Eh aku ingatkan myspace dah defunct. Ada lagi loser dok main menatang ni.
Sorry la minggu ni aku sungguh sinikal, tak berwawasan, tak bermaya, takde semangat nak idup, takde nafsu (selalunya aku ni insatiable wahahhaha bodoh bodoh), tangan rasa gatal nak capai rokok, hati kacau, tangan menggeletar, senyum terpaksa, takde ilham, takde inspirasi, takde drive, takde keter, takde perasaan seronok, anti-sosial, anti-lelaki, anti-pompan, anti-pengkid, anti-makcik, anti-melayu, anti-JB, rasa cam nak hop on the next flight to hell, rasa cam nak skin someone alive, rasa cam nak baling panties kat this one cute msian chinese, rasa cam nak go reclusive, rasa cam nak go elusive. Woooooo messy.
This weekend I have... let's see. 1, 2, 3, 4 events. Saturday n Sunday. Three events on Saturday including 2 cocktail parties. One art exhibition on Sunday. But I think imma skip that art stuff sbb Saturday night konfem aku terbalik. Konfem.
Seriously, I was lying in bed on a sunny Sunday; things could go shitty, or fabulous depending on how active my fingers are at sending sms-es to what little clan I have here.
Friday night: We were supposed to go to Houhai bars to scout the area; I cancelled it. Saturday night: We promised to chill at QBar at 1030pm, I called at 10pm to take a raincheck. Sunday night: I was scheduled to meet my so-called gang at this rnb club, to which I said no thanks. I'm so not in the mood.
As of now, I think I have aced this small test Yanz suggested I take to see whether I have a substance abuse problem. And I'm proud to announce that I don't! Hurrah to me! I adhered to the test and I've been clean for a week! Yeay! Now don't that alone calls for a celebration huh hehehe.
I need someone sial. It's fucked up lounging about in the house on a beautiful weekend when you could tour the city, canoodle around town, talk about things that matter to you, share beautiful feelings, be yourself, kutuk someone else silly or whatever it is you couples do nowadays. All these distractions, they don't last long anyway. In the end you kinda realized you just need a fucking companion.
Now where do I find a fucking companion lah? Eh that didn't come out right hehe.
These days I am quite busy exploring the city. Especially bila ada geng ni.
Last Saturday I woke up at fricking 4.30am to go to Panjiayuan, the famous flea market in Beijing. We were told that the best time to go there is very early in the morning, where the stuffs are rare and unique. Okaayyyy.
We arrived at Panjiayuan at 5.30am.
This is the entrance, 5.30am in the morning. The sun rises very very early in the morning during summer, unlike during winter.
Merchants are still bringing in their products. With every means possible. There were horses, carts, bicycles that were used to bring in stuffs in here.
"Where to start wei?"
Old scriptures on a lot of topics. Rare nih. And some very old frames with their grandparents' pictures in it. Sapa la nak beli gambar nenek moyang orang lain liddat.
It is so vast and massive and extends to the back and sideways.
"Gambar abah kau!"
All the Maos you can think of.
Mancchu people.
Paintings!
We tried to explore all the nooks and crannies of the street, and still we only managed to walk through HALF of Panjiayuan, and it was already 11.30am. We were sleepy, hungry and tired of lugging 3 big paintings, 1 set of miniature Chinese furniture, 1 teaset, 3 different sizes of tile paintings, 2 bagfuls of accessories. The amount of people were starting to trickle in, with a quarter of them being foreigners, and you know the prices are not friendly prices anymore once the foreigners starting filling the area up. It was getting hot and we were getting cranky from all the arguments with the merchants and the carrying of heavy loots in our hands that we decided we're done for the day.
There is still ANOTHER area of Panjiayuan we still haven't gotten around to walk through yet, but gosh. We only covered half and already we were high from all the activities, the atmospheres and the many array of stuffs being offered. We haggled like mad though, and we concluded that this flea market offers better prices for the same stuffs that are being offered in their silk markets and the likes. You really need one whole day to really try this place. Half a day just won't cut it.
I'm feeling suicidal today. No wait a minute. Let's just make things easier by saying that I'll be feeling defeated, suicidal and territorial during this whole week.
Ada org tanya rahsia aku kurus. Senang jer.
Boyfriends make u fat. This is a proven fact for me. All those late night suppers and midnight cravings are detrimental to your curves. So don't have one. Or have one that's far away from you. Works too well for me.
When I'm feeling suicidal, demented or demonic; I skipped lunch/dinner and replace it with vodka instead. Works like a charm weh.
I swore off rice like 6 months ago. Except in sushis and very watery porridge, rice is a no-no for me. Even when I'm being forced to eat rice (like in events or people's houses, I have about half a handful of rice. Normally I don't even finish that)
I gorge on a lot of vegetables when I'm in the mood to eat. I eat 5-6 kinds of vegetables in one sitting. Sometimes I simply eat vegetables, no lauk, no rice.
I snack on fruits. And kuaci hehe.
I try to exercise twice a week.
I stopped eating after 7pm. When I get hunger pangs I drink a lot of water, or green tea. Or juices.
I stopped eating before I get full.
I don't eat in front of the TV. I'd love to, but it makes me eat a lot more than I should, being distracted by the TV and all.
I use olive oil in my cookings. They're healthier.
Obviously these are not even secrets anyway. People know these diet regime but they don't actually do it. Takat whining2 nak kurus tp makan 10 jenis makanan during breakfast ko takyah citer ah. And evidently my diet plan is not that healthy or wholesome (esp No 2 there heh), and I tweaked it to my own preferences. But it has worked so far, and I'm not saying my weight now is a knockout, but I'm currently very happy with it now. I'd like to lose maybe another 2kgs, and after that I'll just play around with the figures.
I do still love those sinful foods; cakes, pastries, fried ciken, steaks and Italian foods and I do have them occasionally. Like cakes I only have a bite and keep it in the fridge to be enjoyed later. You can never be too rigid with the diet regime, or else you get too stifled and miss out on your life. I go easy sometimes, eating after 7pm or I eat rice twice in one day, but it's all good. I'd probably double my exercise time the next day, or if I get really lazy I cycle rigorously to and from work.
Going shopping at night worked for me too. The hours pass by quickly, you don't even feel hungry looking at stuffs, you don't get the glare from the sun, you get less tired and when you reach home you're ready to go to bed by then. Oh and I shop alone. So there's no "Maner lps ni?" question thrown at you which you knew inevitably will end up with you somewhere in a coffee shop having a sip of hot chocolate and a piece of cake. Anyway, like I said it's all good. Kadang2 lepak minum catch up with the latest goss pon menarik jgk.
I used to be one of those people who love buffet foods. More reasons to eat!, I used to say. I would stack up plates upon plates full of everything on the table, tasting and stuffing my face silly. But now I simply eat moderately, I don't fill up my plates with practically everything that was offered by the buffet line. Bits of this and that, lotsa vegetables and when I'm almost full I stop. It seems a waste that you're not really using the opportunity to be a glutton, but really sampai bila nak makan mcm org kebuluran ye dak.
Anywayyyyy
Don't count on me to keep this up. When I go back to Malaysia for good you know I'm gonna gain ALL the fats I lost here all over again. Buang karan jer huhu.
I wish I can stuff my face silly with foods and not gain a single pound but who am I kidding here.
I'm not an expert in art, but when I was invited to the exhibition of one of Malaysia's foremost and renowned watercolorist (as some people passionately calls him), I couldn't pass up on the chance or the free booze at 3pm on a working day.
With the maestro himself. Humble, soft spoken, down-to-earth. We were talking amongst ourselves how reserved he is, and that he is a man with few words, but with little words he said he expresses himself so elaborately through his arts; striking, arresting, awe-inspiring.
Mekong - Exploring The Source runs from 30th May - 15 June 2008. If you're stuck in Beijing, has an affinity for art (or the men that come to art exhibitions) and passionate about supporting Malaysian art scenes, don't miss the chance to see for yourself the great works by this incredibly talented Terengganu born artist.
Last weekend was the 2nd time I visited Great Wall. Before this I had taken my mom to the Great Wall at Badaling, last winter.
If you're in China/Beijing and you didn't take this opportunity to visit the Great Wall, you're so missing out on the adventure. The best time to go to the Great Wall? Anytime! If you have the chance/time/money go to the Great Wall in all the four seasons, because by then you're seeing the wall in a totally different landscapes, and the views get breathtakingly beautiful in spring and winter, when you can see flowers blooming in the background or snow covering the mountains. When I went there during winter, it was not snowing (but still the temperature dipped negative) but it was still a very eye opening experience, and you cannot help but marvel at the architecture, the engineering and the tenacity it took to get this wall up.
Indeed there are many sections (and at different provinces) of the Great Wall that you can visit, though the more famous ones are Badaling, Mutianyu and Simatai.
Badaling is very tame, less challenging, less uphill walks, less stairs and many illegal streetvendors. Mutianyu is slightly more demanding, with a lot of uphill walks, steep stairs, cable car and toboggan ride action going on. Simatai is the real deal, if you're into wild and tough hikings at the wall.
Maybe for my next visit I'll do the Simatai site.
You cannot escape the vendors outside.
Mutianyu is 20 km long, has 22 beacon towers, and if you're easily tired you can take the cable car up to the site and can start exploring the wall from there.
These cable cars are akin to the one at ski resorts. Cool ehhhh.
Down there is the track for the toboggan ride. If you don't know what it is, google "toboggan ride great wall" and you'll get the idea.
Ahhh this is different from the field of brown-colored soil I saw when I went to Badaling during my previous visit.
To make my point clearer, here is a picture from last weekend, taken at Mutianyu.
This was last winter, taken at Badaling.
Stark difference kan? Ok sambung balik citer.
Almost to the end of the cable car ride.
After you've arrived at the 1st check point, there is nothing left to do but explore, walk around and taking in the view. I scaled half the entire length of the Mutianyu I kid you not.
Wearing this. I am fearless!! (And I do mean I scaled half the entire length, I must've walked and climbed and trampled up immeasurable amount of stairs, steep walkways, sometimes going uphill then downhill and covered a whole lotta miles)
Inside one of their many watch towers. It's windy and cooling, and nice to rest in the shade while catching your breath.
A lot of awkward, half steps.
After you've arrived at almost to the end of the wall (half of the wall was covered with leaves and trees already, and the route there had somehow been closed), what else to do but walk back to where the cable car deposited us and head to the toboggan ride to go back to the entrance. Tiring sial!!
I didn't take any pictures of my toboggan ride (my very 1st time!) but it was so much fun weyyyy!!! Better than those sickeningly overrated rollercoasters (though they are in a different class altogether but heck it!). I was going moderately fast (because the person in front of me was slowed down by a slowpoke in front of him, and the person behind me was getting nearer by the minute) and speeding at the curves! So much fun. I almost contemplated trying it again, going back up with the cable car, then go back down with the toboggan ride. It was exhilarating!! :-)
Oh btw, try to buy your drinks and snacks before you go up to the Great Wall, because chances are if you're trying to buy the drinks when you're already up there, you'll be ripped off. We were ripped off pretty badly, when one measly mineral water costs RMB10, instead of the usual RMB3! Damn these capitalists. When you scolded them for trying to charge too much for ur purchases, they showed you the wooden saddle they used to haul those drinks up on the Great Wall, and you kinda felt pretty foolish for admonishing an old guy for trying to make a living. And then when I picked up a banana, a frickingbanana, they told you it's also RMB10 and fucking hell... I felt like shoving that damn banana up their throats. Ridiculous!! But it was summer, the sun was shining harshly, we need to rehydrate our bodies, that ice cold mineral water with a strip of melted ice in it looked very tempting and you know bananas can provide you with energy for the walk back.
Here are more tips (for your trips during summer that is):
Wear reliable shoes (D'oh!)
Wear sunblock with high SPF during summer (I got nice bikini lines though)
Wear comfortable attire (I know it looks out of place to be wearing a dress to the Great Wall, but I cannot imagine how other people's crotch's conditions are in those tight jeans and khakis [betcha it's smelly, sweaty, stuffy and kepam, ewww]. When I'm hot, all I did was fan the skirt around and I'm all done hahaahha)
Bring a good camera (You wouldn't really want to miss taking pictures of you at one of the seven wonders of the world now would you? Camera phones do not apply)
Bargain, or try to. Sometimes they let slide a couple of RMBs off. But then again, this rules applies to wherever you go in China haha.
Don't, for the love of God, don't carry heavy backpacks and bags when you're up there. Unless if you wanna stop halfway and not see the whole length of the wall. I saw people struggling with their bagpacks/ equipments/ babies and I pity them for not thinking this further. Heavy bags add weights to your trip, and you're expected to walk alot in it, go figure lah. I only brought my fabulous self , some cash, my camera, and that's it.
Only bring babies/ toddlers if you can handle them. Have you seen the steps? Exactly.
Do bring a deck (or two) of cards. When you get so tired you and your friends can hang around in the one of the beacon towers and play chochaitee or jimrami. Just make sure to leave before the place closes, which is at 4pm.
Other than that, the Great Wall is an adventure not to be missed, y'll!! I lost a few kgs just standing there under the great sun (and put the kgs back on with ravioli thee hee).
