Well well well, as some of you might know, I've recently came back from a trip to my ancestral hometown, Shantou! I've been there many times, but the last time was in 1997, and some places gave me the feeling of deja vu, like a lost, forgotten memory that I haven't reached to in the recesses of my mind for a long, long time.

DAY 1 - 12th May 2010, Wednesday - Swatow

We flew off on the 12th of May, on Wednesday. It was a particularly good day, amidst the many other rainy days we've had the past few weeks. There was no sign of a storm, no rain in sight, only the rays of sunlight softly caressing our skins...

It was my first time taking a budget airplane. Jetstar Asia had a promotion and we snapped it up quickly, getting a return fare of S$360+! That, I would mention, is a pretty awesome deal. Apart from the annoying little delay issue - our flight was delayed for maybe half an hour? - almost everything else was smooth sailing. We had a great captain on board, and he explained to us the reason for the slight delay, and was super friendly over the speakers.

However, one very irritating thing about our flight that day was the meal! Yes, you all should know by now. It costs $10 for a lousy meal on board, and guess what. We waited approx an HOUR for them to serve us! I don't know what's wrong with them, it seems that only OUR row had that problem. Everyone else were already done with their food long ago and were already about to take a nap... it only came about 15 mins after we pestered the stewardess for the third time. Seriously, what's wrong with them?

Anyway, upon reaching the airport, we realised that everyone there speaks TEOCHEW! What an interesting sight! Haha, I was wearing my fedora hat, and one of the customs officers came over and asked me to take it off, in Teochew! I didn't understand what he said, so I just assumed he wasn't talking to me until after he repeated for the third time, that my uncle told me that he was actually referring to me. Hahah! How embarrassing. "Teng bo kio chu lai" or something...

1) Mom with the Jetstar plane we took!

We came out, and Uncle Zhao with his tour guide guy, Xiao Ma, were expecting us!

2) Waiting for our friends who were still collecting their baggage.

3) Mom and I posing outside the airport/ at the carpark!

They spoke to us along the way to our hotel, and made a short introduction, etc...
So we headed to the Longhu Shantou Hotel, checked in, and went straight to the restaurant at around 6.30pm~ or so...

YUMMY-SCRUMPTIOUS-FOODIE-LICIOUS!

1) My Mom might or might not kill me for this. Wahahhahaha!

2) (Clockwise from bottom left)

9-holed-Abalone, Fresh prawns, Sweet potato and Yam desert, Pumpkin paste soup

hahaha...! Can't resist photoshopping my mom with the food!

After dinner, we took a stroll down one of the shopping arcades/ streets in the area.

Guess what this is! Dunhill? Danhuoli? Hehs!

What about a cuppa sugarcane juice from the roadside store? Pure, natural, sweetness.

Really. It is SUPER sweet.

DAY 2 - 13th May 2010, Thursday - Swatow/ Nan Ao

I'll try my best to post this part soon!

We went to 南澳！

It is a pretty beautiful place... well it would have been much more beautiful for me if I had ample time to absorb the surroundings. Boo to the lousy tour guide we had for rushing us all the time, like a madwoman, shouting into her annoying little portable mike, like she was rushing the goats along the hills... yeah we know you wanna "eat snake", but you don't have to make it look so obvious, the way you impatiently blabber the information out in incomprehensible Mandarin, I thought the only one who could understand what you spoke is yourself. No wonder when you posted some questions to us we didn't even bother answering them 'cos it didn't make any sense at all, since you haven't done your job properly in explaining in detail what each pretty, rich, historical spot meant in it's full glory or intensity... the way it deserves to have it's history spelt out in great propensity.

Anyway, as it is an island, we had to catch a ferry at 9am to get to Nan Ao.

While we were waiting for the ferry to arrive, we encountered a little dear pooch which was violently wagging her tail, non-stop! What a cutie! The ears were moving up and down, she was rolling over, following us, attracting a whole load of attention! At first we thought she wanted to be fed, as you know, dogs and food... But we did found out, after throwing some pipa on the floor, (she totally ignored it), she probably craved attention, warmth and affection.



Dogs are, as you know, pack animals. However, she seriously looked like she hadn't bathed in a long, long while. Her fur was patchy, and looked real disgusting. Other than that, what a cutie! If her fur weren't that disgusting, I would love to give her a pat down! She deserves the attention for being so hyper! Hahaha.


After maybe 10mins, a hoard of tourists came from another bus, and the little dog took off towards their direction. Seeing that our source of entertainment has abandoned us, we took out our snappers, and started doing the silliest things we can afford to in the ensuing 15 minutes or so of waiting under the blazing, hot sun... well, not as blazing as Singapore, but still, it was pretty sunny. And very hot, I must say.


(to be continued! It's 3am in the morning and I have to sleep!)

Wednesday, May 12, 2010