I had played truant when I was a full time student back then. And I had to skip a couple of classes when I went back to school this January. True to expectations, I absented myself from a seminar at Beijing Foreign University this morning.

Muahahahhahaa.

Erm.

Well.

*coughs*

When my Beijing friends told me of the long days they have in summer, I didn’t expect the sun to be up by 4.30am! I hadn’t drawn the curtains when I collapsed onto the bed the night before, and thought I was dreadfully late when I saw daylight. Chey. Two more hours to morning call lah.

Have you been so tired/lazy that you couldn’t/wouldn’t get up although something was bothering your sleep? It could be the aircon: There you were shivering beneath the sheets, yet you didn’t get up to adjust the temperature… Similar scenario this morning: Too bright to actually sleep, but I didn’t get up to do anything…

By the time the hotel gave me a morning call, I had developed a minor headache. When I say minor, it means the pain would probably vanish after popping 500mg of paracetamol.

But. Holiday mood-1; self discipline-0.

I called them to say I wasn’t going to fall in at the lobby at 8am. And I got up to draw the curtains. Darkness! Hurray! Sleep! Woohoo!

I stayed in bed all the way till 1pm. Muahahahhahhha.

As my schoolmates gained valuable knowledge at the University and later made their way to the National Stadium (aka Bird Nest) and other attractions, I headed to 798 alone.

It sounds like a clubbing area to me (88798- 爸爸去酒吧. Hahaha!), but 798 is actually a place for the arts.

Several schoolmates said hi over dinner last night. Given the small size of the group, I suspect almost everyone knows by now, who I am and what I do for a living. I mustn’t damage my own reputation… …

I have to be at the lobby by 7.20am tomorrow. I will have breakfast with everyone tomorrow. I will attend the seminars from 8am to 4pm tomorrow. I should borrow a pair of black rimmed glasses. Haha.

I will now finish up the remaining food on my table- ordered too much at a Japanese restaurant earlier. I will soon use the new shower gel I bought at a supermarket this afternoon- the one provided by the hotel stinks. And I will later do a solo water parade with the humongous 4.5l bottle of mineral water- I won’t and can’t finish everything, obviously.

您好儿，您好儿。我儿到儿北儿京儿了儿！Ok too much.

I reached home past midnight on Sunday and start to pack half-heartedly. Responding to the kind souls who asked several days before if I had packed, I wasn’t off to some ulu mountain or some third world city. My destination was the capital of the third largest economy in the world. It wouldn’t hurt if I forgot something.

I was more nervous about missing my flight. Until I heard a voice in my head going, “只要是钱可以解决的问题，就不是问题。” Since the air ticket I got at a steal doesn’t allow any changes to be made, the worst scenario would be to get a one way ticket for the next flight. Thankfully, I woke up two hours later and reached Changi Airport at 6.41am.

We landed in Beijing with a loud bang. NT’s temperature was above 37 degrees. *DEH DEH DEH* She was promptly whisked off to the hospital, without a chance to say anything to anyone. Goodness.

(Thankfully, she was released about a 10-hour ordeal. All’s fine now. She doesn’t have the H1N1 virus. And she must have had an experience of a lifetime…)

As the rest of us braved through the madness at the airport (long queues at two health counters and later at immigration), I saw someone familiar.

“PSST! PSST! JJ! Oei! Turn back! I’m not a crazy fan! I’m Zhiyong!”

Both of us were in caps and shades lah. It took a while for us to recognise each other. Hahaha. JJ Lin had arrived in Beijing a week ahead of his concert for promotions and rehearsals. How often do you get a personal invitation? “Come to my show yeah? I’ll get tickets for you.”

I’m sure I wasn’t not the only person who wanted to freshen up after six hours on the plane. However, in sync with the policy by most travel agencies to optimise time spent doing something, we were sent to watch an acrobatics show designed for the typical ang moh tourist. Body contortions, balancing (and playing with) a giant vase on two feet, spinning plates on rods… These are rather amazing, I must say. But haven’t all of us Chinese Singaporeans seen these at some point previously?

I was so glad to finally step into Royal King Hotel at about 8.30pm last night. As my friends would know, I’m rather extremely fussy when it comes to hotels, but I had no complaints at all when I opened the door to the room on Level 17. The room is so huge it has two separate air con units.

Lovely.

Landed in Beijing at 2.30pm. An acrobatics show and a so-so dinner later, I’ve just checked into the hotel.

I’ll be in Beijing till 22/6. Talk soon.

Desperately need a shower and some sleep.

Have a good week ahead! I know I will.

It’s one of those days when I grin. And grin. And grin. And grin. And still grin.

Maybe it’s the pre holiday joy, or maybe it’s because of several things happening all at once.

My partner is finally back from her break. You have no idea how stressed I was. They go, “Haiyah you’ve been doing this for so long. You can one lah. Solo or double, still got a lot of people tune in one lah. Don’t worry lah!” Ya, right. To believe them would be the first step to my downfall.

When I have someone on the morning show with me, we bounce ideas off each other spontaneously- be it a boring news story or some boh liao incident that happened the previous day. It’s totally different when I’m alone, so I had to spend twice the amount of time each evening thinking of what to do the next day. That’s the difference between a newbie with the inexperience immunity card, and someone who’s been there for some time and thus cannot afford to underperform.

It was on one of the solo mornings that I woke up at 6.35am. I forgot whether it was a English vulgarity or a Hokkien one I uttered when I jumped out of bed. So anyway, I didn’t have time to shower, but I HAD to brush my teeth. I sped my way to the studio and arrived just on time to do the opening. I didn’t mention this on air, but I totally felt like a filthy piece of junk the whole morning. I had to cancel my dental appointment, plus lunch with a friend that day, because I couldn’t allow anyone to see the out-of-bed-and-ungroomed look.

Then I just had a splendid weekend. I did… … nothing.

We were supposed to visit a friend in KL, but there was a last minute change of plans. I had earlier asked my managers to block my schedule, and eventually I didn’t tell them that I was available, -should anyone need me for events.

While I still need to make ends meet, nothing pleases me more than to be tucked in bed. The entire day. Or 2 whole days. I’m guessing if I install aircon, my hibernation would stretch to a week. I had better make do with a fan.

As I braced myself for what could be a hectic week- it’s always like that before we go on a vacation, I received an exhilarating piece of news. It’s related to work. I wish I could tell you more, but it might be interpreted as an obnoxious act of showing off.

Just know that I’m grinning. And grinning. And grinning.

A giant scoop of Strawberry Cheesecake from Ben & Jerry’s would be perfect, but I guess a bowl of chilled tau huay would suffice.

下個星期的這個時候，我會在北京！
哇哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈！

來不及打預防針了。
這個星期會去買溫度計、口罩、消毒液等。
同伴答應帶那種對準額頭測量體溫的儀器，
但我後來想，回國后也該緊盯自己的體溫，還是自己買吧。
保佑保佑。一切OK。

那天在空中說，我會採取一切抗流感措施：
“我已經缺席好幾個星期了。再拿MC的話，我的人氣（若有）會下滑的。所以……”
＊咳＊

說真的，不是怕成為H1N1確診病例，
醫療制度完善，致命程度在本地還是零。
我比較怕被隔離。
東部的渡假屋鬧鬼。我不想獨自住在那裡… …

Anyway，A型H1N1病毒是個嚴肅的課題。
不要搞笑。請不要忽略所有基本的衛生習慣。

刚看了新浪网提供的天气预报。
好了不起。
除了给你氣象概况，还告诉你该不该洗车或钓鱼… …