We spent about 10 days in China, moving from Guangzhou to Guilin to Yangshuo. It wasn't as good a trip as we had in Shanghai-Hangzhou-Nanjing-Suzhou...guess we are not so used to the puffing chimneys and hygiene standards...but nonetheless, there were several very enjoyable moments!

GUANGZHOU

We first arrived at Guangzhou and were rather disappointed with the shopping. Despite I read that GZ is a shopping paradise, there were simply really really absolutely NOTHING decent! There were however, streets for undies, streets for shoes, streets for gifts...etc and we did enjoy shopping for the basic staples...thermals, socks...etc And that's just about it!

GUILIN

Guilin was a little more fun. We first visited a cave...Mum did well climbing up. And Meredith of course had no problem!


The guide recommended a rather expensive restaurant where we had our first meal in Guilin and tried local dishes, and decided it would only be a first and last. It was tasty but that's about it.

When we left the restaurant...check out what else we saw they were serving...

These 'Zhu Shu' they say feed on bamboo...

And anyone for these '7-colours' birds?


Before we arrived at 'Longji', the guide took us to the famous Guilin Mifen, which is what the locals eat for breakfast everyday, 7 days a week, and never ever got tired of...

He took us to a local-off-the tourist-trap eatery at some corner...and the mifen were selling at local price...only RMB2.50!

This was what we saw first:


The free-flow-help-yourself soup to the mifen... and the chopsticks boiled in a pot...

And then we studied carefully how the other ingredients were being prepared...


Are you sure we would still be alive after eating this???

We passed by this guy preparing the mifen...

And saw the most inviting part of the mifen....chilli, peanuts and salted vegetables...


After confirming there were disposable chopsticks, we ordered our first and most unforgettable Guilin mifen...


It was absolutely marvellous...

But I also believe it was here that got us all ill, one by one...

Anyway, that was breakfast.

We got up to Longji after about a 2 and a half hours' drive. We had lunch before anything else. The guide took us to this family-owned place where everything was prepared fresh...

Because it was so high up, the ingredients were fresh from the farmers!
The fish was alive just minutes before
The tofu were homemade
The vegetables were fresh from the ground
The chicken was slaughtered just for the soup...and Mum said its a female one because of this:


Definitely a yummy lunch!... and then we were off to the rest of the climb!


Meredith decided to join the local tribe...and worked on the farm a bit...


Ever wondered how construction materials were delivered so high up?

Skilled workers without the machinery...

The local tribe Zhuang...The ladies do not ever cut their hair...and they don't turn grey before they turn 70. They say its the way they wash their hair...

The homemade tofu...

LI RIVER CRUISE

Wasn't as spectacular as I had imagined. But I guess we were there at the wrong season. It's winter and all misty and foggy.

We were supposed to imagine what the hills looked like along the way... this one supposed to look like what the officials wear on their head...

And I thought this one looked like a fox resting...


There were beautiful scenery at some point...



YANGSHUO

This is the place we stayed at Yangshuo. Very peaceful... dining by the river and hill...

We went to watch the Zhang Yi Mo-directed Impression Liu San Jie, thinking it would be one of a kind, with natural hill and river as the set.

It was spectacular, with impressive display of co-ordination and lighting effects...but not the love story we were hoping to watch...

These men were standing on rafts and messing with the red cloth in the river...must be freezing for them

Check out the hill/ rocks and full moon-all real...for us!

Like I said, we all fell ill. Reegan was the first to see the doctor...we thought that was the safest thing to do. And then Mum...

The lady in moroon was there sitting right next to Mum throughout the consultation. No she was no relative nor friend nor any remote associate. We were at first puzzled but figured that must be their amazing queuing system...(She was actually the next patient with zero knowledge of comfort zone and privacy!)


The way the Chinese can't live without puffing...even in the hospital...as a cashier, even a doctor!
I can't imagine if I have to deliver in such a hospital...


Back at Guilin before we head back to GZ to take a flight back to Sin, we had a wonderful bamboo raft right to the Xiang Bi Shan (Elephant's Trunk).


The commarants...in captivity...

See the elephant's trunk?

We were happy to be back....to decent fashion and civilization...but definitely had fond memories of the trip!

Giving up the P-plate

It was a somewhat emotional last day of school...everyone thought we've had a great year together. The learning, the fun, the friendship...

The morning started with the usual morning activities...and Reegan joined in as if he was part of the class

Then as part of the conspiracy, we presented the gift to Miss P. It was a photo book of the year's events and childrens' autographs....it was very meaningful.

And its true...like they were saying, its hard to find such a group. The kids are really sweet, parents are so thoughtful, considerate...was lucky to be in such a group!

When the gift was presented, it was rather overwhelming...some teary parents and Miss P herself gave a little speech.

At the end of the day, Meredith's class was the only one that came out with each a balloon, with love from Miss P. They are so lucky! But while everyone was busy bidding farewell and having some last conversations for the year... Meredith was busy sulking!.....all because she did not get the colour she wanted....sigh....


Well, next year she will be on to Year 1, with a very friendly teacher as I know of as far...and am sure will be another great year!

The Guilty Smile

This is the look whenever he is guilty...Here, he was trying to take more tissue when he didn't need it...He comes real close to you sometimes with this guilty smile and calls out 'Mummy, Mummy'...


He has made several progressions since...

Using the cup
Feeding himself
Recognizing colours
Widening his vocabulary
Putting on his shoes
Saying 'Yes' when previously everything was 'No' even though he meant a 'yes'


Next step...toilet training!

Now that Daddy has finished pruning, trimming, cutting, fertilizing the garden...

Know what the kids been up to these days? Watering the garden...

It's funny to see Reegan with the oversized watering can. We have yet to find a cute little kids size watering can, and when we do, they'll gonna have much more fun!


Yes, watering the grass is important!

This is a nice picture of Reegan...at the hospital...


Just a while before this, we had the worst scare of our life! He had a fall....and had a moderate concussion. I will always remember how he looked like...seemed to be in so much pain...but he could not cry out...his colours were gone....

We knew we had to charge to the hospital...we just couldn't think of anything else. We asked where the nearest hospital was..and great, it was within walking distance. We literally ran there, as if the enemies soldiers were right behind us. We kept calling his name throughout the run. Meredith was good catching up with us.

Just about 5 minutes later, we arrived at the Boxhill Hospital, right at the emergency department. We could hardly stay calm. But we did. By then, Reegan had returned to the correct state...and his colours were back...we were relieved but still very worried about what had happened.

Anyway, all is well now...he was placed under a 4-hour observation and he did very well.

He is all good now...

All cheery, all exploring and all chatty....that's Reegan!

So here we go...done with all the shifting, packing unpacking, cleaning and buying....We're now comfortable and happy in the new place. The garden is great for the kids...although the weeds are a bit tall and sturdy, and Reegan venturing into it looks like he is exploring the forests. But they loved it anyway!

The most expensive part is definitely the piano, how it got plunged down, literally. The movers decided to use the crane this time round, rather than climbing down 9 flights of stairs. And that cost me a whopping $1k to do it...

Nonetheless, everyone has got more space, the place is quieter, traffic is better... and the neighbours....a bunch of retirees mostly, is looking very helpful and friendly!

It's SG Day!

The day was great for Sg Day...bright and sunny...but a little too hot for all that queuing... We had to queue to get in and the queue was reeaallly loooong. They say there were 15 000 people! And people had to queue for nearly 2 hours to get in! Its silly! They queue just to get a silly tag on the wrist! They could just open the gate wide and let people just go in! Why the need to tag us??? But luckily for me and thanks to Susan, the volunteers let me in because I had a baby in pram! Phew!

Then when you get in...it was queuing again...to get the food. I was looking forward to all those food they had advertised...yes they were all there but it was too hard to get around pushing the pram up and down the hill. I just had to join the nearest queue and no, there wasn't any shortest queue! I had to make do with the Hainanese Curry Rice...but it was awful...soggy rice...hmmm...not for me.

Thankfully those were just about the queuing I had to do, oh and of course for the goodie bags.

Meredith attended a little SEED session and brought back some storybooks they had given the participants.

But the best best best part of the whole day has got to be PCK and his crew. It was just so nice to finally sit on the lawn to just watch and laugh...laugh about Singlish and jokes about Sg (the ERP gantry ...etc) and how he asked for volunteers and made fun of them....it was hilarious!


Definitely enjoyed one of my favourite childhood drink...

Listening to..."This is home....truly, where I know I must be..." sure brings back memories...me teaching the boys to sing for National Day!!

I did forget I was in Melbourne for a while. Just like at Aidan's birthday, I felt strange to see a different type of people when I step out of the venue...

My favourite flower has always been the tulips. And I know there is a Tulip Festival here every year. But I never thought of going... I didn't believe in paying to see flowers...

But our day ended very early, had a nice picnic of packed sandwiches from the deli. We had to think of a nice place to go and The Tesselar Festival was having their Children's Day that day. So we decided to go anyway.

Mum was very excited with the rows and rows of beautiful colourful tulips. They were indeed a delight to look at.



Meredith had her fun at the activities organised for the kids....she was at the storytelling with Fairy Monica and got a fairy dust on her forehead. She also did some craft...making a little purse which is now in the dump and which I paid $5 for.

But we enjoyed the day....very much....a day with the flowers....who wouldn't?

The next day, we headed down to Katandra Gardens...a garden managed only by an elderly couple. They started in 1974, builded a little shed as their house, they said they had no money then. Now, it has expanded to an 8 acre Australian wild flowers garden, including a little lake they dug up themselves. The host, Bob also told us how he would want to get as many planst from all over Australia as possible, even travelling to the dessert! That was some inspiration!

I am not into wild plants and never thought much about them. But this trip has made me changed my viewpoint... there's so much in nature's wonder!!

This is the first interesting plant we saw....called a Grass Tree...get it, its like grass growing on a tree. Did you see its flower in the middle hidden among the leaves? Meredith was the first to spot the flower.



The Thomasia... it gives off a delightful scent....we smelled it first and then went sniffing for the plant. Where did the smell come from??

This is the lake they dug up which now houses some grebes. Grebes can dive underwater and resurface again some distance away! And they do make a loud noise! The brown patch in front of the lake is a new bed ready for low-lying plants...

This is an example of low-lying plants... they need something like this so that the view of the lake would not be blocked...

The grass....soft and dry...we just sat there forever...enjoying the lake and taking in the beauty of the surroundings...

This flower has so many shades of orange and pink... very pretty!


This is the Lime Majik... so soft-looking...

And this was interesting...the nature of which plants grows first...When I saw this, I understand why some of the trees in the streets are already blooming while others are still bald since winter!

I didn't get the name for this...but it looks like purple tissue paper growing on the tree!

Just so neat the way the leaves grow...and an occasional flower in the middle of nowhere!

This is a little lily...looking frus but definitely not! Just the way the photo turned out...

It was one of our best days! What an amazing garden!