Sunday, June 03, 2007
Day 01A - Singapore/Sichuan / 11:59 pm
7D/6N Sichuan-Tibet Adventures (2007A)
Day 01 - Singapore
24 Apr 2007 (Tues)
24 Apr 2007 (Tues)
Temp: 26-32c
2330hrs - Arrived at Changi Int'l Airport T1. Most major flights have left, shops were shutting their shutters, staff heading home...& for the 1st time in history, I'm spending a night at the airport. Its a pity that if I only had a handheld baggage, I could've slept in the restricted transit area where sofas are ubiquitious. We had to head towards the viewing mall (coz it seems dimmer) and gosh...the area was rather occupied by overnite sleepers as well! Settled on one of those rows of HARD, acrylic chairs, like how the others slept. It was rather unbelievable trying to doze off there, despite having lots of experience sleeping at all kinds of public areas. Tried all kinds of positions adjusting the comfort level, but to no avail.
25 Apr 2007 (Wed)
Day 02 - Singapore-Chengdu
Temp: 14-17c
ZZzzzzz.....nopez, that wasn't my snore, the roaring sound of someone's deep sleep could be heard afar. Goodness me, it was a horribly loud respiratory-choking snore from this old man that awoke many sleepers. Either he had lumps of mucus blocking his trachea or there's a physiological problem with his nasal structure...he just had the snore as loud as a motorbike..
Most of the time was spent trying to close my eyes, hoping the Z-monster will come, however I got distracted by movements along the corridor, armed personnels patrolling the area and planes arriving/leaving their gates. That supposedly 5hr sleep seemed almost eternity. By 0400hrs, I kinda gave out and started prowling around the vicinity. Seriously, I admire those who managed to doze off soundly on the floor, just like dead logs in the forest.
After the endless wait, we were one of the first to check-in at 0510h. Finally we could dump our baggages & roam freely...and nopez..its not kiasuism here. It was rather unfortunate the sole Mac in the restricted area is under renovation, now there isnt any decent breakfast meals in there as the coffeehouses in there are kinda pricey. We settled on some kaya toast & coffee in there anyway to refresh...and talk abt refreshing, yesh, I brought my toothbrush....lol...but there are really people who brushes their teeth during their transiting hours.
0705h - Entered Gate D34. History repeated again. One of the last few to board the plane as we somewhat forgotten about the time . The staff was probably waiting to close the gates already.
onboard Flight CA 0404
Air China Flight CA 0404 Stats
Singapore to Chengdu 成都(China); 0720h - 1140h
Airbus 319-115 (B-6037; delivered on 21/09/2004)
3-3 seat configuration; Seat 19A
4 hours 20mins flight
0715h - CA 0404 departs the gate slightly late (oops...). Despite being late, the aircrew actually reserved a couple of Chinese newspapers for us. For a small plane with ~125pax, there's only 2 air stewardess & 1 male steward onboard. An integrated 8" LCD TV was hinged on the ceiling for every 3 rows of seats. Every headrest cover had the Air China & Olympics Beijing 2008 logo on it.
0733h - CA 0404 departs from Singapore Changi, heading north via Malaysia, Thailand, Laos before north-east towards Kunming, then Chengdu.
0820h - Breakfast Delights
Appetiser: Shrimps, Crabstick, Mini Tomatoes
Main Dish: (Oriental Cuisine)Steamed Fish, Broccoli, Preserved Veg, White Rice
---------------------------OR-----------------------------------------
(Int'l Cuisine) Black Pepper Chicken, Peas, White Rice
Fruits: Cubes of rockmelon, pineapple, watermelon (2X each; almost identical sliced!)
From the bakery: Typical Bun w/ optional butter
Cutlery: All colored transparent plastic (to prevent thefts); No porcelain plates for main dish.
Cutlery: All colored transparent plastic (to prevent thefts); No porcelain plates for main dish.
Not much entertainment options - 9 (?) ch of audio, TV shows their national programmes/news/olympics 08 ad (replayed countless times). Two types of inflight magazines available - the National Air China & the district Air China Mag (i.e. Southwest)
Interesting Facts of Life (translated & adapted from SouthWest Air China Inflight Mag)
1) Cockroach can live w/o head for 9 days
2)Crocodile's tongue can't go beyond the mouth
3) Snails can dream for 3 years
4)Ostrich's eyes is bigger than its brain
5) Cat can make 100 types of sounds, dog only 10
6) Cat's urine can glow in the dark
7) English speakers in China is more than that of America
8) Finland bans any pic of Donald Duck because it doesnt wear pants
9) Elephant is the only animal that can't jump
10) "i am" is the shortest English sentence
11) Energy of farting continously for 6yrs 9 mths = atomic bomb power
12) If goldfish is kept in the dark room, it will turn white
13) Shouting continously for 8 yrs 7 mths = enough energy to boil a coffee
14) Da Vinci invented sicssors
15) You can't sommit suicide by holding your breath
16) There are 900,000 people sharing the same birthday as you do
1140h - CA 0404 arrived at Chengdu 成都双流国际机场 Xuangliu Int'l Airport (CTU) (Sichuan, China) Altitude: 495m; Temp: 18c
1145h - Berthed at Int'l Section, Gate A6
It was a long & dimmed pathway towards immigration counter, that wasnt welcoming for tourists especially. And to make matters worse, I somehow lost the health declaration & possession of goods form; it just seemed to vanished like that. Fortunately, there were a few forms lying around near the corner, otherwise I believe I'd have a hard time explaining...I had enough of explaining to the chinese officials before...and its always immigration..=p Oh, the airport is pretty spacious & empty...
Interiors of Chengdu Xuangliu Airport (Int'l)
This time we had a private driver & guide to bring us along in Chengdu. Located in southwest China and being the capital of Sichuan Province, it is the fifth most populous city in China. We were told that the city seems to be hazy but it is just fog. Chengdu has one of the lowest sunshine totals in China (less sunshine annually than London) and most days are cloudy even if without rain...Why? Coz its situated at the western edge of Sichuan Basin...Seriously, I thought there was great pollution here..
It was a long morning...had lunch at around 2pm+, typical oily oily Chinese food, but I was impressed by the cutting skills of the fish (extreme right) and it turned out to be almost boneless! Bravo!
Thank goodness the food wasnt that spicy which I have anticipated as the Sichuan cuisine is known to be extremely spicy, with 30% of the dishes relying on red chili. And its amazing that Chengdu outnumbers Shanghai in the number of tea houses and bars despite having less than half the population. The inhabitants have a reputation both within Sichuan and in China at large for having a laid back attitude and for knowing how to enjoy life. Wahhh...
We know life's hard, truth is hard, lies are hard, they are all hard to accept when they have been
found out, and i'm rushing history homework on the Abyissian Crisis about Italy and Abyssia going into war and that the League Of Nations cannot stop this from happening, and beacuse they are formed by means to stop war and
peace-keep the countries together, they have thus failed to achieve that. I think i tend to hold a class for history instead of telling you about me, i'm basically a what subject-realted lover (humanities) and thus
I am more analytical and critical about things, and likes to study about dead people, haha. lol. it's history what can you expect and also geography, it amazes me. I really like it alot, so what have you? Again to find this answer
you need to enter into your own reality and reflect
it's amazing. amzing how people change the way of things, like how I used to hate outdoors in Band
felt it was a complete waste of time, i've acquired to like it more, i guess people change, their thereotical means and applications in life just goes on into a new direction, and see things in another perspective, i guess- it's
all in the mind. It really amazes me how these comes into action, from someone so pessimistic has changed his own view of things, and thus my friend is scoring much better, being more optimisitc and not think of his old way of suicidal
thoughts, which are pretty daunting. and thus we need to see things, in another light, another perspective and another new way, to enable us to open up our minds, and make more new things, the new way it is.