Everybody's Friend. Making a Difference.: "Home Coming"

"Home Coming"

Feel's good to be back home. A week in China together w/ the Liew family was an experience. We had fun. We went through the harsh weather together. Some of us suffered food poisoning -.-; Everything went smoothly. No regrets. The trip was a success :)

Day 1 - 10th December 2005, Saturday

Assembled at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Met up w/ tour manager that will be w/ us throughout the entire journey.
Depart for Shanghai at 0930 hours. Estimated time arrival at Pudong Airport, Shanghai at 1430 hours.
On arrival, meet & greet by local tour guide.
Transfer to Hotel for check in.
Free at leisure.
Dinner.
Proceed to night orientation: The Bund; some sort of walkway by the river. One can get a beautiful view of the city from here.

The view.

Day 2 - 11th December 2005, Sunday.

Breakfast buffet at hotel.
Transfer to Zhujiajiao by coach. Journey took approximately 1 and a half hours.
Tour to the water village of Zhujiajiao; an ancient city located on the banks of Dianshan Lake, at the foot of Dianshan Hill. After more than one thousand years, Ming & Qing dynasty still stand, and 36 ancient stone bridges cross the canal that runs through the center of town. Places of historical interest and scenic beauty surrounds the occupants of the town. Went for boat ride on the canal.

The river.

Lunch.
Transfer back to Shanghai.
Also, visit to Yu Yuan Garden & Chenghuan Temple.
Dinner.
Night entertainment: Acrobatic Show; The show was quite a dissapointment. Nothing impressive, and a few minor flaws occured during the performance. The performers didn't look very professional.

Day 3 - 12th December, Monday

Breakfast at hotel.
Morning shopping at Huai Hai Ru & Xiang-Yang flea-market.
Transfer to Hangzhou. Journey took approximately 3 and a half hours.
Upon arrival, proceeded to hotel for check in.
Free at leisure.
Dinner; After dinner we went to some nightspot in the city. It was supposedly considered the "western" part of the city. This is where the night life is. Guess China ain't so dead at night after all.

Woopeedooo...spotted this in front of the hotel!

Strangely it doesn't have any number plate.

Day 4 - 13th December 2005, Tuesday

Breakfast at hotel.
A scenic boat ride through the West Lake. The West Lake is undoubtedly the msot renowned feature of Hangzhou, noted for the scenic beauty that blends naturally with many famous historical and cultural sites.

Me on the boat ride.

Me and some temple in the background.

Visit to Longjing. A tea plantation.
Lunch.
Sighseeing of Hangzhou - The Tomb of Yue Fei; This large memorial with a statue was erected to commemmorate the rightfullness & bravery of a Song General, Yue Fei.

A dead wasp i spotted at the memorial site. Look at the size of it! The thing's a monster! It's actually bigger in real life..i find it small in the photo. The hand is there for comparison :P

Diner.
Night entertainment: Song Cheng; this performance like all cultural performances, are kind of lame....

Day 5 - 14th December 2005, Wednesday

Breakfast at hotel.
Proceed to airport for flight to Canton and then a connecting flight to Meizhou.
Arrival at Canton airport.
Early lunch at Canton airport. Had dim sum. Mmm....
Proceed to domestic airport for departure flight to Meizhou.
Upon arrival, proceed to hotel for check-in.
Free at leisure.
Dinner.

Day 6 - 15th December 2005, Thursday

Breakfast at hotel.
Ancestors visit; This is probably and likeliest the longest day of the trip. Our secondary objective of the trip is to actually meet up w/ our long lost relatives. So happens my grandfather homeground is actually in China, and that's where he really lives, along w/ his parents and siblings. We had to meet up w/ his sister and her family (including grandsons and all). All in all she had a big family. Also so happens her son is a high ranking officer for the government. zZzZz...biggie deal. Anyway so we had to visit this village where some of the long lost relatives stay.

Nice view of the mountain from the village.

This is one of the houses. It's really old and run-down.

The experience in the village really gave me a taste of whats being LUCKY. One could ever wonder how these ppl live in these villages. It's dirty, dusty, disgusting, cold, and far away from civilisation. I'm so lucky. I'm glad.

Day 7 - 16th December 2005, Friday

Breakfast at hotel together w/ long lost relatives.
Morning orientation - Thousand - Buddha Pagoda
Lunch.
Transfer to airport for departure flight to Canton.
On arrival, meet & greet by local tour guide.
Dinner.
Transfer to Hotel for check in; Phew, back to civilisation. Glad the city here is very alive at night. Very HongKong-ish. You can come out and have supper at 2 in the morning and u can still find stalls packed w/ people. Oh yea, pirated DVD's are super dirt cheap here. They're sold for 5 YUAN only! For you infor exchange rate of CHina money to M'sia money is halved. So that means 5 YUAN is RM2.50.

Day 8 - 17th December 2005, Saturday

Breakfast at hotel.
Check out.
Proceed to Canton city tour & Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Memorial Hall; Slight change of plan here. The ladies of the family all decided to shop! =.=; Those who didn't feel like shopping proceeded for the initial plan. Well, the city does look enticing and lively, and i could use some new stuff at home so why not? I headed for the shopping group..ahaha
Lunch.
Transfer to airport for homebound flight. Flight at 1505 hours. Estimated time arival 1900 hours.

Well that's that. Actually touched down safely at around 6.30pm. Anyways here are some photos i took for the readers' sake :)

Enjoy :)