“We have to wait for the yam ring to be served!”

We looked through the menu at Puay Hoon and David’s wedding banquet on Saturday evening and decided that even if we had to speed our way to the airport, we would finish that course. In lieu of the usual designated driver, Don was there to ensure I got to the airport safely from Hilton Hotel. I didn’t expect the rest of the table to tag along as well.

“What are you doing after I check in? Don’t watch Bolt without me! And I wanna watch Twilight as well. And maybe Four Christmases. And oh, Cape No 7 too! Why don’t you all go home directly after this? Don’t go play without me!”

As I made my way to a window seat on SQ800, the passenger next to me joked, “I was hoping that it would be a lady.” I smiled, “Sorry to disappoint you.” The non verbal part of my reply was, “I wasn’t expecting an uncle, you know.” Hahaha.

Six hours later, my eyes nearly popped out as the pilot made the landing announcement. Minus nine degrees celcius?! You’ve got to be kidding me! I decided a couple of hours ago that I wasn’t lugging the heavy leather jacket on board, so I had only a woolen sweater in my bag. I was exhaling warm air into my clenched fists while walking to the immigration counter, when a siao ang moh in a polo tee, shorts and flip flops walked past nonchalantly.

I don’t think it’s really -9 lah, though it was enough to make me want to hop onto a taxi in the shortest possible time. As the vehicle drove out of Terminal 3, we saw a casualty lying in the middle of the road in the opposite direction. Policemen and a medical crew were already at work. Gosh. I hope he/she’s ok.

While I haven’t had supper for a really long time, I did the exact equivalent the moment I reached Beijing. A hearty breakfast is good, but not when you pop into bed immediately after. All prior plans to explore the city were cancelled due to poor quality sleep on the flight.

Because I woke up in the early afternoon, and wasn’t sure of the closing hours of historical attractions like the Forbidden Palace and the Great Wall, I headed to the premiere shopping district, Wangfujing instead. I expected the place to overfill with people jostling for space; but I was surprised to see a relatively peaceful scenario. There was so few cars on the roads I even started to jaywalk- something highly unadvisable in a foreign land.

By the way, I wasn’t joking when I previously said that I was going to be extremely kiasu and kiasee here. I laughed (silently, of course) at myself as I started perspiring while roaming the streets in wintry Beijing. I had put on a total of five layers on top- thermal wear, cotton tee, woolen vest, woolen sweater and leather jacket. Muahahahaa. Arberthen? I have a packed schedule upon my return. I can’t afford to fall sick!

Yes, Cruz Teng is an idiot.

Having travelled a fair bit, I’m usually very wary of taxi drivers and their infamous antics of marking up fares or bringing foreign passengers on a merry go round to rake in higher profits. This Beijing cabby surprised me totally, when he refused to drive me back to the hotel. “It’s very near! Why don’t you walk instead? Walk to the 2nd traffic junction, turn right and continue for about 500 metres. It’s about ten minutes.”

Was it because I spoke Mandarin? Or was it because I looked like a Mainland Chinese? In fact, someone asked me for directions a couple of hours earlier! Now, I just have to master the art of spitting…

Anyway, I did as I was told, and I regretted ten minutes later. Hello! That traffic junction was like 500 metres away! No joke man, when you’re coping with stiff toes from a previous fracture. The pain chose to act up at that moment, but I decided to limp along. It would be too hard for me to bare if I suffered a second rejection in a single night. I made it back in thirty minutes, thrice the prescribed time. *sweat*

On a cheerier note, I’m having Quan Ju De Roasted Duck for lunch and going to the Forbidden Palace on Monday! WOOHOO!