北京

My friends and family members have asked me how I spent CNY this year. Though a little late, the answer can be found in this post!

Headed for the busiest temple fair (庙会) held at Ditan on the first day of CNY!

I spotted this and I felt that it was worth mentioning! When I looked at it, the term peseverance came to mind! It was awesome seeing children only 1/3 of my height, attempting to scale the 'mountain' to reach the submit in order to retrieve a toy!

A performance at the Temple of Heaven. It showed how the Emperor used to worship the Heaven to ensure good harvest in the upcoming year. I couldn't help but over hearing on-lookers commenting that the 'Emperor' looked ugly! A check using google of Emperor Qianlong's and Emperor Kangxi's younger day's pictures showed that they were NOT drop dead gorgeous! So if a handsome actor was used, wouldn't that have compromised the accurate reflection of the practise? Anyway Beauty is in the eye's of the beholder and to me he looks alright!

Fireworks set off by civillians! For four nights (including new year's eve) I feel asleep and was woken up by the bombing sound of fireworks! In the beginning I was awe struck! I was captivated by the fancy designs! Then like a child who became tired of her new toy, the novety wore off! A quick change of emotions to annoyance! I do not fancy being awaken by bombing sounds at 6 am in the morning!!!!

哈尔滨

Yabuli（亚布力）





Paid 180rmb to take the cable car and chair lift to the top of the mountain!


snow bed

the wonder of colour that brightens up a dull and dreary world!

Nature's Beauty and Splendor that can never be replicated by Men!

哈尔滨

Sun Island （太阳岛）
For the sake of convenience, many people advised us to catch a cab to the Island! Being the leader of the Ella Cheapo Club, I decided that we should catch the Bus! *the only drawback is that loose change is needed!


Bus - damage to wallet (approx 10rmb)
Taxi - damage to wallet (>10rmb)

A price which we had to pay for taking the bus was that we had to walk 1.5km in to get to the site of the snow carving exhibition! The reward - erm... slimmer thighs???

When there is Demand, there will always be Supply! Consumers desire New Nightlife Venues! Satisfy your customers and the cash registers will be ringing non stop, if not your business will flop! ! Ice Bars have been popping up around Asia, to add a cool relief to the swealting tropical heat! I rekon unless I hold my wedding ceremony in an Ice Bar back home, I can't imagine my Rents stepping into one! Till I have saved up enough dough to bring my parents to the Ice Hotel in Hokkaido. Here is a snapshot of Mum experiencing a preview of what our future trip to the ice hotel might be!

I love the Beautiful Montif design on the wall

A 3D Life size village carved out of snow!

We visited the Ice Park on Sun Island. Replicas of well known landmark buildings could be found in it. For 1 1/2 hours, I found myself trotting around the globe and visiting famous spots around Asia, The pacific and Europe at a cost of JUST 75rmb! If only they were the real thing!

哈尔滨

Mum and I took a train and headed northwards to 哈尔滨 (Haerbin)! Aside from the fact that the 10 hour's train ride felt like we were living in a smoke chimney and we had two VERY unsociable teens in our cabin, the whole ride was alright. Frigid Cold Air & Slippery Floor & Snow greeted us at 哈尔滨 火车站! Apparently there is no designated Taxi Stand at the station and passengers had to go to the main road to flag a cab. Yet that night many cabs were just satisfied with dropping off passengers and speeding off into the darkness! So two tired ladies sought the help of a helpful policeman to 'rescue' them out of the situation.

We parked ourselves as JinJiang Inn (Sophia Plaza) for three nights. Having read online about the horror stories about cabbing around Haerbin. Minimising cabbing was a top agenda on my list! The location of our hotel was within walking distance of many major sightseeing spots so it was great being able to see the city on twos instead of fours!

Zhaolin Park - Disney was the theme of the Ice Festival there.

There is a night and day pricing for entry into the park and a china student pass is extremely useful as it enables you to pay half price for the ticket! A Mega Saver especially when an Adult ticket is around 120-150 rmb! *I feel like kicking myself for not taking advantage of my student pass to tour the country! A little too late to regret :(

erm... another chinglish error? (:

Life Size Sculptures : visitors of the park could climb up/down or slide down them

Castle from Aladdin

ship from Pirates of the Caribbean

I was captivated! The whole sculpture was roughly three to four storeys high. There was an in-built lift and escalator and a mega high slide! Awesome!

erm ...not for a scary cat like me

北京

Clara's Hostile Shawl

"attacking its victim"