::p!gG¥ cafe::

Turning wiser

2009-12-05T00:00:00.001+08:00

Yes, i refuse to say turning one year OLDER, haha! It's my 26th Birthday, finally! A long awaited day for me, Dec babies , no good no good! Haha!

Not having loud celebration party, but just with all my love ones celebrating for me, piggyparents & The Boy, i m more than contented. Not to mention also the pack list of dinner dates next week with all the friends, i know i m loved, very loved.

Every year when my birthday approaching , year end is just near the corner too, therefore i always took this day to do a small recap back. It was an important year to me. Looking back then, i kinda feeling amused how did the 365 days passed through...i adore every single details of them, and i love every single day spent. This year , i added two new roles to my life, a wife-to-be and a house owner! Unbelievable, those two roles that used to seems so far away from me and from my life, yet now i m learning to play these roles each and every day.

I gonna take this opportunity to thank, thanks all of you who has stood by me all this while, thanks all of you who have loved me unconditionally, and most importantly thanks for loving me for who i was, who i m and who i will be .

Happy 26th Birthday, piggy!

@ Cova

2009-12-04T00:04:00.001+08:00

The Boy's sisters had been very sweet to plan a birthday treat for me earlier, since on the actual day itself piggyparents will be in town to celebrate their daughter's birthday!

They even decided the place that they knew i gonna love it, and don't care about their bro preference (ya, the boy prefer zi char stall lah , hah! ) So, yes off we go, to Cova! Seated at the end of level 1 @ Paragon, gives it a pleasant quiet corner for the guest to enjoy good food and wonderful catching up! We choose the seats outside, because the cafe itself is quite fully occupied!

The eldest sis has full of praise of this place, especially for their desserts bar, and yes, i was truly captivated when i entered, and looked at those tiny little pastry and their slice cakes....*slurp*

We went for their set dinner, starter, pasta, main course, and most importantly we can choose either a slice cake or 4 mini pastry to go with their coffee or tea ( wide selection )!

= Cream of potato soup served with grilled cod bites and fresh chives =

= Parma ham served with fresh pineapple bites and balsamic vinegar reduction =

= Angel hair pasta served with porcini mushroom ragout and fresh mint leaves =

I simply love my main course, the Boston lobster is grilled to perfection and when goes together with the orange sauce, it is heavenly!! THe Boy's ribeye steak in medium is quite nice too especially with the truflle sauce, but a little too dry for my liking, but overall still not bad!

= Seared half Boston lobster served with grilled radicchio and orange sauce =

= grilled rib eye steak served with balsamic scented antichokes and truffle sauce =

I love their dessert selection, we choose two slices of cakes and 8 mini pastries for our 4 sets of set dinner! Tiramisu and mango mousse cake , as for the pastries too many, can't list down all here, in short, all are yummilicious!

Well, their tea selections are wide too, more than 10 to choose from, and if you are wondering what my tea selection was? Christmas Tea! Just nice for the season!

= for me =

= for The Boy =

A pleasant birthday treat, and i know i will be coming back for more !

= thanks for all! =

Sleep well

2009-12-01T10:25:00.003+08:00

A good mattress is essential for Welaine, especially when both of us love sleeping loads. Hah!

So we have been searching for a suitable one, and in the end our eyes landed on this model of firm mattress from Sealy. Since ours will be a platform bed, we need a very good support mattress, so their posturepedic series is our choice!

The Boy :: we definitely need the King size ok ?

piggy :: why? expensive leh..

The Boy :: to avoid you from rolling down the bed ah!! you forget about your 360 degree turn?

piggy :: ohh... *_*

The list goes on

2009-11-28T10:11:00.000+08:00

Shopping time again!

Since we have 3 bedrooms in the house, one of it the Master of course will be ours, while the 2 others, 1 will become a study room cum guest room, while another one gonna be purely a guest room.

We wanted to move over our single bed over to one of the guest room, and to buy another good sofa bed for another. The Boy wanted a good one, because mostly this will be used by our parents, and he wants them to sleep on firmer bed so that they won't feel backache or so.

Searching ups and downs, we finally found one solid sofa bed that we love! Very firm mattress and solid base, when uses as a sofa, looks very coy too! So, we happily placed the order and now waiting for it to be delivered and to be seated nicely in our guest room! =) The colour that we choose for the fabric is not red , definitely !

So you see, the list does go on ...........

What we picked

2009-11-26T09:35:00.003+08:00

weLaine had so many fun ( and also bickering ) shopping dates recently. All for our loft!

Too many things to survey, too many things to buy , too many things to consider, and most importantly too much money need to pay!

But a house couldn't be complete if without the daily necessities such as fridge and washing machine. So these are the two that we selected and happily bought it back!

We were in a dilemma when choosing for fridge, although the heart skipped a beat when we saw the white Samsung Fridge, but suddenly i become a rational buyer worrying that the white might turned yellow. While The Boy ( being the usual very rational buyer) insisted that we buy this, since it is made in Korea and it matches our kitchen cabinet very well. In the end, i gave in, thinking that it is really a pretty piece in white! Vain me.

Thanks God for the washer, no arguement , we both wanted this washer and dryer ! So, this is till date the easier purchase so far! hah!

More , more and more to come ...

The weekend fully oocupied

2009-11-23T00:03:00.000+08:00

So weLaine spent their whole weekend fully occupied with events for the loft!

Started off Saturday with furniture shopping at IKEA and Courts, Yes, Again, we went for furniture shopping, but the list-to-buy seems never ending! Finalize a few, and will come back to order when it is nearer to date, since IKEA can only keep the goods for 3 days, any days after that will be charge at $5 /day. WTH?!

But of course shopaholic piggy need to carry back something after a good ~7 hours of walking around IKEA and Courts! We got ourselves vacumm cleaner, mugs, and foldable mattress ( for guest )! And, look at my superman who carried all these stuffs , how can i not adores him?! hah!

Then on Sunday afternoon, we went over to the loft, just to have a good look at it during day time. As we always went during evening time after work, and it was quite dark by that time. Of course the Chief Engineer of the Loft has to do a thorough inspection of every corner and details, make sure that everything is within his standard! Hah!

- he : inspecting carefully
- she - messing around happily

Looking at the floor tiles that going to be completed soon, i start to see how weLaine's Loft is taking it's shape, and very soon, i gonna have all the carpentry works up, and partition works up ......and that is really building up our little home.

And yes, i heart this special journey of constructing and building up our house, it is too memorable that even words can't describe the feeling of the owner, of weLaine. =)

weLaine @ Xi An :: Day 1 (鼓楼&钟楼)

2009-11-20T15:18:00.000+08:00

我想我也真的是太懒惰了,这么能到现在连西安的最后一个部分都还没完成. 不行,不行, 今天就要把西安, 我最喜爱的部分与你分享.

站在西安的市中心, 你肯定不会错过这非常宏伟的西安鼓楼.鼓楼位于西安城内东西南北四条大街的交汇处。鼓楼创建于明洪武十三年（公元1380年）,楼体为砖木结构，呈长方形，通高34米，东西长52.6米，南北宽38米.鼓楼.外观楼体雄健宏大、优美，极赋浓郁的民族特色。

在西安城内，与鼓楼相媲美的姊妹建筑当是西安钟楼，两楼遥相辉映故有“姊妹楼”和“文武楼”之称，西安钟楼始建于明朝洪武十七年,位于西安市中心城内东西南北四条大街的交汇处，是中国古代遗留下来众多钟楼中形制最大、保存最完整的一座。钟楼呈典型明代建筑艺术风格，重檐斗拱，攒顶高耸，屋檐微翘，华丽庄严.

我尤其喜欢这两座姊妹楼在夜幕低帘的时侯的样子, 是那么的壮观, 看着它们耸立在这繁华都市中,路上车子,行人来来往往, 却似乎无损它们的高贵,庄严韵味. 哪怕这城市多么繁华，傲立在中心的这两座姊妹楼，竟也没让人感觉格格不入。我仿佛有种置身与古代的错觉. 或应该说, 我有种古代与现代的交错感, 而且那感觉竟能如此强烈, 旧旧挥散不去.

这是我西安最后一篇回忆录,但我却竟然有些不舍. 当我把旅程在用文字与图片一一记录下来的当儿, 我就犹如在重游了一次西安, 这座坐落在现代的古城, 美丽而神秘, 宏伟而古雅.难忘非常.倘若还有机会, 我必定会再重游一次, 再一次来敢受着非凡的古城气势.

The perfect door grill

2009-11-17T00:03:00.000+08:00

WeLaine are currently searching for a good and nice main door grill! We don't really like those grill with designs, while prefer something simple.

Did some browsing and found this one that we love! Simple and nice!

So set, this gonna be the one that is guarding weLaine's Loft!

And , see what we found while surfing around, such a super cute and lovely door grill, such a happy family ya! =)

Reno updates!

2009-11-15T22:10:00.003+08:00

Updates! Updates!

The tiles for the MBR bathroom were up last Friday! Now, two bathroom's tiles are fully done! I love them both!

A close look of the wall tiles and the feature wall.

The common one is grey/dark themed and MBR one is creame/bright!

The dark one is apparently The Boy's favourite, while the bright one is piggy's favourite!

Now i want to see how my floor tiles looks like!! Be fast pls!

The tiles are up!

2009-11-12T10:21:00.002+08:00

I have been neglecting my blog for quite some days, too busy. Too busy with the renovations, too many with all the discussion, too busy with all the decisions needed to be made. Work is not busy, but it is the 1-1 trainings for 3 days drained me out totally!

Ok, stop rambling, some updates for the house reno! The whole house tiles and unnecessarily things (old ceiling lamp, kitchen cabinets...etc) have been removed, and leaving me a clean house waiting for cement screed and the tiles to be up!

It was a pleasant surprise to see the wall tiles for the common bathroom is up when we went over yesterday evening! And, thanks God that the effect turns out to be what we want! The pictures did not do them justice , as it was pretty dark when we were there! I love my tiles! =)

Now, we wait, oh yes again wait patiently for the floor tiles to be up!

But first, we need to solve the water leaking problem in the MBR with the HDB officer, we need to confirm all the details drawing, we need to choose another wc for the common since the one we choose initially doesn't fit.......and the list goes on .....

Anyway, i m happy although the to-do list are lost, purely because all that are the fun of setting up a loft, Welaine's Loft!

* heart *

Filling up slowly

2009-11-09T12:03:00.000+08:00

Today weLaine's Loft will be filled up with beautiful tiles.

Love the matching colour tones tiles that we choose together, hopefully when it is all done up , it gonna be a pretty little house with our effort in it!

We were a little happy couple after all the tiles has been selected last weekend, and decided to end the day with a little dessert, Rochor Beancurd! Ah, i have to end the satisfying day with something sweet and yummy simply because One/Big mission accomplished!

I can't wait, can't wait to see how it gonna turn into, when dreams become reality, when the little house become the house that full with our effort and love. We are filling it up slowly, parts by parts, putting in all the bits and pieces that represent us !

2 months more, weLaine's Loft gonna be in a totally new appearance and i truly looking forward to it! =)

Family Day

2009-11-08T00:02:00.000+08:00

It was a date with the lovely niece for our company 40th year celebration aka Family Day back in 1 month ago!

Thanks God to the lovely weather today, rise and shine, and we were at the zoo for the celebration!

It was really fun with all the small booths of games, performances, lucky draws , although we didn't really participate in most of it, but i think we did enjoy much!

Not much walking arounnd the zoo due to the high humidity in the weather, and also i think we are all grown up, even the niece is not that excited when she saw those animals. I started to miss those days back then when she was still a small little toddler, how excited she was everytime she visited the zoo!

But i truly enjoy time spent with her today, it was hard to meet up with her nowadays, due to busy schedule of hers and mine! Oh ya, she is a busy little princess! But i must admit, this little young lady, i truly love her much!

The perfect escape

2009-11-05T10:14:00.004+08:00

I don' t really remember when was the the last time i went for a high-tea session, i used to go for it quite often during my high-tea addictive days, be it all by myself or with my gfs.

Thanks to the dearly sis who arranged a nice high-tea session yesterday, i tell you , i enjoyed so much the whole afternoon. With all the good food, nice brewed tea, and of course with you, it was lovely and sweet! =)

But the fun does not just ended there, we then proceed to the sis's mum shop. I love visiting the sis's mum, i love to chit-chat with her, cracking jokes, and i enjoy time at the shop! I tell myself i must visit often, or tag along the sister there more often!! We left the shop around 7 and proceed to visit the star of the night - Baby Javan!

Has been hearing news , seeing cute pics of this lil guy since he was born, and finally i have the chance to meet him in person! Such a cute little baby, charming yet cheeky! See you soon ok baby? Grow well with all the love surrounding you baby , hugsss!

It was a very wonderful Wednesday spent, and thanks for giving me the chance to escape ONCE from Body Combat class, haha!

Before the show..

2009-11-02T10:30:00.003+08:00

The renovation works going to start Today, so here's a collage of how the house used to be (after today's hacking), was also the view of the house that actually attracted me to offer! haha!

All the stuff has been cleared away by the previous owner, left us a good empty house. In fact, i told The Boy, i still feel good when i entered the house, just like how i felt the first time i came ! So i guess, it was not an impulsive buy -lah!

Will post the reno progress here bits by bits, since we will be visiting the house almost every night to see the progress! =)

weLaine @ Xi An :: Day 1 ( 回民街)

2009-10-31T10:39:00.000+08:00

下一站, 我们来到了西安另一个必到之地, 回民街.

这个非常富有民族色彩的一个景点, 从西安市中心钟楼向西100多米、穿过鼓楼门洞，就进入了西安回民历史街区。约2万名回民依寺而居，维持着原有的宗教传统和生活习惯。回民街在西安，绝对是一个志标性的地点. 四条街道，基本上提供着西安大部分的美食，来西安旅游的朋友，绝不会错过这样的一个街道，既能满足食欲又能满足旅游的乐趣。

西安著名的北院门小吃街、中国现存年代最早的化觉巷清真大寺，以及中国三大城隍庙之一的西安城隍庙都在区内，以汉族和回族为主的多个民族于此居住，呈现出多元化的文化氛围，具有独特的历史与文化价值。

这里有着各种类型的小吃, 品种繁多，口味地道。一步步走去，腊牛肉、灌汤包子、羊肉泡、令人目不暇接，口味大开。街上人来人往, 热闹非常. 但是我个人不可不提那皮嫩汁浓的灌汤包子, 还可真的是回民街好有名的一道小吃! 要吃地道, 好吃的灌汤包子, 就绝对不可错过这闻名全国的贾三灌汤包子馆. 我们对它可是非常想念, 想念的是那浓浓的汤汁, 一口咬去, 从那嫰皮的包子中流出,堪称一绝. 现在想起,真是回味无穷.当然, 店里也有售买其他小吃,烤羊蹄, 炒凉粉, 还有我们都觉得新奇的八宝粥. 八宝粥味道甜甜的, 吃起来,就象是一道甜品般, 不错不错!

=八宝粥=

这里的回民和本地常看到的回民没什么不同, 头上依旧是披着头巾, 男回民依旧需要到清真寺去祈祷. 唯一另我们不惯的是这里的卫生水平似乎有些低,但这也不可避免, 毕竟是小吃之街,难免会有些垃圾之类.

回民街区内的街道都具有非常浓郁的伊斯兰风格, 历史也已经很久了. 看着他们用自己的宗教形成了高度的凝聚力，在汉人占主流的社会中，顽强地坚持了自己特有的文化生活圈子,实在佩服.

若有机会到西安一游,可别忘了把这特色景点列入你的行程中哦!

102809

2009-10-29T10:07:00.003+08:00

102809, the day that we have been waiting and waiting for has finally arrived, in fact it is already O-V-E-R!! =(

After months of anticipating, finally yesterday was the day we collected our house key, and be officially the home owner of our loft, weLaine's Loft!

Nothing beats the excited feeling that lasted for the whole day, big big smile was hanging on our face, and i kinda feel numb at the end of the day! But, who cares? It is the biggest purchase in life for weLaine, how can we don't feel wonderful!

The 2nd appointment went on smoothly, luckily no hiccups , and then the previous owner hand over to us the set of keys, and YAY, we are , we are, the OWNER now!

The Boy is very funny, he wanted to perform some ritual yesterday for owning the house, as taught by his colleague! So, we bought rice and salt and he sprinkled all around the house. Guess it is to indicate a new ownership and to blessed the house and us , the one who will be living there!

= sorry for the blur photo, as it was getting dark when we were there =

What is coming up next? The reno of course, gonna start from today, the pre-reno stuff, site measurement, on site viewing, discussion, i really hope that nothing much need to be added in to the renovation works, as we are really broke! haha! =)

Let's see, will post the progress here soon! Stay tuned!

Happy birthday Mummy

2009-10-27T10:46:00.003+08:00

A wonderful afternoon @ 1- Caramel..

With yummilicious cakes and drinks...

Even the name of the tea is just so appropriate for you, Happy Birthday Tea!

We celebrated your birthday, together as a family!

With your dearest husband, daughter and son-in-law.

At the end of the day..i say a little wish deep in my heart...

i just wish to spend every birthday of yours with you, my dearest mummy!

It's a deal ok?

weLaine @ Xi An : Day 1 ( 华清池)

2009-10-24T00:03:00.001+08:00

告别了壮观非常的兵马俑博物馆，我们出发到了另一个景点，华清池。

华清池距离兵马俑博物馆大约30分钟的车程，不算太远。位于骊山脚下北麓，是中国著名的温泉胜地，温泉水与日月同流不盈。中国国内已知温泉达2700多处，独华清池温泉以芳香凝脂、动人故事名冠诸泉之首。

华清池温泉水常年保持43 度，水质纯净，细腻柔滑的水中含有二氧化碳，氟离子等10多种矿物质对风湿、关节炎等疾病均有明显的疗效，因而吸引历代帝王沐浴游幸。据说每年十月至次年暮春，唐玄宗都会带杨贵妃姐妹驾临华清宫避寒游乐，这也是这里那么闻名的原故之一。

= toilet ? =

唐御汤遗址发现于1982年4月，经过三年多的发掘，在4600平方米发掘区内 ,清理出唐玄宗与杨贵妃沐浴的"莲花汤”、“海棠汤”、唐太宗沐浴的“星辰汤”以及“太子汤”、“尚食汤”等五处皇家汤池遗址，非常让人赞叹。

=星辰汤=

=海棠汤=

院内还有非常著名的五间厅，是一座砖木结构的厅房，南依骊山，北至荷花池，庭院平坦，树木葱郁，因由五个单间厅房相连名五间厅。

五间厅建于清朝末年，1934年曾加以修建，成为高级官员喜爱游览休憩的场所。蒋介石也曾两次入陕,以华清池为“行辕”，下榻五间厅，在此策划高级军事会议.

五间厅由西往东依次是：秘书室、蒋介石卧室、蒋介石办公室、部署进攻红军的会议室、侍从室主任钱大钧的办公室。

五间厅的玻璃窗、墙壁上，迄今还保留兵谏发生激战时的弹痕，各房间办公室用的桌子、椅子、床、沙发、茶具、火炉、地毯、电话等，均按原貌复制摆放。站在这五间厅啊，真忍不住会开始幻想自己正处身在当时的激战当中，看这蒋介石,张学良、杨虎城等的兵谏呢！嘿嘿。。。

好了，是该收拾起爱幻想的心，来好好欣赏这华清宫的美。这里山明水秀，院内广阔，幽静，背后的骊山更象是为华清池守护般的天使，让这美丽的温泉之地能保留至今，吸引众多游客的观光。若来到西安以游，千万别忘了这历史悠久，明媚无比的华清池!

华清池,
陕西省西安市临潼区华清路38号
029-83812003
门票价格：旺季70元，淡季40元
开放时间：8：00－16：00

Picking up an old " friend "

2009-10-21T10:17:00.004+08:00

It has been ages since I last step into any Cardio classes even since my membership ended last year.

I always love Kick Boxing, i love the punch, i love the dynamics, i love how lively the whole class can be. But i have been refraining myself from joining anymore gyms, clubs, simply because i know i couldn't commit in long term.

The Boy came back on Monday and brought back a piece of receipt, he actually signed me up for a 12-session Kick Boxing lesson @ Yishun Stadium! I think he just can't stand how slack i m in exercising, so he decided to act first by signing up and paid and inform me later!

Erm...i m little upset at first, because seems like i m being forced to, but think twice, it is a good start too, to pick up again an old " friend" , to start exercising again, and to spend my boring Wednesday night when The Boy went for his badminton session.

The Boy :: okok, i promise you i will walk u there, and walk you back home after class ok ?

The point is , the Stadium is just 5 mins from home! So i think i don't really need that lah! haha!

Happy Exercising Wednesday! =)

= i hope =

weLaine @ Xi An :: Day 1 (兵马俑博物馆)

2009-10-18T13:49:00.013+08:00

起程前往西安的早上, 天空下着细雨, 乘上飞机, 一个多小时后,我们顺利抵达美丽的古都, 西安. 从机场前往我们的酒店, 金花香格里拉大酒店竟需要接近一个小时的路程.不用说,我当然又睡着了. 窗外下着好大的雨, 气温底的只剩13度. 好冷好冷.下着雨的古都,看起来多了一份朦胧的美. 酒店历史悠久, 但地点却非常方便, 靠近市中心, 是在西安住宿一个不错的选择.

由于下雨的关系,第一个晚上我们知道市中心走走就返回酒店安排隔天的形程. 但那一趟短暂的一游, 在这一个古老而富有魅力的城市, 却另我有着深深的感触与震撼. 下一篇将娓娓到来为何. 向酒店预订了明天的形程, 我们将出发到世界闻名的秦始皇兵马俑博物馆和华清池, 也就是贵妃娘娘沐浴的地方. 我们将有一个地陪带领我们,一个人 RMB450.

第二天我们起了个大早,吃了早餐,就开始了我们的历史之旅. 秦始皇兵马俑博物馆距离我们的酒店大约45分钟的路程.一路上,导游详细的解说着兵马俑的始来,与博物馆的历史,当然不能忘了当代最具代表性的人物,秦始皇.

终于到达那举世闻名的秦始皇兵马俑博物馆, 非常广阔的一个历史保留区.当天有着最舒服的气温,大约16度, 让我们能在最舒服的情况下步上我们的历史之旅. 购买了区内专用的环抱车, RMB5, 我们就浩浩荡荡上一次特别非常的历史之课.

秦兵马俑博物馆建设于兵马俑坑原址之上，位于西安市临潼区东7.5公里的骊山北麓，西距西安37.5公里。于1979年中国国庆节开放。三个坑成品字形，总面积22780平方米，坑内置放与真人马一般大小的陶俑陶马共约7400余件。三个坑分别定名为一、二、三号兵马俑坑。首先开放一号坑，至1991年9月，三号坑正式对外开放。1994年9月，二号坑以边发掘边展出的方式向外界开放。

一号坑平面呈长方形，东西长230米，宽62米，深5米，总面积14260平方米. 坑道内有10道2.5米宽的夯土隔墙, 一号坑兵马俑按实战军阵排列,有战袍武士俑, 他们是一号坑军阵的前锋部队, 有向南的武士俑，是右翼,然后是向北的武士俑，是左翼, 最后是向西的武士俑，是后卫.别小看他们,每一个俑儿都是真人马一般大小,人约1.78米高.根据每个探方里兵马俑排列的密度推算，全部发掘后可出土兵马俑6000余件，其中以步兵居多。

在一号坑的后方,是修复与挖掘工程的地区. 在这里能清楚的看见每一个俑儿的修复过程, 一匹马竟需要长达八年的时间,才能完成修复.试想,这共约7400余件的俑儿所需耗费的人力,物理,财力会是多么庞大的一个工程.陶俑有真人大小，由工匠加工烧制，全部为手工劳动，没有使用模, 正所为,兵马俑, 可是千人千面, 所以我们现在看到的陶俑容貌各异，体态也各不相同.

二号兵马俑坑平面呈曲尺形，面积6000平方米,由骑兵、步兵、弩兵和战车混合编组的大型军阵.共有陶俑陶马1300余件，战车80多辆，并有大量金属兵器.

三号兵马俑坑平面呈凹字形，面积约520平方米，它与一、二号坑是一个有机的整体，似为统师三军的指挥部，出土68个陶俑和4马1车。

1980年12月在秦始皇陵西侧20米处，发掘出土了两乘大型彩绘铜车马，按照发现的顺序，被编为一号和二号铜车马。但是,两辆铜车马都残破严重，其中二号铜车马已碎成1555片，经过考古工作者和各方面专家两年半细心艰苦的修复，二号铜车马于1983年10月1日正式对外展出，一号铜车马也于1988年正式展出。一号车应为古代的“高车”。二号车叫“安车”，分为前御室和后乘室。赶车的人坐在前御室，主人坐在后乘室.

我,是震撼的, 从没想过, 有一天自己会站在这里,看着这宏伟的历史遗物,仔仔细细重温了一次,也见证了一次历史. 那感觉是如此不同,如此强烈, 也另身为华人的我,有着莫大的骄傲.

不曾到过这里,从不曾觉得我与中国千年历史有着任何关系,但, 经次一游,我开始更加认识自己,更加明白自己的由来, 甚至开始想象, 几千年, 我的前世,会是什么角色,会和什么人遇见,有着怎么样的一段人生.

西安金花大酒店,
中国西安市长乐西路8号
邮政编码710032
电话: (86 29) 8323 2981
传真: (86 29) 8323 5477

秦始皇兵马俑博物馆
西安市临潼区临马公路中段，距西安以东30公里
电话:029-81399127 ,81399001
价格范围: 淡季(12月1日—2月)：65元/人，优惠票35元/人
: 旺季(3月1日—11月)：90元/人，优惠票45元/人

weLaine @ Chengdu :: Day 4 ( Shang Palace )

2009-10-15T10:44:00.002+08:00

So fast, we reached the 4th day of our stay here in Chengdu, where we were heading to Xi An today!

The sweet sis arranged for a very very nice and yummy brunch for us before we board the plane, the dim sum buffet @ Shang Palace ( it was then that i knew all the Chinese restaurant in Shangri-la hotels worldwide is named Shang Palace ) !

I love the spread, yummilicious and heavenly. I can't remember all the names, it is too much! But i tell u we went back for 2nd time on the next Saturday, the day before we came back to Sg! Too many varieties on the menu, even twice visit is insufficient to taste them all!

The whole place is so orientally-decorated, and it was the Mid-Autumn Festival when we were there, so they even setup a corner to display all the mooncakes in their beautiful packaging.

There are quite a few private dining rooms available, and i learned from the sis that the locals especially businessman must have their lunch/dinner in the private rooms, and some even have their own washroom!

Okok, enough said, time for the food to make their appearance!

There are a few to-die for items, including the Malay Kueh, which is a layer cake where it is made of sweet custard, egg yolk and little bit of shredded coconut, very tasty , we orderd twice! Next will be the chicken feet, big one, haha! I don't take that but all of the rest thinks that it is good.

Another must try item that has been emphasized by the sis is this, the durian pastry! It is so crunchy and delicate that, you must be very careful when you pick it up, it might just fall into half before you put in your mouth! But i tell u , it is heavenly, the sweetness of the durian with the combination of the well-doned pastry, heavenly! If i remembered correctly, we had 3 plates of this!

I love also the baked papaya pastry, especially the hot backed papaya in it, gave me a big surprise cause i always thought it should be cold! Very yummy!

The buffet left us so very fulled, and luckily the plane ride is 2 hrs plus away, if not it gonna be super bloated for us!

Very lovely brunch, and now i m starting to miss it! awww...

weLaine @ Chengdu : Day 3

2009-10-13T10:30:00.003+08:00

Lazy me stopped blogging for 3 days, now is time to come back to continue writing.

The 3rd day spent walking around Chengdu town, basically a shopping day for The Boy's mum and me! Went to almost all the big shopping complex in Chengdu, Top City, Isetan, Ito Yokado ( the most expensive shopping complex ) , all the shops beside Chun Xi Road, phew...a long day of walk, shop, walk, shop!

Nothing much so i gonna let the pictures do the talking, some views of Chengdu , the busy central part of it!

There is this very cute shop that sells very pretty and cute Panda Tees for Guys and Girls. Situated in Top City! Check it out if you are here! They even have a very big cute Panda statue in front of the shop, so nice and i can't help but must take a photo with him! =)

We noticed there is this shop at the front part of Chun Xi Road that is always crowded and with a long long queue, selling some sort of Xiao Long Bao. So we decided to join the crowd and try it! Selling cheap, RMB 10for 12! Luckily the queue is not that long yet since it is morning time, so we got it when they were selling the second servings!

The shop is named 乔东家蟹黄鲍鱼生煎包. A national chain local snacks stall. Very tasty especially when it is still pipping hot. Minced meat and stew crab sauce is the ingredient they used. Then the Pao itself is grilled till golden brown and voila, ready to sell!

Headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and wait for the sis to knock off before we went for dinner!

- i love my tees, so me! -

Dinner was set at one of the restaurant beside Sofitel Hotel, 滨江饭店, since it was quite late and not much decent restaurant is still open. One of the worst dinner we ever had in these 12 days! Very very slow service, inattentive waitress, and the dishes tastes awful!

Looking back at all the photos taken, i kinda glad that this is a free and easy trip. It was through this way that we got the chance to understand their everyday life, to try mix into their culture, to taste their local snacks ( although some are scary, but it is an experience) and not those restaurants that tour group will bring. Somehow one the last few days, we actually discovered that we are slowly adapting to the lifestyle there, and feel sort of comfortable with it. We started to appreciate the simplicity of life people lead here. Even the tastebuds is switching a little to be able to accept the taste of Ma La slowly. I guess, i think to me....This is the meaning of travel, 旅行的意义.

I sounded as if it was the last post for our China trip, but actually it is just the begining, it is not even the middle part yet, next up is the magnificient, Teracotta Army , Xi an!

Stay tuned!

weLaine @ Chengdu Part II : Night

2009-10-10T00:03:00.000+08:00

After the educational historical tour around Wu Hou Ci, we went back to the hotel for a quick power nap and showered before headed downtown for the show of the night, “Fu Rong Guo Cui” ( 芙蓉国粹).

I shall explain more about the show later, now let's see what we had for dinner on our 2nd night there! After the M-A L-A fright the day before, this time round we finally managed to find decent or so-called familiar Cantonese food at the Chinese Restaurant of Haiyatt Garden Hotel (成都海悦花园大酒店), Yue Cantonese Restaurant ( 悦中餐厅 ).

Fully satisfied our tastebuds that night with yummy food, including 花生焖猪尾, 干煸四季豆, 砂煲鱼头, 油麦菜, 蛋炒叉烧. Yummilicious, all were cleared, no prize guessing who is the happy one with this dinner. The Boy's mum and the piggy of course!

After the sumptious dinner, we took a cab down to Jinjiang Theatre (锦江剧场) for the show “Fu Rong Guo Cui” ( 芙蓉国粹). One of the must-go show when one is in Chengdu! The ticket is pre-booked by the sis from the hotel with special price and good seats allocations for good photography angle! The sis definitely knows the photographer Bro well!

“Fu Rong Guo Cui” means the quintessence of Chinese culture in Chengdu, which is the Sichuan opera. Fu Rong is actually cotton rose, the city flower of Chengdu, while Guo Cui means the quintessence of Chinese culture.

This is a opera shows that consists of many famous opera actors and actress, all the national level performancers. The shows last for around 2 hours, some of the programme that night are shadow play (手影), rolling lamp (滚灯, performed by a clown and his fierce wife), acrobatics shows, Chuan Ju ( Si Chuan Opera ), Er Hu performance, Puppet shows and the most amazing SiChuan skill, face changing (变脸) . And, did i mentioned that they do whole outfit changing too? (变装) i called it! haha!

A very good show, especially the puppet shows, where it might seems easy to control with two hands , all the actions shows are so natural, and it was till the end only we knew that the puppet is ~50kg , as heavy as a normal girl ! Oh My!

How can i missed mentioning witnessed the Master of face changing performance, incredible i must said! They even had Spiderman and Doraemon masks! I guess one of them saw The Boy's little long telephoto lens , and step closer ( nearly right in front of him ) , asking him to snap photo while he performed the trick! And guess what? It was too too fast to get anything, just in a blink of eyes, the face mask is changed!

I had a great night , in fact all of us had a great night! Quiite spectacular, and worth the watch! So next time if you are in Chengdu, don't forget to support this great show!

Haiyatt Garden Hotel (成都海悦花园大酒店)
地址：四川省成都市红星路三段(步行街)12号 ( very near to Chunxi Street, just right beside Isetan)
E-mail：rsvn@haiyattchengdu.com
电话：(86-28)81918888

芙蓉国粹
Jinjiang Theatre (锦江剧场)
Ticket price : RMB(￥):180 , 260

weLaine @ Chengdu Part II : Day

2009-10-08T13:28:00.000+08:00

No special itinerary on our 2nd day, so not a very early rise, we get ready and walk around the surrounding area of the hotel. And of course, we had our breakfast @ HighFly (opposite the hotel ), where else ? haha!

= the boy's happy parents =

= favourite haunt =

Although it is again the same place, but i m glad to put into my mouth all the stuff that i m familiar with, the spicy beef spaghetti, and the club sandwiches, completed with a cup of fragrant espresso. We were ready to explore the town and some famous place in Chengdu !

We decided to go 武侯祠 , one of the most famous temple in Chengdu, a memorial temple dedicated to Zhu Ge Liang ,the Martial Marquis of Shu in the Three Kingdoms. The temple covers 37,000 square meters . It was combined with the Temple of Liu Bei at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, consequently, the entrance plaque reads 'Zhaolie Temple of Han Dynasty' 汉朝烈庙 (Zhaolie is the posthumous title of Liu Bei). The current temple was rebuilt in 1672.

The main body of the temple is divided into five sections , the front gate, second gate, Liu Bei's hall, Zhu Ge Liang's hall and lastly Liu Bei's tomb. All of which run south to north. Inside, clay sculptures of Shu Emperor and ministers stand together, making them a special feature.

The whole temple is surrounded by old cypresses and classical red walls, evokes nostalgia ! We hired a guide to show us around the temple and explain also the history of each of the characters.

Main attraction in the temple including the two very well-known Chu Shi Biao (出師表) , the former(前出師表)and the second(後出師表). Both were documents submitted by Zhu Ge Liang before his first and second Northen Expedition. The main topics addressed by Chu Shi Biao included the reasons for the Wei expedition, as well as advice to Liu Shan ( the emperor) on governing the kingdom.

My favourite part of the temple, is this long stretch of red walls that the top is fully covered with bamboo trees connecting two main hall that i mentioned earlier, this spot is so so beautiful and the red walls make it just nice to act as great wallpaper for photographs , of course the vain piggy couldn't miss out this opportunity!

It was just like a history recap tour when we completed walking around the whole temple, that left the The Boy wtih suddenly huge interest with the Three Kingdoms stories, and searching up and downs for books to read about it!

Right beside the Wu hou Temple, is the famous Jin Li Street(锦里)! Dating back to the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), it is in ancient times one of the busiest of commercial boulevards of the Kingdom of Shu, during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). It has become a tourist attraction, featuring aged buildings and folk customs from the area.

Jinli Street is 350-metre-long, extending from a gatehouse decorated with two red lanterns. The slabstone-paved street stretches with ancient-style buildings lined on both sides. The grey bricks and crimson columns of these two and three-storey teahouses and antique shops are of classic beauty.

A beautiful journey back to the history, but that doesn't ended our day, we gonna had a show to catch that night, so stay tuned for the night part of it where you gonna see the most famous Si Chuan Bian Lian (变脸) by the Master!

weLaine @ Chengdu :: Part 1

2009-10-06T00:06:00.000+08:00

It was an early rise to Changi for our flight with The Boy's parents to Chengdu 3 weeks ago!

Excited, very for weLaine, as we were going for holiday again! Had a hearty breakfast at Killiney before we boarded the plane. First experience on Silk Air, and it was awesome, spacious seats and yummy in-flight meal. I slept like a pig throughout the whole journey of 5 hours plus, while The Boy's mum was so very envy for an easy sleeper like me, ok, i m a piggy remember! =)

Reached Chengdu Xuangliu Airport ( 成都双流机场 ) around 3.40pm , board the cab and off we went to meet up with The Boy's sis @ Shangri-la, the place that we gonna stay in Chengdu , and also her working place!

I must must mentioned the incredible, great, wonderful skill of Chengdu taxi drivers! They are the best, that i think even Hamilton couldn't compare with! The speed, the "potong" skill, the way their handle their cars, they are just like the King of the road man! Their driving skill is superb, i reckon one of the best in the world and they should enter F1! Each time we took a cab, i nearly had a heart attack, so most of them i keep my eyes shut! Phew! * insurance is a must *

The journey from the airport to the city area where the hotel located is around 40 mins, that costs relatively cheap around RMB70! The sis was there at the main lobby waiting for us when we reached and we checked into their suite on the 6th floor, which consist of two bedrooms , living and a small kitchen. Oh ya, they even have a washing machine + dryer! Solve our laundry problem perfectly!

I love the hotel, cozy, spacious, everything is so well provided! It also given us the convenient of staying under one apartment, easily to pass things and have snacks or supper at the living room everyday! =) Great time for bonding!~

= the parent's room =

= ours room aka kids room =

After resting and catching up with the sis that had been posted here for nearly 6 months, we then proceed to the famous street in Chengdu as recommended by her, 春熙路. On this street, you can find all the famous stalls, no matter their own brands or international brands here, it is also one of the most frequently visited place for us when we were in Chengdu. With the cooling weather of around 21 C, it was perfectly relaxing to walk around the area, people-watching, eating local foods, and shopping @ our favourite supermart, Isetan ! hah!

Chengdu's local loves everything spicy, 麻辣. So along 春熙路, there are lotsa stalls selling all the local snacks marinated with 麻辣 sauce. Well, i think our tastebuds doesn't really suit theirs, so we don't really dare to try out after first few failed attempts! We need to search for " familiar" food, and obviously, McD and KFC is one of the must visit place! The Boy's wanted to try out McD Pork Burger for so long, finally he got the chance this time, and he loves it!! While, we loves the egg tart sells in KFC, so yummilicious till i feel like writting in to KFC in Singapore and Malaysia asking them why they are not sell over here?? awww..i miss it..

Dinner time, the sis brought us to this famous local food restaurant, 罗妹耙泥鳅 爬爬虾 that gave the Boy's mum and me a big headache, haha! She ordered their specialties 麻辣鹅掌, and 瀨尿蝦. I don't take 鹅掌, so i only left with 瀨尿蝦, but it was too troublesome to peel off the shells, luckily The Boy did it for me! While The boy's mum don't really take 麻辣 and a little skeptical about the first meal that full with oils and chillis, she skipped too! This made both of us looking at them eating happily the two big bowls of local delicacies ! =(

= 麻辣鹅掌 =

= 瀨尿蝦 =

No choice, we had to search for a decent supper place, so we ended up @ High Fly right opposite our hotel ! Nice comfy " normal " food, pizza and sandwiches gave The Boy's mum and me a big satisfied smile! This little cozy and beautiful cafe turned out to be one of the most visited cafe when we were there!

Of course the day ended with a nice hot shower and rest back to the hotel, stay tuned for Part 2 !

Shangri-la Chengdu
9 Binjiang Dong Road
Chengdu 610021
Sichuan, China
T: (86 28) 8888 9999
F: (86 28) 8888 6666

罗妹耙泥鳅 爬爬虾
地址：三圣街34号
电话： 86655221