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.....

Gathering on X'mas eve 2009...

I know its already waaaaay over Christmas but I only managed to get pictures today, hence the late update...
This group of friends will always be dearest.. Have known them since I was 10.. Nice eh.. Having gatherings with them is always nice and fun.. Brings back a lot of old memories and at the same time creating new ones.. *Grinz* I will miss them when I go away...
Last year's gathering was at Veron's new place @ Compass Heights.. Nice function rooms they have, but just a tad too complicated to get to it.. LOL.. Much easier if you just go straight in from the outside. You would be completely lost once inside the compound. Food was good.. the cake was great.. *yummie* chocolate cake from the Hilton... *winks* Sometimes when we have gatherings, I always have this feeling that I'm growing too old too fast.. keke.. Looking at the kids.. woah.. what have I been doing for the last few years? *giggle* With thanks to Feryl, I have some pictures of that nite....But i just realized that we didn't take any group photos... shucks!! We have to take one.. at least one....

KL Trip 2010

Had a great trip to KL over the weekend. Eat and shop till you drop.. Actually I haven't done this much walking for a loooooong time.. keke... We had to get to the airport by 6am so I practically didn't sleep for most of the night.. Mikka called me grouchy.. LOL I had to admit cos I was really tired and I didn't dare to sleep for fear of not being able to wake up.. Poor me... Love the bed too much.. All was fine, caught a cab, picked up Adrian and Jo and we were headed for the airport. The best thing about Jetstar Asia is the flight takes off from Terminal 1 instead of the sucky budget terminal in which my opinion is - even Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal looks nicer... *giggle* After we checked-in, we headed over to Delifrance to catch a cup of morning coffee and some food. There was this local guy in the queue behind us. He gave his order to the aunty behind the counter -"An egg croissant please".. guess what was the reply? "HAH? 8 Kosong??" We nearly flipped and that guy was so embarrassed. When on earth did Delifrance started selling pratas or did she think he wanted 8 plain croissants? *ROFL* Singapore Changi Airport should really take note of hiring people who can speak better English. To speak, it is supposed to be an International Airport and what? Best in the world? (Or has it been overtaken?) Anyway, that was just a prelude to a happy and fun trip. We slept all the way and the flight was so short it felt just like taking a bus from Yishun to Bedok.. keke.. When we touched down at KLIA, we were a little lost as we had to take a Skytrain to the main immigration block. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze... early morning crowd?? Feels like work huh? =P After a round of looking for our check-in luggage (cos there were simply too little as most people brought hand-carry) we finally cleared immigration and made our way to the hotel to check-in. We stayed at the Coronade Hotel, the location is awesome if you wanna shop shop shop n shop.. LOL It is situated directly opposite Sungei Wang Plaza and within walking distance to most of the shopping malls around that area. The minute we settled the hotel check-in we headed behind the street to have the long missed Bak Kut Teh (Herbal Pork Rib Soup) *Yummie* and after that.. needless to say.. walking all over the place to explore.. I really have no idea how many times we actually visited Times Square. I found the very talked-about 'Krispy Kreme Donut' that Keani is crazy over (Hey babe, u have yours in the States, I have mine in KL =P ) There is one setback during this trip.. I never got on that rollercoaster in the Cosmo's World Indoor Theme Park right inside Times Square itself.. Lach!! They only sell the package entrance tickets which I don't have time for.. I will be back... wait for me rollercoaster... keke.. Other than shopping.. we also drank like crazy.. I could never imagine that we could finish 3 beer towers... keke... Food is great too.. We managed to find the 'famous' Marmite Crab after some searching and well... the taste is not fantastic but something very different from what we normally have.. good!! *Thumbs Up* We should do this again sometime.. keke...

My Little Pup...

I realized that I never put pics of my little cutie on my blog before... Come to think of is, I'm a baaaad mommy.. keke... Since its Christmas and my mom donned my little one into a Christmas tree look alike, I'd just share a few pictures... keke...

Girl's Nite Out...

Had a little dinner cum drinks outing with Karen and Lucy last Friday.. If you are ever thinking of stuffing yourself silly, or simply just feel like 'pigging out', a good recommendation would be Vienna International Seafood & Teppanyaki Restaurant. They have a good mixture of Japanese, Chinese and Western selection for you to satisfy your stomach. My favourite pick would be the cakes and desserts ending the meal with a nice cup of hot tea. Price is also quite reasonable @ S$36.80++ per pax (for Fri/Sat/Sun & P.Holidays). If you wanna dine there, especially if you have a big group, it is advisable to call in advance for reservations. We were put on the waiting list for a day before we finally managed to confirm a table for just the 3 of us. After dinner, we decided to take a walk in the mall to help digest a little. However, only after awhile, we ended up in a little cosy pub just a few doors down the restaurant. The Brauhaus Restaurant & Pub is a great place if you wanna have a nice chat and a few good drinks. Music is not too loud so you do not have to scream your lungs out when you wanna talk to someone else. Their all-time favourite on the menu would be of course the Pork Knuckles but we had no more space for food. Maybe we will try it another time. The most attractive thing for this pub would be the wide selection of beers from Germany, Belgium, Australia, India, Japan, Jamaica, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Morocco, Namibia, France, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, UK, USA and I really dunno where else.. LOL.. I have no idea who else in Singapore can beat this range...

** Mikka.. have to bring you and Yogi here.. Think you guys would like the place.. keke

i-Phone

                                 (Pic of i-Phone taken with my N97... haha...)

Today, I brought Mikka's 'brick' down to town to try to get it fixed. Yes.. the darling i-Phone that Mikka got from Karen the last time he was in town... Was really a wild goose chase. I first took the phone to the service centre in Wheelock Place and when I got there, they told me cos Singtel is no longer the sole distributor of the i-Phone, I have to go back to Singtel to get the phone fixed.. Terrible terrible.. Orchard Road (although on a weekday) in the afternoon.. Gosh.. crazy crowds.. Don't these people have to work? keke.. Managed to hop on a cab to Comcentre which was only on the other side of Orchard but I paid around 7 bucks for taxi fare.. And when I finally got to the Singtel there.. Queued for probably 10mins and the service guy told me 'please go over there and take a seat, come back in 15mins'.. ok.. be it.. went to take a seat.. after that, another 15mins.. and another 10.... While I was sitting and waiting, I couldn't help but notice that the 'Q' for i-Phone repair/servicing was never ending.. The people just came and came.. Hmm.. seems to me that the i-Phone really has lots of problems.. keke.. Good luck 'Apfel' lovers...
When they finally decided to 'entertain' me a little about the phone, they tried to restore the software.. Another 15 mins... then they told me.. Your phone cannot be restored, think its a hardware problem. He didn't offer me any solution until I asked what am I gonna do with a non-usable phone.. They had to replace a new one to me isn't it? After checking with his supervisor, he came back and asked me a real stoopid question whether do I want to exchange this for a new phone.. OF COURSE!! If not why am I there in the first place??? Gosh... sometimes these customer service people really drive you nuts... At the end of the day, I went off with a brand new i-Phone.. so, its still more or less worth the trip down..
Lucky Mikka.. New i-Phone for Christmas... keke...