2 more days and i'll be on my way home...
i left Beijing and went to another small Chinese city, Weihai that turned out looking pretty decent until some incidents happened. At the international passenger terminal, i was approached by a man asking if i'm carrying any liquor or ciggarettes to Korea when I stared at him blankly as I couldnt understand what he said at first. i then explained i was frm Malaysia and he still persisted on asking the questions which I declined in helping him to carry any of the mentioned items. he did, went off, telling his friends outside the terminal, about where am i from, and asked if i need a tour in Weihai. there's just no way i would go anywhere alone with these people.
i sat there and took out my book, reading it for the 3rd time this trip. he came around again to ask about Malaysia and somewhat to understand my command of Chinese. he concluded that i have a good understanding of the language and welcomes me to China and walked off... I guess that's good. I decided to change my seat so that I would not be so easily harassed by strangers, but before i did that, i headed to the ladies whereby I found two other ladies were following me to the washroom trying to initiate a conversation.
i ignored them and went about my business and return to a new feng shui seat. one of the lady that followed me to the washroom sat next to me, reading what i was reading. so, i just shared the book with her without showing any interest in chatting with her. after she gave up, i went to the counter to get a cup of coffee, which i was approached by that counter lady to carry items across the border. i declined but she tried convincing me the 'security' of the items. they would pay rm200 to help carry the things into S. Korea.
i, of course, declined, and the counter lady, brought her ally, which was the other lady tat followed me to the washroom earlier. both of them tried to convince me that the liquor, chillies and herbs that they want me to carry is legal. no thanks. right even before i boarded the ferry, another lady came over and asked if she could borrow my boarding pass to buy some restricted items, but i just pretended i dont understand what she was saying.
alas, i was so relieved to be in the ferry, in my own bunk, although shared with another 3 other chinese girls, but there were pretty harmless. a man came over and talked to the guy sleeping on the upper bunk and suddenly sat on MY bunk and said he has something to negotiate with me. i said no, i'm not carrying anything for anyone for whatever the price. that's final.
finally, i reached Incheon, and then Seoul and stayed in the Guesthouse before heading to Suwon to meet my students. It's a relief seeing familiar faces. They planned a trip heading towards Gyeongju and Busan to visit Korea's historical site, and it was 4 hours away. Busan, the southernmost part of Korea has a very famous beach, Haeundae which I find it rather scenic but, although seaside is my favorite place, being there during winter is something really foreign to me.
We came back to Suwon on Sunday, and went to Seoul to visit Changgyeonggung and Namdaemun. Also went to Changgyecheon and there were Christmas decorations all over the city. That reminded me of Christmas in Singapore last year.
It's my last night for this trip and tomorrow morning, i will be returning to Malaysia. I have a list of things to buy and pack home. ughh...
i'll be home soon!
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
I blogged yesterday, after sitting an hour poking on my PDA and turned out, it wasnt publish coz the connection was shitty.
yesterday, i was at the Great Wall of China freezing my ass off. I woke up late... actually i didnt wake up until the reception girl came to my room and knock on the door. it was at 6.50am and we were supposed to leave at 7am. yeah.. i jumped out of bed and changed in the room despite my other two sleeping roommates. (to hell with modesty).
Great wall was INCREDIBLE. it's really the one thing that i know at least deserved the title "Great" with its name. I took a number of pictures. we were back in the hostel around 2pm which i realized i havent had my shower in more than 2 days. although hungry, i think hygiene comes first and I'm beginning to smell something really rotten in the room. so, i'm guessing it's me. wahahaha. stinky!! i took my shower in the men's room without realizing it. shit. i also used the men's toilet without knowing it. isnt that sad??
after shower, i ate at the hostel, and went out with new found friends to Silk Street for shopping and Wangfujing street for dinner & shopping. I bought 2 skirts for less than RM75, a Russian doll for RM 3.50 and all types of handphone accessories of Beijing Olympic 2008 mascot and a batch of supplies of hairclips and rubberbands to last me 3 years. I also bought a collection of badge for the Olympic games 2008 for RM15. it's the cheapest thing i can find from that authentic shop.
Today, i went to Forbidden City and walked around for 6 hours in the city and again, broke my leg. I took a LOT of photos... almost every corner... and my camera died on me at the final part when the Chinese army marched out of the Forbidden City, across the road (while entire Beijing was put on hold) and into Tian'anmen Square. I lost my handphone cover and 20yuan in the process running around and not realizing that i dropped things and gotten pickpocketed.
oh well.. it's alright i guess... i've gotta go and grab souvenirs and do some shopping before tmrw when i leave for Weihai and to Incheon on Thursday. And i shall remember to shower tonight, and tomorrow too.
yesterday, i was at the Great Wall of China freezing my ass off. I woke up late... actually i didnt wake up until the reception girl came to my room and knock on the door. it was at 6.50am and we were supposed to leave at 7am. yeah.. i jumped out of bed and changed in the room despite my other two sleeping roommates. (to hell with modesty).
Great wall was INCREDIBLE. it's really the one thing that i know at least deserved the title "Great" with its name. I took a number of pictures. we were back in the hostel around 2pm which i realized i havent had my shower in more than 2 days. although hungry, i think hygiene comes first and I'm beginning to smell something really rotten in the room. so, i'm guessing it's me. wahahaha. stinky!! i took my shower in the men's room without realizing it. shit. i also used the men's toilet without knowing it. isnt that sad??
after shower, i ate at the hostel, and went out with new found friends to Silk Street for shopping and Wangfujing street for dinner & shopping. I bought 2 skirts for less than RM75, a Russian doll for RM 3.50 and all types of handphone accessories of Beijing Olympic 2008 mascot and a batch of supplies of hairclips and rubberbands to last me 3 years. I also bought a collection of badge for the Olympic games 2008 for RM15. it's the cheapest thing i can find from that authentic shop.
Today, i went to Forbidden City and walked around for 6 hours in the city and again, broke my leg. I took a LOT of photos... almost every corner... and my camera died on me at the final part when the Chinese army marched out of the Forbidden City, across the road (while entire Beijing was put on hold) and into Tian'anmen Square. I lost my handphone cover and 20yuan in the process running around and not realizing that i dropped things and gotten pickpocketed.
oh well.. it's alright i guess... i've gotta go and grab souvenirs and do some shopping before tmrw when i leave for Weihai and to Incheon on Thursday. And i shall remember to shower tonight, and tomorrow too.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
yoohoo.. i'm finally in china after the gruelling 17 hours ferry, 4 hours waiting for my high speed train and 6 hours on the train. my god, i've been on the road for more than 24 hours and i'm cold, hungry and tired. Summary of experience:
1. God damn cold.
2. I lost my gloves
3. I finished my reading 2 books and still have to travel back to Korea (almost 40 hours) on Wednesday.
4. I should have chosen the real Korean food instead of the cheap ones, and just pay the bloody RM2 difference.
5. I will never eat any Korean bread ever again.
6. Ferry looks pretty classy until late at night, when the people went for their karaoke, drinking, and starts getting drunk and passes by you and give u a weird look. then when u are in the toilet, someone comes banging into the toilet and pee, and to come out from the cubicle was a drunk Korean man staring at you.
7. Korea is expensive.
8. I did the public bathroom thing.
9. China is windy, or as far as Qingdao is concerned. Chinese are pretty much a hostile race where i was kinda scorned by some other train passengers for taking up the wrong seat. my train was D54, and i sat at seat 54, while on my ticket was 76.
10. I have bad choice in my first meal in China.
11. Also experienced China at its worst, the toilets. EUUWW... I shall never eat for another day.
12. The Chinese have some serious spitting issues.
13. I understand why China needs to control the population now. See it to believe it. You only need to send those people in Beijing Station Subway to intimidate US instead of their military power.
14. Some Chinese guys in uniform really looked good.
15. I've been trying to speak Korean and Chinese but failing miserably.
16. I'm going to the Great Wall tomorrow at 7am, so I need to sleep.
I think that's all i can remember. Good night people.
1. God damn cold.
2. I lost my gloves
3. I finished my reading 2 books and still have to travel back to Korea (almost 40 hours) on Wednesday.
4. I should have chosen the real Korean food instead of the cheap ones, and just pay the bloody RM2 difference.
5. I will never eat any Korean bread ever again.
6. Ferry looks pretty classy until late at night, when the people went for their karaoke, drinking, and starts getting drunk and passes by you and give u a weird look. then when u are in the toilet, someone comes banging into the toilet and pee, and to come out from the cubicle was a drunk Korean man staring at you.
7. Korea is expensive.
8. I did the public bathroom thing.
9. China is windy, or as far as Qingdao is concerned. Chinese are pretty much a hostile race where i was kinda scorned by some other train passengers for taking up the wrong seat. my train was D54, and i sat at seat 54, while on my ticket was 76.
10. I have bad choice in my first meal in China.
11. Also experienced China at its worst, the toilets. EUUWW... I shall never eat for another day.
12. The Chinese have some serious spitting issues.
13. I understand why China needs to control the population now. See it to believe it. You only need to send those people in Beijing Station Subway to intimidate US instead of their military power.
14. Some Chinese guys in uniform really looked good.
15. I've been trying to speak Korean and Chinese but failing miserably.
16. I'm going to the Great Wall tomorrow at 7am, so I need to sleep.
I think that's all i can remember. Good night people.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Day 2 In Korea
The flight seems like forever because of the multiple transits. If I actually appreciate buildings and structure then it would be so bad. Unfortunately, I dont what i can conclude is, HK airport Wi-Fi is far superior than KLIA's but the ppl there sucks!
When i landed in korea, i came to realization that i've not been warm for more than 48 hours already. i'm pretty much in several layers of clothes and boy, when i went out of the airport, no one puts on a jacket faster than i did. in fact, i was the only one with gloves. was wondering if people here have hands of steel. althought, i got hold back several times by immigration at the airport.
the guesthouse that i am staying in is great. there are pretty much over friendly and i didnt talk to them, but at least i joined them by listening to their conversation. pretty much people from US being in Korea for the longest time.
anyway, i should be getting ready to leave for China. there's a little toddler here, staring at me going online. so, i'm just gonna leave the place and let her use it. :P
update soon.
The flight seems like forever because of the multiple transits. If I actually appreciate buildings and structure then it would be so bad. Unfortunately, I dont what i can conclude is, HK airport Wi-Fi is far superior than KLIA's but the ppl there sucks!
When i landed in korea, i came to realization that i've not been warm for more than 48 hours already. i'm pretty much in several layers of clothes and boy, when i went out of the airport, no one puts on a jacket faster than i did. in fact, i was the only one with gloves. was wondering if people here have hands of steel. althought, i got hold back several times by immigration at the airport.
the guesthouse that i am staying in is great. there are pretty much over friendly and i didnt talk to them, but at least i joined them by listening to their conversation. pretty much people from US being in Korea for the longest time.
anyway, i should be getting ready to leave for China. there's a little toddler here, staring at me going online. so, i'm just gonna leave the place and let her use it. :P
update soon.
Friday, November 30, 2007
it's freaking 6 am and i didnt even get half an hour of sleep. i'm already in the airport, waiting for my boarding time which is in an hour. managed to fax my complaint letter to the relevant parties and leave for my disrupted holiday.
there's nothing to eat here unless i want to eat expensive chocolates for breakfast at 6am. no thanks. i'll update when i reach bangkok or south korea.
so far, still alive.
there's nothing to eat here unless i want to eat expensive chocolates for breakfast at 6am. no thanks. i'll update when i reach bangkok or south korea.
so far, still alive.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
mother fudging bastards. I hate Maxis. I converted my prepaid to postpaid on tuesday and they said i can activate my line on wednesday. it's thursday and it's still not activated and i had to call them 3 fudging times to find out what on earth is going on.
here's what i found out:1. they do not have a record of my application which I did it at the booth in Carrefour Wangsa Maju.
they apparently cant do anything because it's too late and asked me to go to Maxis Centre to get it done tmrw morning. bast*rds... i'm checking in at 5.50 in the morning, are u going to open your centre to give me the line? freaking idiots. imbeciles!
then i called again and found out:
My application for a postpaid line has been REJECTED of which they were supposed to CALL the primary line holder (i'm a supplementary line holder) to inform her regarding the rejection. They didnt call.
So, I'm now stuck, without a ******* phone line overseas for almost 2 weeks. I'm PISSED, and YES, i am really feeling that I am GOING TO BOMB maxis for this. what if there's any emergencies? i think everyone will now KNOW what is going through my mind, apart from all the ideas of torturing and cussing at incompetent disgrace to mankind.
I've writted a complaint to the Commission of Multimedia and Telecommunication(with c.c. to Maxis, and Malaysia COnsumer Association) and will fax it over NOW at 11.15 pm, so that everyone in the whole world knows how stupid idiots work. thanks to them I dont have a line to call home NOR make calls to meet my contact in Korea and confirm my RESERVATIONS. that's for pissing me off.
DIE!!!!!!!!! THANKS TO THIS INCIDENT, I HAVE NOT EVEN PACKED MY BLOODY BAGS! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I AM SOOOOO ANGRY
here's what i found out:1. they do not have a record of my application which I did it at the booth in Carrefour Wangsa Maju.
they apparently cant do anything because it's too late and asked me to go to Maxis Centre to get it done tmrw morning. bast*rds... i'm checking in at 5.50 in the morning, are u going to open your centre to give me the line? freaking idiots. imbeciles!
then i called again and found out:
My application for a postpaid line has been REJECTED of which they were supposed to CALL the primary line holder (i'm a supplementary line holder) to inform her regarding the rejection. They didnt call.
So, I'm now stuck, without a ******* phone line overseas for almost 2 weeks. I'm PISSED, and YES, i am really feeling that I am GOING TO BOMB maxis for this. what if there's any emergencies? i think everyone will now KNOW what is going through my mind, apart from all the ideas of torturing and cussing at incompetent disgrace to mankind.
I've writted a complaint to the Commission of Multimedia and Telecommunication(with c.c. to Maxis, and Malaysia COnsumer Association) and will fax it over NOW at 11.15 pm, so that everyone in the whole world knows how stupid idiots work. thanks to them I dont have a line to call home NOR make calls to meet my contact in Korea and confirm my RESERVATIONS. that's for pissing me off.
DIE!!!!!!!!! THANKS TO THIS INCIDENT, I HAVE NOT EVEN PACKED MY BLOODY BAGS! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I AM SOOOOO ANGRY
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Counting down...
So... the news is out to my family that I'll be going to South Korea alone, and then leaving to China on an 18 hour ferry + 5 hour train to Beijing. Concerned friends gave me their numbers in case of emergencies, and i'm honestly very grateful. If my phone is not stolen, and if there's such emergency, if my credit card fails me, then I'll call.
Beijing sounds like a tricky and scary place already. Majority of the people in Beijing are scammers and I am told not to speak to anyone. I think I wont be able to talk for the entire 3 days in Beijing and also another 3 days of traveling to and fro Beijing. Cant imagine being silent for 6 good days. It's gonna be an 'interesting' experience. Considering I have crappy Mandarin proficiency, I'm afraid i'll be scammed while taking a taxi as well.
I think taking photos in China would be a problem because I dont think I can just pass my camera to anyone else to ask a favor to take my pics in front of the Forbidden City or any other exquisite world heritage site. Sigh... Maybe I could find other tourists to help me do it. Hopefully my camera doesnt get snatched and sold off because i'm still paying the damn installment and i've only owned it for less than 6 months. I might just go demanding for an air strike on Beijing if that happens. :P yeah right.
At the moment, I've just realized that I am still not ready to go for this trip just yet. I've really picked an unfortunate time to run off. my workload just piled up and I've not finished my ultra high priority task which is to submit a paper for publication on my research. It's still in construction.. i am currently cursed with distractions from this trip and other random events.
on the upside, my contact in S. Korea said I could stay at their home when I'm back from Beijing, and that totally saves me around RM250 on accommodation (if the guesthouse is okay with my cancellation without needing to compensate them). Tomorrow, I'll be settling EVERYTHING, buying whatever last minute items and getting my money exchanged. I'm still wondering if i should be carrying my handbag while touring in China. If one has to be soo paranoid, i might not even sleep soundly the entire time in China since there might be chances of people robbing me in the hostel or break into my locker and steal my stuffs.
sigh.. i shouldnt let other ppl's imagination affect me. the trip has already been paid for, with my own blood and sweat. i should just go and enjoy it despite everything and update my situation over there. But of course, I will be careful. VERY careful.
Beijing sounds like a tricky and scary place already. Majority of the people in Beijing are scammers and I am told not to speak to anyone. I think I wont be able to talk for the entire 3 days in Beijing and also another 3 days of traveling to and fro Beijing. Cant imagine being silent for 6 good days. It's gonna be an 'interesting' experience. Considering I have crappy Mandarin proficiency, I'm afraid i'll be scammed while taking a taxi as well.
I think taking photos in China would be a problem because I dont think I can just pass my camera to anyone else to ask a favor to take my pics in front of the Forbidden City or any other exquisite world heritage site. Sigh... Maybe I could find other tourists to help me do it. Hopefully my camera doesnt get snatched and sold off because i'm still paying the damn installment and i've only owned it for less than 6 months. I might just go demanding for an air strike on Beijing if that happens. :P yeah right.
At the moment, I've just realized that I am still not ready to go for this trip just yet. I've really picked an unfortunate time to run off. my workload just piled up and I've not finished my ultra high priority task which is to submit a paper for publication on my research. It's still in construction.. i am currently cursed with distractions from this trip and other random events.
on the upside, my contact in S. Korea said I could stay at their home when I'm back from Beijing, and that totally saves me around RM250 on accommodation (if the guesthouse is okay with my cancellation without needing to compensate them). Tomorrow, I'll be settling EVERYTHING, buying whatever last minute items and getting my money exchanged. I'm still wondering if i should be carrying my handbag while touring in China. If one has to be soo paranoid, i might not even sleep soundly the entire time in China since there might be chances of people robbing me in the hostel or break into my locker and steal my stuffs.
sigh.. i shouldnt let other ppl's imagination affect me. the trip has already been paid for, with my own blood and sweat. i should just go and enjoy it despite everything and update my situation over there. But of course, I will be careful. VERY careful.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Not ready to go...
Good god.
My flight is on the coming Friday and I didn't know I printed out the flight itinerary instead of the eticket. it's a good thing my mom mentioned it and I called up the tour agent. They faxed the ticket to me and I saw two transits, one in Bangkok and the other in Hong Kong. Cool.. I've never been to Hong Kong before.
Apart from that, I haven't booked my ferry tickets, and my train tickets in China and Korea. Dont ask me what is wrong with me, this is just how I function. If it's not the eleventh hour, nothing will move. Not to mention, I have not gotten any disposable panties yet.
I haven't inform my Prof that I'm leaving on Friday. I also do not have the international adaptor for traveling and I will cry if I cant charge my camera batteries. I dont care about my handphone, but my camera HAS to work at ALL times. The pictures are my only treasure.
Before I drift away to my trip, I have to settle 2-3 reports/drafts for publications so that I'll be allowed to go on a holiday. Yeah right. As if that's possible.
Anyway, I've got a wedding dinner to attend tonight, and even more work to do tomorrow because my sister is moving to a new house on Monday. why does everything has to happen at the very last minute?
My flight is on the coming Friday and I didn't know I printed out the flight itinerary instead of the eticket. it's a good thing my mom mentioned it and I called up the tour agent. They faxed the ticket to me and I saw two transits, one in Bangkok and the other in Hong Kong. Cool.. I've never been to Hong Kong before.
Apart from that, I haven't booked my ferry tickets, and my train tickets in China and Korea. Dont ask me what is wrong with me, this is just how I function. If it's not the eleventh hour, nothing will move. Not to mention, I have not gotten any disposable panties yet.
I haven't inform my Prof that I'm leaving on Friday. I also do not have the international adaptor for traveling and I will cry if I cant charge my camera batteries. I dont care about my handphone, but my camera HAS to work at ALL times. The pictures are my only treasure.
Before I drift away to my trip, I have to settle 2-3 reports/drafts for publications so that I'll be allowed to go on a holiday. Yeah right. As if that's possible.
Anyway, I've got a wedding dinner to attend tonight, and even more work to do tomorrow because my sister is moving to a new house on Monday. why does everything has to happen at the very last minute?
Friday, November 23, 2007
Disposable ones...
One would begin to WONDER, when she has drove all over town, to 3 different locations to look for pharmacies selling disposable panties. Yes, disposable panties.
The pharmacies in my neighbourhood only have S size and let's not EVEN TALK about Size. it's the same for the other pharmacies in two other supermarkets that i went to. I really wonder if pharmacies are taking disposable panties for granted and do not keep stock, or I've just realized that maybe the women this society prefer disposable panties over anything, or it must be some sort of unwritten rule to keep stock of disposable panties for 'emergency' purposes or everyone is traveling too.
I am tempted to make a 'reservation' for my stock of disposable panties because I am traveling next Friday, for 12 days, and God knows I dont have enough panties to bring along and do laundry for the entire 2 weeks of traveling. I would hate being caught washing my undies when traveling and staying in backpacker's dorm. It's be so mortifying.
Speaking of traveling, I'm not entirely ready for this trip. It's the farthest I've been and alone too, plus, I have just realized that it's really my first time on the plane alone. Oh well.. there's always first for everything, and not to mention, my first winter experience too.
I need to make the reservation for the ferry to China AND my stock of disposable panties first. :P
The pharmacies in my neighbourhood only have S size and let's not EVEN TALK about Size. it's the same for the other pharmacies in two other supermarkets that i went to. I really wonder if pharmacies are taking disposable panties for granted and do not keep stock, or I've just realized that maybe the women this society prefer disposable panties over anything, or it must be some sort of unwritten rule to keep stock of disposable panties for 'emergency' purposes or everyone is traveling too.
I am tempted to make a 'reservation' for my stock of disposable panties because I am traveling next Friday, for 12 days, and God knows I dont have enough panties to bring along and do laundry for the entire 2 weeks of traveling. I would hate being caught washing my undies when traveling and staying in backpacker's dorm. It's be so mortifying.
Speaking of traveling, I'm not entirely ready for this trip. It's the farthest I've been and alone too, plus, I have just realized that it's really my first time on the plane alone. Oh well.. there's always first for everything, and not to mention, my first winter experience too.
I need to make the reservation for the ferry to China AND my stock of disposable panties first. :P
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