Here is my next post on my wonderful trip in China!(: My first post was about my Hubby's best friend's wedding, which you can read about it here!
CLICKY. After staying in Nanjing for a few more days, Hubby and I boarded the plane and flew to Qingdao. One of Hubby's client invited us to visit him at Qingdao and since Hubby has been wanting to go there, we decided to make plans for the trip. It is super convenient as it is just an hour's flight from Nanjing! :D So off we went!
Qingdao is an amazing place. It feels almost like Genting, the weather there was really cold: not winter cold, but chilly wind cold. And you can actually see the building amidst the fog. Plus the buildings there are all so Western-orientated, it felt like I was walking around Europe itself! The moment we arrived, one of Hubby's clients came to pick us up and gave us a tour around Qingdao. He told us many stories about Qingdao and brought us all over in his car. It was very kind and gracious of him to give up a day of his to come down and accompany us throughout.
Another amazing thing about Qingdao is that it is like an island, surrounded by sea and mountains. Thus this explains the really cold sea breeze. Even though they said that the temperature was 26degrees, it felt as if it was under 10degrees! I was literally shivering in my slippers with clattering teeth.
See I tell you that the place was filled with Westernized buildings: I wish Singapore was more like this because it is hard to see such beautiful structures around.
Hubby's client brought us to a flower park which was filled with so many flowers in bloom! It was amazing because even though this island was mostly filled with tall commercialized buildings (something like Singapore), but they dedicated a few parts here and there to have such natural parks and small buildings that felt really soothing to the soul, in contrast with the whole facade of a city busy like bees.
The colors were all so vibrant, it almost felt like I was in another world itself. I kid no one.
Here is a famous building ... which I can't really remember its significance. But I know that this mansion is quite the couple-spot. Over here I've seen many wedding couples taking their wedding shots, and it was filled with people even on a weekday. Of course you have to pay for admission, so that was why Hubby and I just stood outside and took pictures. It is not a bad idea to have wedding shots here in such places: it held great history, it is a building of much significance and it really stood out from the others.
Here was just something we saw by the road-side stalls. It was just too beautiful(:
Here is the more modern part of the town. I only edited the colors of this picture so you can actually see fog covering half of the buildings. It really felt like Genting: a city in the clouds. So you can actually see how cold it was over there. The sun was blocked 24/7, and with the sea breeze coming in strong, it was rather chilly despite it being summer.
Here we have a mix of Westernized buildings with modern structures, quite an amazing shot isn't it?
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After exploring much of the city, Hubby's client brought us to one of the best sea food restaurants ever. At first, I was not really in the mood to eat seafood but since Hubby insisted on trying their delicacies, I went for a go. Hubby's client also did mention that it was the season for seafood, and the seafood was especially fresh since they have their own harbor and own line in the seafood industry, they do not have to import seafood from other countries. The restaurant was quite crowded when we got there, but we managed to get a place to sit down. Before that, I got myself a few other snacks just in case the seafood did not sit right with me.
I tell you, the moment Hubby heard the word 'seafood', his face literally lit up in joy, his ears perked up and you could just see his silly grin on his face. He was really excited to try out the seafood since his client told him that the taste here was really different from other countries. So when he entered the restaurant, to him, I bet it felt like bringing a child into candy land. Hahahaha he is so cute(:
This particular dish is actually some kind of small crab in which you have to peel the flesh away from its outer shell. I don't think I have seen this in Singapore before but it was super delicious. The sauce itself was kind of spicy but it went really well with the meat and all(:
Say hello to Hubby's favourite dish: even in Singapore, he would never fail to order this dish at his favourite Thailand restaurant. I ate it before in Singapore, but I have to say that the taste in Qingdao was really different from the ones in Singapore. In Singapore, you could tell from the rather stale taste that it had been frozen and left in a cooler for quite some time. But here in Qingdao, it was really so fresh, the taste was entirely different.
Hahaha, my Juizee Pop! Well, this was not served at the restaurant. This was bought along with my other snacks from a confectionery shop along the way.
I was too afraid to try this but the sheet of wheat at the side was really good! Hahahaha :P
Oysters!(:
After lunch, Hubby's client brought us to this place which they called it "Korean Town" if I am not mistaken. This place was something like Bugis, it was filled with many small shops all cramped into one building and they sold many different kinds of stuff. It was one of the hottest shopping places in Qingdao and I was quite hyped about it! Hahahaha.
The place was quite dirty actually, because it was really cramped and they don't exactly have windows for good ventilation. So the toilets really do stink a lot, but as a result of that, that made the items there really cheap! Lol. Hubby and I avoided the shops near the toilet and we walked quite a lot inside looking at their souvenirs and collectibles. We also saw a shop selling Mont Blanc pens! There was not a shadow of doubt, that those were fake and Hubby wanted to play a trick on them. He wanted to take out his real Mont Blanc pen and asked them how much that would cost. It was really really funny actually :P
We also went to see their clothing section: it was quite weird that some of the shops did not allow guys to enter. So whenever we walked into a shop, Hubby would peer his head into the shop and see whether the shop-keeper would shout at him or told him to scram. But so far, there was no such thing. Hubby got curious and decided to ask one of the shop-keepers why there were signs like these. I think the shop-keeper said something about preventing perverts from peeking when girls were trying on the new clothes. Since Hubby was my boyfriend, he was allowed into the shop. SO yay! Hahahaha :P
After shopping for quite a while, we decided to go off. Hubby's client was really gracious as he waited for us throughout the entire time we were shopping. After which, he brought us to see another one of Hubby's client. We had tea at his house and Hubby talked to his clients for quite a while before he brought us to a hotpot restaurant for dinner. I tell you that day was the day I ate till I almost burst. It was really quite a lot even for Hubby. Sadly, I did not take any shots of dinner, but guess what?! I tried their starfish! YES, I ate a freaking starfish! At first I thought it was quite gross, but Hubby said it tasted like crab meat, so I decided to give it a try. And ohmygosh, it was amazing!(: The meat was greenish yellow which explained my initial impression of it being gross, but after trying it out, I changed all thoughts on it: it was GOOD! So all those who has a chance to eat a starfish, do try it! You won't regret it! :D
After a hearty dinner, one of Hubby's client continued to take us around Qingdao for the final tour. He did tell us that the night markets there were really good, so we decided to attend one. And it was quite near the hotpot restaurant we were in! So lucky us!!
Here was where the night market which would start roughly around 6pm-7pm. The night market was super awesome. It sold really a lot of amazing things ranging from clothes to accessories to small collectibles etc. One stall even sold puppies! Can you imagine that?! It was quite a sad sight as the puppies were all cramped into a cage and they kept stepping onto one another. And they were so adorable, I felt like buying one but I couldn't because I would not be able to get pass customs if I had a dog. I had no idea whether it was legal for them to sell animals like that in the open without a proper stall/license, but I felt really sorry for the puppies.
Hubby and I walked through the entire night market for 2hours and at the end we were feeling really cold. It was literally freezing due to the fact that they had a slight drizzle too. But my goodness, it was really too cold for comfort that we had to find shelter somewhere in a shopping mall. We bought quite a few stuff from there because the items there were even cheaper than the items sold in Nanjing! Hubby said that it was so freaking cheap, he felt like there was no need for him to even negotiate, plus the fact that he was too lazy to negotiate too. Lol.
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So after exploring the night market, Hubby's client came to pick us up again and brought us to a KTV Lounge in which we were given VIP rooms! I felt like we were treated like royalty! I did not exactly fancy the KTV scene but seeing that Hubby was enjoying himself screaming through the microphone, I sort of joined him .. only in a more sane fashion. We played and made merry (don't be a pervert) till 12midnight when we decided we were too exhausted, so Hubby's client once again graciously sent us back to our hotel. That was the end of our first day in Qingdao, and I had tons of fun there. It was my first time there and I really do like the town a lot! Even though there was not much to do, I felt like this was definitely the place I did not mind retiring into. The pace there is not like Singapore which is always so fast-paced and hectic - it was so peaceful and soothing for the heart. I really liked it there!(: Plus the food is super amazing too!
So I would definitely recommend this place for those who are thinking of going somewhere relaxing(: But just go for a few days, because there is really nothing to do there. They have shopping malls but most of them are high-end luxury shopping malls so if you don't have the cash, best is to stick to the night markets.
That is the end of my second post on China, and I have just one last post on China, which is about living on the mountains. Yes I spent a night in the mountains and it was awesome!(: But I shall spare the details for the next post! Toodles~