还是让我用中文写完这春节的中国游吧。年初三的三更半夜，我从温暖的被窝里爬出来，坐了五个多小时的车来到了这次旅程中的第三座山－黄山。说是三日游，实际上只在山上呆了一天。
第一天的安排是山下的自由活动。我们的第一个景点是九龙瀑。还以为山下活动只是坐坐车，拍拍照，没想到要走那么多路，那么多阶梯！不过为了这些景物，是值得的。


有山有水，一路上绿色盎然，加上走得满头大汗，根本没有冬天的感觉。



像不像一只乌龟？


看完了水，该是看石了。于是我们到了下一站－凤凰源


头上戴朵花的癞蛤蟆



远看像两个棺材



近看像四个美女



从后面看像一个拳头

猪八戒吃西瓜

毛主席的头


虽然旅馆每晚给开8个小时的空调，但山区的冬天一点也不暖和。
第二天，我们正式上黄山。但天不作美，让我们碰上了阴天。

从旅馆窗户看出去已是一片雾蒙蒙，山上的雾更是可想而知。


说是旅游淡季，也是人山人海。我们坐缆车，在云海中从陆地消失，真像升上了天。


手机石



睡美人？还是男人？



在山上冒着风冒着雨，走了一整天就为了看这棵迎客松。


人说上山气喘，下山腿软，的确如此。
又在山下过了一晚，吃了一顿手冻的连筷子都拿不了的晚餐，第三天早上我们就坐车回去了，结束了黄山游。

next up, a journey back to childhood, tradition and the real winter.
following my first time taking the train alone, which i spent 10 out of 12 hours sleeping, was my first chinese new year not spent with my parents.
it was a great training for my tolerance of cold, with no heaters in the house, no need to put on any extra jacket when going out of the house, cos there's no temperature difference, and my fingers and toes never felt warm the moment i got out of bed.
it was quite an experience, going to the public bath and walking home with hair FROZEN. and having water supply only twice a day, and i finally knew why the taps are always dripping, it's to prevent the pipes from freezing. that was pre-cny, with half the time spent in front of the tv, felt great not having anything to do.
stocking up for CNY making good use of nature's fridge:




my only source of most readily available warmth..



then in the midst of sounds of firecrackers, spring came.
now i understand and fully support the ban on firecrackers. even walking around the neighbourhood felt life-threatening. things may explode anytime, anywhere. playing with the pretty fireworks brought out the mischievous child in me, i almost set a patch of grass on fire, oops.. and look what we did:



hanging little duckies fireworks outside ppl's windows heh


then came 正月初一, i was awakened by the sounds of firecrackers. it was really 炮竹响连天. every few minutes a bunch of firecrackers will go off, and i heard at least 2 ambulance sirens!



the aftermath.


and look what i've found:

the most ancient camera i've seen!



next up, the third mountain..

this winter holidays has been a journey through history, tradition, nature, etc.. and i've found myself a new 'hobby' and exercise - climbing mountains, or rather, walking stairs. and also discovered some interesting answers..
the journey began right after the last paper..
part 1: 西安
after a night's train ride, and listening to stories told enthusiastically by our new-found friend sharing the same cabin, we were greeted by the ancient architecture of the historic town. our first stop was 骊山.



bringing to you the first mountain!



apparently i didn't register majority of what the tourguide said, but the xian incident does sound like something learnt before in history.

then we hopped around the area visiting the burial ground of 秦始皇 and other historical landmarks before 8th wonder of the world - 兵马俑





百闻不如一见


the first day ended with 华清池








杨贵妃 bathed there.

day 2 was one huge mountain - 华山





although we took the cablecar up, it was still a long walk and many flights of stairs to reach the peaks.









day 3: more tombs and more 兵马俑s






















last stop for the day: 法门寺 before a long busride back to the city



金龟!!


and we spent the night in the city, walking down the street trying and buying local food!







day 4 and last day in xi'an was spent on the 城墙 that surrounds the city, cycled around it for my last bit of exercise before the feast begins.






our last lunch there, looks yummy doesn't it?





and lastly, asia's largest musical fountain, which was under maintenance every tuesday. how lucky =(




and that concludes our xi'an trip.
a long wait at the train station, and another night spent in the train, and my journey continues...

one more to go before i conclude my first semester here. and they sure know how to save the 'best' for the last. till then, this blog awaits updates from my annual holiday. and i shall wait for the train and air tickets..

christmas came and christmas left, in this land where nobody really cares about this occasion, i guess i had fun with our own class party with lots of pizza and potluck. love those yummy dishes with a taste of home.

and we went out for a christmas cum birthday celebration dinner at this korean bbq restaurant. as usual we attacked all the food before we could take a good photo of them.

we walked down the street after that, trying to catch as much of the festive mood as we can and this is about the best christmas can get



and now it's time to bid farewell to 2008 and welcome 2009.
it doesn't feel like the year has come to an end, the people here lives as though life just goes on. haven't even thought about reflecting on 2008 and making new year resolutions. sitting in front of the comp typing this half an hour before the clock strikes 12 simply isn't me. i've been too good for too long. i want back my old life, i want to be young at heart forever.

人群中哭着
你只想变成透明的颜色
你再也不会
梦或痛或心动了
你已经决定了
你已经决定了

你静静忍着
紧紧把昨天在拳心握着
而回忆越是甜
就是越伤人了
越是在手心留下
密密麻麻深深浅浅的刀割

你不是真正的快乐
你的笑只是
你穿的保护色
你决定不恨了
也决定不爱了
把你的灵魂
关在永远锁上的躯壳

这世界笑了
於是你合群的一起笑了
当生存是规则
不是你的选择
於是你含着眼泪
飘飘荡荡跌跌撞撞的走着

你不是真正的快乐
你的笑只是
你穿的保护色
你决定不恨了
也决定不爱了
把你的灵魂
关在永远锁上的躯壳

你不是真正的快乐
你的伤从不肯
完全的愈合
我站在你左侧
却像隔着银河
难道就真的抱着遗憾
一直到老了
然后才后悔着

曾几何时的一场雪，
掩盖了那光秃秃的土地。
看不出雪的厚度，
摸不着地的泥沙。
被冻结的回忆也被埋在底，
等待春天的阳光把它溶解。
每天在泪水的滋润下，
你看，那松树依然那么有活力。

finally some winter sports in the icy-cold snow mountains of badaling. skiing!
the day started even earlier than normal school days so that we can reach there early to avoid the crowd. we thought we could catch up on our sleep on the journey there which took about an hour and a half. but look at this.

6 of us squeezed in the front row of the van that was meant for 3 only.
as the van progressed further and further from the city area, the high-rise buildings and man-made structures gradually became mountains and farms


everything covered with snow.
we passed by the great wall, and finally arrived at our destination.
'cold' is an understatement to describe the weather. it was beyond freezing point and beyond our tolerance. my fingers were totally numb just by standing outdoors for a few minutes taking photos.


and finally we got in, changed into the skiing attire and got ourselves ready.

looking like construction workers and feeling like teletubbies.
collected our equipment and off to the snow we went.

our job for the day was just to go up and slope and come down in 1 piece.
it was fun to let gravity do its job. but the wind was so strong that it could stop me halfway down the slope.
and it was tiring, especially when queuing up for the travellator and trying very hard to push ourselves forward and not to slide backwards.
ouch, my unused triceps and i'm having second and third thoughts about going harbin

昨天早晨上学的路途上，终于遇上了今年冬季的第一场雪。细薄的小白点隐隐约约地从天空飘落，虽然看不到四处飘溢着雪花儿的美，却给这早晨带来了一些精彩。
雪什么时候覆盖那光秃秃的树梢？什么时候才能堆雪人打雪仗？

一阵突如其来的寒流，已把气温降到了冰点。阳光多努力也无法溶解那已结成的冰块。昨晚不小心掉下的眼泪，也已冻结成冰。

i opened my email and found this email with the subject MY adventurous trip and fascinating scenary‏ from my dearest dad and it writes (in these exact words):

Legi, do you want to organize a family trip when you back for CNY holiday?
see this link
http://www.sengkit.com/travel/sglembing/

very funny dad, you think i'm very free is it? why don't you bring more goodies over and post it over to me since you have absolutely nothing much to carry around when you stop over in China erm next week? ok though i have absolutely no idea what you can buy.

btw, it's a pretty cool website!

i finally visited the bird nest and water cube last weekend, 2 days before my exam!! nothing much to see actually and the admission tickets were very expensive. but it was a good break from the books and memory work, and had a great time chatting with mom and playing around with sis. yep, they finally came last week, with lots of food and love. new camera, breakfast cereal and proper 3-in-1 nescafe! and of course cooking our dinners and housework, heh. i think if they stayed for longer, i will be back to my lazy-self again..
well, people mainly go there to take photos, so here they are..

waiting for the train at the subway transfer station.

the bird nest!

even the lights around the stadium look like mini bird nests

trying to fly out of the nest. heh

running is something i haven't done for ages..

this one occupies the centre of the field, together with his green friend (i don't remember their names)

Mom, Meimei and Me!

next we visted the water cube (the trees are so pretty right?) which is just beside the bird nest but we had to walk to the other end of the cube to buy admission tickets and then walk around the other corner just to get in. yes, the people here really enjoy walking..

i present to you a big big bubble

and you can teach me how to swim..
there was nothing much to see and do in the daytime except to sit down and rest our tired legs. so this is how the inside looks like now

that's the diving pool

and that's the swimming pool which is now filled with lights that change colour. the place has transformed into a tourist attraction with shows at night (i guess it's not too different from musical fountain) that costs a few hundred bucks per ticket. eeks..

yep, that's how it looks like on the whole, with the green lights this time.
and i flew out of the nest back to my BJ home. but when am i going back to my SGP home??