I'm back!

I'm back!!! Yes, after 4 wonderful, blissful weeks, I'm back here, in the UK and I'm not happy. First of all, well, I've officially started my final year (gasp!) so that means in exactly 1 year's time, I'm going to qualify and be a real doctor and will be set loose on the innocent public!!! Eeek!!

Second and probably most important of all, it's so f***ing hot in this stupid country!!! Yes, the weather has been completely atrocious lately.. in fact, at 38 degrees celcius, yesterday was the highest temperature ever recorded in British history! When you get to temperatures higher than the internal body temperature, that's just wrong. Plain wrong. And yes, even though I come from the tropics, it's never this hot because we always have air-conditioning and always a storm immediately after a hot day. So it's NEVER this hot! It's so hot that I find it difficult to function. In fact, as I'm sitting here typing away, I'm sweating in the worst place ever - behind the knees! And mind you, I just took my 2nd cold shower of the day!

Ok, done with the ranting. Just needed to get it out of my system! Anyway, I haven't been doing much, to be honest. Since I'm doing my attachment in Derby, it involves travelling about an hour a day up and down, plus the fact that I'm in til about 5-6 most days, my time is severely limited. Sighhh.. Plus, WS has been staying over for a few days, so he's a major distraction.. (Don't tell him that, otherwise he'll insist he leaves! :( ) Not that I don't enjoy his company, but cos' he's around, I'm always wanting to hang out with him and watch shows and stuff.. Plus, even though he's doing a lot of cooking for me in the evenings, I like to cook and bake for him, so I've been busy doing that.. hehe. I made a chocolate fudge brownie with soft cheese the other day for him. It wasn't bad, considering it was the first time I tried that recipe, but it wasn't the best either. This week, I'm planning to make some chequerboard cookies for him! Hehe..

Speaking of WS, I attended his graduation ceremony last week. Yes, he's graduated now and is now, officially a doctor! (And I'm dating a doctor.. heehee.. ) Oh by the way, he doesn't know that I've put up all these pics on my blog and if he finds out, he'll kill me.. you know how shy he gets!

My proud graduate!

All smiles..

Graduates doing their thing.. embarassingly, they were the only ones!

Kampung Malaysia di Manchester

Beautiful backdrop.. it really feels like we're in a foreign country!

My cousin, CC turned up for the event as the official photographer! (He's really good!)

With PY and CY, also proud graduates..

WS & his family

WS & his housemates.. all proud doctors now!

& finally..

Ooh, and one last one.. doesn't he look dashing??!!

Final destination: Hong Kong!!

Our final stop was in Hong Kong, and it was definitely my favourite place of all! :) However, due to time constraints, we were there for a grand total of one and a half days.. So sad, huh? Ah well, at least it's an excuse for me to make a few more trips back there in future! Hehe..

We stayed at the Park Plaza Hotel in Causeway Bay, which was like one of the most vibrant, lively and busy places in Hong Kong. There are plenty of shops around so that's the best place for shopping! There's everything ranging from Sogo for branded stuff (like LV and Gucci etc) right down to little shops selling little cutesie things (like hairclips and handphone accessories), so really, there was lots for us to do! Plus, there were food shops EVERYWHERE! I had such a nice time trying out all kinds of food and boy, was the food G-O-O-D!!!! Even the tiny hawker-style stalls selling egg tarts and 'char siu pao' were so scrumptious! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, cos' they're all someone else's camera and I still haven't obtained them.. hmphhh!

So what pictures do I have? Ahh.. this first one is probably worth the most! I bumped into him on my flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong..

Yes, he is a Hong Kong celebrity! His name is Chin Ka Lok!

I also bumped in Lam Po Yi of the Healing Hands fame in Beijing.. he walked right past me and pretty much brushed my shoulder! Unfortunately for me, I was too starstruck to flag him down for an autograph/picture. So sad..

This is the Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport, it's an important picture because I first saw this in the famous Cantonese series, 'Triumph in the Sky' which filmed many of its scenes here!

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Perhaps one of the best thing in Hong Kong was the scrumpdiliumptious food! At the risk of sounding like a true fatso, it was definitely a case of 'yummy yummy yummy, I've got love in my tummy'!! Hehe.. As we stayed in Causeway Bay, there were plenty (and I do mean plenty) of food shops in the area and they were all delicious! It wasn't like it was high-classed posh food, it was just normal food: noodles, congee, fried dough bread, my favourite egg tarts, the oh-so-famous milk teas.. just very typical Hong Kong food which I thoroughly enjoyed!!! We tried so many different things, it was great!!!

Yummy.. mango pudding!!!

We also drove all the way up to Victoria Peak to appreciate the amazing skyline view of Hong Kong at night. (We were also there for a very fancy meal courtesy of Jack from Bausch & Lomb International.. yummy!) Unfortunately for us, the mist was so bad that we could barely see past our noses.. So all we have is this picture of us in the carpark.. :(

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We spent pretty much our whole day in Hong Kong shopping.. hehe.. But I wanted to bring my mum on an 'educational' tour so I brought her to a famous shopping mall, Pacific Place, which is full of really high-classed, branded stuff! Even though we were there on the first day of the Summer Sale, (and it was great to see that even Gucci had 30% off!) we didn't buy anything cos' I couldn't afford it and mum didn't see the point of paying for a name.. :( Ah well, luckily for me, the sale also extended in many other shops so we bought loads and loads of stuff from places like Esprit and Giordano! :)

Like my hat? :)

Mum took these pics for my sis..

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Nightlife in Hong Kong is absolutely fantabulastic! Since Causeway Bay is one of the very popular hangout spots, even at night, it was amazing to see how bright all the lights were in the area, even at 12 midnight! I told my mum whilst we were walking around, that it felt like it was 8pm, since there were so many people about and there were enough neon signs were enough to blind you! I also went clubbing in the ever-so-famous place, 'Lan Kwai Fong', which is famous for its vibrant nightlife and apparently, was a popular hang-out spot for celebrities. Obviously, I just HAD to go, so I finally convinced my parents to let me go with one of the Uncles.. (to be fair, he's much younger than my dad and really quite fun! he's like 40 and acts like 14 so definitely good fun!) Unfortunately, we didn't see any celebrities.. Sigh.. Oh well, we did take loads of pictures though, but again, unfortunately, they're all in his camera and I haven't gotten them all from him. Next round, ok? :)

Well, here we are, at the very end of my summer holiday.. hope you've enjoyed reading about it as much as I enjoyed well, experiencing it! :) Back to normal life now.. Sighh..

Suzhou & Zhu jia jiao

Ok, so the names of these places are quite a mouthful.. But, wait til you see the pictures - it'll be worth it!

My dad insisted that we take a day trip out of Shanghai and visit Suzhou, a provinceabout 80km west of Shanghai, which was famous for its amazing sights and beautiful girls, and Zhu jia jiao, one of the lovely water villages near the Yangtze River (incidentally, the longest river in China and the 3rd longest in the world!), which are collectively known as 'Venice of the East'. (FYI, there is a famous Chinese proverb and it goes: 'There is paradise in heaven and Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth'. Cool, huh?)

The most famous place in Suzhou, was 'Tiger Hill', a beautiful (and huge) hillock which is renowned for its picturesque surroundings and some famous historical sites including the Tiger Hill Pagoda (known as the Leaning Tower of China), the tomb of King He Lu and many more. It is so famous that a prominent Song Dynasty poet, 'Su Tong Po' once said, "It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou, you did not visit Tiger Hill".

So here we are, Tiger Hill!

Such beautiful surroundings.. an epitome of peace and tranquility..

It all looks so beautiful, doesn't it?

They say that Suzhou girls are the most beautiful in all of China.. whaddaya think? ;)

Did you know that the 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' movie was filmed here? Haha, just joking.. it sure looks like it though..

I love these interesting funny-shaped stones

The Leaning Tower of China.. it really is leaning!



This is one of the roads in Suzhou.. looks like it was plucked straight out of a movie, huh?

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The second place we visited in Suzhou was the 'Lingering Garden', a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is characteristic of the classical gardens in the south and is one of the 4 most famous gardens in China (one of which is the Summer Palace, Beijing!). It covers an area of about 23,000 square meters and is 'renowned for the artistic way in which the spaces between various kinds of architectural forms are dealt with'. (Quoted from Travelchinaguide.com)

This is my favourite picture in Suzhou! (and yes, I've said it before, I love stones!)

Think these are all man-made.. impressive, huh?

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As I said above, we visited Zhu jia jiao, a very quaint and unique water village by the Yangtze River, and it was indeed very beautiful. Sorry I can't give you a more detailed history about the place, but again, I blame it on the lack of a proper tour guide.. :P Feast your eyes on pretty pics instead!

Aren't those little boats so cute?



More boats!





On one of the very famous bridges in the village





Look at all the cute little shops.. they were very cheap!

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So ends my journey in China. It was truly a memorable trip and I really did enjoy and learn a lot more about my own ancestral culture. :) My next and final stop: Hong Kong!!!

Shanghai, Beauty of the Orient

The next five days or so were spent in the city of Shanghai, the Pearl of the Orient. I was really impressed with this vibrant and very urban city, as it was almost the complete opposite of Beijing. For one thing, it wasn't dirty and polluted (sorry, Beijing!). The population of people in Shanghai were also very different. People there were mostly high-powered business corporate people, presumably working with huge companies and banks in their 60-storey high office building. Plus, infrastructure in Shanghai was top-notch. The metro/tube system was very very efficient, and extremely clean! The roads were large and wide, and at one point in the city centre, we counted a 6 roads/flyovers on top of each other! (In KL, the most we have is 3!) And the view at night is gorgeous.. the whole city lights up at night and it's amazing to watch the world pass you by as you sip on your nightcap. (I'll elaborate on this point in a little bit)

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We stayed at JW Marriott, Shanghai, which is (again!) a 5-star hotel. It's a really unique hotel because the lobby starts at the 38th floor, so you can imagine how tall the building is! Because we were staying in the executive suites, we got a room on the 55th floor, and spent most of our time in the exclusive Executive Lounge on the 59th floor. Now, this is why I said that it's great for viewing the beautiful Shanghai city landscape stretch out before your very eyes. Having said that, I must admit I much preferred the Grand Hyatt in Beijing, simply because I didn't get to have my own room in the Marriott. :( (I know, getting a little spoilt, aren't I? hehe..)

This is our very unique hotel - my mom reckons it looks like a rocket!

This is me having breakfast at the Executive Lounge. (No, I'm not devouring my food, if you look closely, my eyes are closed because this picture was taken at 7 am!!!) This is purely to show you how high up we were, and you can see the top of many buildings in the distance!

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The other great thing about our hotel is location, location, location! A 5-minute walk away from our hotel is the ever-so-famous shopping street, Nanjing Road. It's 1.5km long, and stretches all the way to the even-more-famous Bund. Obviously, we spent lots of time shopping and walking around.. it was really fun!

Nanjing Pedestrian Mall/Nanjing Road - a shopper's paradise!

Quite nice, huh?

Mom secretly took this picture of me trying on my many pairs of shoes.. we bought 6 pairs in the end - 3 for me, 2 for my sis and 1 for mum!

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We also went for a cruise on the Huangpo River, and obviously, spent some time on the oh-so-famous Bund taking loads of pictures! Unfortunately, as I don't have a super-camera, these are the best my camera can take.. sighh..

It does look beautiful, doesn't it?

On the cruise ship.. messy hairstyle courtesy of the 'Strong Winds' saloon!

This is the famous Pearl City Telecommunications Tower situated in Bu Dong. The lights on every floor change every night, it's so cool!

We also visited the very famous, Yuyuan Garden. Wow.. this was literally, like being transported into a different era. It wasn't really a garden, just a very big area of shops selling all kinds of things (mostly for tourists, of course). It was really fun.. Also, one of the most famous 'Siao Long Pao' in Shanghai is located here.. Yum!! But definitely the most impressive thing of all was the architecture of this whole 'garden' - instead of the usual modern buildings you'd expect to find in the middle of Shanghai city, there were so many ancient-looking buildings, amidst ponds adorned with statues of ancient goddesses. I can go on, but a picture paints a thousand words, so here are a few thousand words worth of them! ;)

Look at the amount of people in this place!

I was awestruck!

So beautiful.. if only there weren't so many people, it'd be tranquil too!

The past meets the present..

So Chinese, eh?

Look at all the fish!!!

We met up with one of mum's colleagues who now lives with her family in Shanghai, after her husband had to move here for work. They were lovely hosts and brought us out for a very fancy dinner at a huge Shanghai restaurant - we had lobster, scallops, fish and loads of other yummy stuff! I don't even like seafood and I enjoyed the meal! It was definitely an experience for me as it had a marketplace-like concept - you ordered your food downstairs (dead or alive) and they'd cook it the way you wanted it and served it to you upstairs in a private room. Posh, huh? :)

Cool, huh? They had roti canai as well, but it costs 28 RMB... that's RM14 per piece!!!

Yes, yes, I have a fascination with round doorways..

Never seen live abalone before

Eek, we certainly didn't eat these - water beetles! They also had all kinds of gory stuff like sea intestines, frogs and turtles!

No trip to China was complete without a visit to see its most prized possession - the Giant Panda. Yes, I forced my mum (and the other Uncle) to bring me to go see the great beast. There are an endangered species, and only less than 2000 left in the world, so who knows when's the next time I'm ever going to get to see one? This was one sight I wasn't gonna miss!

So that pretty much sums up the Shanghai leg of my trip. Coming soon.. Suzhou and the Venice of the East!