Beijing (Part 1)

About a month ago I went to Beijing with my parents and sister. We were lucky as there were only six of us in the group. Aside from us four, there were two other ladies, kak Azimah and kak Hamidah. They are well-travelled, and I'm kind glad we had a small group. Less people to deal with, and more fun we had. So here's some of the photos we took over there.



At KLIA, after checking in we lepak in front of McDonald's before going to departure hall. It was a midnight flight, itself an uneventful event. I don't sleep very easily, so the journey was uncomfortable la. Boring naik Air China, kerusi sempit, makan pun tak sedap, FA semua pun English berterabur!! Really had a hard time trying to understand them.

The city itself is becoming very popular with Malaysian tourists, evidenced by the fact that I think our flight was filled with 50% Malaysians. Ni mesti groups from other agencies.

Actually masa travel tu I haven't been feeling very well because due to the crazy El Nino phenomenon in Malaysia at that time the weather was extreme by definition. It was really, really hot, and perhaps because keluar-masuk air-conditioned rooms, I get asthma attack ALL THE TIME!!! So tak sangka I had to use my inhaler again because before this pun dah berbulan tak kena attack. Anyway earlier that day also I went to the clinic to get a flu jab (at that time the A(H1N1) sort of just started so that's why we took some precautionary measures lah. Little did I know I would develop slight fever after that. Alamak risau gak takut tak boleh travel but still gagahkan diri ajer...

And even after we landed that morning at around 6AM, all passengers were required to stay in. Bab ni tabikla Chinese officials because probably due to their experience in handling SARS a few years ago, they didn't want to take any chances with imported swine flu (although swine dlu ni tetap gak masuk China) so what happened what that they had a Health official coming onboard and check pax temperature sorang-sorang. So dia bawak la thermometer yang canggih-manggih and tembak this gadget on our forehead to get a reading. I grew nervous because I was coughing all the time, so I had chewing gum to stop myself from coughing. When it came my turn, he gave me some puzzled look (kantoi!!), check at his screen, and was hesitant. I was getting more nervous but I tried to appear cheerful (inside I was miserable OK...). Then he went to my family and other people near my seat, checked their temperature. Then he went back to me and put that thing on my forehead again. Then he talked to me in Mandarin, so obviously I couldn't understand a thing! As usual, even mainland Chinese thought I was Chinese, so I replied in English and asked him what he was saying, and requested he speak in English. Luckily a passenger at the seat behind me translated and told me he wanted to know if I was OK, so I said cheerfully, "Yes, yes I'm OK" (I lied!!) so only then did he get off my back. Once down at the terminal, there were another two scanners we had to go through, the second being the submission counter where we submitted our health declaration form. Over there, again I was also asked more questions before the lady let me go...So that's when our trip to Beijing truly started..
Oh god sorry my ramblings melarat-larat pulak..Anyway here's some more photos ya...






After our early check in at Long Ding Hua Hotel (tak best la hotel tu!!!) we rested for a while before we left at around noon. We had lunch first, then singgah at masjid...sorry tak ingat nama...then off to what is undoubtedly a must-go location in Beijing-the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both are magnificent, both are really impressive!! (moi in green top)