Oriental Adventure Day 4 & 5

It's 2013 and some of the group will be leaving. The first itinerary was Summer Palace since it was closed the day before. The palace was huge, even bigger than the Forbidden City. It had a lake in the middle with an island in the middle of it.

Since it was winter, the lake was frozen and walking across was possible but not advisable. I wanted to do it but wasn't allowed too.The Summer Palace is like any other palace that I've been to but the it would be beautiful during summer or spring.

The well known long corridor is here too but we were only walking till the first pavilion. It actually stretches along the lake and it is huge. It is yet another cold day but we were then accustomed to the cold. We played around in the weather including the American kids. Hakimbo made a good friend with one of them. Truly a rare moment.

We were then brought to lunch where we said goodbye to the American family and another due to their afternoon flight. We departed and continued to Qianmen where we were taught on Feng Sui and how Beijing was arranged to it. They had miniatures Feng Sui items on sale but this was the only time throughout the whole trip that they didn't bother selling. To them, if you don't believe in Feng Sui, it's hard for the element to work.

Once our lesson on Feng Sui was over, we crossed the street to another shopping street. This was another long stretch of shopping that I don't mind but there wasn't anything that interest me. Even the cheap alley ways does not enticed me. We ended up at Starbucks again.

By this time, our group of 12 Indonesian were ungratefully tired and wanted to just stay in the bus. They were one rowdy family and half of them were kids. They were so annoying!!! They would be running around and even trying to outspoke the guide explanation of the tour. They had a dispute with the guide in the morning and the remaining of the group didn't care as they didn't care about the others.

Our next location was the Temple of Heaven not far from Qianmen street. There were only 4 of us in the group as the other had gone and just awaiting for their flight, and the ignorant Indonesian family of course. Our guide had a breeze bringing the 4 of us into the temple. The temple is a nice scenic temple and the sun was shining brightly. I managed to capture some great shots but didn't really bother wandering around the temple.

Dinner was early and we said goodbye to another family. This time we returned to the hotel early and I finally managed to make a spa appointment. After a long tour, a good message was terrific (the "free" foot massage didn't count). I was rejuvenated to conquer the last day.

We woke up later than normal and the Indonesian family were the first to go due to their morning flight. They wasted a day of tour. We finally had a peaceful journey to the Beijing Cultural Museum.

Wandering around the museum for 2 hours and I realized that every exhibit is similar. Every relic are Chinese influence and really similar to each other. The building however was vast and unique from the inside and plain blocky from the outside though there were too much space wasted. Maybe, it's just me where Singapore is just space restricted.

Since it's just 4 of us, the other itinerary is another shopping and bar street. We told the guide to detour to Wangfujing where we can spent our time fruitfully as we didn't the other day. We managed to go into another shopping center in Wangfujing that houses many great brands but the prices are costlier than Singapore.

Wangfujing was the last of our tour and it marks the end. We collected our luggage and proceeded to the airport. While waiting to check in, we realized that we didn't spent much. I still had spare from my SGD200 conversion and was shocked. I've only swiped once for souvenirs.

However right after checking in, we went wild. We managed to find items that we've been looking for like my sister's hard to find Longchamp bag, some wedding presents that Hakim needed and my SINs needlist, Bally's keypouch selling cheap after conversion and discount. So much for not shopping during this trip.

The flight home was better than the incoming flight. The aircraft was newer with better seating and personalized entertainment console. I reached Singapore fresher.

In all, I truly enjoyed my Oriental Adventure and truly grateful to have gone with Hakimbo. Another destination conquered and it was my first experience of -16 deg weather and even snow. I could have regretted going alone without tour. That'll definitely be an adventure.

Till the next trip, whenever I can slot from my hectic work-school year.