Travel Journal - Day 1 Shenzhen

26.02.10 
Left the house at 4.30am in the wee hours of the morning. Mikka was sweet enough to keep me company right until I left the house (alright.. his timing is perfect cos he can go to bed after that.. keke) Hit straight for Terminal 2 and checked in shortly after 5am. After I got on the plane, I fell asleep almost immediately (no sleep for the night is terrible) until the stewardess 'screamed' at me asking what I wanted to have for breakfast.... (Damn it! Who needs breakfast when they can sleep... =P ) I had the suckiest chicken gravy fried rice on the plane.. Totally not nice... so much so for SQ/MI food... However, I did see something to brighten up my 'not so desirable' morning... Mountains of clouds..... Very nice... didn't have the chance to sneak out my camera though as the plane was about to land. Immigration was kinda fasat as there were only like what? 2 planes that landed..... Hmm..... But I have to say that these Chinese people should really consider building some toilets inside the "Before Clearance" area. My bladder was bursting cos I don't like to use the plane toilets (if I really can avoid it) but was told that the toilets are only available after clearance out in the arrival hall.... The worse part is the luggage screening guy was not paying attention and I had to 're-scan' my luggage for the second time before I could finally make it out... Geez....
Along the way from the Airport to the hotel, all I see is buildings buildings and more buildings... Never realized that Shenzhen is also a 'concrete jungle' like Singapore. Not only that, I hear from Dennis that the prices of the houses are comparable to that of Singapore, if not, more expensive even. Wow... how can the prices of a home be so unaffordable...
After checking into the hotel - Century Plaza Hotel - we went for lunch at one of the rice noodle shop along the street near the hotel where most locals go. Food tastes good but I never felt so pressurized to eat in my life... It was unfortunately lunchtime and I had like at least 10 or more people standing around me wishing me to finish and get out... I couldn't even finish my food in the end.
Went up to Dennis' office after that to say hello to Clara and Leo. Didn't stay very long there though. Went to Dongmen to start my hunt for stuff. The area is quite large and there are abundance of shops doing wholesale. I dunno if it was because I was too tired or the things there are not that appealing to me. In the end, after 3 hours of so of endless walking (ouch! my feet hurts), I did not manage to get much things. Went back to the hotel tired and disappointed. Put down my stuff and headed over to Dennis' office again. We went for dinner at a Hunan Restaurant cos I never tried Hunan dishes. Spicy but different from Szechuan dishes. I would rate this better. Returned to the hotel after that. The time was barely 8 but I was too tired to do anymore walking. Thought of going for a massage but changed my mind in the end so I ended up writing this in a notebook that I bought for 2 bucks today... LOL...

** Going for a holiday alone is no fun... I especially miss Mikka.
Tomorrow, I will go to Hua Qiang Bei. Lets hope I can get everything there.. If not I will have to go back to Dongmen to run around again.....