Sitting in HK airport just as I did 12 months ago. Except this time I’m eight persons short and a little less excited about the super fast internet. Twelve months ago I met eight fantastic people (Kimberley, David, Edward, Yvonne, Hao, Martin, Keeley, Emily) who made my first few weeks in China that much better. I could cornily add that it all feels like yesterday but that would be a massive lie considering how far my memory stretches. However, I do recall our first meal in the university cafeteria and the dishes we ordered (because they were pretty much the only dishes we would order from that day on), the day we christened David as Naga-naga, and the long hours we’d spend in Trustmart shopping for those “necessary” appliances.

Well that was the beginning. From there on, the list of wonderful people grew…

Trustmart, Hangzhou.

Chinese weddings are Hectic. (Capital letter intended)

Been in a small town in Fujian for the past few days for my cousin’s wedding. Besides consuming 10 banquet-size meals a day for the three days surrounding the actual wedding day, I had the priviledge of being the maid of honor (which did not work too well with the meal plan – tried on at least a million dresses before they found one which could zip up completely).

The enire marriage process is ridiculously demanding and embedded in so much tradition. To begin, a couple’s wedding date is dependent on their “bazhi” (fortune according to one’s birth date and time). This is super important and specific to the hour. My cousin’s wedding time? 31st December, 10pm – 2am.

The groom arrived at her place approx 11pm with his bunch of best men and a stash of “hongbao” (red pockets). Dressed in complete red attire, my cousin sat in her room with her bunch of bridesmaids to await him. However, like a bit of a game, the bride can’t make herself too easily won over. Instead the groom must fufil all the demands thrown at him by her bridesmaids before he is allowed into the room. And this normally involves handing over hongbao after hongbao. When he is eventually allowed into the room, (in this case because my aunt called to say the wedding car was waiting outside), a “wedding lady” (because I don’t know how else to describe her job title) comes in and lights candles, combs the bride’s hair and feeds her special wedding noodles.

Arriving at the groom’s place, the bride bows her head three times in front of some family portrait (this part I did not pay much attention to) before taken to the groom’s room. And this is only day one.

(Unfortunately I didn’t take this photo – it was found on google images)

Yes I travelled from Fuzhou to Hangzhou last night on one of these. Such an awesome concept. I boarded a bit before 7pm last night and arrived this morning around 4am.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,800 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.

The busiest day of the year was October 12th with 111 views. The most popular post that day was Worst day of my life ever..

Hefang Street, Hangzhou