GREAT TRIP TO BEIJING 3 Nov - 10 Nov 07

Departed for Beijing on Sat 3 Nov, returned on Sat 10 Nov. It was an enjoyable trip. We packed our days filled with loads of sightseeing and shopping of cos! We stayed at Beijing Hotel, right smack next to Wangfujing. Not necessaryily the best, but its' good enough. We walked the street every night till we got so bored that we were literally seeking new modern shopping malls to walk. (how sad is tat! i feel like a darn spoilt city gal)

Covered most of the touristy places - Tiananmen, Forbidden City, Summer Place, Temple of Heaven, climbed the Great Wall (we went to the Mutianyu), visited the Hutongs (and got cheated by the bloody damned licisenced trishaw pullers!), Prince Gong Mansion etc. What bloody nerves they had. However without them, it would have been hard for us to see the Hutongs and Hou Hai. I climbed quite a bit at Great Wall, had so much fun exploring a section by myself cos mum was just too lazy to continue. Although I've been to Beijing and climbed the Great Wall more than 15yrs ago, I'm still so amazed at how the Great Wall was built then; how the rocks were carrried up the moutain; and how the wall is still intact till today. What wonderful smart brains they had then... Qing Shi Wang is a genius.

Ate loads of yummy food for dinner, walked so much esp climbing the Great Wall. Cos we chose to take the Mutianyu route, mum was cursing those damned stairs cos it was never-ending. It was quite fun to see her struggling up the stairs, her angry face and her laughter each time she conquere a section.

Took loads of pictures, esp the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. Think i can perhaps horn my new founds photography skills. My idiotic digital camera failed me when I needed it most. Luckily we borrowed a cam fm my cousin, and I have my ever faithful, reliable Sony Ericsson phone (although there was no zoom function, it took pretty good shots).

Met up with Veron for dinner, and she brought us to a yummy restaturant that we literally licked the plates clean. (dunno the name but it's near Twin Mall). We went to check out Xiu Shui Jie (Silk Market) and bargained and slash the prices like there's no tomorrow. Bought alot of small pouches back to distribute and i bought myself 3 pairs of Puma-fake sneakers. So happy that i can sprint into 7th heaven! Poor dad who sponsored most of the trip only ended up buying a RMB80 belt and a old currency book during an exhibition.

We took the train during the last few days. Darn cheap, RMB2 for any distance! How cheap is that!! Mum was so amazed at the price. We visited few new malls. My gosh, my jaws nearly dropped. They are darn massive, beautiful, big brands and huge shops. We visited China Central Mall, Shin Kong Mall, Twin Mall etc... Unbelievable. Even our Paragon, Taka and (maybe) Vivo is like pebble compared to theirs. The rich is really rich... The standard of their grooming, layout of the shops etc are tip top. Singapore is definitely gonna lose out to China malls in a year or two if we don't brush up our service standards etc.

There were blitz of cold moments.. and we were really lucky to escape 0 degree on our last day. We were wrapped like penguins... but the cold felt good. Reminds me so much of Melbourne....

Very glad I brought parents to Beijing. Although mum complained so much of the walking esp Great Wall, she had so much fun. Especially admiring her cheap buys at night when back to the hotel room. I've concluded that Beijing is really about touristy stuff, not so much of shopping. Shanghai is still the best place to shop. Even with the new modern malls in Beijing, gosh, i can hardly afford anything in there. Perhaps a Tall Starbucks.. hehe.... Dad nearly psychoed me to buy a nice satin black bag at RMB3300, good thing i'm firm cos it's so identical to my Prada. And besides, I'm gonna have my cheap Coach buys from USA soon..

Everything about the trip was great, except for the dreadful flight back home. We bought cheap tix, Sin-Xiamen-Beijing & Beijing-Xiamen-Sin. I seriously nearly killed myself on our flight back. 1st: the air con was down!! The food sucks, the in-flight entertainment sucks!, my DS lite ran out of battery, I had no English books or magazines to read... I could only pray and pray and wish and wish that we'll land in Spore soon... I was so sore from sitting in that cramp seat...

Big assignment ahead of me now: develop the photos soon cos mum's Qigong friends are asking to see it! Damn! These aunties really have no patience... Better do something before mum comes after me.....