china

Shenzen, China

August 25, 2009
I know this is a backlog post. I totally forgot to post about our China trip. Going to China was the third leg of my Macau-Hongkong-China trip we made early this year. To go to China, you need to apply for a visa. It takes 5 days to process it so better plan on applying for a visa way before you make that trip.
Shenzen, China was more of a shopping trip for us. I didn’t go shopping in Macau and Hongkong mainly because it’s very expensive to do it there. I have heard about the Ladies’ Market in Hongkong, but when my friends visited the place, they said it was still very expensive. So I waited until we were in Shenzen to do a bit of shopping.

It took us 3 minutes to reach Shenzen, China, from Hongkong. We took the train. It was very funny coz we all braised ourselves for a long trip. Just when I was about to relax and let my mind wander (that’s what I usually do when I’m traveling), the train stopped. And our friend told us “welcome to China!” LOL. It was fun.

We did a bit of a food trip too. I love Chinese noodles so I splurged on them, no matter how oily they were. Of course, I had to wash it down with coke straight away.



Bargaining in Shenzen was fun. My bargaining power truly worked there, to my surprise. Hehehe. If you want some bargaining tips, just tick me. I am just a comment away. LOL.

Like any other trips that I would make, I would certainly try doing some spa. We went into a Spa place (near our hotel), thinking that we got a very good package deal. It worked differently there. For example, we got a package of 66 RMB that included a foot massage, whole body massage, and one other I already forgot.

The receptionist last took us inside, asked us to shower and changed into some robes they have prepared for us. The first thing we did was a foot massage. After the massage, they gave us a slip, asking how much we should give to the massage lady. So, it dawned on us that what we paid was only the entrance fee. LOL. I did foot massage and a whole body massage only. The service and the place were not so bad. I was just surprised with the concept. Am I going for a spa the next time (if ever there’s next time) in Shenzen? Maybe not. I thought it’s not worth doing the spa there. The best spa I did so far was the one in Cambodia, at Amret Spa. One should try it if they’re in the vicinity.

We took a 3 hour bus ride going back to Macau to catch our flight back to Kuala Lumpur. I was glad we did that… We got to see the countryside of China. We passed by a few towns and I think we passed by the province of Guang Zhou.

Am I going back to China? If there’s a chance, I will definitely do so… But in different towns perhaps. Kunming? Shanghai? Beijing? Maybe. I would love to see more of China.

China Visa Application

June 29, 2009

I didn’t know that China requires visa for one to enter the country. I only got to know about this when my friend and I started planning for our vacation late last year. Also, I discovered that depending on which country you came from, you pay a certain amount of money for visa. For example, Malaysians are only required to pay 30RM for China Visa while Filipinos pay 130RM. Not sure if I applied in the Philippines, I would pay the same amount for visa application fee.

How to apply for China Visa? I think you need to take fill up an application form, submit it together with your passport and passport size photos with the fee.

How many days to process China Visa?

It depends whether you want an expedite processing then you can collect your passport the next day. If the processing is regular, then it takes 5 days to collect back your passport.

If you’re in Malaysia and you’re a foreigner, you are required to show personal appearance. But in my case, since I’m a wife of a Malaysian citizen, I didn’t have to go there for personal appearance. We actually just asked a friend to do the visas for us.

It’s not very complicated to apply for China Visa. And when you enter China, it’s not that hard because you have a visa already.

Going to Hongkong and Macau doesn’t require a visa.

China Trip

December 18, 2008
My friend Loretta was kind enough to let me know she was planning a China trip. Since I really wanted to go to China… in fact I had been planning to visit China next year… I told her I was going to consider it. I had been facebooking about my China trip since two weeks ago when I was about to book my ticket to Macau. So it’s not really a secret.


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So… the plan was to fly from KL – Macau. We found such cheap flight (107RM) from Air Asia from KL – Macau. So we booked our tix already. From Macau, we take a ferry to Hong Kong… meet Fendi and Gucci… and if Louis Vuitton is there, we would meet LV too. *wink. Planning on visiting Disneyland Hong Kong too… but I think I will give it a miss since my family wouldn’t be there with me (oh yes, did I mention I was planning to go without hubby and kids? so it’s purely girls’ trip). If I go there without family, I would probably be feeling guilty the whole time, I wouldn’t enjoy it. So I’m gonna give it a miss.

From Hong Kong we take a train ride to Guang Zhou… then to Shenzen and finish our trip with a visit to Chongqing. I don’t know all about these places. But my friend does… she has a Lonely Planet book with her. Lonely Planet Travel Guide is really handy when you do trips. I was going to buy a copy and found it’s a bit too pricy. Well, now, I think I will be needing it… so it’s probably a good investment. I search for all these places in the Lonely Planet online but I think it’s not complete. So you need to buy a hard copy. I’ll probably consider buying Lonely Planet travel guide for a Christmas gift for myself. Hehehe.

Anyways, the trip will be in April 2009. So God-willing, I could go with girlfriends for this trip. Anybody wanna go with us?