Sunday 27 November 2011

Beijing Day 5: Goodbye Beijing...Home Sweet Home

Day 5

I woke up early to think of how to arrange my stuff...I normally do not purchase any baggage allowance as i always travel light n easy... But this time around, with the toys, bed sheets, bed spread and whatever other stuff i'd brought...i felt like throwing up...:) Managed to stuff everything in the bags but everything was bulky.

Went for breakfast and checked out. Check out was fast and smooth, alhamdulillah! I was very worried that the hotel's management would come up with a lot of craps just to ask us to pay extra...I guess they knew that we had no money left, so no point bothering this group...ha..ha...

When i was outside, our TA dropped the bombshell, we couldn't go to Tianjin by van as the highway was close due to heavy fog. So, we had to take the bullet train to Tianjin. Part of me was very happy as this was the opportunity of a lifetime sitting in a bullet train from Beijing. God knows when will i come back to Beijing but part of me was worried to hell as how on earth were we going to carry all these bags and stuff. Ours were not so much but Kak Ros's stuff was uncountable i'd been thinking she needed the whole coach for her family..kih..kih... So, the plan was the van would bring us to the train station and from there we and the TA would take the bullet train. So, we stuffed everything in the van, nah...couldn't fit in the luggage compartment. We had to put some of the bags on our laps...funny..funny... Oh ya! lupa plak..tiket 2nd class to Tianjin is 55yuan...Kalau 1st class mahal sket tapi dapat air mineral percuma..tempat pon cantik sket, ada cafe bagai...

This was the 1st time in my life encountering such a situation. Ingatkan during winter aja jalan tutup, rupanya fog kat Beijing ni dasyat jugak..memang x nampak jalan langsong...We tried to drive to Tianjin actually in the 1st place, but when we reached the highway, the driver couldn't see a thing, so we had to turn back... Die org ni driving memang ikot suka hati sendiri..bayangkan dekat highway yg one way tu, mereka boleh buat u turn dan driving menyongsang atas highway.
Front entrance at Beijing South Station
Very modern station...ala2 KL sentral (agaknyala, pasal KL sentral pon i x penah masuk g...)
Ini baru suku yer kawan2....
 Train die memang canggih..Lepas sampai kat Tianjin stewardess die (ade stewardess tau) akan turn the seatings 360 degree for the trip back to Beijing..so, x da la customers pening kepala pandang arah berlawanan. Stewardess ni jual merchandise atas train...pasal beria sangat melopong tengok mereka jual barang, lupa plak nak tangkap gmbar mereka...Kami ja yg sebok2 belik banyak2 key chain tuh..org lain buat x layan aja...

Capturing the historical moment of us on the bullet train. The temperature outside was
13 degree celcius and the train was moving at the speed of 275 km/h.
Bye bye Beijing

The bullet train from the outside
Si Micheal ni dah mcm gajah bawak lado dah..kene angkot barang2 kami
The 4 hunky guys when we arrived at Tianjin.
Tianjin Train station: Look at Farah, running with her kitchen
When we arrived at Tianjin station, thank goodness that there was another van waiting for us... In Tianjin the fog situation was not as bad as Beijing. I did say to myself, what if the airport got close due to foggy weather.? then, we would be stranded...nah...let's not think about that...

Sampai2 Tianjin, kita p lunch dulu.... At the restaurant, we met a group of Malaysian Chinese from Johor. They said they had been there 8 days and were going back today...the same flight with us, i presume...

Still in the Halloween mood
Our last meal @ China...Still waiting for more dishes to come

The paintings mounted on the wall
After lunch, we just walked to the food market nearby... A lot of locals selling all sorts of local delicacies... Ada kedai keropok2 halal...tp x lalu pulak rasanya nak belik..
Inside the street market: besides food, pottery and other handicrafts pon ada

Lotsa locals buying food
Entah haiwan apa ntah ini.....

Seafood rasanya...mcm2 jenis kepah kepoh ada 

I have no idea whatsoever
Batu bersurat outside Tianjin Street Market
We didn't go anywhere else, just the food market. Not enough time, needed to get to the airport... Here are some photos taken during our short journey in Tianjin.
U could see how foggy it was. This was actually in the afternoon

They call it Rome Street. Very beautifully decorated and well kept ground...A lot of couples who are
getting married come here for photo taking. We saw a few couples on that day...
Another nice building.
We reached the airport quite early. I didn't know why we had to be at the airport so early but later i knew that the process was very slow...At the airport, the check-in counters operated at a snail pace and only 2 immigration counters opened and the queue were long...They were very thorough during the check ins too.

Outside the airport
With our TA at the airport be4 checking in
Our plane departed on time....and we arrived a few minutes earlier than stipulated... Need to get home early as i needed to work tomorrow..sigh...

Safely landed at LCC Terminal
Waiting for atok...
 Two days later, i read in the newspaper that Tianjin Airport was closed due to bad foggy weather. It was so bad until the atmosphere was polluted with toxic air (or whatever u call it!) Alhamdulillah we were back in KL already..

Overall, my trip to Beijing was fabulous with minor hiccups here and there.... There are advantages and disadvantages of using travel agent...The plus points are, faster, easier, less hassle and relaxing. However, the drawbacks are too rushing, taking us to expensive places and making me buy unnecessary things which i will regret later on...

Purrr errrr oh purrr errrr....Salah satu barangn yang dibelik oleh papa yang memang sampai 1000 tahun pon
usia teh ini tidak akan diminumnya...I didn't know what possessed his mind to buy such an expensive
tea...Taulah teh china tp takkanla mahal sampai rmb300... I'd given him so many hints not t buy, but like i said... dah
kene rasuk hape ntah...


THE END~

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