with anna
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A.nna
anna // singaporean. my dream is to some day live in a countryside and have a lot of dogs. reach me on
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Monday, February 9, 2015
Beijing & Hong Kong After my solo trip to Mongolia, I went to Beijing to meet him to start our Beijing & Hong Kong trip! Technically I've been to Hong Kong, so it's just Beijing for me. I'm not sure why I was told 3 to 4 days is enough for Beijing, I felt like 6 days wasn't enough to cover though. Of all the popular historic places, the only place I didn't managed to visit was Summer Palace. I'm glad I did not as I overheard a group of Indian tourist saying how boring Summer Palace is, well it's not for me to judge either. On the first day, we met in the evening hence we took the night off to a nice dinner and rested early to prepare ourselves for Forbidden City the next day.
It was huge and it felt endless. We didn't finished touring the whole place because HE forgot to feed me lunch. We were contemplating if we should have lunch before Forbidden City or after, trust me, it's always BEFORE. It took us around 45 minutes to walk into the palace, and God knows if we walked till the end of the palace.
P.S Someone please tell him he's supposed to take a landscape photo of 毛泽东 and I, not portrait.
On the second day, we headed to the Temple of Heaven, also known as 天壇. It is considered the most holy of Beijing's imperial temples. It has been described as a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design.
It is indeed beautiful and breathtaking. This requires a little bit more of energy as you're climbing flights and flights of short stairs. But each view at the end of the stairs is breathtaking.
Then I don't remember what happened. Here are some moments worth sharing..
He promised an advanced Valentine's Day Peking duck lunch, so I took this opportunity to have peking ducks on two of the days!! It's amazing how tasty Peking duck is in Beijing than in Singapore. The skin is crispy, followed by a thin layer of fats and the tender meat.
We had both Peking duck lunch at 便宜坊. Apparently they're one of the top 10 restaurants in Beijing that serves the best Peking duck. A meal like this cost us around RMB250 (appx SGD60) but it's super good, that explains the second trip back. The serving is huge, hence we shared the fried rice and the duck. Trying to control my drool describing this moment.
Street shopping in Wangfujing! We stayed in 3 regions during our stay in Beijing - Dong Cheng, Wangfujing & Chao Yang. We both loved Wangfujing better. It has a lot of shopping and street food to offer. Compared to Chao Yang (the second most popular region that offers only malls), Wangfujing was way better. And of course, my 臭豆腐. I didn't liked it previously, but after I tasted a really good one in Yunnan, I loved it.
The second last day of our trip, we went on a tour that includes 八达岭 (The Great Wall of China), The Ming Dynasty Tombs and Dr. Tea.
The Great Wall of China was his favourite part of the tour and Beijing. I'm just thrilled it's my first out of the Seven Wonders. The view was magnificent. It is indeed much beautiful in real life than it is in pictures. Way too crowded, but I've nothing to complain except the cold. It was chilly-cold-in-your-bones. He kept saying he can't feel his legs anymore, I can't either! Haha, we literally did not think of how cold it'll be on the mountains.
You can actually see from the picture that the Great Wall goes all the way back from mountains to mountains. Pretty amazing, I wonder why pictures weren't taken or drawings weren't illustrated on how it was built. It is really a piece of art.
Ming Dynasty Tombs has nothing much though.. It is literally a museum with artefacts and the Yin-Yang door which you enter to see the tombs. And upon stepping out of the gate, you've to say 我回来了 (I am back) to claim you're back on Earth because apparently the Yin-Yang gate to the tomb is known as hell. And also, the palace is built without nails, and lasted for 600 over years without having to rebuild or touch up like the other historic places (some got burnt and destroyed by mankind).
That was the end of our 6 days in Beijing, and we headed off to Hong Kong. The transition was tiring! To wake up at 5am and that morning was exceptionally cold, around -10 degree while the wind shows no mercy.
I was feeling vexed about leaving Beijing for Hong Kong. On one hand, I love Hong Kong (anytime over Taiwan) but on the other, the trip was coming to an end.
My first stop was obviously 許留山's A1! It's Mango pulp with sago and juice. HKD38 for a cup, but totally worth it. It's not as thick as smoothie (which I have love-hate feeling on), just perfect. He slurped the whole cup without leaving me a tiny bit :(
And we headed for local Dim Sum at Canton's Kitchen. I think he overestimated the power of 流沙包 (custard bun), it's my favourite dim sum. Out of the 3, he had 2! And came back asking for more. Coming from someone who judges my taste all the time, I'm certain this 流沙包 scored.
Then we headed to 女人街 to shop! He bought a torchlight again! And I must say he suck at bargaining prices. While the lady was real pushy to start with, I managed to secure a win-win deal for him! For myself, I bought a lot of redundant stuffs. Well, women. What do you expect. At night while we were chit chatting, I realised he didn't like Hong Kong because everything they sell is for the females. I felt bad, for sure but was laughing a little because I didn't realised he just followed me wherever I go, not realising that 女人街 when translated, is actually Women's Street. Oh well, he then got a little irritated why I didn't brought him to "Men's Street". Couldn't be bothered telling him there's no such place as Men's Street in Hong Kong! Even if there was, chances are the lady, myself, is still going to 女人街.
I had one of the most fun. I strongly believe that traveling is about the sightseeings of course, but how the trip went totally depend on your companion. And I truly enjoyed my companion. His shoulder was there when I'm sleepy, he's there to carry a bottle of water for me, rubbing oil on my tummy when it aches, and watching our tv series before bed. I couldn't ask for more. Am looking forward to my next trip already!
Labels: badaling, beijing, china, forbidden city, great wall of china, hong kong, hongkong, temple of heaven, travel, travel blog, travels Monday, February 2, 2015
Solo Trip to Mongolia After a good 29 hours flight + transit, I finally reached Ulaanbaatar yesterday night. Technically it's in the evening, but the sky was dark, so night it is. When I arrived, my host picked me up at the airport. Fun fact: Mongolia Airport's facilities and surroundings are worst than our train station. It's super dodgy, and smallllll. The next day (which is today), I woke up at 7am *pat on my shoulder* and made myself a cup of my hazelnut latte while my host prepared breakfast for me. After breakfast, I got ready and headed off for my 1 to 1 tour. I paid USD120 for Sunpath Mongolia to bring me around. Because it was a 1 to 1 tour, I actually managed to customise my tour to where I'd like to visit and what I'd like to see. Unfortunately, I didn't get to dog sled because the snow and ice event ended yesterday :( Our first stop was Genghis Khan museum with artefacts from B.C 230 until the 13th century. I'm not a very artsy person, but I was trying to step out of my comfort zone and appreciate the weapons, utensils and clothing left behind after war. It's quite amazing to see each steel still standing strong. Especially the amours.
The only thought that came into my mind was Mongolia is the coldest capital in the world. Probably not from yesterday so how do soldiers protect themselves from the cold with firstly, a steel armour and secondly, a steel armour with HOLES. Nevertheless, it was a great historic lesson. Didn't know Genghis Khan ruled China, Mongolia and Middle East in the 12th century (if I never remember wrongly) but one thing I don't get is why was I asked to acknowledged he is the hero? I quote, they said, "Genghis Khan is not a terrorist, but a hero." Okay, I don't want to fight with you on a land that is ruled by people who respect this great hero. But why mention he's not a terrorist? That sentence is almost as though you're slapping your own face.
Next, we visited a Mongolian family. The sweet lady made me buuz (pronounced as boats). It's basically mutton stew wrapped into dumplings. And I must give credits to the chef, it's superb! I'm impressed they have 10 each, and they're impressed 3 filled me. After the meal, they were teaching me how to speak in Mongolian - hello, how are you, goodbye and thank you.
My guide then brought me to a few other places which I honestly cannot remember the names. Mongolian language is not easy, a lot of tongue twisting and saliva spitting going on.
I am not kidding when I say the eagle and vulture weigh 20 kilogram! It's damn heavy! Apparently they eat meat, but seriously I eat meat too. How can you possibly be almost half my weight!
My guide looks like he is in his 50s, he was jumping on rocks to rocks to get up while I was trying my best to grab every rock using my legs and hands until I slipped. Didn't hurt myself, but I hurt my camera and my new Timberland boots :( it's a cave experience.
And finally, my official pose for #AnnaTakesMongolia. A lot of people asked why I chose Mongolia, well here you go:
**Inner Mongolia falls under top 10 safest. Outer Mongolia (a.k.a Russia Mongolia) is close to Russia border and can be dangerous as you know we've watched Russians' movies, and every other thing about Russia - the weapons, the terrorists. While on the other hand, Inner Mongolia, around Ulaanbaatar is filled with 99% Mongolians. And Mongolians are known to be very nice and hospitable. You cannot say thank you twice, because it's their culture and beliefs to be kind. Oh, how I yearn for a world with that belief.
In summary, I did it! I can check solo-traveling off my bucket list and also cave climbing, holding the vulture, experiencing -30℃ so on and so forth. To be honest, I didn't quite enjoy the solo-traveling part. Probably just the traveling. First night here and I was crying to sleep for missing home so much. There is zero reliance, you've to be alert at all times and you fear getting robbed / kidnapped / raped. Maybe not so much for a guy, but for a 1.56m tall girl, it is an issue.
Still, minus the cold, I have nothing but great memories to bring back home. And Mongolia made it to my list of places I'll revisit. Bayartai, баяртай гэж Mongolia! :D
Labels: annatakesmongolia, blog, explore, globetrotter, mongolia, solo, solo traveling, travel, travel blog, travel tips, traveling, ulaanbaatar |
xx
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