ive officially moved to ch-rlene.blogspot.com

i apologise once more for the late late late updates. recently, ive just been feeling so pressed for time. im having such a great time in China, that somehow, i wish i had chosen this place instead of America. Here, im not restricted or constrained by finances. Commodities, great food, travel, even services are freak cheap. i revel in my capacity to try new beauty regiments. ahahaha. went to suzhou last weekend, and this week, we explored more of shanghai. shopped and went to 七宝古镇。pictures next time!

anyway, school is hyping up too. though there are fewer examinations and tests to encourage more self exploration, there are still research papers, and presentations to do. what makes it even tougher, is that the information we gather in class, has to be applied to real time society. being right smack in China means that we gotta go all out to assimilate and infiltrate the Chinese people's mentality and culture. even though im Chinese, and can sorta understand certain beliefs and taboos. its still different, and im still figuring out.

i went to beijing for 4 days, then putuoshan for 3 during tht one week of spring break.

travelled to beijing via overnight train (13 hrs). the cabin was really comfortable and luxurious. visited 天坛， 故宫， 长城（慕田峪）， 颐和园， 鬼街， 北海公园， 天安门， etc etc. was there when there was the torch lighting ceremony. security was tight, and the streets were so packed with people. but i guess its all part of the experience. there is a kind of "freedom" in China. not the usual kind, but for eg, there were posters asking people to preserve the integrity and intellectual rights of the Olympic mascots, but people were peddlng pirated Olympics stuff just in front of these posters. Also, even though there were so many policemen patrolling the city, people littered and spat.
went with lex n so hyun. we went up the ski lift for the great wall, and our dear so hyun, dropped her yellow bag from it. imagine how our hearts dropped when we heard the thud of the bag from a height, onto the snow covered mountain. thank god they had people stationed all the way down the mountain because of the toboggan which ran to the foot.

we travelled and hunted down recommended restaurants (courtesy of Alex's beijing friend). no regrets. so good.



being in Beijing, u can really feel the Chinese pride and nationalism. the olympics mean a great deal to them. somehow, im sympathetic to the Chinese cause. the Western world has always been critical of the Chinese ways. however, it was them, who carved Chinese territory up for their own gains back then. there was no regard for the humiliation that the chinese felt. now that the chinese economy is booming and the balance of power has shifted, the attitudes of these countries change, framed in the spirit of global friendship and trust. im not being cynical, but we have got to be more discerning and objective when we decide to accuse china just like that. was talking to my chinese friend about tibet, and they do not see the fuss that the world is making. to a certain extent, it is true. the protests were very much propagated, and bloodied by tibetans. also, tibet is part of China. and even if they are fighting for independence, there is no need for violence.

alright, back to updates.

putuoshan was great too. lex, vee, dee, steven, so and me. we basically island hopped in the 舟山 area. 4 islands in total， 普陀山，桃花岛，沈家门， 朱家尖, great seafood, great scenery, fresh air, and lotsa fun. dee brought his guitar, so we were basically jamming all the way. singing along in the bus, in the hotel, at the beach. real cool. the devout buddhists were a sight to behold. u see really elderly people taking this horrendously long ferry ride (12 hrs), to climb a hill and to kneel in front of statues. on the ferry, we saw people who bought the cheapest tickets, then found a corner, any random corner, to curl up and sleep. we had cabins.

the seafood was swimming around in buckets and we just chose what we wanted and the cooking style. hmm yum yum.

i love taking pictures. steven said that he didnt like taking pics, it captured the soul, he said. and also, he thinks that posing for pictures is like capturing an artifical moment, something that doesnt truly reflect what was happening then. i think pictures, posed or candid, helps u capture memories, and moments that maybe years later, may slip your mind. i wanna look back at these pictures, and relive that moment. smell the fragrant flowers in bloom, feel the seaspray, hear the chuckling, and feel the warmth of glorious camaraderie.

we took 7 gb of photos for the two trips, and life is great.

i decided to take the weekend off. went to nanjng with weibiao, wensheng, jiaming, meixin n joyce.

nanjing was a beautiful place. started off really hilariously when we missed the train cos we didnt realise that shanghai railway had that many exits, so we were running around frantically searching for each other. managed to change the ticket to a later one, and reached nanjing around 3 pm. rushed to the nanjing massacre memorial museum. it was truly heartwrenching. i mean, this was worst than the holocaust museum, probably cos of the blood ties. it was painful seeing so many chens on the name board. reading accounts of the japanese torturing the chinese, rounding them up in their respective villages and killing them, leaving no room for escape, piling them up in mass graves etc. the museum was built on a site of a mass grave of 10,000, and in one part, there was the display of the grave, with the skeletons inside. there were babies, old people, teens, and they had bullet holes through skulls, nails in pelvic bones etc. there was this torture mecahnism that the japanese used. it looks like a pig cage, the one that they drown adulterous couples in? except these cages had 8cm nails around the frame, so when they rolled the cage around, the victim got pierced inside out.

there were pictures of old women being violated, and one that was haunting, of a pregnant woman who was raped, then killed, with her entrails pulled out. stories of 7 yr olds being raped, and a running series of pictures showing a 9 yr old boy selling sweets, then blindfolded by a jap soldier, and killed cos he had 3 dollars in his basket.

it was painful reading those accounts, and one can only feel regret that such a thing happened. i really wish that there can be redress, or at least a resolution to it.

went to eat at this place called da pai dang, and they had wonderful nanjing cuisine. also went to visit sun yat sens mausoleum, and the tomb of zhu yuan zhang. all of these artefacts were wonderfully preserved, and thank god for the tour guide we engaged. she wonderfully explained all the details and stories behind everything we saw. many of the artefacts were destroyed in the cultural revolution though.

had a most wonderful and enriching weekend, now its back to school. have a chinese test on tues! argh!

on another note, i miss u guys! lots.

hey guys~

alrighty, im sorry i have not been updating. just recently downloaded this software that allows me to access blogger again, in china!

so yay. im gonna update. first week in china was great. nyu sure takes care of its students, which is a d-uh, considering the phenomenal tuition fees we pay. anyway, we were taken around shanghai.. some tourist spots.. various restaurants.. and of cos, had to sit through many boring lectures on survival skills in china, cos the americans were "culturally ill equipped" to handle the chinese vices. plus, some of them know not a single word of chinese, aside from "xiao long bao". so they had survival chinese classes too.

the campus is just across the road from my apartment, which is cosy, and sufficient for poor ol me. ahaha.. im staying alone. for the very first time in my life. no more housemate or roomie to whine to in the middle of the night boo. but ive been surviving. thank god for friends ive made, and shuzhen, who has been very very accomodating and sweet thus far!

shanghai as a city, is not much different from the other cities ive been too. getting around has been surprisingly easy. every subway stop has english words, and even maps are mapped in english. plus, cabs are cheap. so ive had no problem. theres a carrefour near me too! with h n m and many fancy restaurants, which cost the same as eating at a food court in singapore.

i went shopping too! ahahaha. bargaining at almost every stall, thats kinda fun. the food is fine, but they tend to be really oily n salty. ive put on weight.

well, i look forward to my classes, though they are pretty heavy. alot of readings. plus, im taking advanced chinese. ahaha.. sheesh, back to chinese books after 5 yrs.


more updates soon!

thailand was amazing. shopping was ok. u know, it wasnt the highlight. caught the thai girl show.. cue *EWWW.

went walking around.. the weather was good, the food was good. and im so glad, that this was with u. thanks.

it feels so surreal coming home this winter break. its a rare luxury for me to even be home, cos it costs so much just to fly, but im loving every single moment of it. to be able to be here to see charlton try on his primary school uniform ( which was my primary school too btw), to be able to buy him an ergonomic school bag ( ahh. the luxury), and hmm, just seeing my mum get all edgy over him going to primary school again, is just so weird. but God works wonders in our lives all the time, and charlton has been such a joy.

spending time with loved ones, has got to be the best way to spend your time, ever. where else can u go, and know that people around u, truly loves u, wth no ulterior motives?

xmas was beautiful here, new year was too.

and im sorry i have been missing for so long, guys, lets meet up!

I'm sososo excited! Just had my driving test and i passed! And someone cancelled their shuttle so now I got transport to the airport! Till yesterday night it was still fully booked! All things seem to be working out well, the only thing left to do now is to pack, but that is such a pain! Ahhhhh

not complaining though, christmas at home !