im a cheenagirl

Shanghai.

2007-03-01T17:53:11Z

It has taken long enough... but finally, SHANGHAI!

Lazy Shui's directing her friends here... she really hates to write i think. silly girl, that one =P

Its been 2 and a half days here, and I need to say that ITS FREEZING here. gawds its MARCH already but the weather here is insanely, nailbitingly, cold. there goes all my plans to go running everyday. BOOHOO!

A chronological order of what's happened? Hmm we reached on tueday night, collapsed on our dirty and disgusting hall room, shivered through the night cause the heater didnt work, went grocery shopping and filled one cab full of our shopping, and met baisheng (the 3rd exchange student) for dinner, and today we went shopping at ren min guang chang! Chronological blogs are boring. Now let me go into details about our sufferings of culture shock in this horrifying land.

Weather

ITS SO HARD NOT TO TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER CAUSE YOU ARE IN THE WEATHER ALL THE TIME! (ok i sound vaguely bimbotic) but its just so IRRITATING cause my beautiful tan is hidden under layers and layers of cloth. and even under all these layers, I STILL FREEZE! the coldness is disgusting. it hurts. it makes you want to cry.

The People

The people here are scary. Really, really scary. They yell at you, they shout and fight everywhere.

We visited the bund (wai tan) today, the Shanghai equivalent of the avenue of stars. Two youngsters were literally fighting each other to the death. throwing punches at each other, pulling each others hair, slapping, kicking, trying to shove each other over the barricade which would mean falling into the artic coldness of the huang pu jiang (er yellow something river, it seperates the two parts of Shanghai).

I stared in fascination before being ordered away from the scene by baisheng. He was so scared for my life... -_-" i hardly think 2 guys who are fighting each other will bother sparing a glance in my direction... haha!

The girls here are scary as well. The shop keepers in particular. they yell at customers who make them angry and when i say yell, i really mean YELL! plus they drag you over to their shops to force you to look at stuff. boo. once i saw a pair of boots and i asked the price. when i said i didnt want it she asked me to try it. when i walked away i could hear her mouthing bad words about me to her colleague... -_-" its really, really terrible here.

WHO SAYS SINGAPOREANS ARE KIASU?!?!? comeon, Chinamen trash us FLAT. their kiasuness knows no bounds.

The China people just squashed their way past us to cram infront of the baggage area when we reached the airport. horrible HORRIBLE!

The Shopping

Again, the shopping here is insane, and i really mean it. I seem to be repeating myself too much on this topic, but CHINA IS A SHOPPING HEAVEN!!

Though you really have to be shameless when bargaining. i didnt know i had the natural flair for bargaining! lol... i got this denim jacket today, original price was 300 odd RMB. I managed to haggle it down to 150 RMB and shui's mouth dropped when i offered 150 and nothing more... haha!!! Shui is really, REALLY, REAAAALLLYY hopeless in bargaining. She shows so much interest in the items, and she is just TOO kind to everyone! she is forever too embarassed to offer a low price. SHUI!!! bish bish. haha! if im a shop keeper i would love to meet her. =D

Heard of a "Raffles City" in Shanghai? We visited it today... its really a wistful taste of home, especially when we were surrounded by familiar shops. boohoo.

The exterior. Its a really glam place compared to other shopping places there.

boohoo!! breadtalk!! but the prices here are the same (or even higher) then singapore. appreciate your bread in singapore, people.

Oh yea, and grocery shopping was fun cause everything was really really cheap! BUT i must complain. i bought bedsheets for 10plus sing dollars. and when i opened the packet. IT WAS ONE BIG STUPID PIECE OF WHITE CLOTH!!! without the rubbery thing and everything. how irritating can china products be?!?! 10 bucks for a piece of cloth?! !@#@!$!#$!#%R%!!!

shui with our trolleys of groceries!!

oh yea and the mattresses are so awfully thin we had to buy extra. i'll blog about my room in the next entry.

Food

wheee!!! food!!! my number one weakness, enemy, and lover combined into one.

i am such a sucker for road side snacks. and china, being flooded, and i REALLY mean FLOODED, with dirt cheap food, is IRRISITABLE to me. my gosh! who said shanghai food is oily and salty? ok fine it is, but its still nice!!

me with a HUGE stick of barbequed squid!! omg its really heaven eating hot sotong in that dreadful temperature! pure bliss!!! i bought this along the streets of renminguangchang... its damn cool cause there are many many food vendors along the street. there is hot 珍珠奶茶 (pearl milk tea) everywhere, and I AM SUCH A SUCKER FOR THAT!! plus they sell roti prata too but they call it something else over here.

ok. SHUIJIAO. dumplings. chinamen's favourite food in the century. heres a picture of what it looks like.

we bought 6 to TRY. and it costs us $0.60. which means about 10 cents each. people around us were ordering HUGE plates of like 50 dumplings. there are like around 20 fillings to choose from... oh man... the kind of animals you see up there. we chinese are horrible. really. ehh oh ya forgot to mention, the dumplings are really nice to eat. haha.

hmm and we tried a korean food stall near our school and its really, really delicious. did i mention cheap? (ehh being cheap is a given thin in everything i mention ok!)

their appetizers are delicious. really, really delicious and its FREE!!!

if you watch korean shows... yup thats 炒年糕. after watching all those hot babes on my k dramas eat this, now its my turn and YUMMY its really good leh!

us at KFC. rocks! the chicken is a million times better then Singapore. and we paid only 4 bucks each for a HUGE FEAST. they have corn and eggtarts there!!!

Transport

Well i dont know about the buses or what cause i've only taken cabs but THATS NOT BECAUSE IM RICH. its because the cabs here are dead cheap. We took a cab to the town area for only 2 bucks each. faints. the meter takes a looooong time to jump, unlike HK (where the meter jumps every 2 seconds.)

us in the cab! by the way the drivers are all hiden behind a sheen of glass that shields us from them and vice versa. i wonder why.

Random Shots

yup its a condom vending machine. plenty around the school. I WONDER WHY. plus i saw one outside an old folks home. go figure. -_-"

streets of shanghai. shanghai is divided into pudong and puxi. literally, east of the river and west of the river. in puxi where my school is located, it is really rather run down and old.

人民广场 (People's Square) and 外滩 (the bund) is a really odd place. it is a weird mismatch of modern buildings with old european buildings, and lacking the chinese feel of beijing.

us at the bund.

spot me!!! and shui!! haha =P

Ok im tired. will leave more for tomorrow. Miss all of you! muacks!!! =)

shenzhen

2007-03-01T15:49:59Z

(backdated... 26/02/07)

I almost killed a baby today.

And I found out that my eye-bags jiggle when I run. I look really funny.

Shenzhen

I bet everyone thinks this is a super messy country with loads of thugs and robbers and poor people. Guess what? The living standards here are even higher then Shanghai.

I met possibly one of the richest person I’ve ever had contact with. Calm down those raging hormones Linz, this guy is Shui’s uncle.

It is very possible that from the very moment I entered Shenzhen, my jaw has yet to close properly, it being firmly dislocated from some form of shock.

Shui’s Rich Relatives

Shui’s young and pretty auntie drove us from the checkpoint, back to her house, in the longest PEUGEOT I have ever seen. The boot was huge. The interior was huge. I could stretch my legs full length in the passenger seat. The leather seats screamed rich. And Shui says this model does not even exist in Singapore. I was so tempted to whip out my camera but I resisted this extremely un-cultured temptation.

The house. Is. Horrific. It’s a condominium extremely near the town area, and THEY BOUGHT TWO UNITS SIDE BY SIDE. The house is freaking HUGE. There are 5 rooms (I heard there were 7 but they knocked down 2), all huge and hotel-standard, and a freaking glam living room and dining room and wine bar. It trashed every house I’ve been to FLAT. The TV is huge and the sound system looks damn high tech. The room I am in now probably has nicer décor then any hotel room I have been in.

our room reflected in the huge glass windows.

binky sitting on our bed!

AND THERE IS A TREADMILL IN THE HOUSE!!! Imagine my joy when I spied this gem in the house. That was when I found out my eye-bags jiggle when I run. Cause there is a strategically placed mirror in front, and beside, the treadmill. First time I ran barefoot (I had to) and that meant blisters. Ouch. I was so tempted to whip out my camera but I resisted this extremely un-cultured temptation.

I ate possibly the BEST meal I have EVER had my entire LIFE. My tummy is bulging like nobody’s business. We went to a glam restaurant in town. We got a VIP room, along with a huge LCD TV, along with sofa, cushions, and THE BEST FOOD EVER. Every dish was delicious, and (eat your heart out, linzy) there was LOBSTER!!! I cleaned out every dish, wondering why everyone stopped eating so early. Ehhh maybe that was a rude of me, but what the heck, good food comes so rarely man. I was so tempted to whip out my camera but I resisted this extremely un-cultured temptation.

The toilets here are world class and extremely sexy. That’s because the walls are see-through. Which means anyone who is in the room can see your naked glory when you shower. Its like all those posh suites in hotels meant for couples having rendezvous. I was so tempted to whip out my camera but I resisted this extremely silly notion.

Everything here is so freaking modern and there are mirrors and glass and GLAM shit everywhere. I am so freaking amazed.

Ok I am done gushing. Looking forward to tomorrow, where we will trawl the streets of Shenzhen for (more) shopping, and we’ll take the night flight out into Shanghai.

Excited J

Shopping in Shenzhen

Haha its really fantastic. Everything is dead cheap and I’m tired of repeating the fact that everything is cheap. Cheap cheap cheap!!!

streets of laojie, the shopping district.

shui loves the oldgranny sunglasses!

Random Shots

An old man begging cars along the road for money. we heard that many of these people are youngesters who make themselves look old. the rich poor disparity is wide here.

Huang wei Yu (er yellow tailed fish?) part of our huo guo dishes =P its fantastic to eat steamboat in the horrific weather that i have to endure now.

Next up, Shanghai. WAH I FEEL SO LAZY TO BLOG. haha =P

the hongkong feeling

2007-02-28T17:27:44Z

(backdated... 26/02/07) Sorry guys im slowly uploading the pictures and diary entries... in real time, im already in Shanghai. tired!

A few days ago...

Leaving Hong Kong today. Its really a great place to be in and I guess I will really miss it even though I feel stupid here not understanding a single word everyone says. A typical scene in a shop would be like this.

Shopkeeper, “!@#!@#!%R$!$dasd32!$”

Me, “……” (carries on looking at things without looking up, not realizing she’s talking to me)

Shopkeeper (stares oddly at me and speaks louder), “!@@$%#%@$@%@$%’

Me, “…………………..” (still preoccupied with looking at the items on sale)

And I will need Shui to save the day… haha!

Oddly enough, i no longer detest HK like i did in the past.

Shopping

The shopping in this place is insane. Especially their SHOES!!! I know many people who will go absolutely CRAZY here. You know, those boots I saw in Zara (Singapore) cost about S$70 (on sale). Here, it is HK$50 which is about S$10 EACH. And there are a gazillion shops all selling rows after rows of shoes!

Ditto for winter wear. S$20 on average for long winter coats.

We spent A LOT of time bemoaning the fact that our luggage is (currently) 20kg (excluding hand carry) and buying MORE would mean we would have some serious problems carrying stuff to Shanghai.

Clothes we got from just two hours of shopping in the suburban areas.

MOMMY!!! Please, please, come to Shanghai during the June holidays! So you can help me carry some luggage home!!! Hehe =P

People

People here are really, REALLY fashionable. Ok I admit shui and I spent TWO DAYS looking for cute guys before we finally found SOME specimens on this street in Mongkok.

It was really funny… we got off the plane expecting to see the hoards of cute HK guys but NONE was to be seen. No pretty girls either. It wasn’t until the end of the second day (when we were close to giving up all hope) did we wander accidentally into this long stretch of road where ALL the teens were. GAWDS! There were rows after rows of huge bikes and sports cars and gangs of guys lurking around in gangs.

Funny thing is, many of these guys PERMED theirs hair! Shui was commenting Singaporean guys take pains to HIDE their curly hair, but here, they flaunt it. Their dress sense is crazily erratic. You can get away with ANYTHING! Even the ugliest guys looked great. Singapore has a long way to go man… conformity is passé. Lol!

CS in HK

Yesterday, we met up with the CS people in HK. Clement, Jingli, and Zhuomin. Clement just came back from Singapore, while the other two met us just upon return from traveling in China.

(standing) zhuomin, (sitting) jingli, me, clement, shui

It feels great seeing familiar faces in foreign land. Honestly, you don’t appreciate each other until times calls for it. Just like you don’t realize how much you love your family and friends until you’re apart from them. I miss all of you badly! Was suffering from home-sickness for a while, but I’ll be fine =)

Went for food with Clement and Jingli, then they brought us to the Avenue of Stars… the scenery was fantastic. Reminds me of Singapore River / Shanghai Tan cause of the city skyline that you can see.

shui took this when i wasnt looking.

Dessert was on Jingli (he bloody hell threw my money on the floor… idiot), it was FANTASTIC. Mango cubes in Mango syrup with Mango ice-cream with glutinous rice balls!

(yumyum!!)

with jingli at the cafe.

Too bad we could only see them for one day.

Food

Food in HK is really great. Almost everything I ate was freaking good shit. In many ways HK reminds me of Singapore, plenty of restaurants and small xiao chi shops everywhere. They have milk tea (nai ca) everywhere, except that I suspect they pour an entire can of carnation milk inside. Its sickeningly sweet.

Wish I had more time to try more stuff, but most of my meals were with Shui’s relatives. The maid cooks freaking well.

wanton noodles recommended by jingli. its HUGE. each dumpling has AT LEAST 6 prawns squashed inside. unlike the pathetic ones in Singapore. yum!

Accomodation

Shui’s relatives are really, really rich. The house is huge, we have a room to ourselves, and it is actually a penthouse apartment at the top floor of a condo.

The garden is huge. I went running the first night here and basically everyone stared at me cause I was wearing t-shirt and shorts in the 10+ degrees temperature. Everyone else was in long sleeves and track pants… haha!

Running here was great. I didn’t sweat at all though I ran for more then half an hour… its crazy. I think your sweat gets frozen off once you sweat it out or something.

Tourist Traps

The touristy places are horrible. Was looking forward to Ocean Park (Hai Yang Gong Yuan), it’s a theme park. But the rides are terrible. And we paid near S$40 for the admission fee! The crowds were horrible and the weather was ridiculously hot. The queue was insane as well.

Being blessed by the fortune god. check out the boots! boo!

me being very, very hot (hurhur). at the park. me and shui felt like prostitutes, being the only 2 people there wearing clothings without sleeves. shui was wearing leopard print you see.... XD we were stripping right there and then!

Other touristy places like “Ladies Street” are just what it is, tourist TRAPS.

us before we went in... i got conned into buying a skirt that i cant wear. ok FINE im the one thats fat. boohoo.

2 girls smiliy happily after we made our way out. we trekked miles to find the bus stop back home. monkok is largely a one way street, like town. which means the bus home was so far i wanted to throw my shoes away every step i took.

Word of advice, when anyone goes HK, avoid the tourist traps.

Weather

I love the weather here. Open air-con everywhere! Plus you get to wear really really cool stuff here. And as Jingli puts it, you can be as fat as you want and hide under the layers of clothing… lol =P

Free Internet
The best thing about Hongkong is that there was FREE internet at the MRT stations! (though laggy and slow) but it still made me slightly happier. boohoo!

Shui looking damn cute pointing at the free internet sign =P

Random Shots

girl waiting for the train.

sorry cant resist... me in boots. NICE HOR!!

lol... funny pic found all over the town area.

a special shoutout to shuiling =P thanks for being here with me on this journey!! =)

What’s next?

Leaving for Shenzhen in a few hours… I will officially be in China. Wondering what the next 5 months will bring.

I miss everyone!
Take care guys J

vanessa flew off!~

2007-01-13T17:46:51Z

trying out this photo slideshow~! Invalid video URL. This album is powered by BubbleShare - Add to my blog

:)

2006-12-26T18:01:49Z

vanessa was in egypt when this was taken =)

travel journal

2006-12-21T13:36:48Z

i have an extremely uncreative title for this journal.

therefore, it shall be used as my travel journal for my exchange trip to Shanghai =P to help people remember the address!

ken and linz left today for India. felt this sudden rush of emotion when they did... i felt like immediately rushing off to Shanghai for exchange too >_< OKAY, i'm weird. fine.

Meanwhile, hoping really hard i will suddenly have friends in HK so that they can help me book tickets for a train to Shanghai. Or else, me and shui will be stranded in HK. HELP!