China Trip – Nanjing

Nanjing (南京) is the largest city within the Jiangsu Province. It used to be the capitol during in ancient China due to its superior geographical location and terrain. Nanjing is surrounded by Yangtze River (Chang2 Jiang1; 长江) and mountains which act as natural boundaries and protection against easy invasion.

Although Nanjing is the most populous City in Jiangsu Province, it is still less dense than Shanghai. As Nanjing is situated in a valley, it has extreme climate which is characterized by high temperatures of over 40 Deg Celsius in summer and up to negative 10 Deg Celsius in winter. When temperatures are above 40 Deg Celsius, the people will not need to report to work or school.

Nanjing is also a military base where the military offices are located. The standing guards outside some of the military buildings will also act as enforcement officers during the time they are not standing guard. They will patrol the Nanjing city to check on the behaviour of other military officers.

There are also many sports schools in Nanjing. Many of the renowned athletes are trained in Nanjing.

Mei Ling Palace
Song Mei Ling (宋美龄) is the youngest of the Soong Sisters and is also the wife of Chiang Kai Sek – the first President of Taiwan. The Soong family was one of the wealthiest families in China. The three sisters had the privilege of receiving their education in the States. Thus, Song Mei Ling was much influenced by the western culture and lifestyle. On the other hand, Chiang Kai Sek was brought up in a traditional Chinese family.


Mei Ling Palace is the residence of Song Mei Ling and Chiang Kai Sek while Chiang Kai Sek was the president of China, succeeding after Sun Yat Sen. It is about 3.5-storey high situated in lush greenery on a hill top. It hash Chinese architecture on the exterior, with phoenix carvings in the balcony and pointed roof. Its interior decoration reflects the influence of Western culture with even a room for praying as both of them are Christians.

(Her bedroom)

Square City
Square City is so named because it is square where the memorial template of Zhu Yuan Zhang (朱元璋), first emperor of Ming Dynasty, was erected.

The memorial template is a heavy slab of stone documenting the laureates of Zhu Yuan Zhang by his grandson. The memorial template was placed on top of the third son of the Dragon King - Bi4 Xi1. Bi Xi has a dragon head and a turtle’s body because he is known to carry very heavy things. Hence, the memorial templates or tombs of many emperors are placed on Bi Xi.

(The memorial template on Bi Xi)

The English engravings on the side of the stone slab are clues of China being invaded by the other countries previously, which resulted in the giving up of Hong Kong and Macau previously.

Opposite of Square City is the Da Hong Gate (Da4 Hong2 Men2). It used to be part of the City Wall as well. To prevent cheating on the materials used, the workers who constructed each slab of brick had to engrave their names on the bricks to identify them as the makers. In the event that the bricks were found to be dysfunctional, they could then be traced to the maker. Part of the wall has also been destroyed by the various wars.

(The engravings of the brick layer's name on the brick)

Confucius Temple
As Nanjing used to be the Capitol in olden times, official exams for the selection of scholars were held in Nanjing. Before entering the exams halls, they would visit the nearby Confucius Temple (夫子庙) and pray for good results.

Now, the streets outside Confucius Temple are bustling with activities. There are rows of shops in shophouses. Behind the shop houses is a huge night bazaar which sells low-price T-shirts, bags, shoes and CDs.

This is indeed a shopping heaven.

Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge
Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge is the pride of many Chinese. It was originally meant to be designed and built by the Russians. However, the Russians decided to pull out of the project mid-way and took away all the blueprints. The Chinese had to take over the design, source for suitable materials and construct the bridge themselves.

It can be summarized with digit 1 to 10.
1 – It is the first bridge across Yangtze River.
2 – It has is double decker – the upper level is for the vehicles and the lower level is for the train.
3 – There are 3 flags on top of the bridge towers which is one of the remaining clues of the Cultural revolution which summarized Mao Ze Dong’s Great Leap Forward vision for China.
4 & 5 – The vehicle lane of the bridge is 4.5 miles long.
6 & 7 – The train lane of the bridge is 6.7 miles long.
8 – The bridge tower is 80 meters long.
9 – It has 9 piers in the river supporting the bridge.
10 – It takes 10 years to complete the construction.

Bi Feng Tang
Bi Feng Tang is a renowned eatery from Hong Kong for Chinese cuisine. I have visited 2 Bi Feng Tang restaurants while I was in China – Nanjing and Shanghai. Personally, I prefer the Shanghai outlet as the food is more similar to what we normally see in Crystal Jade. Nanjing outlet offers more unique dishes which we do not see in Singapore.

(Pan-fried Dumpling with Tofu fillings and Jiu3 Cai4 Pancakes )

(Siew Mai – the siew mais are filled with glutinous rice instead of meat. )

(Har Kow have very fresh prawns as fillings. )

Reflective Art
The pictures that you have seen below are created by drawing into little glass spheres. The area that contains the painting is very small. The minuscule picture is enlarged from the double layer of glass. In order to ensure that the picture show the right way up, the picture has to be painted in a mirror image.

The greatest piece is the Along the River During Qing Ming Festival (Qing1 Ming2 Shang2 He2 Tu2; 清明上河图). The original piece is found in the National Palace Museum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:QingMingShangHeTu_Big.jpg

China Trip – Wuxi

Wuxi (无锡) is the second largest city within the Jiangsu Province. The largest city is Nanjing, which is our next stop. Wuxi means no tin as it is a land without tin. The mountains in Wuxi are not high but are picturesque. The waters in Wuxi are not deep but are wide..

Wuxi has undergone a rapid development where its city landscaping is one of the most structured and advanced. In fact, the roads and streets resemble Singapore’s. Trees and flowers dress up the roads. The traffic lights have timers to tell the motorists how long more are the green lights, like what we have in Singapore for pedestrians.

Ji Chang Garden (Ji4 Chang4 Yuan2)
Ji Chang Garden is a private garden of an old official who has resigned from his post after being demoralized by the politics among the various officials. After he returned to his old home, he missed the mountains and water in Capitol greatly. Thus, he asked his father to grant him 15 hectares of land where he attempted to replicate some of the mountains and waters he has seen in his backyard.

He has effectively adopted the approach of “borrow scenes” (Jie4 Jing3) where the beauty of Hui and Xi Mountains and the spring water are captured in his own garden. Hui Mountain is known as Jiangnan’s first mountain and the spring water is known as Jiangnan’s second spring.

When Qian Long emperor visited the garden, he was very impressed. To persuade him to return to the palace, his officials promised to rebuild a similar garden in the imperial garden. The officials took about 3 years from the study of the design to recreating the garden. When it was finally completed, Qian Long Emperor took a look and never visited it anymore. He commented that the garden was ugly which caused his officials to be very puzzled. They had followed every single detail of Ji Chang Garden dutifully in their construction. Qian Long Emperor explained that the replica did not have Jiangnan’s first mountain in the background or Jiangnan’s second spring following into the garden. Hence, the replica was not comparable to the authentic garden.

Daughters of the wealthy and noble families cannot venture outside the family compounds. To inform the public that there is a daughter of marriageable age in the family, the family will plant a Xiang1 Zhang1 Tree near the main gate when the baby girl is born. When the baby girl reaches a marriageable age, the tree has grown tall enough to show above the gate. Hence, matchmakers and other interested parties will know that there is a nubile girl in the family. If a baby boy has been born, a Ju3 Tree will be planted instead.

(Zhi1 Yu2 Jian3)

A pavilion with three sides in the pond and one side joined to the other parts of the building is known as a Jian3. The Jian is often the best spot to look at the garden and for chatting and playing chess with friends.

City of the Three Kingdoms (San1 Guo2 Cheng2)
The structures and sceneries are constructed by the Central TV Station solely for the filming of the TV serial – Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The settings have been so successfully constructed that they have subsequently been used for the filming of the other period dramas.

To complete viewing the whole area by foot, we would need 2.5 hours. Fortunately, there were small buses which can ferry us from one spot to another. There were ancient battle ships which can ferry visitors out for a tour of Tai Lake. There was also a battle scene enacted, where stuntmen played the Zhang Fei, Guan Gong and Liu Bei to fight with Lu Bu. The fighting on the horses’ backs was amazing and thrilling.

(A Battle Ship which ferrys visitors to Tai Lake)

(The Battle Scene)

Tai Lake (Tai4 Hu2; 太湖)
Tai Lake is the size of 4 Singapores. The people of Wuxi make their livelihood out of Tai Lake (Taihu) due to its rich resources – the water can be used for brewing good quality beer, the lake is rich in prawns and fish (known as the three whites) and can also be used for rearing fresh water pearls.

When we first saw a floating layer of green on the Lake’s surface, we mistook it to be a layer of oil and were slightly put off, especially associating this ‘contamination’ with the food which we have consumed in Wuxi. The green water and the floating layer is due to green moss which contains a lot of micro-organisms for the fish, the prawns and the clams to feed on.

Pearl Factory
Wuxi’s pearls are fresh water pearls and are produced differently from sea water pearls. Wuxi’s pearls are produced without having to introduce an irritant to the clams, unlike sea water pearls. In addition, there can be many pearls in each clam, unlike sea water clams which can only have one as introducing more than one irritant to the clam will kill the clam.

Due to the minerals in Tai Lake, Wuxi can also produce purple-coloured pearls.

Our tour guide shared that regardless of the colour of the pearl, when you crush the pearl, the powder will always be white. If the powder is not white, it shows that the pearl is not real. The most expensive pearls are those which are at least 7 to 8 mm in diameter.

Purple Clay (Zi3 Sha1; 紫砂) Factory
Purple Clay is a rock extracted from Yixing (宜興)City. It contained a high level of minerals and thus is believed to be suitable for making pots for tea drinking. It is often brownish or purplish in nature, so it is known as purple clay. Within the sedimentary rocks where purple clay is extracted, there is also a very thin layer of green clay (Fei3 Cui4 Sha1) which is more superior clay due to its rarity.

Both the purple and green clay supplies are depleting and extraction is currently controlled by the government to reduce the rate of its depletion.
When a purple clay tea cup has exceeded its capacity, the liquid will form a dome instead of spilling out immediately. This is due to the porous nature of the minerals. Moreover, after using the teapot for several years, if one were to pour water into the pot without any tea leaves, the water will still contain tea fragrance. Its porous nature means it is very absorbent. Hence, extraction cannot be done with explosives to prevent the rock absorbing the explosive smell. Extraction is done manually by workers.

We were also introduced to replicas of the Flat Light Teapot (Bian3 Guang1 Hu2) made by one of the renowed Teapot masters. The original article was auctioned off at a high price in Hong Kong. To commemorate this great master, his students had made limited editions of the replicas of the famous teapot. The teapot does not have tea flowing down even when we stop pouring. It floats in water no matter how hard one presses it into the water. The liquid that flows out when one pours forms a beautiful arch.

San Yang Parksons (San1 Yang2 Bai3 Sheng4)
San Yang Parksons is the shopping belt of Wuxi. Parksons shopping centre is one of the landmark.

(The view opposite San Yang Parksons)

Local Fare
Silver Fish (Ying2 Yu2) in Wuxi is big and fat, unlike those we see in Singapore. They are sweet especially when used in omelets. White Prawns are small prawns with very soft shells and are extremely sweet.

Another specialty is the sauced ribs where pork ribs are stewed with a sweet sauced. Personally, I feel the ribs are tender but the sauce is slightly sweet.

China Trip – Suzhou

The Jiangnan has been well-connected by highways so that time taken to move from one city to another has been shortened relative to the past. Suzhou (苏州), in the Jiangsu Province, is about 2 to 3 hours away from Hangzhou. The Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces are separated by a river – natural boundary.

Suzhou used to be Wu Country about 2,000 years ago. Suzhou has always been touted as the land of beauties where girls in Suzhou are believed to be the prettiest in China. When we look at our local tour guide, we can truly understand why. Not only does she have a fair complexion, her voice is equally gentle and sweet. Her every sentence is punctuated by her addressing us as the Singapore VIPs (Gui4 Bin1).

Suzhou Industrial Park
This is a joint venture between Singapore and the Suzhou Governments to develop a world-class industrial park in Suzhou. Currently, there are still many Singaporeans living and working in the industrial park. There is also a growing population of expatriates from other countries. Hence, there are many cuisines which can be found in Suzhou city.

The park is very structured with residential, industrial and recreational space. At the central park, the country flags of all investors were erected. A tidy Merlion found at a corner of the park provided strong reminder of Singapore’s contribution towards the building of the park.

Singapore used to have a greater stake in this park than Suzhou government. However, Suzhou Government’s investment gradually increased. Hence, the park’s name has changed from the prvious Singapore-Suzhou Industrial Park to the now Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park. The Suzhou government has even set up a new park known as Suzhou High Technology Park in a neighbouring site to develop semiconductor industries with investments from many Taiwanese companies.

A waft of pride rose up when we stood in the park to admire the achievements of Singapore.

Cold Mountain Temple
Our next stop was Cold Mountain Temple (Han1 Shan1 Si4; 寒山寺). It is named after a famous monk – Hanshan who used to be in charge of the Temple in the Tang Dynasty. This temple has become well-known because of a poem – A Night Mooring Near Maple Bridge (Feng1 Qiao2 Ye4 Bo2; 楓橋夜泊) written by Tang Poet Zhang Ji (張既).

(The bridge outside the temple)

Zhang Ji was waiting outside the City Gate near the Cold Mountain Temple one night on his return from the Capitol after failing the official exams. The ringing of the bells seemed to reflect his loneliness and failure which led him to pen the famous poem.

In the poem, both Wu1 and Feng1 were used. Many had misinterpreted Wu to refer to the crows (Wu1 Ya1) and the Feng to refer to Maple Trees (Feng1 Shu4). Both the Wu and Feng refer to the names of the 2 bridges near the Temple instead.

Our tour guide was sharing that there was a fallacy in the poem. There are 2 lines in the poem which read “Away from the town of Suzhou stands Hanshan Temple, the chime of its midnight bell reaches as far as my boat.” In a Buddhist temple, bells are chimed in the morning instead of at night. We can only hear the Buddhist drums at night. It is likely that Zhang Ji has heard the bells in his dreams in the early morning but mistook the time to be the night.

(The Night Mooring Near Maple Bridge Poem)

Qilishantang Street (山塘街)
This old street is so named because it is seven mile long. Many old houses line the waterway where the backyard of these houses open into the river. As we cruised along the river, we were given a peek into the daily lives of the people – young kids studying, womenfolks washing their clothes along the river, school kids playing balls and with dogs alongside the river.

The street added on glamour in the evening when the red lanterns were lighted.

Pan Men Attraction
Pan Men (盘门) used to be a city gate. Both Pan Men and the neighbouring Sheraton hotels complement each other to enhance each other’s beauty. This approach is known as “borrow scenes” (Jie4 Jing3) so that one seems to be part of another, ie Pan Men seems to be within Sheraton while Sheraton seems to within Pan Men when both of them are actually separated.

On the day we were visiting Pan Men attraction, it was the day of Spring Travel (Chun1 You2) for the school children. Spring Travel is a spring day designated for school children to do outdoor learning, by visiting parks or places of interests when the weather is warmer and more suitable for the outdoors.
Ou Yuan
There are many private gardens in both Suzhou and Wuxi. Private gardens are built by the rich of the ancient times so that they can view the mountains and the waters without having to travel far.

To compress the real mountains into their backyards, Taihu rocks are often used. Taihu rocks are porous limestone rocks found at the bottom of Tai Lake (Tai4 Hu2) in Wuxi. The more rocks that could be found in the gardens, the wealthier the family was. As these rocks were expensive and had no other use except for display purposes, they were also known as white elephants (Bai4 Jia1 Shi2).

In a typical house, there are 3 halls for the rich – the first is for the servants who bring in the sedans, the second is for the normal guests and the third is for the rich and officials. Often, the rocks and waters have different formation which can be subject to vast interpretation by different people having varied perspectives. The beauty of these formations lies in their abilities to bring out different images dependent on one’s imagination.

Guan Qian Street
Guan Qian Street is the shopping belt in Suzhou. The look and feel resemble that of Xi Men Ding in Taipei. Along this street, one can find hawker selling local food, shops selling the local produce, boutiques such as Baleno, Nike and other clothes’ chain.

Suzhou offers a great variety of preserved plums which are very different from Singapore’s. The plums are not preserved in sugar or salt but in vinegar. I like Crispy Plums (Cui4 Mei2) and Green Plums (Qing1 Mei2) best. Crispy Plums are slightly sour and crispy where one will like it increasingly. Green Plums are sweeter and less hard. They are all available under the famous chain Cai3 Zhi1 Zhai1.

The barbecued squids and mutton are also mouth watering. Both the squids and mutton are tender and even slightly spicy.

Silk Factory
Suzhou is a land of silk as the Sang trees can grow very well where the leaves are as big as one’s face. The big leaves are good nutrients for the silk worms so that they can generate high quality and quantity of silk.

Silk, instead of cotton or woolen, mattress protector and blankets are commonly used in Suzhou. This is because Jiangnan are known to be a region of high humidity as it is surrounded by many rivers. Silk can effectively separate the moisture from human skin and reduce proneness to rheumatism.

Silk cloth can only be made from cocoons where there is only one worm each in them. For those cocoons where there is more than one worm, the silk thread will be tangled up and can only be used for making blankets and protectors. The best silk is known as Qi1 Li2 Silk which is normally used for making clothes.

The production of silk is still rather manual where many labourers are involved from the selection of the silk cocoons, opening up the cocoons, spinning of the silk threads to laying the opened cocoons into sheets for blankets.

Hotel
This is one of best hotels I have stayed in throughout this China trip, not in terms of comfort or luxury, but in terms of the surroundings. The hotel is located away from the city. The rooms are located in 4 blocks which are not more than 6-storey high. There is a garden in the middle of the blocks. Its peace makes an ideal place for a relaxed stay, away from the hustle and bustle of the City.


The proudest moment I have felt in Suzhou was when I stepped onto Central Park in the Suzhou Industrial Park to admire what the Singapore Government and other fellow Singaporeans have done. After hearing it for so many years, I have finally been able to see for myself!

China Trip – Hangzhou (2)

Hangzhou Town Centre
The town centre is a small area where all the shopping malls are located. The merchandise in these large shopping malls is expensive – clothes are at several hundreds Reminbi (RMB), almost equivalent to S$100. The reason is the higher taxes on imported goods. Hence, imported goods in China are more expensive than the prices in Singapore.

There is a big square just in front of the shopping malls where groups of teenagers and toddlers gather to learn and show off their blading skills. Many parents will start sending their children to for in-ling skating lessons at a tender age so that these children can hone balancing skills as well as be toughened from the falls they need to endure to pick up the in-line skating.


Mei Jia Wu Village
Mei Jia Wu Village (梅家坞村) is a village where the entire village was in the Long Jing (龙井)Tea business and has the Mei surname. The people in Mei Jia Wu Village have income above average as many own the lands of the tea plantation. Hence, daughters of Mei Jia Wu Village are not married out, but the sons-in-law are instead married in.


Dragon Well Tea (Long Jing Tea), a form of green tea with a PH of 7.2, is one of the local produce of Hangzhou. To ensure that the PH is maintained at 7.2, the tea bushes could only be planted to at most mid mountain. Its slightly alkaline nature, relative to the acidic nature of other tea, means it will not be harmful to the gastric. In addition, green tea has not been subject to roasting like other red teas, so its antioxidant level is higher. Antioxidants can help to keep a person youthful and prevent cancer.

Dragon Well Tea is a government controlled business in China, in terms of its quality, quantity and prices. The other government controlled businesses include Suzhou’s Silk, Wuxi’s Zisha, Wuxi’s Tidbit, etc.

The best tea leaves are those that have a one-leaf one shoot (Yi1 Jian4 Yi1 Xin1) which are normally located at the top of the bushes. The tea is best in the spring season and before the Qing Ming festival, followed by spring season after Qing Ming until the rainy season and finally the spring season after the rainy season. Leaves in summer are considered poor quality and not used for drinking by the Tea connoisseurs.

(Mixing Tea)

In Hangzhou, the people have the habit of drinking cold-brewed tea in replacement of water. Cold-brewed tea involves mixing a smatter of tea leaves in a bottle of water. The beverage has a light fragrance and is very refreshing. The Hangzhou people believe that the cold-brewed tea helps to detoxify, reduce cholesterol and prevent cancer. It can even have slimming effect if one adds some dried orange peels (San1 Cha2).

Song City (Song4 Cheng2)


The introduction brief of the performance states that if one gives Song City one day, Song City will give one a thousand years. Song City is the venue where one of the most famous performances in Hangzhou will be held. Outside the auditorium, there are also activities and exhibitions to view. Both the performance and the place aim to provide the visitors an overview of the Song Dynasty and Hangzhou’s legends.

The place is a replica of the Song Dynasty, including the food and the activities. There is also a section devoted to introducing the four greatest inventions of China – gunpowder, paper, compass and printing techniques. We can find the well-known stinky Beancurd here – one will be able to smell it miles away. The red bean pancakes (pan-fried) is delicious. The hot sweet potato is very popular, especially in the cool weather. It smells very nice but the texture is slightly softer than what we normally find in Singapore.

The Romance of the Song Dynasty is a musical summarizing some of the legends known in Hangzhou which include stories of Yue Fei, White Snake and Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai. In addition to the beautiful songs and dance, it also has multi-dimensional stage which draws the audiences into the stories. While the performance is carried on in the centre stage, there may be activities in the small and high-level stages at the sides or middle of the auditorium. When there is rain, water will drop from the top. One word summarised the performance – spectacular.

West Lake New World (Xi1 Hu2 Xin1 Tian1 Di4)
In Jiangnan, the place where the pubs, cafés and eateries gathered are known as New World (Xin1 Tian1 Di4) - one in Hangzhou and one in Shanghai. The New Worlds are similar to Holland Village, Seah Street, or Boat Quay in Singapore.

In Hangzhou, some of these restaurants overlook West Lake, an idyllic place for catching up with friends over a cup of tea or fine food. The famous Taiwanese tea chain can be found here – One Tea One Seat (Yi1 Cha2 Yi1 Zuo4). Coffee drinking is not very common in China. The coffee tastes very watered down, unless it is one from the international coffee chain, eg Starbucks.

He Fang Street
He Fang Street is one of the oldest shopping streets in Hangzhou. The things sold are rather touristy and expensive. Here, we can find one of the most famous chopstick shop in China – Hangzhou is known for its good quality chopsticks.

Shopping here is more of an experience rather than a conquest as it is more of admiring the old buildings rather than being able to have a lot of purchases.

Local Fare
Hangzhou has many signature, centuries-old dishes – sugar-vinegared fish (Tang1 Cu4 Yu2), Dongpo Meat (Dong1 Po1 Rou4;東坡肉) and Beggar’s Chicken (Jiao4 Hua1 Ji1).

We were filled with anticipation for trying out these dishes’ tastes. Too high expectation leads to greater disappointment, especially when we have been too used to the Asean flavour.

We found sugar-vinegared fish to be too sour. The use of fresh water fish (as opposed to sea water fish) made it more difficult to eat because of the many bones. We missed our Singapore’s sweet and sour fish. The Dongpo Meat was among the best. It is made of black soy sauce stewed pork. It has a strong aroma. Unfortunately, the meat used was too fatty which slightly turned us off. The Beggar’s Chicken is made of baked chicken with preserved vegetables (Mei2 Cai4) in Lotus Leaves. The meat was tough and salty. My sister has even erroneously thought it was made of duck rather than chicken.

We also have had our lunch at one of the leading food franchises in Hangzhou – Red Claypot (Hong2 Ni2 Sha1 Guo1) Restaurant. The setting was elegant but the food was mediocre.

(The rooms surrounding the main dining area on second floor are the VIP rooms)

Hangzhou is undergoing rapid development. It has one of the biggest indoor stadium which can house 60,000 people. The property prices are also among one of the highest in Jiangnan region. I was impressed by the harmonious balance that the state government has achieved between preserving the natural landscape as well as urbanization.

China Trip – Hangzhou (1)

Hangzhou (杭州) is currently the largest city within Zhejiang Province. Hangzhou used to be a country – Yue Country, more than 2,000 years ago, before China was consolidated.

There were many well-known and beautiful legends in this place, such as White Snake and Liang Shan Bo (梁山伯) and Zhu Ying Tai (the Chinese version of Romeo and Juliet). There are many legendary figures whose home towns are here or who have once stayed here, such as Yue Fei (岳飞), Xi Shi (西施) and Ji Gong (济公).

Xi Shi was one of the Four Beauties of ancient China, together with Wang Zhao Jun (王昭君), Yang Gui Fei (杨贵妃) and Diao Chan (貂蟬). The Four Beauties so pretty that fish had sunk, birds had fallen, moon and flowers had been shy (Chen2 Yu2 Luo4 Yan4; Bi4 Yue4 Xiu1 Hua1; 沉魚落雁,闭月羞花). Our tour guide also shared amusing gossips about the four beauties - their Achilles’ heels. Xi Shi had larger feet than the women of her times. Wang Zhao Jun was believed to have drooping shoulders. Thus, she always wore a cape. Yang Gui Fei had an odd smell from her body, so she had to constantly bathed in flowered water. Diao Chan had slightly long neck, so she cleverly camouflaged this shortcoming by wearing lots of jewelries around her neck.

Due to the fight between Yue Country and Wu Country (吳) (the current Suzhou), Xi Shi was sent by the King of Yue to seduce the King of Wu. In addition, the King of Yue laid low in Wu Country for a couple of years to spy on the enemy. In those years, he would sleep on straw and taste the bile in the gall to constantly remind himself the revenge he needed to take. This subsequently gave rise to the idiom – Wo4 Xin1 Chang2 Dan3 to describe a very hard life.

West Lake (西湖)

I vaguely remember reading a lot about West Lake in one of my Chinese Textbooks. West Lake is touted to be one of the most beautiful lakes in China. There are many poems and verses which sing praises of the beauty of West Lake, which was believed to the incarnation of Xi Shi, so it was also known as Xi Zi Lake.

There is a heaven in the sky.
There is a Su-Hang on the earth.
(Shang4 You3 Tian1 Tang2; Xia4 You3 Su1 Hang2; 上有天堂 下有苏杭)

These 2 verses aptly describe the picturesque Suzhou and Hangzhou where their beauties were comparable to Heaven. Poet Su Dong Po (苏东坡) was best known for his poem on West Lake. There was a famous local dish – Dong Po Meat which was named after this famous Tang Poet.

There are at least 10 scenic spots in West Lake. Some of which include Three Light Towers which reflect the moon (San1 Tan2 Ying4 Yue4; 三潭印月), Broken Bridge (Duan4 Qiao2; 断桥残雪), Su Bridge (Su1 Ti2; 苏堤), Long Bridge (Chang2 Qiao2), Lei Feng Pagoda (Lei2 Feng1 Ta3; 雷峰夕照) and Park of Willows (Liu3 Lang4 Wen2 Ying1; 柳浪闻莺), Nan Ping Bell (Nan2 Ping2 Wan3 Zhong1; 南屏晚钟) etc. Each of these scenic spots has a story associated with it. When the scenery is attached with a meaning, its beauty is enhanced.

The beauty of Three Light Towers reaches its epitome on the 15th day of lunar 8th month when the moon is at its brightest. Lights in the three towers will create the illusion of a total of about 5 moons (3 in the light towers, 1 moon and the moon’s reflection in the lake).

(The three light towers)

Broken bridge is a bridge which seems to be broken during winter when snow covers half of the bridge. This is also the bridge where the love story of White Snake and Xu Xian started.

Su Bridge is most beautiful in spring.

(Su Bridge)

Long Bridge is only an average 4 meters long. It has derived its name from the love story of Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai where they have sent each other off on this bridge. Arising from their reluctance to part with each other, this sending off took a long time as if the bridge was very long.

Lei Feng Pagoda was originally known as Huang Fei Pagoda. As it was built on Lei Feng Mountain, so it became known as Lei Feng Pagoda subsequently. The top of the Pagoda is plated in gold. It was the Pagoda where White Snake has been captured. The original pagoda has collapsed in 1924. The current pagoda was rebuilt in 2000. Some people actually believed that with the collapse of the pagoda, White Snake was finally released.

(In the Park of Willows with the Lei Feng Pagoda in the background)

The Park of Willows used to be an imperial garden due to the lush willows lining the lakeside and the happy chirping of the birds can be heard.

Nan Ping Bell is located in Jing Ci Temple. Jing Ci Temple is one of the temples where Ji Gong has once resided in. There was a fire which burnt down the temple. Ji Gong was tasked to rebuild the temple. He has transported the timber required via the rivers and through the well in the temple. However, when the abbot told Ji Gong that there was enough timber, he has left a log in the well. To this day, this log remained standing in the well. This famous well is the Old Well for Timber Transport (Yun4 Mu4 Gu2 Jing3).

(Nan Ping Bell in the Jing Ci Temple)

There is a Chinese saying which states that reading a hundred thousand of books will never be as good as walking a hundred thousand miles. Having read so much about West Lake, I am finally in this very place to experience for myself and be mesmerized by the magnificence of West Lake. West Lake offers different views in the various seasons and in the day and night. There is no one best season or time to admire it. Each season offers different views. However, many will agree that West Lake in the rain is more beautiful than on a sunny day as the rain added a cloud of sadness to its beauty.

China Trip – Wu Zhen

Among the many water towns surrounding Shanghai, the most well-known is Zhou Zhuang (周庄). However, it has become increasingly commercialized where a spate of stalls lined the streets and robbed it of its serenity and untainted nature. Hence, Wu Zhen has replaced Zhou Zhuang as the choice destination for a peek into the “Venice of the East”.

Wu Zhen is situated in the City of Jiaxing in the Zhejiang Province. Stepping into Wu Zhen was as if we were transported back to the ancient era. The little stone bridges, the wooden huts and the boats in the waterways were familiar scenes of period dramas. Yet, these were not man-made settings established for filming but were structures of a real town built hundreds of years ago. Every corner we turned, new surprises were presented.




Wu Zhen has become a national preservation area. Residents could no longer sell their houses in the open resale market. If they wish to move out and sell their properties, they could only sell to the government who would then convert the house to an exhibition hall to introduce the history and culture of the town to tourists, including the traditional businesses, such as cloth dyeing, spinning, medicinal halls, etc.

(Old medicinal hall)

(Bed Frame with Wooden Carving: Carvings are a symbol of wealth - the more carvings that can be found in the pillars and roof, the richer the family is. The carvings in the Tang Dynasty are simpler while those in Qing Dynasty are more elaborate)

For residents in the town, they could not do major refurbishment to the exterior of their houses. Hence, if you peeped into their houses, you would notice a strong contrast of the new and the old and the modern and the traditional. The traditional exterior housed a modern interior with tiled floors and electrical appliances.

The best way to experience the beauty of the water towns was via boats. As the boatmen rowed on, the charm of the old town became more apparent. At that moment, I wish I have a cup of hot tea in my hands, sitting down on the old bamboo chair and watch the time and waters flow away… …

China Trip – First Glimpse of Shanghai

After 5 hours of cramping myself in the narrow flight seat, my whole body could finally breathe and stretch. Relief!

Once I stepped out of the plane to take the airport transfer from the plane to the arrival hall, a refreshing but slightly chilly gust of wind blew onto my face. Having used to a hot tropical climate and hardly traveled to any country outside its summer season, this was the coldest I have ever felt, even though it was already mid spring. The temperature hovered around 13oC to 16oC.

It was 6 am in the morning but the skies were already bright. At last, we have arrived at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport.


Maglev Train
The Maglev Train Station was within walking distance from the airport. It has been in operation for about 9 years in Shanghai. It ran based on magnetic repelling and could go up to a maximum speed of 430 km / h. However, during our trip, it has only reached a maximum speed of about 300 km / h. Nevertheless, we reached our next station – Long Yang Road in an incredulous 8 minutes.

Morning at Shanghai
A kaleidoscope of flowers welcomed us at the entrance of the Long Yang Road Train Station. This was the week where Trumpet Flowers (La3 Ba1 Hua1) and Du4 Juan1 (杜鵑) Flowers were in full bloom.

(Trumpet Flowers)

(Du Juan Flowers) (杜鵑)

There was a small park adjacent to the Station. There were Shanghainese jogging and groups of elders doing fan dancing or taiji. Well, it seemed like Shanghainese were also active and health conscious.

Chinese Dumpling
Our stomachs were growling in protest. Our first breakfast in Shanghai made up mainly of dumplings. There were many fillings for the dumplings – duck’s egg, ham, pork. There were rectangular, with very sticky rice and rather salty. I guess it would take time to get used to the local fare.


After food, it was time to start our first sightseeing at one of the most famous water-towns in Jiangnan – Wu Zhen.

China Trip – Setting Off

Hurray!

The much awaited day has finally arrived. Today is the day where I will fly to China to be submerged in the rich culture and the vast land for the next 9 days. The itinerary is as follows:

Day 1: Shanghai – Hangzhou
Day 2: Hangzhou
Day 3: Hangzhou – Suzhou
Day 4: Suzhou – Wuxi
Day 5: Wuxi – Nanjing
Day 6: Nanjing – Shanghai
Day 7: Shanghai
Day 8: Shanghai
Day 9: Shanghai – Singapore

Hopefully, I will be able to snatch some sleep during the midnight flight, so that I can thoroughly enjoy my first day in China.

Shanghai and Jiangnan, here I come.

Timeless Drama

Although I have watched the whole drama serial of The Prince Becomes Frog, I continued to be a loyal fan of its repeat telecast on the Saturday afternoons I am home. Although I had dutifully followed almost all the episodes of Hanazakarino Kimitachihe, I was still eagerly rewatching some of the episodes when my sister borrowed the VCDs.

When Ye Tian Yu was bullied, I still gritted my teeth with anger at Fan Yun Xi’s obnoxiousness. I could not suppress my smile when Shan Jun Hao showed his concern for Ye Tian Yu. I remained tickled by Ye Tian Yu’s stupidity, clumsiness and blurness. Watching The Prince Becomes Frog still cheers up my Saturdays. Erm hm, of course, it is not the only activity that brightens my Saturday or my friends will all rush to hammer me.

I missed the first two episodes of Hanazakarino Kimitachihe as I was overseas when it was first telecast. My sister borrowed her friends’ VCD, so that we could “catch up” on how Ruixi had managed to get into a boys’ school, how she has first met Quan and how Quan had discovered her real gender. My eyes remained glued to the TV after the first 2 episodes had finished their runs, even though I could expect what would happen next. Quan’s consideration still made me fill with envy for Ruixi. Xiuyi’s exaggerating expression still caused me to laugh along with him.

I still missed those days where there was something to look forward to when I reached home after a hard day at work. Once I switch on the TV, my exhaustion seemed to evaporate with the stories of Ruixi and Quan or Ye Tian Yu and Shan Jun Hao.

Are they timeless dramas? Perhaps not. They do not have signature scenes, any industry accolades or serious plots which dish out profound philosophies. Yet, they continue to touch and attract me to watch them repeatedly. Isn’t repeatedly moving audiences with its stories one of the characteristics of timeless dramas? Different people will relate to different stories and personalities. My timeless dramas may not be the same as yours. Have you found yours?

Celebratory Cum Farewell Lunch

It was about one-month after our Annual Staff Function. We had our celebratory cum farewell lunch at Swensen’s.

We were looking to our first gathering as a whole team. Unfortunately, we had just received bad news that one of our team members had tendered. Hence, this became both a celebratory cum farewell lunch for her.

I was again the latest and got scolding from our “QC Director.” She is passionate about her job and often upholds the highest quality. Our mistakes never escape her eyes, so she has been affectionately been crowned the “QC Director”. She deducts our points when we make mistakes. A couple of us who have always made mistakes are in negative point balance. Every time we meet, we will joke about this, and she will graciously play along.

Everyone has his/her reasons for leaving the organization that he/she works for. People leave because of dissatisfaction with job scope, interpersonal relationships with peers and bosses or compensation. I always believe that there is no perfect portfolio or boss. Neither is there a perfect culture or payment package. It is always a matter of fit – fitting the employee into the organization, fitting the pay to the job scope, fitting the personality to the job requirements. Whether it is a good match of all these factors have to be determined before the employee enters the organization. When there is misalignment in perception, understanding or expectation, misfit happens and people leave. Even if it has been a good fit initially, changes can happen to both the employee and organization. The factors may change and cause misfit to happen.

Although there was a slight tinge of sadness, the gathering was still a good one. Since it has been so successful, we have decided to have one monthly. I will certainly look forward to the next one. At the same time, I hope the best for this colleague who will be serving her last day on Monday.

Disappearance

I received an email out of the blue from my friend working in the building across the road to ask why he has not seen me for the past 1 week.

Although we start work at different times (half an hour difference), we met each other daily on the way between train station and office the week before last. I will reach about 15 min before my official start time. He will reach about 15 min after his official start time. Even on the day when I took a later train than the normal, he has ended up in that later train as well.

Then for the past one week, we have stopped meeting each other. Hence, he dropped an email and sarcastically asked if I happened to be earlier than before. My equally sarcastic reply to him was that it was him who has been even later than before.

Even if I am merely a time landmark to this friend, ie he uses meeting me to benchmark how late he is, his email has still brought a smile to my face. Now, I know that if I suddenly disappear from the surface of the earth, at least someone, other than my immediate family, will notice.

Bad News – No More Malacca

To some of my colleagues, it is a piece of good news because they were not keen in the first place. To me, it was bad news because I was looking forward to the Malacca trip. Firstly, I have not been to Malacca for a long time. Secondly, who doesn’t want a free holiday during working hours?

We have to stay put to help with writing UAT scripts for the new budget system. Initially, it was meant to be a couple of people (me included). However, I think the bosses wanted to institute some sort of equity. Thus, the whole team stayed behind. Equal misery.

My next issue is how to break the news to CY. Will she be upset that she may not have a roommate or that she will be allocated a stranger as roommate?

Ringtones

We are not only advancing with state-of-the-art mobile phones, the ringtones that Singaporeans are adopting are increasingly innovative.

I have heard ringtones which
- mimicked the MRT door closing's warning "Doo - doo - doo - doo, train doors are closing"
- cute singing of the Pig's song by La4 Bi3 Xiao3 Xing1 (cartoon character)
- garang guni's calls "Garang guni, bo zuah gu sa koh" (Hokkien)

Whenever I hear these, I often have to overcome the urge to giggle out loud. I wonder if there will be more and more bizarre ringtones?

Adel’s Birthday Celebration

It was a simple affair. We had dinner at Ninja Restaurant at CityLink before proceeding to Xing Wang Café for beverage and dessert. We spent most of the time catching up with each other.


Prenancy
We were busy finding out from Nat her recent experiences as a soon-to-be mother. We were curious about her eating habits, the growth of the baby, her choice of going for caesarian or natural, use of epidural or not, threshold for pain, which gynae, etc. At the same time, we also shared some of the stories we have heard from our colleagues with kids.

There was a bizarre story of Lis’ colleague who did not know that she was pregnant until she was into her fifth month. She finally found out when she failed to recover from her gastric flu despite taking some medicine and even Lis’ gastric pills. Lis was indeed suffering from gastric flu. Fortunately, all the wrong prescriptions have not caused any harm to her baby or her.

Pampered Newcomers
Work has always been the evergreen topic in our every gathering. Although 3 of them have or would be leaving the workforce (Lynn would be leaving her job for her full-time masters; Vim had yet to find a permanent job after her masters; Adel has just left her job to take a break), we were still pretty enthusiastic about this topic. We were also complaining about atrocious attitudes which we faced in some newcomers.

Apparently, there was a super rich audit junior (just graduated) who resigned after a short stint because he did not expect the long hours. Duh! Sustained working for long hours is one of the characteristics of external audit! Anyhow, during his stay in the job, he has always knocked off at 5.30 pm because his dad has reached the office to fetch him and could not park his car for too long. Erm, even if one is not in audit, but in corporate finance or accounts, we also do not knock off at 5.30 pm on most days, especially during budget, month end close or year end reporting. If this audit junior hoped to make a career in finance, he might need to be mentally prepared for some the horribly long hours.

Bridesmaids’ dresses shopping
Another girl would be getting married this July. It was time again to decide on a colour theme for the day. We already had pink for Nat and blue for Lis. We decided to look into the selection at Lavender at Stamford House. It was touted to be a shop for bridesmaid with a kaleidoscope of pastel dresses in similar designs. Wow, the dresses were very pretty yet exorbitant and way beyond our budget. We decided to shop around more at Robinsons to find cheaper alternatives but it was rather fruitless. Fortunately, there was still some time to source around more.


Looks like the sisters are going to be busy for the next few months with work, another wedding and a cute baby on the way. *Smile*

Friendly Neighbours

My neighbours invited us to their party. We were speculating whether this was for the birthday celebration of the little boy or the granny. It turned out that we were all wrong. It was the birthday celebration of the father.

We had a friendly evening over food and birthday cake. Hmm, it was definitely a good idea for neighbours to mingle more than just small chit chats in the lift and corridors.

The caterer was My Mum’s Kitchen. The Mee Siam and the Kueh Pie Tie were heavenly. Yum Yum.

3 Short 1

It was an impromptu decision to meet up for dinner. It was surprising that the 3 of us could make it at such eleventh hour notice and more so when I turned up to be the earliest arriver.

Ah Peng and I decided to go to the restaurant first after we were turned away previously because we had to wait for at least half an hour. Lady luck was on our side. We were immediately shown to the table. No queue at all?!?!

Both Ah Peng and I decided to try the kaminabe (paper steamboat) which Waraku was quite well-known for. In addition, Ah Peng had also ordered the okonomiyaki (grilled octopus pancake). While waiting for Ms Chan to turn up after her late meeting, we had tucked in. Despite just recovering from cough and flu, I still tried a piece of the okonomiyaki after some persuasion from Ah Peng and tempted by the wafting aroma.

Just as we were enjoying ourselves and wondering when Ms Chan would turn up, Ah Peng received a call from Ms Chan. She called to inform us that she would not join us as she was thoroughly exhausted from the late night the previous day.

Ah Peng and I had a long chat about work, life, recent experiences, even school life. This was the first time that I knew Ah Peng graduated from a girls’ school, just like me. No wonder, we had such similar frequency. Ha ha. Despite this being a relaxing outing, the Musketeers’ outing was still one person short. Notwithstanding, it was good to have a heart-to-heart talk with Ah Peng. Sigh!

Ben & Jerry’s

Thank you all colleagues for the hardwork towards an outstanding year. Take a moment to chill out and enjoy the ice-cream.

This was written on a card which accompanied that Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream that was distributed too all in the department. I have chosen the raspberry flavour. It was a brief respite for a Friday the thirteenth afternoon while we enjoyed the scoop of the free ice-cream.

It feels good to be appreciated, especially after some of the late nights and weekends which we have burnt. :-)

P.S. The raspberry flavour was still quite sweet, was expecting something more soury. Think I still prefer the Haagen Daz's raspberry.

Deep Slumber

I have not slept so deeply and so continuously for a long time. I was in such a deep sleep that when I forced myself awake, I found myself in an even groggier state. It became harder and harder to fight the sleep bugs.

Was the combination of cough syrup and flu tablet too potent? Or was this a way my body was protesting to me that it required more rest?

Tong Shui Café

After Hui’s photoshoot, we all felt hungry and decided to adjourn to a Hong Kong Tea Café at Thomson. This is a café which Jen has recommended.

We were attracted by the exterior before we stepped in - many red lanterns hanging high at the entrance. When we stepped in, the red and green walls were bright yet oriental looking. The tables and chairs resembled Chinese rosewood furniture but there were no pearl carvings. In the middle of the restaurant, there was a huge plasma TV showing a Hong Kong movie. It is an ideal place for a lazy afternoon for catching up with friends or watching a Hong Kong movie with in a Hong Kong ambience.

The menu offered us a bigger selection than that in a normal Tea Café – there were toasts, noodles, rice, desserts and drinks. I have opted for the almond paste – among all the traditional desserts, I am rather big on almond paste. It came in bigger servings than those in Crystal Jade. It was thick without any bitter after-taste. However, both Onion and I agreed that it might be a little too sweet.

Onion also had the fries and the durian toast which I kept throwing him disgusted looks over the heatiness of the choice. Hui had pork chop noodles. Jen had a normal French toast and a mango and pomelo ice which although looked tempting was equally heaty (mango is heaty).

When we heard a loud thunder outside and saw dark clouds gathering, we decided to make leave as we did not want to be caught in the rain.

Hui's Photoshoot

One of my best friends - Hui has had her wedding shoots today. She has invited Jen and me to the shoot as we have already missed her gown selection process. It was not due to our fault, but simply because she was too decisive. She has chosen the gown on her first trip there and even before her husband - Onion had arrived at the studio. The original plan was for her to do a preliminary selection and we would accompany her on her final selection.

Nonetheless, we felt honoured that she has asked us to go along and we have had the honour of appearing in her photoshots.

She has wanted a no-fuss wedding. The reason she has signed up for the photoshoot was because she wanted family portraits with her in her wedding gown to be professionally taken. Her photo shoots were all taken indoors and were completed in less than 3 hours. Most of the shots taken were more hilarious and less serious, yet more reflective of their normal behaviour. We were busy laughing together with her for the shots. There were many photos which they took with their family and friends (us). These wedding shots may deviate from the norm (which often involve the couple looking lovingly at each other) but they have an element of realness in them.

Maybe I hold a very different view to the whole concept of wedding. Somehow I feel that some weddings have become more commercialised these days where there are pretty photoshots which may look slightly plastic and grand wedding dinners where no one can remember anything thereafter. Sometimes, a simple wedding may be more touching. Photos taken with people who matter to the couple are meaningful as these signify the joy of sharing their marital bliss with their kins.

What are yours?

Bonding with My Colleagues

Men bond on the golf course; women bond in the shopping mall. After a business seminar today, 3 of us decided to do some weekday shopping.

All of us confessed rather openly that we are guilty of taking leave to do shopping on weekday before. We also shared the same sentiments that shopping on a weekday temporarily creates the illusion that we are tai tai. We shared tips on shopping, on things to buy, jokes / blunders we have made, etc.

Although we have not bought anything eventually, it has been a good time understanding more of my peers outside work. Hey, who cares about the outcome (no purchases) when the process (shopping and chit chatting) is enjoyable?

Annual Staff Function 2007 Photos

After almost a month's long wait, I have finally received the annual staff function photos today. It has brought back memories of the retro night which we have. Here are sharing some of the events of the night.

(These are the gifts for the lucky draw filing up on the table.)

(The Emcee was playing a number game with the Group.)

(The candidates for the best dressed were invited to do a cat-walk.)

(The committee taking a nice and proper photo.)

(The committee taking a fun photo with the EO.)

Kind Gesture

He was one of the most hardworking and polite line managers whom I have met.

Being IT trained, it was difficult for him to grasp some of the financial concepts used in business cases. He has actually googled all the financial concepts, such as WACC, IRR, NPV, leases, etc, to learn about them. He was also the only one who would end off conversations on Friday with “Enjoy your weekends”. Such small gestures make working with him a very pleasant experience indeed.

Over the phone conversation, he could tell that I was not feeling well as my voice had sounded different. I had talked to so many people during the day and none of them had discerned my difficulty in talking with my sore throat. Inevitably, I was touched by his sensitivity.

Today, I have added more ‘stars’ to his score for his kind gesture. He called me early in the morning while on his way to office. His first question was how I was feeling. After I assured him that I might be suffering, I was still surviving, we decided to go ahead with our discussion in the late morning.

When we met up, he was again concerned especially when I was all wrapped up in my shawl. I told him I would be going to the company doctor after our discussion. As I have yet to make any appointment, he immediately searched the doctor’s number and called the doctor on my behalf. When the receptionist told him the next earliest time was mid afternoon, I told him I would then go home and see a doctor. He refused to give up and con the receptionist that it was an emergency. After much persuasion, the receptionist gave in and allowed us an appointment immediately. Then he actually accompanied me to the clinic and only left after I have completed my registration.

Typically, a colleague would have considered going the extra mile if he has helped to check out the number of the clinic. So shouldn’t he deserve many ‘stars’ for his helpfulness?

To reciprocate his kindness, I promise I will clear his business cases more quickly in future. I know I am supposed to be impartial when serving the internal customers, but we must show our gratitude to the nicer people at times. *Grin*

Spot Award

Spot award is an extra mile award for staff’s effort and contribution beyond their normal scope. For our hard work for the last few months, our bosses nominated us for spot awards.

When my boss handed the award to me, he commented that although the reward was token, he hoped we could appreciate their gesture. I agreed totally. I valued more that our bosses were aware and had appreciated the long hours that we had put in to ensure that we met the timeline.

This has definitely spurred me to work harder and do more. Thank you, bosses.

Na Da Sou Sou

Yota and Kaoru were siblings who were not related by blood. When their father left them and their mother passed away, they had only each other to depend on. Yota had always sheltered Kaoru. When Kaoru moved in with Yota when she was enrolled in high school, their care and concern for each other drew them closer. Despite loving each other, they could not get together for fear of public’s perception. However, after longer periods of overwork and malnutrition, Yota passed away.

Despite it being heartwarming and touching, the movie was rather slow paced. I was rather disappointed as Japanese movies normally moved the viewers in a simplistic and meaningful way, but it seemed to be missing in Na Da Sou Sou Nevertheless, I still heard some sniffing behind me during the movie.