When the leaves fall.............

Think I'll stick to my current layout theme unless I find any other theme I fancy. This dark gray with golden fonts is good enough for me.

Am not planning to go for tour later this year as well as next year. Will probably post other outing photos if there is...

Change a bit of layout yesterday coz the earlier layout slows down the loading and scrolling of page drastically. I've also changed the mood theme to match with the layout.

This layout isn't my cup of preference. Will probably change another layout again some other time.

Recently been reading vampire & supernatural-theme novels to pass my time on train.

I woke around 3.20am to write diary and reading ebook until 6am. We lingered around and set off for breakfast around 7.50am. After that, I explored Careefour and bought a pair of ear phones at 199NT and returned to hotel room.

Around 10.20am, I went with sis and parents to nearby soya bean shop and found it was not the recommended one that parents wanted. While they tried the local breakfast, I bought beef noodles at 90NT to bring to hotel to eat around 11am. We also visited Carrefour where I bought USB extender costing 229 NT. The beef noodles was so-so but the soup was not oily and I could taste the herbs in it. Compared to the first few days of our tour, the weather was much warmer and I could afford to wear sleeveless shirt instead of layers of clothes when I went outdoors.

We checked out of our rooms at 12pm and waited in lobby until 1pm before we set off to Tao Yuan airport. We reached there around 1.53pm and finally checked into the custom around 2.43pm. The tour guide sent us off. After trying the minced meat rice set (around 180NT) and papaya milk shake (using my final 100NT), we checked into our Gateway A6 before 3.40pm.

There was a bit confusion over the seating locations and parents had swapped around with other people. I watched 'Lady Shogun' and 'Knight to Heaven' on my personal TV screen. Dinner was fish rice set and compared to the lunch I took on first day flight, it was not very tasty. We touched down to Changi Airtport around 8.10pm and finally reached home around 9.30pm.

I woke up late around 6am. The room had a separate bath tub from showering area and had Jap-style mechanical toilet bowl with controls to wash our bottoms and warming toilet seat. Opposite our hotel was Carrefour supermarket.


After drinking green tea and writing diary, we went for breakfast at 7.30am at level 1 and experienced long queue. The breakfast spread was not that comprehensive but I managed to have dried noodles, cold soba, miso soup, etc. At 8.30am, we took our coach to National Taiwan Democracy memorial Hall. We reached there at 8.40am and waited for C.K.S. Hall to open. It opened at 9am and the soldiers demonstrated their marching before 2 of them stationed at doorways motionless. Then we were allowed to enter. After seeing some calligraphy, we assembled at 9.30am. I bought a chocolate lipton tea at 15NT from vending machine and it tasted like chocolate milk.

We set off for Martyr's shrine at 9.58am. As it was closed, we took photos of its exterior before leaving for a shop that advertised fung shui stuff at 10am.


After some boring lectures, we walked to take our coach at 11am for Jay Chow's restaurant, reaching there around 11.40am. There were 3 set meals to choose and I chose white wine with clam pasta, completed with soup, cake and garlic bread.


We set off from 1pm onwards for Fisherman's Wharf at 2.11pm. After exploring for 40 minutes, we set off for Tanshui old street, checking out the stalls and buying Ah Gei (some kind of dough skin stuff with tong fen at 100NT), duo-flavour ice cream at 10NT each. Along the sea edge, we noticed dustbins that I had missed during the first time we went Taiwan. We assembled at 4.30pm to go to a local snack shop for souveniors. I bought 2 boxes of snacks at 400NT and 300NT.


From there, we went Shi Lin night market at 6.30pm. We tried fried oyster egg, prawn egg, fried rice and fried noodles at 240NT in the shopping district before going to the food district. There, we tried dumpling noodles soup at 80NT, coffin bread at 50NT each of chicken flavour, assort meat, meat floss and fish flavours. We assembled at 8pm and reached hotel at 9pm.


There was a bit of an episode as the entire tour group was locked out of our rooms as all our keys had been deactivated. I had went to the 7th level lobby (we stayed at level 7) and made a call to the housekeeping for help. 5 minutes later, a staff came and replaced our card keys. After trying the food, I went to bed around 11pm.

I woke around 5am to brush and shower. The hot spring water that I had left overnight had went cold and I took a hot shower instead.


After watching some anime and lingering about in my room, we went breakfast around 7.40am. I had cold soba, scrambled egg, fried noodles, beacon, etc. We loitered around taking photos and resting before checking out at 9am for our next destination. By then, rain had stopped.


From there, the journey took 2 – 3 hours before we reached 'Window on China' or miniture world theme park around 12pm. There, we had lunch of fried fish fillet, fried egg, veg, etc within the theme park before we were allowed to go on our own to explore the place. Other than seeing mini version of famous buildings of China, Taiwan, Europe and other Asian countries such as Japan, Nepal and South Korean, we also took a small train, took comical snapshots and short non-exciting roller coaster ride. We also fed fish via fish food sold in fish like scrupture. Fish food costed 10 NT. After we assembled at 2.10pm, we set off buying puddling (coffee & mango flavour at 100 NT each) and chocolate coated mochi (also 100 NT) before setting off to Yi Lan.


We reached Toucheng leisure farm at 4.25pm. As there was no lift to our rooms and there was small walking distance to the buildings, we were advised not to bring along our big luggages. After leaving our hand luggages in the main hall building, a guide took us through the forest like nature to explore the tomato, radish, sugar cane plantations as well as seeing a few farm animals in enclosure such as goats, geese, turkey, wild boars and buffalos. We returned to the main hall building around 5.30pm to check in our rooms at level 2 of the building in other area. We stayed in room B04 and parents in B05. There was no boiling water facility within our rooms and we had to take hot water via dispenser outside our rooms. There was no carpet to warm our feet either and floor was covered in tiles. There was also no instant coffee in our room unlike other hotels we had went but the tea was nice. Not sure if it's culture of rural hotels, but like our earlier hotel, it had 2 double size beds per room with 4 cups and 4 brushing cups.


At 6pm, we went to the hall building to make tan yuan and having BBQ buffet dinner of chicken wings. There was also noodles section and I also tried tan yuan, green bean soup as well as bamboo rice. There were 3 dogs in the area and one of the dogs – a black one loitering around getting food from us. Around 7.38pm, we joined a night activity to make sky lantern, wrote words on it and set it off into the sky around 8.25pm. One of the lanterns caught fire on a faraway tree. We returned to our room at 8.40pm and I had early sleep around 9.50pm.

I woke around 2.20am as I had been having poor sleep few days before the tour. I managed to read newspapers to pass my time and drifting back to sleep around 3am. I woke up around 5am again to brush, wash and bath before returning to complete my newspapers.


The sky had began to brighten around 6.30am. At 7.20am, we went for breakfast at level 8. I had sasuage, fried bee hoon, fried noodles, scrambled egg, miso soup, milk with orange juice and cuppachino. We finished our breakfast and returned to our rooms at 8.30am to make last minute preparation before checking out out and to go to our destination at 9am. It was still drizzling cold when we left. Because of the rain, our fruit plantation tour was cancelled and we went straight to an old tourist street at 9.55am to see the cinema restaurant. We also visited the nearby stalls, trying fried mochi and pork blood soup (50NT).

We continued to loiter until 12pm for our lunch in a museum restaurant. Lunch comprised of kampong chicken, fried bamboo shoots, mochi, fried fish fillet along with white rice. Over all, the food was so-so. Except for mochi and fried fish fillet. We left around 1pm and dropped by toilet place at 2.20pm, taking a glance at a food court with costly food ranging around 1300NT. We continued our way to a tea retailer place around 3.40pm. Time was wasted listening to a few shop keepers trying to sell their products. The tea yogurt and tea biscuit was nice though. We left without buying a thing around 4.19pm. Before I went to coach, I saw 4 dogs locked in separate cages. We reached Wen Wu temple near Sun Moon lake around 4.50pm and the sky was foggy.

After enduring the cold weather with nothing much to see, we left for our next hotel at Tai Yi Ecological Leisure farm at 6.10pm. The place had huge flowery landscape and comprised a few buildings. We stayed in rooms at level 2. According to guide, the hotel was built 1 year ago. We went to the building next to room building for flora dinner comprising of veg handrolls, tempura, pork rib, fried bee hoon, fried egg, steam fish, flower flavour jelly along with white rice. Even the tea had some flowery smell I couldn't recognise. We returned to our room at 8202 at 7pm. The room was two times bigger than our usual hotel comprising of 2 double size beds, 4 drinking cups, personal hot spring tubs, balcony and LCD television. 7.30pm, we assembled for our additional handcraft activity. While waiting in lobby, we were served hot tea. After completing our own necklace at 8.12pm, we returned to our rooms. I tried out the hot spring. I was glad I had brought my slippers as my shoes were soaking wet and a bit regreted for bringing my swim suit that was not applicable at all. I had coffee and watched some anime from my ebook reader until around 12.30am.

I had prepared 3000 NT (S$150) for Taiwan trip.

Unabled to sleep since 2am and tossed from bedroom to living room until 5am to wash, bath and brush. After breakfast of chilli long bean mian sian, we left home at 7.30am. Despite our reaching the cab waiting spot earlier, 2 people attempted to outrank us by waiting in front of us. Thankfully, the arriving cab driver intended to go airport so he rejected them and we took the ride before them. At 8am, we reached the airport and went to counter 12 to check in our big luggages. We were the 2nd CTC group to arrive. After checking in plus my clearing of my bowel, we went Kopitiam in T3 at 8.10am. We had fishball noodles and fried carrot cake before replenishing some spare items at NTUC to check in the custom at 9.30am. We went Gate 34 around 10.25am and boarded C10752 after a short wait in the waiting lounge. My seat was 40B, a seat away from the window.


On the flight, each passenger had an individual TV screen before us along with remote control. There was a long queue of planes when our flight turned to the runway. After a long painful wait, it finally took off at 11am. On the plane, I watched Narnia: Dawn Treader. Lunch was served at 11.36am. I had ordered chicken with rice. With the set was creamy cake, salad and fruit platter with bread & butter. I also ordered orange juice and coffee to go along with them. I finished the movie around 1.20pm and spent the rest of the trip reading newspapers and drinking orange juice until we reached Tao Yuan airport in Taipei at 3.10pm. Throughout the journey, the toilet condition was terrible; the one behind me had choked sink and those in the front were running out of toilet papers.


The tour guide met us outside the custom. I had examined the vending machines and the drinks costed 25NT each. It was drizzling outside the airport and the temperature was much colder than I expected and it was accompanied by chilling wind. The tour guide introduced himself as Liao on the travel coach that took us to the railway station for us to experience the fast railway train. The ticket was 120NT and we were to travel from Tao Yuan to Hsin Chu which was a stop distance away. We explored the 7-11 convenience shop and noticed the set rice and rice rolls sold there. They costed 45NT – 65NT. The journey began at 4.57pm and completed at 5.08pm. The coach was waiting for us outside the station and it took us to our hotel (there was a change of hotel btw) – Forte Hotel Hsin Chu at 6.20pm that was some walking distance away from Hsin Chu night market area. My sis and I were in room 102 (located at level 11) and parents were next door in room 101. We assembled at the lobby at 7pm with our guide who showed us to Hsin Chu Cheng Huang Temple night market.


The food there ranged around 35NT to 65NT. We had fried bee hoon, cuttle fish soup, cuttle fish soup noodles, fried oyster egg and dumplings. The variety of food wasn't much. Along our way back to hotel, we bought spring rolls. We reached our hotel at 8.50pm. The room was not bad even though we had to share a double size bed. There was LCD television. After showering, I went to bed around 9.50pm.

Sony erisson handphone giving slight problem of no preview photo for each month and no screensaver image despite my unsuccessful configuration.

Had woke up around 5am and for slightly later breakfast around 6.30am. Breakfast in First World cafe almost the same with some slight changes in 2 dishes.

Took a few snapshot of clouds and as we are having all morning to ourselves before checking out after 12pm.

Along the way, my eldest sis and I went exploring and taking snapshots of theme park (outside) as well as exploring other hotel and common facilities areas.

Had Mcdonald sundae at RM4.15 (including GST) before returning back to room briefly around 10am. Went out for lunch at level 2B in First World plaza around 10.45am for Japanese ramen (spicy chicken ramen at RM16). Noodles a bit soggy and soup oily but overall okay. I also managed to convert RM145 to $60 in Casino at exchange rate of 2.451. Need S$ more than RM since we are going to return home tonight.

Met with tour guide around 12.45pm and set off on tour coach around 1pm. Travelled long distance and dropped by to buy some foodstuff and toilet breaks along the way. Slept most of the time while listening to MP3 player. Reached a seafood restaurant around 8.40pm for curry crabs, seafood dishes. Reached custom around 10 plus pm and reaching home around 11.15pm.

Woke around 5am in the morning and went for breakfast at level 8 First World Cafe at 6am with eldest sis.

Breakfast choices quite limited with rice, curry chicken, sasuage, cereal, congee and bread. Took plenty of milk to clear my bowels and set off to meet our tour guide at lift lobby at 8am.

Then we set off to Strawberry and mushroom farms. Temperature got higher as we reached bottom of highland. No free eating of strawberries and we had to pay RM6 for every 100g of strawberries picked and there was a security to watch over us. No sense of freedom even though we were guests. Rather visit the fruit and vege farms in Singapore or other countries. Left for a few hours of journey towards elephant park.

Dropped by a roadside stall for chicken rice. The chicken meat was slightly tough but tasty. Heard its a kampong chicken. Could tell the meal should be cheap, judging from the condition of the venue. Saw a baby monkey and lingered around chasing live chicken and dogs before setting off to elephant park.

Watched a video around 1.30pm and went to watch elephants bath and close encounter with tourists around 2pm. It was pretty hot and sweaty watching people jostling around, watching elephants bathing in dirty water and moving around for people to take snapshots with them. Also saw some tourists riding elephants in circles, at extra cost of course.

Left shortly for deer park and had close distance with deers and other animals. Saw plenty of deers lingering in the open as well as other animals such as black bears, etc. Also saw a peacock and some black chickens, etc.

As dinner was not inclusive in package and after the poor dinner experience the night before, our tour guide arranged group dinner at our own cost in nearby coffeeshop. Dishes comprised of deer meat, egg with century egg, etc. Each of us paid RM17. Bought durian ice cream on our way back. Also celebrated RC rep - Sherry's birthday and had a slice of cake.

Spent the next few hours back in resort, exploring places again and buying a wallet for company present exchange before returning to room for strawberries and durian tarts with mum and siblings. Had an earlier sleep around 10 plus pm.

Unable to sleep after 3am in the morning and set off to prepare brushing my teeth, etc around 4am. I was not the first btw. Dad was. Mum and the rest woke up and did the same eventually by 4.30am. Had simple breakfast of bread and did a last minute checking of stuffs, packed up my unread papers and slagged around until 6.10am before setting off to RC. Were given a bottle of mineral water and to sign on a custom form card before setting off on tour bus around 6.20am.

Reached custom in Singapore close to 8am in the morning and from there to M'sia checkpoint. Had to transfer to bus from M'sia checkpoint and after a couple of hours, we stopped by a roadside food area for our self paid breakfast (coz not inclusive in tour).

I had white curry noodles (with pork blood and cockles at RM4), mum had prawn mee at RM3, others had fried carrot cake. We also ordered fried oyster egg and pork blood soup. While on our way, we also stopped over for lunch in a restuarant. The food was so-so. We went on our long journey and I slept while listening to my MP3 player.

It was a relief that I had taken some toilet papers before leaving home as there was no toilet paper in the toilet break stops along our way to Genting. Dropped by Chin Swee Cave temple around 4.30pm. Took a number of snapshots due to the floating clouds below us and a few nice scenery that overlooked Genting resort below. Left around 5.15pm.

Continued on our way to Genting resort and reached around 7pm. The temperature was cool and thankfully humid so that I did not encounter driness to my skin. I shared the same room as my eldest sis at 2930 (level 2) and as it was a corner room, it was at least 2 times bigger than the other rooms elder sis, parents and bro were staying.

We set off looking for dinner around 7pm as it was not inclusive in tour package. All of the food eateries were full and crowded. In the end, we chose a bak kut teh coffee place that was so crowded that it was a few moment when we obtained seats. My pork meat noodles was costly and not fantastic at RM17.50 including GST and service charge (I had to carry receipt and go from place to place before carrying my own food to table, dunno where this service charge goes to). Others also complained of the ordinary food with low quantity and high cost.

Had dropped by Casino and had a few cups of free flow orange juice, coffee, tea and milo. No photo taking allowed and there was no dress code. So no taking of snapshots and I spotted many dome shape cameras on the ceiling. The air was so full of cigar smoke that we did not stay for too long.Explore a bit before others returned back to their rooms. The First World Plaza had 4 levels comprising of restuarants, indoor games, shops, etc. Returning to our room around 10pm and after struggling with hot/cold water bath. I spent my next few hours till 1.45am to finish 2 of my newspapers. Good thing there's hot water jug and hair blower.

Reached Changi airport around 6am as I watched the lightning lashing through the sky from my seat at 41L. As we left the custom area, we had to make our way through the departing Muslims who were probably going somewhere for their sacred voyage. We made our way to terminal 3 where I had breakfast of coffee and laksa. That ended our tour when we finally reached home around 10am via cab.

We had a late morning, as we were to settle our lunch on the last day before going to Shenyang airport in the afternoon. After settling our breakfast around 9am, we went out to the nearby shopping mall to buy food for lunch. I chose chicken burger from the local McDonald so that I could eat it conveniently on bus at 11:30am. We put out our luggage for collection to the coach at 11:15am and checked out at 11:30am.

Before proceeding to airport, the guide took us to a 2nd World War museum and the sports stadium that had been used in Olympics games. Then we set off for airport around 3pm. The guide managed to arrange our luggage to be delivered directly to the airport in Singapore instead of bypassing Beijing airport saving us extra effort to do luggage hunting in Beijing airport later. While waiting for our flight, we had more meals in KFC there. We took flight CA 1636 at 6pm from Shenyang to Beijing and I was allocated seat 17A. We had snack of hamburger and drink before reaching Beijing around 9pm.

Most of the shops were already closed when we reached there and we were bemused as our gate number changed from 27 to 54. As a result, we had to run from one place to another in the middle of the night as our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:30pm. Unexpectedly, we were to take a shuttle bus from airport to the plane and our flight was delayed by 30 minutes without any announcement. I could see some unhappy passengers questioning the working staffs as we waited. Around 12am, we finally boarded the plane and were served with supper at 1am. I slept the entire night till 5am the next morning.

I woke up 5:30am in the morning after dreams of anime stuff. Also watched a bit of Naruto episodes on my MP5 player before going for breakfast at 9am with mee soup, fried udon, fried rice and coffee. We met with others at 10am to tour Residence of Zhangs. I’m not interested in modern China history and took lesser snapshots before we proceeded to feather painting and coconut sweet shop.

We proceeded for lunch around 12pm before exploring shops in Zhong Avenue.

In addition to exploring the winter coats there, I also tried out stinky tofu at 3RMB that was too plain for my liking and also mutton stick. We also had some coffee in Starbucks and mum dropped her hat into toilet bowl carelessly and she had to buy a new one to replace it. We met the others at 5pm for dinner in a restaurant that included sweet and sour pork as well as dumpling in addition to our usual dishes because it was our last dinner together. We returned to hotel around 6:30pm.

Woke up several times in the middle of the night since 11pm due to bad sleep. Went to wash up around 5am and had breakfast in the same place at 7am of fried rice, bee hoon, udon and soba soup. We left in coach at 8am for Shenyang after checking out of Hai Hian hotel and arrived at Shenyang at 1pm.

We had lunch before proceeding to Shenyang’s famous Imperial palace known to be home of first emperor – Nuerhachi and second Qing Emperor that was within walking distance from the restaurant. Took a number of snapshots before proceeding to nearby shopping mall at 3:30pm. The shopping mall was pretty unique with people playing chess at level 4 while below levels are for clothes, electronic products, etc. I also saw devices for solar energy. We also visited the supermarket that appeared no different from that back in Singapore. At 5pm, we met for dinner in a nearby restaurant with Peking duck and fried Chinese bread with vegetables as well as the usual dishes.

Around 6pm, we were drove to Times Plaza hotel where we were required to check in with our passports. Compared to the past few tour experiences, I was lazier than usual and had no intention to tour the nearby shops.

5th day in Hei Long Jiang and my skin did not go well with the weather as it began to crack painfully. I woke up 6am in the morning and lazed around until 8am before proceeding for breakfast in level 2. Compared to the previous breakfast in other hotels, there was more variety. I had udon soup, fried mee, fried rice, salad, cake, etc. Also went out to explore the nearby shops around 9am. The wind was strong and piercing in the cold weather. We also checked the underground mall and I had a quick look of the food court that unfortunately I could not try the food due to full stomach. Noodles costed around 5RMB and rice around 4RMB.

We returned to our rooms around 11am before gathering with others at 11:30am for lunch in other restaurant. There was nothing new with meals except Ginseng chicken soup.

After which, we visited the last Qing emperor – Pu Yi’s palace around 1pm where we were told of the life story of Pu Yi. Unlike other places, we had to show our passports to the place in charge to prove we are not Japanese as Japanese are forbidden to take snapshots in the place. We left around 3pm back to hotel to rest before venturing out by ourselves to explore the shopping malls. As the sky darkened, we proceeded back to hotel around 5pm preparing for dinner at 5:30pm. Returning to the room around 6:30pm, we prepared to pack our luggage, as we would be leaving for Shenyang the next day. I went to bed at 9pm.

I woke around 5:30pm and spent time watching Naruto episodes on my MP5 player before showering at 6:30pm. Set off for breakfast at 7am of fried rice, fries, etc with egg and milk and orange juice. A local woman jumped queue before a tour member and there was a brief unhappiness. I abandoned the queue for my other food because of that. Almost missed mum who went to toilet at level 1 instead of 2. I had stomachache for 2 times that morning.

Finally set off on coach for Jilin province. Journey took 4 hours and I spent time watching scenery, taking photos and listening to MP3 player. The landscape became more mountainous as journey proceeded. We reached Jilin province at 11:45am and had lunch consisting of fried yam rolls, roast chicken and chicken ginseng soup there. We went to take snapshot by Songhua River and a church before being taken to a ginseng shop. Bored, I explored the nearby areas.

After that, we visited a deer farm and had deer soup and roast deer there. Unlike Harbin, Jilin province temperature was more moderate. At deer farm, we also saw other animals like foxes, linji etc.

We took a 2 and half hour trip via coach to Changchuan and reached a restaurant for dumpling dinner at 6pm. Then, we retreated to Changbaishan Hai Hian hotel for the night at 7pm. To my pleasure, there was hair dryer in the room. I watched anime until 12am.

Nothing much to eat for breakfast, besides, I was pissed due to certain matters and lost my appetite. Anyway, I forced some fried rice, egg and milk into me before we set off for Long Sha Park at 7:30am. There was a frozen lake with a non-operating amusement park there. Then, we went to Zhalong wetland around 9am to see cranes. Along the way, I was forced to use public toilet that only comprised of pits without doors due to nature calls.

Went to the place to see animal specimens before proceeding in long walks to see cranes kept in captivation. There were intervals of cranes flying at certain hours and I was fortunate to see one at 10am. After that, we walked back to our coach and set off to Mahayana temple that we had missed the evening before. Then, we went to Guomai hotel for lunch in a revolving restaurant at level 28. After that, we set off by train T5006 section 4 around 1:30pm back to Harbin. We reached Harbin at 4:30pm where we were brought to see night scenery at a street and a memorial for flood incident.

Then, we set off by foot to a Russian restaurant for our dinner. There was a 30 min show at 7:30pm after we had meals of cocktail, pizza, steak, pork, chicken, and bread with fish roes, etc. The show was so-so consisting of dances and singing. After that, we continued with our meals until 8:15pm. The guide gave us local grown oranges and apples before we went back to our rooms.

I noticed night fell at 4:30pm and day broke at 6:30am. I normally had to wear 3 pants and 3 clothes (coat, sweater and t-shirt) to keep myself warm. To convenience myself in photo taking, I also had a warm pack in my coat pocket to keep my fingers warm. My skin also dried up easily in the weather, resulting to rashes by 3rd day.

I woke around 5:30am to shower and went for breakfast buffet at 7am. There were choices of food and I took fried egg, fried rice with stir-fried fungi there. The common toilet next to the level 2 restaurant had strange layout as male cubicles were located within female cubicles. We checked out of the room and left our big luggage at the counter’s safe keeping at 7:15am.

Snow was still falling when we made our way to one of the best well kept Russian Church of Sophie via our coach. Then, we went to a souvenir shop where I bought some Russian dolls and also saw some other stuffs. After that, we proceeded to an open enclosure Tiger Park where tigers roamed freely within the boundary. We had to take a park bus into the park with some locals who opened the window despite warning from the driver and they got scolding from him. In addition, we also saw some special cross breed of lion and tiger within the park.

We set off for lunch at 11am and left for train station via section 8 at 12pm to board train T5005 around 1:15pm for Qiqihaer. The layers of snow on the ground thinned as we left Harbin and reached our destination at 3:40pm. Along the way, our fellow tour members chatted a lot and I couldn’t listen to MP3 player so I dozed a bit. At Qiqihaer, we and our Harbin guide met the guide from Qiqihaer. We intended to visit a temple but it was closed by the time we reached there so we went to see a war memorial and the night scenery near a lake instead.

Then, we proceeded for dinner. There, we had hotpot of mutton, pork and fungi with mee suan as main. Retreated for Guomai hotel for the night around 6:30pm. Our room was 1406 while parents’ was 1405. I had an early sleep at 9pm. Noticed that battery tended to run out of energy in winter season and regret for not bringing more along. Luckily, I had camera handphone with me.

Supper was served around 1am of seafood-fried noodle with orange juice and coffee. Had some sleep until around 5am ready to reach Beijing at 6:20am. Beijing was –5 degree C when we departed the plane. There was traces of snow on the plane track and track of the internal train in the airport zone when we went to terminal 1 to collect our luggage for transit. While waiting for our flight to Harbin, we had breakfast of porridge and buns in a Chinese stall before departing t Harbin via gate C10 around 9:25am. There was a free phone-recharging machine in Beijing airport and I took the chance to recharge my old phone. I was allocated seat 36L and was given three seating places at the furthest end of the plane.

I had a good view of mountainous and snowy scenery while having peanuts and orange juice in the flight.

Reached Harbin around 11:50am and it was snowing lightly when we left the Harbin airport to our coach. Our guide told us tips to take care of ourselves in winter Hei Long Jiang province. We were taken to a shop that sold winter accessories and parents bought me a pair of winter shoes worth 180 RMB.

Along the way, we gathered 360RMB each for Tiger Park, Russian meal and internal ice scriptures. With that, we proceeded to an underwater park where we saw animals that survived best in winter, e.g. polar bears and also watched killer whale show. As we did not have lunch on the plane, we had short snacks of burger before we left.

Next, we proceeded to Sun Plaza Park where we took a bus to a building for ice scriptures. By 4:30pm, the sky darkened like 8pm and we proceeded for dinner. The weather was so cold that I dashed into room 516 at 7pm to warm myself up. We were also told that due to the cold weather, all shops closed around 5:30pm there.

Have just checked in proceeding to gate D48 by 11:45pm a moment ago. Was having a fume with dad 2 hours ago at home but have made up by now. Dun feel like updating LJ right now. Still in pissing mood for no reason now. Maybe it's depression or inconfidient with my future in career.

The cab driver who drove us to Changi Airport was not very friendly when we boarded his cab. I was still unfamiliar with the check in system even though I've went through it a year before when I went Taiwan. Will check out the facilities in 30 minutes before boarding the flight.

Wish myself an enjoyable and safe trip then.

EDITTED 27 NOV 09:

Reached Changi Airport at 10pm sharp to meet a China accent staff from Hong Thai agency who briefed the 8 of us for procedures to transit from Beijing airport to Harbin. We entered for check in around 10:45pm. I had surfed Internet and checking out the facilities available within the check in zone and saw a waiting lounge at level 2.

Set off to board the plane at gate D38 at 11:30pm. I was allocated to row 41L in China Airline C970. Unlike the flight I had taken during the Taiwan trip, there was no television screen on the back of the front seats.