Travel: Beijing

Just thought of sharing my travel itinerary. April 19,2012 - 25th April 2012

Day 1, 

upon reaching the airport, took a shuttle bus to Xi Dan, which cost abt $20rmb per pax. and transfer to their MRT and alight at tian an men dong station.

after checking in Sunrise Hostel  http://www.sunrisehostel.com/, < basic facilities, good maintaince, friendly staff, awesome food.>

we went for lunch at one of the resturant along the streets which cost abt $50rmb for 2 persons. and the food was too much 

After which we head to Tian An Men and Zhong Shan Park which cost abt $10rmb per person

but it was worth the visit as the tulips are in bloom!

After which we went to one of their walking street, (can't remember the name)

personally i think it's too commercialized and the shopping isn't that great either. so all the prices are jacked up i supposed.

Dinner was at Quan Ju De, the beijing roast duck, which cost us an arm and leg. and yes, overrated,  

Day 2,

Had Breakfast along the streets and had this beancurd thing that smell of smelly beancurd. =< but the fried doughsticks were nice.

cost abt less then $30rmb for 2 persons

went on their train to the summer palace 

as crowded as singapore during peak hours

$30rmb per person and it doesn't include all the places inside the summer palace!

additional $10rmb

 but a worthwhile place to go!

didn't manage to go explore the other places, cause was damn tired already, the places is full of uphills and downhills

in the evening went for their acrobatics show, not too bad

Can't remember how much was this.

Day 3

breakfast along one of the shops again! it was nice. tad salty tho. 

cost: abt $30rmb for 2 persons

went to forbidden city afterwards, there are guided tours chinese version was $10rmb and other languages is $40 rmb for rental

it was too freaking crowded, escape after 2 hrs inside

went to silk street afterwards and it a place to get fake branded. remember to bargain, at least at 1/2 the price offered. =)

think we went to Xi Dan shopping destrict after this, the shopping there is good, but clothes are only S - L sizes. 

went to the night food street near our hostel, nothing much

 beef balls soup was nice. 

Day 4:

book a tour to Jin Shan Ling Great Wall, less people there. but a really tough climb.

tough climb 

After Jin Shan Ling, basically i am quite dead. 

6 hrs to and fro the great wall. beated.

but an awesome experience, not for the physically weak tho. a must go, if you can

Day 5: Tian Tan

 remember to get the through tickets, if not the separate tickets will end up costing more.

next stop was the yong he gong

where yong zheng stayed for a period of time before it was converted into a temple.

 interesting ticket. a cd of some sort

Day 6: 

RAiny day and freezing cold. so went to the museum and it was free!

 went to beijing zoo after that

remember to get through tickets too. $130 rmb per person

 panda

 bulga? or soemthing like tt

the olympic stadium

water cube

dinner in hostel. awesome. $25 rmb for a giant portion

Day 7: Home sweet Home

Childcare Rant #1

was actually suppose to go to sleep but my mind just end up going thru the things i will be lecturing my kids on Monday. There is a concern in my classroom now. Butt touching.
It started on Thursday, with a kid actually touching my butt. but i thought it was because I wore a dress for the first time that the kids were curious. I didn't want to be over reacting.
Today, while at the playground, the kids were actually purposing groping butts and pulling pants down. This really rings alarm bells for me, seriously got hell from me. and the kids doing this were supposedly the brighter kids in my class. so, what does it mean? i haven't taught them morally what is right or wrong? they were just playing? and most importantly, where did they 'learn' it from? from me? that would be so totally omfg la.
they got a dressing down from me obviously. but i think it deserve a longer punishment period which i will make next week into. have i allowed them too much freedom? that gave them time to think of all these nonsense? and the most disturbing thing is , it's the girls who are groping the boys. @_@
I do not dress provocatively in case any smart alec tries to annoy me. or is it simply kids are just maturing too fast now? can;t believe i'm losing sleep over this. at the same time, i dun want to see them in the news another 20 yrs time that some of them become perverts. ok. maybe a bit far stretched. but wells......

at the same time, i don't know why, i just thought about this incident maybe 2 years back, this kid who took things from the centre and kept them in her bag. she actually took out her own belongings and replaced them with art materials in her bag. i think that is a very obvious intent to steal. not to mention the many toys parts she took. When caught and we informed the parents, the parents just said, 'oh, because at her grandma hse, she can just take a plastic bag and take whatever she wants'
ermm.. ok... what are you trying to teach your kid? the world is her oyster and she can just take things if she likes them? alright for a 4 yr old, how about when she reaches 14?
maybe it's a small issue for some people. 'aiyah, she still young ma, she dunno ma...'

well, the cold hard truth is , THEY KNOW. they know exactly what they are doing. this is no longer the era when kids are 'gong gong' and dunno anything, they also know, their parents will jump on their side no matter how wrong they are.

well. i know this is a losing battle. in the end, it's still a 'customer is always right' mentality

hopefully i can slp now that i got it out of my system.