Sunday, March 04, 2018

Prudential Carnival @ Marina Bay,

Hello!


Guess who's being the "late bloomer" again? It was finally my turn to visit Prudential Carnival @ Marina Bay yesterday!!


The rain had just ended not long before we exited Shoppes @ Marina Bay. Thankful for the good weather after that, even though the floor was wet with puddle of water at some areas! We were wowed by the first attraction at the corner of the entrance called Mach!



It's a ride that goes 360 degree and that's not just it! Yours seats do as well. I'm sure I'd throw up if I were to be up there! Omg, no! We decided that we had stayed there enough watching the ride and people screaming above, so we proceeded to other booths.



Oh yes, the queue wasn't as long as what I read on the net last December. It's also prolly because the carnival has already been there for 3 months and most of them have already experienced the long-waiting queue moment. But seriously, for this kind of temporary carnival, it's best to be a late-bloomer because you don't even need to wait for long. I'm sure the express pass isn't even required at all.


We didn't participate in any games nor rides at all because we love to watch rather than do. Lol. But one thing that didn't stop us was the food!




I decided on roasted duck rosti and unicorn tears while Mr. Z decided on sesame popcorn chicken combo set that comes with fries & drink.



Literally popcorn and chicken! 


Finished our dinner and we made a move as there were people waiting to be seated. Continued with our stroll and was contemplating or not to spend some pennies on a sure-win-confirm-win game but I didn't want to waste the pennies on an ugly soft toy. Pug was supposed to be cute but the soft toy is soooo opposite of what the real pug is!





Left the carnival with a very sad heart because... my bottle of unicorn tears was been thrown into the bin due to some miscommunication between Mr. Z and I! T_T Headed back to the stall in hope to get another bottle with LED light to which the staff said "LED bottles are unavailable for today, would you still want to buy?" No, thanks!

In memories of my bottle of LED light - Chicago! 
Ended our night early and headed home as we were tired and nowhere to go.



Thanks for accompanying me to the carnival though it's not really your kind of date. 

Sunday, February 04, 2018

TRAVELWITHLEEN: Xi'an on Day 7 & 8,

 Hello!

Back to this page to update about the Remaining days of my Beijing trip in last April! Hahahah, 3 more months till it's 1 year from the trip.


Day Seven: 西安

Xi'an was in our itinerary when we planned for our trip but didn't book any transport. It was only 2 days before this day that Mr. Z said "either by plane or train". Train will take about 5hrs to reach which will be a waste of time. Another travel expenses because the return flt was about SGD300 per pax. Train tickets cost only $20 cheaper per ticket.

Woke up really early on this day and we reached the airport at about 5.30am. Yawns! Settled for brkfast because I was both tired and hungry.





Because it was a domestic trip, we had to go through the domestic system which is to hop on a shuttle bus and walk to the place like what it is shown in the below image.

Domestic yet fun!


Made a room reservation at 西安七现 which is a student hostel. It is also suitable for backpackers; clean and comfortable according to TripAdvisor. Oh, the most important thing is, it is AFFORDABLE! It was only SGD49 per night after tax!!


Very European feel!! 




Started our day in Xi'an at 天下第一面 for lunch for their biangbiang noodle! This place was recommended by one of Mr. Z's lecturers in his univ.



I could only eat the noodle shown below. Basically, a tomato egg noodle lah.
拔刀西红柿鸡蛋面

Biangbiang noodle (which is really spicy!)

Stir-fried broccoli 
This broccoli is really good! I love it when the brocs are soft!!

Egg tofu, 好吃!

Walnut pastry


Done with our lunch and we started our adventure in Xi'an. Visited Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Tbh, just skip it. Lol. I mean, you can visit it if you don't mind all the histories of 西游记 and silk road etc. as well as climbing 8 levels (?) of stairs just to see the scenery.




Took 滴滴 to 书院门 and it is a place full of brushes. Nothing interesting in particular unless you're into paintings and calligraphy.




Next venue: Muslim Street where is another level of what we called Pasar Malam in Singapore.






We tried only a few street stalls and that's it. Dinner was next at 德发长 restaurant which was recommended by one of Mr. Z's friends. It's a restaurant with dumplings as their signature dish as dumplings are on almost all of the menu pages.









IT. WAS. LITERALLY. FULL. OF. DUMPLINGS!!

Mr. Z ordered 3 sets of dumplings, one set each. Who'd knew one set actually contains more than 20 dumplings each. Not forgetting the dessert at the end. We didn't finish everything because we were feeling bloated af when they served the 3rd or 4th basket of dumplings. OMG! We were wondering why didn't the waitress inform us about the amount and that 2 sets would be enough instead of 3. Walked back to our hostel instead of 滴滴 because we were really too full.

Day Eight: The Terracotta Army x last day in X'an

We booked for the tour to The Terracotta Army on the day of our arrival for RMB100++ per pax to 3 places. It was a small bus with other tourists from other hotels.

Xi'an Art Ceramics & Lacquer Factory









Moving on to the other side of the museum were all the displays of the guards. Different positions for different ranks. Some were standing, some half kneeling and etc. 

Cavalryman

Kneeling Archer

Standing Archer

Ended the tour and we requested the driver to drop us s'where near the bell tower. Proceed to have our dinner soon at a shopping mall nearby.








Headed back to our hostel to retrieve our luggage and headed to the airport for Beijing again. Last two days in China!! Xi'an has been a good one!

I shall update about it again soon.

Goodbye! :)