Took a chalet for my birthday on 21 jun - 23rd. Company chalet was reali cheap, jus $40 for 3days 2nites. Only balloted for the first in the 6 years in SBST.

Went downtown east. Took half day leave to go check in, in afternoon on Thurs. But in the end, checked in only at 530pm, cos Nick got some work to finish in office, couldnt leave earlier. After unpacking, he did his work, while i watched tv..So boring. Went for dinner late at nite.

He woke up early the next day, cos he need to go office to take some stuff. So i went wif him lor, cos i got nothing to do oso. Followed him back to Jurong at 11am, where he dropped me at IMM, he go back his office. So boring again, to go shopping alone.

He came and picked me at 1pm. Had our lunch at IMM, then went Toa Payoh to get my cake, and buy drinks. After pick my mum up at home for the BBQ at 330pm, then i realised i forgot to book my pit b4 i came out...haha...

Quickly rushed back to book, the moment i reached downtown east at 430pm. Couldnt book when i checked in cos they say can only book on the day, if book oredi, then the day rain, there;s is not refund. So they dun allowed ppl to book earlier.

Anyway, luckily i got my pit, jus outside our unit. so convenient..haha.. 1st time i went chalet, which got so convenient pit jus outside.

七姨 & 外婆 came jus when we were back. Timing jus nice. After settled them in the room, Nick and i went to buy wire-mesh and came back to set fire at 530pm.

Theresa came quite early. But becos i was quite busy outside setting fire, so din reali entertain her.. Chunmei & her bf, Tony came shortly after. Then Chin Pern, Hiok Hanwei, Lee Kong Leong, Lan Eng & her daughter came ard 630pm.

My colleagues could only play mahjong inside the room, cos food is not ready yet. We only reali started at 7pm. So paiseh..They haf to wait so long. Anyway, it was a fun nite.

小姨's family came quite late, Peiling & 姑姑 oso came. So touching that they came. Took a few fotos only. Forgot take my camera out. Haiz!! What a waste! BBQ ended at 1030pm. Cos they left quite early.

Felt bad leaving Theresa alone for the whole nite, so ask her to take a lift from 姑姑 cso she is sending my mum back home mah...

In the end, only Shenyan & Qiuyan together wif Nick & me stayed for the nite.

Reali thank the ppl who made my day on that day. Thanks alot for turning up & thanks for the presents :)

No morning call for the last day, its own time, own target (OTOT) for the morning. We came down for breakfast at 8am then dilly-dally till 910am, and went to the porch of the hotel for some cold breeze. It was reali very cold. We took some photos, then went upstairs, to check our lugguages.

小董 came at 1030am, we handed over our room keys and waited at the lobby, while they loaded our lugguages on the bus. We left for airport at 11am, leaving Jiayan at the hotel lobby, cos her train is only at 2pm. She rather wait at the hotel lobby than waiting at the train station, its much more safer. We told the hotel staff to book a cab for Jiayan to train station. 她依依不舍地向我们道别。No choice, we could only leave her there.

We reached 上海浦东机场 at 1230pm. Our flight is at 1430. After bidding goodbyes to our tour guide of 7days, 小董, and the bus driver and the rest of the tour members, we went in, dragging our lugguages. 小董 helped us to check in and he left. We went in and had our lunch. Made a little last min shopping for goodies, cos we din buy much goodies back home. So bought some lor, but was reali more expensive than those outside. But no choice, since we din buy earlier mah.

Boarded the plane at 1400. I watched movie "200pounds beauty" on the way to 上海 oredi, so i watched 郭富城 的 “父子”。Wanted to watch "Number 23", but was relai tired, dozed off half way thru the show.

Anyway, we reached Singapore at 820pm. Big sis & 姑姑 family came to fetch us. Was reali tired. Went for dinner, then came back sleep quite early. Luckily i took leave the next day. Haha....

Finally finished writing all my details of the trip!!! ;)

As usual, morning call at 630am. But breakfast at 730am, gather to 出发at 830am... Abit later on this day. This time round, no need to put our lugguages outside the room, cos we will be goin abck to the same hotel at the end of the day.

Jiayan bunked in wif us last nite and joined us for the day tour. We went to 上海市政府 area to see, take photos. Free time for half hour. Nothing much oso. Then we went to 上海新天地 for taking photos for half hour. Nothing much, shops still not open yet. Starbucks is open oredi, but coffee dun seems cheap. even more ex than here.

小董 brought us to 中山大楼 for foot reflexology at 10am. Another 挂羊头卖狗肉的地方。每个人都有一个脚底按摩师。They will try to say u got wat kind of weakness lah... One of the person in charge even said Dad is a smoker and alcohol drinker. What rubbish! Dad told him he din even smoke nor drink, then he went away, obviously ashamed by his wrong 'ti-kum'! haha.... They were trying to sell medicine in this place. None of us were cheated, except the Indonesian uncle, who say he only buy jus to entertain them. He only bought a box.

After there, we went to 南浦大桥边的大船 to haf our lunch at 11am. Took some photos there with Jiayan. After lunch, we went to 七浦街 for shopping, finally. Free time for 4.5hrs. Bought some imitions t-shirts, jackets, shawls and bought some set of chopsticks, which were quite nice. Dad even bought an extra lugguage to put our 战利品。。haha....

After shopping, gathered at 445pm, we went for dinner at 530pm. Its was a 民俗 restaurant, got those ppl wearing traditional costumes dancing 民俗舞 at the hall area.. but we were seated in one of the rooms behind, so cant see the dances. Anyway was quite noisy at the hall.

After dinner, we went back hotel at 7pm, cos 小董 said we haf to go back earlier to pack our lugguages before we go home the next day. All the programs planned for this tour ended at the dinner.

So we 乖乖 go back and pack our lugguages lor. Uncle Huat and Auntie Noi came over and chat with Dad and Mum. They said we could 'tong bang' their lugguages together if ours are overloaded. So we weighed our lugguages using the weighing machine provided in the hotel room. Was jus nice, not overloaded.

But poor Jiayan brought a big bag for us, she got to carry back another big bag back to her hostel alone. Then she called her colleague to pick her at the train station in 昆山 to help her carry her bag... Her colleague is a nice soul.

After packing and chatting, we sleep at 1am.

As usual, morning call at 630am. Breakfast at 7am, gather to 出发at 8am... 离开了富阳，we took 2hr 45mins bus ride to 乌镇水乡。。
http://www.wuzhen.com.cn/index/index.asp

乌镇 is actuali a town, near 上海。。 不明肆意，乌镇水乡当然有水，有河。就像 Venice. 乌镇就像 those 村庄 we normally see on tv, where they haf small houses side by side, got shops, medical halls and even those ancient fire stations. One of the bigger houses, 民俗馆 showcased the tradition marriage in olden days, 拜堂，媒婆，轿子，娉礼。Another room showing a whole table of offerings for praying. Another house 百床馆 showing wif different patterns of the wooden beds from the different dynasties. The designs of the surrounding borders of 床边 were craved with figures and bamboo, which took 3yrs for the craftsman to complete. Its was reali very 精致。http://www.wuzhen.com.cn/xny/jnbcg/bcg_index.htm

Another side of the street, they haf 染布坊，mini manufacturing factories for weaving of cloths, dyeing of cloths and printing designs on cloths. There was an old auntie sitting there weaving the strings to cloth using the old methods, pulling and pulling the wooden rack. A space for hanging all the dyed cloths. A room printing flowers onto the cloths. A shop selling all the woven products.

We left 乌镇 for lunch at 12 noon. We continued our journey to 上海 at 1245pm, another 2hrs ride. Reached 上海 宋庆龄陵园 at 3pm. Visited 宋庆玲 的坟墓。No photo taking allowed. Jus went in and see see only. Was a very solemn place. Abit eerie, cos the ppl there in charge said the place was the only place in 上海 which is always very cooling throughout the year.

After that, the lady who showed us around brought us into a 2 or 3 storey bulding, where another 风水师傅 took over. He was telling us abit the 风水 buildings in Asia, including the HSBC bulding in Shenton way, the Bank of China in Singapore, Shenton way oso... All the structures of these kinds of banks were constructed according to the 风水, not jus becos they look nice! Well, this is interesting.

Did u ever realised outside Bank of China in Shenton Way, they placed a lion-like creature? The 师傅 said this 貔貅 (Pi-Xiu) is symbolising China and is there to 振风水。。 Major cities of China, they placed 貔貅 for the same reason. 貔貅 is a lion wif wings, wif big opening mouth, big butt but no asshole. So it symbolises got input no output, for fortune. 钱财有进没出，才能守财。。。

The 师傅 then brought us to 2nd level, to see the 风水 摆设 for home and individual. After that, he said we can feel free to take a look at the stuff. Dad, Mum and i were seated in front together wif the Taiwan family. Tink he oredi aim us liao, so once we stood up, he quickly took out a small 貔貅, saying this is suitable for me. i can 把它请回去！师傅说只可以说用请，不是买！应为跟貔貅有缘才能请，没缘是不能请的。他拿给我的是只貔貅抱着一粒球，他说这是“有求必应”。He immediately quote us SGD $180, not in RMB. Cannot 杀价，cos the contributions will go into 宋庆龄基金会, not their own benefits. The sales lady said its a good buy, cos the jade is of good quality, very 剔透。

听他这么说，oso quite tempting lor. So we actuali bought it! OMG, come and tink back, it was reali ex, cos i reali regret it after we came back from China. Mum and Dad oso each bought a piece of jade 貔貅, costing RMB100 each. I bought one for Nick too, according to his 生肖。The Indonesian family bought even more, they bought the big ones for putting in the house. Very 夸张！

After that, we went to 上海外滩的附近餐馆 for our dinner at 5pm. After dinner, 小董 brought us the see the scenery of 上海外滩, dropped us at 浦江游览 for a 'ship' ride. The 周围的建筑都很 English, olden types. Jus like those we see in TV. The 船游黄浦江 was at 7pm to 8pm. 小董 only brought us to board the ship, he din came up.

It was only until we came up, then we realise we still haf to pay for our seats (RMB60) if we wan to sit at the side of the ship, if not we can only sit in the middle, ehcih we tink cant see anything lor. So Uncle Huat paid for the table which can only accomodate for 4, but he bargained and 5 of us can squeeze in. We sat there for a long time waiting excitedly for the ship to go. It goes round the whole 外滩 , showing us the beautiful scenery of 上海 buildings. Can even see 东方明珠塔 from there. Other than the misty weather, the scenery was reali very beautiful. As the ship goes, some of the buildings only the bottom half can see only. The top part is covered in the mist, somehow looks like only there is only half of it.

Then we received an sms from my sis, Jiayan that she lost her fone, askin us not to call her and she will only reach 上海 from 昆山at 11pm. Her handphone was pickpocketed. We were quite worried abt her, but there's nothing we can do over here, except to wait for her call. She was supposed to meet us at our hotel at 8pm, wer her train was at 6pm. On her way to train station, after alighting from the bus, she realised her pocket wer she put her fone, had oredi been cut, wif a big slit. Other than that, nothing is lost. So she went back to report police, jus to claim back insurance here. So she changed her train tickets to the later train at 10pm lor.

After the ship ride, 小董 gave us a half hr free time to walk round the place. The 外滩 shore, is something like the outside of Esplanade, wer ppl could jus sit there and enjoy the breeze, but here in 上海, can only lean at the side, enjoyin the scenery.

We reached hotel at 9pm. After bath and some packing, Dad and mum went to the train station to wait for Jiayan at 1030pm. Cos Jiayan called us using her fren's fone and telling us to wait for her at the train station. So i stayed in hotel, waiting for her as well, jus in case she din see dad & mum at the station, we told her to come to hotel mah..

They came back at 1230am. Jiayan had alot to update us, and she took out all our presents she had bought for us. She is reali excited to see us after 3 months alone there. After catching up, we finally slept at 2am.

As usual, morning call at 630am. Breakfast at 7am, gather to 出发at 8am... Was raining for the night, so was quite cooling, even without the aircon! Throughout our journey, it was so hot until we came to 杭州, then it started to rain, till the last day b4 we r back home.

We went 杭州西湖 for a boat ride... 有人说来到杭州，如果没来西湖，那就不算来过杭州了。。。这句话，说的一点也没错！西湖风景确实很美，很鸟语花香的感觉。。。 We took a group photo there.

Actuali Dad wanted to buy some titbits and 芝麻酥 & 花生酥, but 小董 said we r abit rushing to take the boat ride, which is at 920am, so due to time constraints, we couldn't buy. 小董 said we could get it at the other side of 西湖, cos we won't be alighting at the same place as we board the boat. In the end, he brought us walk ard 西湖 边, but we din see or pass by any of the stalls selling these kind of titbits. He bluff us!!

We toured 西湖 边, could see a 5 star hotel at the other end. 小董 said that was his workplace. Being a tour guide is jus his part time job. I asked him how much he is getting for his full time job, and he said RMB 1600. Then i told him, 那我不是应该感到庆幸我现在的薪水和他差不多，可是不用除与五倍？Somemore he is holding a China Degree in tourism! Shld i say Singaporeans shld count ourselves lucky? or Shld i say luckily things in China are cheap, so tat's why they pay can sustain their living?

Back to the 5 star hotel, he said the hotel is only for celebrities and 领导人 如香港特首董建华，中国领导人，邓小平 以前也住过这里。。。 They would request to stay there cos its near 西湖。。。The place is out of bounds if these ppl are staying inside. And that is wer he haf to be there, cant take leave out for part time jobs as that is the busiest period. If normal times, the hotel room rate for the president suite is abt RMB50k per nite!! Wah OMG, so ex! Who is goin to stay there like tat??

After touring round 西湖 ard 1030am，小董 brought us to 宝翠轩 to 'see' Jade again! This time, the 员工 knew we are Singaporeans, then he went to call his 少爷 out. The boss was a half Thai, half Singaporean. The way he talked abt the stuff he is selling, was very funny.

He kept repeating, 你们看看就好，不要买，也不要看价钱！He said he was born in Singapore then after that went to Thailand to live and then do business, then came over to China. He wears something like 大耳隆，cos the way he 'giap' his bag under his armpit and the way he walks... Haha...After that he brought us out to the showroom, he told his staff that "all these ppl are my friends, so treat them nicely and jus let them see, dun sell to them". Cos he kept emphasizing that if we see the price, we will be shocked, so jus admire the jewels there.

He sells Jade, 宝石，pearls... Very diversify. He then took out some cheap jade necklaces, saying these are very cheap ones. 你们要是喜欢，那就交个朋友，就拿去吧！这种东西，人工加材料只不过是少过RMB100. 可是标价是RMB1200, 你们看我可以赚多少！所以我说看就好不要看价钱。要是你们又看到喜欢的东西，就说是我的朋友，不然就来跟我说，我给你们最好的价。。。

This is called business strategy, cos in the end, this is the only jewel place we spend the most for whole group! He even said the jade that one of our group mates bought the quality is not so good. The Indonesian couple bought the matching couple jade necklace at 南京... it was a big piece of jade which costs RMB15k for 2. In the end, the Indonesian auntie bought another one which is better in quality, according to 少爷。Well, they are rich, what can i say more?? This Indonesian family are the ones who spent the most in our tour group.

After buying our cheap necklaces, 3 for RMB100, happily we proceeded to haf lunch at the 植物园，山外山菜馆 at ard 130pm. The lady who took our group photos at 西湖, had developed the photos for us, each photos for RMB50. quite ex, but jus for the sake of keepsake.

After lunch, we proceeded to 梅家乌西湖龙井茶研究所 at 230pm，to understand more on 龙井茶, tasting of 龙井茶 and the benefits of 龙井茶, especially 西湖龙井。The person who spoke to u, she is abit 'hao lian', so proud of her English, proud to know so much abt tea, proud to haf tea sampling with the highest authority of the 'tea association' of china & tea experts from around the world. When she was telling us her experience, her achievements, she even told us to applause for her!

She said, normally ppl would say 喝茶，可是正确的说法，应该是吃茶，cos we can chew on the tea leaves, which smells reali nice. Taste bitter to me! But drinkin the taste was reali very nice, can smell the 香味。她说西湖龙井可以降血压，降低胆固醇，可以加密糖。糖尿病者也可以长期喝，可改善。煮药材汤时可以包一带放进锅里去油。So good all the benefits! Dad bought 2 packs, cos he wanted to give some to his siblings, my uncles. Bought some AA grade of 西湖龙井茶, actuali was quite ex oso, 1 bag was 一斤 RMB450.

According to 小董, actuali we r supposed to try out how to go out field to 采茶，but was raining, so couldn't go out lor. Such a waste! Left the place at 4pm. Then took the bus ride 1hr to 富阳城。导游说很少团队回来富阳 。所以很少人有听过富阳城。

Visited the 中国古代造纸文化村，制造宣纸的地方。。。Abit boring, but they let us try how they made paper, how they 捞 the bits in water and such... Dad tried, and he was so happy, like a kid. Haha... After that, we went to 三味农庄 for a cow ride. The cow peed halfway on the trip! Then we were laughing, cos was so funny. Luckily din sit very close to it. It was very smelly, we were even sayin maybe it farted...haha...

Had dinner at 三味农庄 at 6pm，b4 tat we went in to see how they 打年糕，using a very big and heavy hammer. Dad tried a hand on it again! Haha... But was reali very heavy, even the biggest size of our group find it heavy. Reali 佩服 the skinny yet muscluar uncle could hold this thing for everyday! The 年糕 was made from steamed hot glutinous rice. We tried our self-made 年糕 with sugar, which is more like 'muar chee' than 年糕。。。haha...

After dinner, we went back to hotel at 8pm. So early! Then we collected our lugguages, we went with the Indonesian couple and another Chinese couple, to the nearby shopping center. But seems like they closed shopping very early at the nearby streets... So nothing much to see oso.

Mum bought a pair of shoes which is cheap, jus S$15. Then we walked back, as it started to drizzle again. Reached hotel at 10pm.

As usual, morning call at 630am, lugguages put outside the room and breakfast at 715am, gather to 出发at 8am. Another half hr's bus ride to 无锡 灵山胜境。。。

It was a very big 的 大佛。。。有佛足坛 (Buddha's pair of footprints which is very big) , 有很大的 天下第一掌 (Buddha's palm which is equivalent to 3 storey high building, weighing 13tons), 阿育王柱 Pillar of Asoka & Laughing Buddha with alot of children.

The whole place was so sacred. Got the big thing, which i dunnoe wat is it called, but was a metal clone, which u can turn for good luck with scripts written on it. Is it 经筒?? They had 15 in a row, shld be got 10 sets to make it a circle. We 转转经筒 for good luck. The Big Budhha which stands on top of the hill, was abt 700 tons (if i din remember wrongly). Was so huge. Very magnificent.
(Found tis article online, can refer to the fotos, then u noe wat i meant, cos for now i cant seems to load my fotos in the blog yet... http://www.worldisround.com/articles/190546/index.html )

Actuali wanted to climb till the feet of the Big Buddha, but because of time limitation, we could only take some fotos at the foot of the hill, whuch leads the the Big Buddha. Such a waste!! One more thing worth to mention is that, we haf to pay to go inside. And i heard from our tour guide, most temples in China, they need to pay to go in and pray. Weird rite? Like tat still got alot of ppl go in and pray!

After wandering there for abt 1hr, then we proceeded our journey to 无锡市 聚宝苑珍珠厂 to 'see' 珍珠。。 Again, we were physchoed to buy the pearls. They opened a cloned pearl 淡水珍珠for us to see, seems real. But the displays looks fake. Anyway, bought some braclets for my cousins and the rest... Again stayed in the shop for another almost 2hrs, before we went for lunch.

After lunch, again we bid goodbye to the 无锡地陪，小万。。。Then we proceeded our journey to 杭州。。。Another 3hrs bus ride again. So sleep again on bus.

Reached 杭州 的 万松书院 at 5pm. The place was actuali closed for the day, but our tour guide 小董 said he had called and made arrangement for them to wait for us. So the whole place was 没有人 except our group. In a way, was good cos there is nobody to 'fight' with us to take foto...haha... Inside 万松书院, they haf a half moon pond, in a shaped of a semi-circle with some wordings, and an ancient hall, which they put the miniatures curvings of the lives of the ancient ppl. Got alot of stone sculptures of the ancient historical ppl, which i oso dunnoe who are they, but i tink one of them is 梁山伯 的 teacher. Got a Confucius temple inside, which ppl can pray to. But they closed the templs doors right after we came out, guess the uncles are wating to knock off liao.. haha...

万松书院 是 梁山伯 和 祝英台 的学校。。。 小董说梁山伯 和 祝英台 had a age difference of 80yrs, wer 祝英台 is older than 梁山伯 by 8o yrs. So the story is fictional. haha... 杭州 got alot of stories, including 梁山伯 和 祝英台, still got 白蛇传。。。

After visiting the school, we went to the opposite of 杭州西湖 的 restaurant haf our dinner. After dinner at abt 7pm, we went to 东坡金海岸大舞台 watched 西湖之夜大型歌舞表演 which was abt 1.5hrs. The tickets was abt RMB 150 per pax. But was a nice show, which was divided into 5 parts.

1st part is abt war & martial arts. 2nd part is 杂技 acrobats. 3rd part is abt story of 梁祝. 4th part is abt Buddha and GuanYin. The last part is on 少林寺武功, with real 小和尚s。。。Worth the $$, interesting. The acrobats are the ones we normally we saw on TV programmes, this time we could see it real and live! haha... The ppl are jus so young and reali very 厉害。。。 The 观音 part still got the 千手观音. Though they are not the real group of ppl, but they are still up to the standard. Very good.

After the show, we went back to hotel at 930pm.

Morning call again at 630am. Again my parents woke up very early, ard 5am, when the sun rises. Again finished packing and left our lugguages outside the door and went for breakfast at 7am, gather at 8am.

Had half an hour ride to 莫愁湖。。。又上了一堂历史课 abt 朱元璋's history and the past emperors of 南京。Why 南京 is called 南京 is becos in olden days whenever the emperors stayed at a place, they will called it 京城。。。The emperor stayed in the South, so they called the place 南京。。。 Anyway, the place is like a wax museum, which had all the wax figurines of the past emperors, all so life-like... There was even one emperor who was a kid. of cos i dun remeber their names. i only noe one of them is 朱元璋。。。

Anyway, took some fotos of the scenery then we left after 45mins. I dropped my spec's lens while taking foto. Was so heart broken...Cant see clearly after tat...

Then we went to 玉石鉴赏 - 南京旅游国际购物中心 to 'see' jade at 10am... 吴老师 told us how to look out for a good jade. Jade can scratch a piece of glass with scratching the jade itself. Not all jade haf to be very green, that is good... Jade haf to wear it on left hand cos its closer to the heart. Wearing it as a necklace, put it inside of the clothes, near the chest, not showing it out. Wearing a good jade will improve one's health, likewise a bad one will not do any good and maybe will make the person's health worse...

吴老师 told the salesgal to explain and show us some good jade and some fake ones, the let us differentiate what is good, what is fake... After, some explaining, then she took out some of the jade bangles for us to see. My mum at the same time took out her bangle to let her see if its good anot, and she said that was a bad jade, long term wearing it, wont do any good. Then she took out some nice ones for her to see... Then she even quote one bangle at RMB15K. OMG, so ex?? We tried to bargain, but too no avail. So we jus walked away.

Then she took out another abit lower grade one, priced at RMB1200, still so ex... Then, my dad told her, we r not interested. She keep pestering them. And told us to offer another lower price. Then my dad told her RMB400, take it or leave it. Then we walked away. We quickly went away and tried to go somewer, but the gal was reali persistent. We keep telling her we dun wan to buy, but she kept chasing us. She brought her manager along who say the lowest they can offer is RMB400, told us to buy it. Its a good deal, worth the buy, cos the jade is reali of good grade. Even the 吴老师 oso said its a good buy. But my mum din wan it anymore liao.

After that, we proceeded to the 2nd level for lunch at a restaurant in the same building. When we came out of the restaurant, the gal keep chasing us again, telling us to buy. But my mum rali din wan it anymore, so she oso bo bian went away until we went up the bus. After lunch we bid goodbye to 吴老师 and we continue our journey to 无锡 for another 3hrs ride again.

Reach 无锡 电影城 三国城 at 3pm. Met up wif another 地陪，小万。他姓万，所以叫他小万。。。He said Nicholas jus came to film a movie there 2 days ago. The stage and props all still there... Anyway, its something like 唐城 again. Jus another fake 'palace'. Not the real thing.

Then watched a live performance, abt 三国演义，有曹操，赵国，etc, acting out the war scene... Was quite funny, wif real hoses and 'army' fully dressed in armour clothing. Was reali hot weather, but they dun seems to be hot. haha... The show was quite not bad... Quite interesting. Was tinking Nick will like this show man!

After that, went for a boat ride at 无锡太湖。太湖 was reali big, wif a surface area of more than i tink 8 times of Singapore. So the boat ride was abt 20mins.

After touring the 无锡 电影城 三国城, we went to 无锡 紫砂艺术博览苑 to buy 紫砂壶 。 jus ard the corner of 太湖 at ard 530pm... this is the so-called 紫砂 museum, With alot of 紫砂壶, all kinds of designs and patterns and prices aren't cheap oso. Dad bought a few sets cos he was reali looking forward to buy a good 紫砂壶。

After visit the museum, we went for dinner ard 7pm, then 小万 brought us to their shopping center, to shop. Parkson Grand, the same one in JB. Whats the difference? Nothing much oso. Prices arent cheap oso. 小万 oso said some of the things are even more ex than we buy in over here. Then why he brought us there?? Dunnoe...

Anyway, gathered at 9pm after 1hrs' free time, we went back to hotel. Managed to find a spectacle shop ard there and fixed back my lens. Hotel was aother 1hrs ride again... ;(

Morning call was at 630am. But mum & dad was oredi wake by 4am...Cos the sun rises reali early, and they thot it was late oredi... Unlike Singapore, it was still dark at 7am after the corridor lights were switched off. It was reali bright in China at 5am oredi... So i woke up reali early too... Heard day time was long, night was short.. But in winter time, day is short, night is long. We got ready very early and packed up, cos we r leaving the hotel oredi...

Placed our lugguages outside our bedroom door, and we went down for breakfast ard 715am cos got to gather at 8am. After our tour guide collected our room keys, checked everything, we left the hotel and continue our journey.

Our tour group consists of a Chinese couple (Ah Huat uncle & Auntie Nai), Indonesian family (Mr & Mrs Ng & 3 daughters, Ivory...), Taiwan family (Mr Zhuang wif his wife, mother-in-law & his wife's sister-in-law), China family from Shenyang (Mr Lee & Mrs Lee, son, daughter and mother, mother-in-law) & of cos us! Total of 5 families.

Had an hour's bus ride again, to 苏州市凯地丝绸有限公司 to 'see' silkworms, life of silkworms and how they create silk strings which in turn becoming silk quilts.... Of cos again, 两位导游 wan us to buy the 蚕丝被 。。。Which is reali expensive. For a quilt, it costs 450RMB = almost S$90 which is without cover for a single/ queen size. The cover costs at least 1080RMB = S$200, which totals up to be almost $250 for the 蚕丝被。。。

Bought a silk blanket, and my parents wan to get a whole set, so might as well, get the pillows and pillow covers. Haiz!!! After letting us buy the stuff for almost 1.5hrs, they brought us to a room for fashion show. Displaying the silk clothings by the company. Next to the silk shop for shopping. Can buy the clothes which the models displayed. Anyway, nothing much...so expensive yet nothing to buy. Jus got some silk ties for Nick, which is only 40RMB. haha... First time i heard of using shampoo to wash silk cloth...

Finally after shopping at the silk company, wewent to a restaurant beside it for lunch at 11am. After lunch, we bid goodbye to our 地陪, 小张 as we are leaving 苏州 and proceeding to 南京。。。 Its yet another 3hrs bus ride from 苏州 to 南京。。。

We reach 南京 at abt 230pm...小董 met up with yet another 南京 地陪，吴老师。。。 He is from 南京大学 的 教授, if i m not wrong.. Haha... Cos he reali speaks alot of China history, especially history of 朱元璋 the moment he boarded the bus... Which i tink sounds like his 偶像。。。haha... He brought us to 大明孝陵神功圣德碑楼 (Tablet tower of the Ming tomb)。。。Again the whole history lesson begins...

In old times, ppl who made the stone bricks, had to carve their name and address, cos if the emperor's sword can cut in, he will have the whole family of the brick maker killed. If the sword breaks, while the brick is good, then the family of the sword maker will be killed. So either way, the somebody's family is gonna to haf their heads rolled!!!

Saw a huge turtle carrying a big stone tablet. Maybe u might haf heard b4 the story, when a turtle is crossing a river, someone wanted to punish it, and turned it to a stone, making the turlte drown. I cant remember the story oredi, jus sounds familiar... After 45 mins of bus ride, we reached 南京大桥。。。Saw a very big 毛泽东 statue... Then went up a very old lift to the top of 南京大桥 which is the building beside the road... After that went to a 'hall' and again story again from 吴老师。。。Funny, whenever our tour guide is telling us stories, some other ppl will jus join in the listen too...haha...

Then he brought us to a shop at the ground floor to see art paintings from a famous 师父。。。 He said we were lucky that the 师父 is ard that day, so tat we could see how he actuali paints from inside of a crystal ball, with a small opening, drawn opposite direction, yet the picture looks normal from the outside. He say if we wan to take foto of the 师父, pls turn off the flash, cos it will disturb his eye sight to continue drawing.

Again, shopping time for half an hour then we proceeded for our dinner at 545pm after another 45 mins ride AGAIN!!! After dinner, we went to 中华门。。。Agin abt 朱元璋 history. Its a 城门, 好像我们Singapore 的 唐城 有很多的兵马墉。。。After some foto taking, we went to 秦淮河 shopping. Free & easy time for abt 1 hr again...

After gathering at 830pm, we went back hotel oredi. Reached hotel in another 1 hour's time AGAIN!! Waste time again...

Ended the day's program after 秦淮河 shopping... So early again...

To be cont'd.... :P

This is to backdate the happenings in China....

1st Day in China

Took the night flight to 上海浦东机场 on 27 May 07 with Mum & Dad. Reached Shanghai at 630am.

Our tour guide met us at the airport. Wonder how he knew we were from that tour group! Anyway, he told us to sit down first, while he waited for the rest of the group.

Our tour guide is from 杭州... He is 董焕荣, but he told us to call him 小董... He is jus 2 years older than me!! Anyway, after he met the rest of the group, he brought us to load our lugguages on their mini travel bus.

Then he brought us to take their super fast train 磁浮列车。 It was reali very fast...Running at 301KPH. Reali alot more faster than our NEL, which is only running ard 70-80KPH...The ride was jus 20mins to the other station, 磁浮龙阳路站。It was only 8am when we reached.

After taking their special super fast train, we took the bus and went to 上海东方明珠塔。。。Went up to 263Metres Sightseeing floor... The lifts are not labeled as 1st floor, 2nd floor, 3rd floor,... but differentiated by the distance from GRD, the height of the building, like, 90Metres, 259metres, 263Metres, 267 Metres & 350Metres... Restaurant was at 267metres, space module at 350metres...blah blah...haha...

The view was superb. U can almost see everything from that height! Except that the weather there was reali bad, very hazy and tat blocked most of the view. If we went at night, guess it would haf been even best. The glass even showed how much distance 东方明珠塔 to another place, like distance to 重庆 1632Km，江西 600Km，湖南 880Km，山东省济南市 740Km，黑龙江哈尔滨 1700Km...We went down the steps for jus 1 floor and we reached the 259metres 室外观光层. U can reali feel the air outside lor. So cooling.

After that, we walked over to 外滩观光遂道。。。 Took another smaller "LRT". Jus one loop, to see their 3D laser lights display. Nothing much though. Jus abit like underwater world, cos they showing something like underwater aquarium...Jus the 5 mins trip costs RMB $35. Quite ex, yet nothing to see. The tour guide din reali did his job, as the few of us went in, the train door closes automatically, leaving the rest behind. So we had to wait for them for the next ride.

Next, 小董 brought us the 豫园老街 which is oso called 城皇庙 for shopping. Its own time for 1hr. But it is reali not enuff lor. Cos the place is so big, and so crowded. 3 of us jus wandering ard. Bought some wooden chopsticks & a small mahjong set. There is a very nice "小笼包" shop, which is having long queues. Some of the rest of our tour members went to try and had very nicce compliments for the shop. Tink if it wasn't for the long queue, maybe we would haf tried, but then again, if there is any queue, that means it is not nice rite?? haha...
btw, their 庙 is not reali temple 庙, its jus like 庙街, shopping street....keke ;P

After the free 1hr, we met up at 11am. Then took almost an hour bus ride for our lunch. Funny, they served their rice in a huge pot full like a mountain. Dished were even served before diners were here. Beer and soft drinks was served. And everyday, every meal, 10 dished were served along wif a bottle of beer and a bottle of soft drinks.

After lunch, 小董 told us to take a rest while we shall travel to 苏州 to see our very 新加坡-苏州工业园。。。 The bus ride took us another 2hrs. Such a long ride, travelling on expressway most of the time while in China, and this is jus the beginning.

After that, he met up wif another fellow tour guide from 苏州 小张 。 She is the 当地导游, which they called 地陪。。。They brought us to 苏州 藕园 for sightseeing and took a boat ride there. They were saying, 苏州 haf alot of rivers, so lookout for alot of bridges 桥。。。
Story of 藕园 was abt a rich family who lives in a big hse with all the old folks and children. Each of the family members had a 'building' of their own, alot of living rooms, alot of bedrooms, alot of ponds,...blah blah blah.... Those house u would see in 古装戏 lor... Got 正房, 偏房, pavilions.... walked around for almost 1hr.

Anyway, we took a boat ride there and ended up on the other side if the river. The 柳树真的很美... After that took another bus ride to 寒山寺...Its the same story person as in the HongKong show 翡翠恋曲 inside 的 寒山& 和合... This time round, it was reali temple, with lots of very nice and unique pagodas... Dad, Mum & i even climb up to one and the view was very nice.

After that, we took the bus for our dinner, stopped by any of the rivers for photo taking. Had our dinner at 530pm. And our tour guide reckon we were tired, so ended our 1st day program after dinner.

Hotel was another 1hrs' ride again. At a very 偏僻 place, without any shopping centers nor shops ard. Everywer was dark, and expressway was even beside it. 苏州 . 春申湖度假酒店. So we ended the day at 7pm.

Well, it was much too early than i expected. Cos we are paying for the tour guide services and they were jus so slacking. Not up to the standards, for tour guide, for services, for hotels.

Hotels were said to be 5 stars, but in the end, it was jus so ulu...They even switched of the aircon in the middle of the night, hotels rooms were full of mosquitoes and dirty. Well, next time, i wont be travelling with "5stars travel" again, even if their prices are the cheapest! Cos i feel they are short-changing us, with all the poor quality things and service, and watever they promised, were not true!! What rubbish, 5 stars hotels??!! These happens for the rest of the tour and rest of the group.

Haha...Other than the complaing part, does the itinery sounds interesting?? Shall continue the rest if the days next time. So watch out for the next post!! ;p