Sunday, October 12, 2008
Following the 4th of September, after the bamboo raft trip along the river, we headed for lunch at the local restaurant. The food there was so authentic and a bit similar to Malaysian style that we considered it the best food we ever had in Guilin. The restaurant was called 农家庄 (maybe "Peasant Restaurant"?). The environment was very relaxing. Imagine having your lunch with your family near the silent river. Sounds so idyllic. Here's some pictures again. Enjoy.
Welcome to 农家庄!
The environment here is so pretty, like what I expected. 
We saw this floating balloon which is big enough to fit 3 persons near the river, but we could not find the person responsible for it, so no fun... 
So, this is where they store the unused bamboo rafts. 
I took this at the restaurant. A scenic view, isn't it?
This was what we had for lunch. I actually enjoyed all the food. It's finger licking good!
This is the 辣油鸡. I liked it too.
This is the steamed conch. Not bad, just not so fleshy.
Watermelon fishies!The food suited our appetite and as for myself, I wanted to have more but we had to keep up with our itinerary. Next location, river tour at 漓江 LiJiang. We had to walk through a small village before we could reach our boat. When we entered the village, I could feel like I went back 30 years ago in China. You'll get what I meant later in the photos.
This is too blur, but you'll get the picture. 
Walking through the village. The villagers there kept on looking at us in an eerie look through their houses' windows. So scary. 
This is the SiFu making paper fans. He's good in what he's doing.
I took this at the fan factory. I love it.
Cute kitten scratching its back on the broom. So cute.
Tiny woolen shoes for babies. But I bet the prices are not cheap because this is a tourist area.
Still walking. These buildings are a bit ancient to me.
These dolls were my favorite. So mischievous.
Thai-style mini cab.
Here's our ship!
The inner view of the ship. Quite cozy. We had watermelons, peanuts and tea in the ship.Before we entered our mini-cruise, the weather was superb. But when all of us stepped our feet into the ship, rain poured down like buckets of water. The rain was really a wet blanket...
Poor cow...
These are the Phoenix bamboo. 
We went up the ship for a closer view of the river when the rain was smaller. 
You can see China flags everywhere in the tourist area. Unlike Malaysia...
I forgot what's so special about that house. Maybe it's age.
A small village near the river.
These are the fish farm, with algaes around. Anyway, the river was green because it was rich with algae. Very clean and unpolluted.
Well, the river trip wasn't very long, but the view was magnificent. We seldom see such clean and well-protected river in Malaysia, even in my own hometown. When we reached the port, the rain just stopped. What a joke.
We went back our mini-bus and headed our hotel. This time, our hotel was better than the previous ones, because we were in a 4-STAR HOTEL!! Wow, our last and best hotel. There's a late-night shopping area near the hotel, but we had to wait till night for it. But anyway, we didn't have any spare time to stroll around the hotel because as soon as we had settle down our luggage, we had to go to another place, for our "main-course" in Guilin, the "Impression SanJie Liu 印象刘三姐". All of us in the tour was having great expectation for that live show because we had been hearing a lot of praising comments about it. My father went for it last year and one of his friends recorded down the whole show. In the tape, the show was so grand and marvelous, but I still wanted to see it with my own eyes.
I saw these clay-made puppets at the hotel hall. Pretty, right?
We had our dinner in the hotel before we left and the service was superb (compared to our previous dinner). The name of our room was special and regarding the food, it was just so so.
Our dinner room! In english, means "Fairy's room". 
These 仙女果 (i don't know the english name, maybe Fairy's Fruit?) should be, but these were a bit sour... 
These are deep fried shrimps, but barely anyone had eaten it because of sanitary reasons. 
A brief look of our dinner, didn't have much time.
The show was going to start at around 8pm but we had to be there earlier because the seats were always almost-full everytime. A bit exaggerating, right? But that was a fact. We reached there at around 7.30pm and the whole hall was flooded with tour groups. The hawkers there were clever enough to rent you binoculars, coats, electronic fans, and even mosquitoe repellers for sale. If you were clever enough, you won't buy or rent anything from them, not only the price was a bit outrageous, but the troubles awaiting. I was told that if you rent their binoculars, when you returned them, the owner would find whatever excuses to accuse you for breaking their binoculars. Some even spoilt the binoculars because renting them out.
When it was around 7.40pm, we went in the hall and we were each given a one-time-use raincoat, in case of raining. We walked along the path for around 5 minutes with the crowd and when we reached our seats, we were shocked with the amount of people attending the show. It was 10 minutes before show and the seats were already full. Anyway, we were allowed to take photos or record them using your camcorders, but my c702 could perform well with dimmy light. What a waste...
So many people waiting for the show. 
Oops, shaky hands. We were walking to the stage, exercising at the same time.
These were the crowd waiting, impatiently. Quite noisy too. 
This is my ticket for the show.
My uncle bought this DVD of the show as a souvenir. RMB50 o. 
The show started soon, but this was what my c702 managed to do...
The show was very grand, with the lighting, sound and people.
Poor cow...
These are the Phoenix bamboo. 
We went up the ship for a closer view of the river when the rain was smaller. 
You can see China flags everywhere in the tourist area. Unlike Malaysia...
I forgot what's so special about that house. Maybe it's age.
A small village near the river.
These are the fish farm, with algaes around. Anyway, the river was green because it was rich with algae. Very clean and unpolluted.Well, the river trip wasn't very long, but the view was magnificent. We seldom see such clean and well-protected river in Malaysia, even in my own hometown. When we reached the port, the rain just stopped. What a joke.
We went back our mini-bus and headed our hotel. This time, our hotel was better than the previous ones, because we were in a 4-STAR HOTEL!! Wow, our last and best hotel. There's a late-night shopping area near the hotel, but we had to wait till night for it. But anyway, we didn't have any spare time to stroll around the hotel because as soon as we had settle down our luggage, we had to go to another place, for our "main-course" in Guilin, the "Impression SanJie Liu 印象刘三姐". All of us in the tour was having great expectation for that live show because we had been hearing a lot of praising comments about it. My father went for it last year and one of his friends recorded down the whole show. In the tape, the show was so grand and marvelous, but I still wanted to see it with my own eyes.
I saw these clay-made puppets at the hotel hall. Pretty, right? We had our dinner in the hotel before we left and the service was superb (compared to our previous dinner). The name of our room was special and regarding the food, it was just so so.
Our dinner room! In english, means "Fairy's room". 
These 仙女果 (i don't know the english name, maybe Fairy's Fruit?) should be, but these were a bit sour... 
These are deep fried shrimps, but barely anyone had eaten it because of sanitary reasons. 
A brief look of our dinner, didn't have much time. The show was going to start at around 8pm but we had to be there earlier because the seats were always almost-full everytime. A bit exaggerating, right? But that was a fact. We reached there at around 7.30pm and the whole hall was flooded with tour groups. The hawkers there were clever enough to rent you binoculars, coats, electronic fans, and even mosquitoe repellers for sale. If you were clever enough, you won't buy or rent anything from them, not only the price was a bit outrageous, but the troubles awaiting. I was told that if you rent their binoculars, when you returned them, the owner would find whatever excuses to accuse you for breaking their binoculars. Some even spoilt the binoculars because renting them out.
When it was around 7.40pm, we went in the hall and we were each given a one-time-use raincoat, in case of raining. We walked along the path for around 5 minutes with the crowd and when we reached our seats, we were shocked with the amount of people attending the show. It was 10 minutes before show and the seats were already full. Anyway, we were allowed to take photos or record them using your camcorders, but my c702 could perform well with dimmy light. What a waste...
So many people waiting for the show. 
Oops, shaky hands. We were walking to the stage, exercising at the same time.
These were the crowd waiting, impatiently. Quite noisy too. 
This is my ticket for the show.
My uncle bought this DVD of the show as a souvenir. RMB50 o. 
The show started soon, but this was what my c702 managed to do...
The show was very grand, with the lighting, sound and people.The show ended at around 9pm, not the time I expected for a grand show like it. It was too short and a bit different from what I saw in the tape recorded. It was less fascinating and surprising than what I expected, though it was still a good show directed by Zhang YiMou 张艺谋, the international Chinese director. The only thing that left me a alot of disturbance and anger was some of the irresponsible and low-quality audiences. They spitted a lot and the sound they made was an ear-sore. Some talked as if they were shouting and some childish adults even play with his bamboo whistle during the show. The smell of cigarrattes pissed me off a lot too. Bad experience, though a great show.
That's all I have for today, though I've delayed a lot. It was a hectic these days because of some activities by the Malaysia Student Association (MSA) and Malaysia Cultural Tourism (CT). I was also a bit annoyed too by some personal matters. They were quite offensive so I don't want to post them in my blog. Anyway, thank you to whoever visited my blog. A bit boring, huh? Bye Bye~
That's all I have for today, though I've delayed a lot. It was a hectic these days because of some activities by the Malaysia Student Association (MSA) and Malaysia Cultural Tourism (CT). I was also a bit annoyed too by some personal matters. They were quite offensive so I don't want to post them in my blog. Anyway, thank you to whoever visited my blog. A bit boring, huh? Bye Bye~
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