‘Til next time, Xiamen/China! :)

April 10, 2012

Andrea and I went to the port to see if the ship would leave for Kinmen. There were a lot of people there because the first 2 ships didn’t leave. We were just waiting there playing Tetris with each other. Finally, they told us that the ship would set sail at 12:30PM. The waves were strong so it was like we were on an amusement park ride. Other people were shouting, “wooooo!” every time we would “get hit” by a wave.

We got to Kinmen, boarded the bus to the airport, and then I waited to board my plane. Finally, I was back in Taipei! YAAAAY! :)

Supposedly last day in Xiamen/China

April 9, 2012

It was supposedly my last day in Xiamen, and in China, because I was leaving in the afternoon. Therefore, we did a few last minute tour before I left. In the morning, we had breakfast at this famous satay noodle restaurant. I hear they make everything from scratch/everything is freshly made. It was really delicious.

Then, we walked along the old streets until we finally reached Xiamen University 廈門大學. We met up with Andrea after her class, and then we went to Nanputuo Temple 南普陀寺 beside the university. After walking around for a while, we headed to this spa for a massage. The prices are similar to those in the Philippines, and def way cheaper than getting a massage here in Taiwan so yay! Then, we went to Bank Centre 銀行中心 (owned by Lucio Tan) for lunch! More delicious food! :)

Andrea, mom, and I went back home earlier because I had a ship to catch to Kinmen, but I found out that I was leaving 2 hours later (I originally thought the departure time was 1:50PM but turns out, it was 3:30PM, whoops!) We lounged around at home, played mahjong (hihi), and when the time finally came, went to the port. When we got there, we were told that the trip was canceled because of the foggy weather. I had to rebook my ship and my flight to the following day. We went back home and just played Tetris on DSi. XD

Last day in Quanzhou, and then back to Xiamen!

April 8, 2012

Since it was Easter, we went to Quanzhou’s Catholic church 泉州天主教堂 to hear mass. It was also dad’s first time there because he said that the government closed it down for a long time before. After mass, the church served food so we were able to eat lunch for free! Hahaha.

Dad’s former “workplace” was nearby so we went there in hopes of bumping into his old friends. The person he was really looking for wasn’t there, but he also saw some people and they talked for a while. It’s been so long since he last went there. We also passed by the tulou on the way back to the hotel.

In the afternoon, one of dad’s friend’s employees drove us to Xiamen (in a police car at that! Woo!). We hung out at 8ku’s house for a while, and then Andrea, Albert, and I went to Basao 佰朔茶廊 for snacks. I can’t remember what I ordered but I think it was the Oolong Caramel Mocha 烏龍焦糖摩卡 (oops!) and we shared a Chocolate Souffle 巧克力舒芙蕾. Yummy!

We had dinner at Lucky Full City Seafood Ltd. 潮褔城大酒樓, where we ate a lot of dimsum. Then, we rode a ferry to Gulangyu Island. We walked around for a while, bought DQ ice cream, went to Miss Zhao 趙小姐的店, a tea place, to sit down and drink tea, and took the ferry back to Xiamen Island (?). I wanted to eat oysters so Andrea, Adrian, mom, and I went to this restaurant (鮮蚝館) that serves them. We ordered garlic oysters and cheese oysters. Wee! We eat and eat and eat…

We meet again, Xiamen!

April 4, 2012

We had almost a week’s break because of the tomb sweeping festival 清明節 and so I decided to go to China with my parents. I went to Xiamen 廈門 – took a plane from Taipei Songshan Airport 松山機場 to Jinmen/Kinmen 金門, bus to the port, and then took a ship to Xiamen Dongdu 廈門東渡. I was feeling sick the day before so I was scared that they wouldn’t let me pass. Luckily, I was able to make it safe and sound.

My cousin Adrian picked me up from the port and we headed “home.” I slept the entire afternoon, and then went out with Andrea at night. We walked around, and ended up in this milk tea/coffee shop. Yummy! After that, we went to the airport to pick up mom and dad!