My Life So far..

As most people know, me & my ex are now just friends but there are certain points in our "newly found" friendship that actually makes me wonder if he thinks otherwise. I find myself spending way too much time with him than with my other friends plus there are the little things that he says or does that made me come to that conclusion.

Many people have told me that he’s still hung up on me but I on the other hand, keep insisting that "no,he’s moved on.We’re just good friends now." Big mistake. In my desire to be friends with him, I have now given him the false hope of reattachment. For everytime that he fetches me from work,for everytime we have dinner together, all of these will one day turn against me.

What should I do? I have no heart to be outright & say,"Maybe we shouldn’t be spending so much time together..maybe we should just really be friends?" God, that would kill him internally…argghh,goddamn love..

Wow, I forgot how fun it is to party in Beijing(I spent in total only 150 kuai & I got pretty satisfied with the drinks)!! I just got back about 5 hours ago from an all-night drinking/dancing session & it was Fun,Fun,Fun!

My friend,Shin, brought me to a place called the Black Sun near Chaoyang Park.  Although it was kinda early, we decided to just chill out 1st & I was not disappointed.  The DJ was actually playing a great set & the crowd was pretty friendly.  I ended up playing pool with David from America, Pluto from Norway, Kitty from China & of course, Shin from Korea..nice!

Anyways, after hours, we moved on to The Den for more drinks & dancing. It was not the best place but the atmosphere was conducive enough (or because of all the drinks I had piled into me made me feel so).It was all good,Good.

Actually I have a question. 

Flirting…is it directly related to a person’s self-confidence level?Or is it just something that people do naturally? Anyone care to let me know?

Tonight will be my last night in Guiyang..I’m going back to sunny Singapore hopefully a bit wiser & stronger.

My host family was nice enough to organise a farewell dinner for me. Although I was quite apprehensive when they brought one of their favourite dishes…congealed chicken blood…They actually wanted me to try some but I was pretty upfront & said that I wouldn’t be able to deal with that. After a while, they realised that I was serious about this & they gave in. I was also given my first ever cup of rice wine,supposedly another specialty here..tried that. It kind of tasted like "Cap Ibu & Anak" cough syrup though.

Anyway, won’t write much today cos I still have to finish up packing..see ya in Singapore!

I’m writing today to apologise.

I realised today after reading my blogs that I sound dissatisfied with China. I just want to say that despite all of China’s "shortcomings", I do love it here. I love the fact that it snows down here(even thou I find myself freezing my butt off here), I love the fact that it’s different from Sg(everything’s abt 5x cheaper), I love the fact that even the people are exact opposites(even thou I complain abt them alot..) This is going to sound just like a damn "Visit Beijing" ad. but here goes;

Beijing:

Now Beijing is going to be where the next Olympic games are going to be held. They are doing their upmost best to improve on the infrastructure & facilities in order to welcome the thousands of tourists into their lovely city. While I question how exactly they do it, I’m just glad that something’s being done.

What can you do in Beijing? For one, SHOP! There are countless shopping malls (Xidan,Wang Fujing,Hongqiao Market)  that you can go to & get the most authentic fakes in the market e.g. Prada, YSL,Gucci etc..But of course, the most important thing is to bargain,bargain,bargain! The standard here is such that they will quote you a real high price(probably cos you’re not a Beijinger). Start with half the amount quoted & work your way up.  If you think it’s still not reasonable,walk away..they’ll start coming after you & most of the time, agree to the price that you quoted..

You should definately check out the old buildings as well(well, most of them are torn down or going to be torn down)but go to Siheyuan where there are still some courtyard type of residentials.

If you feel like having a few drinks after a long day at work or shopping, you can try Sanlitun Bar street or Houhai where you will find endless rows of bars,pubs & discos.  Or if you feel like dancing,there are a few clubs that should do. A few recommendations:

Sanlitun:

1)’Kai’: where they serve drinks at 10-25 kuai(S$2- 7) min. Great if you’re ‘financially challenged but still need a few drinks.

2)The Tree: Great atmosphere for chilling with a couple of friends or by yourself.Friendly service staff. Good live band. Good mix of foreign beers. I also hear that they have free wireless internet connection here.Damn good!!! * I’d probably bring my "braderz, Jackie & Fishhead & my gal pal,Yetz here..bottoms up!!*            

Gongti:

1) Mix & Vics: Both have a mix of local & expats clubbing in here. Mostly Hip Hop/R & B/retro. Be prepared to stand cos these places are usually packed.

Chaoyang Park:

1) Suzie Wong’s: Great for chill outs/lounging.The best Long Island Tea that I’ve had in Beijing.

2) The Big Easy: Many people come here for the food & the dancing(swing/latin/my type of dancing - anyhow oso can lor!!)

*there are other great places but I would like to keep them secret so….hehe..*

There, I’ve covered my butt for today but do expect more grumbling from me cos there are many,many things that still bother me here…

Have you ever been to a place that’s so noisy that you end up with a freaking migraine almost immediately? The kind of migraine that feels like your head’s about to explode into a gazzillon pieces?

Well, if you’re one of these people, avoid Guiyang.  Look,I have nothing personal against Guiyang.  It is lovely in its own ways. 

It’s got really breathtaking hills, some really unique old buildings,quite tolerable weather, damn spicy chillies(mmm,I like!!) & real cheap underwear(you can even get it tailored to your exact measurement..hehehe) but once you decide venture further into certain areas, make sure you have ear plugs or at least cotton wool for your ears.

In my 3 weeks or so here, I have been to many different places. Internet bars,coffee houses, fast food restaurants,local stalls at the roadside & I tell you, damn these people are speak very LOUDLY!!

Just today, Wang Long(son of the family I’m staying with) brought me & his friend out for dinner. It was nice of him to do so especially since a) I was a stranger & b) I was extremely,f*%@king hungry!. Anyway, it was this really huge barbaquey place which sold meat on sticks/skewers called "chuar"(to us locals,we call them satay). Now even before I went in, the noise was already loud but I thought "Hey,maybe it’s just these people outside." We went in & lo & behold, rows & rows of people sitting down on these really low chairs,smoking,drinking,talking as they were having the "chuar".

I was trying to be brave so I just sat down & had some chicken,beef & egg fried rice. Barely 5 minutes into dinner, my brain started feeling like..like someone had taken a food processor & was slowly blending my brain into mush..my head was about to explode!!It didn’t help either that the two guys I was with were also talking to each other like they’re about, I don’t know, 50 meters apart!Deafening,I tell you..

So, don’t say I didn’t warn you…go get them ear plugs..

This  just happened to me earlier today. I had just finished classes & thought to myself,"Let’s get some exercise today." So I started walking around the neighbourhood.  Barely 5 minutes into my walk, this Chinese guy came into my vision.

At first glance, he looked like any ordinary Chinese guy, shirtless so I didn’t really care…That’s normal..

Let me explain myself.  Being shirtless is accepted here. You may be fat & real ugly but this is accepted . I personally think that the logic behind this is that they think it’s acceptable.

"Hey, it’s a hot day today..No biggie..I’ll just take off my shirt & walk around town where people can admire my extremely well-rounded tummy!Then people would know that I’m well off cos I have a…well-rounded tummy!!"

Anyways, this guy had a few people blocking him from my view & suddenly the crowd parted…

OH MY GAWD!! BUTT NAKED except for a piece of rope around his waist..Now everyone around him were behaving like it’s normal. This lady who was walking beside the guy just kept on talking with her friend like it was no big deal.  Funy thing was, no one actually did anything!!

Imagine what would have happened if he was doing the same thing in Sg? Cops,Reporters,IMH staff,loads of people staring & pointing…you get the point..

There is only two words that can explain why the family that I’m staying with right now had invited me to stay with them in the first place:

"Free Lessons".

I know what you must be thinking,"How can you say that?". Well, for one, during dinner, they  were pretty upfront with what they wanted. "We think that by having you here, it would extremely useful for our son’s English. Afterall, who can say that an English speaking foreigner stayed at their place."  I kid you not. What exactly do you say to that?

I don’t mean to be rude or anything,especially since I was welcomed into their home with wide open arms.  So I spent the whole time just smiling & nodding my head.  No doubt that they are a nice family but I do need space.

After dinner, I decided to explore a bit of Guiyang so I went for a walk. Usually I would have spent at least 5 hours wandering aimlessly but it was raining & I just didn’t feel like walking that much so I spent about 3 hours instead. I did take a few pictures though. Oh, I think I’m finally getting used to the stares.

Well, this has got to be the most interesting point in my life…for those who know me, they know that I’ve been posted on & off in Beijing,China.  They would be the ones I had bitched to about how sucky it felt to be all alone in a new country, a country where at least 90% of the population spoke just Chinese or other dialects.  As for the others, they usually are surprised when I tell them where I work becos of the fact that I"M NOT CHINESE & have somehow managed to survive China..Let me tell you more:

When I first got posted in late 2004, my first reaction had been,"Wow, I’m gonna be away from this place..So exciting!!".  Then reality caught up & I realised that it wasn’t gonna be as easy as ABC…

Fast forward to today…Beijing was enjoyable. I had my ups & downs.  I didn’t make friends until it was almost time for me to leave.  By then, "close" bonds had been formed & I was quite sad to leave.

Right now I’m in Guizhou.  Again on assignment. You might say that this is definatley going to be more trying than being in Beijing. 

Being a Muslim in a Chinese province is hard. Well, I’m not what you would call the best at practising Islam but even I have my limits. Food has become my most pressing issue.  I figured that even if you did order something like beef noodles, they would still have something with pork in it. Like the other day, I tried to order this really delicious looking noodles only to find out that the little bits of meat in it were, you guessed it..Pork!They do love their pork down here. 

All this talk about food has made me hungry now & I need to go get some food..KFC,here I come….again….