Lijiang Day 1

It has been a long while since I had gone on a tour with Max alone.. the last one we did was two years ago to Vietnam and so, considering that we will be 24/7 be with Ace when we go over to Dubai, I requested that we go for a trip alone with Max for a few days.

As we had some sort of free stay either in Bali or Lijiang and have been to Bali twice already, we chose to go to Lijiang this time round and I am glad we chose this beautiful place as I really enjoyed myself.

Ace was initially whiny about us going but after some explanation, he calmed down and just requested tat we buy him a gift. But still, because Ace has not seen Max for such a long time and I was going to "steal" his daddy away from him for so many days out of his very short holiday back in SGP, i felt really bad and guilty about it.

Usually I am always happy to go overseas and would only start to miss Ace on the day I was flying home.. this time round.. I started to miss him the moment he got off the taxi with Ah Yee after we attended FF's wedding.... (Ace apparently missed me too and called me the moment he reached Popo's house but I silent my phone during the wedding as I was MC and din hear his call)

Anyway, we are finally packed and at the air port.. and when Max saw a Tiger Beer Lounge, he couldnt resist but want to drink... "Wah, $14 for a pint of beer.. so cheap!" he said.. thinking it was in dirham, only to realize tat it is actually in sing dollars later.. wahahahahahaha

After a 3 hour flight, we reached Kunming where we had to transit.. since it was an hour only.. we spent our time drinking 25RMB tea and playing boggle on Max's ipod touch...

Arrival in LIjaing.. the most beautiful airport I have ever seen!

We took a cab and the driver, Xiao Li told us it is good weather today as we can see the snowy peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain very clearly.. I certainly hope it will still be good weather when we are visiting it... as it is on one of our itenary.. On the trip to hotel, the driver told us about the indegenious NAXI people and their farms... and the places of interest to visit.. i was quite impressed lor... he know so many things.. I later found out tat he is also a tour guidee.. hahaha.. no wonder! Anyway, the taxi driver told us that in Lijiang and according to Naxi custom, they yi hei wei gui, yi fei wei mei... tat means they think if a woman is dark, they are considered exquisite and if they are fat, they are beautiful.. tat is because in the olden days, they were all farmers and if you had a wife who is dark and fat, she would be a valuable addition to the household as they assume she is good help on the fields..... I mentioned I should maybe move here and the taxi driver said tat the women here have to work in the fields and take care of the family and do EVERYTHING while the men just make merry and waste their time away.. hahahaha.. then it was Max's turn to suggest tat maybe he shift there for good instead.. wahahaha...

This is our hotel.. SINA HOTEL :) It is nice but leh, the moment you step in got to pay 80RMB each.. cos it is some preservation licence.. everyone who comes into the old town has to pay and you have to carry the licence with you everywhere.. if you never carry it and want to go to other places of interest, you will have to pay again for the licence... we found out later tat everywhere there are mostly extra charges for this and tat.. the govt really know how to make money lor...

Our room... The bed hor.. is a wooden platform with a very thin comforter like mattress over it only.. someone old liao.. sleep liao backache.. hahahaha.. and the someone is not me.. THat is the most unfortgettable toilet I have ever seen in my life.. (I will tell you why it is unforgettable in the post a few days later...)

Hotel also organized a few tours to various places but all so ex lor .. they all range frm 500-800RMB per pax lor.. after see see look look, we decided to just relax and visit only the snow mountain on our own...

This is the corridoor outside our room.. nice hor?:P

This is the view right outside our window:)

After we checked in, we decided to walk around abit as we arrived only to find tat we were staying in Lijiang Old Town.. which is one of the most habitable places on earth (I din say tat.. some magazine did). Everywhere in the old town are the old buildings, rivers and lots of doggies.. cos the pple there all have big houses and nothing to do.. so they rear dogs.. and because the weather is super good (it is as if you are in air con street all year round), they all rear really big dogs with long hair.... like the white one tat I have only seen in a Jia You Jian Gou comic book!

We were told tat there are 2000 diff types of hostels and hotels in the old town itself and they are all quaint and nicely decorated... usually very cleverly named as well...


Then we felt hungry and had lunch at this Chong Qing Eatery.. so everything is red and slightly spicy... I told Max heng Ace is not here... cos he cannot take spicy food.. and Max say I am just trying to assauge my own guilt with these excuses... anyway, the food was not bad and Max actually ordered for the first time YU XIANG QIE ZI... braised brinjal.. for the next few days... everyday he also ordered this dish lor.. but everyday it taste different since we were in different restaurants:)

That is me posing in a shop.... and the pic on the lower right corner is taken secretly... it is some shop tat sells dead worms and dead lizards.. yew......

As you walked around.. everywhere you find bridges and rivers and very nice houses... ah.. such a nice place to visit:)


Because it is so beautiful, there were allot of pple going around taking pics. I found out later that they actually have shops in another old town with photography packages.. cheapest package is $299 RMB only.. maybe should have done one as souvenior:)

Public toilet also so nice right.. as for the standard inside, tat you have to ask Max cos he vistied one and I din...


As we wandered around aimlessly without a plan, we discovered many interesting things. There is this interesting arch with engraved designs....

This is te Mu Mansion belonging to some really devoted court official and so they made an arch to remember him right next to his house...

It is very scenic and all the restaurants are so nicely decorated... Max was so excited to take the photo on the lower left corner because it just happened so that there was a man wasting time and lying down above the sign tat says "It is free to stare into space.."

Because we had no plan and no map.. we really just wondered around and discovered a market.. they sell so many different types of pickled veggies and I was so tempted to buy some back to sgp.. the veggies look so fresh as well... and there were also many flowers being sold...

On the top left hand corner.. is one of the many wells we see in they have a systen for washing things.. first top eye is for drinking water.. second one is for washing veggies and food... and the last one is for washing other things and we saw pple washing clothes, shoes and all sorts of things inside!

IN the bottom left corner is a group of pple playing mahjong.. in lijiang.. everyone has easy lives.. so they just sit around and play mahjong at all times of the day.. in fact, many of the shop owners will rent a shop space and just sit there and do nothing except laze or play computer games.. most not even interested serve you whe you want to buy things:) hahaha

These are the Naxi xiang xing zi.. meaning they are from the Naxi language.. they are drawn to look like the things they represent... apparently, now only very few pple know how to write the language even though most indegenious people still speak it. And the learned people who know how to write the language are called Tuo Ba... and they are respected in the community.

Fusion on the right top corner: Dyed coloured hair on the head and traditioanal basket back on her bag:) tat is how the pple there carry stuff around in teh past.. using baskets like tat... On the left bottom corner, I am posing like a PIG lah... anyway, it got too warm and Max decided to buy me a hat.. MY BEST INVESTMENT YET cos it prevented more freckles (ultra violet is high there) as we are higher above sea level) and kept me sunburnt free and even protect me from the rain and snow.... too bad max din buy for himself cos he got sunburnt when we came back:)

We were trying to find our way back to our hotel and leh, we got lost.. so nevermind, just rest when we saw a bubble tea shop (the only one we found in the old town) while we watch the performers in ethnic costumes walking by.... but i still miss my gong cha!

Since we were lost, we just continue to walk around the town and explore furthur lah...

We saw that some restaurants were selling BBQ veggies and seafood and Max was determined to eat that for dinner:)

We secretly took this pic when no one was looking.. hiaks:)

A lazy cat... and more displays of food tat strenghtened Max's determination to eat BBQ at night:)



We took a picture of the police post and the police car for Ace's benefit... this is electrical car okie.. they dun really allow much vehicles to come inside the old town.. tat is why the air is fresh and clean!

More pple selling food... but too bad we can't eat most of it..

We finally decided to sit down at this place to eat after walking around for a long time... and tat is the start of a beautiful friendship :)
They offer Naxi dishes and sichuan dishes...they even try to make it less salty and oily when they found out we are from Singapore...

And this is where Max was introduced to Plum whisky.. Qing Mei Jiu.. which is 26% alchohol content... Anyway, this is part of yunnan area and so they are famous for mushrooms and wild mushrooms.. so we ordered a mushroom pot to try.. was so so...

And Max got his desired BBQ... BBQ mushrooms, bbq toufu and tow kwa... and it is special type of toufu which is only found in this part of the world.. is really nice and fragrant but too spicy for me...

That's Ah Jing, who owns this cafe... he is called Lu Jing.. so we call him Jing Gege.. coincidentally, his wife's surname is HUANG.. so we call her Huang Rong Mei.. hahahaha :) Then now that we are full and happy, we went back to hotel.

View of our hotel at night...
Max posing with my hat.. wahahahahahaa:) Anyway, this place is good lor... it is so cooling, there is no need for air con.. at night, if you want it to be colder, you open the window wider.. if you want it to be warmer, you close the window more.. tat is just eat.. ain't it great?! wish singapore can be like this too all year round man....

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