31 August 2005 — Wow I finally went out on my own today! Was supposed to take Bus 931 to Xu Jia Hui, then change to the train from there to get to People’s Square where the museum is. Well, didn’t quite make it that far. At XJH, decided it was too late to go, and decided to explore that instead. Afterall, there’s supposed to be plenty to see at XJH as well, and surely we’ve all heard about its underground maze which is impossible to escape from…

So here I am at the Xu Jia Hui area

See the huge ball? Tommy points out that it’s Singapore’s very own Metro

And now to the infamous labyrinth…

Ready or not, here we go…

Whoa! No joke! It’s like you’ve entered a different world. There are so many people, and even more exits! 14? 15? I lost count. Felt like a kid in some magical castle or something, you know those kind where each door leads you to a different adventure? I didn’t even bother to read the signs, haha, that’s part of the fun, I just went down each tunnel and see where it led me. In any case, I didn’t have any specific plans and had plenty of time. A stranger in a strange city…

Mind you, not every place was all that interesting, some were just too commercial, so very dull, like any old shopping centre in any old country

Like this one, the tunnel came to its home and kitchenware department. Look, so boring right?

And some were just too local, very “scary”…

Local fashion anyone? I dare you.

Or shoes? Basically the kind that look also no use, cannot buy one lor, so hideous!

But you think that’s bad? The ultimate is the kind of place that’s actually local, but also commercial?!? Like this place…

Like at this Vero Moda place, a top is in the range of 300-400 RMB!

And at this a+ place, even more ridiculous, tops are in the 600 RMB range!

Wah liao! Even more expensive than international labels! Nice still ok, but most of the designs are so orrbit, you oso dunno what to say?!? And the whole building was just filled with these pseudo-poshy shops, all the brands hear also never hear before one! Or mebbe they ARE very famous, only I 不识货?!?

The one shop I quite like at this place was the Sanrio shop

Also try to be very high-class

At the end of the day, turns out I’m actually very auntie, just like my mama, my favourite places are the supermarkets! (Oh no… showing my age oredi.) Both the upmarket ones and the local-local ones, both I like.

First, the poshy and super-shiny, everything-is-gleaming one, the bright lights caught my attention:

China’s “national food” — dumplings of all shapes and sizes

Seeing that it’s lunch time, I had some tofu thing from their foodcourt.

Realise afterwards that I very goondu! A few small pieces of tofu for 8 RMB is actually very expensive and not worth it!

Another time, it was my nose that led the way. Wah… there was this smell coming out of exit number 12? Very pang ah! Wow, what is it leh?… I followed and followed its trail…

Ah-ha! Finally the mystery was solved. It’s Beard Papa’s cream puffs!

This place turned out to be a local snack mart.

All these pastries and cookies look so nice right? NOT! I kena duped, bought their “green tea pastry” — si bei pai jiak man! I took one bite, and couldn’t bring myself to take another. Anyway very cheap, throw oso no guilt.

Billie, I took the picture of this shop ‘cos it’s your name, and so adorable their logo!

My final stop at XJH was this shop called “2 percent”.

See the shop assistant? She sure knows how to sah-kah her customers, say this brand of clothes is very popular with Singaporeans, because they were especially designed for youthful, cute, energetic, pretty, vibrant girls just like me… wah liao, so 跨张! So what did I do? Erh… I ended up spending 600 RMB here lor… Damn! Oldest trick in the book and I STILL fall for it! Well, vanity is afterall every girl’s greatest downfall. Aiyah but they also having 50% off sale lah!

For dinner tonight we were meant to go to this Seafood market where you buy the seafood fresh and get it cooked on the spot in any way you like. Unfortunately guys there was some miscommunication and I ended up on the wrong side of town, and worse, had my first real taste of peak-hour traffic. Really 动弹不得 one, somemore see, my driver got into some dai-ji with the police for not switching on his headlights when it was already getting dark.

Got back too late, in the end, we ended up at the Japanese restaurant again. Very pai-seh ‘cos everyone was all geared up for seafood. But anyway, here are more photos of the place and the food. And the two new additions are Miriam in blue and Lily in pink.

That’s all folks!

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