went for my first mahjong session at the mahjong house.
the coolest thing would be the automatic tile washing and arranging table.
everything at the press of a button.
i'll see if i can import one back. :)

had some frens over this weekend.
the curry party went well. must admit that Prima paste is really idiot proof and yummy.
guess everything went so smoothly we thought nothing of moving on to the next challenge - bad mistake!

poor hairy crabs were steamed alive. but the decision to steam them using beer went horrendously wrong. see results below. there is now a running joke about pot ryan whose desperate owner tried to save him but to no avail.

warning!!!: do not forget beer=alcohol and alcohol and pot do not mix well.

weather's turning chilly but hey, winter dress-up has begun!
i love my scarves and boots!

Ate a giant starfish, fried scorpions, fried milk, mutton belly, rabbit foot all in a week.
liked the scorpions best of all! wahaha

Compared to everything else, the starfish and scorpions don't look as bad!

the Great Wall is really amazing. shudders to think how much sweat and blood it took to build this true wonder. the tour guide made a faux pas when referring to the black bears in the vincinity. She calls them 非洲黑熊 (african black bears) which had the whole bus collapsing in laughter. She had earlier warned us that the Great Wall may be blocked off temporarily because the 非洲人 (africans) are visiting that very day.

Beijing came under attack during our last 2 days, from the mongolian desert winds. the winds howl nonstop - we were forced to abandon our biking plans. we could hardly see with all the dust and leaves flying into our eyes.

was actually glad to be back in Shanghai.

my first trip to Beijing.
Beijing reminds me a lot of Singapore. heavy dose of government influence, of which the people seem to take in their stride. trip coincided with the first Sino-African Summit. major traffic diversions and road blocks are the order of the week. No big deal it seems - life goes on. Hardly any mutter from the cab drivers (ok, so maybe this is the difference from Singapore).

the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven..., something about stepping into the ancient worlds of emperors and empresses touched me. There is a sense of reality, history and imagination mixed together.

sis is in town for 2 weeks.
this must be the first time we are going to travel alone.
there is strange comfort in living with someone whom you have grown up with.
i realise we are more alike in some ways than we and everyone else think.
no one believes we are sisters (they ask if we have the same mum!)

the trip to Phuket was refreshing to say the least.the most memorable bits unfortunately has less to do with the sun, sea or friends but the flight to and fro.
the chinese make interesting travel companions:- thank god they don't spit in the plane (at least not within my earshot) but...
- they go 'Arghhhh' in hoards during take off and landings in an ill-advised attempt to clear their ears...
- they like to sleep with their heads on the dining trays...
- they decide when sleeping time is over (for everyone). they would engage in some random conversation, with the person sitting (at least) 3 rows away. shouting across the aisle. it does not trouble them at all that the lights are dim (for a reason) and that the rest of the passengers on the midnight flight would like a rest...
- once in a while, they would decide they need to stretch a little during the 5 hour flight. fair enough, except that while swinging their arms out, they pay little attention to wherethe arms are going. i received a knock on my head in my sleep. no apologies.
- cabin service, by the way, is non-existent on FM flights. the drinks tray was left in the aisle, good luck winning the fight to the drinks against everyone else.