PART ONE

*wipes imaginary dust off blog*

The picture right on top is my favourite from this trip.
It was tough selecting one out of the 700+ pictures I've taken lol.
That's plum blossoms, one of the two national flowers of China.
The other one is peony fyi. I swear Benjamin told us the wrong information the whole damn time. I thought that was peach blossoms all along until I googled the flowers. -.-

Day 1
It was strange taking a taxi by myself to Changi Airport.
Weird when everyone else had friends and families to send them off.
Relieved that there aren't any concerned looks/talks directed at me. I seriously don't know how to deal with that lol.

The flight wasn't as bad as I thought. I was supposed to have the window seat but I ended up sitting elsewhere damn. Oh well at least I have Xiu Huan to talk to.
After baggage claim, we went to take the Maglev Train which is something like the Japanese Shinkansen. At last I got to board a train other than the MRT lol. It was awesome when the speedometer reached beyond 400km/h! However the train tracks were built strangely I think. One moment I could see all the houses, the next moment the train had tilted slightly to the left and all we could see was the sky.
It felt funny.


Maglev Train

We boarded the coach to Suzhou next. Had dinner. Banquet-style.
In fact, all of our dinners were like that. I can't remember a time when I had the entire plate to myself. Needless to say, I didn't eat much initially since everyone was so courteous. Went back to the hotel and unpacked.


A random tower near the hotel.



Day 2
I can't be bothered to blog about the early part of this day. Except that my feet HURTS from the stupid presentation heels and my sneakers. I was limping awkwardly during the Suzhou Industrial Park and Suzhou Logistics Centre. Next up is the Suzhou Singapore International School. OMG the kids are incredibly adorable over there! Like the school of good genes or something. It was quite a comforting sight when we saw Caucasian and Asian children holding hands and playing together. At least I forgot for a moment that there's racism in this world.


Beds for the toddlers at the SSIS


Story-telling time!


Tiger Hill
I had to climb like 200 steep rock steps before I could get to the peak.
All the while, I was spewing profanities and berating myself inside my head for not bringing an extra pair of shoes. The scenery at Tiger Hill is superb.
The best natural scenery for the entire trip.


A horse I saw on Tiger Hill


Yunyan Pagoda

China's Leaning Tower of Pisa


Net Master's Garden
A private garden previously owned by an ancient rich family in China.
Word has it that when Chinese people have enough riches in the past, they would construct a lavish garden and spend the remaining part of their lives tending to it.


Silk Factory
I actually saw the cocoons and the entire production line.
Very very interesting. Now I know how silk came about.
And here's a tip for you guys if you don't already know and intend to visit China in the future.
When buying souvenirs like silk handkerchiefs from roadside stalls or shops, if the shopkeeper claims that they are 100% real silk, challenge him by asking him to burn a sample. If the burning scent smells like polyester, you can just walk away because that's a 'counterfeit'. If it smells like human hair, then you have got yourself a real silk handkerchief. Trust me. You really can't see/feel the difference between a fake and a real silk product. Of course I'm not encouraging people to walk around burning silk products. It's just a technique to shut the shopkeepers up since they will know you are a pro. ^^

Michelle, Pauline and Benjamin surprised me with a birthday cake at night in the hotel room. I wasn't expecting anything at all so thank you very much! =^-^=



Day 3
Hangzhou must be my favourite city. No kidding.
We visited the largest beverage producer in China -> Wahaha Beverage.
And dammit! Lee Hom is the spokesperson for one of their products and the presenter actually said she would have prepared autographed pictures of Lee Hom if she knew there were Lee Hom fans in our group. Argh I wanted one!


Boat Cruise on West Lake
First time on a boat. Glad to find out that I don't suffer from seasickness.
I don't really like this place since it was VERY VERY crowded.


West Lake


A dragon boat of some sort


Dragon Well Tea Village
A nice quaint countryside.


Fish pond in the tea village

Had my first taste of Grade A green tea. Very bitter but I've seen for myself how detoxifying it can be.


Grade A Green tea

Finally knew why Chinese people like to serve tea before and after meals since traditonal Chinese meals are very oily. I'm not exaggerating. See the picture below for evidence. The boys at my table scooped that up from one dish of steamed fish.


That's 7 tablespoons of oil.


Hefang Street
Very windy here. Actually I don't have much to say about this place except that it's known for weird delicacies like fried scorpions. 0_0


Song Dynasty Cultural Show
Surprisingly I enjoyed this show tremendously.
You should have seen the face I made when I heard that we are watching this.
I take that back. The LED lights, magnificent sets that changed constantly and great dancers. It's the best show I've seen in a long while. Everything is very realistic.
Like when it rained on the stage, the audience was sprayed with a kind of fine mist.
The big lanterns on top would shift slightly lower in one of the scenes, dancers appearing out of nowhere beside you, real battlehorses running across the stage, cannon blasts, water sprouting out of the stage like geysers and the VIPs get to sit in special seats that moved when the focus of the stage changed. Like when a dancer appears on the left side of the stage, the VIPs are shifted to the left etc. And there's another feature I can't describe. Female dancers stepping onto a travelator of some sort. Makes me think of them as sushi. All in all, very dramatic and theatrical. I can't even put it into words lol. You HAVE to be there.

I wish we could have spent more time at the Song Dynasty Town. There's so much I haven't explore. Too bad we were behind time. *-*


My second birthday cake

There was another birthday cake for me when we got back to the hotel. This time it's from the tour agency and the whole group sang the birthday song. Now this is awkward because I was celebrating my 19th birthday with a bunch of strangers. Even though we are together for the past few days, we are still going everywhere in cliques. I don't really know them. Never even talked to some of them before. Plus we had a really tiring day and everyone was dying to get to their rooms. I don't blame them. I was desperate to get back too. The birthday cake was a waste since everyone was full from the dinner. I was too but I still managed to eat a slice since it's my bday cake afterall. I wanted to throw the rest of the cake away but the tour leader wouldn't hear of it. She wanted us to finish it. That must be the first time I was feeling bothered about the cake and slightly annoyed with Jenny(yes the tour leader is called Jenny too. What a coincidence) But that quickly disappeared. I still AM grateful to her for the cake and everything she had done for us. Jacky-the local tour guide got me something too. I am also appreciative of what he had taught us. I miss the bus driver and his amusing stories! God the people in charge of this trip are all so nice! Even the boss Eric. He's so aloof but when he handed out the KFC meals on the bus, I was beginning to think he's not a bad guy afterall.

Thank you Gerald, Wai Hong, Xue Li, Sandra and Wan Ting for the birthday wishes!
Much appreciated. Sorry I didn't reply back because I didn't activate the autoroam feature. And thanks to Min Hui, Yuewen and Shan Shan too for the well wishes.