My New Blog Site

Hi, again. I guess it has been quite some time since I last updated this blog. Maybe I forgot to tell you something about this blog. I'm using this blog as a "School-life in China" journal. So, that means that I will not be using it unless I'm in China.

callmesimon.blogspot.com This will be my personal blog for all the time.

So, be free to visit my personal blog for more of my personal words. The content of my personal is not limited to my personal thoughts or feelings, but also whatever I find interesting and want to share with you all.

That's it for now. If i'm really going to let go this old blog, I'll just post a notice. Thanks.

Counting the Sheeps....BORING!!!

No more exams, but to wait...

Graduation ceremony on the 13th of June, going back to Kuching on the 18th of June. But somehow, I can feel that time is passing so slow that it seems to be 48 hours a day, instead of 24. Many people complained for not having enough time, but for me, in my current situation, I really want the time to flow away fast so that I can be home and do whatever I want.

I once decided to get myself well-prepared for the course I took by studying during my free time, but I will surely go insane if I have to read for more than 10 hours a day, excluding my nap, shower and meal time. I tried to play some computer games while waiting for the time to pass, but I only ended up being pissed off by them because every time when I started to have fun, I would just "die" in the game.

Actually I don't have any clue what to post in my blog, so I just write out some crap, talking about nothing but my situation. And before I forget, remember the fried scorpions I mentioned in my previous post? I didn't try any of it because it was a highway robbery to buy it. RMB15 each!! Forget about it!!

That's all for the crap I have today, so see ya all in Kuching! 10 days left!

Let's pray for their soul and the wounded and the lost....

2008, 12th of May, it was Monday and we were having our class, exhausted and bored. Nothing special happened. Every thing happened as though they were planned, but something unexpected happened miles away from us. The earthquake in Si Chuan happened for less than 5 minutes, but it's damage was far more than what we expected. The "hands of the devil" shook the whole district and its surrounding areas for such a short period, but it destroyed everything on land. Buildings, schools, hospitals, post offices, houses and many more, as long as they were built on land, they were demolished and mutilated in some way. Nearly none of them survived the quake and after 5 minutes, every building was turned into rubbles and ashes. Some described the damage as if ten atomic bombs were targeted on Si Chuan.

Numerous corpses and carcasses can be found, so far as our eyes can see. The word "numerous" might not be enough to describe the amount of lives lost, but so far, as estimated by the official, at least 51151 people died, 2800000 injured, and 29000 were still no where to be found. Numbers might not be that convincing, but if you were there to see the amount of people lying dead, you might think that you were standing under a hill. During the rescue, many sacrificed their own lives for others whom they care, even for strangers whom they first met. Their non-selfishness and heroic act are praised, even when they were never seen alive again...

I was surfing the internet for some pictures about the earthquake and I saw a lot of pictures that touched my soul deep inside my heart. I saw a picture with a man carrying someone behind his back. He was paddling his bicycle around the demolished town and he was carrying his never-living wife. He could never let her go, even when she can never be "awaken". The earthquake separated him from his wife, but not their love. We are used to hearing "Till Death torn us apart" in every marriage vows, but in this case, death can never tear them apart, even spiritually. There is some sort of pain and sorrow deep inside my heart, but words can't tell how I felt. Tiffiny also said, "I feel so sad for those earthquake victims and I even wanted to cry out loud for them." You can feel your eyes wet, but there's no tears because our feelings can never be compared to those whose love ones were forever separated. They are hurt physically and spiritually, and there's no cure for it. Some can't even bare the pain that they wanted to commit suicide, just to be with their love ones, in the spiritual way. There were 2 students, whom i read about in an article, committed suicide in front of the other student who survived. One could not wait and was feeling hopeless, so he/she drank a bottle of Ink; the other could not stand the pain of being compressed by the rubbles and he/she hit his/her own head against the bricks. Both died because the pain was unbearable. 60 students were trapped in that rubbles, but only 4 came out alive.

Our class went to the school's headquarter for the mourning ceremony a few days ago. The atmosphere at the field was calm and peaceful, but there was sadness everywhere. The whole ceremony was simple, with speeches and poem reading. Candles were placed everywhere by students and teachers to show their respect to the dead and the living, including the lost. At the end of it, students screamed out loud with their encouraging words, as if they were hoping those victims and those above the sky could here it. Rest in peace for those who had sacrificed and for those who survived, treasure your life and be strong. God bless everyone and their soul, Amen.

The flags in front of our school.

We reached the headquarter and were gathering near the field.

Students and teachers were at the field before the ceremony started.

My tiny candle. Pretty, right?

Volunteered students distributing candles.
Both of ours candles. Mine was fading, but still strong.
Five of us.
Tiffiny with her candle.
People gathering around the Candles of Love.

Many came soon later.

The field was crowded and the ceremony started.

Everyone went up to place their candles.

I didn't have a good look at the words in the middle of the Love.

The press came for the grand ceremony, too.

We saw one of these along the field.
Love from students.

I guess that's all for now. It's almost 3am now. Hope that everything will be fine for those places and love is everywhere. Love and peace always.

Gone, but returned! Monkeys in Da Restaurant!

Hello, folks! Miss me? We have been busy preparing for our exams now and then, so I don't have that much time to update our blog. Frankly speaking, the line was terrible few days ago, and I can't log in Blogger.com. Anyway, I finished every mission for my Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition and it rocks! Oops...nah, I can't play any online games as I used to play in Kuching, so it won't hurt that much if I played only one game.

So, today, I'm going to show you guys a restaurant we went one day while we had just left the school headquarter. The location of the restaurant is along a street heading 石牌路. I forgot the name of it so I'll just leave it to you guys to figure it someday. The whole restaurant is built and designed under monkeys. In other words, you can see monkeys everywhere. I know what you guys are thinking. "Monkey? How the h*ll are we going to eat with monkeys hopping and jumping around, arousing us?" Nah, the monkeys I mentioned are just dolls. Creative, right? That's what I think. It's a restaurant, so the food will be our main concern. Talking about the food there, they are not that much if compared to other places we went before. They are just the right amount. I like their bowls and cups. You can buy those dolls if you are interested and they do give discount if you buy any. 10% discount.

So, enough for the crap and let's roll the pictures (sorry, i don't have any videos to roll)!

We ordered Milk Tea with Pearls.

Quite a collection of monkeys, but i prefer the one with big eyes.

Here's a wider view with counter at the right.

Some more monkeys watching from above.

We didn't took many photo because we were in a hurry to return to our hostel before the traffic jam took place. That's all for the monkeys.

Olympic Torch Relay in GuangZhou

Well, it has been quite some time since I last posted. Today, the Olympic Torch Relay took place in GuangZhou. Held once every 4 years, you have to wait at least 100 years more for the Olympic to be held in the same place, so a look at this torch relay is like a golden chance for everyone in China. Most of my friends went there to have a look of the torch at somewhere near 天河城. One of them complained that the situation there was a chaos because China is a overpopulated country, so it was crowded and you can hardly have a clear look at the torch with the person holding it. It might sounds like a lost to us for not going there, but we were also lucky for not going because we could not see what we expected.

Two days ago was an unforgettable and harsh day for Tiffiny and her family. Both her parents were away from Kuching and there was no one looking after their house. So, I guess you all know what happened. Yup, her house was robbed and the whole house seemed like there was a rampage took place. Three robbers went to their house by climbing across the fence. One of Tiffiny's neighbor living at the opposite block saw those strangers acting suspiciously and he called the police. Everything happened so fast that all the robbers were caught before they managed to escape and everything stolen was held back to the police station.

When my mum reached the scene, she saw everything in a mess, with newspaper scattering near the entrance door and every room seemed like it was turned upside-down and likewise. Though the robbers did not managed to escaped, their stolen goods were taken back to the police station by the polices and I was told that that was actually a foolish thing to do because these days, polices and criminals friends, very close friends.At the police station, I was told about something that was unbelievable. The robbers wanted to hire their own lawyer to sue Tiffiny's family! What a ridiculous news! You robbed my house and now you want to sue me? What the hell is happening to our world?

Except the mentioned above, the polices even asked for some "souvenirs" in return. Seems like you have to "pay" the police for their service. That sounds like a piece of bullsh*t for me (sorry for being so rude, but i am really pissed off). The police also prohibited the reporters to take photos of all the stolen goods. We can see obviously that the police actually wanted to hide some of the stolen goods as theirs, but they failed anyway. You have to list out everything stolen from your house in order to take them back, but how can you list everything out? I mean everything! It's palpable that the police was planning something for themselves.

Sigh...the world has changed. You were everyone's hope for justice and peace, but you disappointed us with your greed and irresponsibility. I don't want to curse or condemn anyone here because it is utterly pointless for me to do so. Will it change anything? You've the answer yourself.

Labor Day in China

Well, May the 1st is the international Labor Day. In China, they normally have one week of holiday but this year, we got only 3 days of holiday. Both of us planned to go to somewhere far from school for the holiday trip, but after some calculation on all the fees (including the accommodation fee, transportation fee, food,.....), everything is out of our budget.I once considered Hong Kong for the holiday, but I was surprised when one of my Hong Kong friend told me that the food there is 6-10 times the price in GuangZhou. I don't dare to think about anything more about Hong Kong.

We saw a lot of minuscule frogs jumping around the street. They were as small as the tadpoles we see in the drain.

But one of them was squished by my innocent shoe. I can't see them...I'm innocent...

Disappointed, but we still managed to go somewhere for the holiday. We went to 天河城 during the Labor Day and I have to say that the whole place was so crowded that you have to squeeze your way throughout the whole place. The shopping complex was packed like sardines. We had not taken our breakfast so we went to the nearest McDonald, the one we went in the previous topic. Labor Day is a day for everyone to relax but the crews working in McDonald were so busy that it was nearly impossible for them to take a short breathe. We managed to grab a table but was quite limited.

Get what I meant? Crowded at one of the four main gates. (What's that woman starring at?)

View in the McDonald. We took this when we were leaving. It was full house when we came in.

Next, we went to have fun at the arcade game center on the highest level in 天河购物中心. We went there once but today was different. The whole way through was fully packed and we could not find our way in. Every game station was occupied but at least we played a few of them. The variety here is far more than the one in Malaysia and the token cost RMB1 each (Malaysia RM1 each).

That was for May 1st. On the May 2nd, both of us continued our trip to one of Guang Zhou's famous shopping street, 上下九路. We went there after we went to the nearest Shoe Wholesale Center, but the people there aren't that friendly and when they talk, there is never an eye-contact. We went to 上下九路 before, but this time, we went to the 小吃街 there. There was barbecue, steamed and all kinds of variety of food, but it was not that large as I expected. I enjoyed roasted scallop (if I am not mistaken) there, but the only one that interest me the most is the fried scorpion. Not many people visited that stall because they sold insects, but the workers in every stall we went told us that easting scorpion can detoxify your stomach and it is nutritious.

"Here's 上下九路, my lady." "Oh! Someone's taking a photo. Oopsss!"
Here's the 小吃街! Another stranger woman again...
This is the famous roasted squid with special sauce. Yummy!
SCORPION! Nutritious as some says, but a lot of guts to taste one...
Every plate for RMB10. Scallop, mussel, oyster...
This is where they roast the shell creatures.
We ordered a plate of scallops for RMB10.
Wow, roasted crab, prawn.....
Fried bean curb with some toppings. Not bad but a bit expensive, RMB5.
This is my Pepsi with Honey Ice Shake. Tasted good, but became quite weird in the end.
Aloe Vera with Honey Ice Shake. A bit tasteless at first, but was better than the above in the end.

We left 上下九路 very soon because the sky was getting dark. The way back to the metro station was harsh because we had to walked through so mast alleys and junctions. Along the street, you can see a lot of dust and as it was near the construction yard, the air is quite dirty.

At last, we reached our hostel, tired and dirty. That's all for our holiday in Guang Zhou. Bye Bye!

Blue McDonald Olympic Bottle. Nice? Bye Bye!

McDonald Olympic Bottle Give Away!

Hello, again. Today, both of us went to McDonald restaurant because one of our friends told us that McDonald is giving away an Olympic-theme bottle and it sounds not bad. To go to the nearest McDonald, we have to get to the nearest Metro Station. It's very easy because you just have to cross 13 highways to reach the station.

This is the highway I mentioned just now. There is a few more at the other side.

We reached the McDonald at 天河城. 天河城 is nominated as the largest shopping complex city in GuangZhou and some said China. Luckily we are in GuangZhou to experience it and 天河城 is famous for its branded goods. Anyway, branded goods are not our chief reason for going there. McDonald is.

The view in McDonald at GuangZhou compared to Kuching (or should I say Malaysia) is absolutely different. In Kuching, you can usually see a few people there and there is always enough seat and tables available (unless there is anyway special event, such as the Hello Kitty Doll gift). But in GuangZhou, McDonald restaurant is always full! The counters are always full and luckily we can still take our orders from the cashiers standing outside the counters. We couldn't find any seats downstairs so we went upstairs. At least there was an empty table.

Hehe, we were eating while studying our Chinese. Can you see how full it was and the bottles' pictures hanging above?

This was the French Fries and Chicken Nugget mixed with one of the flavoring powder.

Here are two of the three flavoring powder. Kim Chi flavor and Barbecue flavor. There is also Seaweed flavor

These are the bottle aforementioned. There was also Highlight-green, Yellow and Blue.

The McDonald was full till it was nearly 3pm. The sky was getting darker and it seemed like rain is coming. We had to leave with our cold drinks on our hands. Back to Metro Station, highways, and finally school. It starting drizzling but luckily we were in time.

That's all folks. Continue my game now. Hey, bro, I download Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition! It was modified into PC version but it's fun. Try looking for it in 狗狗. Aiyos!

Here's some of the photos we took few weeks ago when we were in 天河城.

We took this at one of the food stalls in 天河城 while we went out with some of our friends a few weeks ago.

Another side view.

We saw this new car at 天河城.

Me at one of the food stall.

The Unfortunate Event

As always, both of us went out to have our dinner outside the school. We went to a restaurant located somewhere near the East Gate. We were told about that restaurant by our friends that they sell delicious porridge. As you may know, where there is food, there will be us.

The porridge was too much so we asked some of our friends to join us. We shared the payment and I'm really sure that I did put my wallet back into my pocket. We left the restaurant while continuing our chat. There was laughter all over the air. So, basically, there was nothing bad happened. And we saw a very cute and furry puppy.

The next morning, school day. I was in a rush because I nearly overslept. As usual, I was packing my stuffs, such as my books, my cellphone and else. Just at that moment, I found out that I had lost my wallet. I thought I drop it somewhere near my place, but the search was nothing. There was no time for me to nervous as I had to rush for the class lessons.

We finished our school in the afternoon. I didn't give up searching up and down my room, but it was pointless. There were 2 of my bank account cards, school identity card and some photos in it. But I'm worried about my cards because the amount of money in them wasn't small. I can feel the butterfly in my stomach and luckily, one of my roommates was willing to accompany me to the bank to report for lost. So, 3 of us went to the nearest bank for the report. The people working there weren't as friendly as those in Malaysia. Their words were as sharp as the blade and you can find no smile on their face. But we were told that that particular bank was far more better than other banks...

We finished all the basic procedures and I'd got one of my cards renewed. But it seemed like my other bank account card has to be barred as it was hopeless to be found. We tried to go back to restaurant with hope for finding my wallet back, but we found nothing again. My wallet might be pick by some highly-skilled pickpockets or I just dropped it somewhere else. What a day...

Luckily that I didn't bring my Malaysia Identity Card with my wallet or the situation will be even worse. I'm now in my room, feeling numb and disappointed. But that could not change the fact that my wallet is forever gone. If only I was more careful......If only there was any kind Samaritan who found my wallet......

Yummy Yummy!

Okay, today, I'm going to show you guys our dinner outside school. This shop is located near the West Gate of our school and it is within walking distance. It is always crowded during the afternoon lunch break. Oops, forgot to mention the name of the shop. It's called 兰州清真牛肉拉面店. Hope I didn't write it wrongly.

We found this restaurant through a friend of ours, from Hong Kong. The volume of the food they sell is quite many for us people from Malaysia (or it is just us) because we never eat that much in Malaysia. The first time we went there was a shocking experience because we couldn't finish the food. Actually, during the first time we went to eat in a GuangZhou food stall, we were surprised by the food served because it was triple the amount in Kuching!

That's all for the crap. Let's have the food served!

Welcome. There's a lot of choices. Look at the menu behind.

The restaurant is not that big actually. You can see a boy cooking the 拉面 at the left.

Here's my 蛋炒米粉. A lot, right? We actually shared that beehoon anyway. It cost RMB5.

This is me with my 鸡蛋凉拌面. It's a bit spicy but not too spicy. Not bad for RMB6.

This is...errr, I forgot the name. There is beef and some vegetables in it.
Tomato and egg soup. Nutritious and plain.
This is the lamb rib bone we ordered after our exam. Not bad, but looks like a plate of bones...
Here is a closer look of the lamb rib bone.

That's all. There's too many kinds of delicacies in GuangZhou and it depends on yourself to discover them. C ya!