My heart belongs to Singapore

As accounted when I applied for a UK Tourist Visa, I have been to Singapore 10 times for the last 6 years. Only 1 of those trips was for a seminar, the rest was spent "feeling at home".

I will fly again by the end of the month to accompany family friends visit a relative. I am their "unofficial" tour guide.

So what's in the itinerary?

Day 1 - late afternoon arrival

Check-in. Watch Wings of Love (we have kids in tow!)

Day 2

Day Tour - can be hop on hop off because we are with an elderly
Dinner at Makansutra

Day 3

Shopping Day
Check In at new hotel
Dinner at Chinatown


Day 4
Marina Bay Gardens by the Bay
To Airport

It's a draft. Will polish soon..

Fast Forward

It's March 2, 2017. I am at the last phase of my "Project Digitize" (an attempt at going paperless, as part of joining the Minimalist Nation :|). I was googling how to upload photos and shared privately to friends (oh yes, I was born in the 80's and never caught up with the social media) and then - I came up to this... Awwwwwwwww.......

I am maintaining a private blog right now about things that are private -  my journey to financial recovery, my transition to minimalism, my anger management issues. And while I want to share to people who are struggling like me the journey I am in, I am too fragile at this moment in my life I am keeping the noises just within myself.

So meantime, I might upload photos here I digitized. And try to remember the fun times behind those travels. I stopped vagabonding these days. I don't know anymore where to go except for where I can stay finally and call home.

Things I learnt in Beijing

THINGS I LEARNT IN BEIJING:

- bring your reusable bag when shopping. You'll be charged for a plastic bag. Well, holds true for convenience stores we visited (New World, the convenience store in front of capital

Hotel, O'le at Beijing APM, Watsons, and supermarket at Beijing Department Store)

- avail of a tour package if you have extra cash to stash. While we enjoyed still the DIY tours we did, a lot of time was wasted with walking endlessly and looking for subways that are on the map but aint anymore :(

- stay close to the person in front of you when on a queue. A lot of people are fond of just making their way regardless of hair thin space between 2 persons. Whhw!

- be alert of spitting persons anywhere! You might catch it, eeewww!

- no Facebook in Beijing :/

And some other things I am not sure

I can write about :(

Beijing Food Trip :)

It was Paris Baguette which saved me from starvation at Korea :) At Osaka, it was the variation of Mc Donalds and Mister Donut. Now at Beijing, all I ate for the duration of my 4D/3N trip was Mc Donalds chicken wings,  fries and McFlurry :) and KFC once.

Day 1 lunch inluded at the  coach tour

availed 

This is our table. Got shy taking picture of the lunch served because we shared table with 4 other foreigners :) 

Day 1 dinner at Mc Donalds, Wafujing District 

Day 2 lunch at KFC Xin'ao Shopping Center, just outside the Olympic Green station

Day 2 dinner at Mc Donalds New World

Day 3 lunch at Mc Donalds Summer Palace

DAY 4: Summer Palace

Beijing Tour July 18-22,2013
Day 4 (July 21, 2013) - Summer Palace

Alol really wanted to see the Old Summer Palace since Day1. So for our last day, we decided we'd go and see the famed imperial garden.

Took the subway again :) Alol has no trouble with it, except for the beggars and trash everywhere on the train :(

Entrance ticket is RMB 30.

Entrance - 

Inside -

Gate of the Dawn Light -

Fishing pond. 

Indeed "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design".

Alol wanted to really see the "Old Summer Place" but the expanse of 2.9 square kilometers of Summer Palace is just too much already for us to trod. We also did not see the marble boat but it's okay. 

The Summer Place station is the most decent I've been to. There is McDonalds, Pizza Hut and DQ just outside the station. We were just both very thirsty because of the scorching heat. So we decided to head back to Wafujing District for pasalubong shopping.

DAY 3: Beijing Olympic Park, Bird's Nest, Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square

Beijing Tour July 18-22,2013
Day 3 (July 20, 2013) - Beijing Olympic Park, Bird's Nest, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square

Day 3 is a lax day for us. We were really tired from the trip from Manila to Beijing, then waking up really early the following day to join the tour and then a DIY walking trip to Wufajing District before calling it a day.

Woke up around 9am, enjoying our instant coffee and just-bought salted pretzels from last night. We dilly-dally till 11am just watching CNN.

We took the blue line subway, Chongwenmen Station,  which is near the hotel. We alighted at Olympic Green Station which is linked to Xin'ao Shopping Center. 

Nice escalators -

We had lunch at KFC where the cashier can not understand "chocolate sundae". Usually, I would order food pointing to pictures on the menu but I really wanted a choc sundae :) only strawberry sundae has picture :(

The whole area is nice.

Across is the Bird's Nest.

Beijing Olympic Park -

 Bird's Nest from the gates -

It was a lesson learnt the hard way - do not ask for directions, you'll get lost! Alol knew the water vendor made us follow a wrong way based on the map we're holding. But since we cannot take a glimpse of where could be the nearest subway station, we followed the instructions given to us. After hours of tireless walking, we didn't find the subway but just ended up at Gate 4 of the Beijing Olympic Village.

We took the cab (in our despair to find the subway) to Forbidden City. Good thing Capital Hotel has a checklist of tourist spots with Chinese names so we can just show to the driver. As expected, the driver is "no English".

Tiananmen Square next. Walk back to the hotel. Dead tired :x

DAY 2: Great Wall at Mutianyu section & Sacred Way

Beijing Tour July 18-22,2013
Day 2 (July 19, 2013) - Great Wall at Mutianyu section and The Sacred Way

We were advised by Vincent of the Information Desk to just be at the Reception Area by 7am to join the tour without a reservation.

There are 3 tours offered:

A line: the Great Wall at Badaling section-entrance at Bears Garden (2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes), Ming Tomb-Chang Ling (1 hour)

B line: Forbidden City (2 hours), Temple of Heaven (1 hour 20 minutes), Summer Palace (1 hour 40 minutes)

C line: the Great Wall at Mutianyu section (2 hours to 2 hours 30 minutes), Sacred Way (40 minutes)

We chose Tour C, as also recommended by Vincent and Mutianyu section of the Great Wall being the less crowded spot based from Trip Advisor :)

1st stop is "The Main Sacred Way of the Mings Tomb". 

We entered the North Gate.

Ticket prices -

Sacred way leads to the 13 tombs of the Ming Dynasty. It is also called the Changling Sacred Way.

The red gate -

The government officials -

The animals- 

There's a Tourist Shop -

The Stele Pavilion of Divine Merits and the Sacred Virtue of Changling -

Inside: The tortoise holding the tablet -

Front view of the Stele Pavilion -

Then ahead is the South Gate already where our coach bus was waiting. 

Compulsary tour to the Beijing Jade Carving Factory is next.

Entrance where the mini tour started -

My friend Melvi is crazy about the Pechay jade we had to had to line up in the National Museum of Korea just to take a look at it. Now a smaller version is on sale here at Beijing :)

Brunch followed, still on the same place-

Traditional Chinese lunch was served. I only had the breaded chicken fillet though there's a lot of viands served - beef with brocholli I guess, sweet and sour fish, vegetable soup etc.

Then it's time to see now the Great Wall. The tour guide said we can take a nap (which we really need) because it will be an hour drive. 

We alighted at the parking lot and have to walk a bit up for the chair lift entrance. 

There's Subway and a pizza floor where I wished I could eat because already starving by now.

Tourist map-

The ticket office -

Cost us additional RMB 80 for thr chair lift going up and toboggan run going down- 

Route map of the Mutianyu Great Wall -

No chance to look for a souvenir at the many souvenir shops going up the entrance to the Great Wall. 

Scary Chair lift :)

I have no decent photo of the wall using my phonecam :( Gotta check back with Alol's SLR :)

The toboggan run going down is a blast :) :) :)

Visit at the Bejing Silk Museum for the final stop.