My annual leave - Beijing

While waiting for my rice to cook, I shall blog about my annual leave.

I went to Beijing and home during the 2 weeks, and I enjoyed myself a lot. It was a bit depressing coming back to the UK, but seeing familiar faces in the hospital helped perk me up, and having things to do at work definitely made me feel better too.

My trip to Beijing was fantastic, and Dearie was obviously the most important reason to it. I was bursting with joy when I saw him eagerly standing at the arrival hall, waving vigorously at me. A lot of people were looking at us, when he gave me a big hug and kiss in front of the crowd *blush*.

The Beijing airport, the crowded roads, the surroundings, and of course the rudeness of some Chinese....I relived them all. I was enjoying the car ride when Dearie drove me to Du Jing Yuan (his apartment). And for the first time, I knew how it felt like sitting to my bf while he drove. Weird enough, I felt a great sense of security...pure happiness. And it made me happier when he held my hand while driving, with occasional kisses when the traffic lights turn red.

My first dinner was Korean BBQ at the Quan Jin Cheng branch near to DJY. I was all excited about the meal. Dearie ordered so much food, but I loved the beef most. The sashimi was quite a let down though..wasn't that good. We bumped into his Dad's friends there, one of whom Dearie is very close to and has told me about before. This uncle, who is a freaking rich guy and owns a massive company in China, picked up the tab.

"Woah..u've met the people u have to meet in China, and now u've even met those whom there was not much need to too" Dearie said. Apparently, his dad's friend came over to our table to talk to me after Dearie told him he's brought me to the restaurant for dinner. He's a really nice guy, very fatherly :)

Spent most of my days in Beijing shopping in Wang Fu Jing and Xi Dan. Visited my few favourite stores there, and it was fun having Dearie picking clothes for me to try. I really enjoyed coming out of the dressing room with the clothes and modelling in front of Dearie. I was pleased when I managed to buy some clothes.

Went to NE.Tiger, a local brand shop selling gowns. This shop sells very elegant gowns for very formal occasions, and everytime I walk past this shop, I'll spend a lot of time admiring the window displays. Dearie wanted to buy me a gown from this shop, but the price was way over the top when we went in to have a look at their collection. I saw the chinese "kua", the traditional 2-piece which the bride wears during the wedding. It was really beautifully made!!!

I also had dinner at Dolar (www.dolarshop.com), a steamboat restaurant. The ambience of this place is really good, and from the lovely classy decor, we thought it would be costly. I love this place (I actually went back there again 2 days later!) so much because it offers a wide range of ingredients to choose from, and the variety of soup available was amazing. Hygiene wasn't an issue in this restaurant either, because we each had our own hot pot to put our ingredients in. Every plate of ingredients served was served neatly with pretty garnishing, and the presentation of this "meat combination special" was fantastic. The thin slices of meat were divided into 3 bowls, each accompanied with vegetable garnishings, and the bowls were placed in a ladder descending form.

2 thumbs up for their service as well! Dearie and I bought a cake to celebrate our very belated birthdays and 28th month anniversary (yeah!!! we accomplished one of the items on our "to do list"), and their observant staff not only came over to wish us happy birthday, but also presented us with a huge complimentary fruit platter and a bowl of longevity noodles placed on a plate with "Sheng Ri Kuai Le" written on it. It was a surprise for the both of us. Gosh, where on earth in Singapore will u have such a service without having to ask for it?!?!?!??!

I'll definitely recommend anyone to go to this restaurant for a meal. In terms of price, Dearie and I paid less than S$40 dollars per meal.

It was nice meeting up with Dearie's friends again, and because Dearie knew I missed KTV, he arranged a KTV session with them. We didn't go to "Gui Bin Lou" this time, but I still enjoyed myself at another KTV lounge (can't rem the name). The ambience was reasonable, but no where comparable to the classy former. Dearie sang a few songs for me. Even though he isn't a good singer, I was really happy for the big effort he's made.

Family meeting was definitely not missed out in my trip.

It was great seeing his mum, stepdad and stepsis. I enjoyed having dinner with them, and they have specially cooked my favourite dishes (they actually remembered what I enjoyed eating from my last trip!). Spent quite a lot of time chatting with them, and playing with Dearie's dogs. Tony (Dearie's favourite dog) was still scared of me as usual, but he actually came to sniff and lick me at some point. Lu-Lu was still barking all the time at me (pissing Dearie off..hahaha), but will always quietly stay by my side whenever I'm munching something with her pair of innocent eyes, waiting for me to feed her.

Dearie drove us all to the suburbs after dinner to give me my first and unforgettable experience - playing with big fireworks and firecrackers. Knowing that I have never in my life played with firecrackers or played with big fireworks, Dearie went to buy a few boxes of fireworks and this super long bunch of firecrackers. The fireworks were costly, costing about S$60 for each box.

"Here, light it up" Dearie said, handing a lighter. After the hissing started, he held my hand and both of us ran a distance away. Bits shot up from the boxes, exploding into really big fireworks and making very loud noises. I started jumping with joy when it happened. The feeling of watching the fireworks u sent off into the sky was totally different from seeing it on National Day. It was more beautiful, and a lot more fun. It was a wonderful feeling watching the giant fireworks "spraying" down on you like a fountain.

Dearie lited up the firecrackers, because he was worried of it injuring and scaring me. The cracking sound was really loud, and again, I was jumping non stop when it happened.

I also met up with his dad, stepmum, uncle, aunt and cousin at some point in my trip. His dad had specially booked an earlier flight back from Hainan to welcome me. He also bought me 2 necklaces and a bracelet. I was quite worried this time, and talked very much lesser to him. I guess I couldn't quite get over the fact of what's been going on, and was worried of saying things which might offend/upset him.

I am feeling consoled that he's still been nice to me during my current trip, which was something I didn't expect. When I went to his house, he excitedly showed me what he has bought from Hainan, and spoke quite a bit to me after the delicious jiaozi lunch his stepmum made, asking me if my family's well and how my job is doing in the UK. Through the conversation, I also got to know what his retirement plans are. The visit left me with many thoughts. Like all parents, his dad hopes to live near to Dearie after Dearie gets married, so that he can go to Dearie's place to take his grandchildren out for some fun. I can sense how much he wishes for this to happen, and I didn't want to give any comments as I didn't wish to upset him. He was smiling as he was mentioning abt this, and I didn't want to ruin that joyful feeling in him. I also know that he's hoping that I'll migrate and work in China, because at some point, he said "If u feel sad leaving China, I'll find u a job in the hospital here".

Anyway, he said something which surprised me...

"I sent my son to an military university, because I was hoping that he'll become a high ranking army official. Nothing is better than being a government official in China, because the country takes care of you even after u retire. But my son insisted that he wants to go overseas after he finished his undergraduate studies and became an officer, so I sent him abroad. And the best thing that happened to him overseas was to meet u and be with u."

I was almost moved to tears when he said it. But part of me didn't know if what he said is true from the bottom of his heart, or just words to make me happy. I wanted to know if this is the truth, but I didn't have the courage to ask. I only asked Dearie if his dad meant it after we left the house, and according to Dearie, his dad was sincere when he said it. Hmm..I hope it's true.

His dad brought me to dinner at a posh 5-star seafood restaurant - Shun Feng. We were greeted by 2 rows of waitresses, who bowed together while saying "Huan Ying Guan Ling" as we walked in. We were then led by another waitress to the VIP room. I thought I had walked into a posh hotel when I first entered. The restaurant was so well decored.

I spent quite a bit of time admiring the pictures, wall and ceiling decorations when I went into the VIP room, before savouring the sumptous meal. The presentation of every dish served was done nicely with carvings. The dishes were delicious too. And the lobster head was still moving when the waitress brought in the lobster sashimi!!!

It was a great relief when Dearie and I went back to our lover's nest in DJY after dinner. Whenever we're with his Dad, there is always this feeling of tension in us rising for very strange reasons. We would always be on guard at all times about what we say, how we behave towards each other, and our movement. It was like some "meeting with the emperor" session for us and Dearie said this is how he has been feeling and what he has been going through since he was young...hahahahaha.

Dearie took me to Ghost Street aka "Gui Jie" for supper. This street is given this name because it is always busy in the night. I was welcomed by bright lights along the streets when we arrived. Almost every restaurant on this streets sells the same food, and I can imagine how fierce competition is. I was admiring all the lights as Dearie led me to the restaurant he patronises frequently. Most of the dishes in the menu were spicy. Dearie ordered a few non-spicy food for me, mostly barbecued stuffs.

However, what made me very touched that evening was when Dearie deshelled some of the prawns (he ordered this very very spicy dish of prawns which looked like baby lobsters) for me, saying that it'll be less spicy for me this way, and I'll find it easier to eat it.

I was sheltered with lots of love from Dearie during my time in Beijing, and I slept really well every night in his arms. It also filled me with happiness every morning when I wake up, finding him awake but lying next to me.

Basically, both of us were having such a great time together, that it was torturing for us on our last night together. Dearie actually shed tears on my last night in Beijing.

The worst moment was at the airport. I didn't want to leave at all, and even though Dearie was very sad, he still tried to smile and consoling me that very soon, we'll never be seperated again. "It'll be soon when we see each other again. I'll wait for u here in China. I'm saving money now, and I promise u that we'll never be separated again when I get to migrate to Singapore." he said before I left.

Dearie's been very good to me lately, especially after the parental disapproval issue. He is showing me a lot of concern, and spending a lot of time keeping in touch with me.

"I called u close to a hundred times when u went back home from UK, but your hp was off. I got really worried about u. I thought something had happened to u. Do u know that I get very worried now everyday if I don't hear your voice? I want to know everyday if u're well. If u're unable to call me, promise me that u'll at least send me a short message to let me know how u are, ok?" Dearie said. I went speechless when he told me that over the phone 2 days ago because for the past 2 years, we've been having numerous big quarrels about this. Dearie has never thought it was important to keep in touch constantly with me, and told me that I was being ridiculous for insisting that he has to send me at least a message a day to let me know if he's well. He even shouted at me and slammed down the phone when he was in America over this 5 months ago. This is an indeed a major change, and with all that he's doing for me now, I am beginning to feel his love for me again. :)

Thanks a lot, Dearie...