My Lil Online World

2008/09 China/Singapore Trip - Continued

Chillin' in China - Countryside Continuo

Yeah quite an ugly pic but still... (Background: duck & geese pond & village residents dragon-dancing - to welcome US! Oh I feel soooooo loved :P)

And by the vegetable garden :)

That was a of me when we stopped to explore a typical village in Southern China's rural area. Now while I'm at it I've got to say something: be grateful. If you actually live in a proper, clean house, if you don't have to complain about wind and rain taking their chances to enter your rooms, if you can eat whatever you'd like to, if you have a comfortable bed and seats, if your loo isn't 2 minutes walk from any room in your house, if your school has enough classrooms for everyone - or even if you are a student attending school - then be thankful. All the way along this tour I've seen houses not even good enough to be called shacks. Many who lived there were poor peasants who doesn't have enough money to pay for their children's school fees. Their houses were squashed to the point that there is about one room per household. Oh yes, you should feel so lucky if you're reading this... well yes, the village I visited did have reasonable electricity (yeah it was one of the ones with the best conditions), but wireless networks? Internet Explorer? Not at all...

But to my surprise, people who lived there, despite their harsh conditions, still welcomed us cheerfully with China's traditional lion dance and exciting drum beats, and the young and old all had beaming smiles on their faces. I could see how happy they were deep down. So why are some of us still moaning about homework and complaining about boredom? Don't take everything you have for granted, for you are very lucky to be in front of a computer right now!

Sunday 8 February 2009, 4:29pm Australian CDT

The above post will be permanently placed on this webpage.

LOL I just bombarded my albums page with a bunch of text! Let's get on with the photos now...

Chillin' in China - Majestic Mighty Mountains

2 January '09 at Xiao Wudang Shan (literally, Smaller Wudang Mountain)

A close-up view. Note its unique rounded shape.

View from the top of the mountain

And I also have to tell you that, if it wasn't for my uncle and aunty, I could not have even gone past half when I was climbing the mountain. You see I was nearly dead when I took my second rest on the way - when the tour guide told us we hadn't even gone through half yet. I really wanted to just go back down again. But it was my uncle and aunty who said, 'let's get to the top!' that turned me around.

And you can guess what a feeling it was for me when I looked down from 800m above ground level.

Your own determination and encouragements from others can really make quite a big difference. Be persistent in striving to reach your goals and encourage and inspire others during their times of failure and diffidence is my advice.

Sunday 8 February 2009, 5:04 pm

Beautiful scenery

The Bridge Between Two Mountains

The same bridge from the One Line Sky

Steps leading up to a hidden temple

Return to flat ground! W00T!

Also on our trip we visited a hydropower station located on the banks of Evergreen Lake. Here's a coupla pics:

So be it to the end of this batch. Oh yeah on the same trip my family and I spent quite a bit of the first evening dunked in the natural hot springs (that was mmm... memorable experience) But sorry, I hereby declare that no swimsuit photos of me are available :P

Chillin' in China - Happy Happy Valley (Shenzhen)

At the entry to the Happy Valley theme park

Our first theme park ride! =DDD Pity this pic only shows my legs :3

Inside the fairytale land

Us with the guardian of the castle we were about to enter

On the mad coaster ride!

Sorry for not having too much pics of that... but it was definitely a whole lotta fun I can tell ya that! btw I went on a MUCH scarier ride than the one pictured above and survived! *proud of self* :D

Window of the World, Shenzhen

Aka a place that gives you a whole world in one day. Well, not really. But if you take a photo under the fake Eiffel Tower there or with the fake pyramids, it's probably gonna fool quite a bunch of people:

So I've been to Paris, Cairo and Manhattan in one single day...

Entry to the Window of the World

So be it to the end of the above batch :P

Hooray for Hong Kong! - City Centre &  Out-of-the-Ordinary Ocean Park

Sculpture of Jackie Chan in the foreground, backed by the urban buildings across the bay on Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong City view

The Eternally Blossoming Golden Bauhinia (HK's municipal flower)

Madagascar 2 movie stars at the HK Ocean Park

Dolphin performers

Seal performers

Giant, freaky fish  (Ocean Park Aquarium)

Nemo! aww so cute =)

Hooray for Hong Kong! - Distinctive Disneyland

Our good old friend Mickey Mouse. What's he doing up there?

Inside the giant spinning teacups

Below are some pics taken inside the 'Small World'. I really quite like this song. A lot of you would have heard it, the first verse of the original English version is like this:

It's a world of laughter

A world of tears

It's a world of hopes

And a world of fears

There's so much that we share

That it's time we're aware

It's a small world after all!

Yes, that song is very right. We're all different but there's still so much that we share... to represent our differences and unity, the song can be heard in many different languages inside the Small World - depending on which part of it you're in!

The grand magical exterior appearance of the Small World's castle

Our first destination - Europe

I forgot what this part is but probably still a part of Europe...

The Middle East and Egypt

Islands - Great Barrier Reef

Another Aussie feature - the roos and the boomerang! (poor Kanga, poor Roo...)

Raining inside the rainforest

Thanks for visiting our world!

Goodbye!

Ah it's a small world after all...

Pics taken in Adventure Land on river tour. Don't worry, these elephants are just statues, NOT real!

Wow those crocs (gators?) do seem quite fierce. Oooo I'm so scared... :O (person next to me: you have a fear of model animals?)

Unlucky adventurers being attacked by a rhino... sorry I can help you there...

LOL this one's like, one of my favourites. Cannibals' collection of skulls in which none of them are mine :P

Inside Pooh's Hunny World... this is a classic pic, when Pooh and Tigger first met I think.

Jason on the carousel :)

Totem poles xD

Jason seemed quite attracted to these fun, colourful toys in Disneyland

Let's end our trip to Hong Kong with a beautiful picture of the Tsing Ma Bridge at sunset.

I'm very sorry but this is still not the end. But I think I'd have done all the best parts. The last few would just be in Shenzhen, in a park near our home. But it does have some good photography skills within - so do keep an eye out!

China daily pics

Beautifully decorated garden in the Mt Lotus Park

Gardening festival displays

Going up Mt Lotus happily (could make a song out of that )

One of my favourites. Holding glittery rainbow pinwheels with the green forest as the background :)

Beautiful sunset through pine trees

Old banyan tree with a large trunk. See those thin branches coming off the sides? When they reach the ground, they will start to grow what would seem like a new tree but actually belong to the same root. Only tree in the world that can grow into a forest all by itself.

Trees with roots lifted out of the ground. They look kinda like hands with a lot of fingers to me :P

Another cool tree xD

Tropical fruit. Awesome but prickly x3

Strawberry farm pic. And OMG I have to tell you all about this - about how SWEEEEEET strawberries in China are! They were absolutely frooooootilicious! I still want to eat them now - you just seriously can't believe how mouth-watering they are without trying them yourself...

Working laboriously in the fields...

Our results =]

Another photo I took that I believe is awesome enough to be put up here... see I love being awesome...

Let's finish this journey off with this pic taken near the golden bamboos. In Chinese legends they symbolise wealth and prosperity. God bless all of you through this time of economic challenge =)