Those were the image that captured my eyes the moment I reached OCT. I have been walking in and out of the place but didn't stop for a second to snap the photo. I did it finally on my way out. I knew I was gonna miss Pinky and her family very much.
That's the shuttle bus which was gonna ferry us to the plane. The plane was parked very far away and it would be impossible to walk to the plane and more impossible to walk in such a cold morning. The sight of AirAsia brought me a step nearer to home. It was so good to look at the faces of fellow Malaysians and it was definitely great to be able to converse in Bahasa Malaysia when I met a family who was in China for a holiday and also boarding the same plane home.
AirAsia's in-flight magazine was definitely a page turner. I have been so deprived of English that I devoured every single word that my eyes caught on the printed pages. It felt just so good and wonderful to be able to see English words. The Chinese strokes almost drowned me. After reading all the magazines and salivating over the menu for food, I gave in to sleep. If I have snored, I might have kept the whole plane awake.. so sorry for that, I was very tired and it was a good 4-hour sleep. I woke up when everybody started standing up to remove their cabin baggage and the next moment, I was hopping out of the plane and chasing after my next flight. I have a problem with planning my connecting flights. I seemed to forget that there were bound to be some delays or there must be a long queue to check-in luggage. So far I have not experienced any delays from AirAsia's side but I have denitely experienced a very long delay both from China Airline and Shenzhen Airline.
After another hour of flight back to my little island, I was famished. I have had no food since I left Pinky's house and my full meal for the day was after I have touched down and my stomach was screaming for bloody murder because I was so hungry. I thought of grabbing a burger in KL but there was just not enough time. The moment after I have checked-in my luggage, I was already ushered to a queue and boarded the plane. In less than 15 minutes, the plane was already taxing the runway.
All in all, I have had the most wonderful holiday in China and I have to thank my Lord for making it impossible and for going ahead of me to prepare everything and making sure that everything fall into place. Finally, the end of my China trip... not the last one though...
I'm coming to an end of the writing of my China trip. *phew* It took me almost 8 months to finish uploading the photos and writing about it. Going through all the photos, I miss Pinky's family... you know, I told myself that I won't go to the same country twice as I would rather go to other country which I have not step foot on, but the bond with my host family is there, so I will definitely go again... I do remember what we did on my last nite in Shenzhen, on one hand I look forward to going home but on the other, I felt like I've been staying there for a long time. Staying in a hotel is a different experience compared to being hosted by the locals.
I needed a book to read on my flight back so Pinky took me to the largest book mall in Shenzhen. It was 4 times bigger than the Popular bookstore in Gurney Plaza. We went from the first floor all the way up to the fourth floor. We were quite fast because I couldn't read any of the Chinese books. We asked the book mall staff for the English section. Before long, we were both staring at basic English grammar books which I have tonnes of them piling up at home. Then, we reached the fiction section. I was delighted to grab any English books and to settle down with Sherlock Holmes, I was more than happy. I will not be bothered by the price.
I flipped the book open to check the content of the book. To my horror and dismay, the English book was written completely in Chinese. How could this be? I was so disappointed that I just dragged the both of us out of the place. We were not allowed to bring our bags up with us so we had to keep our things in the locker for free. Because it was such a hi-tech locker which requires us to keep the slip with a string of numbers printed on it, it was the combination to unlock the locker, I thought I was good enough to understand some basic Chinese and anyway it was just to key in a string of numbers, I failed to do so. Pinky was so afraid that I might lock our bags in there forever.
I was quite upset that grandma didn't prepare us any dinner as I was starving. Pinky's mom already has a plan under her sleeves. Since it was my last nite, she wanted to treat me to somewhere nice instead of having home-cooked food.... but I love home-cooked food, coz I get to eat and eat and eat until the pots turned upside down... you can never do that in restaurants. We took a bus to somewhere out of town. It was in a shopping mall which I have no idea how to read the name of the building... so sad right... if I was ever forced to live there forever, I would be lost forever... We landed ourselves in Daiwo Sushi restaurant. The restaurant was empty... empty means bad right? But it wasn't so... I am not a fan of sushi but I do like the one above in particular... and I love sashimi....
We ate until we couldn't move, choosing all the expensive stuff in the menu. For the last plate, we played 'scissors, paper, stone' to see who should finish the last plate. Pinky had to finish the last plate. Then we had to walk home... it was such a long walk and we were walking in the dark. I am still wondering why couldn't the municipal council put up more street lights and brighten the place. I could hardly see my own feet. It was so dark if anyone jumped in front of me, I wouldn't even realize it until I bumped into the stranger. If you get robbed there at night, you can NEVER be able to describe the culprit who did it. It was impossible to even see your own finger in front of your own eyes.
We passed by a lot of restaurants by the road side. Grandma has reminded us again and again not to eat at any stalls by the roadside or any restaurants selling weird animals. That restaurant definitely sells dog meat... wasn't that the picture of a Golden Retriever... how could anyone swallow such an adorable and human-like pet dog? Pinky has tasted doggie meat before without her knowledge. She was only told about it after the cooked doggie meat was digested in her stomach and deposited into the manhole.
While walking home, which was so damn far away. It took us almost an hour to walk home but Pinky's mom said it was just a short distant away. Either the mom was encouraging me to walk on or they have walked too often that an hour's walk was considered a short one. According to my diary, a short distance walk would be leaving my room and walking into the bathroom... that was the example to explain the definition of short distance. All of a sudden, we were standing at the back entrance of another shopping mall and we were walking inside to catch a movie. We bought the tickets to watch a midnite movie... if I'm not mistaken we watched the Warhorse... an English movie :D
By the time we walked home it was already 2 in the morning and I still have not pack my luggage to go home. I have already planned my day well for the next day.
My things were every where and frankly speaking, I had no idea how to pack to make sure that I did not pile excessive weight into my weight-limited luggage. I packed until 4:30 in the morning and I had to wake up at 6 a.m. to catch my flight. Pinky and I were chatting at the speed of the lightning... we were running out of time to talk... so we talked and talked and talked until I seriously had to make a move with both my overweight luggage.
I don't eat any weird stuff but when I was asked to finish the whole plate of deep fried ducks' beaks, I have to give in because none of them like deep fried oily food. Not to say that I like it that much, but I find that the Chinese race is one interesting nation. I don't know where's the joy of chewing on bones and it's not that duck's beak has any meat. Got 0.1% of meat I think... but I gladly chewed up the whole plate. Thank God they're not weird people who ordered a plate of fried scorpions and asked me to chew on them. I would refuse the offer and be branded as a stuck up guest.... hehehehe...
Have you heard of an eye-opening surgery? I surely have not heard of one but I've definitely seen the result with my own eyes. I do not have a close shot of his eyes for the 'before' photo but to me I don't see much difference in the surgery. It could roughly about 50 000 yuan if I don't remember wrongly. The surgery just took a couple of hours where the cosmetic surgeon tore up the skin on both corners of his eyes to enlarge the eyes... nah... I don't know how to explain it in full. As Pinky said, he is a vain pot so hopefully he can see more with the enlarged eyes.... yeehaw~!
It amazed me how China is able to maintain their parks. The park that I visited was nothing special as it's just a park below the apartment for residents to take a walk or jog or cycle. It's better than our national park, that I can sing praises for China. I've visited a few parks in China and they are really good in keeping the park clean and making sure the plants do not grow into jungle.
They even have a man-made lake fit with stones for you to jump across. Looked like an adventure on its own. You needn't pay a single cent to visit such amazing park. We walked for almost an hour, taking in the scenery and inhaling fresh air.
If only we have this back at home then we ladies will be able to have our photo-snapping frenzy time together. I can even imagine taking my wedding photos here... if only it's possible...
What's that large red frame doing there? Fancy standing in there to frame myself up... nice capture though...
Pinky and I were scratching our head, couldn't guess what that arrow was for... the photo was definitely not edited.... the arrow was there for real...
I'm a fan of seafood but the funny thing was Pinky's dad didn't know about it. He just said that it would be a place that's worth visiting and it's worth visiting alright...~! *woots* It was a fish market where there were lots and lots of fish and all types of shells still swimming around in water. The floor was really wet but it wasn't stinky with fishy smell.
There were dead fish sold on the marble-top stall just like what we have back here but it seemed like no one was interested with dead fish. Everyone just wanted the live fish, swimming around and not swimming on its side... that would be sign of dying very soon. The price was so cheap I wouldn't mind buying back a bucketful of fresh seafood for grandma to cook.
Let me show you some of the seafood sold at the fresh market. That's the fresh scallop cost only 3 yuan per piece. That would be RM1.50 for FRESH SCALLOP. What did you think I do? I bought them all and bargained for a lower price... gosh... I wouldn't mind paying the full price but it was my immediate response to bargain down the price before making any purchases. We went to Shekou's fish market two days in a row. The next time I'm there, I'm gonna carry a large tub and bring it back, riding on the subway. Pinky and I found the MTR station... smart, aren't we?
And that's puffer fish which none of us dare to try. It might be poisonous and I wouldn't want to die of food poisoning in a foreign land.
We ran away seeing this. They looked like a whole basket of red worms to me but it's a type of sea creature. The lady told us to try some by just deep-frying them so that they would be crunchy... eeewwww... creepy crawlies down the throat... no way man...
If you've never tried eating a stone fish, you should try it. The flesh was so different I wouldn't mind buying it again. But I didn't buy it from Shekou's fish market. I bought it at the market near Pinky's house when I went to the market with grandma. Grandma has never seen it before but in the end, grandma has the chance to cook it.... hehehehehe.... thanks to mua.....
I call this the penis-clam... Pinky's dad almost fainted looking at this... he asked me a hundred times whether I was seriously buying it... I said YES~! Muahahahaha... I've seen this before in seafood restaurants but it was always the Australian Geoduck... and since the Australian Geoduck was super expensive, I bought the Chinese Geoduck... which was really cheap but I couldn't remember the price at all... because that was like 7 months ago when I was there, shopping for seafood.
You don't have to worry about how to dissect and clean that penis clam. It would be done for you in the market itself. There were sections which needed to be removed.
Grandma stir-fried the penis clam with broccoli... grandma's very creative in her cooking... One was not enough and it was so sweet and tasty, next time, I would buy the whole container... thank for Malaysian Ringgit which was two times more than China's yuan...
After so many days in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shunde, looking at the architecture of the buildings, such Chinese feel... but I don't feel at home at all. On Sunday night, Pinky's parents had a plan for me. Aahhh... I was so blesses, I didn't know that they have everything mapped out. Pinky's dad fetched us to OCT Harbour. It was a newly opened place beginning of the year and to go there on our own would be a terrible mess as there was no public transportation heading or passing by that way. And I was exhilarated to see such Western-designed buildings. It was a harbour, something like Straits Quay and it was a million times more beautiful and scenic compared to our new yet quiet Straits Quay.
The place was huge but Pinky's mom was hurrying us like a mother hen. She said at the rate I'm stopping and snapping photos, I would have missed everything. So, I hurried off and we were standing in one place which many other people. I was wondering what were we doing there. Opposite the man-made lake, there was an open arena where patrons who paid 100 yuan would be able to sit in the arena and enjoy the front view performance. We, including the rest who did not pay, would have to stand at the other side of the arena across the lake to watch the back view of the performance. It was amazing never-the-less.
Caught the fireworks at 8 p.m. Thank God for good weather, cool breeze and thank God for free parking as the place has just gone through a soft launch so no parking fee yet. Parking in China is expensive if you're dreaming of having the 30 cents for 30 minutes parking like what we have over here, it is as good as imagining that you're able to fold your car and keep it in your back pocket.
I have lots and lots of photos in OCT Harbour. It was such a beautiful place but I'm just gonna share a few pictures here. That was me and Pinky with our leap of joy. You know, it's our third time meeting face-to-face. Such wonderful friendship. We're already planning to meet up next year, once a year at least to keep each other up to date...
I think I look best donning on winter warmers... the woolly boots and the scarf... I'll never wear such thick clothing back here... will never have the chance to do so...
That's us again... we really love taking photos together but sometimes it was just too impossible. It's either Pinky snapping me with my camera or I was holding on to her iPhone, snapping her to have her photos uploaded in Weibo... their Facebook-look-alike.
Did a UFO just landed at OCT Harbour? Nah... that's the convention centre... fancy-looking building...
It took me more than 8 months to complete my write up about my trip to China. It was just a 2-week trip but I felt like I've stayed in China longer than a month. Pinky asked me to go again next year but I'll have to make a pass to that invitation. I have another plan coming up so I better finish writing about all these before it was completely forgotten.
After our trip to Shekou, Pinky's kind dad dropped us at the whole stretch of shopping mall. It looked something like Queensbay Mall, Gurney Plaza, 1st Avenue and a few of Kuala Lumpur's gigantic malls all joined up together. There were 8 shopping malls linked into one huge mammoth mall. Let's go in and check out what was inside the mammoth mall.
The bakery was the first that we came to. I was fascinated with the creative piggy and tortoise buns but the price drove me off. I could just finished a pig in one mouthful. Pinky warned me time and again that the price of merchandise in a shopping mall was exorbitant. I have to believe her after looking at a blouse with a 70% discount tag on it, but after reduction the price was still over 1200 yuan which was equivalent to RM600. That was way too expensive unless you can place a guarantee on the blouse that it would last me forever but I wouldn't want to wear the same blouse into a coffin for the rest of my life.
What were our local durians doing there? That was the biggest durian that I've ever seen. Trust me, when I say that durian was big it was big. You know the biggest size of 'Hor Lor'? The durians that I've seen in China were 4 - 5 times the size of durians that we have it here. Or it should be roughly about 3 times bigger than the size of Thai durian.
Look at that price~! 56.80 Renmimbi *RM28.40* I could have eaten A FEW durians with the same amount of money. I wonder why must they sell it at such a high price. Pinky said that the durians there were tasteless and our ORIGINAL durians tastes a million times better than this.
Since we were considered too poor to shop and enjoy looking at those high-end clothes, we ended up at the arcade. I didn't Pinky love to play shooting games. I used to play that with Pork in Queensbay. Pinky changed at least 50 tokens. We had free tokens thanks to her mom. We waited for two little girls to finish playing but they proved to be wealthier than us. They kept on changing tokens by the basketful... and we stood their like numbskulls for an hour hoping that they would give up on the game. Finally, we were the ones giving up waiting and we went to another shooting game. We were happily shooting at the screen, reload, shoot and press start to continue... that means we died in the game la....
Pinky said I should try Hey YO... the best yoghurt in town... it was a self-service one where you have to squeeze your own yoghurt out from the machine. I was thinking to myself why did she squeeze such a small blob for each flavour. There were eight flavours altogether. Then I have a good shock when Pinky said it has to be weighed. I thought those eight small blobs wouldn't cost much but it was actually 26 yuan (RM13). You see, things in China weren't that cheap unless you are at those shops where you could bargain down the price by reducing the number of 0 behind the price thrown in your face. It's a shopping mall... you can never argue your way out.
Hey YO! has a variety of birthday cakes... and the piggies were so cute. Were they made of fondant? I was just wondering. That small cake cost roughly around 260 yuan (RM130). I wished I was rich enough and maybe being more careless with my expenditure then I would buy that cake for the fun of it. I wonder whether the cake was delicious or not....
Nothing much to snap as NO PHOTOGRAPHY was allowed everywhere. And I don't really like walking in places where the prices were so high that I felt like I've been robbed in broad daylight. All of a sudden, I remembered very well, we were in a hurry to head home because grandma was cooking something special for us and we were so hungry.... and we couldn't even afford to buy a small bun to lace our empty rumbling stomach...
