Will you climb up the Great Wall of China on a winter?

It was winter time when we went to Beijing so we were loaded with clothes and accessories such as stockings, long john, sweater, coat, ear muffs, gloves, socks, boots, scarf, and heat pack. With all of these, we survived a week of low temperature even as low as negative 6 or 11.

Unique experiences in China

- International terminal is so huge that you need to take a train to claim your baggage. In fact, on the day of our departure, we were at the airport for 2 and a half hours before the flight schedule, but still, we were 30 minutes late due to long queues in immigration and security check; train-ride, walk, bus-ride before we got in the plane.

- Sumptuous food: Watermelon, brocolli, and chysim were some of the food always on the menu be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

- Wonderful cultural heritage: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Great Wall of China, Hutong Area, and the Language.

- Sales ladies who had “excellent” selling tactics. They were to sell stuff up to the point that they pressured buyers till they would buy it. They would block costumers by stretching their hands. They would give big discounts even if you were not asking for it; if you did not buy the item at the discount they offered, they would nag at you for not buying the discounted product. They charged really really high; 450 yuan could be down to as low as 100 yuan.

- Tour guide who would limit our time in sight-seeing but would let us take our time when buying things. Also, the tour guide offered 5 sights to see for 80sgd. To our disappointment, only 1 of the sights had to pay (and it is only for 1sgd)... All the rest were for free!

But... regardless of those both good and bad experiences, I enjoyed my overall experience because I got to go up the famous "Great Wall of China"!

Here are some of the places you should see when in Beijing:

Temple of Heaven - where people ask for Good Harvest

Summer Palace - a popular tourist destination and recreational park

Tinanmen Square - a large city square named after Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace)

Forbidden City - Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming to Qing dynasty, and now houses the Palace Museum

And the highlight of the trip, climbing up the world famous...

GREAT WALL OF CHINA!

So, will you climb up the Great Wall of China on a winter? Absolutely! I thought, it would be cooler and cooler as I went up... But, it was not! The more stairs I took, the more clothes I removed! Of course, I still had clothes on when I reached the top! :)

Evidence?

End of the climb without my thick jacket... I had to remove it because it was getting warm!

Five reasons you should visit Chengde, China

1. Take a photo with that frozen waterfall in your background.

2. Lie down on that frozen lake... But, be careful... Be extra careful! It is slippery!

3. Be dazzled by Rehe Spring!

4. Take a picture of the octagonal brick pagoda with 70 meters height known as Sarira Pagoda.

5. Have a warm night sleep in a yurt.

Why Phuket is Awesome?

Why Phuket is awesome? Do I still need to answer that? Well, because of Phi Phi Island and Maya Bay to name a few! :)

Maya Beach - where Leonardo De Caprio's "The Beach" was filmed

Phi Phi Island - where we spent most of our time

Mekong River will never be the same years from now

My friends and I set off to the capital city of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon. My Vietnam experience was awesome that made me want to come back again and again.

Day1

On our first day, we had a trip to Cao Dai Temple and Cu Chi Tunnel. The trip was about two to three hours away from the city.

Cao Dai Temple is the place where people worship their God. Their religion is a combination of Confucianism, Protestantism and Buddhism.

After that, we headed to the Cu Chi Tunnel.

This is the place where tourists will have a glimpse on how the Vietnamese people lived and fought for their freedom during the Vietnam War.

There were a lot of tunnels that served as their secret passage. I was able to pass through the 100m tunnel. The tunnel was so small and there were dark areas. Hurray! An achievement for me that I was able to do it!

Day 2

On our second day, we cruised along Mekong Delta. If I could remember it right, it was three hours away from the city. But sad to say, the Mekong River would never be the same years from now according to our tour guide. Perhaps, because the river was already polluted because of dumping.

Mekong Delta is the source of life of the Vietnamese people.

Day 3

We spent our third day touring the city of Ho Chi Minh.

Here at the War Remnants Museum we reminisced the past events happened during the Vietnam-American War

Chinese Temple

Handicapped Handicrafts - Run by the government to help those people with special needs

Independence Palace - The building built by French, but then, later on destroyed by the Americans

Bin Thay Market - The biggest market in Ho Chi Minh

Notre Dame Cathedral

That's it folks! Our last two days was spent shopping and pampering ourself! :)