gosh, and loading the photos onto one post is quite a slow process. dunno why but the connection is a bit slow tonight.
the first day of the trip started by boarding the 9 plus flight at night to singapore. then catching another connecting flight to beijing. reached beijing at about 7a.m. the group which departed from klia consisted of 23 passengers plus tour leader.
changi airport's orchid garden. many ppl took photos here too and i took photos of orchids for mom.
the worst breakfast i have ever tasted on a flight. cheese omelette and a chicken sausage. the sausage is missing because it had already been eaten (it was good) but the omelette, only one bit and puik!!! had to bear with hunger that morning in beijing because no more breakfast was provided upon arrival ;(
interesting luggage conveyor belt. good advertising too. it was advertisement of singapore. colourful and attractive. better than the normal grey rubber belts you see at others airports. this is in beijing airport.
this is the first place we visited. a change from the itenary (forbidden palace was first in the original schedule). this place is temple of heaven (tian tan). where the emperors went to pray to ask for blessing for good harvests.
the long corridor connecting the main gate to the temple. it was an interesting walk along the corridor because we saw many different activities held by the elderly. some were playing board games, singing, playing musical instruments, etc. this is the place where they spend the morning and gather with friends. it is nice to see them enjoying their lives with beneficial activities. and oh, all of them look hale and hearty.
nine dragon juniper tree. very old.
inside the temple.
the vault for harvested goods.
mr lee, the local guide from beijing. he used to be the best figure skater in beijing when he was 17. ranked number 32 in the world. almost selected for olympics but a nasty accident dashed his dream. his skate cut his leg and one of the nerves or something. now a businessman (with own house, shop and car) but occasionally acts as guide as he has interest in this field. same age as yours truly. he walks with a very slight limp.
temple of heaven's south gate. most ancient constructions in china adhered to the 4 directions: north, south, east and west. so there will always be the north, south, east and west gates, towers, etc.
the circular mound altar. an altar where the emperor went to stand in the middle and had his conversation with god. it was believed to be the closest point between heaven and earth.
the raised stone which is the place the emperor stood on and faced dunno north, south, east or west (hehehe) to speak with god. many ppl took photos standing on the stone but you had to queue.
hotel room at e-house z-park. quite messy huh. just threw everything once we checked in. we checked in at the hotel at about 2p.m. z-park is an industrial park. u can see companies like lenovo, siemens and others tech companies having their factories here. it is quite a new area but far from beijing city. about 30 mins away. they let us rest for the day and there was only dinner later slotted for this day. said we were tired after the long flight wor. but what!!! i was in a new place and there was so much to see and you wanted me to rest!!! no way dude! so together with my roommate, and her 2 sisters, we hailed a cab to go to city centre to meet their youngest sister who is studying in a teacher's training university. the 40 mins ride in the cab only cost RMB40. (RM1 is about RMB2.15) the taxi fare is cheap. so we skipped dinner and went on our own in beijing for the day. i had to write a letter of guarantee to the tour leader that we would bear all the consequences if there were any mishaps before we were released to go. it was fair lah, he had to be responsible to all his tour members.
saplings and u can see loads of them by the roadside. obviously the country is preparing well for the coming olympics games. the city will look lush and green in a year's time. but keep the fingers crossed that the sand won't blow in and cover them in yellow.
flats, the common place to live in at the city. some are very old while some are new. but of course the prices also range differently. however, the rents are still sky-high.
the corridor going to my roommate (ong) sister's flat.
ok, here you see the inside of the flat. one small kitchen, one small toilet, one living room cum bedroom and the balcony where you dry your clothes. narrow huh? the rent? get ready for this. RMB1600 per month! electricity and water bills not included. i think my house's living room is bigger than this. those who are rich in beijing must be super rich!
we took the subway to meet my aunt, linhui who lives in beijing. she is my grandfather brother's daughter. the subway fare is cheap too. you only buy one ticket for RMB3 and gives the ticket at the entrance. then it is up to you where you want to stop. this subway station is rather old. it was built in the 70s. one of the oldest ones.
got out from the subway station (6 of us all together now) and came to this silk street mall. here in beijing, any mall with the word 'silk' indicates all things sold here are imitations. you have to see it to believe it. it is a heaven for foreigners as you can find all brands here. coach handbags are popular and polo ralph lauren shirts are hot too. anyway, they have different floors for different items; luggage, bags, shoes, jewellery, and clothings. bargaining is the main activity here. bargain...bargain...and bargain to get the price you want! if you dun like the price, go to another stall and start bargaining again. one tee shirt can go as low as RMB25 from RMB80. it all depends on how good you are. i am bad at it, so i did not do any. plus, i am a snob. yeah, i admit it. so no imitation bags for me. can't pass myself.
had some local food at the food court in this mall. and it was a delicious meal!!! so many things to choose from that i left all to ong's sister and my aunt to order. above is a bowl of wantan soup (with about 8 skinny wantans inside) and dough fritter (yau cha keow). the dough fritter was yummy!!! the flour tasted different from malaysia's.
this looks like our local roti canai but it is made from egg. so i guess it is egg canai ;)
noodles...yummy. hot and spicy. szechuan style. the noodles are different. it is transparent and slippery. but nice to chew. a lot of starch?
a tauhu dish but i dunno what the locals call it. it is a bit sourish because they have 'tong choi'. behind the tauhu bowl is a piece of local cake and a piece of beancurd.
my aunt lin hui. she paid for this meal. it was only RMB21. cheap cheap.
then we proceeded to a shopping complex on wang fu jing street. outside the complex, it is something like a high street so all originals here, there were many ppl too because it was a sunday. we din go on the street, just stood outside for a while cause everyone was feeling rather tired and exhausted.
rest and relax at haagen daaz. again aunt linhui gave us a treat. she said the earlier meal was not proper enough. so everyone ordered 2 scoops of ice-cream (RMB45 for 2 scoops). i had rum and raisin (my fav) and strawberry.
then it was back to the hotel. we took a cab again but this time the journey was longer because the driver was not familiar with the place. so he stopped a few times to ask for directions despite having spoken to a friend on the phone and me shoving him the hotel card with map on the back. and mind you, his stops were all in the middle of the road. he could just stop smack right in the middle of a roundabout, got down and stopped the pedestrian he saw. so this photo was taken when he left us asking for direction. this is beijing for you. yes, just hail a taxi anywhere you are and it will stop for you. a bus load of passengers passed by at one of these unexpected stops and some passengers on the bus shouted at us. i couldn't catch what they said. reached the hotel after some turns and stops. fare this time was higher: RMB56. still cheap because it was divided by 4. hehehe.
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