} Changsha, Hunan; 19 Jan - 30 Jan

ok, im going to post about the china trip now. before i start procrastinating even more/get busier (hopefully). (why do i hope to be busier? ok thats another topic but i should talk about china now.)

i guess i should explain the 4-day delay first. instead of arriving in singapore on 27 jan as planned, we only arrived at midnight of the 31st. why were we delayed? because there were no flights to guangzhou before 31 jan. why were there no flights? because the runway was slippery due to the ice, the weather was bad, etc. why was that so? because we happened to visit changsha during its worst winter in 54 years. why was that? ...i dunno. shit happens.

actually, i think i felt both lucky and unlucky at the same time. lucky because..well, it felt like we were part of this historic moment, you know. like in the future, if they talk about 2008 being the year where changsha/hunan had their worst winter in 54 years, i could say 'HAY I WAS THERE I EXPERIENCED IT!!!' or smth. which is cool. maybe also because it felt a bit like an adventure. like The Terminal. truth be told, i was feeling excited most of the time, when i wasnt feeling worried that i wouldnt get home at all, anyway.

when i tell people what happened, (almost) everyone asks: 'was it scary?' ...it was, for a while. but we had money, and we knew someone there. once we checked into a hotel (55yuan a night, super cheap), found that we had a heater and hot water in the tap, i thought i would be ok even if we had to stay another week/month/oknotyear. i think i was only really scared when anita fell sick, cos i thought it would be really bad if both of us ended up sick in this kind of situation. but luckily things turned out fine.

must thank yingri's dad's high-rank-in-airport friend who SECCREEETTLY got us seats on the flight on 30th and checked in our baggage FIRST CLASS. (at first i thought we were going first class too. at one time i thought he was bringing us through a SECCREEETT passageway to the plane like in those old hk mafia movies we had been watching in the hotel. it turned out he was just bringing us to an expensive restaurant for dinner, which he paid. i was very disappointed.)

anyway, i think i rambled enough, so the rest is just going to be photos from the trip, and minimal words.

taken in the airport on 30th. there were so many people fighting for seats on the flights, there were small riots in front of the check-in counters.

taken on one of the days when it started snowing. i was so excited i took a photo. but i didnt know what was coming...

snow got heavier over the next few days. but wait! theres more!

taken the day after possibly the heaviest snow day we experienced. that MOUND of snow came from that part of the road that had been cleared. compare it to the size of the person nearby...

the govt got soulja boys to clear the snow on the streets. here they just finished.

most of the snow had turned into ice, so it was hard to make a snowman. so we made snowshit. (later on as we walked, we saw real shit on the ground.)

the oldest street in changsha. if i remember correctly.

an arthouse along the Oldest Street. notice how i artistically (and accidentally) caught the guy on the bike in motion. this is an Artistic Shot of an Artistic Place. (HAHA)

THIS IS WHERE SMELLY TOFU ORIGINATED!!! inside they were filming a chinese opera.

AND THIS IS WHERE THEY STORED ALL THEIR TOFU. THATS WHY ITS SO SMELLY!!!
...just kidding. i duno what the pot is for, but its quite cool.

Goat On The Road. haha. i.e., pple selling mutton satay on the streets. the ones selling the satay eg., the one with the white cap come from the places near the china-russia border, thats why they look half-chinese and half-western. (like KT Tunstall! haha) (i mean KT looks half-chinese and half-western. i dont think she came from the china-russia border)

the first restaurant we went to. THEIR WANTONS ARE SUPER GOOD

a park near yingri's house. during the war, this was a place of battle. the giant bell was built to commemorate (sp?) soldiers who died there.

another historical place. according to anita's blog (cos i cant rmb, haha sorry) its called Tian Xin Ge = Sacred Heart Mansion, or smth like that. this was where the high-ranking general stayed during the old times.

and this is prob the view that the general got every morning. unless he was extremely tall, or extremely short. but its about the same.

this is not very well-known, but during the second world war, many indonesians fled to China. this museum commemmorates those immigrants, who were the pioneers.... ok im talking rubbish hahaha. but anita & me found this v amusing. unfortunately the place was closed. :(

when they say shopping street, BELIEVE IT. we bought so many things there.. anita and i were carrying about 4-5 plastic bags EACH by the time we got out. yet we only spent prob a few hours there...

anita and i got matching bags!! hahahaha. from a diff shopping mall though

and now for some Chinglish... all in the name of good fun, i hate to make fun of such a wonderful place. i love Changsha. :) its very reminiscent of Jakarta, except for the food and the language spoken, of course. but while i was there i was so homesick for Jakarta... its a really great city. and it has the best tv network in china, apparently. HAHA.

this one isnt that funny, just very very suspicious... (this card was found in the hotel, next to the condoms)

...

this place looks suspiciously welcoming.

YES TO LIFE!

A WARNING!

and to end off, a photo we took the day before what we thought was our last day in changsha...:)


2008-02-06, 9:40 p.m..
before } after