AA-Hangzhou-Shanghai

End of Jan, I went to Hangzhou , China by Air Asia ( AA). AA doesn't fly to Shanghai airport, the nearest is Hangzhou ( HZ ) - which is 1 hour away from Shanghai (SH) by bus without traffic jam. The reality is usually with traffic jam , and it takes > 3.5 hours. There is a speed train from HZ to SH which takes about 45 mins.

AA lands in HZ Xiaoshan International Airport, AA links with the local bus operator, they setup a buse service for all AA passenger directly from that airport, we can buy the bus ticket from the AA flight attendants. The ticket is Rm45 or RMB 100 / one way. It stops at Shanghai Huangpu Bus Station. Taking this bus, we don't have to worry much, as this bus will depart 45 mins after AA flight is landed. So if AA delays , the bus also wait ... the cons is bus will take > 3.5 hours to reach SH. When we arrive at SH Huangpu Bus station, just walk out of the station - there is a small quiet lane ( at of Jan 30, there is no signboard which said 'metro station' - so ask the people around for the entrance of metro station ) which lead us to the metro station undergroud, go in - grab the metro ticket - and we can travel to wherever we need to go in SH.

AA bus schedule fr HZ to SH :-
Mon, Wed, Fri - 2:15 pm , Tue, Sat - 11:10 pm

AA bus schedule fr SH to HZ :-
Mon, Wed, Fri - 8:15 am , Tue , Sat - 7:15 pm

** the bus schedule works hand in hand with AA flights , so schedule will change if the flight time is changed ..

Likewise, if you want to take speed train to SH, then you need to take a cab to HZ downtown train station to board the train, there is a cab fees involved ( I am not sure how much is that ).

kiasu-ism

lately, my spy always smsed and updated me on sth ... apa tu ?? a trade secret ? a secret affair ??? none of the above ...just the euro currency exchange rate :) .... 2008 June, I went to Europe - that was the most expensive trip that I've sacrificed in my record. Firstly, I used 2 weeks of my annual leaves , if I didn't use those leaves, those days could be converted into thousands of ringgit cash when I left In-Kei. I also bought last minute full priced air ticket from KL to Amsterdam. On top of that , the Euro rate was at 5.10 - 5.20 - Gosh ...almost all the items I shopped from Europe that time was pricy and some of the items were cheaper if I were to buy in Msia, coz my exchange rate was very high. Then again, the sayings of no pain - no gain , seize the opportunity when it comes are true, I experienced the last chance of contiki trip with sanguine, thoroughly enjoyed the fun moments we had together. Looking forward, I doubt we could ever do this again.....

back to currecy exchange, for the past 1 week , euro exchage rate was 4.57 , 4.56, 4.55, 4.52 today the cheapest rate so far was 4.50 , it had dropped to 10 mths record low. The pound is also dropping to 5.06 today.

After the pain of 5.10 - 5.20 in 2008 , In 2010 - Bahija practising kiasu-ism, I keep changing the euro at the lower prices ... eg some at 4.63, some at 4.57 etc etc , I average the risk - hahaha. Now knowing pound is close to 5, I am going to get some pounds too , as London is always one of the place I wanted to visit - planned 3 times, didn't make it as it's way too expensive - plus wrong timing .... Can I sapu London this year ? Hmm, very unlikely - but who knows , anything can happen , just a bit of 'kiasu' mentality - guess I can Just Do It ! muahahaha....

my sweety turned 100k ...

March 18, 2010 at 11:10 pm, right when I arrived home , my sweety car mileage meter turned from 99,999 kilometers to 100,000 kilometers. Congrats and Bravo to my sweety , for serving me well so far, I celebrated with her tonight....very 'kiew' , I have been monitoring the meter for this week , kept my camera inside my car, just to capture that moment when it turned to 6 digits.... and that moment actually happened when I arrived on the dot at home :) , see la, my sweety is such an adorable servant. She's born 2003 , when I bought her in 2008 end Sept, she had 56,750 kilometers. Average she only put on 11,350 kilometers yearly. From end of sept 2008 to march 2010 , that's only 16 mths, I've already drove > 40,000 kilometers ...... I'm a slave driver yeah :)

panda

Thailand has its own pandas. the baby panda was born last year. The picture here is the adult panda , they live like king, with many servants taking care of them. Their home is like a huge stadium , covered with air-condition. Being a panda is not a bad idea lah. This picture here showed that the panda was sitting on the wooden chair and eating , enjoying the bamboo .... very cute. When I saw him, I just thought of my teddy bear back home...haaaa

The ChiangMai zoo and acquarium is worth a visit - they are far better than ours .....

family trip to ChiangMai

Bahija went for a family trip to ChiangMai last weekend .... ChiangMai is quite an interesting place to visit. We went to Golden Triangle - crossed boarder to Laos and Burma . We also visited the different tribes from Myammar, Burma or Laos ...now they stayed in Thailand as they are the tourists 'hunting items' .... about 30 mins drive from the city of ChiangMai , the Thai government relocated a small group of Karen tribe aka the long neck tribe , from Thai boarder to this place , it's just a super duper small village with a few bamboo houses .... the karen tribes stayed there , they are to show face themselves, selling some tourist products. We, the tourists paid entrance fees to visit them, then we get to take photos with them , and in return, most of them will asked us to buy things from them .... I actually spent quite some money on different souvenirs from them ( which was way overly priced ) ....the young girl at the age of 2 started to wear the heavy brass ring , the rings will be increased as they age .... they sleep , shower, live with the rings....they are super heavy. very kelian to see them wearing the heavy rings around their neck , they cannot turn their neck nor can they nod their heads.... interesting !!

As usual, the Lord blesses me with good favor, I didn't receive any escalation on work issues during my vacation overseas. The next day when I arrived home until today - I was busy solving various issues, happy that I've enjoyed the trip peacefully :)