Thoughts about Shanghai...

After living in Shanghai for almost 4 months now, I find Shanghai pretty fascinating.. There are things that fascinate me in a good way.. and there are some that I just find it shocking in a bad way. One thing that I learnt about China is, Never Underestimate The People Here. Even the late Osama bin Laden also said before (hubby told me about this), 'U can offend any countries in the world, but never offend China'. That shows how powerful China is. And Shanghai, although not the capital of China, is a very powerful and growing rapidly city. So here are my thoughts...

- The streets of Shanghai... are mainly filthy. There's human spits, dog/human pee, dog poo and rubbish on almost all the streets in Shanghai, especially housing areas. Sometimes I feel like wanna puke just walking on the streets. The horrible odour... The older generation are mainly the ones incharged of spitting on the streets. Its just their daily habit or perhaps their way of claiming territory.

- Online Shopping. My new 'best friend' is called Taobao.com. They have everything under the sky. Use your imagination, use your creativy. U can find the usual clothes/bags/shoes and also food stuff. From olive oil to fresh meat to imported goods to fresh cooked food, vacum packed. Oh, u can even get ADULT-Y stuff like blow up dolls, cos-play costumes etc! All in a relatively cheap price. They even have branded goods from LV bags to Cartier Watches to so called very good quality AA grade immitations. As I said, anything u want, just type and search! And Voila... it will arrive at your doorstep 1-5 days later.. Due to its competitive nature, many sellers will provide 7-days return policy/ free delivery/money back guarantee and other marketing strategies to attract new customers and to maintain current customers. I can say, its pretty safe.

- The loudness of the people. Maybe its because of their history backgroud or so. But most of the Chinese here speak REALLY LOUD. This is something I still find fascinating (or maybe more of shocking) and still not understand why on earth they have to scream and shout at each other when they can just talk. Most of the times, when i thought they are fighting, they are actually just friends talking about life. When they speak the Shanghai language, its even worse. Partly because I dont understand 99% of what they are saying, I always feel that they are picking a fight with each other.

- The food. Being a chinese, I love chinese food. But most of the local restaurants here, serve very very OILY food. I went and check in the supermarkets, the cooking oils are not that cheap. Still dont understand why everything has to be SO OILY. The Chinese here loves brinjals (eggplant), tomatoes and also potatoes. U can find it ANYWHERE! oh, u can also find unusual meat products in many restaurants here that U wont find it common in other countries like dog meat, rabbit meat and also turtle meat. Most of the restaurants here are not very clean either but its cheap. Not into Chinese food? U can find Western, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Thai food around shopping districts which will cost u alot more than the local restaurants. As long its not China Chinese, it will be expensive.

- Traffic lights. The traffic lights here are mainly redundant.. nobody obeys the red or green light.. Motorist, drivers, walkers.. especially walkers.. After staying in Singapore (which police can saman u for disobeying the traffic law) for 2 years.. its really really hard to adjust. The drivers and motorist will HONK till the cow comes home, and the walkers will just walk as they please like they own the streeet.

- The price of the houses. Theres alot of apartments/condominiums/flats around Shanghai and the price is just ridiculous. A normal 3 room apartments at the city, can enable u to buy a double story house back in Malaysia. Shanghai is just over-crowded and properties are just high in demand. Our rental for 1-bedroom apartment a month is actually the amount we can pay every month as installments for a house in Malaysia. And of course, i really thing Shanghai-neses are pretty rich people.

- The weather. Maybe i'm not used to the 4 seasons yet. But the weather here is really unpredictable. It can be 35 degress celsius yesterday and 20 degrees today. I have to check the weather forecast everyday to ensure that i wear the right clothes. Kindda miss Malaysia's hot n sunny weather.

No where is perfect. Every country has its own advantages and disadvantages. China is a very powerful country in terms of the amount of land they have and also the amount of humans they have. If only Shanghai could be slightly cleaner... then i think, i can really enjoy this place. Day and night, when I walk outside, I have to look at the floor to ensure that I wont step on anything disgusting. Just hope I WONT step on fresh dog/cat/human (human least likely, but never say nevery) poo someday...

p/s: One more week to the place where I belong.... weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee............. wish i'm not travelling alone though...

Intersting facts..

Some interesting facts of USA which i managed to compile during my stay here in Houston...

They are having the Miss Teen Houston and Miss Houston pageant at the grand ballroom of Hilton Hotel where I'm staying.. Seriously, alot of them looked like plastic!

The biggest shopping mall in Houston is called The Galleria, which happens to be walking distance from where I'm staying now.. Imagine the temptation I have to go through for 2 nights!!!

The people here are much friendlier than those from San Francisco.. Dont even talk about those in New York..

APPLE is launching the iPad tomorrow morning on 3rd april 2010 and I am not going to Q up for it.. I'm one of the rare human species that doesn't have any APPLE products till now.. Not even their mp3 players.. XP

Must go to the factory outlets in States for really good bargains on American brands.. I shop till i drop this afternoon.. although what they offered there might be from last season, but who cares?

Ok, thats all for now.. I did say SOME interesting facts.. Not MANY interesting facts... Good night for now.. time to hit the bed and fly to Moscow tomorrow afternoon.. can't wait to go back Singapore on monday!!!

p/s: Gosh, i'm so confused with the days and the dates whenever I have really long flights like this pattern... Singapore- Moscow- Houston- Moscow- Singapore

updates...

Some of my 'faithful' readers have been complaining that I'm not updating my blog frequent enough.. I'm so sorry as I'm just pure lazy..

Looking at the date on my last update, I can't believe time can fly so fast..And today is already 1st of october!! Its so scarry.. and freaky.. Some of my friends are getting married and have already married.. Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Hadrion loh (canna tan) and so sorry for MIA-ing on your big day.. its so hard to change flight with other stewardess as they are always asking for some kind of 'reward'.. Also, congratulations to Mr and Mrs Lawrence Kwang (Agnes yong) as well.. Sorry again, that I'll be missing out on your big day too.. Gosh, sometimes i love my job, sometimes I really hate my job.. i hate my job when i have to miss out on big events like weddings or birthdays when I"m stuck in either singapore or somewhere around the world.. But, there is something that I love about my job.. that is to travel around the world and meet up with one of my closest friend..

Grace Gan (GG) went to london 2 weeks ago to further her studies.. and i was called up last minute by my company to do a flight to london few days back.. I was so excited and all i can think about is to meet GG.. miss her loads.. I got her London number from her darling- Jeffrey and straight away sms her.. SO happen, she will be in london too on the weekends!!! (she's 1 hour away from the heart of london)

After quite a number of sms after I touch down, we finally found each other in Primark, Oxford street. Primark is very very famous in UK as it is the CHEAPEST clothing store you can find in UK. 1 normal blouse can cost around 3 pounds or slightly more only.. It is very very cheap! We were so excited to see each other there and we hugged each other immediately after we spotted each other..

Then, I brought GG to the hotel that I'm assigned by my company to stay..

This is taken at the train station.. it was really crowded..

In the train with our shopping bags.. woohoo..

When we reached my hotel room, due to extreme tired-ness and walking, GG filled the bath tub with hot water and we soaked our poor tired legs in it and had a heart-to-heart girly talk.. I really miss those crazy times we had back then when both of us are still in malaysia, together with the other crazy chicks..

The next day, we went around the heart of london for some sight see. Due to very limited budget, we decided to take the train and explore ourselves instead of paying 24 pounds for the hop-on-hop-off sight see tour bus package.. And we never regret!!! (although we walked ALOT) and all I paid was 5.60 pounds for the all day pass (can be used for all public bus and trains) and GG paid even lesser coz she has the Oyster pass (which is something like our touch and go card).

with the famous London clock tower- BIg BEN
London eye.. which we never ride coz its too expensive..
In front of Buckingham palace.. we missed the change of guards..

The whole trip was fun filled and crazy... but at the end of the day, we have to say goodbyes and go back to reality. I really admire those people that can survive in coutries like UK or USA as the things there are so much more expensive compared to Malaysia or even Singapore. There are more pictures uploaded in my facebook, if u r interested..

Me and teddy in my hotel room.. Teddy is the representative of someone.. *cheeky smile*

The week before that, i was back in malaysia for my once-in-a-month-at-least homesick therapy holiday.. It was amanda's birthday and we had our dinner in Dragon-I and then watched some very boring movie called G-force.. It was about this bunch of guinea pigs who are trained to be like real CIA agents.. quite ridiculous and predictable.. Nearly slept in the cinema but can't deny the fact that the guinea pigs are quite cute..

Dad and mum, we realised that, dad can't smile whenever we ask him to pose for cameras..

The SOO sisters.. bad photographer.. ahem.. my mum..

On the last day of my trip, I managed to meet up with my best friend who just came back from CHINA after 2 months (ya, she survived!!) and my buddies from secondary school. Hui Fung brought along her darling togehter with their new lover-some cool DSLR camera and he helped us to take some really nice pics.. Here are my favourites..

We had our lunch at Kim Gary..

and then we 'lepak' at the food court and take more pics..

can't wait for another hang out girls!

Oh, one thing i hate about my job is that, I'm going to miss mooncake festival with my family and friends.. Ok, i dont really celebrate mooncake festival, but it is always all these festivals that make me wanna go home even more.. The mooncake boxes in malaysia nowadays are getting more and more competitive! They are so gorgeous and some of the boxes are more expensive than the mooncakes itself!! Its ridiculous.. yet...

My parents bought this ..

And look at the packaging inside.. so pretty and gold..

And then, Jeremy bought this for my parents to 'bribe' them..

And look at how the box opens and the packaging inside!!!!

Thanks for the mooncakes..

Happy mooncake festival, everyone!!! I'm gonna miss home as I will be in Shitney again!!!

p/s: I seriously despise some people who doesn't know how to appreciate the things they used to have and now regreting and trying all sorts of stupid ways to get it back.. grow up, kid...

funny facts..

Although my homesick desease is still very very serious after staying in singapore for almost 1 year now.. i can't help but to thank god on the opportunities i have to travel around the world and to see different culture.. Its pretty much a culture shock most of the time but i list them as fun facts around the world for now:

-In Dubai, female sits at the front portion of the bus and males have to sit at the back portion of the bus. If you are a couple, u have to be seperated throughout the bus journey. Unless you are married (and carries your marriage certificate with u), husband can stand beside wife while she sits. Male and female sitting together is a big NO NO... When the bus has no females at all, male can occupy the front portion of the bus. But, once theres a female on board, the males have to move your ass..

-In USA, after you have finished the mouth-watering fattening-ass meal, you ask for the bill. At the bottom of the bill, there will be a tipping guide where they will 'politely' ask for tips which 5% of your total bill is the most basic you 'should' give. Most common, 5%, 8% and 10%. I dont know what is the consequences of not tipping but its definitely a 'must do' culture in USA.

-In EGYPT.. unlike USA, they do not have tipping guide.. But they are more daring! Whatever service you hire that involves a local, at the end of the day, the local will not leave u alone unless you tip that person. If the local thinks that tip you gave is too low, that local will have no problem telling you that, he/she wants more.. So, if you want to sight see in Egypt, prepare to spend a fortune just to tip the locals.

-In Holland, prostitution and drugs are LEGAL! When you walk on the streets of the famous 'Red District', there will be pretty babes winking at you behind the windows of the 'shops'.. Even during winter season, they will be wearing only sexy lingerie and flirting with their eyes to the passer-bys.. There are cafes selling weed coffees 24-7 and they sell weed seeds and sex toys in souvenior shops..

ok, thats all for the moment as I'm abit bored facing the computer for almost 3 hours in the hotel room, stuck in Johannesburg.. I'm 6 hours behind Malaysia and singapore and I just can't wait to go home.. Its tiring but its all worth it..

Till the next funny facts.. adios!

P/s: PSP or nintendo ds lite? OR should I get a digital camera 1st as I can't find my missing PENTAX digital camera after almost 2 months already...

Finally the blogger in me kicks in...

Its been a long time since I last updated my poor ignored-by-me blog.. I'm really sorry.. I've been caught up by alot of unexpected things and of course the lazy bug.. I'm now stuck in Dubai for the 4th time since my-only-7-months flying career and alot of my friends thought that I should really consider marrying a super rich middle east man since I travel to middle east so often.. (not forgetting my 3 times Abu Dhabi experiences as well) Sorry guys, my heart is all for one klang guy only.. hahaha...

Anyway, many things have happened since feb (my last update) and the best experience was the opportunity to travel to Egypt (which I'm goin again in 3 days time) last month. Oh, not forgeting my encounter with the sick godess in me after that trip which I fell so ill that I could not walk out of the bed.. Down with fever, food poisoning and also fungus desease on my palms.. talking bout 'good luck'..

It was really an eye opener for me to discover the mysterious Egypt and also to mingle with the locals there.. Egypt is so BROWN.. literally.. most of their buildings are just plain brown in colour and there's basically no sky scrapers or any other kind of colourful buildings. The roads are poorly-maintained and the people there drive like the maniacs on the streets of India. If you have a weak heart, please do not ever consider driving on the streets of these 2 countries..

If you have my facebook account, you will be able to see the pictures I took when I was there.. Due to the really inconvenient way of uploading the pictures on this blog, you wont be able to see any pics here as there were too many pics too upload... SORRY again..

If you think that your own country is really that bad that you just can't wait to migrate to somewhere where the grass is greener, U will change your mind once u step foot into Egypt (or even India).. The people here are struggling to earn a living as there were so much competition in everything they do.. From taxi to the food industry.. Everywhere we go, they just try their best to capture our attention to buy their products or services.. They always expect some tips (in the form of $ka-chings$) from us and if we dont tip according to their expectations, they will not hessitate to demand for more.. U can say they are really 'thick skin' but I really do pity them as the living condition here is really not as comfortable as where I came from and they are just struggling in the dog-eat-dog world..

Egypt is really a nice place to visit at least once in your life time and you will learn that the grass is not always greener on the other side.. Of course, dont miss out the magnificent glorious huge Giza pyramids where till now, still takes my breath away.. Really respect the ancient people for building those pyramids.. *go check out the pics on my facebook*

p/s: I have Johannesburg, Incheon, San Francisco, Shanghai to go next month.. Yeepee!!!!! Can't wait can't wait.. but that means.. I have only 4 days to be in Klang only.. darn..

Rangitata: River from the sky

So many trips to update, so many pics to upload yet so little time and so lazy I am..

Dear Blog of mine, I just came back from Christchurch. New Zealand and it was a blast!!! I wished I could stay there longer and that I had more money.. hahaha...

The first day when I touched down, I went crazy in the local hypermart.. One of the crew brought me there and some of their things are really cheap compared to buying them in Singapore or Malaysia..

Part of the reason I went crazy was this also..

I've never seen a brand with my name on it.. Can u see it? PAM'S!!!

I was so happy and excited, I bought so many boxes of energy bars just because they have my name on it...

These are just part of the things I bought and seriously, the energy bars there are super cheap!! I would buy more of them next time if I have the chance to go there again!
These are the PRODUCTS that I have bought on that day! I even bought their MILO as according to my friend, their milo tasted different compared to our local ones.. I bought 2 packets, 1 for me, another 1 for my family to try..

On the 2nd day, which is the BESTEST part, me and 3 other crews went for water rafting!!! 4 of us are all females!! Girl power man!!

A bus came to the hotel to pick us up.. and we were suppose to go to this this river called Rangitata which means River from the Sky.. I liked the sound of it.. Rangitata..

From the heart of Christchurch to Rangitata, it took us about 2 and a half hour to reach there..

So, I decided to took some pictures because I was too excited and I can't rest at all in the bus!!
The one beside me is Emily, she's from Malaysia too.. and dont be deceived by her baby look.. she's not as young as she looks.. Good maintainance.. We talked throughout the way and she's super nice..

Some pictures that I took from the bus when we were travelling.. The scenery of Christchurch is so beautiful that it took my breath away! Have you seen so many cows in your life? I've never!!! MOo MOo..

The river is so clean that I just feel like drinking it.. Hardly see blue water river in most parts of the world nowadays and NZ still have them!

Grass so green sky so blue.. Nature.. Gods creation!!

After 2 and a half long hours of bus ride, we finally reached the Rangitata Water Raft house!

And I spotted this unique chair..

So cute that me and emily nearly wanna steal it.. but its impossible to take it back to Singapore..

I walked around the house while the rest were having light lunch.. I love the view..

This is the Water Raft house which accepts tourists to stay in before the activity.. But I'm not sure of the price though.. There were more than 20 people altogether that day that joined the water rafting!

One of the guide briefed us through how to 'dress' up for our activity of the day.. So many layers!! First we have to wear wet suit, then a long sleeve thermal, then red jacket and life jacket.. Oh, not forgetting the helmet and also wet shoe.. He's really funny but I was having quite a tough time trying to catch his slang..

The 4 us half 'dressed' up! The thermal is '1 size fits all'.. that's why we looked so shabby.. From left: Me, Emily, Qian Hwei and Kimberly..

One of the guides took the opportunity to take picture with us.. hahaha.. he has very nice blue eyes..

After some cam-whore and last briefing.. we were sent by bus again to the river.. On our way, we saw so many BAa BAas...

SHEEPS!! SO CUTE!! They have big butts and when they run they looked so cute!!!

Breathtaking view.. I can't breath!

According to the guides, usually the river is brown in colour during this time of the year and it was just few days ago that the water became clean! I guess we were really blessed to have such clear water to raft on!

This is Rangitata!

My team-mates of the day.. Kimberly, Qian Hwei, Emily, ME, our faithful funny guide- Cam, Gamma and Steve..

All excited and pumped up for rafting!!! WEEEEEEEE....

Before the thrill begans.. still water.. (mind you, these pictures were taken by one of the guide and it cost us 40NZ dollar to have the cd of our pictures..)

Then, it warms up slowly.. Rapids Grade 1, Grade 2 then Grade 5! (In water rafting, Grade 5 is the most dangerous rapid but its considered the most exciting..)

Row row, row your boat ROUGHLY down the stream..

THis was taken when we were on RAPID 5.. as you can see.. we looked like we are swallowed by the water.. but dont worry.. we weren't.. But it was very very SYIOK!!! I have never encounter a grade 5 rapid.. my adrenalin was up to my maximum point man!!!!

Can you spot me?

After 2 grade 5 rapids.. the river started to calm down abit.. but there were more to come.. just no grade 5s anymore.. *sad*

The power of nature.. We can never fight nature.. the water was so powerful we can hardly control our raft..

Fear of too little pictures taken of us, we tried to get the attention of the camera man.. and we succeed!!

One of the guide briefing us on the safe way to jump of the cliff.. Not suicide k..

Me jumping off the cliff.. my heart was pumping real hard.. the cliff was quite high and pls dont tell my parents I did this k.. they will kill me.. hahahaha..

*splash* and I drank like 1 litre of water.. *burp*

We were talking about our lives on the raft.. Gamma is a teacher and Steve is from UK..

this is what we called 'tako-wrap' where the raft just folded like tat.. squeezing all of us in the middle.. very fun!! Something new to me...

Grade 3 rapid.. instead of fear, we were happy.. call us insane nut case..

We thought we did not get enough attention from the photographer, so we waved again..

As the water became still.. we know our journey was almost ending..

And we have to say goodbye to Rangitata..

After our awesome rafting, we went back to the house and washed up.. There were no seperate shower rooms for us but 1 big room with 4 shower poles for the women.. We were abit shy to go naked in front of the Caucasion ladies and we just briefly rinse ourselves with our wet suit on.. but, the most of the caucasion ladies just stripped themselves and showered like theres no tomorrow.. I had a serious culture shock!! I've never seen a naked adult lady in my life!!!

AND WHEN I SAY NAKED MEANS NO CLOTHES OR EVEN A NECKLACE ON!!

Tired and hungry, we took a picture on how shag we looked before proceeding for our lunch..

WE ARE STEW-Ardess..

Lunch with the nature by your side.. something you can hardly do in Singapore..

You can even sit on the grass and enjoy the sun while eating your sandwich.. In malaysia, sure got ants attack your butt!

The tiny little kitchen that brought us not enough food to fill the hungry wolves! I was still hungry after the so called lunch.. the only bad thing bout this whole trip was, the food is so little..

Something I spotted in the house..

Memories..

A group picture before we head home..

Always young at heart.. I wonder when I can go back there again..

Overall, I really had a great time in Christchurch although I only have 1 and a half day there.. I can't wait to go back there again and the friends I have made through this trip are just priceless..

The whole water rafting trip cost me 195 NZ dollar and they are only open from September to May as they will close for winter.. If you ever have the chance to go Christchurch and wants to do some water rafting, you may go to their website to check it out.. www.rafts.co.nz.. The guides are friendly and the whole experience is just awesome!!!

To end this post, my dear blog, I have something to share with you which I spotted in one of the 24-hour mart near the hotel I stayed:

LOL!!!

p/s: Due to work related issue, I wont be able to go back for CNY.. *sob sob* Missed Christmas with family last year and now CNY!!! But will be back in klang on 1st feb k!!! Pls meet me!!!!