Wuhan la finally (Part I)

(Hi it's currently 22 Sep 2014, True Blood has long aired the finale [and I'm very sad about it] and my Mac has died so idk when Part II will be up but yay Wuhan)

Hi. To be honest I'm only here because I'm waiting for True Blood to finish loading. Life has been pretty monotonous and I'm pretty lazy. Office politics rearing its ugly head big time. Why does life have to be so complicated.

Been 21 for about six months now and I feel like I am aging twice as fast compared to two years ago? Actually I think it's probably because of increased alcohol consumption and clubbing and the office life hahahahhaha.

Okay first things first, Wuhan. It's been so long I'm just gonna do a summary. Booked Cathay Pacific tickets for S$494 (transit at Hong Kong) and stayed at this chain hotel called 锦江之星连锁酒店 - 武汉水果湖店 (Jinjiang Inn Wuhan Shuiguohu) for ~S$175 for nine nights. It's about 1km from the nearest train station so we had a good 20 minute workout every morning.

Not so funny story: My phone's battery was depleting like crazy for some reason and when I reached immigration in Wuhan, I dropped it so hard I don't even know what happened but it was damn loud and I think that did my phone in. At the hotel (took a cab from the airport) I tried in vain to charge it and switch it on but to no success. So I spent the entire trip without a phone. :(

Supper~

Watching a movie (don't rmb what).

I like airplane fooood.

Okay maybe it won't be a summary because I am fucking amazed at how much Wuhan has changed within the span of 2 years. Taking the mrt was so cool although we caved and cabbed several times because the train station closes at 10.30pm.

Day 1

The trains are a lot smaller than SG ones but it wasn't that crowded.

First stop Guanggu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :')))

Settled at some random restaurant.

This is very nice tofu with bonito flakes.

Really pretty cheese cake.

This floor used to have more shopping but it got converted into a food place........ didn't manage to try anything because they were surprisingly expensive and looked quite typical.

My favourite Sanfu shop and their typo lol.

Went to the mall opposite because it has Uniqlo and H&M and Gong Cha wtf.

Was craving mala tang damn badly so we took a really expensive cab ride to 武昌理工学院 which was where I spent 6 weeks back in 2011.

AND TO MY HORROR, THERE WERE NO STREET FOOD STALLS AT ALL. I just gaped at the empty streets and then asked the shopkeepers nearby what happened.

Turns out the government relocated everyone to a food centre across the road and they have cramping street food style for the past year. Politicians don't seem to like street food. Is Wuhan going to turn into Singapore soon :-(

Stupid, lousy ma la tang. I was really depressed I couldn't find that stall we frequent... :-( I didn't know their names and I had no phone or wifi so I couldn't show anyone their photos to ask where they moved to.

Awesome soup shop also got relocated here I wonder why?! They had a proper shop and all.

The ONLY silver lining was I found the wrap stall AND THEY REMEMBER ME :') The uncle recognised the Singapore accent lolol and they asked how come our school stopped sending students here. T_T I also want to know.

Teared on the cab back to the hotel because I don't think I will be ever to see the mala tang people ever again and eat their delicious food and I just felt this huge sense of loss.

Day 2

Itinerary for the next day was to visit the zoo which looked really sad and empty. It was also rainy, Gloom and doom zoo. Not gonna post any photos of the animals except the swans who were the only ones who looked like they were enjoying themselves. I think I'm going to stop going to zoos from now on.

Cabbed to 江汉路( Jiang Han Lu) for grocery shopping at Walmart!!! So rainy and cold that day.

Reminded me of the Taiwan one. Didn't try.

Chunks of durian flesh that were like S$4-S$5 each!!! But strangely it didn't smell like anything therefore I came to the conclusion that it wouldn't taste good.

Banana milk :0

3/4 of the snacks I bought home.

Had dinner at a BBQ place because there are BBQ places everywhere wtf, Had no appetite. It was meh.

The ATM mall we used to frequent has been renovated!!!!!!!! So hipster now.

Glad that the night market scene is still going strong :') The weather was perfecttttt.

I wonder where to get such comfortable pajamas.

Dragon beard candy!!!! Not a fan but it's not bad! Plus he makes it on the spot, which is fascinating.

DAN ZAIIIIII.

Dafuq globalisation lol.

Went back to find sleezy namecards strewn on the floor and under the doors of every single room..........................

Day 3

I am excited about this day because it was all about FOOOOOOOOOOD.

户部巷 (Hu Bu Xiang Snack Street): Must visit if anyone who reads this ever goes to Wuhan. It's famous for breakfast food. If only I had breakfast like that everyday......

Famous 热干面. I crave it every now and then.

Yellow noodles with pickled vegetables, fresh vegetables, peanut sauce and chilli. :Q_

Smelly tofu that wasn't smelly at all!!!!! Lavvit.

I think this was called 印度煎饼 (roti prata) but China edition: Chilli, egg and spring onions. There are other versions like ham and cheese if I remember correctly.

FRIED ICE CREAM.

Random stuff we didn't eat,

Famous bridge. Forgot the name.

Insisted on going to 首义园 (Shouyi Yuan) for their 汤包 (soup dumplings or xiao long bao) only to discover that majority of the shops were closed?!?!?!?!?! And then we found out that the place will be closed down soon. My heart cannot deal with this.

Thank god we managed to get some soup dumplings.

Wound up at Qunguang and had lunch at this charming place called Grandma's Cafe.

I hardly fall sick but that day my intestines were raging war on me. I wished it was simple food poisoning so I could just go and shit but it was some intense pain (felt sort of like leg cramps, but restricted to my intestines and way worse because HOW THE FUCK DO I STRETCH MY INTESTINES TO RELIEVE THE CRAMPS?!?!?!?) Anyway felt slightly better after eating. Yay.

Walked and shopped along some uni street near Qunguang and had supper.

32 RMB ONLYYYYYYYYY

Day 4

I don't have many photos on Day 4 so I barely remember what happened. But expenditure stated "Cab to Hu Bu Xiang" which we literally just went the previous day. The reason being these pair of shoes:

They are without a doubt the most comfortable pair of sneakers I have ever owned and they are my favourite pair and I couldn't find it anywhere else in Wuhan and I was so obsessed about it I went crazy and spent extra money cabbing to that particular shop I saw in HBX where I saw them so that I could buy them. NO REGRETS. I wore them every single day in Korea. LOL. You must understand it is really difficult for me to buy shoes so when I find a pair that fits I immediately assume they were made for me.

Basically fucked my budget buying them (135 yuan + cab fare) My daily budget was only 200 or something. NO REGRETS.

I'm a bit panicky now because I'm worried they'll suddenly spoil (my shoes usually last a year because of my unusually large feet) and I can't find them anywhere on Taobao wtf.

Anyway end of my dramatic shoe story.

We cabbed to Donghu for some dumplings but (you should already see this coming) the shopped closed down wtf).

Ended up with some pretty photos though.

(OK so 2 years later and I finally rmb what else happened on this day lol.)

Visited this cafe for some foodz.

We stayed till dinner time.

Went to Helen's Cafe/Bar that night for some cheap alcohol and fun. But it was full of people smoking shisha :(((((((((((((((((((((((( The drinks were cheap and good though so yay.