On the Hong Kong train... on the way to Luo Hu station all by my lonely self. Trying to be brave.
In ShenZhen airport finally after a long cab ride. Eating Mac's for dinner and feeling grateful that I made it. This is before being delayed for 3 hours.
All of us were given purple ponchos to protect us from the typhoon rain as we boarded the plane by way of buses... btw. typhoon rains in ShenZhen flooded the streets to a meter high!
In Changsha with my Dad and his friend Uncle Ron who is also silly.
My dad being entertaining as usual
The nice girls sit and be entertained
In the riverside park. Aparently Mao Zedong swam in this river when he was a boy.
the river... it was a cloudy day and I don't have the time to use phtoshop....
floor calligraphy.,.. the use water and a huge brush
see? and people stand around and like assess each other's work.
and they also play er hu and sing opera here..... It's a very interesting park. Like ECP but people do more relaxing things!
At SPR Coffee... a coffeehouse/restaurant that my mum and I went to for lunch.
COFFEE FLOAT! last time I'll get to drink such wonderful stuff...
chicken steak.. because I would be bereft of Western food for a very long while...
At the orphanage at Heng Yang...
kids are so hard to take. This girl is SUPER DUPER cute and pretty, but she is partially blind. She's very musical and plays the drum and sings!
This little girl has cerebral palsy... which means she cannot manage to control her muscles and she actually is left to roll around except when being cuddled or fed or showered...
This little girl refused to let us carry her... she has dwarfism... and is very shy..
My mummy's favourite little boy there... he doesn't have a major condition, simply has to take medication everyday for thyroid control... =|
A super cute little girl that I carried that refused to let me put her down
the most beautiful girl around. She has almond shaped eyes... what a stunner!!!!
ah.. another very cute baby girl
Some pics from the orphanage walking back to the hotel. It's pretty ulu.. a bit like the BAY camp at choa chu kang.
but beautiful eh?
flowers on walls....
The stalls in the morning where my Dad had breakfast before leaving for Guilin and Yangsuo
The crowded bus aisle... the aunty who sat next to me... Her elbow was constantly in my knee!
Beer fish! A speciality in Yangsuo... and the 1 kg fish.. cos there weren't any smaller ones! The strangest thing is that 3 of us couldn't finish it (obviously right?) and there were two other parties of just 2 people... and they finished theirs plus many other dishes!
A city in the midst of mountains. It's so amazing to think that people live here and enjoy this kinda grandeur everyday!
Mountains. There will be many more pictures like these... it describes itself bah, i can't say much else.
My mum learning to use her camera.
Breakfast (Western!) =) in Yangsuo. Because a lot of tourists go there, there is a much larger variety of restaurants and cuisines. All the food is generally good.
My dad eeking out a smile for me
My dad and mum riding a tandem bike. Now my mum is cycling, but you should look at other shots! I took this while cycling
see? she's like using her camera... haha...
a shot of me while I am cycling. I didn't dare to try this too often
from the front...
My dad and mum under the famous banyan tree where liu san jie (some folk girl) met her lover.
my dad paid 5 yuan to take picutres with the monkeys.
An interesting piece of wood in the middle of the banyan tree photo-taking area
My dad punting us on a little raft...
Self-shot again. I have alot of self-shots... cos it feels strange to ask my mum to take photos of me.
Pretty waterwheel that was there
Moon-hill mountain! We cycled half the day just to find this place and take pictures with it! My dad had thought of climbing it...(abt 3 hrs?) but he was too tired liao.
hmm... this is a interesting poster. Typical China, except with English cos it's in Yangsuo!
Ah! And here we have beer duck!
We went for the musical and lights show called "Impressions: Liu San Jie" (remember the fold girl?)... and funnily enough, my mother was made to hold the guides pole as he was busy rushing around gathering people and collecting tickets.
My father's turn...
See the back? Thats the beautiful setting where the show takes place. It's actually on water with man-made bridges and the mountains act as a backdrop.
Many costumes, differnet villages. Apparently each village sends representatives to act in the night show at for $20 per person!
Fishermen casting their nets
The moon goddess and the lonely Liu San Jie waiting for her lover.
Ah... next day we head out on a river ride.. and my parents take several picutres with the $20 mountains (they are pictured on the $20 bill RMB)
Self-shot!
Look ducks! I totally thought of Joel when I saw these ducks....
The Swiss guy who joined us on our boat ride. He's been travelling in China for 2 months without a word of chinese!
Washing clothes by the river...
Right on the front of the boat.
My dadd is more interested in the water buffalo in the middle of the river than taking the photo...
happy couple shot.
My dad and I striking a stupid pose.
My dad on his own on this one....
My mother getting much better at the camera now... and more interested in using it!
happy feet! =)
Ah... we are in a boat that look like those. See the boat on the left? There are people gambling and playing cards!! so hilarious.
My dad paid another 5 yuan to take photos with the camerons
"W" for... winsome! =) Hee. I honestly thought of her when I saw this.
Family in from of the $20 mountains again...
From the bus on the way back to Yangsuo (the river ride is about 45 mins away)
Why are all the mountains slanted to one side???
storming.... Really have to thankt he One above for keeping the weather till we were done.
TenBen??? heh.. I thought of Ben!
Ah... I got my own room on the last night. I was such a blessing!
My dad not too able to eek a smile after this being the 2nd western breakfast we are having (different place though!)
yummy!!! =)
Mummy enjoyin her coffee...
Last shot of the little lake in the middle of Yangsuo city...
and another last shot of the river outside our hotel... we leave for Guilin right after this.
Guilin. Our hotel appears to be on the outskirts of the city as we are very close to the bus and train station since it is acutally a pitstop. Yet we managed to find out way to this bridge...
The park close by
parents enjoying the river
weird ball things on the steps.
ooh!!! pretty flower. This reminded me of Hazel... She used to call me buttercup! haha... and though these are not buttercups.. I just thought of her!
View from the hotel... It's actually very cloudy as it has just rained... i think the windows were yellow-y.. hahah
night tour by boat around guilin...
The night shots didn't turn out too well as I was on a moving boat and trying to take things that were not that close or bright... but enjoy anyway. I liked this trip more than the Liu San Jie show...
The fan they gave
One of the rivers is lower than the other, so we are in the holding place as the shut off one end and let water in so we can rise to move on the next river
ah there! we can move on now...
The office on the little holding area between the rivers... haha
A bridge after the french arc de triomphe
After San Francisco bridge
after some european bridge....
pictures at the underside of the bridges
the mountain is "old man" mountain cos apparently he looks like an old man... =D guess who I thought of!! hahahahah oops!
rainbow bridge!
Last bridge and the pretty arches over the walkway.
Can you spot where I've travelled?? =) Changsha, Hengyang, Yangsuo, Guilin, Hezhou (Babu), Liannan!
Ah... on the bus on the way to Hezhou... not knowing the journey would take me 6 hrs!!!
At Hezhuo Dongzhan.. =P hee
Its so strange, they ahve a rubbish bin, but no container inside... so after rubbish is thrown, they sweep it away...
Hmm... in the non-airconditioned bus to Lianan... feeling a little less confident!!1 =\
Beautiful scenery on thw way to Liannan, but too hard to catch as the bus was moving and Ah Lian had given strict instructions not to take out anything valuable... I couldn't even listen to my ipod....
Ooh... In Liannan where I bought mangoes and grapes. And ooh!!! These are grapes you can actually peel (see at the back?) Now I understand the silly chinese rhyme about nbot eating grape skin! Anyway, I peeled these grapes cos my mum says there may be pesticides... and even though it's Liannan and unlikely, I rather be safe than lead-poisoned!
When Moses and family left, I got my own room and this is the bed and wardrobe...
and this is the dresser/desk. =)
what is the hard bed really made of???
hmmm... stff cork board-ish fibre thing??? with this plastic netting that resembles the kinda net used in making barriers...
I hear "toufufa" from my window one day... =)
The night when we did not have electricity and I saw this outside my window.. the spider is huge lah!
Lianzhuo bus station waiting to go to Shenzhen
ohh... roast goose
century egg as appetiser
the classy district this is in. This actuially reminded me for my ex-boss!!! she is a coach fan
The view of Central from Aunty Armanda's apartment....
The tiny happy room I had. The wall only recently became like that due to tyhoon rains that came the previous week and seeped into everything...
In hongkong they sell books in vending machines!
empty MTR train to Luo Wu
trying to be happy for the journey back...
pretty skies on the way back to Liannan
Ah the stash I got from HK
