!! I ate 12...muhaha... Ears are confirmed intact...

More than just a beer - Qingdao

2008-12-19T14:26:00.005+08:00

We had an opportunity to go to Qingdao for 3 days. The agenda included a factory visit, talk with the CEO and various members of the management staff. We also had chance to look at various accounting systems that they was using. It was an eye-opener indeed.

First impressions when we landed was that Qingdao looked very much like Singapore. It is a coastal area and there were really nice beaches around Qingdao.

The airport was small but clean and spacious.

The roads were not as crowded as Beijing and I noticed that not as many people were cycling in Qingdao. Drivers were also obeying traffic rules (probably because of the traffic cameras at every traffic light) and there was no horning. We proceeded to dinner and had our first Qingdao beer from Qingdao.

It tasted like... Qingdao. Not bad at all... Guess what I found in my hotel room...百闻不如一见。。。

Not cheap somemore... Cost 15 yuan per pack...

Our transport around Qingdao... It was a Buick..

Next day was a full day of factory visits, interviews and presentations and it totally tired us out. But check out our hotel that night... It was quite posh...

Don't ask me why I am wearing googles but I like this pic! =)

Qingdao also had lots of good food. Believe it or not, there are 300,000 Koreans in Qingdao and lots of good Korean food as well.

Service was also really good. I dropped my chopsticks and got a replacement in 2 seconds without even asking for one. Seafood was also an everyday part of the Qingdao diet. Lot of exotic seafood that I had never seen in my life. This was the ultimate... (not for the faint hearted...) I never eat!!!

Bird's Nest - A Chinese Delicacy...

2008-12-13T15:54:00.002+08:00

I woke up on Wednesday morning and it was snowing... well, sort of... just tiny flakes of snow falling but it was my first time seeing snow so I was pretty excited. I woke up early enough to see the ground covered in white but the snow melted after 10am.

It's been abut 4 months since I came Beijing but I have not been to the Bird's nest (olympic stadium) and the Water Cube (olympic swimming pool). Since I had no class that day, I decided to go with some friends. It was pretty convenient to get to the stadium and the water cube via train. Good thing also that the stadium and the cube are side by side.

The stadium...what a sight! Impressive piece of architecture, indeed!

This is a 7 star hotel, "Pang Gu" near the stadium. I think if I ever had the money to stay there and had to pay the hotel bill, I would also start seeing (7) stars...

To enter the stadium, you have to pay 50 yuan. Once in a lifetime opportunity so we paid to see how the bird's nest looked inside.

It wasn't as big as I had expected but it was cosy and very high tech. I heard the roof will close if there was rain. 麻雀虽小，五脏俱全。 Get it? 麻雀? Bird's nest? *Nudge Nudge Wink Wink... 真是不好笑。。。

Taking my first step onto the soccer pitch, I placed my right foot firmly just like Lionel Messi did. Wah, I am part of history... sort of... yay!

They had balloon figures of Fuwas(the mascots for the China Olympics) on the pitch which you could take photos with and also people in Fuwa costumes dancing around the stadium.

Attacked by Fuwa! Poor guy... After that, the same Fuwa painted himself red and attacked a cow... The Horror!

It was dark by the time that we were finished with the stadium. We moved on to the water cube. It's real pretty...

And it changes colour too!

Not sure what this is but it changes colour too! NICE~~

Well, that's 2 things off my checklist of "places I want to go in Beijing"...

最美。。。

2008-12-09T23:52:00.002+08:00

你的美无声无息
不知不觉让我追随
不记得何时动了情
彷徨失措从不后悔

你在我眼中是最美
每一个微笑都让我沉醉
你的坏你的好
你躺在沙发甜甜的睡
你在我心中是最美
只有相爱的人最能体会
你明了我明了
这种美妙的滋味。。。

卖火机的老男孩。。。

2008-12-04T22:11:00.003+08:00

Yesterday, it was still 9 degrees in the day and 0 degrees at night... Check out the temperature today! -13 degrees at night and -3 degrees in the day!

Even while wearing like this, the cold was piercing! Thinking if I should get something else cause I heard it's only gonna get colder...

先生，先生，要不要买一个火机吗？

A Taste of Singapore...

2008-11-30T23:04:00.002+08:00

Do you believe that there is a 老巴刹 in Beijing? Of course not... you siao (Crazy) arrr?

I went there twice in 2 weeks. Chicken rice, Laksa, 星洲米粉, Kaya Toast, Teh Terik, Kopi Peng, Chicken Curry... I had them all. All except Pandan Cake...

Felt a tear (only 1) flowing out of my left eye when I sunk my teeth into my first piece of Hainan (Beijing?) Chicken. A sip of Teh Terik... Shoik Untilll...

The restaurant is open by a Singaporean and the food is pretty authentic. It's my refuge from oily beijing food and watered down beer...

You can post comments on my blog le!

2008-11-30T22:59:00.002+08:00

You can post comments on my blog le! hmmm... didn't I just say that in the title? Must be getting old...

Exams are over... finally

2008-11-26T13:27:00.003+08:00

After 2 weeks of intensive Buddha's Leg hugging, the exams are finally over... I think I should be able to pass.

Just 1 more month before I am back to Singapore!

Can't wait...

This guy sang 西游记...

2008-11-19T23:41:00.003+08:00

You know the first techno song you ever heard! That one... "La La La La La La La La La... du du du du du du du du du du du du du du du..."

If you dunno, I sing to you next time...

KiaSi (怕死）+ KiaSu （怕输)

2008-11-19T23:32:00.003+08:00

We had a test today and were allowed to bring one piece of A4 paper with notes on it. Check out my piece of art... It served me pretty well!

I am Singapore! I am Singapore! I am KiaSi (怕死）and KiaSu （怕输) now and forever more!

落叶归根...

2008-11-19T23:15:00.003+08:00

It's winter in Beijing and 北大 is gorgeous! Colours everywhere...Green, blue and yellow... NICE!

But...I miss home and everyone at home...

我却像落叶归根
坠在你心间
几分忧郁
几分孤单
都心甘情愿
我的爱像落叶归根
家,唯独在你身边

Magic...

2008-11-17T15:20:00.002+08:00

This is 天坛, Tian Tan. It is where the past emperors of China went to pay homage and give thanks to the Jade Emperor, 拜天公...

I will now perform magic in front of your very eyes... I will make the temple you see in front of you disappear!

1...

2...

3...

Ta Da!!!

KUA DIO GUI AHHHHHH!!!! (见鬼了!)

Touch the wall over there and come back!

2008-11-17T15:12:00.004+08:00

From Great World of China 2008

No, it's not the army... It's the Great World of China. Anyways, a picture says a thousand words... Click on the pic above to see more of me and wifey's trip to becoming 两条好汉!

Enlightenment is....

2008-11-13T08:56:00.002+08:00

When you realise that the only reason why you are feeling so cold is because you did not turn on the heater...

I have been sitting in the cold for the past 2 weeks because the landlord told me that there was floor/ ceiling heating by the start of Nov. I was supposed to be very warm...

"别担心，十一月(heater)就让你暖得想把身上的衣服都扒掉!"

扒掉 my ass... Mid Nov, I was still shivering at home with my long john, sweater and all the shirts I could wear.

Till this morning... I woke up early to study for my Financial Accounting exam (which is at 1pm today). Maybe it's the 0 degrees weather or the fact that I was going to fail my exam that made me fiddle with this thing:

The "On" sign never looked so good!

I LOVE MY HEATER!!!

Quote of the Day

2008-11-10T01:55:00.003+08:00

Quote of the day from my fren to my other fren:

"你去周杰伦的concert都不跟我们讲，大便的时候就马上跟我们说。真够朋友！"

BLEAAAHHHHH!!!!

Love is

2008-11-05T23:23:00.003+08:00

COFFFEEEEE!!!!! (think I had too much mocha just now...)

I made the heart shape myself hor... My wife took the pic!

COLD COLD COLD COLD COLD!

2008-11-05T23:07:00.002+08:00

肉粽... that's how I feel like everyday. It's like 3 degrees every night over here...

Beside underwear (grandfather kind), this is what I wore to school today:

T-shirt
Long-John
Jeans
Sweater
Big Furry Jacket
Gloves
Cap

In the end, I look like this:

P.S. The beer is for warmth... I don't drink much... get drunk too easily...Muhahah!

她走了。。。

2008-10-28T21:05:00.002+08:00

It's been a great (abeit short) 5 days. Never realised how much I missed you until I saw you...

I look forward to December...

Indian Movie...

2008-10-22T23:02:00.003+08:00

They are showing a Indian Movie now and It's prime time... The movie is called:

or Spice Boys...

They have chinese subtitles for everything... even the 30 mins song and dance segments.... Thing is the movie is alredy dubbed in Chinese leh... Maybe they scared Indians in Beijing don't understand Chinese... better put some chinese subtitles so Indians in Beijing can understand better. Very considerate.

Oh... and I even heard Sandy Lam's "至少还有你" in the show...

十月二十二日。。。雨

2008-10-22T22:01:00.004+08:00

窗外雨天了
呼吸沉重的
我的心开始想你了

秒针嘀嗒着
时间摸索着
皮包的照片早已皱皱了
天渐渐亮了
人是期盼的
要何时能再见你呢？

日历二二了
心情起飞了
我想你的旅程也要开始了
感觉你心跳变得靠近了
是你来了？
是你来了！

我把灯灭了
电视静止了
在脑中你影子已停不住了
天虽下雨了
人是很快乐
睁开眼看你微笑着。。。

My wife is coming to Beijing tomorrow! Yay!

Overheard in a Computer Lab in PKU..

2008-10-17T18:36:00.002+08:00

My project team was having a discussion in the computer lab when we were approached by a random china girl. She asked us to help her word her resume. After helping her, the following conversation ensued:

ME: There you go! Your resume sounds great now. (notices her perfect GPA of 4.0 out of 4.0). WOW! You got a perfect score for your University course!

Korea Friend: WOW! That's CRAZY man!

Chinese Girl: (Smiles and thinks for a reply)... No, No... Not CRAZY Just very SMART!

Me and Korea Friend shocked... thinks about it then laughs out loudly...

After 5 mins, China girl turns to us and says "Were you laughing at me?"

We laugh even louder!

Random Rants...

2008-10-15T00:18:00.003+08:00

Lunch at an Indian Restaurant in Beijing? Impossible? Check this out... It comes complete with bollywood movies and music... Food was GOOOD!

After lunch, I had a project meeting. My friend brought a totally amazing highlighter. It smells like vanilla and every different color has a different smell. Hope the brown color one dun smell like.... We (the 6 of us) spent 5 mins smelling the highlighter. The eraser has a smell too. It just smells like rubber.

The most boring 3 hour class was up next. I spent 2.5 hours trying to stay awake and 0.5 hour playing games. There was this very interesting online game. The purpose was to make sushi for customers and make money. If you make the wrong kind of sushi, it will turn into poo (da bian, shit). Check out what my friend did... a whole conveyor belt of POO!

After class, I went for Tachi. I never thought taichi could be so tiring and painful. Maybe I am growing old but I quite like it and I think I will stick with it...

Quite an interesting day if I do say so myself...

SIBEI SIANZ...

2008-10-13T12:01:00.003+08:00

Statistics Pop Quiz and I got 2 out of 5... crap...

I am also totally confused about statistics man.... level of confidence is 95% that my morale is between 0 and 0.1... and I have a mid term for financial accounting after this... great morale booster!

oh well, as my teacher says, if you are STILL confused, read the book! DUH....

Winter creeps in...

2008-10-09T23:26:00.002+08:00

It's freaking 9 degrees Celsius tonight... Cold untillll.... Was blowing smoke when I left school at 9pm just now.

Weather report says it will be 7 degrees tomorrow night...

Brrrr......

Wake -> School -> Home -> Sleep

2008-10-08T21:00:00.002+08:00

That is exactly what I am doing everyday. Lots of readings (which I simply have no time to do), presentations and a mid term next monday... Sianz...

Anyways, if Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee opened a cafe, who will win?

Maybe eat there will 打通我的ren du 二脉 leh...

Happy National Day!

2008-10-03T09:52:00.002+08:00

It's National Day in China and everyone in China gets a 1 week holiday starting from 1 Oct 2008. It's a bad time to go to the usual sight seeing spots like Tian An Men or the Great Wall but a great time to take a side trip to the country side for a stay on a farm stead and do some rural activities.

That is exactly what the 11 of us decide to do.

The trip to the farm required us to drive pass the Great Wall. A 2-hour trip took us 4 hours instead as there was a jam in the stretch of roads leading up to the Great Wall.

People were getting out of the cars to walk and enjoy the cool air and they were walking faster than the cars.

We managed to get a preview of the Great Wall. I wil probably make a trip there when it is off peak session.

After a 4 hour trip, we finally arrived. The place was not too bad (at least it was sort of clean). It had 4 bed rooms and a seperate courtyard for meals and entertainment.

At least the food is good.

We had a choice to eat fresh mutton that evening. They ordered 1. A few of us (including me) decided not to. I guess you would understand why.

Finally the highlight of the day: Horse riding!

This is my first horse: 大黑。He is strong and sturdy but very spoilted. He kept running back to his mama and I couldn't stop him. So in the end, my friends left and 大黑 and I were still circling at the original spot.

Check out my leg protection thingie. So cowboy... Yee Harr..

This is 康西草原. It was a flat area where people could ride horses, buggies and other off road vehicles.

We took a break beside the lake and that was where we decided to change horses. My friend's horse was too small for him and mine was too big for me to control.

MY new horse was an small, old fella but he was quite obedient and a nice horse. Fell in love with him the moment I started riding.

We rode for about 3 hours and the effects of horse riding would only be felt 2 days later. Back ache, Backside ache, leg ache... Every thing ache!

This is how lamb looks like when cooked. I was glad I didn't eat it.

It was a good trip and we were all tired at the end of the 2 day journey. I returned home at 4pm yesterday and slept till this morning 9am.

Overheard in a POSH Cinema!

2008-09-29T23:15:00.002+08:00

I went to watch "Painting Skin" with friends after class today. The tickets cost 55 yuan which is more than 11 SGD. More expensive than Singapore... The seat was cushy and the seating was good. Then the movie began and my nightmare started. The 2 girls behind me started talking LOUDLY the moment the movie began.

Auntie A: 你看,你看, 他们要kiss了！
Auntie B: WAH!

Eh Aunties, we can watch ourself. Cannot talk before or after movie meh? Must talk during the movie har?

The best is yet to be...

Nine Tail Wolf: 生哥，你爱我吗?
Sheng Ge: 我只爱我的夫人。。。
Nine Tail Wolf and Sheng Ge looks at each other longingly

Ah Pek: KKKRRRRAAAPPPPPUIII!

Wah Lau, Uncle ah, at least spit softly lar.

Don't think I will be going to a theatre or Carrefour anytime soon...

A message for my wife.

2008-09-28T22:52:00.002+08:00

Wish you were here...

Nothing to blog about...

2008-09-27T19:39:00.002+08:00

I have absolutely nothing to blog about.

Past few days was all about school and homework and have been most uneventful. I stayed at home the whole day today, watching tv, snacking and idling. I don't intend to look at any books or homework, not for today at least.

Dinner was instant noodles and sausage. The sausage can be eaten straight from the packaging but i used hot water to boil it just in case. This is still China, if you know what i mean. The meal was not fantastic but at least I won't go hungry. Thinking of an orange and/or a packet of Doritos later...hehehe

Check out my pet fish. He is pretty!

I will be collecting my passport tomorrow and probably do some shopping. One pair of shoes just isn't enough.

It's good to just do nothing for a day.

人情味。。。

2008-09-24T21:26:00.003+08:00

The weather is turning cold here and it's raining almost everyday. Bad weather = bad traffic. Getting to school is a mini adventure everyday.

I can't take the train because its too crowded. I mean it's surreal... The door could close only if the people behind me pushed me into the train. Else my butt will be sliced off by the uncompromising train door.

Once inside the train, I am faced with another problem. 人情味! Body Odour! It is so bad you can't even imagine how it is like. I remember vividly that I was facing an armpit for a whole 10 mins. I couldn't move away as it was too crowded. When I could move and turn away, I was confronted by another armpit. I gave up after 2 more attempts and various armpits. I saw a poor girl trapped in a forest of armpits and could have sworn that her face was green.

I can't take the bus because each bus take more than 30 mins to arrive. Even if they do, I may not be able to get up the bus. Even if I do get up the bus (and face more armpits), the bus can't move because it is stuck in a jam 2km long (not joking, it is real). People WALKED faster than the buses, cars and taxis.

My only choice, then, would be to cycle to school. But as I mentioned previously, it's getting cold and rains almost every day. So you can imagine how I look like by the time I get to school after a 1 hour bicycle ride in the rain and wind.

Luckily I was forwarding thinking so I waterproofed my laptop before I left home. Being the (brilliant) MBA student that I am and a staunch supporter of the modern technology, I present to you, the next BIG thing in waterproofing of laptops:

The Cold St0r4ge plastic bag (I am classy and refused to use N%&C):

I also decided to get a raincoat. No more looking like a drop soup chicken, I thought. I will be sexy and handsome when i reach school, I mused. I decided to 宠一宠自己, and get the most expensive (and only available) one, Not cheap hor, $25 yuan (5 bucks!).

Do I look like a giant blue condom? Sexy...

Overheard in Carrefourr (家乐福)．

2008-09-22T00:54:00.003+08:00

KKKKRRRAAA PPPUUIIII! (A woman actually spat on the floor near the instant noodles section in Carrefourr).

Ah Teck and friends drops the 4 tubs of 杯面 they had wanted to buy and runs away.

Overheard in a Class Room...

2008-09-22T00:50:00.006+08:00

A classmate introduces himself to the class:

Classmate:
“大家好！我是ＸＸＸ！我曾在ＹＹＹ公司做ＵＦＯ！＂

Ah Teck: (Muttering)　Kua Dio Gui 阿！

He meant "Chief Finance Officer (CFO)"...

满城尽带Ka-Me-Ra!

2008-09-21T22:43:00.003+08:00

Guessed where I went yesterday? I signed up for this day tour with my friends and we spent the morning and afternoon at Tian An Men and the Forbidden City. We were led by a tour guide who had participated as a tour guide during the olympics. Her english was pretty good.

Tian An Men square is, like its name suggests, a big square surrounded by nice building and monuments.

There were lots of tourists walking around and the guides needed a way to recognise their charges. Can you guess what it is?

This is the first gate into the Forbidden City. There are 2 gates before you can reach the outer court. Chairman Mao looks on as thousands of tourists walk pass his gate everyday. The irony: Tourists in the Forbidden City! Not so forbidden any more...lol

"来人啊！给我托出午门斩!" This is 午门.

After 午门, we get into the palace proper. This is where the emperor got down to business, where he conducted his meetings with his officials. This is 太和殿.

This is the emperor throne. I had to squeeze, push and jostle to get this shot.

Next, we move on to the middle court. This was the place where the emperor rested before his court sessions, his "rest room", get it? "REST ROOM", get it?

This is the inner court. This is where the emperor rested with his 后宫三千。 Lucky Lucky!

This is 御花园, a place where the concubines, princesses and empress chilled and caught butterflies. I never thought that I would actually be in a place where I only heard about in the chinese period movies. And this is not 姥姥 hor!

I think we spent about 5 hours walking around the palace. We were pretty tired but happy by the end of the tour. Those are my MBA classmates.(The little boy in the corner? He is not my MBA classmate. Didn't do too well for GMAT i heard.. just joking!)

Final few shots before I left the place. Enjoy!

Welcome to Peking University!

2008-09-18T11:24:00.006+08:00

I went to school at 8am this morning to do my VISA and it was utter chaos. The whole farce began yesterday but to keep the long story short, I concluded that it was faster to extend my VISA at the Immigrations Office myself. I'll probably do it next week or something.

So now I have 3 hours to kill before lesson begins. I decided to whip out my camera, take some pictures and bring you guys on a quick campus tour of Peking University.

The school has multiple entrances but as the Paralympics/ Olympics ping pong events were held in PKU, the gates are heavily guarded and only staff, students and spectators are allowed to enter the University.

The building in the background is the place where the ping pong events were staged. It's still cordoned off and this is the closest I can get without getting shot at by the police. Yes...There is a police station (not security guards) in the University.

The campus is clean and green but one thing you will notice is the vast number of bicycles parked everywhere. There are 2 types of bicycles in china. One is powered by electricity and you charge it as you would charge a handphone. The second is, of course, thigh powered.

This is one of the numerous canteens on campus. The food is not fantastic and service is crap but you can't really expect much when the most expensive item on the menu costs only 5 RMB (about 1SGD). A hot soya bean drink will set you back about 1RMB (20 cents).You pay using a stored value card.

This is the School CoOp. Check out the Old School notebook I am going to use. So primary school sia! Beside the normal things you may expect to find on a University Campus, there are also shops selling fresh produce from the farms, a shop selling bicycles and numberous banks and shops selling hot water bottles and buckets.

This is the PKU Library. It is the largest Library in Asia or so I am told. Looks BIG! I don’t think I will be spending much time there. Libraryphobia!~

If you have nothing to do in the evenings, you can also catch a movie on campus. There is a theatre on campus and tickets costs about 10RMB (thats SGD2!). They are showing Iron Man, Kungfu Panda and Red Cliff now. The only catch about the movies may be Robert Dowey Jr speaking Chinese instead of English. Seriously!

Another unique thing about PKU is the large number of parents following their (undergraduate) kids around. I saw a dad walk his son to the toilet to get hot water! Parents helping their 20 year-olds check their sitting arrangements prior to class is also a common sight here.

So are caucasians speaking perfect chinese (better than mine at least). There is one beside me in the cafe right now. But that is another story altogether.

I leave you with some of the sights of PKU.

"No Name Lake"

The entrance of a temple. Can't find the rest of the temple though.

Shaoyuan Dorm

Finally, the infamous "one Legged Monster".

One Legged Monster

2008-09-17T00:26:00.002+08:00

Overheard from a campus tour in Peking Uni-

Tour guide: 这是我们以前的讲堂，讲堂前有只独角兽！
BC (blur classmate) looks at the statues, confused.
BC: Eh Ah Teck, what is he talking about? This monster got 4 legs... not 1 leg leh...
Ah Teck: (muttering)... "jiao" means horn lar... not legs...
BC: ...

真幽默！~

Hot Wheels!

2008-09-14T17:45:00.002+08:00

I bought my set of wheels this afternoon. It's not Toyota, not Subahru, not a Ferrari. It's something better...Tadah!~

Its a "forever" (永久） brand bicycle. It comes fully equipped with 2 locks and 1 basket. The basket even has a Opel/ Olympic logo in the front. I would have opt for a Hello Kitty logo but it would have cost me another 10 RMB (joking lar!) This sweet pair of wheels cost me 350RMB and I hope no one steals it... (I have heard many stories of stolen bicycles or bicycles that became unicycles (after 1 wheel got stolen).

I bought the bicycle with my classmates. This dialogue ensued. I am refering to my classmate as BC (Blur Classmate) to save him from certain embarassment and the sales person as Ah Beng (cos he looked like one).

Ah Beng: 这个牌子好！是永久的! (This brand is good! It's forever!)
BC: 我们不需要永久的，我们只住一年啊！(I don't need one that lasts forever! I am staying here for 1 year only.)
Ah Beng: ...
Ah Teck (that's me): (Muttering) He is talking about the brand of the bike lar!
BC:...

It takes me about an hour to cycle from school to home. I know because I just did that this evening. It's a little scary because the bicycle lane is shared by buses and cars stopping, battery powered bicycles as well as motorbikes and pedestrains... makes me wonder why they call it a bicycle lane anyway. But I much prefer my new found freedom than squeezing on the bus or MRT. Don't worry, guys! I will be extra vigilant on the road.

Remember your first day of School?

2008-09-12T10:33:00.003+08:00

Yesterday was the first day of school. We had the whole day to register and I chose to register in the afternoon as I expected the morning to be crowded. I was right. I met up 2 classmates in school and registration was a breeze and it was over in an hour or so. Another classmate told us that he heard of a student and her father arriving for registration at 3am. They had thought accomodations on campus were on a first come first serve basis. Little did they know that acommodations were allocated on a completely random basis and true enough, the student was not allocated accomodations. Guess which country they were from... You guessed it! They were from Singapore. Too bad they cannot write to an MP to appeal...HAHAHA

Can you spot the irony in the following pictures?

The goverment advises the people to take the buses and the people responds positively, too positively. How do you take the bus when every bus is packed like a can of sardines? I got onto one and nearly suffocated. Imagine 100 people (literally) in a bendy bus! I gave up in the end and stopped somewhere close to my house. I walked the rest of the way, about the distance between Yishun and Sembawang. Surefire way of losing weight!

I will be going for outdoor training organised by the school this afternoon and will only be back tomorrow evening. I hope the training does not require anything with strenuous. Don't wanna lose my beer tummy that I have been working on for so long.

Like Sardines...

2008-09-10T20:57:00.003+08:00

That's how these people must have felt. Imagine a Bus terminal the size of a bus stop. Now put that bus terminal beside a MRT station that has pedestrian traffic like City Hall during peak hours. That's a perfect receipe for human sardines. There was no bus schedule for the buses to follow. It was peak hour and I waited 45 mins in the rain for my bus, 448. Meanwhile 7 "449" have come and gone. IT would have taken me 30 mins to get home. In the end, it took me nearly 2 hours. An adventure which I would have to go through for the next 10 months.

At least dinner was good. I had dinner with my classmate at a restaurant. Cost us only 20 SGD but it was so much we had to da bao. There was even fresh icecream and white fungus soup. Yummy!~

Pop Quiz: Is this a fire extinguisher or a gas cylinder? I also dunno... haha

Tomorrow is registration day and I am pretty excited. I hope my tuition fee arrives tomorrow so I can register successfully.

Day 6 and I am still alive!

2008-09-09T00:50:00.007+08:00

No, I am not dead. I finally got my internet connection after harassing my landlord for the past 5 days...haha.. A quick recap of my journey so far...

Day 1: Wife and friends send me off at Changi Airport. After a 9 hour flight, I finally arrived at Beijing Airport. No delays in Thailand despite the declaration of state of emergency. I am soon whisked off to my apartment by my contacts in Beijing. After dropping off my lugguage, we drive to a nearby supermarket where I bought a few things which I did not bring from Singapore (like pillow and blanket etc...). Dinner was at a beijing restaurant where we had spicy food. I did not feel my tongue or lips for the next 2 days...

Day 2: Took some pictures of my apartment before I left the house. Met up with a classmate who had also just arrived from Singapore. Bought an Ezlink card (one MRT ride only cost 2 RMB. A bus ride cost 1RMB. Siaoz bo!) Set up my bank account with the Bank of China. I also needed to register at a police station. For the next 2 days, I would visit 3 different police stations and get differing instructions on what must be done in order for a foreigner to be registered. Anyhoo, when i arrived at the first police station, it was lunch time and I was shooed away by the angry/hungry-looking admin girl. When I returned after lunch, I was told that I could not do it there and must do it at a police station near my place of residence. After some advice from my contact, I went in search of the police station near my apartment. The 2nd station was very obscure and I had to take a "black taxi" (illegal ones that even the locals dare not take) as the legal ones did not know how to get there. What irony - taking a illegal taxi to a police station. My registration was rejected again because they needed my landlord to be there with her passport and deed. BAH!

Day 3 - After consulting my contact, I decided to register at the police station near her estate instead. She would register as my landlord and all would be well. Simple right? Right... all that stood between me and the 3rd police station was 22 MRT stops, 4 station changes, a (legal) taxi ride and 1 hour plus of commuting. They live in a condo penthouse and the place looks great. We register sucessfully at the 3rd police station. Yay~ Oh... I just found out that I am an Alien... cool!

Day 4 - I miss home, wife, friends and brandy already...I am more or less settled so I went sightseeing. I took a bus to Peking University. No entry for the public due to the ongoing paralympics. Walked around this place called Wang2 Fu2 Jin3 for the most part of the afternoon. Check out the pictures, Bata and Breadtalk in Beijing... and I even saw a pirated BATA called "TATA" and a pirated crocodile/ lacoste brand named "clio coddle" though looked more like an iguana to me. Ended the day at Walmart where I bought trashbags and hangers. Took a picture of the "Black Taxis" waiting for customers at night... Scary...

Day 5 - Didn't feel like walking around so I went to an internet cafe at Wu3 Dao4 Kou3, did my homework and window shopped a little. My landlord called me and told me she helped me to apply for internet at my apartment. For this month, internet charges are by the minute, $0.05RMB per min to be exact. Went home at around 5pm to test it out. I can finally skype, msn and blog! Did my homework till 1am and have been blogging since. I have yet to complete my work which is due tomorrow. I like living dangerously. hehe!

Another day, another adventure... ALIEN POWER!

Next Stop... Beijing...

2008-09-04T07:09:00.003+08:00

At the airport. Its my turn. =). See you in Beijing...

Sembwang Tan and the State of Emergency (que whip cracking...whhiitchx!)

2008-09-02T11:39:00.005+08:00

Why would a state of Emergency in Bangkok affect my trip to Beijing? That's because I am taking a Thai Airways flight and will be transiting at the Bangkok airport. Let's hope things work out in the next 2 days. My faith in humanity is being tested even before I step foot on Beijing...

Sidenote: My buddy from Peking University emailed me yesterday. He is a journalist in China whose specialisation is on Chinese Politics and is doing his part time MBA with Peking University.

Time to Pack!!!

2008-09-01T00:13:00.005+08:00

I will be leaving for Peking University for my MBA on 4 Sep 2008. We (wife and I) took 2 hours to pack the stuff needed for a year long journey. The end result? 2 pieces of check-in luggage and a backpack...

Packing socks and underwear(s?) was the easy part. Packing up feelings of anxiety, excitement and dread (of leaving family and friends)... Now THAT is not so easy...

I will miss you!~

First post - From my Wife

2008-08-31T21:29:00.002+08:00

This marks the start of the journey to Peking.

All the very best, dear :)