Tuesday, December 05, 2006
CHINA

my first trip ever to china! not counting hongkong, that is. while it wasnt exatly the funnest vacation ive ever been on, it's bben a great experience & i really learnt a lot.

the first part of the trip was the tour part, which wasnt exactly very fun. i dont like tours, i think ive only been on 1 other tour before. but to get around somewhere like guangzhou on ur own is virtually impossible. saw lots of stuff though, like really nice historical sights & stuff like that.

the best part of the trip was after the tour bit, where we spent those 2 and a half days in the company of our relatives. im not too sure how we're related. but i think theyre my grandpa's dad's brother's descendents. lol. my greatgrandfather came over to singapore while his family didnt. so my cousins i have no idea how my times removed r in their 30s & late 20s, & ive got 3nephews & a niece.

the first day, we went to the village which isnt too far away from the city. several of them specially took leave just to fetch us & bring us around & everything, & really went all out in making us feel welcome & stuff. it was quite weird though, cuz of the stares we got from other people in the village. u get the feeling tt they know who exactly u r & what ure doing there. which is probably not far from the truth. theyre a really close-knit family, & super warm as well! the insisted on treating us to lunch & dinner (my aunt was gonna pay but then one of them waylaid her while someone else snuck off to pay), which relative to what they earn is really expensive.

the next day, only my oldest cousin, & her dad came down & brought us to see the sights at guangzhou. we went to this garden that had lots of super nice flowers, despite it being winter & all, & after that we went to this cultural heritage place (the 3rd picture below shows part of the wall) which was supposedly built by my ancestors. how far back though, i have no idea. but it's a super pretty place, the carvings on stone & wood & ivory & stuff like that is pure genius! anyway, so we treated only 2 of them to lunch, but the rest came down to the city for dinner & this time around we treated them (: on the last day, my oldest cousin once again insisted that she come down & bring us about, so we went shopping (: we're so lucky to have such great relatives!

& incase ure wondering, i communicated with them via my lousy broken cantonese, but then gave up on that & spoke to them in chinese instead (: oh yeah, the picture just below was taken in the village. how rare is that?! a cat & a chicken co-existing!





as u can tell, i saw some of divya's chinese cousins in china too! (the prawns). & the picture framed up is actually made out of silk thread. so when u look at it really closely, its not nice. but from afar, its super nice! cool right? haha. anyway, thats the quan jia fu. its not quite quan, but u get the point. haha. my relatives r so nice! (:

oh! did i mention that we've got silk blankets? (: & those personalised chinese name stamps. the guy carved it on the spot! so erm, yup. its not that i didnt spend any money on this trip despite not buying clothes. ): i really need to learn how to save money!

i realise from the trip, just how fortunate we are, cuz we have so much! i have so much! & i basically just take them all for granted, & dont realise just how much i have & how lucky i am. so now im learning, & trying to always remember to appreciate what i have. im not saying that im gonna be thrifty & stop buying shoes & clothes & stuff, cuz i honestly dont think i ever can, or want to. but i really want to never forget to appreciate the stuff that i have, like wonderful family & friends, good education, lots of opportunities, so many holidays to different places, 17 pairs of shoes & lots & lots of clothes (shucks i think im addicted to shoes & clothes), basically all the stuff that i have.

im trying, but its so easy to just forget just how lucky i am...