Loving me for Me.

Monday the 8th pieced a wonderful memory for me as well as a beautiful reunion for us, the 6J'ers. :D Its been five years since we had a trip together, and thank lord, it was a fun and safe one. Although not all of us made it, but just the 14? of us together chartered a fun-filled one day two nights trip. Honestly speaking, i wish it lasted longer... But who am i to permit myself of such a wish? At least i hoped. : ]

Only a few days before our trip, we had a gathering at Time Square where we were supposed to be discussing about our soon to be trip. At first, i wasn't able to make it. No doubt, i felt quite sad i couldn't make it. And the worst part was, i had to go to work. Usually on a working day, i would wake up earlier to prepare myself. But i'm not sure for what reason on that day, i sluggishly woke up from bed and took my time. Washed my face and brushed my teeth, i went down to catch a movie before deciding to come back up, shower, and continue preparing myself. To my astonishment and surprise, a phone call came. My boss.

"Hello, Shannon? Morning! Eh, sorry, today the Mid Valley booth will be closed, you don't have to go to work..."

"YES!!!!" after hanging up. Immediately, i made a phone call to my mum. Greenlight. Whoooot~ Flew up the staircase, picked up an outfit (not mentioning the mess i made in doing so), undressed and in the showers i was, exhilarated and overwhelmed with joy. Mc Donald's-meet up point. In the car, i was already feeling nervous. How many were coming? I had no idea. Have they changed?? No idea. Excited yet anxieted too, if there was such a word, lol. Glancing at myself from the rear view mirror, i made a final sure i was looking good and presentable. :P "Hey ya'll..."

Bowling > Karaoke > Movie > Dinner. All in a days work. XD All beat up after all that action, i found i enjoyed myself the most in the very short time we took to get home- on the bus. ^_^

Initially, i didn't expect to have so many of us accompany me home that night. It started off with Yee Yang asking me where i stayed. Coincidentally, he stayed near by, and so we decided to take the bus home together. Who would have thought at the end of the day, we would ALL be taking the EXACT SAME bus to our respective homes?! I was totally awed, and relief i wasn't going to be alone. Bus 62, the only bus i have ever taken and the only bus i was ever familiar with in my 17 years of living. The only bus number i think i would NEVER forget. :D All of them had changed, even if it meant a little. Not only physically, but characteristically as well. To my biggest surprise, all of them have transformed into gentlemen. LOL.

Genting day #1 was an early early call for me. My alarm clock was set to ring at 5.50am and 6.00am. I had to meet the guys at the bus stop at 6.20am to grab the cab which sent us to puduraya. I couldn't sleep the night before and only managed 2 hours of sleep after difficult attempts. Alas was the time to crawl up from bed. Shocked myself in the mirror(freaking pale) and rushed through my shower after receiving Chee Sum's phone call that they were already waiting for me. Smelling great but feeling drowsy, i managed to pull myself together for whatever we had installed for us. It has been 12 whole years since i've went up to Genting. So you can imagine how oblivious i was of how the place looked. In fact, it certainly felt like the first time. : ) Dumped our stuff at Carmen's room in Genting Hotel, we were due to check in at 3.30pm that afternoon in First World. It was early but already so misty. It was drizzling pretty heavily and all we could see was a one piece whiteness surrounding us which made me feel very much like i was stuck in cotton candy. It was all good cause the place wasn't too big, and i didn't get lost too often. Hehe~ We spent our first few hours wandering around the place, figuring out what would be the best thing to do first. Rock climbing struck first place, off we went! All of us but a few sat out. It was my first time rock climbing, i was slightly nervous but mostly excited. It was quite alright after conquering the first few stepping stones but as i reached higher and higher, my legs started to shiver. LOL. My bad for not keeping fit the past few months! XP Anyways, i reached the 7th block by the time i couldn't continue reaching up due to lack of arm length and insufficient stability. But it was AWESOME!! All of them attempted but only one made it to the top! Big cheers for Siong Kyle! *APPLAUSE* :D

Next, we went to the arcade. We did manage to stir up a lot of noise with all the screaming and battling, but it was all cool. Hungry after all the excitement, we had our first meal- brunch? at the food court. It was, by far, the most expensive food court i have ever brunched in. XP Everything was priced sky high and the irony of it all was that i couldn't eat much either cause of gastric. After that, we lingered till our movie time, all the while enjoying each others company. ^_^ QUARANTINE is crap. XD!!! I swear Danyal and I were the only two in the cinema who actually blurted out in laughter, more than once. The whole movie was 95% filmed using a handy-cam and in the dark which gave us all the ultimate headache and the irrepressible feeling of wanting to barf. Luckily, none of us did. The storyline was far fetched and the massacres reminded me of Kill Bill- blood splurting out every where, sudden screams and people running around hysterically. Kill Bill was better, period.

I received a phone call from Lai Kuan towards the end of the show. Because Yoke Fei and herself didn't join us for the movie, they were staying back at the hotel we already checked in at. Apparently, due to some action of their own XD, they both lost the room card and were in the midst of darkness. LOL. I suggested she opened the door to allow light in so to help in their search for the missing room card, she followed suit.

After the movie, "We got locked out of the room!! :'( The cards are inside and we are stuck outside!! Come save us!!"

In my mind, disturbia!!! XD I wanted to feel angry, but ended up laughing instead like a cuckoo! Shannon and Su Zanne to the rescue! Wheeee~ :D The rest went up as Su Zanne and myself requested a new card. We managed to fool Lai Kuan and the rest into thinking we needed her mom to come back up to Genting for a new card, hysteria. Wakaka... Finally, i and her were locked out briefly for the stunt. XD After all that drama, we showered and had ourselves Maggie Cups for dinner on our bed, all of us. After dinner, 8 of us went out for a stroll in the cold night air. And no, i did not plan to sleep that night, AT ALL. It was wonderful!

Genting day #2 - 11pm. The air was nice and chilly and totally alerted me from my daze. Snapped some pictures here and there, sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY songs out loud in THREE languages to Joshua,we finally walked ourselves back from the garden. Sliced the cake and the usual birthday "rituals", some of us embarked on our journey downstairs to starbucks where we thought we would spend the rest of our night at. Unfortunately after a few rounds of chor dai di and monopoly, our stomaches started to grumble in hunger, it was around 3.45am. And so Yee Yang and I went to ta pau some Mc D's and we devoured them scrumptiously. Afterwards, i was starting to feel sleepy again so Yee Yang and myself went on a stroll around Genting itself. We talked and reminisced about our primary school life, events and many few hilarious moments not to be spoken of again. X] We walked up and down elevators pointlessly, crossed all the bridges too, not to mention repeatedly without noticing until we reached a dead end. This went on for hours as we each shared about our own experiences.

It was 7am already, and people were starting to appear all around us. The sun was up, and i was glad i made it without succumbing to sleep. Just a few more hours to bear, i told myself. So out we went into the daylight as we hiked up to the same garden we visited a few hours before and i was surprised to see how much more welcoming and pleasant looking it was in broad daylight. I also managed to catch a few glimpses of a near sunrise on Genting, where the whole mountain was encircled in puffy white clouds and beautiful greeneries. The view was breath-taking. After all that, off we went back to our hotel.

Almost everyone was awake by the time we got back. In waiting for my turn to shower, i nestled myself comfortably on the not so crowded bed and enjoyed a few minutes of shut eye. We played cards and watched tv until around 12.45 when we had to check out. Later, we had lunch at KFC together. Then, enjoyed 5 minutes of the bumper car which was pure fun, and our final activity of the day- The Spiderman? The Flying Fox Roller Coaster (unsure of the name) which i was FORCED to pay for the ride, and also which i cried in. I totally despise roller coasters and theme parks. I'm a chicken in height thrillers, unfortunately. So there we were on the way down to the cable cars and soon, on the bus home to KL.

Final dinner was at a stall in Petaling Street where we all had chinese noodles. Soon afterwards, the same bunch of us took the same Bus 62 home. During the ride, there was more laughter and buzzes. So much so that an annoying Bangla dude on the bus confronted us. Anyways, that didn't stop us from enjoying each others company. Gradually, lesser and lesser of us remained in the bus. Outside started to drizzle heavily once again. In concern of my safety, Yoke Fei offered to walk me home. He stays nearby my place, and eventhough i did feel guilty for causing inconvenience to him, i accepted his offer as he reminded me of the increasing numbers of theft cases around our area. We were reaching our last stop, when suddenly, all the other boys decided to walk me home too! Chee Sum, Siong Kyle and Kah Hoe. I felt immense guilt for letting them get down the bus after me but they were so reluctant in changing their minds, i gave in. At that time, rain started pouring over us and no, we were nowhere near an umbrella. It wasn't too far the distance from the bus stop to my house, but nonetheless, i felt so much more relieved with them around. C: They walked me back safely to my doorstep and i hugged them each goodbye after thanking them. I couldn't have felt more safe and lucky at that moment to have such true great friends caring for me. Discreetly, i prayed for their own safety home and their sms of assurances. It has been so long since i felt this real around people, and i have only them, my 6Jers' friends to thank for this, for bringing me back to my childhood once more, and sharing with me the most beautiful reunion i have ever experienced... I love them all, trully..*

Our FIRST stop in Xi An- Chang An! Where there are several tall walls surrounding the whole city, where the people were protected when a war occured. Sadly, there was still a lot of unguarded areas. Surprisingly, it wasn't too chilly that morning. : )


6th November 2008- There wasn't any direct flight to Xi An, so we had to go through a really long and frustrating transit in Shanghai first. After waiting 3 hours in transit, we finally boarded the China Eastern Airlines- which is crap compared to MAS, and off we went 5 hours towards my long awaited great escape! :D

Very fortunately, our tour consisted of REALLY NICE people. Mostly couples, but like mine, a young family of 6 made this trip evermore enjoyable! ^-^ They were an interesting family. There were the parents- Mr + Mrs Wong, their eldest son- Khai Hoe (16), Khai Meng (15), Kar Mein (12) and the youngest- Kar Yan (11), who didn't look her age at all!
Initially, i took my time to warm up to them, but as soon as i did, i found them a really pleasant combination of a family. : ) Kar Yan the youngest is a five year-old sized petite girl who can't help but attract the rest of our attention with her baby voice and playful demeanor. Mom found her a "tinch" irritating after a while, i tolerated. X) Kar Mein is a really down to earth, CHATTY and easily sociable girl who entertained me with LOTS of her primary school gossip. LOL. Khai Meng is quite an eccentric character who enjoyed spending 99% of his time on the bus playing chor dai di and wearing his raincoat material winter jacket most of the time during our trip, including every meal time! XD Lastly, Khai Hoe was a surprise to me. Seemingly confident but yet sometimes shy, he turned out to be quite a funny guy for his age. It was nice just communicating with him from time to time and breaking a barrier of communication each day of our 9 days, lol, what a sense of achievement! :D
Visiting Xi An this trip has really made me think back of all my other trips to China. I've seen more from this trip than from the others. The Terra Cotta in Xi An, Shao Lin Temple in He Nan, Bau Jing Tian Magistrate Court in Kai Feng, Huang He (Yellow River) in Zheng Zou and finally, the Dong Fang Ming Zu watch tower and Cheng Huang Temple in Shanghai! This was certainly one of the best trips to China i've ever experienced! ^-^
There was surprisingly very little shopping the first few days, but on the last half day in Shanghai, it was definitely the heaven for shopaholics! XD Cheng Huang Temple was like a massive Petaling Street for pirated goods. And when i say pirated goods, i mean GOOD QUALITY piracy. Compared to those of our Petaling Street, CHT ones are so much more un-differentiable to the real thing. You wouldn't believe how ridiculously cheap the stuff are there- when converted to Malaysian Ringgit of course. : ) There was only a limited time of an hour and a half to spend in CHT but nonetheless, i managed to get a few things at a really good price.
China is a promising place full of opportunities for "negotiation" X) , and in my case, i took that to my advantage. X] Warming up, i approached the first shop. Browsing through the tiny shop, i finally saw something i wanted.
"Miss, how much is this overcoat?" "110 RMB" (RM55) "What? So expensive??" "Not expensive... Quality is good ma... You like it, you take it la..." "Nolahh... Too expensive... Its ok then..." "Wait wait pretty girl! Ok ok! What price you want? What price??" "Hmm... 70RMB." "Wahhh really too low ah!! Just a little more, little more can??" "75RMB is the MOST i will pay." (RM37.50) "Wahh you're really good at bargaining ah for a young lady like you"
<>

Stepping out of the shop, a grin couldn't help but ripple across my face as i felt a strong sense of victory as if a battle was won. Less did i know how foolish i was until i reached the next shop.

Although our Shanghai tour guide did tell us NOT to compare our purchases with each other after buying them, but everyone did. XP

The next shop and the next shop after that really made me regret buying from the first shop. Wakaka... XD I totally got fooled! For almost the similar amount of material as well as, i must say, better looking overcoat, i paid only 60-65RMB!!! I could've saved even more if i was cruel. Haha! Got pretty pissed afterwards, but everyone was. Hahahaha.... Nonetheless, thats the experience you should expect shopping ANYWHERE in China! Brace yourselves... ;D

Anyways, i still consider this trip the most CONSCIOUS, fun-filled one compared to the rest. Hmmm Maybe its because of my age... My first trip was when i was 12-Gui Lin, 13-Yun Nan , then 14-Beijing, now 17-Xi An. I realize i love China! No matter how ripped off shopping may be there, it does never fail to make you miss the hectics there, not to mention the overwhelming unending histories it has to offer. Imma chink through and through ~ <3

Hey ya'll! Firstly, a warm warm welcome to my blog! ^-^ I feel great to finally have this blog to share. : ) I used to feel pretty prejudice about blogging, but as life takes me to different places and different aspects, especially now, i feel i must somehow leave traces of my memories and experiences in a safe place, where i can access them once again, and re-live that moment of joy. Just like pirates who hunger for treasure, i hunger for new adventures, new experiences, new lessons,be it good or bad. With this, i would love to share it with you, my precious friends. Allow me to constantly remind you of my existence by updating you daily/weekly/monthly of the insides and outs of my life, and in hopes that you may enjoy them as much as i do. Million thanks and a wonderful day to you. : ]

With Love Always,
Shannon
(aka zinrue)