Shake yur Bongbong

Attn: Ladies

No longer shall you be tortured or bored to death with the pictures of 2 adolescent-looking 21 year old girls. We got some pictures of boys here on Hochoy (!!!)

Yes, it’s Bong and Gay.

He came. He saw. He conquered (a lot of food)

The Prep

 We fluffed up Bong’s bed a.k.a the sofa

Wrote him a ‘welcome’ note, even better than 5 star hotels (FREE LODGING, WHAT TO DO)

We sweeped and mopped and wiped. No pictorial evidence, but hey, I could have sworn I could see my own reflection on the floor!

And before we knew it, our guests have arrived! BONGAY! Our house never looked so tiny (and messy but it’s okay Bong!!)

Note: Shiny floors

Dinner

Bong enjoyed his food, because he had zero standards at this point in time.

Laugay were lovey dovey with each other

Okay, people in singlehood, say it with me: WE HATE PEOPLE IN LOVE (char heng, are you reading this!! hahahaha)

Bong was horrified and aghast by the traffic here in Beijing. Please note that we’re here in Beijing where the green man means your chances of getting knocked down by a car has been reduced from 80% to 60%.

While crossing a road.

Me: “Okay let’s cross, just follow me”

Bong: ” Wah lan eh cheebai, PAULINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” *scurries to catch up with me*

Greetings to the largest Adidas store in the whole wide world!

If you notice my shorts are wet, that’s because I spilled water in my bag while we were on the cab. Which is why the scroll, as well as the keypad numbers 1, 2, and 3 are not working now. So I have to snd mssgs lik this to my frinds. Point is, if anything call me directly! I’m incapable of texting anyone!

Bong <3s Adidas

We went to Wangfujch next (the tourist trap) where Bong bought 12390890182309182 pairs of chopsticks as souvenirs for his relatives

So they cuddled and hugged while Bong selected his chopsticks

This Gay so sly. Enjoying the best of both worlds. First Lauren, and then he makes Bong feed him.

What’s a coconut doing in Beijing??

Lovers reunited!

Wangfujchhhhh (Wangfujing)

Uh, Gay???

Whoever can guess how this teapot is suspended in the air gets a present! Do you hear me, Singaporeans?? FREEBS UP FOR GRAB! Hahah kidding kidding. No freebs.

We zoomed home to shower after that so we’ll be in time for Lauren’s birthday at 12a.m!

The Birthday Party

AWFULLY CHOCOLATE CAKE (that’s the name)

I had to make her birthday cake Cheenastyle

Lauren was happy with the cake

Boyfriend sticks in the candles

Boyfriend lights the candles

 

Lauren was very happy! She said this is the best birthday she ever had. Yay!!! But I think she said that during her last birthday celebration too.

We were happy too! CAKE!

 

That was our Wednesday for you!

Happy 21st, princess!

Happy birthday Lauren!

We’re all in the dance

We’ve known each other for less than 2 years, and yet it feels much longer than that. We’ve shared friends, shared some crazy times, shared the same taste in clothes but more importantly, we’ve shared our heartaches.

You have no idea how much laughter you’ve brought into my life; and everyone else around you. Stay the way you are, you!

Hello happiness! (I’m glad you’ve found it. Still, no need to always touchy feely infront of me kthxbye!)

Different names for the Same thing (DCFC)

I spent this weekend mostly by myself as Lauren’s parents came to visit her. I won’t deny it- my weekend was NOT haps but I had my own loserish fun, though. Like enjoying a hot shower with the bathroom door open so I can watch my HK drama.

Then I went to sightsee a bit

I intended to watch the sunset by the old CCTV tower but alas! Dark clouds loomed over my head, so I decided to head back to town.

Soon after, it started raining cats and dogs. The wind was so strong that it dislocated my umbrella. It is now very out of shape. I braved the storm only to discover floods along the streets outside our house. I gawked and gawked at it non stop.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFEEEEE

Hate to admit it but I was quite excited and immediately rang my mum up to tell her. My mum and bro told me to stock up on food at home. So, I got my desired dramamama reaction.

The next day was beautiful! The rain washed all the pollution away and visibility was fantastic!

I was very very pleased!

And I discovered a mummified xiao fei xia (little flying warrior) in Guo Mao, outside a new snazzy Giorgio Armani store.

Xiao Fei Xia conquers the town!

Good Red Capital Part II: SUNDAY!

First Stop: Prince Gong’s Mansion

Just a side note: Pauline usually doesn’t have such bad eyebags! This is a particularly bad shot

I hadn’t heard much about Prince Gong’s mansion (except from Gay, who is so well researched on Beijing he is practically an authority, I think of him as my human Rough Guide) previously, so we headed there thinking that it would be an indie Beijing tourist spot. Furthermore, it was tricky to get to; it’s located within many hutongs (the old school one storey ones, not the faux hutongs like the one Pauline and I live in) and most people get there through hutong tours on trishaws. We had to take the train to Gu Lou, then cab, then trek through the hutongs, relying on intuition and the good grace of local Beijingers who gave us often vague directions.

But we got there in no time, and were in for a surprise!

It was terribly crowded! And also very large, with a beautiful garden and tonnes of rockery which was fun to climb up and down. The buildings were less of a feature than the lake which sat in the middle of the extremely well kept property.

The Estate

And there were swans!!! And very cute little ugly ducklings.

Second stop: Song Qing Ling’s residence

We were very ambitious the day before, planning our sightseeing route and decided to cover both places since they were all in the Gulou vicinity. Song Qing Ling, or Mdm Sun Yat Sen, is one of the most prominent figures in modern day history. She comes from an illustrious trio of sisters- her sister Song May Ling married Chiang Kai Shek and another sister married the richest man in China. You can read more about her here!

This was her last residence before she passed away in Beijing.
The great lady and I

The exhibition detailing her life and work, as well as some of the things she used in her lifetime

Our clothes matched!

The exterior of her house

She had a beautiful lake in her garden

As well as pavillions

And even a swing set!

After our exciting day we were extremely tired but we still wanted to head over to Xizhimen where the Wholesale markets are but ALAS! When we reached we found that they closed early. Not to fret, another day, another adventure!

Good Old Red Capital

The past weekend was Pauline and my first proper weekend in Beijing since a month back! Last week we were in Qingdao, the week before we had overtime work (ugh), and the week before that Pauline was in Xi’an!

Our weekend started rather uneventfully on Friday evening- a long walk to Wangfujing where Pauline picked up her film at China Photo.

Check out Pauline’s snazzy new sandals from Zara!

Followed by a very delicious dinner at Gumao Soho’s Yummy Coconut! Yummy Coconut serves up familiar Asian dishes such as Hainan Chicken Rice, Tom Yum Kway Tiao, and Laksa!

Tastes like home!

Um, I was having hair issues that day

First stop on Saturday: Yonghe Gong! (Lama Temple)

An impressive structure, the Yonghe temple is reputedly one of the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world, and one of the few buildings to survive the Cultural Revolution (thanks to Zhou “the brows” Enlai, my favourite communist). It contains a 26m tall statue of the Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of White Sandalwood, and this statue was included in the Guinness Book of Records in 1993 (Source referenced: Wikipedia)

It was raining when we got there

Not just a tourist attraction, the temple is still very much in use and on that rainy Saturday morning, there were many locals offering incense or praying in one of the many prayer halls. Pictures!

Token OOOGALEY shot of HoChoy

After that we decided to CHIONG to Xidan to satisfy our shopping deprived souls (ahem, actually we were there only a week ago) and to have wonderful wonderful KAO YOU YU!

Unfortunately, the thing about the barbequed squid is that it is terribly hard to chew. In my enthusiasm, I chewed off a bit of squid only to realize that I had splattered the chilli sauce all over my sleeve! Very unfortunate.

More about our weekend in the good old red capital coming up…

FEEL trip

Hello to all! I had a wonderful afternoon! Closer friends will know that I’ve been looking to purchase a new camera. So during lunchtime, our Beijinger friend, Libo, brought us out on a 5 hour long field (feel) trip to take a look at cameras! Oops *guilty look*

Libo brought the company’s Canon 450D out to play

ALL TO ENTER MY FLABBY TUMMY (lauren does not take well to funky intestines)

Libo

Then after lunch, we went to Libo’s friend’s photo shop. He showed us the studio, where there were many random dSLRs lying around. Without warning Libo’s friend picked up a huge ass dSLR with lenses specifically meant for portraits and accosted me with it. Not fun to have lens that are bigger than your face pointed at you!

End result was NOT pretty

I attempt a *steam* AdrianaLima look. FAIL FAIL FAIL!!

AWKWARD MUCH kthxbye

Bless that kind man. He let me play with his 10 kg camera!

Yayy my resident model doing me proud!

I <3 DOFs

CHIO CHIO MELIKEY

Libo the hamsum (ex)photojournalist

WHAT A HAPPY DAY PEOPLE. I’m ELATED!

Qingdao is more than just Tsingtao

19th June, 2008

For the 3rd time in my life, I stepped into Beijing Capital International Airport. No idea what this business trip had in store for me but I was looking forward to having cheap Tsingtao beer and Bali-style beaches

I was deep in thought, pondering about the wonderful possibilities.

Lauren was concentrating on not toppling over with her 2 heavy luggages.

We can’t believe this is for real! Business trip!

We were very disappointed to discover that the bathroom in our hotel was Not Up To Standard. The toilet bowl and bathtub were stained (still unable to rival with HIH. Our bathroom at home is The Gross).

Fortunately, the next morning our mentor called us up to whine about the mosquitoes in his room that “咬死我了” translation: almost bit him to death. So after a few phone calls and a check out, we were off to Grand Regency!

20th June, 2008

After enduring a 4 hour long seminar (which our mentor pangsehed us halfway) held in Shangrila hotel, we were rewarded with a buffet style lunch! We immediately made a beeline for sashimi counter, ala Singaporean style, and tried to fill our plates with as much salmon as the chef would allow. We ate until we were so stuffed that we swore we’ll never eat again. We rushed back to Grand Regency to change into our play clothes and nap for a bit. Then we were off to Jimo Road!

SG PRIDE

I was disappointed that Qingdao was no Bali or Thailand. Instead, it was as developed as Singapore and Hongkong, with an abundance of apartments and high rise commercial buildings.

A cab ride later, we were aghast to discover that the Orchard Road of Qingdao was completely chaotic. FYI, the windsurfing segment of Olympics will be held in Qingdao.

Jimo Road. Is. In. Shambles.

Gay, you know what to do

The streets in Qingdao are narrower than Beijing. I don’t know, but it kinda reminded me of the shophouses in Tanjong Pagar. Peaceful and it holds its own charm.

Then we passed by this squid store, where everyone eating it were bent over about 45 degrees with squid sauce splattered all over their faces. We decided that we had to give it a try!

45 degrees – check.

Lauren’s squid lay abandoned and neglected on the long kang.

The architecture of some of the buildings in Qingdao are slightly angs cos they were ruled by the Germans in the 1800s.

21th June, 2008

The itinerary for the day was set to be exciting! Laoshan! It’s organized by the kind people of the boring seminars so we’d be hiking it with a bunch of middle aged uncles. After another gruelling 4 hour long seminar, our mentor came and announced that he will buy us lunch! Hot pot! We were so excited.

(Btw, our mentor is a Muslim so there’s only one restaurant in Qingdao that he goes to.)

Doesn’t our mentor look like Zeng zhiwei?? The guy in Infernal Affairs??

Mentor ordered way too much. We were OD with lamb. Mentor requested to store the remaining food (more than sufficient for 2 more meals) in their fridge and he’ll come back for it during dinner. WITH US. Omg, we wanted to die.

En route to Lao shan

I personally felt that we would have been better off climbing Bt Timah hill. Basically what we did was climb up a few flight of stairs, take a picture in front of a fountain and we were informed that it was time to leave.

Or if you’re lazy to climb you can have some strong men hoist you up on a chair. Emperor style.

 

Then we were off to visit a Taoist temple…

I’ve never been one to take special interest in temples

So I was glad when that 1 hour tour of the temple was over.

22nd June, 2008

My happiest and saddest day in Qingdao.

I was ecstatic cos of the Suan la fen we went back to Jimo Road for, and the Tsingtao museum (SIS DONT TELL MUM)!

 

Oh it’s just like Hershey’s factory!

It’s imperative that I know every procedure of beer making. And where the beer stops are. FREEBS. You know it want it too, esp Yarn.

Tsingtao, come to mama!

I quote an Angs “When can we have the beer? They’re tempting me with all these beer bottles.”

Lauren forces a smile. She hates beer. Deprived person!

Yada yada yada, where’s me beer.

Mmm. It does taste slightly fresher, but could be psychological!

Fly me to the next beer stop!

One whole jug to myself! Of course I didn’t finish it.. 

Hi, welcome to East coast park. I knew I was in deep shit when I felt my bladder fill up with beer and I was in a China style ECP. (Pee Urgency Meter, PUM: 3/10)

I took a picture for Lauren, and my PUM suddenly went up to 8.5/10

I’m so cool and emo. BUT SCREAMING INWARDLY – PUM: 9.8/10

PUM: 9.85/100 I WANT TO PEE.

Lauren watches a weird guy dive into the water while I SPRINTED off to look for a washroom

 

I’m still searching, Lauren’s still watching.

20 mins later saw a relieved Pau and a toilet water soaked Pau-feet and Pau-shoe.

Then we hopped onto a cab, and I closed the door on my cardigan : (

And discovered an i-Mozziebite. Cool right?? It’s Apple!

I’m on the top of the world!

23rd June, 2008

I took some pictures for our mentor

Hehehehehe

Then we said our goodbyes to the cab driver who promised to find me a Qingdao husband who will cook for me. (!!!)

And it was bye to Qingdao!

I am the Cheese Machine

*Warning: Very Gross Mushy Post Ahead*

When we checked out of our hotel on Sunday I accidentally left my water tumbler behind in the hotel room. While many people would not find this to be particularly distressing，I was distraught because this tumbler was a very special gift from THE BEST BOYFRIEND EVER. Just before I left for Beijing, Gay bought one of those “design your own tumblers” from Starbucks and stuck pictures of the both of us on it in the shape of a heart! It’s terribly cheesy and adorable and very, very precious to me because of the effort he took to think of and make this lovely farewell gift! It’s been with me since I’ve been here and I bring it everywhere, with me to the office in the day and home at night (it’s important to stay hydrated wherever I go!).

Anyway, it occurred to be only when we were in the Qingdao airport (which is miles away from the city and there was no way we would be able to turn back) that my Gaybottle was NOT tucked safely into my overnight bag as it should be, but left on our dressing table back at the Grand Regency! I called Gay in my sad state and he contacted the hotel.

Thankfully, they found the bottle and said they would ship it over to me! And today it’s HERE!!! All aboard the happy gravy train!! (Okay I know that that’s a lot of exclamation marks in one entry but I am just SO. HAPPY.)

My peanut shaped package!

It was kind of difficult to unwrap with the layers of cardboard and masking tape

Do you spy Gay’s rather large nose?

P/S: I know this is kind of late, but CONGRADULASHUNS GAY! TAHAN ME >5 MONTHS ALREADY!

Beijing: Fatter, Faster, Cheaper

When we’re not doing touristy things, Pauline and I spend much of our time in Beijing stuffing our faces like the true blue Singaporeans that we are. Note the evidence:

1. At Gu-lou with our colleagues after work one Friday night, where we had incredibly spicy chicken wings and beer, followed by Yunan cuisine

2. During the Duan Wu Jie weekend when Pauline was in Xi’an, I was invited over to my HR director’s place for a good old home-cooked meal. There was every sort of dish- duck, pork, chicken, fish, etc as well as the requisite dumplings! My first home-cooked meal since I’ve been in Beijing.

3. Wagas one evening with Brenda, where the pasta is 25 RMB after 6pm!

4. Fast food takeout in our apartment

5. Amazing Korean Food at Wudaoko (where Desmond lives)

6. Sakae buffet! Where everything on the menu was included. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves silly.

7. Ghetto Style street side food- Ma la tang ma la tang! (We have a theory that the dirtier the food, the tastier it is, so cross your fingers neither of us get tetanus or something)

8. Teahouses are one of our favourite places to go to hang out and relax! This one’s Lao She, a famous one and much fancier than the one we talked about in an earlier post. We kind of like the first teahouse better though, it was more chilled out.

And I wonder why I’m beginning to resemble that girl in HAIRSPRAY. I do miss Singaporean food though! What I wouldn’t give for a proper plate of chicken rice and lots of garlicky chilli…

Where’s my Tsingtao!

The past 4 and half days in Qingdao was great! We never slept better – all thanks to our fantastic hotel. Qingdao is surrounded by the sea and it was unexpectedly developed. We were reminded of Singapore and Hk! The air in Qingdao was a LOT fresher. My booger (colloquially known as pi sai), which was always black or grey in color in Beijing, resumed to the normal shade of whitish/translucent! People in Singapore should be glad their boogers do not come in funky colors.

Executive Summary (and OH YES we will bombard you with details in time to come!)

1. First BUSINESS TRIP (more chic to call it 出差 over here) = Feelings of gradiosity. We like to pretend that we are quite importantand totally not leeching off the company.

2. Fresh Air and Great weather!

See how misty it is? Great for very very fake DOF’s. That’s how we keep our cool!

3. Boring seminars

See the food on our table? Koping free food is the only time we perk up!

4. Exploring

5. TSINGTAO BEER

No picture yet but FREE BEEER!!! Which Lauren didn’t enjoy. Oh well, I know I did!!

6. Lots and lots of cab rides as they do not have subways in Qingdao

7. The pseudo mountain climb

-

I have some disgusting news: My shoe dropped into a public toilet bowl in Qingdao.

(Refer to drawing above)
It’s a squatting cubicle. My shoe slipped in while I was stepping on the flush. So while I stood there in shock with my jaw on the ground, my poor shoe was just skipping inside the toilet bowl with the flush beating down on it.

The aqua thing is supposed to represent the toilet bowl water. But as you can see, the hole for the shit to go in is quite tiny, so thankfully my shoe didn’t get flushed down. After I rinsed it a bit, I put them back on. Strange enough, it feels softer now.