It was... epic... the night kept on getting better till the last moments for the huge monstrous finale!!!

It started out alright. I had friday night after work drinks... 2 glasses of white, and I was all honkey-dory. Pretty alright...pretty settled. I then made my way to meet up with Jesi and Kev outside of Myers. Got calls from Sharon and El saying they were going to be a little late. So the trio made our way to Makan Makan. Kev was super awesome for volunteering to drive us... (I had initially planned to take the train all the way home to pick up the car, to then drive back to the city and drive ppl... i wanted everyone to have a good time.) So at Makan makan, we were soon joined by El and Mike... which was awesome because the talk was all engineering... >__< which wasn't too bad, but my involvement level = 0.

Sharon found her way to Makan makan and the crew was set. We made our way to tigerlils which had a mega long line... and it was RAINING! *Augh*. But the wait in the line wasnt too bad, Seng came soon and he was able to get us VIP entry with him, though he wasnt able to get El and Mike in who ended up having to go back into line and wait for a little longer... (Sorry guys). In tigerlils, found Viv, Karl and the other bball boys. Rounds of drinks started... and before we knew it, we were off to Amplifier bar. There was a 20 Buck entry fee. >__< So when Viv left to find his crew at the Belgium Beer Cafe, the V-ball crew (plus, Jon and Co) stayed and just had a few more drinks and enjoyed the live band.

After the last round of drinks, we made our way to Ktv at Hits Studio. It started raining pretty heavy... but we were all still good, we did not let it dampen our mood! Once at Ktv... it was pretty good... but unfortunately the room that I had booked was not big enough. There were people spilling out of our room, waiting around the door >__< felt mega bad!!! But other than that.. was awesome. Farhan, Viv, Karl and Co joined us... and we lasted till like 4am!

Walking out of Hits Studio, I looked at the sky and I think Sharon said "wow, lucky its not raining." I was thinking the same thing. We made our way to the cars and it started drizzling... I had my umbrella, but I also had a jacket. So i offered my umbrella to Sharon and Jon (Jon who only had a cotton shirt on). They were like "nah its ok, we are cool" I was like "ok...".... next thing we knew it *POW* it just started pouring down, big fat rain... sharon and i shrieked... and it kept on getting worse. The winds made it like horizontal crazy rain... Farhan stopped by in his car and lent us his umbrella which was a huge help!!! But the rain just kept on beating down on us. It was soo epic... it came to the point were i looked around and saw us, Sharon, Jon, Kev and I, Jesi and Sharons friend (forgot her name), and Viv and Karl... all of us just head down, fighting the weather. I started laughing. it was hillarious. Something sooo... unexpected, something so... refreshing, a situation that we would never willingly put ourselves in, but it just happened. It was beautiful. LOL. It is by far my favourite memory up to date.

Labels: Friendship, Fun, KTV, Party

我的身肢不喜欢我！下星期我的身体不好！ 因为星期一我吃过东西，以后我有胃痛！所以都下星期我不高兴。可是我到去过我的工作。

My Body hates me! Last week my health was baaaad! Because on Monday I hate something and afterwards I had a stomach ache, so all of last week I was not happy, but I still went to work.

LOL my attempts at Chinese. help.

But yes. Last week was terrible. I had serious case of food poisoning that did not go away. I toughed it out though. I went to work because I knew we had quite a lot to do for our discovery and it was due really soon. But the whole time, I felt like shit, and I felt really unproductive and sad at work, and last week was the mother of stressful weeks. I was sick, had Chinese class at Tafe on Tuesday and Thursday night, and I had article applications due on the Friday which I had not started due to being super busy. It was a terrible week.

What did I eat? well I thought it was some bad Thai chili that I added to my food for lunch and dinner coz i LOVE hot food. But after living with the food poisoning for a whole week, on Friday I made an appointment at work to see a Dr. at 9.30am in the city. (Some random dooude). I told him my current situation, and he said that it appears to be some bacterial infection, to which antibiotics could cure. He then asked me whether I was allergic to anything... I said... "hrmMm Yes... Flagyl I think..." I went on to explain that I when I took Flagyl I could not eat, everything tasted like metal (even my saliva! (which was horrible!!! couldn't drink water.. nothing) He kinda went "HrmM" and then said "Well here's Fasigyn, it is related to Flagyl, but it is not the same. It should be alright as you are only taking it once off."

He told me my stomach would be better by the next day. So I took it (all four pills in one shot, as instructed) Hopefully I would be able to go out to dinner and Ktv with Will and his work mates. Hours later... MEGA FAIL! I started going weird at work. I felt soo out of it. Stressed about the job at hand, but feeling shit. My mouth started drying up, and having the weird metallic taste... Was not a happy camper. So I piked on Dinner and Ktv with Will to rest.

Saturday. Woke up feeling better.
stomach? - FINE!
Overall feeling - SHE'S BACK!
So I spent the beautiful day with Will were we went to Hillarys and I was able to eat half a steak burger.(FOOOOOD!) And then we went for the movies to finally see the Black Knight - Batman. Heath Ledger, has definitely outdone himself, and on an inspirational note, a great final piece of work to be remembered by.



That night, went out for Ktv with the netball crew, and then metros for the rest of the night. Lots of fun! Those cool fantabolous people who I saw there included: Myself, Jules, Eloise, Dez, Darren (part of the netball crew) Shaz, Jon, Clem, Gal, Farhan, Kim, Megan, Lincoln, Kev, Ben, Jesi, Penny and Trinh. Those that I heard where there, but did not see... Yorms, Hanif and Vanni.

The night was huge. But too huge for me. It has definitely been a beautiful love/hate relationship between myself and Metros for the past few months, but this Sat was the last. I hate crowds. People step on me, and bump into me, and I can never find friends if lost. Friggin annoying. No dance space. no movement space. Try to order a round of drinks? - (Squashed frogs was the drink of the night for me) - bar chic says "not enough shot glasses!"



Sunday.. woke up... and mega allergic reaction to the antibiotics had taken phase 2!!! Now still recovering from it... >_<

Labels: Chinese, Clubbing, Friendship, Fun, KTV, Rant, Will

So... after my entry yesterday. I headed straight to my warm and cozy bed and got some sleep for a few hours. I bummed for the rest of the afternoon. Went to pick up suit from dry cleaners, and then bought some flats for work with the parents. Throughout the day I got sms's from Julie asking whether I was going to head into Metros as Lincoln was trying to recruit for the night. I wouldn't mind to have gone, but I was pretty buggered, and didn't really feel like clubbing. (Plus I had been there the past 2 Saturdays!) At about 5/6pm I get a call from Farhan asking what was happening tonight. I was like... "Well so far nothing, no one has organised anything..." Farhan was said that Kim and himself was up for some ktv tonight, and I was like "COOL!" I really wanted a good sesh after the morning. So went and made the rounds.

At 9pm I left my house for ktv! Was amped! was sooo excited again! First stop was Jesi's place to pick him up since he was car deprived because of a bang up a few weeks ago. It was a mission of a drive! Two reasons, first, because I made a turn too early and ended up going in the wrong direction. But it was good again! I was able to find my way. Secondly, for some reason this night, my car was getting mega fog. My windows, all of them were fogged up so thick and the anti-fog was doing absolutely nothing!

After picking up Jesi, we made our way to the city where I was going to pick up my Nintendo DS charger off Will from his work. Will has been busily working on his CA project... therefore depriving us of time to spend together. =( Was good to see him, I had not seen his new haircut and he looked fresh, and he was wearing the UWA jumper I bought him! WOO! ^.^

We then made our way into northbridge to Utopia where Farhan and Kim were waiting for us. It was buzzing this night. So many people!!! I bumped into Trinh!!!! She was there with her kung fu school! She is ultimate coolness! So super nice! = D We exchanged numbers, as I had neglected to do so last Saturday night (I knew that the guys were jealous! I picked up... yea!) Farhan and Kim then asked whether I was up for clubbing at Ruby Room. I was like "Nooo!?" I looked down at what I was wearing, jean skirt, boots and my adidas jumper... I was so not dressed for clubbing, plus I was supposed to be home by 1am... mandate from parents GRRRR.(Don't get me started...) But I guess if I didn't have that curfew, I would have accepted. I love the randomness... but yea, early night so no. There were no rooms in utopia for Ktv so we ordered bubble tea (me with the original milk tea, warm with sago - CHINAAA!) and then we walked to Hit Studio! The guy at the front desk was the same guy that served us that morning... we asked if he recognised us... sadly he said no. AWWW no fun!

We got a room and sung out little hearts till 1.30 (whoops) The time just flew, it did not feel like 1.30, in fact it felt like only 11.30, 12 something. *sigh* I just belted it. I did not hold back. The group dynamics was good again! It ended up being myself, Jesi, Farhan and Kim, but all of whom were open and at ktv to have a good time! Hit Studio is pretty cool, as they had quite a few modern songs! The only song I really wanted to sing was "No air" By Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown and "With you" by Chris Brown, but no such luck. I was able to find "Tattoo" by Jordin Sparks though, and there was "Summer Days" (the Grease song) which was SO AWESOME and went OFF!!!... that is until it was somehow "nexted" *sigh* The boys rocked with the usher and outkast songs. We then finished with Aerosmith "I don't wanna miss a thing." I was pretty relieved that we looked over Mariah...

Home time... and the damage for the paid parking was $7.50 Woo! I was praying it wasn't huge! Jesi had an "emergency" sms from his friends at Metros who all were drunk and unable to drive home, so I dropped him there so that he could be a good friend and be "Designated Dave". The drive home was pretty good... a part from the fact that my car was getting the ultimate fog part 2! *sigh*

But yea... good night! Loved it! Anyone wanna do more ktv... let me know ;)

Labels: Friendship, Fun, KTV

Man... working really makes you appreciate your weekends. Work has just become stressful, and yea really needed to de-stress. Loved v-ball, though its got a bit tiring as a lot of people had piked *sigh* We even played with someone's dad... that was kinda strange, but he was quite good! The night ended with Kim hurting his finger... eww.. it didn't look too happy.

After v-ball we all went to hang at El's place. We decided to go for KFC and take one car, so Chia Hui and I went in one car to El's and Kim and El in the other. We arrived.. and then.. we realised "wheres Farhan?" LOL We had left him at the indoor beach volleyball centre, as he was having a shower! hAHhA... but its cool he had his own car, and soon enough, perfect timing, he arrived. LOL we all jumped into his cool lexus and then drive to KFC.

... after a few wrong and missed turns, we arrived at the drive in at KFC. "No air" by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown came on the radio, and since I loved it, started belting it out! Chia Hui, El and I in the back singing while the boys tried to order.. was funny! The people at KFC were like looking at us smiling... I thought... "whyyy not!" I was on this mega high, I looked down, found the window button, and rolled it down and started singing... LOL. The KFC ppl were cool though.

At El's place, we just smashed that KFC... spicy chicken... yum. I don't usually have KFC, actually never (was raised as a non KFCer) but yea looking at all the guys eating... it looked so good, and I already had hoped on board the unhealthy train, so i decided... "yeaaaaaa... why not," so I jumped on the express to unhealthiness... 3 of Chia Hui's cookies, 2 pieces of chicken and chips later... I was one stuffed monkey. I was soo full that when I should up I was unbalanced. But yea it was really good. Great conversation, all of us sucking on our fingers...We then had El's cupcakes which ROCKED!!!!!!! Loved the sprinkles... tasted soo good!!! It was really cool.

We then went for guitar hero which was fun! and I just loved El's bean bag. Sooo comfortable. We played for a while... then after a bit I was like... "i feel ktv!" Ever since singing in the car to "No Air" I just wanted to! So I was like pushing it... "cmon cmon cmon! we gotta live it up! Live life in the now! Be sporadic, random!!! I got my second wiiiind!" Everyone was like "WHAT? serious? its soo late?" and I am sure there was a mention of being "crazy." LOL I thought it was about 12.30 but no... it was like 2am! But after amping it up saying its going to be awesome, both Clem and Farhan was up for it!!! = D El decided to have a early night in... so she said home... so we all made our way to Northbridge.

Northbridge was surprisingly still packed at 2am on a Saturday morning! People were still trying to get into clubs and stuff. I was very surprised... and happy about it... Because if ktv didn't work out, we could do something else. The main thing in contention was what time ktv closed. I thought utopia closed at 4... but the boys thought 3am. So we decided to go to Hit Studio. But then we were like why dont we crash Farhan's friend's party... So he made a call to Jesi, and yea... it was a go. Walking there... Clem said "but but but... nothing good ever happens after 2am!?!?!?" (referring to what Ted said on How I Met Your Mother) I was like naaah... its going to be AWESOME!! Farhan explained that this was his "other crew" and Clem and I were like "awww...cool." Only when we were walking up the stairs of uptopia, did Farhan explain that.. this was his "old" crew who he hardly hangs out with anymore. Clem and I just looked at each other.. and were like "shiiit! that changes everything! we are no longer friend of a friend... we are randoms!" LOL

When we entered to room. It was... awkward. so many faces I didn't recognise. I saw Voon, Jesi and Kev. Thats about it. It was one of those big rooms too. Farhan then introduced us to the birthday girl, and yea we took our place. I sung 1 or 2 songs awkwardly... feeling like such a tool... and then soon enough utopia closed. So we then decided to go back to Hit Studio for one last hoorah. (Jesi and Kev piking!) Arriving there at 3, the guy at the counter said "look you'll only get about 45 mins." We were like... "yeaaa lets do it... we came here for a reason!" So we paid the guy 30 bucks for 45 mins of pure fun!

We DID it... we destroyed our voices! We sung Bon Jovi, Mariah (NB do not start off ktv with Mariah, she kills your voice range prematurely) Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Michael Jackson... we did all the bare essentials... and pushed our time in there by 15 mins after the dooude told us to leave! It was sick! We ended up getting that full hour!

We left feeling accomplished. It was exciting. It was... soo very on the fly and last minute... to tell you the truth, thats the cool parts of life. the unexpected things! All 3 of us, went out... in good faith, out to have a good time and being open... and it was sick! Arrived home at 5am... buggered but still had energy... was woken up at 7.50 by a sms from Dean whose in Geraldton...and then walked out the house at 8.15 for walkies with Julie. Now... I am here. on my laptop...blogging. What a morning!

Labels: Friendship, Fun, KTV, Sport

Reading over my blog entries from November 2007 till Feburary 2008 made me realise how quickly time passed.

Things that seem to have happened a few weeks ago, actually happend months ago... Reading my blog made me realise that. I guess I have been guilty of re-living the past and relishing on whatever I can savour from my time in China. I loved it... so sue me if I want to hold onto it. = )

Ok... 3 words that will sum up my condition... "Reverse Cultural Shock":
"Reverse cultural shock is actually more difficult to deal with than the original cultural shock experienced when entering a new land. This is because most people don't anticipate the need for adjustment when returning to their home country."

Little quirks from my blog entry. I apolgise for the incorrect spelling of names. I have seen myelf misspelling Quentin's name wrong on so many levels... hahaha. Gabriel and Hanalee I have spelt so wrong as well... EEP! Ive even spelt Zhejiang Daxue wrong a few times... though I think they might have been sevre typos.!

My Chinese... LOL well its getting there. I am really furstrated with the fact that I have really high expectations of myself, and I really thought that I could come back and speak good coversational Chinese. I can speak... basic.. and thats about it. But... I guess what is a bit rewarding is that all the beginner's books, programs that I have bought or downloaded I can understand most of the content in it. So I guess that means I have made some progress.

Things I will NOT miss about China. Well first of all... I will not miss the spitting. The hacking, and that noise that comes from your the back of your throat or nose, I am not surewhere its from... I will defiantely not miss that. The smoking... awww I am soo happy we are back in Australia... my lungs can breathe again. The pushyness... well I dont like being pushed around in general, but in China I think I got used to it. Also some of the rudeness... there are some rude people... but thats how it is in most places in the world.

Things I WILL miss about China. How cheap things are....tasty food that you can walk down the street and pick up.

I will miss the random Chinese candy! I will miss the jaozi or dumplings!!! AWWW I miss the ones from the canteen at Zhejiang! I will miss the baozi or steamed buns that I would eat every morning in Hangzhou from the shitang before class, I will miss the 1.50 Kuai Ice cream that I always bought every day from the same little shop a few doors down from our dorms in Beijing... (the guy rocks! everytime I walk in there, he knows what I want, he gets the icecream out before I ask... and If there are time when I cannot find it, he will find it for me. AHHH!!!) I will miss Beijing Kao ya (peking duck) I will miss Nai Cha (Bubble tea/Milk Tea).

I will miss trying all those awesomely packaged drinks that only once you take a sip of it, you realise it tastes like shit.

I will miss the pomelo!

I will miss the lifestyle of being a foreign student learning Chinese. Living in the dorms and being able to go to class in your Pjs (which I ended up doing in Beijing). Trying to talk to locals... being lost in translation...getting away with things because you are foreign... Meeting people from different countries, cultures and languages. Learning about the differences between Australia, China and everywhere else. All those little cultural idiosyncracies facinate me and I just get filled up with .... I don't know... awe?

Clubbing!! awww I will miss the clubbing, how stupidly cheap drinks are! Transportation via taxi being hell cheap. In Hangzhou... I miss S.O.S and Maccas... perfect stumbling/sobering up distance from the dorms.... I will miss the bikes!!! Jeeemes! CHINAAA! I will miss K TV!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was not really big on K tv... I thought it was kinda pussy and like I mean I would do it for kicks and have heaps of fun... but once in China... I've become addicted to it! I love it!!! miss it already! got huge withdraw symptoms. The Ktv ROCKS! There are plasma/flatscreens there are party lights, there are tamberines, there are cool computers there that help you select the songs... they serve food!!!!

I will miss the freedom. Being able to think of something to do and on the spot be able to organise it and do it! Being able to have the carefee attitude of "yeaaa why not?" and there is nothing or no one there to stop you from doing it. Being spontaneous! I love it! AAAAHHH... CHINAAA!!!

Oh wells... thats my reflection of China. Wo xiang zhongguo!

Labels: China, Chinese, Clubbing, Food, Friendship, KTV, Opinion, Travel

Everyone holding thier favorite thing

Heya all, long time no see!!! Now I am in Beijing. We arrived jintian shangwu! But before I tell you how we got here, let me recap on the week that just passed… the last week in Hangzhou.

Xingqiliu 29 December 2007

Megan, Jesse and I had dim sum for chi zao fan, afterwards we rushed to the Shanghai South Train Station in order for me to head back to Hangzhou. I must make a special thank you to Jesse for looking after Megan and I whilst in Shanghai for the week! So I hopped on the train, found the dui cabin and seat and enjoyed the ride back. People are very helpful in China believe it or not, for an example, when I arrived at my seat I had my little suitcase (compliments of Melissa) and this man who was sitting across from me took it and placed it in the overcarry thingo. He then took it down when we arrived in Hangzhou.

I was soon awoken by a phone call from Quentin, he was wondering whether everything was alright and whether I wanted him to pick me up from the train station. It made me smile = ) A few days before when I had told James that I was coming back alone, he offered the same thing. Awww I feel loved. But yea… they were looking out for me, knowing I barely know Chinese. But yea anyways, I told Quentin I would be fine, I mean I have successfully directed the taxi driver “Wo yao qu Zhejiang Daxue, Yu quan Xiao qu, Xixi lu Hou men”

When I got off the train, I followed the crowd like a sheep to the exit. I found the taxi line and waited in it for a looonnng time. When I did get the taxi, awww I was lucky! I had gotten a really nice taxi driver. Initially after I directed him where I wanted to go, there was silence. He then said something which obviously I did not understand. So I smiled nicely and said Dui bu qi, wo ting bu dong. He then laughed and said something which I assumed he asked where I was from. I told him I was Australian and our conversation started from there. I tried stringing words together like Wo xihuan Hangzhou, Wo juede Hangzhou hen hao kan… Wo xihuan Hangzhou-ren. Heheheheee poor Chinese, but he understoold. He asked where I came from (which I only understood after he asked 3 times) and I told him I came from Shanghai and I was there for yige xinqi. I told him I preferred Hangzhou. I also told him wo shi xueshang, wo xuexi Hanyu zai Zhejiang Daxue. There were a lot of times where I had NO idea what he was saying, and there were a lot of times where he had no idea what I was saying, so majority of the time we were passing over my English-Chinese dictionary!!! While he was driving too!!! He was soo cool.

And yes… I successfully reached my destination.

Walking the streets through the campus was sooo nice. I appreciated it a lot more. I felt like I was coming home, because wo ai Hangzhou! It made me sad as well knowing that I will be leaving in one week. I made my way to Quentin’s room where I was greeted by the frenchie! AAAAH I had missed him. I had missed James and Quentin whilst in Shanghai. There were so many “in jokes” which I wanted to pull out, but no one would have understood. Quentin was nice enough to give up his spare bed for the week for me. Hes my hero!!! Wo meiyou qian!!! (I had no more money).

Oh yea… what is it like staying with a guy? Well its ok. Quentin as a roomie gave me the insight of a typical guy. 3 things. Messy, unorganised and carefree. I thought it might have been weird… but it was ok. It was pretty fun, a bit ma fan when I wanted to change and stuff, like I had to go to the bathroom and change, I mean when staying with Megan we get to the point when we don’t care anymore and just change our top or bottoms and make sure the other is facing the other way. Quentin had clothes everywhere, rubbish that had accumulated after months, and yea. But he was sweet enough to have his room and bathroom cleaned by the Fuyuan.


Xingqitian 30 December 2007

That night James, Quentin and I went to CarreFour where we bought some champagne for Guillaume whose birthday party we were going to that night. It was some really nice French Champagne recommended by Quentin.

Afterwards, we wanted to go for dinner, we ate at a place that opened up near Zhejiang Daxue zai Xixi Lu. It was pretty good. Like we chose a plate and they heated it up and served cooked and all. Quentin got James and I on beer, and over dinner and the beer we decided that we wanted to drink the Champagne ourselves and then get Guillaume another drink from the convenient store… we were like “Yeaaa, why not.”

When we arrived at the dorms, we got ready and then popped open the Champagne. The weather is cold enough now that all we did was put the bottle outside on the balcony for an hour or so in order to chill it… yeaaa… all natural coolness! We then got stuck into it… it taste sooo niiiice despite the fact that we drank it out of plastic cups!!! But yea, we had so much fun!!! Afterwards we walked to Guillaume's and Gabriel’s place for the party… that walk was really fun too! Just the shenanigans and the conversations that emerge!!

At the party, everyone was there, and I had a really good time!!! Ive taken some cool photos of the Terrific trio (James, Quentin and I) sharing the love =)

After that we all went to G+ (another club) where I must admit I was sooo exhausted by then, that I didn’t really dance and all I really wanted to do was sleep. We left around 3am and yea… wo xuejiao!!!


Xingqiyi 31 December 2007

New Years Eve!!! Awww… Quentin, James and I awoke really late.. at about 3am we had lunch at a place near Xi Hu where we ordered pizza!! It was really cool, we chilled out, talked and yea… some of the conversation involved Quentin and James going Geek style, talking about physics and shite. (James is studying engineering and Quentin used to study engineering). Hahaha its funny, sad and cute at the same time.

Anyways… it was around this time we got a phone call from Megan who had arrived in Hangzhou with Sam. We then quickly ate our food, and tried to get all the shopping we needed to get done quickly. James bought his Nike Airforce 1s and then we went again to Carrefour to get more Champagne to drink before heading out for new years eve.

After getting ready and drinking the Champagne, we all had more pre drinks in James’ room. Afterwards we all headed off to “In Club” which had an open bar. This club was James’ favourite club of all time which had been closed, and was open only for new years. The club was pretty swish, not as nice as SOS but still pretty swish. I guess the only downfall was the countdown. It was not made as a big thing. Usually in Australia, the music would stop, and then the DJ would be like “10, 9, 8, 7…” But here, the music just ended and then some girls started shooting out these streamers and like spraying this stringy shit on the crowd. People were hugging each other saying happy new year, and so I assumed that was it. This is where I automatically looked around for Will, even though I knew he wasn’t going to be there. But yea… Hugged everyone!!! James picked me up (the crazy boy) even though his back is fractured!!! (actually James still does crazy physical stuff even though his back is a bit fractured… JEEEEEMMES!!! CRAZY!!!)

After some more crazy dancing and partying we all left at about 4am. The best part of the night though, was being able to talked to all you guys in Australia! Even though I could barely hear you all, I still really loved talking to all of you!!!


Xingqier 1 January 2008

Today, we recovered, and then went out with Sam. We took him to get sticky pictures done, and we then went to Xi Hu to take some more pictures and show Sam around. It was really beautiful, different to how it was when Megan and I arrived, but nevertheless beautiful. I can never get tired walking around it. It is so tranquil. I love it! Quentin has taken one of my artistic shots and used it as his wallpaper on his laptop for a bit. (YAY for my camera skills and for my sick camera!)

We then had dinner at the Pizza place that Quentin, James and I went to yesterday and ate Pizza. I was really full at the end of the day, yet we had to take Sam to SOS to show him what this club is all about.

SOS was ok. I have had better nights, but then again it was one of the better nights overall. Going to SOS in general is always good! There were a lot of performances this night because it was new years day. I scored myself a cowboy hat from one of the dancers while they were dancing to Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West.”


Xingqisan 2 January 2008

We awoke, and then had brunch at Grandma’s Kitchen, the place where Megan and I ate the first night we arrived in Hangzhou. It was pretty alright, the food we ordered I think was better than the first time we went. Afterwards, Megan and I took Sam to the train station so that he could make his way back to Shanghai. Megan and I then headed to Hangzhou Da Xa (not sure of the spelling) in order to take more sticky pictures but this time have James in it too. But… James and Quentin being lazy asses did not want to come. So Megan and I quickly bought sweaters from Zara (which was having a sale) and then we returned to the dorm. We then did our washing, Megan moved into Melissa’s room, and then Quentin, Megan, Deddy and I watched a movie I bought in Shanghai on the recommendation of Gulliamue. The movie is called “Shanghai Kiss” and it was pretty interesting. It was just about a Chinese American guy going to Shanghai with no Chinese Skills whatsoever. It made us remember our time in Shanghai, and it also reminded us of all the experiences we had with the language barrier.

Afterwards, Megan, James, Melissa, Jose, Qiao and I went to the French restaurant for dinner. Our lasssst time!!! I love French food. I had the goat cheese again and then I had this chocolate cake as a dessert. YUMMMMM!!!

Afterwards, Megan, James and I tried to watch Blood Diamond, but we were all pretty tired so we did not get a chance to finish it.


Xingqisi 3 January 2008

For breakfast we all went to the other Canteen (Not shitang, but the canteen with the sick dumplings, jiaozi). Here I just ate the dumplings… I eat nothing else in this canteen, just the jiaozi with the vinegar and garlic sauce… YUMMM!!! Heaven! I will definitely miss the jiaozi!!!

Quentin and I then broke off from the group to go to the Zhongguo Yinhang (Bank of China) to get some money. Quentin needed to check his bank account so he needed a bank teller. (He couldn’t use the ATM) and for some reason, this day, the Bank was packed! So we took a taxi to another Bank. Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the campus as it was about a 15 min walk… and hey… its China “yeaa why not!” The walk was fast. We were singing songs and stuff. We sung Pour Qu Tu M’amies Encore which is a French song sung by Celine Dion, but Il Divo did a version of it too. Me loving Il Divo, I knew the words off by heart, and Quentin being frenchie, well he knew it too! It was cool! We had sung it earlier in the first few weeks of our time in Hangzhou, but yea. We also sung “Be Prepared” from the Lion King, as it is his favourite song from the movie. He sung it in French, I sung it in English. Its funny as some of the English words sound similar to the French words.

Once arriving at the dorms, everyone else was chilling, so Quentin and I chilled too. We pretty much just Youtube-d it for the afternoon. After that we attempted to get a massage with the others at the massage place we went to earlier (near the stadium) but it was too expensive at this time. So the group disbursed. Quentin and I had not eaten dinner so we went to Maccas… *Sigh* I tried ordering. I said “San Hao Tan Can” which mean pretty much “Meal number 3” which was the double cheese burger. But I didn’t get a cheese burger, I got a McChicken!!! Augh. The meal was so unsatisfying, and I asked Quentin what would be the first thing he would want to eat when he returned to France. He said he would go out, and then his mother’s cooking. I was thinking at the time that HrmMmM French cheese and bread would be nice… and then Quentin asked whether I wanted to go to Carrefour to buy some French food. HAHA… “yeaa why not” It was an expensive feed, but soo worth it. We have had hardly any dairy products whilst in Australia. We ate French cheese with bread, and then this fromage yogurt thingo with sugar and Banana (a dessert that Quentin loves). It was friggin niiiceee!!!

The experience in Carrefour was pretty good too. Like there were things we wanted to get but we didn’t know the Chinese word for it. So me being a geek took out my dictionary to find the word for Sugar. Tang is the word, but in my dictionary it had Shatang. We got frustrated when some of the Fuyuan did not understand us, but we found one who did. She said “Ah! Baise Tang” meaning “White sugar” and yea… we then found it. We also looked for bowls. I again took my dictionary and found that the word for bowl is “Wan” this was easier than the sugar, we then had to find paper bowls as the plastic bowls were kinda pussy (Quentin’s term) so I found the word for paper Zhi and we eventually found it. This day… I learned a lot of new words. Pointless words, but nonetheless, words!


Xingqiwu 4 January 2008

Today we did 3 things….

Massage, K-TV and SOS.

All were really good! Massage, well not much to write except it was really nice! Qiao, Quentin, James and I were the ones who ended up going. It freaked me out when it turned out that my massage person was a guy! Usually I get a girl, but yea… I was kinda freaked out… but he ended up being really good. He massaged me in ways that the other girl didn’t do last time (ok… that’s not supposed to sound dirty… but honestly, he was really good. The other time, I felt like the girl did a rushed job as I would always finish before the others).

After our foot massages were done, we had to take separate rooms (2 ppl in each room) for the body massages. It was during this time that Quentin and I got to know our massage people better. Quentin did most of the talking. I am pretty shy around James and Co. when it comes to speaking. But by the end of the massage, Quentin had invited the massage people to come out to SOS with us tonight.

Me enjoying massage

The Boys

After massage, we then got ready for K-Tv…K-tv was FUNNN!!! I loved it! I sung Tong Hua which symbolised the realisation of my goal which was to learn that song by the time I left Hangzhou! Megan and I dedicated “Stop” by the Spice Girls to our Hangzhou Crew, James and I did a crazy duet for “I don’t wanna miss a thing” by Aerosmith… and then at the very end, Quentin and I were able to squeeze “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. It was really cool! Afterwards we headed to SOS which was open barr! But it was a very quiet night. Not a lot of people there, but still I had heaps of fun!!! Everyone was there!

We went to Maccas after SOS… just as a token “goodbye” I started getting emo around this time… I hid it pretty well though. No one knew. It just… well I realised there and then that this was it… I was leaving Hangzhou forever. I will never see these people again (a part from James). *tear*


Xingqiliu 5 January 2008

Our last day. It was really really quick and rushed. Everyone woke up late. I packed away all my stuff and we were all out by about 1.30pm It took forever for everyone to decide where to eat. We ended up going to Myth Café which was recommended by Gabriel and Guillaume . It had a nice friendly atmosphere and yea… it was cool as we were joined by everyone.

On the tables, there were handwritten messages from patrons of the restaurant. One of them said “Girlfriend Wanted.” hHAHAHAh the guy sounded so desparate. So we rang him up, Melissa did the talking… she sounded so sweet on the phone.. it was hilarious especially since her boyfriend (Guillaume ) was sitting next to her.

We then decided to leave our message there. We got a piece of paper, wrote “Hangzhou – Ni xihuan wo, Wo ai ni” and we got everyone to sign their name and where they where from! Megan and I then got everyone to write us a message which was pretty cool…. All heartfelt messages!!! *tear* Those who joined us were:
James, Gabriel, Deddy, Quentin, Guillaume , Melissa, Yongyong, Hannalee, Qiao, Jose, Yukes and Willy.

4.30pm came around sooo fast. I had to rush eating my meal, and Megan and I ended up having to leave early before everyone else was finished. It was a rushed goodbye. Hugs here and there photos… I really would have preferred a nicer way of saying goodbye… but… yea… it was still a nice send off.

James, Quentin, Megan and I now had to rush to find a taxi. It is hen ma fan to find one at this time. We were lucky to get one quickly though, and we were even more luckier to find a nice taxi driver who had agreed to wait at the back gate of the uni for us to take our luggage from the dorms and then to take us direct to the train station.

We got there 1 hour early, but it was good as we didn’t have to rush. Megan and I brought so much shit it was not funny. The boys helped us with our suitcases but even they were complaining about how heavy they were. Quentin made a comment “Girls, you bring more things than me and I am staying here for a year.”

We sat down in the waiting room where we were able to just chill and say our goodbyes. I was really annoyed that Megan and I didn’t have enough time to buy a nice gift for James and Quentin as they had looked after us soooo well! I gave them a little dog toy each as a token of thanks from Megan and I (I had bought them in Shanghai). The dogs are so cute! Small and pocket-able… I hope they look after them! Soon… (too soon) we had to board the train. It was again a bit of a rushed goodbye… it was surreal as it didn’t seem like we were leaving. But yea… *tear*

Quentin and James with our dogs!

had SO MUCH SHIT its not funny. We were struggling. I had my big uni bag, my laptop bag, my suitcase and I was also hand carrying Xiao DaBian. We had to go down a flight of stairs!!!!!!!!!!! Augh! Megan ended up getting a guy to help her most of the way down… I was struggling and then another guy who could speak English helped me down. We then found our carriage, but when we were getting on, Megan drop her chicken little teddy (Falong, named after Quentin as it was his toy initially and he gave it to her) and it fell onto the train tracks under the train! But the train guard guy was nice enough to pick it up for Megan!!!

Walking down the corridors of the train was cool! It reminded me of Harry Potter when they are on the train to Hogsworts. The cabin we had was a soft sleeper meaning that there were beds. The train ride is about 12 hours long, so we were definitely getting the soft sleeper. Some of our friends took another one, I think its called a hard seater, where you sit for the 12 or more hours. Apparently THAT is epic! It was pretty comfortable, the only thing that concerned Megan and I was… who were the other 2 people going to be. Our luggage alone took up 1 bed. And if the other 2 beds were taken then we were going to have to share a bed, or take turns sleeping! We were lucky! As little Jack a 16 year old Chinese boy walked into our cabin and put his stuff down. He had a big smile one his face, and as it turns out, he was travelling to Beijing alone to compete on this TV competition. One part of it was to speak English to Foreigners. He was very happy to see us, and we were very happy to see him! We talked to him in Chinese and he corrected us, and he spoke to us in English. It was SOOO COOL! We were using our dictionaries and everything! We shared food, we shared music… he is a little genius! He wants to study computer science… I assumed this much as he said he wanted to write computer programs.

Xingqitian 6 January 2008

Anywho… we slept at around 11 and then were woken up by Jack around 6am as we were to arrive in Beijing very soon. Jack then said “I think, I need to help you get to your hotel.” = ) What a sweetie!! We then got off the train (hen ma fan man!!) And jack bought us a map of Beijing. We then had to hunt for a taxi…the taxi drivers all wait outside the train station and then they try to cheat you into offering you trips for a set price. We were soo exhausted that we accepted the 2nd offer which was for 60 kuai. But the dooude agreed to take us to our hotel and the Jack to his hotel for a total of 80. Which was cool. Jack instructed the taxi driver, but the thing is, our hotel is a place where not many taxi drivers know about. Its in this little road. But luckily this taxi driver knew. Talking to our other friends who have arrived, mentioned that some had to be dropped near the hotel and walk the rest…etc…

I didn’t want Jack to leave without knowing how much we appreciated his help. So we gave him a bag of candy, a little toy dog (again I had bought in Shanghai) and a handwritten note in English to him. We also paid for the whole taxi fare. We have his email address and all so we can catch up with him and see how his show went.

Me and Jack lost in translation

The school here are ok. There is no exciting buzz as there was at Zhejiang. It is pretty empty and depressing. The rooms are ok. Not as ghetto as I thought it might be, but not as nice as the rooms in Hangzhou. The coolest part is that Our door has our names on it!!! EhEhhEhEhEhee…

Anywho… that’s about it for the massive blog. I’ll see you later!

Labels: Beijing, China, Chinese, Clubbing, Culture, Food, Friendship, Hangzhou, KTV, Movie, Music, Party, Shanghai, Shopping, Sightseeing, Travel

Yesterday was my birthday... and awww what an interesting and special birthday it was!

First of all, I had my birthday wishes from Will who gave me a surprise!! I was checking my bank account after Shanghai thinking... crap man I got no more money now... But then when I checked it... low and behold... I had money! I was like... oooh dear... did something funky go wrong??? Anywho... it turns out that all you wonderful people had given me my birthday present!!! Thank you guys soooo much! I really appriciated it... it made me feel might special especially the e-card/powerpoint presentation!!!! I had been feeling quite... well unsure about my birthday... feeling kind of lonely in China. I have made heaps of friends.. but you never know where you stand with them...my birthday morning was awesome!!!

The day after class was pretty slow... I had lunch with James and Quentin in the shitang where they sang me happy birthday... (ooh embarassing) and then sometime in the afternoon James was thinking to go th the hospital just to get his back checked out. After lunch I pranked my parents to say hello and get the gossip on what was going on there. I checked emails again... recieved a nice long one from my brother... = ) And then I thought I better nap.. but before I napped I quickly smsed everyone to meet in the lobby at 6.30pm so we could head off to L96 Italian Cafe. I also smsed James to see when he was going to the hospital so I could accompany him... but didnt get anything...

Soo yea... quiet day... was good though needed the sleep. At 4.30 I walked to the Bank of China to get some moola for the night and then got ready to meet everyone at 6.30. Everyone was punctual!!! I was impressed... and what also surprised me... was the gifts people had gotten me! I was soo not expecting it!!!!! It really... made me feel all warm and tingly inside!!!! This is what I got:

James got me the Big Doggie which I had seen at the shops a couple of days ago! Its soo huge and cute and soft... I have named him Xiao Dabian. HehEHhee.. He also got me a Wang Leehom CD because I love him!!!! Qiao gave me a pillow which has a photo of our crew on it when we had gone to Huang Shan and a little dog with a birthday cake... on the bottom... the personalised message... which which is an inside joke... "Ni xi huan wo, wo ai ni" Quentin had bought me a Celine Dion CD which she recorded in French (we had sung Pour Que Tu Maimes Encore together, which was a song that Celine Dion had recorded but this CD doesn't have it on it), and a French movie called Les Choristes which he had recommended me to see while on the train trip hom from Shanghai. Melissa and Jose got me a bottle of Cointreau because they knew I enjoyed drinking it at Qiao's birthday and Gulliaume and Gabriel got me a little shoulder bag which is really handy for class! Personalised gifts!!! I was really touched!!!

We made our way to the restaurant where the food was good and the dessert was... lets say... tasty = ) There was no break in the China tradition!




We also finished the bottle of Cointreau... people taking a mouthfull and then lighting it up with a lighter! Tastes soo good! Qiao, Gulliaume and Gabriel (the Frenchies) showed me another way to drink Cointreau. They poured me a shot int a shot glass and then lit it up (Gabriel is the pro at lighting it up) once lit, they told me to quickly cover it up with my palm, which I did... there was then this suction like feeling!!! It was SOOOOO werid!!! it freaked me out... they were like... okk shake it.. which I did, and the I was told to shoot it. = ) ITS sooo COOL! I got video of footage thanks to Megan of it!

After that we headed off to Karaeoke!!! which went OFF!!!!! Loved it... was like a mini party there... 17 people, music, plasmas and party lights!!! yeaaa!!! all from dinner came except Quentin... (Boooo him)

Labels: Birthday, China, Chinese, Food, Friendship, Hangzhou, KTV

Sunday Morning rain is pouring…

Well not really… but my tiredness is pouring. I can’t seem to sleep in again… no matter what time I go to bed.

Yesterday (Sat) We got up and had brunch at one of the other uni cafeterias. The food there is super cheap too. For a huge bowl of noodle soup… 6 RMB which is pretty much 1 Aussie Dollar. We also had some dumplings which were really good.

We then headed to West Lake again, but around a different area. It was different experience as we went in a big group. Pretty much the same group from the first night out at Grandma’s Kitchen. I can actually remember their names now… lets list:
James, Jose, Qiao, Anna-lee, Willy, Yoko, and of course Megan and I.

I cant get over how beautiful and tranquil the lake is.

The coolest part of the night… and probably on my top things we have done on this trip is… get this… we hired bicycles and rode them around West Lake! It was mega crazy man! We would be riding on the road, with traffic, against traffic (and China traffic is friggin nazi crazy, like they DO not STOP at a red light.) But after the initial “holy shit I want to die” feeling wore off, it was pretty fun. Riding the bicycle at night all around the lake, screaming shouting…I was singing “Doe a deer a female deer, raaaaay a drop of golden suuuun!” It so felt like the sound of music… all of us riding in the streets.

We took quite a few photos… us being hardcore bikies hehehe.

After that, we went for dinner at a “Mexican” place called… Umm… I forgot. Ha ha… Um…shit.. ok I will get back to you. But anywho, its pretty cool. You sit down at the table and waiters come around your table to shave off different styles of meat and they will keep on coming around and offering you the meat until you say stop. There is also a pretty big salad bar. Interesting stuff, yummo though. I ate the tongue of something… I forgot, but I ate it thinkint it was just a long slice of beef or something. Taste good but. I also tried bullfrog… “Jeremiah was a bullfrog, he was a good friend of mine…” that was ALSO pretty yummo. Chicken heart, yea do-able, it kinda reminded me of like liver… so I yea… edible, but not my preferred choice. OOOH and yea, they did have like “normal” meat too.

After that, we went back to the dorm to get ready for another uni party held at this club called “Black and White.”… Yupp its called black and white because one of the Djs is black and the other is white. It was for some Mexican thingo… so yea… when we arrived… it was all latino music… I… well didn’t really enjoy it that much.

We soon left and attempted to try another place… I think it was called “Reggae club” Music was RnB, but it was packed.

*Note… everyone smokes here, its kinda annoying, it gets bad in the clubs to the point that my throat hurts and my eyes dry up.

After our unsuccessful plight to club, we went to karaoke. OMG!!! Karaoke… rocks my world! We sung out lil hearts out till about 4.30am.

Anyway, here I am now typing this out at 11am. I woke up at 9am, and have not been able to sleep since.


Today we have our first official shindig of the tour. Here is the itinerary:

1.50 – Meet at lobby
2.00 – People are to do their placement test (see where their mandarin skills are at) We will give it a miss as we are beginners but we still need to register with the teachers.

3.55 – Assemble at the lobby again
4.00 – Orientation
4.30 – Free time
5.45 – Results of the placement tests
6.00 – Welcome Buffet

Anywhooo… I will post up pics of yesterday too = )

Miss you all…

A big hug to Will ^^

P.S I am loving this camera Will… check out my West Lake pics… Good thing I know composition aye?

Labels: China, Clubbing, Food, Friendship, Hangzhou, KTV, Party, Sightseeing, Sport