Well, since my last post about Shenzhen, I have been there 4 more times. I went again with Linea, Jenny, Weck, and Daniel to stroll around and go back to the spa. Only the 3 girls went to the spa, and it was absolutely amazing again! I just can't believe how cheap the services are, though it is not a traditional spa, and you definitely get what you pay for. I asked for a pedicure, but they offer nail painting services for extra. The pedicure was just trimming the nails, then I got my feet smoothed. And I swear, my feet have not been so smooth since I was baby! They were so soft! Haha, I really enjoyed that. We ended up staying there and talking/eating dinner for a few hours then finally headed back to Hong Kong.
The third time I went to get some tailor made suits. We found a really nice woman, who I thought was the top recommended tailor, but it turns out her store was literally right around the corner! Either way, I am pleased with the results. I printed out pictures so they would know exactly what I wanted my pieces to look like. She even brought us to the fabric market to help us get good deals, then took our measurements. We went back a week later to get fitted, then had to get some adjustments made, but my stuff turned out pretty well. I ordered one skirt suit and an extra pencil skirt. For the three pieces I paid around $50! The lining is thinner, but I think that's nice for the summer months. I highly suggest you to go to Shenzhen for tailor made suits if you're ever in Hong Kong in the future! It's just a metro ride away and there's also tons of shopping you can do in the area. I've honestly never seen so many fake stuff in my life. I've bought DVD's and a nice little coin purse, as well as some other random cheap stuff. As a result of my many trips to Shenzhen, I've gotten a lot better at bargaining and even managed to get a small makeup bag down about 75% from their original asking price. Success!
Monday, April 27, 2009
My Dreams have been realized!
On the weekend of March 13-15 I went to Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province with Jenny and Daniel. It was like Italy all over again! If you don't know, Sichuan is where the Panda Research Base is, as well as the home of 麻辣, a special spice they use in Sichuanese food. I was so excited a bout seeing the pandas, REAL LIVE PANDAS, in a semi-natural environment, not behind a glass wall.
When we first got to Chengdu we went to the main temple there and walked around a bit, it was definitely made into a tourist destination because the walking areas looked so new. Even some of the buildings looked fake authentic. Inside the temple grounds it was so peaceful and beautiful, and blocked all sounds of construction and traf
fic jams outside. 
Eventually we got hungry, but it was too early to eat dinner, so we checked out a restaurant that looked pretty busy and had the spice in the dishes. I ordered some spicy wontons, and I was so surprised once I started eating! Basically..I kept eating, and I didn't think it was traditional spicy kind of taste. I slowly began to realize that I couldn't quite feel my tongue anymore, and the spice had a pine taste to it..it also made everything taste much saltier. I believe the english translation is Szechuan food, but this was nothing like that, and unlike anything I've ever tasted before. Maybe not my fondest eating adventure, but I enjoyed it and if was cool to try something new. Afterwards we sat in a teahouse for awhile to get hungry again so we could go to Chen's Mapo Tofu for dinner. 
I LOVE mapo tofu, and this place is the number one restaurant to go to in Chengdu. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. We ordered two bowls which turned out to be too much, along with some other small dishes. In contrast to my expectation of Sichuan spicy food from before, the Mapo Tofu tasted more like what I expected. The spiciness was kicked up a notch, and it was cooked with more oil than my mom uses. But I still loved it! And it was super cheap. The three of payed about 2USD each for our fulfilling dinner!
The next day we woke up early to get to the Panda Research Base around 9-10, so we could catch
them at feeding time. We had one hour since we got a deal with the taxi driver to drive us from the research base back to the city. I was running around everywhere like a crazy woman so I could see all of the pandas! I loved seeing the pandas munching on bamboo..looking all lazy. Wow..that's the life. What was even better is that they had great jungle gym type structures and I swear the red pandas could have jumped out at us. There were even peacocks, and we saw one on the sidewalk. I'm pretty sure it had escaped somehow, haha. Before I knew it, my panda adventure was over, but I took plenty of pictures.
Another highlight of the trip? THE BUFFET BREAKFAST! Just in case you didn't notice, I love traveling and eating the local food, etc. But the buffet breakfast had everything and I took full advantage of it. They offered everything from dumplings to waffles to tons of fresh fruit. Mmmm...
When we first got to Chengdu we went to the main temple there and walked around a bit, it was definitely made into a tourist destination because the walking areas looked so new. Even some of the buildings looked fake authentic. Inside the temple grounds it was so peaceful and beautiful, and blocked all sounds of construction and traf
fic jams outside. 
Eventually we got hungry, but it was too early to eat dinner, so we checked out a restaurant that looked pretty busy and had the spice in the dishes. I ordered some spicy wontons, and I was so surprised once I started eating! Basically..I kept eating, and I didn't think it was traditional spicy kind of taste. I slowly began to realize that I couldn't quite feel my tongue anymore, and the spice had a pine taste to it..it also made everything taste much saltier. I believe the english translation is Szechuan food, but this was nothing like that, and unlike anything I've ever tasted before. Maybe not my fondest eating adventure, but I enjoyed it and if was cool to try something new. Afterwards we sat in a teahouse for awhile to get hungry again so we could go to Chen's Mapo Tofu for dinner. 
I LOVE mapo tofu, and this place is the number one restaurant to go to in Chengdu. Needless to say, I was pretty excited. We ordered two bowls which turned out to be too much, along with some other small dishes. In contrast to my expectation of Sichuan spicy food from before, the Mapo Tofu tasted more like what I expected. The spiciness was kicked up a notch, and it was cooked with more oil than my mom uses. But I still loved it! And it was super cheap. The three of payed about 2USD each for our fulfilling dinner!The next day we woke up early to get to the Panda Research Base around 9-10, so we could catch
them at feeding time. We had one hour since we got a deal with the taxi driver to drive us from the research base back to the city. I was running around everywhere like a crazy woman so I could see all of the pandas! I loved seeing the pandas munching on bamboo..looking all lazy. Wow..that's the life. What was even better is that they had great jungle gym type structures and I swear the red pandas could have jumped out at us. There were even peacocks, and we saw one on the sidewalk. I'm pretty sure it had escaped somehow, haha. Before I knew it, my panda adventure was over, but I took plenty of pictures.Another highlight of the trip? THE BUFFET BREAKFAST! Just in case you didn't notice, I love traveling and eating the local food, etc. But the buffet breakfast had everything and I took full advantage of it. They offered everything from dumplings to waffles to tons of fresh fruit. Mmmm...
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