DAY 5: 2.30pm

Its the day that millions of Chinese have been waiting for. Come 8pm tonight, a celebration like no other is set to take place at the Bird’s Nest. Although parts of the rehearsals may have been leaked, but still it is a mysterious and much awaited spectacle to be seen. And I can’t wait to see the fireworks myself! Hopefully I can get myself to a strategic spot! hehehe

I’m now at the main press center again, there seem to a lot more people today. I guess everyone has been working towards this BIG DAY, and are furiously filing all the previews to the big event. It is getting harder to find an empty seat with internet card access, but I always get lucky and will be able to find myself a corner seat. Thank the Lord!

OK more updates later…

Updating with video of the Fireworks from last night! I was standing outside of the stadium along the roadside. Alas, without the right ticket, even with a media pass, you won’t be able to get into such a high demand event! So here’s the view from the outside!

The Olympic Identity and Accreditation Card, they call it the OIAC here, is the most important piece of paper that you need here at the games. It is a big yellow rectangular card, measuring about 6 inches by 3 inches. Its kinda big for an accreditation card, but it has its uses.

1) As visas are hard to come by these days, the card once you have it, is your visa into China as well as your passport into the Olympic secure areas.

2) You get free transport! On the TM (transport for media) to and fro from the Olympics venues, Main press center and the media villages. You also get free transport on public subway and buses!

3) It gets your ordinary taxi pass roadblocks. Many roads are closed nearer to the Olympic venues and the main press center, your tag, when shown to the security gets you through!

4) Lastly, this the most enlightening thus far. Its hot here, and I’m still getting lost sometimes when walking. Therefore having an instant fan that’s available around your neck - is very very handy.

THE Yellow Tag

RECAP DAY ONE 04.08.08 Monday

I am finally at the Beijing Olympics! Woo hoo! I’ve been looking forward to it, and it is just starting to sink in that it is happening!

I arrived yesterday in Beijing. Took the Singapore Airlines A380 plane here, to the new Beijing Airport that was built just to accommodate the Olympics. The flight was comfy enough and I happen to be on the same flight as the USA swim team as well as the Canadian team.  Most of them were TALL, tall and athletic. And they were all carrying USA Swimming Speedo sponsored backpacks/luggages. But no, I didn’t see “Superfish Phelps”, which is what they call USA’s fastest swimmer. But I think I did see Dara Torres on board the plane when she came to speak to the lady that I ended up sitting with in the same row, she is the oldest American swimmer to qualify for the Olympics, hats off to her!

I received a warm welcome in every sense of the word upon arrival! There were life-size mascots waiting to greet arrivals at the terminal, and volunteers litter the walkway to say hello and greet you on your way in. After getting out of the airport, the warm humid air hits you immediately. I was drenched in perspiration, and I figured I should get used to it cos it will be a common occurrence. Its a good thing I packed light cottony clothes.

Beijing Olympics mascots greet you upon arrival

Getting to the Media village where I will be staying was easy enough, the transport system that was set up for this purpose is quite comprehensive, and the journey took a little more than 45 mins on the free transport. I am in the Green Homeland (North Star) Media Village which is in the North from the center of Beijing. In the village, there are 16 blocks of apartments which can fit 6000 (!!!) accredited journos. I am in D3, and the nice uncle in charge of the building is very friendly. Again, almost everyone here is friendly and will greet you with a hello, there are even volunteers wearing a “Welcome” sash to open the doors for you to each building.

After settling into my room, I made my way to the MPC on the shuttle provided. The MPC (main press center) is big big big. In it also lies a gym, massage room, convenience store, souvenir shop, pharmacy, Macdonald’s (which was dinner last night by the way) and even a rooftop bar. Indeed impressive. Also I collected my media pack! I’ve received two goodie bags so far, one that they place in your room, and this backpack for all media. Personally I liked the mascot key ring that they gave, Beijing 2008 sunnies, the mascot brolly (which is going to my mum) and the Johnson & Johnson care packs.

Finally, I embarked on the quest to get me some internet access in this mammoth building. Which brings me to my only gripe here thus far, there was no internet access freely accessible, anyone wanting to have access will have to purchase either a WLAN package or a broadband card. I choose the latter, was told by volunteer lady at counter that it is faster and more stable. Having limited cash I was hoping to use my corporate Amex, but alas! It is a VISA sponsored olympics and therefore within the MPC, only VISA was accepted. So there goes a US$500 bucks bill on my own VISA card! Ah well.

But finally – I was sorted! Got me my local mobile and internet access! Called it a night close to 10pm and had takeaway from Mac’s. Yes I promised to venture to better dinner options in the coming days.

DAY TWO 05.08.08 Tuesday

The plan was to have breakfast, collect my dubbing machine and then get to a workroom to work on the emails. And am proud to say, it went according to plan!

Breakfast started a little late, got carried away watching Memoirs of a Geisha on HBO. We have quite a good selection of channels on the TV in the room! But thank goodness there are designated restaurants that serve breakfast till 2pm. hehe! Had a scone and a coffee.

I decided to explore the public transport system today, so I got directions from the transport help desk to tell me how to get there. So I had to take the subway Line 1 to Chongwenmen station and then change to Bus 673 to get to my destination, which was at BeiFengWo Lu. Subway was 2 yuan, and the bus cost me 1 yuan. Very affordable! I should get myself a “YiKaTong” which is like our EZ Link with stored value. I’ve not found the place that sells it yet tho. That goes on the to-do list.

The subway or DiTie, same like what we call it in Singapore, was clean and air-conditioned. The bus however, was a different experience. It was packed and when I boarded the bus, I was right at the door. The conductor was a young girl, but she was firm and fierce when people refuse to move. She quickly ordered them into place. “Move one step in, you, move that bag, people in the front move in, move aside if you are not getting down.” Yes, she has got it down pat. The Chinese are quite vocal when moving around the bus, they would ask if you are getting down, if not “huan” change positions so they can move closer to the door to alight. I liked the protocol, although the bus was really very crowded, there was no space to move an inch. Not very comfortable to be pouring sweat and standing for 30 mins in position.

On the Subway (Di Tie)

In the bus

Anyway I walked to the road I was suppose to be going, but realised that I was at BeifengWo Lu, but I was suppose to be at BeiFengWo Zhong Lu. Yes, lesson learnt that one word can make or break an address.  Luckily enough, the guy I was suppose to meet was just in the area and he picked me up to go to Panasonic. There I collected my machine, and saw how a chinese office worked. With the heavy load, I took a cab back which costs about 70 yuan.  The cab driver was told by my host that he was making his contribution to the Olympics by sending me safely back to the media village. Yes, that’s the impression I get from almost all the Chinese here, they are all doing their best to contribute to the biggest event they are hosting.

I’m writing this in the media workroom that is in the Media Village. The room is open 24 hrs now till the end of the games, it was pretty quiet when i got here around 5 plus in the late evening. Now there are a quite a few journos here. Hokay, I am calling it a night and probably find something to munch. Till tomorrow then, the plan so far is to pop by the bureau, meet the suppliers and then back to MPC.

I stopped writing the last time the girls and I were going to watch Sex and the City. So, we went to watch the movie before it previewed. Along with us, were many groups of girlfriends, groups of girlfriends with one gay friend, and a whole bunch of gay friends. Its no wonder then that the movie opened at No.1 and broke a number of box office records. See the power of the pink and red dollar? I enjoyed the movie, but not as much as I enjoyed the series. It was much nicer living the day ins and day outs of the four girls. But it reaffirms the issues that women face and how girlfriends are the ones there for you when men fails. My bunch of girlfriends and gay friends (ok and a handful of male pals ;P ) are definitely the ones I turn to for comfort and humour when the wrong men I meet combusted in my face.

So the girlfriends reminded me that my birthday celebrations actually began way earlier with the Korean BBQ meal and a fabulous new shiny gold and pink Kate Spade wallet. How they decided on that present was unplanned, but it was just the thing I needed and had been contemplating over but decided against. So thank u girls!

The peak of the celebrations was a countdown party that was decided quite at the last minute. It was my last day in the 20s and I thought that a countdown to a new decade was quite apt. And so we counted down… with shots of tequila and cake when the hour came. And then I was 30! No fireworks, not that I was expecting any, as with every birthday, it comes like clockwork. But this birthday, I feel a sense of anticipation, a sense of knowing that a change is imminent. Because you want the change, and because you are looking for a change. How and what the change might be, well, that’s still unknown, therefore the anticipation!

On the actual day, I ended up meeting up quite a number of people but yet it was a nice well paced out day, full of insightful chats and treats! What a great way to spend a “birthday”!

But it didn’t end there, as one girlfriend puts it, your birthday celebration this year macham like indian wedding!

And this was a surprise indeed! I had initially wanted to work out all those calories from all the birthday treats since I missed so many classes the whole week. I was planning to go for roda, but alas, it rained almost the entire afternoon. So turned out, that the peeps decided that they will throw a party instead of us heading out of a meal! So a very nice surprise indeed, thanks to the pint sized mastermind that gave the nicest little birthday card I received this year!

And that was it, the last of the birthday celebrations…

I am now officially into the 30s! So far so good! It has been a looong celebration for this birthday, but a memorable one indeed!

Is the 30s really the new 20s? Does that mean that we are growing up later, maturing slower? But kids are on the other hand, are getting smarter younger. So that means that the time that we spend as youths, is getting extended. Growing into teenagers comes earlier, while becoming adults with families comes later. hmm sounds like we all want more time for ourselves, more fun times and extending that period of time to stay as young as possible. OK I will admit it, call it selfish or what have you, but give me YOUTH!

Birthday celebrations this year was going to be a 3-day chalet, but that kinda didn’t work out due to all the chalets being totally booked out for this super peak holiday season. Point to note, book a year in advance or settle for a shitty chalet. But by the turn of events, I’m quite enjoying the celebrations in its place.

Celebrations first began last Wednesday, with my Colleagues, M and J. Being foodies, we decided to go for quantity and quality (hopefully) and opted for Hanabi at Odean Towers. The food was not too bad, but the portions seemed to have shrunked from the last time i remembered eating there. But all was good, we had a full platter of sashimi, side dishes, tempura, chawanmushi, miso soup, teppanyaki… by the end of the meal, we were stuffed! Feeling stuffed, but guilty for missing another wednesday class, I lugged myself into a taxi and made my way down to training. Not a good idea on too full a stomach. *burp* But survives anyway. Phew!

Then came Sunday, after a baby first month party at a friend’s. The sheer number of babies at the baby shower was enough to induce any mother-in-law/father-in-law to question, so when’s mine coming? Luckily, I have no such issues to deal with.

So, Mum and I went to Lei Garden at CHIJMES for dinner. Cantonese cuisine at this restaurant has certain standards, and the meal on Sunday proved it pretty much. We had a doubled-boiled soup, which the soft pork rib bones were simmered until its was tender, very yummy with soy sauce. Then we had a portion of roasted duck, which was waaaay better then the dried duck they now sell at the coffeeshop in our block. A stocked infused bowl of chinese spinach and whole cloves of garlic. And claypot rice with chicken and salted fish. For desserts, I had the fresh mango pudding, which had many chunks of mango and mum had the Guilinggao, I thought its own personal honey teapot was a nice touch.

While I was expecting the food to be good, but what I was really impressed with was their service. We had a waitress that was in charge of our table, the soup was the first to be served, and they ladled it out the first serving. But that was not all, she came back conscientiously to check if we wanted soup refills. She also did that with the plates we were eating from. Our claypot rice was served and she refused to let us serve ourselves even though we requested too, saying it was going to be hot. She checked if we wanted second helpings. And finally, we decided that we were too stuffed to eat anymore, we packed the rest of the rice and the veggie. Very nicely packed with the veggie in a plastic container and the rice firstly wrapped in aluminium foil and then packed in the usual styrofoam box. What was the ultimate, was after we paid the bill, and were about to walk to the door. The waitress, took the packet of food from us, carried that and walked us to the door which was two doors and a hallway away, and then gave it back to us at the entrance and said goodbye, thank you for coming. In Singapore, such service as similar priced outlets and sometimes even more expensive restaurants are far and few between. I’m impressed, and I will go back for sure!

And then its non stop from here…

Monday, was a surprise celebrations with the capoeira peeps. While I knew they were planning something for Monday after class, I didn’t know what and where. And it was a very good surprise indeed! Birthday treat was a show by Kumar at Hard Rock Cafe! I love the gig even tho it is the most un PC and *dirty* standup comedy ever! Jokes were fast and furious, and puns flew left right and center. Those who didn’t get it, gets jabbed as well! And here’s where the lap dance myth will spread… :p

Tuesday, was more of an impromptu event to fit everyone’s calender. Dinner with the Gs and Maiju G! Dinner was a spread of comfort food at Empire Cafe in Raffles Hotel, and in tradition, too much food was ordered as usual and we were all stuffed after. I cut my first birthday cake of the year here though! It was a yummy chocolate mousse cake, that was very very rich but good. The strawberries were huge and sweet! I had a bit of a walkabout Raffles after to settle the food down, before taking a bus home! I actually enjoyed the bus journey home if time is a luxury that day!

Then comes tonight, it’s movie night with the girls! And yes, we are watching Sex and the City! Although not the first few but quite an early audience as we are catching the preview before it starts showing proper on the 29th! 

Part 2 to come….

It’s been decided, I am going to Cambodia.

Flights are booked, leave taken… yes definitely going! Jacq is my travel mate this time, and its our first trip together in our 20 years of friendship… haha should be fun!

We are flying to Phnom Penh, from there travelling to Siam Reap, spend a few days there, and then back to Phnom Penh for the flight back to Singapore.

Now we just have to decide on the hotels that we will be staying in. Have had some suggestions from Gan, made a mental note to check those places out soonish.

Gosh, my neck and back and feeling the effects of yoga and capoeira… gotta try to get used to this. Build up the strength and flexibility. But I’m feeling myself getting stronger, which is a good thing, more more more!

Tomorrow, or rather later today… a bunch of us are going to watch “Chocolate”, the Thai action flick, just in case the romantic chocolatey film comes to mind. I’m not sure why this film is called such, but the lead action hero is female, so perhaps it an analogy to say that the heroine is sweet yet deadly! From trailers, the action sequences kicks ass so I gotta check out the stunts which were done not using any doubles.

The skies seems to be mourning the recent tragedies that happened over the past couple of weeks. First, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and now the Sichuan earthquake in China.

The number of dead and missing in Myanmar has risen to about 100,000 and yet its so called goverment still refuses to let in aid to help the survivors. It must be a living hell right now in the country. How can these self proclaimed leaders of a country be such ignorant fools? It seems that they do not know the severity of the catastrophe, therefore think that there is no need for help from the foreigners. Most likely they were cooped up in their comfortable stone walled houses while the commoners shivered away in dilapidated wooden shacks.

The world watches in disgust but yet whisper their disagreements instead of shouting them out loud. Why are we holding back? People like these, who make such grave mistakes should be told off. But yet, not enough is said. Does it all boil down to oil and gas?

In China, schools and homes have become graves. The number of dead has now reached over 13,000 but that’s not the final figure. China compared to Myanmar’s marked indifference is moving in fast and helping its people as quickly as it can. But fallen buildings, and rubble prevent them from reaching the survivors. New reports keep on repeating the phrase that time is running out. I think they all know that.

For my work, we have to be in there, be in the country to help the people who are witnessing the events, writing about the events, and passing on the information to the world. Barriers have been put up and we are not allowed in. Myanmar was never a surprise, we would have been surprised if they did let us in. But those already there are doing what they can. I like to think that China is putting saving lives as priority, and that its not because that they will not let us in, but if they let us in, we might only be in the way.

Let’s say a prayer for all those surviving and needing help. Dear Lord, please give them strength and faith.

So it seems like my tag along travel plans are not working out.

The G family is not going to Bali anymore, and are planning to head over the the sunny islands of Maldives. Which I think is a much better option for them and the kids at this time of the year. Sunny beaches, villas by the sea, crystal clear waters just below your abode. arhhh such is life!

So that leaves me with tagging along with L, but that’s not quite working out either due to the timing. He will be there the weekend of my birthday, but I can only go the next weekend. So that won’t work either.

Looks like I will have to come up with my own travel plans. Where do I want to go? hmmm….

I am actually looking forward to a work trip, yup, anything to get me out for a bit and regain some much needed composure and relieve some pent up fustrations. But cest la vie, that would be quite a wait, so I better make some plans to go now and go soon! I think a beach-like place would be lovely to do, its been a while since I lepak-ed on a beach.

Let’s see where are the nearest beaches? Batam? Bintan? Malaysia? Thailand? Boracay looks pretty good… go back to Bali? nah… I want to go somewhere I’ve not been to yet.

I feel the effects of wanderlust creeping up, and I am becoming more restless as the days go by! I’m starting to become mouldy… Time to satiate this wanderlust!

Let’s see, here are the options that I have:

1) Take up the offer to join L. on a business trip to Taiwan. Most tempting by far since I have not been to Taiwan… would love to try all the local specialities and check out the famous Shilin night market! Plus a chance for me to put all the mandarin “learned through Taiwanese drama serials” into good use. This would be sometime in June. (3-7 June)

2) Take up the offer to join the Gurungs for a chill trip to Bali. Would be nice to go to the island again, laze by the beach, eat at that fabulous Japanese restaurant, KO. This time round, would try to do some yoga as well! (1-5 June)

Hmmm looking at the timing, it maybe possible that I can do both! hehehe

Today is 29 February, a leap day. It only appears once every 4 years, in a leap year!

I’m intrigued by the concept of the leap year, although it really just boils down to math and making sure that the years remain sort of equal. But having your birthday fall on 29 Feb, makes you pretty special even though you will have to bear with celebrating your birthday only on your 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th, 20th, 24th, 28th, 32th, 36th, 40th….

And I turned the clock back today, on this blog, just to have a leap day post!

I know, it was past midnight and I had missed it. Thank goodness for different timezones! You see, I was out watching a made in Singapore movie, The Leap Years. The story is sweet, it’s about a couple who found each other on leap day, fell in love that day but had to part that day as well. That day also happens to be the girl’s birthday. So they make a promise to meet every 4 years. The original story is based on a short story by Catherine Lim, a local author, entitled “Leap of Love”.

I think its the romantic notion of making a special day even more special with a promise of love, a promise to meet. Anyway the movie was enjoyable, gave me some sniffles and had a happy ending. I’m glad I managed to do what I wanted to do today, I wanted to watch The Leap Years on the 29 Feb, a leap day. Mission accomplished!

I shall head to bed now, March 1 is my mum’s Birthday and I am spending the day with her. I should get some sleep so that I can wake up in time tomorrow to begin our plans…