What does it mean when you go out for gatherings with your Secondary sch friends of like 12 years, and topics of marriage, engagement, houses, babies etc comes out. Does it mean that you guys are all getting older? Hmm.. there're some of who aren't even attached at all, and others getting houses and having kids! Oh wells..

And I signed up for a Diploma in Culinary Arts course from sunrise. It's a 17month program. Is it a milestone in my life? I have no idea and am slightly confused. I do know that I want to start a food business. And I need lots of knowledge on it.. thus, the decision to sign up. It starts on 4/7, and it's just 2 weeks time. I do not know if i can carry on with my current job too. I'm just taking it as things go by. But sch's 8 to 5. Work's 10 to 230am. Can I cope? Even if i can, why try so hard. Lack of sleep, and I need lots of mental concentration for these 2. Arghz!!!

You want to cook, want to run errands, chores, have someone to bitch to, to talk about your decisions in life, to spend hours talking about anything that comes to mind, on the phone, at some cafe from 230am to 530am, and when you stop talking, it's daylight. To do things just for that special person, the deserving one, who appreciates everything, even the horrid tasting nua butter cake, to the wonderful tasting pork, and mum's soup, koi's ice cream bubble tea, sashimi, exploring random food places, bringing to boomz places in an otherwise boring Singapore, Singapore's top 3 rooftop chillout/dining areas, MBS Skypark, One-Altitude, Equinox. The endless car rides to that place in Yishun, going around Nassim, dancing in the car, shaking in the car, that idiotic face, that night at Barrage. The quarrels, the apologies, the silly things, innocent animals, ko yi mak, zi pais, a million zi pai, a hundred million zi pai. The birthdays. That birthday. The ideas, that were all in words, nothing to keep for memory.

Haha.. This post was not supposed to be like that, it was supposed to be very generic. Oh wells....

2nd time blogging from my work place. It's NOT an office! I'm blogging with a singer singing, and like 4 tables of people drinking and playing games in front of me. Yes, I'm bored.

Just some thoughts la.. being ignorant is indeed a bliss. As much as I'm super open to almost everything, I quote a super close friend.. "i don't believe, but I accept." These will probably not make sense to anyone except the person whom I quoted. Another quote from my favourite forum, In this age, most people accept it that their wife-to-be/fiance are non-virgins. It's too common, but it says a lot about the girl if she's a virgin at marriage. Some people, when at the peak of their love, say that it's ok, and he/she understands that it's common now, but in an over-heated argument late into the marriage, this is a time bomb waiting to explode. It's like religion. Say both respect each other's religion or non-religion such as perhaps a free thinker and a Christian. But the problem comes when it's time to decide whether to bring the kid to church from young, or to just let nature flow.

For myself, I am a strong believer of a "white lie". Although I guess if a couple is going to get married, there are lots of things that need not be said. Taboo stuff.. Self delusion. Blocking or "negative" thoughts and just assume things you want to believe in. With all I said, I do believe that aside those "taboo" things by the general Singaporean, everything else should be clear. Things like saying that your place, address, meeting your friends.. are very important. It's a fact that the more one digs, the more one finds, and if you're hiding something, you can't hide it in front of soooo many people.

No idea why I'm posting this, but just that some people lead a double life. Or rather, just a small 5% and a 95%. The small 5% is with that someone who you look for company. You don't talk about your personal life, your family, your friends.. just general things. And it's like, in a crude way, friends with benefits. Of course, the danger for most people comes in when they cannot differentiate between the 2 lives, and they start to mash up.

I've a friend, met not too long ago, that keeps on going out with this guy. My friend's a she btw. None of her friends know this guy, she nv talks about him, and he's just anonymous except that he's from a rich family, and drives a Type R. Someone who dines with her, and yea, have fun together. Sounds like a typical playboy yea. Not that she's someone super decent too though, having had sugar dads and flings. I suppose ex-es dun really matter in this case. Once there's a first time, there will be many. Once you meet someone as a friend, this person grows and become friend, good friends, vv good friends etc. To turn it sexual is just weird. But, on the other hand, for friends who started off as sexual, can they go to the other ladder? I guess if it goes, the problem of the 2 lives being mash up comes in. It's similar to the relationship/friendship ladder mentioned all over the Internet some time back.

To spend $150 on a few seconds pleasure with a prostitute, or to spend $150 on an atas meal? I'm to choose the meal definitely. But, is it too much to ask for both. Haha.. Oh wells, for a person with enough money to spare, it doesn't matter isnt it.

Feb to June, 4 months. Ending soon. Reality. Have I gotten over? I'm not sure myself. In a way, unless someone gives me a shove.

Here’s on my trip to China. I went to Shanghai, Hang Zhou and Beijing for about 10days. It was in the middle of winter to spring, and the weather was cool. Comparing it to Singapore, it’s like constantly in an aircon room! Even the hottest times in Beijing were less warm than Singapore. Perhaps, the humidity difference played a part too.

I booked my return plane ticket to Shanghai from Zuji at a promotional $575.80 from China Eastern. Lodgings were all settled by friends who were in China.

11/5:
It was a late afternoon flight. I took the 1635 flight. It got delayed for about 45 minutes awaiting Take-Off orders, and I only reached Shanghai Pudong International Airport at almost 11pm.

Right after my arrival, I took a cab to Fudan University Overseas Students Hostel where Yanjia stays at. The cab ride took an hour and costs RMB220. That’s expensive! She booked a room for me, and it costs only SGD20 per day. It comes with a whole room with bed, cupboards, study table, shoe rack etc, fully air-conditioned, and an in-room toilet! It’s really cheap!

I travelled light with only a sling bag and had to purchase lots of daily necessities at the mini mart before turning in though.

So the first night spent debriefing me on my itinerary for the next day, where I would be travelling around. I did not do any research, and depended on Yanjia to plan my route =D.

Oh, and I met some of her friends.. Very nice and friendly people! Felicia, Ying Nan, Si Yuan!

12/5:
Woke up at about 1030, and met up with DiKai! He’s like super nice to take off from work to bring me around!

First up, 生煎包 and 牛肉粉丝汤from 小杨生煎包, and salted egg 小笼包 from 佳家汤包 along 黄河路! The bestest 生煎包 I ate in China! Crispy exterior, with the soft inner bread, matched with yummy savoury soup and minced pork! I drank 王老吉, which has disappeared from Singapore for my reason or another. This is a simple lunch, and off we go to 七浦路 for some cheap shopping!

The clothing range from sgd 6 to 10, and shoes from sgd 9! I shopped the entire afternoon, which made DiKai a little bored cuz I CAN shop. =D I tried their legendary, much raved about 手抓饼 too. It was just roti prata with whatever filling you want. Super oily though, and not tasty enough. I like my Jalan Kayu Honey Prata anytime pls =)

Next was the Bund, and we met up with yj and friends. I guess I was the only one who’s a tourist in the group, and amongst a group of calm people, it is hard for me to get all hyper about the beauty of the Bund. I thought the lightings and architecture etc was nice, but I just did not get the feel of the entire beauty. Perhaps I should have gone up the tower to get a view from high up!

After hanging around for awhile, we went for dinner at an eatery near the Bund. We ordered
- Sautéed crystal prawns (Average. At least the prawns did not have a stale taste)
- Braised Pigeon (Cant rmb anything)
- Fish with Ginger Chilli Sauce (It was a river fish, and it had lots of boned in it. The sauce was msg-full!)
- Hot Plate Beef (Beef tenderizer-ed-ed-ed. Overkill)
- Stir-fried Kang Kong with Garlic (Tasted quite good, but msg-full)
-糖醋排骨 (Something uniquely China. But my 排骨王 anytime!)
- Egg with tomato (Simple. Boring.)

After dinner, Dikai went back home, and yj brought me around 五角场, which is a shopping complex area near Fudan. Explained a few stuff, showed me a few things, and 边走边聊 about the surroundings as we walked back to the hostel. We stopped for salted egg XLBs on the way, and it was like only RMB8 for 6 pieces. At this point in time, I was starting to get super irritated with all the MSG put in their food. Everything seems so full of msg! Sadly, that’s the Chinese way of cooking. MSG.

13/5:
Woke up at about 1130, and waited for yj to look for me at my room. Left at about 1230, and she brought me to a few areas near Fudan to look, see and eat.

First up was this 山东杂粮煎饼. This is really really good! Think of it as something similar to a vegetarian Peking Duck wrap! It was a lone shop in some lone alley, but really really good! It’s a big pity that I only tried this once. It was like a flour wrap(freshly made), with some crispy beancurd skin, and sauce. Yummy yum!

Next was 糖醋排骨once more. One of Yj’s favourite dish in China I learnt, and followed by this 麻辣汤 thingy. It’s like yong tau fu, where you choose your stuff, and they will cook for you in a 麻辣汤. MSG full once again, and the ingredients are mostly.. unfresh. Thus probably the use of 麻辣 to cover the taste.

I learnt that Coco’s Shanghai equivalent of Koi, and I tried it. Super tasty! I absolutely love the Jasmine milk tea, and it’s only RMB5! You can taste the frangrace of the Jasmine leaves, the bitterness of the tea, sweetness of the milk. Everything just combines perfectly!

As we walked and walked, I decided to try bread from one of their western bakeries. The breads are similar priced to Singapore’s and in China’s standards, considered rather expensive. Super oily breads! And nothing to rave about.

Next, XLB again at RMB4 for 8. Like SGD80cents! MSG full. This was followed by a Jap restaurant, and got one of their specialty sushi rolls, the Motorolla. This was deep fried spicy tuna, snow crab, tobiko, maguro and avocado filling. The combination of flavours went well with me, but I simply do not understand why he had to put so much mayo!

Rushed back to the hostel to prepare for our Hang Zhou trip, and to book my plane tickets to Beijing. Felicia, Ying Nan, yj and myself spent the weekend over at Hangzhou, and off for the train ride at Hongqiao railway station.

It was only an hour ride, and after reaching Hangzhou with 23987122131 people, we decided to have dinner at 大粮水饺 near Hangzhou train station.
- 鲜肉高丽菜水饺 (Erm, no recollection)
-秘制排骨木桶饭 (Tasted quite good, with good flavours. But once again, msg full!)
- 鲜虾仁汤 (only remembered that it had lots of seaweed, and the soup was full of the seaweed taste)

Next up, walking up and down asking people, and getting horrible quotes to get to our hotel. After asking 8217031 people and walking some distance, we finally found it. We got a giant room with a super duper king sized bed. Super duper cuz it’s bigger than the super king size bed I have at home.

Spent the night watching some music awards thing on their TV before turning in for a long day ahead.

14/5:
Woke up at 9am, and went down to their the hotel’s brekkie. It was soyabean milk, congee, a choice of bun or 肉包, and a choice or banana or cucumber. Horrid. Haha! Yes, it tasted as bad as it sounds!

We went out and walked our way to 西湖, and stopped at 新丰小吃 for breakfast. 鸡粒包(Bread with 5 spice powder filling)，麻球(Glutinous rice ball)，肉包，水饺, XLB. Very very normal!

After that, we continued walking and walking and walking. We asked around for directions and when China people say that “曼远的”, it really means it’s FAR. On the way there, we walked through some 步行街 which has all those China related things such as drawings, carvings, fine arts, music, food etc.. Everything! You name it, they have it. Hang Zhou is the place for 龙井茶, and there were many shops selling them. I wanted to buy, but I know that there are many grades, and since I’m not an expert on it, I did not want to take the risk. They could very well swap the low grade ones for me!

When we finally reached 西湖，all of us were like tired, and to go around the entire 西湖 to view all 12 scenic spots would take like 5 to 6 hours on foot! Eventually decided to take a bode ride cum tour of 西湖for like rmb320. It’s 320 a boat to fit up to 6 pax. So the 4 of us went on it, and listened to the guide. He used damn a lot of chim words and phrases that stunned us. Ok, just me. =D. Apparently, 西湖/杭州’s famous for their pearls as well. Be it for luck or to flaunt your wealth or just an accessory, it doesn’t really appeal to me.

After going around the 湖，we went 雷峰塔. The scenery on top was normal, but there were 182937129 people around, so imagine the crowd. This is a 5 star rated tourist spot, but it seems too “modern” in a way. Hmm…

Next up, 4 super hungry people looked for lunch, and got duped. We were walking by the main road just outside the 塔，and this small eatery was saying he’ll give us 20% discount. Ok, so we went in, and ordered the top 4 杭州 dishes. 东坡肉，龙井虾仁，糖醋鱼，叫化鸡. The pork was rather good, with big portions, and sufficient sugar and wine in the sauce. Chicken was over-cooked and dry. Fish and prawns are horrid. Unfresh! Price was like almost 200, and it was the quality of the food that irks me!

After a super unsatisfying lunch, we wanted to shop, and tried to find this ladies shopping street. We ended up at a haji lane – esque place and with clothings priced around sgd20 and above, very expensive in China standards. We walked around window shopping aimlessly around the small shops, and some shopping malls and ended up at a bookstore. Felicia and myself grabbed those tourist books and read through to find places to visit! Spotted a highly recommended street for food, 高银街, which was the street beside the 步行街 we walked through the afternoon.

There were many restaurants selling the same 杭州 top dishes and most were packed. We decided on one which served their 东坡肉 in a clay urn(a novelty that attracted us =D), 邻家菜，老杭州。

东坡肉：Soft skin, melting fats, tasty meat, yummy sauce. A good blend of soy sauce, wine and sugar.
Hangzhou pickled cabbage: Sth like a pickled cabbage appetizer in canto restaurants here, but a super sour version.
特浆鸭: It’s like a preserved duck in some super salty sauce!
Prawn and eel stir fried: tiny shrimp more likely, and eel fried to a crisp such that I cant taste the eel at all. But it’s like a tasty fried dish that goes well with rice and hungry tummies la.
牛腩香干锅: This is tasty. The chilli spice mix is rather good. But then again, 麻辣 came from China, and if they can’t get this right, den it’s gg to them.

I guess with the full house they had, it should be a good place for dining. Costs only like 170rmb. But I thought the blend of flavours was normal, and had better ones in Singapore…

Next time, we walked another 1298371209km back to the hotel, and bought pineapple and watermelon up to eat. It’s like a super duper tiring day! Watched a lil tv, and zzzzzzzz.

15/5:

We woke up late, got ready around 11plus, and checked out. Our train back to Shanghai was at 1430, and so we could not venture out too far lest we missed the train. And so we thought of trying Grandma’s, a highly recommended place, and it was located at a hotel just beside the train station. A pity it was lunch time and we had 28 tables in front of us queuing! That was like omg! We went around walking for some cheap food, and saw this “kopitiam” nearby. I ordered the “菜贩”, not nice, horrid. Costs sgd5……

While the others chill at BK and went for round 2 of lunch, I went to this 土产店 and bought about rmb200+ worth of food to be brought back to Singapore, which includes 楼外楼’s signature 叫化鸡 and 东坡肉 vacuumed packed. 楼外楼’s Hangzhou’s top restaurant so-called. When I reheated them and shared with my family back in Singapore, the meats were dry, perhaps caused by the vacuum packing, but was rather tasty otherwise.

Next, the train ride back, and when we reach Shanghai, I went to visit Old Shanghai street and Chen Huang Miao area on my own while the rest went back to the hostel. It was a very tourisy place, with LOTS of policemen on patrol, which is a good thing I guess. It has a lot of things similar to the 步行街in 杭州。When I got there at about 4, the chen huang miao has closed, and I went to this 欲圆, which is a replica of what gardens in ancient homes were like. It was super big, and once could really get lost in it. If not for the maps around, I would not be able to find the exit. A nice history place to be in and to understand more stuff.

After the garden, I just wandered around grabbing lots of bites…

里脊肉串：Bbq thin sliced pork. Horrible. Msg and pork.
特大烤肉串：Bbq sliced beef. MSG and beef. Tough.
香菇菜包: This is good. As the name says.. And tasty! I think they fried the chives and mushroom in butter before stuffing it into the bao.
五香茶干: Not something I like, I prefer my pork and tau pork and egg in black sauce back in Singapore. Tried it cuz it’s like a famous dish there.
韭菜煎饼：Very very good. The Chinatown one is far off. Thick fillings, crispy crust, soft interior. And this was from a roadside stall!
生煎：Couldn’t swallow one bite. Too much rancid pig smell.
水饺：Couldn’t swallow one bite. Nua. Very the nua.
饺子：Swallowed only one bite. MSG and pork.
蛋挞: Quite good. Buttery Portuguese style egg tarts.

I shopped around a little before going back to the hostel to meet them for dinner at this 风波庄, a restaurant near our hostel. It goes by themes from Chinese martial arts such as begger sect, wu dang etc. And with each theme, you get a diff set menu. I thought the food here was tasty enough, but too much oil, and we get very gelat after a few bites. There’s one in Singapore, but not sure if it’s related though.

Glutinuous rice ball with pork and salted egg yolk, 麻辣牛腩，stir friend peas pods, cabbage stir fried with meat, pork rib with spicy sauce, egg with green pepper, chong qing grilled fish. It’s super a lot of 4! It can fit like 6 to 8, and we left a lot untouched. One thing I dislike about China fishes is that they’re all river fish! I prefer my salt water fish with firmer flesh, and bigger bones. River fish has a “muddy” smell too!

Back to hostel to tcss, and sleep. I needed to catch my plane to Beijing the next day, and that’s where horror starts!

16/5:
I woke up at about 545am, and travelled super light with one a small sling back to Hongqiao airport to take my plane ride to BJ. When I reached there, I missed the flight cuz of a miscommunication. Grrr, and so I purchased a plane ticket and waited till 1030 for my flight. While waiting, I tried some fast food xiao long bao in transit, and it was the BEST xiao long bao I put in my mouth since I reached Shanghai. No msg, and with light sauce and sesame oil!

Ok, so I took the plane, landed in Beijing, and off I went to look for the great wall. Took the airport express, and changed to a train. Dropped off, and asked bus driver directions. Got on the bus, and viola! I’m lost. First, the bus made a BIG detour because the usual route was disrupted. The locals were kbkb-ing about it, and I just listened. When I reached 怀柔，I got off, and asked for directions. Got back to the same bus, so I took the bus, and went round in circles! Like what the hell?! The same number has different routes! It was like a town link, only thing the town was like from Pasir Ris to Bedok, and the bus moved at not more than 40km per hour. So after it went 1.5 rounds, and I realized I was going in circles, I got off, and took another bus hoping to get me back to the city area. 怀柔 is in the 5^th circles, and super far off from the city. I took the correct bus, but in the wrong direction. !@#!$!@. Reached the interchange, and finally took the right one, and reached the train station. This wasted my ENTIRE afternoon!

And so off I went to meet Jim, and he brought me to 大同烤鸭. Supposedly the best Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing. The 2^nd best meal I had in China, but the food did not impress me. For the price, a big NO. Maybe just the duck to try it cuz it’s only sgd40. Singapore Peking duck costs from 68!

Da Dong Super lean duck: Too lean la! Dry! And the skin was tasteless. No fat means no taste. =( rmb198 + 8 for condiments per person.
Sauteed prawns: A large prawn pan fried with some savoury sauce. The sauce was too sweet for my liking, but the prawn was cooked very nicely! Rmb66
Sweet sour yellow croaker filler with honey coated diced fruits: Just a fillet of fish with fruity sauce. Super duper sweet sauce once again, the fish was not a fish I was accustomed to in Singapore. Rmb 90
Dried Scallop with Matsutake: Nice mushrooms, well, it’s the top of the top grade mushroom. But no dried scallops detected whatsoever. Something interested.rmb 28
Grilled beef steak cooked Chinese style: No theme to this. 2 thinly sliced beef in black sauce. Very very very normal. Wagyu beef or not, have a theme pls! Wagyu is not a theme. Rmb32
Steamed Oxtail with longan and honey: The oxtail could be softer! Rmb 28.
Summer 3 appetizers: A trio of appetizers created for each season. Nth to comment.
Beijing 6 specialty desserts: Like omg! Both me and Jim cannot stomach a bite of each! It feels like those small bites my dad buys to pray! But I wanted to try BJ’s top desserts la.

Overall an atas place, with not too good service. Tourism. Just go for the duck. After dinner, Jim brought we walking around the “Orchard Road”, and some clubbing areas, as well as an alley of roadside stalls. Had I not been so full, I would have tried these road side stalls! Throughout, we were approached by like 10+ pimps, and I got pissed, but that’s besides the point.

Walk walk walk until about midnight, before we cabbed to Jim’s place where he hosted me and I slept at for the 2 nights.

17/5:
I woke up, grabbed a bite at a bread shop, before going over to the National Museum and The Forbidden City. The bread was not cheap, sgd1+, similar to Singapore priced, but was not too bad la. A lot of oil though.

Ok, nth much to mention about these 2 places cuz loads can be found online. The forbidden city was like super duper big la! I couldn’t finish it in one day, and sort of regretted not following a tour there. I think with a tour guide, I would have learnt a lot more on the history and stuff. To be alone.. it’s just not a lot to learn from. It’s like the TW museum place… we learnt a lot when the guide talked about the artifacts etc.

After spending the whole afternoon being artsy-fartsy, I met up with Jim again at night for dinner at 海底捞火锅, one of the top steamboat places there. We reached at about 7, and had about 15 tables ahead of us. I think they’re used to having lots of patrons queuing up, they actually set up a “waiting area” outside for people to munch on snacks, drinks and play board games! Also, ladies could get manicure for free. I’m quite sure they’re earning a lot! The 2 of us ordered the 麻辣，and the 三鲜 soup base. Super tasty soup base made from natural herbs! Absolutely the best steamboat soup bases I’ve ever tried! You can drink them on their own, and it’s tasty enough. Unlike most places where the soup is too light and bland or just simply MSG full, this one’s just perfect.

We ordered 11 dishes, which include meat, vegetables, mushroom and beancurd stuff. There were dishes not commonly found in steamboats in their menu such as cow offals, snails, mudskipper, frogs etc, not forgetting the spread of about 20 odd sauces and condiments! Superb service too! The guy kept on teaching us how to cook the various stuff, and mixed a concoction from the different sauces and condiments available, telling us that’s the best way to enjoy the steamboat. It was only about sgd 18 per pax. Expensive in China, but reasonable in Singapore. In short, I just love the soup base.

Next up, we walked along the “Clarke Quay” of Beijing looking for a nice pub to chill at, and to listen to the live performance. Yes, there were like 23819038120 pimps approaching us again…. But that’s beside the point. After walking up and down a few times, I decided on a pub with unplugged performance. The girl was quite a good singer, and her choice of songs were rather modern and not so 中国民歌！I was about to buy he and her keyboardist a drink, when they started to sing horrid folk songs for an hour before switching back to modern songs. Well, mood lost. While walking up and down, I tried their steamed egg pudding, and it was surprisingly good! Tasty combination of egg and milk, steamed just nice, and super smooth!

18/5:
This was my last day in Beijing, and I walked around alone.

First up, I went to 王府井 food street to look at all the exotic stuff like scorpions, centipede, starfishes, silk worm larvae etc! =D There were quite a lot of people were there taking photos too. Of course, I did not try these weird stuff, but I tried quite a bit of the other normal things.

- 土耳其烤肉. Just like a kebab sandwich, but super dry meat, and dry bread. Taste of msg.
- 金丝卷饼 . Some gigantic popiah thingy. Tasteless. Just natural veg in the filling.
- 羊肉串. Rather nice tasting lamb kebab! But WHAT’S WITH THE MSG?!
- 奶油炸糕. Like a buttered dough deep fried. Super duper yummy! But I have to keep the calories!
- 老北京煎包. No recollection. Must be horrid.
- 门钉肉饼. Same as above.
- 正中肉夹馍. Minced LEAN meat and green chilli in a bread dough kinda. Horrid.
- 煎饼. Horrid. No recollection.

Next up, I went over to the warehouse shopping area near the 动物园 mrt station and shopped! There were like a few buildings all selling a WIDE variety of clothings! Super duper a lot, and cheap too! I only had time to comb one building though, but it was enough.

After that, it was time for me to leave BJ, and I went to the BJ International Airport like 2 hours in advance thinking I could spend some time to slowly shop and purchase some Beijing goodies, but it turned out that I was at the wrong airport! I immediately rushed over the 南苑机场, but it was peak hour, and I ended up missing the plane there AGAIN! And so, I cabbed back over to BJ international airport, and purchased another ticket to Shanghai. Rmb1290! And the rmb300 odd on cabs too! =(

When I finally got onto the plane, and flew to Shanghai, it was almost midnight, and I had to cab back. The cab fare was another about rmb180. So much money wasted just because I was not meticulous enough!

I went back to the hostel, and grabbed some food from the stalls outside the hostel. As you recall, I only ate the snacks from the food street, and that the plane back did not serve meals!

19/5:
This can be considered to be my last day in Shanghai as I was leaving on a morning flight back the next day.

I left the hostel at about 11am, and went to 世纪公园 to see the gigantic park where Singapore Day was held. Yes, it’s a BIG park, with lots of facilities, but I reached there at noon, and it was scorching! I left just after like 5 min, and made my way to the Science and Technology Museum station to look at all the fake goods. It was nothing much, and I left after 10min to meet Dikai at 打浦桥 for a quick lunch before going to 田子坊 to look see at artsy stuff again.

Lunch was at this franchise joint, Jade Cuisine, which serves not too bad food! The xiao long baos had sesame oil =D.

The 田子坊 was like walking through a historical area, with old buildings, but the stalls there sell unique things you might find at haji lane. Not so much the clothings, but the gifts and everything else. There were quite a number of western cafes too! But the pricings were similar to Singapore.

After that, I went over to the Shanghai National Museum with Dikai to look at some history again. More info when you google it, but what impressed me were the furnitures! Few hundred years old and the wood still looked super solid. The designs were not super “old-fashioned” and a similar replica could very well be sold in furniture stores. Other than that, I’m not too involved with the paintings, and costumes. The coins were interesting enough though. Imagine bringing a slab of metal to shop….

Next up, we went back to 黄河路，and ate the 生煎，and 小笼包! This time around, we tried the 蟹粉鲜肉小笼. The crab egg really made a difference! A pity the crab roe wasn’t fresh enough, and that left a sticky after taste, but the combination of flavours was heavenly! Dikai agreed totally.

We walked around aimlessly after the meal, looking for 土产店 for me to purchase some stuff, and we eventually found one. And I got cheated.. well, not exactly, just that I did not check. I bought a package which was supposed to have 2 green flavours and 2 yellows. I had 3 greens, 1 yellow when I checked it after walking a distance. Well, laziness got the better, and I decided to just 算了吧！

Dinner’s next! Dikai brought me to a place near his place, called 泰皇鸡. This is a franchise, but apparently, this was the best. When I stepped in, the smoke from the kitchen was super strong, and it filled the entire hall. But that’s just the only bad thing. This was arguably my best meal in entire China.

- 泰皇鸡 rmb27.80, 白斩鸡 with a sauce. Similar to our soup restaurant’s samsui chicken. The sauce here was light sauce based with minced ginger. I love the sauce! Sweet, salty, spicy, everything blended!
- 蟹味鱼片 rmb 16. I did really like this dish but Dikai loved it. Yes, the fish was fresh and in thick slices, but it was the vinegar based sauce that put me off. I don’t really like vinegar. This was topped with steamed beaten egg white.
- 一品大白菜锅 rmb15. Absolutely my favourite! It was just the 大白菜，with some mushrooms and a few slices of Chinese ham, but in a peanut stock that absolutely explodes in your mouth! I cannot taste what’s in the sauce except for peanut! No, the peanut wasn’t overpowering, it was just nice, but the blend made it very hard to get the individual ingredients. One thing’s for sure, the wok used to prepare this was very very very very hot, and that’s something I cannot do at home.
- 野山菌煮牛肉. Rmb16. Tender beef slices with some veg and mushrooms. The sauce was once again, unique. Unlike just the usual black pepper or bbq sauce kinda preparation.

This was where I bided goodbye to Dikai, and went back to the hostel. I ate one final around of the roadside stalls outside the hostel, and tcss with yanjia and friends before packing everything thing up and I’m ready to return home. 10days is indeed long, but it was a very good trip to China. Most of my friends say I went there for another purpose other than a holiday, but that was the stimulus, holiday and Chinese history was the reality, and when I was there, it was just simply, a holiday. =)

20/5:
I woke up at like 545am to prepare, and I had lots of luggage! Cuz I help dikai and yanjia carry some stuff back home. I took a private car which Siyuan helped to book, and because of the peak hour jam, it took me almost 1.5hours to reach Pudong Airport. I guess I was lucky I was not charged excess baggage, and the estimate weight should be 27kg! I was ordered to check in one of my hand carry luggage because I was simply carrying too many things!

Once in the airport, I rushed to the gate as it was the “boarding” time, only to find that the plane was delayed. Wait wait wait wait wait… waited 4 hours! And lots of people kbkb, especially the locals. The Singaporeans just sat amongst themselves and sui sui nian. We were eventually compensated RMB400 each. That’s like sgd80, but better than nothing la! The thing is, what am I going to do with the RMB now that I’m back home? Just keep it until the next time I visit China! =D

I reached Singapore at about 8plus, duty-freed and cabbed home. The cab driver was pissed as usual. Haha! Costs only $12 including airport $5 surcharge.

This concludes my stay in China. A timely one. =) And this document has about 5400 words. My third holiday in 18 months… and all with… Haha.. I need to plan another one come end of the year!

Quite a long hiatus from blogging.. Not that I have not been keeping tabs on my life, but just that some stuff I would like to keep it to myself. Well, not really to myself, but at least not to the whole world.

Let's see, from March 10, I worked at Imperial till 22nd April, before having a break and resuming work at Baidu on 1st July. In between, I went to China(Shanghai, Hangzhou, Beijing) from 10-20th May. Besides that, I went to Batam with Almido on 7-8/5. And I've been bumping around, not doing anything really meaningful. Perhaps cooking for Almido and Voices peeps, and experimenting lots!

My night life screwed up my body clock, and it took some effort tune it back normally. Took me about 1.5 weeks to tune it back. I have been waking up at 3 to 5pm and I cant get to sleep even at 5am. And so, I spent one fine day not sleeping at all, and going to the market to bargain and buy stuff like an auntie at 7am, before cooking some super complicated stuff that occupied me till like 2pm. I had plans to go out too, and when I eventually returned home at like 10pm that fine day, I was zonked out by midnight, and from then on, I've been sleeping by 2am, and waking up by 11. It felt super duper fresh the first few days when it happened! =)

Looking at my calendar on my phone now.. and I've been..
- To some Taoist talk thingy, which supposed to answer some qus I felt about life. I asked if loan sharks lending money to people who really need it for like surgery or stuff, but giving you just enough time to return the money, without disrupting your life. Well, most of the times, unless the person who borrows tries to chu some stunt, then it's a different story. The reply was that all loan sharks are evil. Full stop. No more discussion. Haha.. Stereotyping and standard generalization. Not me.
- Met some new friends from online. Well, I need to fill up my free time!
- Ate at the legendary Buko Nero, which so did not blow me away. The amuse bouche of some canape was shiok, so was their pumpkin and crab meat soup, and their dessert. And their home made linguine.. It was super Q, like a mee pok =D. But other than tt, their mains were disappointing. The cod fish was over cooked, and that made it dry. It does have crispy skin though! Their uni with duck ragu pasta was.. good, but not good enough. The uni doesnt unami me, and the duck ragu pasta at Forlino was much better, and more flavourful. Possibly with more cheese incorporated into the sauce.
- Tried Osia at RWS. The bread was super duper good! The best bread I've ever put in my mouth. But a thin piece of 8 slices costs $8++ is quite steep. then again, if you were to dine at Osia, what's the $8. I'm a strong believer of ordering the chef's top dishes at a restaurant to rate it. You do not go to an upmarket establishment and order the cheap normal things, and come out saying that it's nothing special. OF COURSE THERE ISN'T! Though I also understand that there are some "must do well dishes" in the various cuisine. Like sweet sour pork in canto, and unagi and tamago in Jap. Anyway, Osia's dishes were not so much of flavourful, but full of it's natural freshness. Perhaps that's the Aussie's culture. You get a very clean palate and do not feel all gelat and stuff. Their Macadamia nut pie was superb too. A defo get!
- Tried Lush. Bought the voucher from voucherlicious, and it was horrible to the max. NOTHING was right. A total rip off. We had more shiokness at Golden Mile with the $5 claypot rice with lots and lots of meat! It'll go bust before the end of the year. I'm quite sure of that. Basics like getting the oil hot enough to fry pre packed fries... enough said.

I've tried the Cathay Platinum Movie Suites recently, and with the student 1 for 1 promo for screenings before 5pm on Mon and Tues, it's worth it! $14 each for a super big leather seat with motor reclining, and with a thin comfy blanket provided! On top of that, Xmen: First Class was super shiok. Non stop excitement from the start to the end! Perfect combination.

Batam. Took the 130pm ferry over cuz GE was on the same day, and reached the hotel only at about 3. We went to the biggest mall there, which has nth, and ate random stuff, which were horrid and nth to talk about. Dinner at 333. Ordered sea bass steamed hk style, which lacked the push of hua tiao jiu, and overly sweet cuz of the substitution. Fried cereal prawns, or shrimps! Super small ones, but tasty enough la. =D. Scallops steamed with garlic was a failure. The hk one was so good that even yj who doesnt take garlic at all enjoyed it. Veg, rice and coconut juice was standard. We spent the night in the room watching GE. Haha.. that's how boring Batam is. Good thing is that we got connecting rooms.

The next day, followed the tour. Massage, which I did not enjoy at all. Very neutral. If I have to pay for it, I wun. Haha.. Den the usual shopping stuff. The kueh lapis the tour guide strong recommended was not good leh! Dunno why so many people actually bought them. The ones my dad get for CNY was really the top of the top. Spoilt me. =D The prices difference was 2.5 times though. Haha! We dropped out of the tour after lunch to take the ferry back to Singapore. If we had followed it, we would only return at 7pm, and it would be too late for my Mothers' Day Dinner. There was some changes made to the itinarary cuz of the GE, and we were not informed. It was an additional $50 spent, but i did not chase the tour agency like how I usually would.. lazy i guess.. and it was only $50, not $500, like my return plane ticket from SHA to BJ.. More info in a few days,

For mothers' day dinner at park royal hotel... I bought a super duper big hello kitty doll for my mum, and did the same thing i did for Winnie's birthday. I placed the big doll at the concierge, and worked with the restaurant's receptionist to approach my mum saying that there's a surprise gift for the youngest mum. Well, she isnt, but sure looks like the youngest relatively to her age. The receptionist then brought my mum to collect the doll, and with some tcss. It was so well done that my relatives all really thought it was a surprise gift from the hotel, and not a gift from me. Oh wells.. Haha! =)

I guess that's how I spent my days since March. Times flies, and it's now early June. Come next month... would it be the same as 6 months ago? Haha.. I dunno, and I'm feeling the heat as the clock tick tocks. I'm starting to get "emotional surges and pangs". Not so much specific to a person, more of in general. FOCUS. I just read my life 8 characters today, and it says I will have lots of money and woman, but i must be focus, if not i would lose all my $ and the one woman i really love. That's in future though.. Tao hua yun for me as he put it. I was quite shocked at the things he said just by reading the 8 characters cuz a lot of stuff were so damn true. I went in and he said that I would have to take care of my stomach cuz I get stomach aches often, as well as poor blood circulation leading to sudden flashes, and the deteriorating of my eyesight towards next year. Also, that I have lots of fighting spirit and passion. But I'm vv curious, so I want to do a lot of things leading to myself becoming lost. True. Also, emotional, kuai lan. Haha... shocked. Just from 8 characters.. the things pre-programmed. I must do things related to 吃喝玩乐, and to do big things, not small things. Hmmm...

Zen.. knocking? Juz one msg, and you can feel the msg. Like always. Why? Ppl move on as ppl change. Things are always stagnant, only people change. People dun change, things remain. Taoism.. lol. And no, I'm not a Taoist convert. I love my meats. =)