LONG POST WARNING!
MILD VULGARITY WARNING!
CPI REFERENCE:
500ml mineral water - 1RMB
bus ticket - 1RMB
500g peach - 5RMB
taxi starting fare - 4RMB
1L 93 petrol - 4.7RMB
1Hr internet cafe - 2RMB
Exchange rate S$1 ~ 5RMB
STATISTICS:
DIST(AIR) 7000KM
DIST(RAIL) 2100KM
DIST(CAR) 1100KM
Food - 4000RMB(excluding a birthday banquet)
Cup noodles - 20
Beer - 5L
Travelling expenses - 2500RMB
Admission tickets - 400RMB
Hotel accommodation - 1000RMB
On the morning of monday 3/6, I instinctively carried out my morning routine - piss, dress, eat, tv. I came to realise that I'm not going to school like any other morning when The Simpsons ain't showing on StarWorld. 5min out my mom called. [you left you're specticles on the sofa] fuck it. The cab fare to NanYang, RIB then Airport totalled $50 because of 150% in the wee hours of the morning and partially due to the 10min wait for her majesty at RIB.
The budget serves only Tiger and Cebu Pacific with the later being practically inactive. I wonder if its still cheaper than T1/2. The terminal has nothing, an eatery on the left, 8 or so check-in counters in the center, toilets and pay phones on the right. Inside there's some shops with none open this early. No skybridge of course, had to walk out and up the stairs. The captain's white and the first officer's a bold hispanic. The airsteward(ess)'s excuse of an uniform can't be any more unprofessional. The males wore the standard white shirt and black pants. The females wore a pale yellow shirt branded Visa in front and Tiger behind. A yellow/black tiger stripped bandana around the waist and horrid makeup completes the package. No more free sitting, Lishan, Wangjue and I took seats 18ABC. I'd much rather swap my aisle seat for window. The 2 girls fell asleep soon after takeoff but I was too excited. After all, I had not flown in 10yrs(discounting the noisy, cramp and hot 4 seater plane I trained on) But soon it became monotonous. I could'nt imagine anything more cramped than my training plane's cockpit but the budget economy seat is. 3.5hrs in a 1 by 1 is not fun.
The first thing I noticed at GuangZhou was the pollution, soon I would get used to the fact that all major cities in China are equally polluted, to the extent that staring at the sun won't hurt your eyes. While waiting for the connection, the 3 of us played cards. Of course I won. Some interesting things I saw included a [Convenient Store] and [Volkswangon]. China Southern's connecting flight to WuHan was much more comfortable. English and Chinese announcements were professional as opposed to Tiger's Singlish/Broken Chinese. The seats had more leg room and I [persuaded] the other 2 to let me have the window seat. Drinks were provided as expected of any reputable airline and they did not sell S$5 cup noodles nor S$8 airline food. 10min into the ascend, Lishan half-consciously asked me if we're there yet. I replied 'almost' but she probably didn't hear it sinking back into her slumber.
WuHan is hotter than Singapore during the day but cooler at night. In the local accent we would say [how ler ah] meaning [so hot]. *In China, cousins are affectionately called sisters or brothers* At my uncle's home I slept in my dear sister's room since she's in college during the weekdays.
And no, that laptop did not have war3.
My uncle's home was the penthouse(purely by definition) of a small condominum.
Solar heater
Greenhouse
The first night I brought a mattress to the roof and thought it would be very romantic to sleep under the starry sky. Indeed, unto the mosquitos got to me.
The next 2 days were uneventful, stayed at home and watched 如来神掌(Palm of Ru Lai) and 倚天屠龙记(Tale of something and dragon slaying). My sister's laptop had a program called PPstream, its basically a free VOD software. It has hundreds of movies and channels to choose from, all of which can stream fullscreen smoothly.
Wednesday night I went to the river bank of the Yangtze river(江滩). Sweet place, there's old people line dancing, kids playing and couples making out. It stretches for several kilometers and there're electric cars to send people up and down stream for a small fee.
My dad and I, faintly in the background is the WuHan second Yangtze River Bridge.
We had seafood that night. My uncle insisted that I help choose the dishes.
In Singapore I ate in school, at coffee shops or cup noodles making me a complete peasant at such restaurants.
Before
After
And the drink of choice
This meal was 400RMBI went out with Lishan at 江汉路(street name) which is kind of the city center. We ate breakfast at a few roadside stores, delicious.
Clockwise from the top, green bean soup, fried buns, smelly toufoo, rice cake.
We went to a mall and she shopped for clothes. My dad warned me about this when he heard where we're going.
She didn't buy it.
I wanted to get you guys something at the toy shop but everything's insanely expensive. So Xun Yong, this is for you.
This little piece of shit is 300RMB
We called out another PRC, Sunning, and went to experience chinese MacDonalds.
That's coke with ice-cream on top, Singapore had this some years ago.
We had lunch before catching Spiderman 3
We didn't finish the rice.
Sunning left us to go buy pirated VCD(not porn according to him) My student pass got me the half-price student ticket, how cool is that? Lishan had to pay full. But I being the nice me split 45-45 with her. The theatre is really nice, better than Cathay at Orchard. The male toilet urinals had 7" LCDs showing movie trailers. Speaking of toilets, the public toilets are very amusing. In front of the urinals, a plaque on the wall says (向前一小步,文明一大步) which literally means take a small step forward, a giant leap for civilization. The movie was ok, except its dubbed in chinese. Afterwards, we ate at MacDonalds.
I got a free toothpaste with this extra value meal. ???
In case you'll didn't know, WuHan is divided by the Yangtze river into 2 halves, 汉口and武昌. Lishan's dad came all the way across the river to fetch her home, the good man also put me on the right bus home.
The purchasing power of the RMB varies greatly in China, its the same as the S$ for basic necessities but drops exponentially for luxury goods, especially those made not in China. A university graduate earns 2000RMB, like his Singapore counterpart. But a movie is typically 50-60RMB compared to S$9, local brand cellphones are 500-1500RMB while international brands like Nokia and SE go up to 4000RMB. A decent computer sets you back 8000RMB, a Buick costs 500k. Private apartments range from 4000-12000RMB/m².
I went to Beijing that night by rail.
It was 0530hr
Its very comfortable to travel by train. Its twice as fast and twice as stable as MRT. Sleeping in the bunk, the gentle swaying made it feel like a massage bed. But of course I can take 7G in the airforce centrifuge so traveller's discretion is advised.
At Beijing West station I saw this
545m by foot
The station in all its grandeur
My dad and I met with his old university classmate. We had breakfast together but he had to leave for a meeting. Luckily he left us his car.
All officers above the rank of Colonel are given personal transport, a Volkswagon Passat 1.8T in this case. That's our driver in front, Cpl Zhang. The red chinese character 海 means naval - an official car from the navy. This pass allowed us to travel the highways toll-free. This is the pinnacle of communism - the property of the people for personal leisure.
We went to the great wall at 八达岭 where again my student pass got me the student ticket. On the way there I noticed 'sound barriers' put up along the road. Literally, these are meant to block out the traffic noise so as to not disturb nearby residents. I'm quite surprised that it wasn't covered in advistisment or propaganda. Government propaganda is rampant especially in rural areas. Common messages include 保护环境,为国家建设(protect the environment, for the country's development) and 听党的话,实行生育计划(listen to the party, practise birth control)
They've installed cable cars now to save us the agony of climbing 1000ft in 40ºC
We took the same day train back to WuHan, same car, same bunk. We took a drive to 东湖(eastern lake) which is several times bigger than all the Singapore reservoirs add up. The air there is significantly better than in the city though visibility is just as poor due to the thick fog. There's also a 莫山(Mo mountain) which contained many statues telling tales of some dynasty. The mountain is topped by a temple.
That's a baby sucking on a tiger's nipple. The chinese characters 虎乳子 mean 'tiger feed kid'.
This guy blocked arrows for a king's tomb.
Panzer marsch!
I also went to 归元寺(?back to origin? temple) which became a tourist attraction. Many prayed for success at work/study, children etc. I also prayed for something. It is here where the 500 Buddha reside. I counted all 500 and found several with interesting names.
天王尊者(saint king of heaven)
游戏尊者(saint game)
电光尊者(saint electrical light)
自在王尊者(saint carefree king)
坐清凉尊者(saint sit and be cool)
最无比尊者(saint most uncomparable)
Just before coming back, I went to 宜昌(a city 320km from WuHan). The highway allows 110km/hr but everyone does at least 130. The cops themselves do 150. There's this slowpoke going 90 swerving in front of us refusing to let us pass. When we finally passed him I gave him the finger, couldn't see the look on his face though. Its just like the Auto Bahn where the road stretches out to infinity and one can drive as fast as one dares. My dad went to 170 before chickening out. One of the stupider things I did in my life was sticking my head out the window at 140. The entire 2hr+ drive there I had my hand out the window feeling the wind gust by. The wind counteracted the sun so I felt nothing but my right hand is 10 shades darker than my left hand now.
It is there I went to the 3 gorges dam, biggest in the world in terms of electrical generation.
5 gates to pass the 117m water level difference.
At night I watched a play about the peoples' struggle against the flooding river and the construction of the dam. Its better than NDP I'd say.
For the return trip, Lishan, her dad and I took train to GuangZhou for the flight back. Lishan met her boarding mate at the station and went to sit with her on the train till almost lights out. That leaves me alone with the dad. We played 2 men cards, a slightly altered version. Each of us controlled 3 decks in alternate playing order. We had to remember our cards as after each turn we must lay that hand down. Long story cut short, I got pwn't. We talked politics, Taiwan especially, about how fortunate it would be to not split up given its current situation, much less talk independence. The crazy president wanted to referendum for joining UN. China will veto his arse back to the stone age. He wants Lishan to continue university in Singapore as US would be totally foreign to her, but she has different thoughts. He's a cool guy. Lishan came back and we ate cup noodles before going to bed. Here's her majesty being less than majestic.
I guess its how we'd all look waking up to a camera phone in your face.
The flight back was again uneventful, I watched [I, Robot] on her laptop while she read some book. We went to T2 to grab BurgerKing before going home. Its the only place in Singapore that sells triple whoppers. We met 2 RJ couples there both of whom pretended to not see Lishan. One of them whispered loudly to her boyfriend 'thats my ex-classmate'. Brilliant.
I cashed in on 10yrs worth of holidays on this trip, got the much needed service pack to boost my Chinalism and studied nothing. Seeing how often I go back to visit, my grandfather made me promise a great-grandson the next time I go back. (WTF?)
I hope your holiday was spent as productively as mine so that I won't feel so bad about the up-coming commen test.
Good day!
No comments:
Post a Comment