China!

I cannot title it as Shanghai Shanghai because I didn't spend all 8 days in Shanghai. So I can only title it as China! The trip was an eye-opener. The first 5 days were more of a history lesson than a holiday. Learnt more Chinese history than I ever did in the past years that I did history. Wahahahahha. Learnt about our Chinese ancestors, the life they paid in order for us Chinese people to have what we have now. I have more respects for our forefathers after the trip. After knowing what they went through so that the later generations can have a better life. I've written down what I could remember. Some I've forgotten, my brain can only take so much. Lots of pictures ahead, if you're not interested in the history behind the photographs, you can just scroll through. But if you are, have a read. Such a nightmare posting up so many photos. My kuku passport photo. Going to expire liao! They serve century egg porridge in KFC! Yummy! Very cheap too! Only about $1 SGD! Jay Chou endorses Capico! Some potato strips I think. On the MagLev train. It's short for Magnetic Levitation. Once the train is activated, the entire length of the train will be levitated by the magnetic field of the tracks. Or something like that. My aunt is just DELIGHTED to be on it. At 8.18 it's 0km/h. In less than 17 minutes, it has reached its maximum speed, 431 km/h. It's even faster than Japan's bullet train. This trip, I have Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code for company! Very intriguing read. Go read it if you have the chance. Exciting. I finished it within a day only put it down when I was eating. Ugly lok-kok cab in Suzhou. Super cannot make it food in Suzhou. If I have to stay there for long, I think I'll only have bones left. Dunno what dish. Looks like a super big bowl of cheng teng Pagoda! Went to the temple! 3 gongs on the ancient bell for a smooth year ahead! Big fierce looking dog guarding the temple. Small cute dog also guarding the temple. Water village. 100 year old bridge? I love this shop!!!! Because they sell yummy yummy yummy sheng jian bao!! Wowweee!!! The sheng jian bao shi fu at work! It's hard work to cook these k. I want to look out of my window and see this! So nice! Can you imagine what it's like in winter? *dreams* I wished they'll sell this in Singapore. Very nice leh! Argh. I should have bought more. *smacks self* I have a seal that has my name in Chinese! Heh heh. This particular batch of photos is immensely boring. Hence I shall only put up a collage. We're at the silk factory. They say this factory has the best silk in the whole of China. Don't know bullshit or not. But the silkworms in this factory produce some of the best silk around. And they have this cocoon that has TWO instead of one silkworm in it. So this two-silkworm cocoon produces a weavelike silk which has been used to make the Empress Dowager's birthday clothes. Very rare. Oh and the last two are photos of a mannequin in the shop. Hahahhaha. I just thought they looked funny. At Wu Zhen, this quaint little town where the people are still living in houses that have been built more than 5 decades ago. Looks super depilated, but they have basic facilities like electricity, running water and best of all, MAHJONG!!! Ha ha ha. And if I were to rely on their fire department.. I'll do better putting out the fire myself. Hahahahah. At the Long Jing Tea Plantation. The guy is cooking tea leaves in a wok that's 120deg celsius with his BARE HANDS. They say this is so that he will be aware of the temperature changes because the tea leaves have to be cooked at a certain temperature to retain its nutritional values. Ooh, and the lady who did the explanation, has a super TEH voice. I nearly died listening to her speak. -_- Lei Feng Pagoda. Where Madam White Snake was pinned under by evil priest Fa Hai. That toopid botak. Mummy and me. It's really cold. I love water reflections. So artistic hor? A white peacock! Karen thinks they have cancer, that's why they're white. -_- But I think they're just albino peacocks. A rectangular leaf! Wow! They have all sorts of weird stuff in China. Hahaha. Big ass chrysanthemums. Saw this at the car park when we were leaving the park. ha ha ha ha. A sleeping bus! Sunsets early in China in autumn months. This is only about 5.30pm. Love the lights and the Chinese buildings. MacDonald's is everywhere! Overheard at the airport, this ang moh telling another ang moh, "I'm still trying to find a country that doesn't have Macdonald's." Mao Ze Dong! Hello! One of the many many many flyovers they have in China. And it's really flyover. So much higher than Singapore's flyovers. Hahaha. The model of the Nanjing bridge or something. Scale is 1 : 300. Can't remember it's name. Wahahhahaa. Oh, it crosses the YangTze River. I think. And the lady is the local area guide. Renowned artist Gong Liang, famous for his works, drawing within crystal balls. Very difficult because the space within the crystal ball is actually much smaller than it looks. The drawing looks big due to the magnifying power of the crystal. He's only about 40 and he has to retire due to deteriorating eyesight caused by his work. But he played a part in the raising of funds to build this bridge. Supposedly the angmohs were going to help the Chinese build this bridge because they had the skills and expertise and most of all, the funds. But these toopid angmohs pulled out last minute and pang seh the Chinese. Asking us to build the bridge ourselves. And we did. Gong Liang, together with 2 of his students, set up a small stall (before this shop now is opened) to sell his works in order to raise funds to help build the bridge. Very patriotic hor? See, we can survive even without the help of angmohs. Grrr. Below the Nanjing bridge. It looks like it�s never-ending eh. It just fades off in the distance. At the Zhong Hua Men. It's an old Chinese fort thingey to protect the city. Once the gates to the city is forced down, the Japanese will have full access to the city and its people. Those holes in the walls are actually where the Chinese troops hide their ammunitions and weapons when there is no war. In times of war, the holes can be used to hide the troops and ambush the enemies. These bricks have the names of the people who paid to make the bricks to build this fortress. Every brick has an owner. Maybe your ancestors have a brick that belongs to them as well. This cute little boy we saw at Zhong Hua Men. He has a twin brother! Doo! His twin brother! So CUTE LEH!!!!!! This panda is damn easy to draw. The guy drew this in like 5 seconds. -_- And the paper is specially made. You can keep writing on it but the ink will dry up and disappear, leaving absolutely NO TRACE of ink on the paper. Damn cool la. The sun over Tai Lake. Very nice hor? So tranquil. I was just bored. We're at the movie set of "Romance of The Three Kingdoms (San Guo Yan Yi). This is where they film the palace scene you always see in Chinese period dramas. This is the courtyard where all the officials gather whenever there's a function or the emperor is holding a meeting or smtg. The courtyard is this vast amount of space. Probably about 2 football fields. Very big for a film set. This is known as the Hou Gong. The Imperial Harem where the Empress is the biggest and she controls all the concubines and the maids. Daredevil stunts performed by these superb horseriders. It's about these 3 guys battling 1 guy. Dunno what is it about. Just watch them swing on their horses loh. I don't watch San Guo Yan Yi la. Our Singapore tour guide. Entertaining us on a long journey. We're on our way to Shanghai! Yahoo! View from The Bund. Or better known as Shanghai Tan. The sun is already setting at 5 in the evening. The Nan Pu Da Qiao. This super long bridge that is built without any pillars underneath it over the river. Meaning the length of the bridge over the river is pillar-less. It's only supported by the two red foundations and pulled by reinforced cables from the both ends of the bridge. On the bridge. This colonial style house is over a hundred years old. It is now a restaurant at Xin Tian Di. This really happening place in Shanghai where all the pubs and fine-dining restaurants are located. Very posh place. The Song Ching Ling memorial park. Mdm Song Ching Ling is wife of Dr Sun Yat Sen, a revolutionary fighter, to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. And Mdm Song fought side by side with her husband, even till the day Dr Sun died, of liver cancer. Mdm Song established a charity fund and every year, funds are raised and are used to help children in China. Each year, there is a theme, for example, a year for hare-lipped children, or children with leukemia, or children with heart diseases. This foundation has helped many children and will continue to do so in the years to come. The Dong Fang Ming Zhu Tower View from the tower If I remember correctly, this tower is the tallest tower in Shanghai. A circular tower that offers panoramic view of Shanghai. It's even more beautiful at night, when all the neon lights are lit. Reminds me of Hong Kong. All bundled up! It's 10 degs out there!! Our room in Shanghai. 933! At Cheng Huang Temple. This area is actually a shopping area for tourists, selling lots of local foodstuff and medicinal herbs and stuff. Nice buildings. They sell mandarin oranges in a truck! Wah lao. I've never seen SO MANY mandarin oranges before. Our last dinner in Shanghai was at this restaurant. Not bad the food. Shanghai Da Ju Yuan. It looks like a crystal palace at night! We're watching an acrobatic performance! In the theatre, waiting for the show to start. Mummy is sleepy. She can freaking walk on heads and spin plates at the same time! They don't have bones. Yep, no bones about it. The strongest woman is this lady at the bottom of the human chain. Wah lao, she's supporting more than 100kg k! She can put a guy to shame. The guys I know anyway. Ya ya, they are not only boneless, they defy gravity as well. Bah. Very li hai loh, both of them. Balancing on a ladder and spinning hoops at the same time. They're not human. Enough already! And they are bringing more and more people into the item. Ya la, all very li hai la.
Do they teach this in NS?
Win already loh. 7 people balancing on a board on a small cylinder. Can spin cloth somemore.
The lady at the bottom has very strong legs. Can support the weight of 7 chairs and one person sitting on the chair. And she didn't quiver at ALL.
This item is one of the more exciting one. Ha ha ha ha ha. They were doing all sorts of stunts inside the ball. Going 360 degrees, intersecting each other. Wah lao. Damn cool la.
The 4 brave souls. I'm narcissistic even when I'm in Shanghai. Muahahahahaha! Hey, at least I'm consistent.
Total weight of our group's baggage. Freaking 734kg. That's a lot can. Almost over the limit liao. Luckily we did group checkin so can accumlate the 25kg each. We went with 30 pieces, by the time we reached Shanghai we had 37 already. When we checked out of Shanghai, the total baggage count was.. 57 pieces! Very scary. Ok, that's the end of the China trip! I love my nails!
Nail art for 22RMB. Super cheap loh. And the flowers (white stuff) are drawn on with acrylic powder (same stuff they use for acrylic nail extensions) k! Not sticker leh! and 5 little diamantes for 50c RMB each. Omg. It's so DAMN CHEAP. But Yao says that they look like cereal. tmd. Guys. I didn't buy a lot of stuff, just some earrings, necklaces, a pair of Puma sneakers for only 55RMB (down from 220RMB), a denim jacket (finally), lots of pearls!, a Gucci wallet and sling bag, Mummy bought a Coach bag and LV wallet (Grade A imitation, good stuff) and some tees. And I feel like smacking myself for not buying the Coach slingbag I saw at Xiangyang Market. Argh. Oh and Shanghai is so not good for guys. Because the female population is so much more than the male population in China, the shops are mainly selling girls' stuff! Wahahahhahaha. 7 out 10 shops sell girls' stuff, the 8th shop sells food, the 9th shop sells sports shoes and the last shop then sell guys' clothes. Whahahahhaha. It's pathetic. I finally got a taste of smelly beancurd. The taste is not that bad, taste quite ok. BUT THE SMELL!!! OMG!!! The smell can really drive you crazy. Well, it drove me crazy anyways. Hahahhaha. It got so bad I started smelling smelly beancurd everywhere. My mum thought I went crazy. And the boots there are SOOOOO CHEAPPPPPPP. Damnnnn. I wish I bought a pair. But Mummy refused to buy a pair for me!!! Gahhhhh!! But they're so nice!! And cheap! Only about SGD$20!!! Argh. *smacks self again* Haiz. I'm going out now. Meeting Rach Lum. Finally posted up all the photos. Slowly load ah. I dink I hab a flu. Must be the temperature difference. 0_o