Embarkation to Ningbo, China, the voyage starts

Date : 021106

Left Singapore at about 8 30 am. After days of packing, shopping, running around to prepare for the trip, i was uber pumped to get it underway. said goodbye to my folks in the airport and off i went, into the unknown. (this is only my 2nd time taking a plane, 1st time going alone and to a place where i thought i'd have language problems) China Southern Airlines was the carrier i'd be going on and it was packed with chinese nationals returning to Guangzhou. Once in the plane, it was pretty cramped, a small plane which looked rather old. Got my first taste of China accented mandarin, very thick and loud, thought they were gonna fight every time they spoke! It was a 3-4 hour journey which i spent mainly doing nothing, just exploring the seats and the stuff around me. I was like a baby just entering the world. haha. The food was ok, but i didnt have a good appetite so i didn't quite finish it.

TOA (Time Of Arrival) - 12:45PM
City : Guangzhou Country : China

Finally, touched down in Guangzhou, no turbulence at all so it was a smooth journey. First thing when i came out of the plane, i whipped out the videocam and took some shots of the walk to the customs, including a toilet voyeur (the toilet was empty, of course) What struck me about the airport was that it was pretty modern, clean and HUGE. Didn't really expect it to be as modern as it was. Got past the customs speaking simple english and strained mandarin. Hope i didnt offend them haha. 1 30pm and 6 hours till my next flight. I ran around the airport looking for my gate, figured id juz wait in the transit area to hang and read a book. Found the gate and prayed id pass by without any problems, i passed my boarding pass and passport to the security lady, she gave me a stern look and said in highly chinese accented english "Ticket", i was baffled, didnt i juz give her my boarding pass? I pointed to the pass. She retorted, "Air Ticket", At this point of time a guy came up behind me. Immediately, she reprimanded the Chinese national, saying in mandarin, "It's not your turn yet, You must stand behind the yellow line, thank you", she looks pretty pissed. I was still being a doofus and she kinda raised her voice and asked again,"AIR TICKET!?". I finally realised i was supposed to show the ticket receipt and whipped it out. Then i was able to get through, haha. Stress i tell you. Thought id get bumwhipped by the customs in China. haha. Went walking around, nothing really caught my attention so i juz went to the belts to sit down. 6 hours! wth was i gonna do? haha. I started to continue reading Dan Brown - Digital Fortress.

Time : 4:00 PM
Location - Guangzhou International Airport (Domestic Flights Belt)

I got hungry and looked for places which sold food. I saw some, but looked dodgy. I eventually saw a coffee outlet called SPR Coffee, whose logo looked A LOT LIKE Starbucks. haha guess familiarity to the sign attracted me to it. Anyways looked at the menu and it was pretty impressive, sold all kinds of food. I settled for the eaten and trusted in French Fries and Iced Mocha. It took me a while to register what i wanted to the waitress though as she didnt understand English, thus i unleashed my secret weapon, the HAND. Hand signals all over the place and finally she got it. Then with what little mandarin skills i had i pointed to the seats and said 'Wo Chi Na Pien', "I',m going there". THAT she understood and she asked me in mandarin,' Oh you know Chinese?" I replied 'Ee tien tien', (a bit). haha. So i sat down and waited for the food and drink while continuing to read the book. The Iced Mocha was really nice, on par with the ice blended we get back home, in my opinion. They weren't stingy on the fries either and instead of the usual chilli sauce, they gave tomato ketchup. Had to pay 48 RMB for it, which is about 9-10 dollars.

At about 5, i left the shop to juz hang at the belts while waiting for the plane. 1910 was the flight. Before i knew it, it was time to board the plane. Wasn't that many people hopping on the plane but there were quite a few foreigners on board. During the flight, dinner was served. It was good and i finished it real fast haha. Do you know the feeling where the air pressure juz gets to ur ears and u like have a blocked ear. man that happened to my left ear and no matter how hard i tried to get rid of it, it wouldn't go away! so annnoying. finally landed in ningbo at about 9, 9+. i blew out my nose one last time and finally the ear was clear! no more blocked hearing woohoo. Saw my family waiting for me just outside, waved and everything and waited for my luggage. Once i got it, i thought id have to chop my passport or sumthing but i didnt have to and juzt went out of the place to be greeted by my family. On came the hugs and shakes and then i got my first taste of china's transports. Left hand side drive here, the driver from the company was there to pick us up and go home.

The roads were fairly like malaysian roads, with pretty sparse lighting where there were no domestic buildings and such. lotsa motorised bikes and bicycles on the roads. Reached the house at ard 10. Once i went out of the car, man! it was cold, maybe 20 degrees. So freakn cool, nvr been to a place like that except for genting or cameron. proeeded to bring in my stuff and unpack and everythign. Talked with the family, got on the net and stuff and then went to sleep at about 12 30am. Great journey, had loads of fun travelling alone, the experience is totally awesome. Can't wait for the real holiday to beginn....