喝早茶

第二天一早，去酒店对面的酒楼去喝早茶，我叫了一个白粥油条，一个虎皮尖椒，一个腐皮卷，一个南翔小笼包，一壶茶。一共70+港币。感觉有点贵，但这应够两个人吃的，味道还行，就是太油了。吃完早餐，就出去街上溜达溜达，因为下午的飞机，也不敢走太远，就在弥敦道走走，边走边拍，倒也自娱自乐。

香港

星期四一早，我们就急急赶往莲花港码头，坐船去香港，船程2个多小时，船跟那些开往巴淡岛，民丹岛的船差不多，但感觉要大些，船上有卖吃的，喝的。厕所也还算干净。
到达后导游B已经在等我们了，等把我们的行李安顿好后，她就带我们去吃午餐，香港吃得不便宜，在一个叫做“大家乐”食阁，我叫了一份套餐30+港币，不过味道比新加坡的略好。
饭后她带我们去参观了香港历史博物馆，这里介绍了从穴居人一直到现在的香港变迁史，没什么意思，除非无法打发时间，否则建议略去此处。这之后去逛了星光大道和维多利亚港，此处必到，是拍照的绝佳去处。然后我们又去了山顶，坐了小火车；这是我第二次来山顶，第一次是晚上，这次是白天，效果截然不同，感觉这次座小火车不像上次那样令人胆战心惊了。之后她又带我们去了Factory Outlet购物。东西都很贵，值得买的很少。晚餐也是在那儿吃得。
整个行程玩了以后一时人困马乏，急急回到酒店，地点在Nathan Road，叫做Eason Hotel。地处闹市，到处霓虹灯闪烁，感觉很踏实，一个人谁也不会觉得孤单害怕。

剪发

星期三我们在读取了大润发附近，这次主要是去剪发。我选择了洗，剪，吹。共35块，洗后也会做简单按摩，而这个价钱在新加坡只能剪刘海，还不管洗，所以绝对不能错过。我在这家发廊旁边的一个小铺里修了拉锁，在新加坡我询过价钱，是新币15块，而这里是6块人民币。所以有这样的东西还是拿到这里来做，因为新加坡的价钱实在是太坑爹了。

岭南印象园

星期二我们去了岭南印象园。这里主要介绍岭南包括客家在内的文化，民居形式，手工艺品，小吃等，很不错，值得去，但也没看到什么值得买的东西。

大润发

节前的一天我们去了另一个番禺的中心地带叫做大润发，其实大润发就是一个超市，规模跟沃尔玛差不多，对于新加坡人来说是一个超大的超市了。货品琳琅满目，而且基本上价格都比新加坡便宜5倍。晚上我们去一家洗浴中心做按摩，80分钟全套共72块钱还包括晚餐和饮料，真叫爽，我叫了薰衣草泡脚，共泡了半个小时，据说这有助于睡眠，果然晚上回去睡得不错。泡的同时她帮我从头部开始按，接着是肩膀，后背，胳膊，大腿，等泡好脚后由左脚心按摩。评价舒服，值得一去。

北上广州

在学生们的强烈要求下，我安排了一次去广州上下九的一日游。从我们住的地方到上下九作直达车也要一个多小时，着实不近，而且一路看去广州以就是破破烂烂，缺乏现代气息。我们到后便去一家叫做“陶陶居”的地方吃早茶，我们叫了很多，每人花了50多块。味道嘛还算凑合吧，本人不是早茶的粉丝，对广东风味也不太感冒，但也还过得去。怎么说来也比新加坡强些，再说这价钱在新加坡可吃不下来。
上下九夜市有小店和地摊组成，全无大型的购物中心，还有好多卖吃的摊位，闻起来都很香，很诱人，尤其是那摊卖韩式烤鱿鱼的，香飘万里，但我吃得太饱了，只能作罢。这里也是没有高档货，最值得买的是丝袜，薄的人民币10块，厚的15块，据我们的学生试过说比新加坡的质量还要好，而且价格便宜5倍，另外值得买的是拼图，价格非常便宜，因为实在不好带，我没买。再一个值得买的东西是十字绣，同样比新加坡便宜5倍。你还可以把你的手机拿到这里来贴膜，Ipnone4贴反正两面只要25块。当然如果你有时间还可以拍写真，不用说价钱也是超便宜的啦。

因为这天是圣诞节，番禺校方为我们安排了晚会，由他们的英语系主办，有跳舞，唱歌等节目，唱得普普，但我们的学生毫无准备，等他们宣布由新加坡来的学生表演时，没人肯上，为了不冷场，我只好强拉了4个马来族的男孩上去唱个马来歌曲，最后他们商量了一下，唱了新加坡的国歌。

参观野生动物园

星期五一早，我们便去参观野生动物园，园子很大很漂亮，我最喜欢的就是坐小火车与凶猛的动物们亲密接触。这里的管理水平及方式应该跟新加坡差不多，所以门票的价格及吃饭比新加坡还略贵，（门票好像是160或是180块，一盘忘了是8个还是10个的煎饺是38块），不过既然来到番禺，这地方应该来逛逛。

逛街

第三天晚上，几个学生邀请我一起去逛街，这地方叫市桥，从我们住的地方，要走差不多半小时才能到最近的汽车站，然后作差不多半小时的车就到市桥了。市桥并不像北京的王府井什么的，因为它没有大型的购物中心，但到处都是小店，一家接一家，无穷无尽，到处都是地摊夜市，好不热闹，东西一般都很便宜，但质量也很一般，只是比新加坡的低档货质量要好，且价钱至少比新加坡便宜5倍，所以如果你不追求名牌，对质量要求也不高，最好不要在新加坡买，来这边要划算得多的多了，如果你买得多的话，估计连机票钱也能省出来。
晚餐我们在一家日本餐厅吃的，这里的日本餐厅跟新加坡的档次类似，价钱基本也一样，所以最好在这里吃中餐馆比较划算。

烧烤晚会

第二天一早，要赶去Project Centre，虽在同一个校园，但离我们住的地方很远，一个东一个西，所以不能睡懒觉，一大早就爬起来了。好累呦。早餐就在对面的平安堂买了一个玉米，那地方四处透风，又没有空调，冻死了，不过好在也可以上网，不然闷死。
到了吃饭时间，去罗马广场附近的一个餐厅吃饭，据说都是承包出去的，饭厅很大，菜色很齐全，就是味道差劲，不过怎么说来也比新加坡的要好吃些，而且很便宜。吃晚饭便回到宿舍睡觉去了。
晚上我请所有我的学生吃烧烤，我们一共16人，齐齐聚在烧烤摊位前，叫了很多很多，有烤鸡翅，烤鸡腿，烤鱼，炸馒头，烤茄子，烤豆角，烤土豆等等，着实的美味。一共花了500块人民币。感觉着烧烤是这校园里最美味的食物。

抵达白云机场

12月19号一早，4点20分我就爬了起来，确切地说一夜未眠，因为要赶早班的飞机，所以心里很紧张，再加上刚刚要睡着时，手机想不停，是Facebook网友们在不停地写message。两，三点还在吵，最后只得把这两个Apps给删除了。
赶到机场，买了6盒有新加坡鱼尾狮标志的巧克力，准备送给番禺职校的老师，本来说3盒就够，但卖的人一再说买5送一，想想就买吧，花了$79.50。
到了飞机上我倒是拥有2个座位，但也没能睡着。
几个小时后到达了传说中的白云机场。这虽然是我第二次来广州，但第一次是坐火车的，所以见识白云机场是第一次。似乎也没啥特别之处。等了一会儿，L和番禺职校的黎老师带着4个学生就赶到了，黎老师是个美女，只有23岁，但很能张罗，左右逢源。他们带着我们上了一辆大轿车，直奔番禺。
也许一路上我们路过的都是广州的边缘，怎么感觉广州破破的，毫无特色，跟十多年前比起来没什么变化，没有什么现代化的气息。
番禺职校很大，规整也还蛮干净的。学生们都非常友善，懂礼貌。我们先期到达的学生领袖帮我装了翻墙软件，这样我就能看所有的网页啦。他还介绍我说对面那间眼镜店卖的电话卡最便宜，只要￥55块。住的地方有空调，所以感觉还不算太冷，只是冲凉太受罪，因为厕所在阳台上，洗脸也是，只有冷水。
晚餐校方宴请我们，每人￥30的标准，别提多差了，跟传说中的粤菜相去甚远，凑合着吃吧。我跟另一位老师合伙送了黎老师和张老师，一人一盒巧克力，本想也送给另一位什么主任的，但没想到多来了一位书记，我们当时没带那么多，只好连主任也免了。
校园里使用卡的，买饭啦，冲凉啦，全都需要卡，一张￥100块，用晚可充值。

杨柳青 / Yang Liu Qing

友人夫妇这次带我去了杨柳青，我们主要参观了著名的石家大院。石家是当地数一数二的大户，因为那里靠着大运河，所以石家是靠了贩运发的财。这里不仅亭台楼榭，最具特色是戏楼，据说以前很多著名的戏班子都在石家戏楼唱过戏，石家另一特色是它的采暖系统，采用的是皇宫的方法，民间很罕见。这个地方是著名的年画产地，剪纸也很普遍，且看起来不错。等我们参观完回到市内，已经是快3点了，到处都找不到吃饭的地方，通常的饭馆都要到5点才开门，于是我们在上岛咖啡吃了饭，原本担心上岛只有西餐，后来发现其实在中国的咖啡屋也一本土化了。饭后我们又去了古文化街附近，那里有座桥十分有特色，整座桥都是玻璃做的。一开始会有些害怕，过一会就好了。
晚上去转了附近的一间新开张的韩国购物中心，东西有中档的，也有高档的。中档的价钱与新加坡差不多，高档的应该比新加坡贵一倍以上，我买了一条短裙，好像是250块左右，也买了一件外套，2300+块。但是样式新加坡所看不到的。

This time, my friend and her husband brought me to a small town called Yangliuqing. It’s famous for its Chinese New Year paintings. Basically we visited Shi Family’s courtyard there. (Shi family was one of the richest families there.) The place is just next to the Grand Canal, so the Shi family became rich for transportation, mainly salt and rice. The most unique building here is the Stage, It is said that many famous actors and actresses performed there. The heating system here is quite close to the one in the Palace Museum. The paper cutting here is also not bad. It was about 3pm after we finished visiting there. All the restaurants were closed except Shangdao Café. Initially I did not want to go there, as I did not like western food. But after I tried, I found in Tianjin even cafes were already localized. Basically they were still selling Chinese cuisine. After the meal, we went to the Ancient Culture Street. There was a bridge quite interesting. It was made of tempered glass for the whole bridge. I felt a bit scared in the beginning, but soon I felt better.
Nearby there was a big Korean Shopping Mall that was just opened. Things there usually were cheap and averaged two different categories. The average one was about the same price as in Singapore. The expensive one was about two times as much. I bought one short skirt which was about ￥250 (S$47.65) and a jacket ￥2304 (S$439). It’s quite expensive, but you wouldn’t find it in Singapore.

告别 / Goodbye Beijing

第三天吃过早饭，按照原计划我们去著名的鲁菜馆“丰泽园”吃午餐。因为爸爸和姑姑都是祖籍山东，对鲁菜有着特殊的感情，所以我们选择了这里。这里最著名的一道菜是扒海参，有两种规格，我们选了368块的那一种。坦白说这里的菜一般般，可能是我和妈妈没有在山东生活过的原因，况且价格贵得惊人，这种地方来一次就够了。但我很喜欢到这里来走一走，姑父是个老北京，对这一带的地形十分熟悉，从他们家到这里很近，根本无须坐车，一路上我们我们看到了还没有拆的老北京四合院，台湾一条街，刘老根的大舞台，前门外大街，为了恢复原貌，还保留了有轨电车的轨道，大栅栏等很多百年老店，姑父还特地介绍了内联升鞋店，据说以前就连皇宫里穿的鞋也是他们做的，那里有师傅现场制作，真材实料，只是我们现在没机会穿这种怪里怪气的鞋了。我再著名的六必居买了10袋酱菜，才10块钱人民币，真是物有所值。
吃过饭稍作休息，我们便踏上了回程，这次的高铁还在武清停靠了一下，好在只用了5分钟，又看到了一个新的车站，也还算不错。

The following day we had our lunch at a famous Shandong Restaurant – 丰泽园。As Father and Aunt are all from that Province originally, they have a special feeling for Shandong Cuisine. The signature dish there was 扒海参 (sea cucumber). It had two different prices, but we ordered the cheaper one, which cost ￥368 (about S$70). Maybe because Mama and I were not from Shandong, we did not fancy the food there so much. As Uncle in law was born and bred in Beijing, he knew A to Z about the place. He brought us through the Hutongs (narrow back alleys in Beijing) to Qianmenwai Dajie. Here they still keep the traditional trolley track. Along the road, we have seen lots of Siheyuan (famous quadrangle courtyard). Many shops on the Street of Dazhalan were more than 100 years old. Uncle-in-law showed us a shoe shop named Neiliansheng and their handmade shoes, It was quite interesting, but we definitely had no chance to wear them. On the way back, I bought some preserved vegetables made by Liubiju, It was only ￥10(S$1.9) for 10 packets. It was cheap and delicious. After the lunch, we headed home, the train stopped in Wuqing unexpectedly. Fortunately it was only 5 minutes and we experienced what a small train station looked like. It’s fun!
 

参观鸟巢和水立方 / Bird Nest & Water Cube

第二天一早，我们叫了一辆出租，直奔鸟巢。鸟巢对70岁以上的人实行免费，60岁以上实行半价，所以老年人务必请带好身份证，否则是绝对也拿不到优惠的，好彩姑夫还不到60，否则冤死了。鸟巢和水立方实行联票制，两处一共80块。爸爸一直想弄清楚鸟巢的结构，他不明白那些钢架的真正承重点是哪里，这次看完他说终于明白了，原来钢架和里面的结构是两拿着的。我是外行，不太明白结构方面的，只是经常听说这是座雄伟著名的建筑，所以很想看看，但看了以后觉得里面不过就是一排排的座位而已，也没什么令人惊艳的地方。对比水立方，这里的一切，特别是座位都是红白两色的；而水立方中的一切都是蓝白两色，色调极为鲜明。本以为这两个地方相距甚远，没想到就在对面。水立方中有个水上乐园，对公众开放，但价格高得惊人。我们在水立方里吃了午饭，三碗炸酱面，一盘外婆醉鱼，一盘辣萝卜条，一盘凉拌蕨粉，一盘炒双菇和二两二锅头，价格比外面高了20%。

Everyone who watched the Olympic Games Opening or Closing ceremony will still have a strong impression of Bird Nest and Water Cube. Actually the real name for Bird Nest is Beijing National Stadium and the real name for Water Cube is Beijing National Aquatics Centre. But people in Beijing simply love the nick names.

The following morning we went to visit two famous iconic buildings in Beijing. The ticket for these two places together cost ￥80 (S$15.25). It‘s free for senior citizen whose age is above 70 and half price for age 60-69 but must show by either identity card or passport. So don’t forget to bring it with you if you are older than 60. Uncle in law forgot to bring any documents with him, but luckily he’s not 60 yet, or else it would be a sheer waste. My father was always interested to know the structure of the Bird Nest. This time he said he finally understood after looking at it closely. He said the outside stainless steel structure and inside concrete was totally disconnected. Outside was just for decorative purposes and nothing else. It was said the Bird Nest was huge and could hold an audience of 80,000 to 100,000. But it didn’t look to me that big. The only thing I liked was the seats. It was quite interesting. The seats inside Bird Nest were in red and white and in Water Cube were all in blue and white, and they were the same design. We thought these two places were far apart before we visited but it was just opposite to each other. There was a water theme park inside the Water Cube, but the price was sky high. We had our lunch there, and again we ordered Zhajang noodle, but it was about 20% more expensive than outside.

相会在北京/Meeting in Beijing

6月14日，应姑姑和姑父的邀请，我和爸爸妈妈一起去了北京。本来我家离北京很近，去北京是一件再容易不过的事情，可自妈妈病了以后，这也成了奢侈。好容易要成行了，我们都十分激动，吃过午饭，稍作休息后，便开始了准备，下午3点多我们便出发了。叫了辆出租，把我们载到天津东站后广场，然后便去买票。票不算太难买，只是下一班的没座位了，我们只好等下下班的。还好等的时间并不算太长，终于看到传说中的新干线了，果然即高级又舒服，半个小时就到北京啦，好快哟！
一到北京永定门火车站，姑父已经在等我们了，坐上出租车，很快就到了姑姑家。可不知为什么，刚到北京不久我的胃就开始不舒服，晚上姑姑请我们去她家门口的老北京炸酱面吃饭，想让我们体会一下老北京的生活，由于身体不争气，只能放弃了。

On 14 Jun 2011, my parents and I were invited by my aunt 华and uncle in law to visit them in Beijing. In fact, my parents live quite near Beijing, so it should be easy for us to visit. Since my mom’s illness, travelling has become difficult. However, we still decided to go. And we were quite excited. We had a short rest after our lunch and started packing. Shortly after 3pm, we left our home. We hailed a taxi to Tianjin Railway station. It was not very difficult to get the train tickets. The next train had no more seats, so we bought the tickets for the following train. We did not have to wait for long to see the legendary Shinkansen. It was fast and smooth and could reach a speed of 333km/hr. It was also quite comfortable, and only took half an hour to reach Beijing. Very fast!

My uncle in law was already at Beijing South Railway station waiting for us when we reached. Although it takes about 30 mins to reach my aunt’s home by taxi, as long as I boarded the taxi, my stomach started feeling unwell. In the evening, my aunt suggested to treat us to an Old Beijing Zhajang Noodle Restaurant. She hoped that this would give us a basic idea of how Beijing commoners live. Instead I had to stay at home.