08.05.09

Meeting Echo

Posted in Main Page at 9:52 pm by Tammy

The night prior to my Xiamen trip I met Echo for the first time in 7 years.
This was like a reunion week for me
Echo was coming up from her mandatory trip of becoming an Aussie citizen and she made it in town to meet up Mira and me.
The only roomie I’d never met since graduation in 2002.
Dinner was spent pleasantly in light conversations such as reminiscing the old silly school days, everyone’s peculiar habits and comments like”You don’t change a bit”. 7 years seemed like a blink of an eye that night, although at times it seemed forever.
Knowing the next 7 years most probably will be tougher on us girls, (who could possibly escape the kiss of aging, a few wrinkles around the eyes or a drooping curve on the lip-line?…) we made it a deal to not wait that long for the next reunion.

Cheers Girls!

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My 2-day trip to Xiamen

Posted in Main Page at 6:43 pm by Tammy

I have a little confession to make and I’ll probably get laughed at over this. I am approaching rapidly 30 and I have never before, made a trip on my own! All my life I’ve always travelled with other people, being the” follower”, the one “being looked after” and contented this way. I don’t have a strong opinion where I should go, what I should see, as long as I get enough rest in between sight-seeings.
Therefore, when Gordo decided to send me on an errand to Xiamen alone, I got pretty freaked out. To think I had enough doubts on myself as to finding my way out of a metro station…in HK…but I gladly accept the mission, after all, it’s time to start acting my age…
It was hardly an “alone trip”, considering my best pal Mira had immediately bought the round trip ticket for me, and Gordo did the hotel booking and supplier arranging to pick me up at the airport. However, the idea of being alone is still quite nerve racking.
But I apparently had forgotten the fact that I, although a geographic idiot, am still highly efficient when it comes to action! Before I realized it I already breezed through the flight, the introduction of myself, talked on the way to office and finished the meeting with the supplier. We went over the details for the second time and when I got into the taxi again I looked at the clock on my mobile—it was barely 11am.
Everything went much easier than I had expected, which means, the next 1 day I would be staying in Xiamen, just for fun. Alone. Unless there is any upcoming emergency.
Checked in the hotel and had an unsuccessful nap. I didn’t sleep well the night before due to a small cup of coffee at dinner, and nap was bad because I had another coffee on the flight. Nevertheless I still spent a good 2 hours in bed (my specialty). Showered and spent over half an hour in front of the mirror, not doing make-up, just taking time to apply body lotion. By 2:30pm I realized I couldn’t spent the whole afternoon in front of a framed mirror within a mirror, I decided to take Gordo’s advice—Go visit the Island.
Not my virgin trip to the island. Gordo, Mira, Linda couple and I went there in 2003, but 6 years is a good gap in between. This time I took the regular ferry instead of a surfing boat. I got to a very hot island and was pretty disappointed almost right away—too many tourist for a common Monday. Macdonald’s and KFC have found their way to the island too and there in KFC I masochistically bought my third cup of coffee within the last 24 hours.
So I roamed around alone in this scorching island full of little shops selling souvenirs to tourists. Nothing impressive but the fact that I was sipping a large cup of cold coffee eating a box of “popcorn chicken” and strolling at probably less than 5 km/hour on a common Monday afternoon is quite enough to make me feel grateful.
After I dragged my geographically-challenged self around the same alleys like 3 times I started to gain my bearings. As I went further I actually discovered that in the back where stores become scarce and tourist noise fades there are all these gorgeous old buildings (consulates, museums, government offices of old times etc). However all of these places charge and some charge more than a ticket to the Forbidden City. That works for me better than an electrical fence.
Back to the front of the island. Little cafes, stores with handicrafts made of shells etc. Once I was attracted to a store selling summer dresses in floral prints. After examining them I stepped back—Dresses are like girls in the street—They look good in a group, being colorful,bright and all, but up close—none of them is that good.
In another stand nearby there was a layout of bracelets and earrings. (Geez… this store is a woman killer. Am I not a woman? If I am, shall I not look?…) Yes I looked at them avidly and eventually picked up this silver bracelet with a fish design. Put it around my wrist and asked myself—does it look tacky?… I am a Pisces! And that’s the connection! Then I bought it, and immediately regretted it. Things tend to turn less good after I gain their possession. Biggest tragedy of life. Hmm…
Before I left the island, I also made sure the mission of buying another tea-tray was accomplished. One year ago, while Gordo was hiding from a heavy rain on this island he bought a Kongfu tea set, and the tray was found leaking after a few months, ruining my precious table-cloth brought all the way from Xián. I decided to give another chance to bamboo tea-tray, not because I really had faith in the material, but because all the other ones cost a few hundred Kuai and for that one it only set me back70 Kuai.
At a little past 4:30 most of the taxi change shifts. And I almost could not find a taxi on the way back.
The hotel is well-located downtown and I sat in the taxi impressed by how much change Xiamen had undergone. (I was there 3-4 times during 2003-2009). New restaurants, boutiques, shopping malls and residential buildings everywhere, a complete modern city! Although, I have to admit that it feels more relaxing and “nap-inducing” from time to time to me, probably because of the occasional breezes from the sea, or a smaller population compared to the cities where I come from.
Another failed little nap after the third coffee and I was out for a dinner with Linda, my college roommate! She came to Xiamen for love, and now staying for all the other reasons but love. We had a lot to catch up. At 24 you talk about new jobs, new bfs, new places you travelled to, uncertain future(with expectation) etc, but at 30 you find yourself talking about husbands, mother-in-law, places you wish you’d been, child, uncertain future too, (but with fear or insecurity ). More insights had to be shared. So we had drinks at hotel lobby bar until 10 pm she said she had to be up early.
I went back to my room, showered and got in bed, turned the first page of my fav Agatha Christie’s “Death in the clouds”. It was spooky reading a detective story late in the night alone. I found myself checking on the big piece of glass from the washroom from time to time, imagining a splash of blood on it, or looking into a mirror seeing some silhouette of a scary face. None of it really happened, of course, but together with the remained caffeine in my body, it worked pretty well in disturbing my sleep.
Next morning I woke up a bit past 9. I started to wonder, left alone, would I ever be able to catch one single hotel breakfast?
The answer is Yes. I was not in a mood to venture out although the return flight was not until 3 in the afternoon. Continued with my book after breakfast until 1 pm when I checked out.
“Death in the clouds” was finished by the time the plane landed gz. It was about a murder in a plane by flying a dart tainted with snake venom to the victim’s neck. At one point I wished I had 2 of those darts, one for the crying baby in the front row, one for the loud Cantonese boy next to me across the aisle that couldn’t say 2 words without cursing out “fucking motherfucker”.
Back in the arms of sweet home gz, grey sky and light rain and stuffy hot.

At the back of the island, I started seeing some interesting old buildings…

If I eavesdropped correctly from the tour guide beside me, this should be the Japanese consulate end of last century…

Hostels and guest houses on the island–This explained why I saw people dragging big cases on the ferry. Some people prefer to stay away from downtown. White cat, summer wind, tattered clothes hanging on balcony, and old lady smoking, all of these make it so life-resembling.