Freedom of Expression

My apolagies for not blogging for the past few days.

I thought that Blogspot was experiencing some downtime as I just couldn't reach the website. But, I finally realised that the Chinese government probably blocked it like what they did to Youtube. Yes, ladies and gentleman, apart from YouTube, they have also blocked all porn sites. Which is a good thing for the kids at home. *wink* But its starting to get really annoying, because I have to access the site by a proxy which does not allow me the full convenience of formatting, or attaching pictures, or reviewing my blog. I wonder when it will go back to normal. Or would it ever... Yes, the Chinese Government did a superb job with the public transportation especially in Beijing which probably thanks to the Olympics also made it easier for foreigners. BUT, this is getting ridiculous!!! Come on, its just blogging about opinions. Readers have minds too, let them think for themselves.

And what have I been doing for the past few days? Mainly resting from my Xian trip with 7 other coursemates. Those of us who took the train back arrived at 10:00am on Monday morning. Needless to say, we couldn't attend our classes on time. The more economic way of travelling was to sleep overnight in a 3 level hard bunker beds shared by many other people. There are of course pros and cons to it.

The pros were:-
(1) It was such a fun train ride with my mates squished on to the highest top two bunks playing big two, much to the horror of the people sleeping below. They must have been wondering if the each bunk could hold the three of us;
(2) Economical = RMB260 or 270 for hard bunkers;
(3) Its part of the China experience to rough it out like the locals.

The cons were:-
(1) Shared toilets which frankly was totally disgusting!!! Thank god for perfumed tissue!!!;
(2) The bunks probably could not fit bigger sized or taller people. I was just able to twist and turn sides. One of our mates had a good 1.5 ft of his legs sticking out at the end. Luckily he was sleeping on the second level;
(3) The fear of H1N1 virus running around. Not that it bothered me in the beginning. However, at the end of the trip at the Xian trainstation, the amount of people there were horrendously scary. I started to think that this couldn't be good for us.

Generally, it was a good train ride. I won't mind doing it again, especially being a "poor" student. It wasn't a problem sleeping on the train except for the dream that I had about dieing in my sleep if I did not wake up. Yes, morbid dreams at 6am. I wonder what that meant...

Overall, the Xian trip was a great one except for the fact that I kept on losing things everyday.

For example:-
Day 1: Lost my pen. (Ok, no biggie..I can still handle that!)
Day 2: Dropped RMB250 together with some Muslim Temple Brochures from my backpocket! (What!! I am on a budget trip. Ok, now I am starting to get annoyed. But I have to thank some mates of mine who actually went back with me to the place where I dropped it just to chance finding it again.)
Day 3: Lost my students card after Ping Ma Yue (Terracotta Soldiers). (Arrgh, now I am really annoyed. Because this meant that I would have to fork out more money without a student's price. And there usually is a 50% discount for students).
Day 4: Lost my lenscleaner on Hua Shan. (Gees...what else could go wrong! And as I just thought that I got through the day without losing anything...I had purposely bought the lenscleaner for my trip in China.)
Day 5: ONLY DAY THAT I DIDN'T LOSE SOMETHING!

Wo zhen de mei you jili! But at least it was a fun trip, the best being Hua Shan!!! Will blog about it in my next post. For now, GOODNIGHT, WORLD...or is it, GOOD MORNING!

P/S: This is the 2nd time that I am writing this postup due to this proxy inconvenience resulting in an unsaved draft. Arrggghh.

Oh Woe is Me... =P

Wow.. I just finished showering and my nightly dose of supper, fruits of the season. Guess what?It's the end of the strawberry seasons BUT it's lychee season now! Whoooo hoooo.... The cheapest I managed to get it was at RMB8.8 yi jin (yi jin = 0.5kg) and this is at my regular grocery mart downstairs. I just realised that the bicycle vendor managed to rip me off previously at RMB15 yi jin. She must have been going, "There goes another *Sucker*!"

This is the first time that I get to eat fresh lychees, and I realised one thing, we would usually think that red signifies ripe and sweet lychees but the GREEN ones are super sweet! Finished yi jin at one go this afternoon, mmmm.. maybe thats why I have piled back on 1 kg. :P Anyways, I don't think I will get to enjoy this in Malaysia, so......keep it coming!!!! hehe.

And yes, Oh Woe is Me... I just realised that my dissatisfaction with certain proportions of mine has quad-multiplied (if there's such a word). No matter how hard I try to twist, turn, grind my already small ass (aka flat ass..argghhh!!!!! I am being kind to myself.. *sob*) at pole dancing...it would never look as good as the other girls. *sigh* I think I am just about to google "perky ass, how to get it.....".

I know some of you are rolling on the ground laughing by now. And probably some out of curiosity will checkout my behind in school after this post. *sigh* Its not fun though. Hmmm, if only I could get 30% of JLo's infamously USD1 million insured ass. Hmmm.....then again....there's always plastic surgery. Or should I just be satisfied with what the Lord had given me? (*Oh Lord, please be merciful and let my pole dancing pay off with a perkier ass and slender waist. Thank you, Thank you!!! I shall be forever grateful*... So much for being satisfied... haha) OK, OK... the Lord is fair. *sigh* But it doesn't mean that I can't moan and groan about it. Oh woeeeeeee....

Anyways, my un-perky ass and myself will be off to Xian tomorrow to see the Terracotta Warriors. The 7 of us will be taking the night train all the way to Xian and arrive around 7am. And one by plane to meet us in Xian. (Wo men shi *tong xue* you 6 ge shi yi yang ban. Lao shi, dui bu qi, wo men mei lai liang tian!) Thank god for the early morning sun in China. We'll probably be actively searching for good local breakfast, hopefully some nice jiao zhi, bao zhi or dim sum.

Cheers to Great Adventures! Ciao...till Monday, I'll be back! With of course, some delightful updates and pictures of our Xian adventures! Da jia, zai jian! Be safe, be happy.... =)

Ji Hanzi Breakthrough!

Guess what!!! Some really sweet smelling pizza did walk pass me today. haha

I was sitting at the usual spot outside this small lil coffee shop on campus named Rambles having my only sinful ice chocolate and talking with some mates when this waiter walked past looking for the person who ordered it. I must have exclaimed too loudly, because he did a backstep and gave me an inquiring look. haha. Darn, a nice pizza about the size of an 8inch costs around RMB36 from La Vita Cafe....MmMm... my body is seriously hankering for some sinful actions.

Aside from the serious hankering, I think I may have found the answer to my seemingly inability to remember Hanzi. Today, I made full use of my time on the subway with my que cards which must have looked terribly retarded. Especially when the person carrying it has a Chinese face (yes, with somewhat blondish hair), wears summer shorts in spring, and somewhat whispers to herself. Why didn't I think of doing this earlier? (I meant the cuecards on the train instead of waiting for time to pass!) Surprisingly, the 35 minutes allowed me a somewhat better performance today at tingxue. =P Of course, I ran back to the heiban a second time to correct some words. haha. But at least.....

Now if I can only be self-disciplined enough to keep at it. =)

Sudden Cravings....

Darnit, I have this craving for some pizza right now this moment.

*sigh* Must be due to my anti-carb eating habits. The thought of pizza with thin crusted edges, sausage, slices of pineapple and cheese....arrrgghhh, is driving me nuts! I NEED! haha. Darnit, maybe just drop into La Bamba tomorrow for a nice pizza lunch? *soB* I know I shouldn't and I know that I would not allow myself that luxury tomorrow.

Say "NO", say "NOOOOO"! Mmmm...sweet smell of cheesy pizza. *sobBbbb* My internal conflict varies from small insignificant matters like pizza to the bigger stuff. haha.

0h wells, at this point, only sleep can satisfy my need. Dream of pizza maybe. :)

P/S: Just to note down its already the starting of the 6th week in uni and we are officially halfway through (oh, no!!!!). I still can't remember nuts.

Wine at China Bar!

China Bar, on the 65th floor of Park Hyatt Hotel at Jianguomen district is really really classy. It was a double date for me and my friends, with some soul smoothing and fooling around thrown in!

Take the subway to Guomao Line 1/Line 13 and take the C exit. Once you're out, look around you, its the tallest building with the top most 5 floors illuminated in red. You'll need to take the lift to the 63rd floor and either change a lift or walk up another two floors to arrive at China Bar.

Of course its really classy, our bottle of Italian Cabernet Sauvignon of Year 2006 costed us RMB560. haha. But it was of the smoothest reds that I have tasted before. With a great glass of wine, great soft environment, and a live band playing, its really nice to occassionally pamper ourselves (especially after that killer long walk at the Summer Palace). The guys were smartly dressed, I must say. =P And of course, ladies tastefully dressed. haha. And we probably were one of the "youngest" and most "expressive" group in China Bar judging from some of the glances that we received from the people seated around us. The view from the top is pretty much impressive, with the street nights illuminated below. Advice: Arrive earlier ie. 9pm which makes it easier to sit near to the windows to appreciate the view.

This would be my favourite haunt just to chill if I were still working and earning good money. Aih, the pains of a student life. :P

颐和园;Yihe yuan aka Summer Palace

What a HOT HOT HOT day! And what a packed packed day!

Yeah I should have expected it with Labor Day falling on last Friday. But I've been to Yiheyuan before in Mar'08, and it was only 1/3 of the crowd we encountered yesterday. The three of us were almost shuffling with a hand apart at certain sections of the gardens. I think I appreciate the fact that our plans to Xian fell through for this holidays. I can't imagine fighting for a spot to look at the Terracotta Warriors.

Still, although we spent almost half the day there, we still could not finish the whole walk around the lake. THANK GOD! I would have killed "SOMEONE" if really, he made us walk to the Seventeen Arch Bridge. haha. That was even further than the darn Tower of Buddhist Incense on top of the Longivity Hill. But we had great views from the Tower of Buddhist Incense, qouted to be the highest viewpoint in the Summer Palace.

YiHeYuan translated is known as Gardens of Nurtured Harmony, one of the famous landmarks in Beijing which was a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who seemingly took money supposed to be for the navy improvement to reconstruct the Summer Palace. She must have been one hell of a smart lady. She must have known that the dynasty would not last forever and instead dug into the coffers for herself.

Its well worth a visit, but please not on a public holiday! Am still nursing my blistered feet as of today.. :P



P/S: I am in love with the dim sum at one of the restaurants near the WuDaoKou subway station. RMB9 for one "loong". Yummy!

Double Bonus!

Some things comes in pairs, especially when its good news. Just had to spit it out. =)

A Person that I hold dear in my heart, is finally in contact after a long leave of absence. Its been a long time since I heard the familiar voice asking me how I was doing. Its great to know that everything is good and getting better. I so enjoyed our chat together and do really miss you! Be well, babes! You're strong. Don't overworry about the future.

My Best Girlfriend, whom I have known since the awkward nerdy primary school days, has just given birth to a Baby Girl on 1st May 2009! My dear, I know that your heart must be bursting with pride and joy now. Big Big congrats to Mr. & Mrs. Ho, on the arrival of Iris Ho!!!! I just cannot wait to come back and hold her in my arms. hehe. Another kid that I would just spoil rotten given the chance. =)

Am so tired now, sleepy, but happy.... :)

Precious Moments In Life...

As much as I hate to admit it, I had fun on my birthday, two days ago. In truth, it's probably one of the most memorable birthday by far. =)

As a rule, I try not to make a big hoo hah out of my birthdays. Celebrations are usually small with a nice homecooked dinner with family, a romantic dinner with my loved one (it usually ends up not so romantic in the end, haha), or a fun restaurant outing with my girlfriends in Malaysia. If possible, I would just tiptoe around the day trying not to get so much attention. Why? Maybe its because of my age? mmmm..or more so maybe because I don't deal so well with so much attention concentrated in one day. Feel *Pai Siah* (hokian for embarassed) especially on birthdays. And YES, I was cowering in my small little corner in class when our dear Diao Lao Shi went, "jin tian seng rik kuai lek" and looked towards my direction. Then the whole class sang me a birthday song. Ah, so much for letting it go quietly...

My dear dear classmates suddenly turned a pre-planned class dinner and KTV session into my birthday celebration. (Psst, we actually have a few darn good singers in class!) And the few of us who were still up to further the night dropped by Propaganda. Its a coincidental Wednesday drink-all-you-like night with my favourite mai tais. And so, the night ended on a great note resulting in a pretty much drunk birthday girl who unsurprisingly could not make it to class the very next day. =P

To my friends who were with me during that night, it was a hilariously fun night! I love you guys. Thank you for the great company, for the surprise "bai hua" birthday cake and finally, for withstanding my horrendous singing. haha. KTV no more for me.

And to my family and friends loving me from afar, I miss you guys! Thanks for the many well wishes on facebook and msn. *muaks*muaks* =)