Me and my CCF in Beijng Day 5

Today was one of the days I really enjoyed my freedom - it was a perfect balance of time to myself, and a dose of company. What a GREAT way to spend a Sunday.

For some reason, I always wake up early here, was up by 7+ today despite not setting the alarm and couldn't get to sleep. To think I deliberately did not set the alarm because I was afraid I'd be bored, so I wanted to laze the morning away and sleep.

I thus woke up, whined to CCF awhile, and then had my breakfast and caffeine fix, while surfing, typing a long e-mail to Christina. Finally decided to move my ass and go out at 10am and I headed to the 'Piano world' I spotted nearby and was pleasantly surprised to find the practising rates there even cheaper at 5 yuan / hour. The piano, unfortunately, sucked - this time, I really blame the piano for my inability to play legato, everything just breaks off the moment I so much change the pedal, and half pedal is not possible. I would still go there though, cheap and near - it's good enough to practise things like Mars, where I need to work on fingering and timing (sound can come later!). Debussy really sounds like crap on it.

I then took a long walk in the hot, dry sun to Carrefoure. There were some shops around and I'm really glad I managed to pick up some cool shirts on discount for my brothers. I always enjoy shopping at big hypermarts and supermarkets, so I spent quite a bit of time at Carrefoure - got some bras for myself and my maid, which were really really raelly cheap.

When I walked out of Carrefoure, I was accosted by aggresive salespersons from the nearby facial salon. I decided to ask if they have eyebrow trimming services and they did - so I got my eyebrows trimmed since it's been a really long time since I got it professionally done and I've been meaning to. All for SGD 2! And it was the most enjoyable eyebrow trimming session I ever had - she did it while I was lying down, so I could sleep away the pain. The only discomfort was when she leaned over my front, and her hair was touching my face. I was cringing in horror. But still, happy at how it turned out for a mere two dollars.

So I began my long walk back, meaning to get back to dump my things before meeting Johnny. On the way home, I passed a small salon by the roadside, and decided to enquire the prices of their various services. 188RMB to rebond my hair (that's less than SGD40!) and I decided, 'why not give it a go?' It was excellent. The shop wasn't the most luxurious, but it was good enough, like any of the neighbourhood hair salons we're accustomed to. The most nejoyable part was that it turned out to be a relaxing and culturally enriching time. The hair stylists (all guys, strange for a salon huh) were talking to me a lot, asking me about Singapore.

In fact, I think they were quite fascinated with me for two reasons -

1. My language. I went in and had the hardest time ever describing rebonding, and trying to differentiate between a temporary straightening and a lasting one. The boy cutting my hair (I call him boy because I discovered he was a year younger than me) guessed that I was from Hong Kong of Taiwan - apparantly people from these regions speak with horrible accents, haha. He talked to me loads he washed my hair, asking about Singapore, what I speak, what I do. I told him about our chewing gum ban, cars and horrible english/mandarin. And he told me about the rich-poor divde in China, and how China is developing so fast that the Chinese can't keep up. In his words, 'Beijing is permanatly changing'. It was really interesting. Oh, I was talking about language. Many customers in the stall were quite fascinated with me too. I received a call from Johnny in between, and when I was done, I heard someone ask, 'What dialect was she speaking?' The hairdresser replied 'English' on my behalf and the customer said, 'How come she is more fluent in English than her national language?' hahaha. ANd the hairdresser, after hearing about my years of hardwork with Chinese, cheekily said, 'She grew up on Chinese, but forgot it.' =(

2. My hair. Yes, they were fascinated by my hair. I swear, every hairstylist was staring at the bleached parts of my hair and going, 'Her hair has been bleached before?' And one of the senior hairstylists was asking me whether I did it in Beijing and which salon. And in front of me, they kept talking among themselves, mumbling things like, 'her bleach is so white', 'it's so bright', 'it's REALLY bleached', 'so well bleached', 'amazing', 'must be bleached twice' etc. Ha, apparantly it takes a better chemical to make my hair that white. I must tell Fiona, my hairdresser - her bleach after all (and to my horror), has survived despite me having dyed over it twice. It must be a hairstylist thing - those few patches of blonde in my hair really caused a lot of hoo-ha. Everyone who walked past made comments, excitedly. Funny huh!

Oh, and I showed them my I/C and SG dollars, Not very safe, but well, for fun. Cause we were on the subject of currencies. And I found out the Chinese in Hongkong eat different things during new year. ANd you can't call people 'xiao jie' here (our equivalent of 'miss') because it refers to a prostitute. Oh goodness, I've been receiving quite a lot of stares from calling msot sales assistants 'xiao jie!' It was really fun. I could tell the hairstylist (the boy, rather) enjoyed it too - he asked, very politely, if I would come back to cut my hair despite knowing I'll only be here for awhile. haha, I am tempted to dye my hair again. But judging from the amazement they had at my hair, I might not trust their dyes. Don't mind getting a haircut though, since it's cheap, and my hair is growing out again. I like medium hair now.

I was so happy with the experience I let them rip me off with a bottle of hairspray. I knew it was expensive, but it was already cheap by Singapore standards, and I was lazy to haggle. Besides, they made me happy, so if it made them, so be it.

My Hair!

And I said a good balance of me-time and company because I met up with Johnny, after a long period of doing my own thing. Johnny was my schoolmate in Hwachong who now studies in Peking University. It was wonderful to catch up with him - we ate so much ma2 la4 (numbing hot) steamboat at this famous place with EXCELLENT service. They provide you with fruits, snacks and games while you wait for the table. Chatted for a few hours about how we've moved on from Hwa Chong days, our common friends, and also about Singapore. Johnny is after all, the most patriotic person I know (he's a big NDP fan!), but not a mindless one, which makes it very admirable. He loves his country, but looks at things objectively, with a critcal eye. And he kindly paid for my cab ride to the restaurant, and to my embarrassment, dinner as well. Before I knew it, he had 'gone to the toilet' and paid! (when I meant to settle it). It's ok, we'll meet again and I can treat him. It's great, to see old friends now and then.

Post dinner, I was so full, that I decided to walk back to the hotel. 4km later, here I am, feeling good about my first Sunday in Beijing. =)