MERRY CHRISTMAS

HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH!!!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS.....

Here's wishing everyone who reads this a merry merry christmas.....
CHEERS!!!!!
(it saves me the trouble of going to each blog in my list and tag..lol..that will take like forever..)
(so i f u want my blessing come to my blog...hohohohoho)LOL

Anyway why is EVERYONE flocking to china now....
And especially SHANGHAI...
is there a special promotion package???
very cheap heh???
then if not WHY? WHY?
Could someone pls enlighten me???

ok well...
that aside...
last friday was the sec 1 registration day...
and i had to go back to school for training...
and i became a "topic of discussion" on 190 bus...
on the way to school and back....
not bcos i wore different socks on my feet...
also not bcos of my shoes/hair/face/ears/wateva.......
alos not bcos of ME...
but its bcos i m a josephian...
i M from SJI i have the word JOSEPHIAN printed on the back of my t shirt
LOL...
well parents who obviously are heading for SJI treated me as a foreign object on the bus...
cos i was the only josephian in the bus...
oblivious for the fact that i know they are talkking about me...
pointing fingers and going into discussions...
bet they are saying....
He's from SJI there..that guy over there...
ta1 shi4 cong2 SJI lai2 de4...
what surprises me more is when i got back to CCK interchange...
when i got on to 302 bus...
it happened again....
and again i acted as though i didnt know...
well well well....
all i can say is i m surprised that SJI is so famous....
I m PROUD of my SCHOOL.....
(being in the "limelight" once in a while isnt too bad either) :P

Training

well well well so i did went for training....
and it DIDNT rain lor...
bleh... :(
so obviously training was tough...
i didnt go for a MONTH and thats like erm...12 trainings at least...
so we did bounding work and drills...
boring but VERY tiring...
my whole body is still aching...
anyway i m surprised Daniel chua didnt confront me bout my "wonderful" attendance...
though coach realised that i was M.I.A for quite a while....
i told him that i was going to beijing hence not being abe to come for training...
that was 1 day b4 beijing which= 17 nov...
and i was back on the 24th nov which is like eh almost a month ago

Conversation(or rather interrogation..LOL) between me and Fok(coach)
Fok: Belmond..... long time no see....
Me: hahaha...ya
Fok: So how was beijing
Me: yea very fun
Fok: cold anot...
Me: ya it was very cold...-6 to 1 degrees
Fok: cannot be la where got so cold...i went to china also last week..tell me when u come back i would know the weather...
Me: (trying to change the topic) ahh.. coach which part of china u went?
Fok: Fujian..
Me: ooohhhh....(trying to avoid his eyes)
Fok:(very persistent) so when u come back tell me....
Me: ahhh....some time ago lor...
Fok: dont want some time....tell me the date
Me: (acting that i m thinking vry hard looks at the ceiling) erm on the 25th
Fok: (voicing out whats going on in his head)25th......now dec 20...25th...25th nov...wah going to 1 month liao...
Me: (smiles innocently) hehe....

So ya...
damn...
he found out....LOL
anyway after training was slacking at the canteen with marcus...
i seriously wonder where the trackers get their energy from...
can play soccer after training....
or maybe i m just unfit..LOL
so mathias appeared...
apparently he was taking a 5 min break...
so we broke into yet another convo...
and i realised that FOk is really like the best and kindest coach u can ever get...
the gym coach only allows a 5 min water break...
and will kana scolding if come back late...
and punishment for latecoming=200 pushups min.
hahaha...200 pushups...
that will be like our training...more than a punishment..
i will probably take 2 sessions to complete them..LOL
so anyway our water breaks are usually very "short"
like 15 minutes or so la...lol...wahahaha...
We: COACH!!! water break...
Fok: Ok come back quickly...
he didnt specify the time limit..so hahahaha
and punishment for latecoming is water boy...
easy heh...
i erm love??? my coach...
anyway heard that track and field training will contine all the way to school reopen...
the only CCA except badminton i think that wont be stopping after Xmas...
bleh...but anyway do u think i would go??
i have like a friggin hell lot of hw left...
so anyway lunch was at the tanglin CC with marcus
and before we left the auntie told marcus that his chinese is very good...
" ni3 de4 hua2 yu3 shuo1 de4 hen2 hao3"
when the only words he said is yao4 and xie4 xie4
wth la...
and i rmb very clearly(i always rmb praises..LOL)
she said the exact same thing to me when i first patronized her...
this left me to think whether she said this to everyone....
if she did...she is SO EVIL...
hurt ppl's feelings...lol...or rather cheat...
anyway catched ERAGoN at cine later on...
i guessed i was too beat from training that i fell asleep in the first 10 minutes....
i missed out the evolving part....
lucky there was halls to keep me awake....
if not it would be a waste of 6.50...
well eragon was ok la...
watchable...not fantastic though....
I would really want to watch night at the museum though...any dates?? any1 interested???

Well today was Gym with elian...
so i got a 1 month free trial at california fitness gym..
thanks to my mom...
she's a permanent member there...
i figured out those fit ones wouldnt be interested and also doesnt need it..
so i asked elian whether he was interested...since he told me b4 that he needs to lose weight...(elian i m not saying that u arent fit)
and he said yes...
well so we got our 1 month VIP membership pass...
and we sweated it out...
i think elian was quite impressed with the facilities there...
i was too when it was my first visit :)
anyway my body is like aching so much...
arrggghhh....
and there's like training tomorrow...or rather today its past midnight...
and after that its either gym with elian again or with mom...
all this hardwork...
so as to be able to fit into my uniform on the 3rd of jan 2007
(not that i cant fit into it now...just in case....keeping my fingers crossed)
LOL...

anyway b4 i go off here's notice for those dumbs dumbs or blur sotongs...
want to tag but cant find the tagboard???
wondering where it is??
well here's the answer...
i obviously do have a tagboard...
its just that this time its a POP UP one
it at the greeting cards section...
right above the no. of hits...
clear???
GOOD...
now i want to see more tags...LOL

Rain rain go away???

Well well well its been like raining and raining non-stop this few days.....
saw the news...
most likely to continue till friday...
so is it good or bad?
many might think its bad...
especially those whose businesses and cars are"patronized" by the rain...
well at least for me..
it works both ways...
GOOD:
1) it keeps me at home=chance to do hw=not burning the midnight oil on 1st and 2nd january
(though i think i might still need to burn comsidering the huge pile of hw i have)
(outstanding hw: 2 sets of chemistry papers, 1 differentiation math assignment,1 english commonwealth essay and 7 chinese essays...yes its SEVEN 7)
( chem papers due on 22nd dec,eng essay due like tomorrow...lol...actually it 30th nov...hahaha)
(all of the above in brackets=one word: DOOM)
2) training(provided i go) will be indoors= weights/gymnasium=no running=slack=fun
3) lazy to go out= no chance to spend $=saves $
4)keep falling asleep= missing meal times=not eating that much=lose weight(hopefully)

BAD:
1) Get drenched even though having an umbrella=soggy socks+shoes=EEewww...
2)Cant go downstairs to exercise(since when do i go downstairs &exercise..lol)
3)sky gloomy=house darken=spirit gloomy
4) lazy to go to California fitness where i have a 2 week free VIP membership=wasted=pity=cannot lose weight

Well 4 good points 4 bad points....
well i guess its more of a neutral thing for me when it keeps raining...
how ironical.....
i want it to stop raining but then i want the rain to continue...
whatever....

training tomorrow...hopefully...
after 1 month..lol...
better go before phone calls start finding their way to me...
6am goodness....
i have not been waking up till noon nowadays...
4 hrs hopefully the rain isnt too heavy for me to get to school tomorrow...

Beijing Trip 2006, footsteps in time part III

Well finally a change of blogskin....
this time since christmas is near....
so it is a christmas theme....
Layout: Last Christmas
Music: Last christmas....
Clock: santa themed..
Perfect isnt it....

Anyway this post is to round up the trip to beijing...
well its like around a month ago that i left for beijing...
its like so fast...
and guess what i m still MISSING it...

Day 7 final day

So we got to sleep in till a little later this time...
finally get to see how our room looks like in the bath of sunlight...
u can choose not to believe but...
its true that for 7 whole days of living in the hotel...
i havent even seen my room in the day....
we would always leave the hotel room for breakfast at around 7
and never come back till 7+ at night....
anyway so we went down for breakfast at the hotel's restaurant as usual....
seriously...i m like SICK and TIRED of the food there...
although it is international buffet styled....
but eating the same old food over and over again for 6 breakfasts...
arrrggghhh...its just disgusting...
fried noodles+omelette+bacon+springroll+kiwi juice...
so after breakfast me and thad went back to our room to take our luggage down...
we assembled at the lobby with all our belongings
and off we went up the bus...
bading goodbye to our "home" for the past 7 days...
our "home" for 7 days...
The bus that brought us from places to places...
leaving the hotel....

Destination: Project 798 a.k.a the FUTURE of china....
someone told us its some sort of sky scraper thing...
but its nowhere near that....
its like some sort of a industrial estate...
quite deserted i would say....
future of beijing???? I dont see why....LOL
anyway so project 798 is sort of an art street..
where u could find galleries and shops...
with artpieces on both sides of the street in shophouses...
honestly it was rather boring...
i mean....
I m not that kind of ppl who would often go to art exhibitions
and like....
mmmhhh....ahhhh....woahhh...at the paintings...
secondly....i m not that rich to be able to buy those pieces...
So how?
SELF ENTERTAINMENT....LOL
(song plays) "thats what friends are for...."
well company is important when things are boring...
dont u agree....
Last group pic....I swear i was being crushed..
Delta with facils catherine and claudine...

Been there....
and left a "mark" there....
or rather many"marks"....





So after that that its the last meal...
this time we went to a korean restaurant...
the table was really long and the decor was very nice....
the urinal actually had ice cubes in it...LOL
so its like u are peeing into a bucket of ice...
is it for decoration or what i have no idea....
the food was okay la...
not too bad...
i have never tried authentic korean food before so ya....
but the coffee i must say was really nice and fragrant...
thought the serving was like pathetic....
s very small cup and only half filled...
maybe thats the way korean drinks coffee???
LOL....
what was special is the metal chopsticks...
cool...there was an urge to take it with me..
but i didnt...
to think back right now...
why didnt i ask whether i could buy it...
stupid me!!!
Told you it was long...lol...

So after that we packed up and off we went to the airport...
and it was good bye beijing.....
awww....so sad.....
but no choice....
it was 7 days...
we all agree that it was too short...
10 would be just right.....

Anyway if u would like to see all the pictures we took in beijing u could visit here....
a total of 300+ photos....
http://s133.photobucket.com/albums/q76/literual/
its my photobucket album...

Beijing Trip 2006, footsteps in time part II

Beijing Trip 2006, footsteps in time part

Part II



Day 5

Ok so today was School immersion...
WHOLE DAY !!!!
Will die man....
its a little boring...
dozed off a few times...
i bet alot did :)
it was what???
poetry recital class...
yes thats the class we had...
it's fun when u r called to recite...
i put up that beijing accent...
the one with the "er" in all ur ending words...
and guess what!!!
the teacher said " well done"
and the students all laughed...
so after that we had lunch in the school canteen...
elian was bored tooo XD
there is only 1 stall
or rather none...
no choice...
served like prison style???
metal plate metal fork metal spoon....
food erm...should i say it...
heck la...it SUCKs....
(or maybe bcos we have been having every single meal in a restaurant (:)
so after that we had free time....
free to explored the school...
were told to go to basketball court to play....
er...but no balls heh...
play what???
so we hanged around the excercise equip areas and the pingpong room...
i name the latter myself...lol...
It was cold...as seen from my facial expression..
praying: pls dont break...
in the ping pong room....
so our break was extended...
i dont know why but ya...
anyway there was a 50 cent coke seller..
600 ml bottle...
dirt cheap heh....
so we were ushered into some resource room....
read books???
i guess thats what they want us to do...
anyway we saw a pretty gal along the way up the resource room...
a pretty china gal...mmhhh...
hard to come by...
i was with er....elian? or is it glenville??
anyway ya so elian/glen decided to bring others along to search hunt the gal down...
i was tired...didnt want to follow them...
so i read my tuesdays with morrie...lol...
after that was the lian2 huan1 hui4...
there was performance from ba1 zhong1 side as well as SJI side...
there were alot of dance items by them...
all mongolia sort...
so SJI....
known for songs and cheers???
so we did our stuffs...
a song...
and i was pushed to the middle...awkwardly..very awkwardly...
right in the front...bleahX....
i think i blocked some ppl...from the camera...XD


so after that was the trip to liu2 li2 chang3...
was quite boring...
since i had my seal carved liao....
i got it real cheap at a good price...
so i basically tagged along with my group...
taking pics along the way as usual...
no wait....i didnt cos it was too cold...
most of the shops were closed...
and it was like very dark lor...
the whole street is like all selling the same stuffs lor...
not interested...
paintings la and other hangings and artworks...
dinner and back to hotel....

Day 6

so its the BIG day today....
summer palace than scavenger hunt.....
the summer palace is huge....
reason??????
its even bigger than the forbidden city...
although it doesnt feel but i guess its true...
since my knowledgeable facils says so...
i guess its due to the friggin big lake...
its almost like a sea...
cos i cant see the other coast....
now i now why the empress dowager prefers to stay in the summer palace...
the view and scenery and surroundings are awesome man...
besides its cool during summer....
so we were given task...
to answer questions and unravel the mysteries..
by travelling to places and look for the answer....




After that something bad happened...
we were asked to assemble at the exit at a specific time...
but a few groups didnt keep to the time...
and they were late...
very late....
cos they were buying souveniers....
so the early ones like us were sitting in the cold...
it was freezing...
its the summer palace i guess.....
mr heng told them to give the things up and come back....
but some didnt thats why he was uber angry....
i understand why they didnt want to give the things up...
first they already paid for it....
second its very nice...
the painting...
but they were wrong la.....
so everyone(the adults) was angry...
all the disappointment and stuffs...
got a hearing from them...
they even want to cancel scavenger hunt....
bcos of safety reasons....
then they want a rep from us to tok to them...
i wanted to go but was hesistant....
i mean i m the most "" ya one...
i also dont know what word...
in the end i guess elian wants to rep us...
so he went...
and he succeded....
we managed to go for the scavenger hunt....
so we skipped one station and started off at the 2nd stop..
due to time constraint....
so we landed up in tian an men square...
then we took the Mrt/train/whatever they call it....
trust me SMRT is much better....
so we had to go around to different places via train service...
and take photos to proof that we been there....
one of the task is to find out how much a 100m sq unit wil cost in that shopping mall....
so i managed to get the phone no. of the office...
so i called.....
they put me through then asked me to wait....
so i waited....
no response...
so i put down...
then after like 15 mins i decided to call again....
in chinese in a very polite tone: "excuse may i know how much is........."
in loud chinese:" how mnay times do u want to call...i told u before..."
in a puzzled tone:" but this is my first time..."
louder:" ya right...I dont care but i m going to tellu one last time......."
(all this above is supposed to be in chinese)
(but i figured out if i typed it in hanyupinyin u probably wont get a thing :))
How dumb....
what good service man...
cant even differentiate voices....
no wonder this is______
I would leave u to decipher whats the blank is.....


after that was shopping at xiu4 shui3 da4 sha4...
the heaven for imitations....
i bought VCDs and a pair of shoe....
and i fell SICK!!!
luckily it was the last day....
i lost my appetite....
WOW...how i wish i could lose my appetite everyday...(:
and it was beijing duck lehz...
anyway thanks sebastian and thad for "serving me"
I was wearing 4 layers in a restaurant with heater!!!!

so after dinner was the presentation of buisness plan...
though i wasnt feeling quite well i decided to go down....
and lent my support...
but its a pity i couldnt present....
I came up with the speeches...(:
so we did our presentation in the hotel's conference room...
and my group was up first....
we awed and mesmerized the room with our buisness plan....
this is no exaggeration....lol...
since i couldnt present i became the camera man....


after all eight groups presented....
and after the judges made their choice...
the results were announced...
We got.......
2nd....
it was quite a dissapointment....
we really wanted to win badly....
we lost out by 2 marks....
i think the problem lies in....
we didnt mention about our surveys...
cos we didnt survey at all (:
whereas the winning group was like ba1 zhong1 here and ba1 zhong there...
talking about the surveys they conducted in every other sentence...
or maybe we would win if i went up....
and turn on my charm...LOL....
and the winning group got their prize....
cool man...
authentic olympic souveniers with certs....
a set each for every1 in the group....

so after that thaddeus and I went back to our room....
not long later the door bell rang...
kiaboon came marching in....
followed by mathias....
then kiaboon loudly shouted....
stupid china bikini man.......
and a whole lot of vulgarities...
not suitable to post it up...
my blog is clean:) and i wish it to remain as it is....
so i got the story from mathias...

here it goes....
setting: the corridor on the third floor outside the conference room
characters involved: kiaboon mathias elian alwyn and the china bikin man(hotel guest)
ok so the story is like that....
it was after the presetation...
kiaboon mathias alwyn and elian were walking down the corridor...
they were i think making alot of noise...
or bcos they were one of the last...
the ppl before already made alot of noise...
so this hotel guest was obviously very mad bcos of all the noise generated...
i think he was awoken from his sleep....
he was dressed in nothing except a brief...
so he jumped out of his hotel room and shouted some vulgarities at them...
they were shocked by the sudden voice....
kiaboon being very um....
attitude and loud and no-pushover lind of person...
shouted back....
so a quarrel started....
so they were shooting strings of vulgarities at each other
both not understanding what the other guy is scolding....
kiaboon was in english and hokkien
while the bikini man was in chinese obviously....
so they(kiaboon abd the bikin man) were both very agitated...
while mathias elian and alwyn were kinda scared....
so he chased them all the way to the lift....
they all went into the lift leaving the bikini man...
still swearing....
they were all afraid that the bikini man will chase after them all the way to the lobby...
but he didnt....
obviously...
he was only in a pair of brief....
what a sight man....
if he really chase them al the way to the lobby...LOL...

ok so explanation time...
why the bikini man is called the bikini man...
bcos he's in a pair of brief...
but how did bikini came into the picture i didnt know...
and kiaboon was also saying that the briefs were kinda of see through...
LOL...
mathias seconded it....
and his toot was very um...um....cough... very small...
wahahaha....i dont know
they say one....lol...

so after that was the "party" at elian and alwyn's room....
glenville and jeremy joined us...
so it was me thad mathias kiaboon alwyn elian glenville and jeremy....
as usual it was full with food...
especially its the last day...
so all unfinished/untouched food and drinks is brought together...
and its cup noodles again....
i think they all going to get cancer....
lol....
i shared most of mine with thaddeus everytime i eat..so ya i m better...
lol....

Missing beijing.....
there will be part III coming up...
on day 7...
this is getting too long...
so must split ya.....
watch this space...
till than....

Beijing Trip 2006, footsteps in time part I

Beijing Trip 2006, Footsteps in time

Part I

Well its gone and over....
7 days passed by like nothing....
enjoyed myself totally.....
Friendships were enhanced...
and new bonds were made....
i still cant believe that its all OVER....
Its just too fast...
Way too fast...
How i wish i could go back there again....
And escape from all the stress....
And the tons of homework and dealines to meet...
where everything is much simpler....
cooler and more relaxed.....


the hotel wasnt great....
but it was good enough....
the food there was good.....
11 course at some....
there was alot of wastage....
Facils were GREAT....
they were very knowledgable....
and they were very bilingual...
Mr heng was LAME....
Not that bilingual though...(:
he tried to entertain us.....
good try.....
a discovery about alwyn & thaddeus...
narcissus and cam whore....lol...(sticks tongue out)
we travelled in a bus....
from places to places...
to different destinations we go....
laughters and singing filled the bus....
disgusted, amazed, stunned & impressed were the feelings....

tomorrow morning 6.30 morning call 7.00 breakfast 8.00 at lobby everyone!!!!

Day 1

Woke up early to be at the airport at 6.50am
Arrived there on time....
alot of family were there....
so was mine...
after a prayer....
after bidding goodbyes...
into the depature hall we went....
we were EXCITED....
very excited....
we took many pictures...
hello arent we still in singapore???
LOL....
The planes....
Thaddeus
Alwyn and Me...
Thaddeus and Me.....
335/435 (Me, thad, Elian, aLwyn)

So we boarded the plane....
it was slightly delayed....
doesnt mke a difference....
i met my optometrist...
what a small world....
same flight...same destination....
Sat beside kiantat....was his first time taking flight....
he seem calm....
offered him sweets so that he will feel better when taking off...
The flight was great....
SQ...duh...lol....
food was great too....
the only thing bad is...
there's no playing cards....
due to some technical problem...BleahX
the movies on board was great...
watched 2....
My super Ex-girlfriend & John tucker must Die...
both was hilarious....
I think i laughed out loud...
hope i didnt give anyone a shock....XD
Elian and Mathias....
Kiantat and Me...(pls ignore the finger)
We HAD magnum on board...or is it just typical of SIA...LOL

So after close to 6 hours of flight...
We ARRIVED in beijing.....
the airport was very dim....
poor lit up....
everything was messy...
I guess its just that we r not used to it....
foreign to the surroundings...,
stepped out of the airport....
woooo....cooling...shiok....
its as though u r inside a fridge that has no boundaries....
Thaddeus, mathias and Me caught on cam unknowingly...
ah lian no. 1 pose....
Me mathias thaddeus and elian....

Our first stop wasnt the hotel....
But some place called..hutong...
The facils said it's like singapore's Clarke Quay...
doesnt seem so to me....
its a sat a weekend...
but it wasnt as crowded as i thought it would be...
So we walked and walked....
took pictures pictures....
and more pictures....
thats what tourists do right....
I guess we r very good tourists than....(:
A lake i guess...
Walking....
Thad & Me....(one of the close eye shots...)
one of the houses....do u call it houses??
A beanie shot...

So after that was dinner...
It was some kao rou restaurant....
11 course....
imagine it....
I was friggin full....
and there were alot of extras....
then it was time to go check out our hotel...
the place we will be sleeping in for the nxt 6 nights....
Its called DongFang hotel...
the lobby was quite small....
619 was my room no.
thaddeus was my roommate....
there was NO bathtub......BleahX...
room was smaller than it was in the picture on net...
but it was comfy enough....
Put our things down and off we went to the supermarket...
To stock up on the necessities....
actually mainly food la...
in case we get hungry in the night...
bought bottles of drinking water....
soft drinks.... chips...biscuits...and of cos instant noodles...
Shopping.....

Day 2

There were changes to the itinerary....
we were not scheduled to go to the forbidden city today but nvm....
so we went....
the place is friggin huge....
I pity the sedan carriers man...
they have to carry the royal family around the palace...
and do u know the forbidden city has 9999 rooms...
that meanss if the emperor would to stay in one room a day...
and keeps changing room...
it will take him around 30 years to finish staying all of the rooms...
madness....
We had starbucks in the forbidden city itself.....
shared hot chocolate with thad 4 sing....
quite reasonable....
and starbucks is called XING BA KE....lol....
it was a pity....
the biggest hall is under construction.....
the Ling xiao dian....
the most majestic one where the emperor settles national affairs....
I seriously wonder how many thrones they have....
cos there is one in every hall we went....
and god knows how many there is???
At the forbidden city......




Me and thad holding the maple leafs we picked up on the street....Very nice right...

so lunch was at somewhere halfway up the great wall....
the restaurant is very nice and the decor very comfy...
it used to be a pri school explains it....
there were even crayons and score sheet for us to scribble....
so pri school like....
very interesting....
had a large sandwich...
yummy....
guess i was hungry...lol...
the restaurant.....
in the toilet....LOL

So we went onto the bus again...
our destination this time is the GREAT WALL....
there are three different sections of the great wall that is open to the public...
the one we went is called mu tian yu...
it isnt the one normally ppl will go to...
as its slightly more difficult to climb....
the sight of the great wall cant be described with words...
majestic??? its more than that...
Awesome??? its also more than that
its just ***open mouths big*** WOAH!!!!
Lol....
I just cant imagine how they actually build the wall some 500 yrs ago....
where there is no machinery and technology...
just man power...
purely man power...
they have to scale the mountains....carrying bricks and stones....
from the foot of the mountain all the way up...
with nothing but their bare hands....
imagine the harsh climate...
no wonder thousands and millions of ppl died cos of the great wall....
is it really worth it???
when eventually the mongolians managed to break through it...
and conquer china...
kublai khan once told this to his troops...
" the wall is only as strong as the courage of those defending it"
this is so true.....
even if u have a uber strong wall but u dont have any soldiers who are willing to lay down their lives to protect the country...
then u will still fail in the end....
The weather forecast is 6 to -1 degess but it felt nothing like that la....
I was sweating like dont know what while climbing....
it was high....
just steps steps and more steps....

touched the wall...

wahahaha...king of the world
Mathias doing handstand on the great wall...woah....
Day 3

So its a monday and its school immersion day!!!
And its Beijing No.8 middle school...
interesting fact: the schools are all numbered over here in china
For exp. shenzhen no.11 school....
the classroom i would say looks very nice...
and its high tech leh...
all use com and teach...mmm...impressed...
maybe thats why they are comparable to RI...
they would do this weird dance ever morning....
as a daily workout....
lol....the great china workout....
and their lines SUUPER straight....
even straighter and neater than the ones in our UGs...
damn pro....
super straight....

So we attended 2 lessons...
one is on the traditional chinese paper cutting
while the other one is the chinese painting lesson...
it was no doubt fun...
i tried drawing out the patterns i want first before i start to cut..
but ya...i failed miserably....
in the end i just decided to just cut...
and it turned out much much better...LOL...
the trick is to get as little paper left after finish cutting...
the thinner it looks(abou to tear kind)
the more pro it is...lol...

Mine ,thaddeus and Elian's masterpieces...

after that was the chinese painting class....
we were supposed to paint a sparrow and bamboo painting...
was very fun....
challenging too...
some of it turned out very weird and inproportional...
but nevertheless we were quite satisfied after killing many trees...
My masterpiece!!!!
the messy classroom
a chinese painting????

So after that was the visit to Duxiu company...
basically its some kind of a search engine..
where ppl can make use of it and find info about china books...
they also places books online...
they scan and upload the books...
so ppl wouldnt need to actually buy the books to read them...
they could purchase a card that has a certain amount of credit in it...
and use it to access the books online....
they actually have a factory that operates 24/7 with 2 shifts of workers...
we got free gifts...lol...
a card that has 10yuan in it..
and i have 2....lol..
it sure will come in handy when its time to do du shu bao gao...

the very nice looking office building(not duxiu)

inside duXiu
cam whores in the making...alright we were bored...

After that was the trip to Xidan book of malls....
werent interested in the book mall....
though i must say its huge...
singapore's largest popular also cant hold a candle to it...
more interested in the 77th street mall beside it....
they actually have a 77th street shopping mall underground...
its supossed to be very crowded where all the teenagers hangout...
but it seems quite empty...
or is it justt bcos its a weekday???
i thought our orchard road is forever crowded...
And the shopkeepers there ....
i must say they are damn goood..
when we walk pass...
" ta1 men2 shi4 cong2 xing1 jia1 po1 lai2 de4"
Do we have SINGAPOREANS written on our forehead???
Anyway bought 2 VCDs...damn cheap......10RMB for 1
bought 2 thats like 4 sing...
Rob-b-hood...
and scary movie 4 uncensored unrated...lol
we also did our interviews for our buisness plan...
i think elian and me made a good pair....
it went quite smoothly...
except for the 2 bit****
bought a belt for 2sing....
at 77th street...
but it was too short....bleahx....
reason is alwyn ran and bought it for me at the last minute...
I didnt buy it myself...oh well...gave it to elian...
the statue of books..outside Xidan

Day 4

3 destinations today....
1. Beijing urban planning centre
2.ancient observatory centre
3. Lenovo company visit

Beijing urban planning centre was an eye opener....
Beijing is really huge.....
see it for urself...
we were on the second floor!!!

Its just part of beijing....
Hi!!!!

Next stop is the Ancient observatory centre...
I was very impressed how smart the ppl were....
its like more than 500 years ago
and they actually already know how to read the stars!!!
predict the weather...
and read the time...
using instruments that do not make any sense to us...
yet they are quite accurate...
Chinese are VERY SMART i would say...
all the instruments we saw were replicas of the real one...
the real ones are all at nanjing...
cos 1 of the many emperors once moved his capital to nanjing..
thus bringing all those along too....
i guess they didnt want to move it back...
in case accidents might happen and in the process these precious artefacts destroyed...

The artefacts thar were used to predict weather and time...

The poke cause the right side of my nose to bleed like after 10 minutes

After that was the company visit to Lenovo...
this time round its a much bigger company than Duxiu...
it has its own building...
We were given a talk by some guy...
and sorry to say that but it was boring...
I was falling asleep...
many others too...
for the ignorant, Lenovo is the company who bought over IBM...
it is also the partner of the Olympics 2008 beijing...
and its now the third biggest computer manufacturer in the world...
we got a tour of the factory....
the assembly line and everything...
sorry no pics as we cant take pics in the factory....


after that was a surprise trip to decathelon...
a mega sports store...
selling sports related items ranging from clothes to equipments...
for more than 60 different kind of sports...
bought 3 pairs of ankle socks at 29 yuan around 2 sing a pair
bought 2 sports tights for training one at 14 Sing
and a what do u call it??
wrist/arm strengthening device...
the one that u squeeze....ya....

MISSING Beijing............

there will be part 2 coming up soon....
meanwhile enjoy this first...
will update once i come back from my chalets....
watch this space....
till than...
be back on the 1st of dec....