China Day 2 - Beijing Xi (West) Railway Station vs Beijing Railway Station

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous entry (here).

13 January 2016 
Beijing, China 

Alhamdulillah, I had a very deep sleep on my second night in Beijing. The night before tidur-tidur ayam di airport, so last night memang tidur dengan super lena. Berkat mencekik 2 kebab before sleep time pun boleh jadi asbab tidur yang lena juga tu. Tetttt

Pagi ni kami bangun awal. Syukur, sempat packing semua barang. Mau check out, and bakalan bermalam di Beijing Station as we have train to catch early morning the next day. Memang ndak akan sempat kejar earliest subway sekalipun. Untuk elak risiko jiwa runtuh i.e tertinggal train, therefore we decided to just spend the night at the station. Unknowingly to us, spending the night at any train station in Beijing was such an experience we will never forget for life. Tu nanti aku elaborate, kita cerita ikut turutan masa. Gituuuuu

#1 The receptionist insisted to take our picture at the hotel lobby (walau nan hado view lobby kan). Jea dengan posing famous beliau; sleeping pose

#2 Sempatlah snap few pictures while on our way to Dongsi Station

Aku singgah farmasi; mendengar nasihat sang kawan (tiba-tiba si Err mendengar kata). Mengadu sakit kaki kononnya aku malam tu, cramp tiada ampun. Mau sangat jadi Elsa kan. To avoid thing getting worst, aku pun belilah minyak panas. Initially mau beli cold pack sekali tapi language barrier tahap agung between me & the pharmacist. Ended up keluar kedai beli minyak jaklah. Tu pun nasib baik dia faham explanation aku through acting. Jadinya bolehlah sudah si Err akun diri as pelakon *kibas tudung*

#3 Bald trees only during autumn

#4 All of cafe, yang dari kampong juga muncul di sini

#5 Belum meriah lagi traffic, ni biasa-biasa jak. Comes afternoon, dengarlah pertandingan hon & bunyi kereta

#6 Nearest station & exit to 161 Wangfujing Hotel

#7 Art inside the station. Lawa gila; very the dynasty-kinda-vibe

Ok so we took the subway train all the way from Dongsi to Beijing Xi (West) Railway Station. The plan was to change our e-ticket to paper ticket, then put our bags inside the locker in the station because we will be going to Summer Palace & Niujie Mosque today. 

Reaching Beijing Xi Railway Station was easy peasy as both of us memang 'terer' bab line subway berlingkar-siur ni. Gitu statement riak. Problem arose when we were already there. Both blur upon seeing crowds of people. Memanglah masing-masing buat hal sendiri, tiada pun kisah kami yang berdiri amongst them. Yang jadi masalah problem bila kami ndak tau apa mau dibuat. Boleh??

Ok, plan memang mau collect our paper ticket to Harbin (departure next morning) kan. Tapiiiiii tiba-tiba blank. Terus ndak tau mana mau tukar. Adalah dalam few times kami turun naik tangga, jalan ke kiri kanan station. We didn't enter the building sebab takut ndak boleh keluar nanti. Mampuuuuu berfikir gitu? Walhal dalam phone siap jot down notes from Merengmate. 

"Change e-ticket to paper ticket inside the building. Enter at any North entrance. Go to Counter 16 (English Speaking)"

Note sikit punya details kan. Tapi kenapa bingai datang menjelma saat genting macam tu. Luckily panic attack ndak datang melawat sekali. Else? Kucar kacir lah hidup dua wanita jelita ni. Huh! 

We gained our sanity after nearly an hour going to and fro. Bertabahlah perangai. Ni memang totally salah aku sebab itinerary Beijing aku yang handles. Ahaks.

#8 Cuci mata lah sangat tengok orang lalu lalang

#9 The entrance to the ticket office located to the east side of North Square. (when facing the station, it should be on your right side). 

And so finally berjaya masuk dalam building. Macam biasa, before masuk tu memang segala-gala kena scan. Jadi janganlah beria ikat tali beg di pinggang bagai ah. 

Once inside, sebab sudah menjadi bijak kembali teruslah kami cari Counter 16. Counter 16 is the ONLY counter with English speaking staff. Unless Chinese kau hujung lidah, please straight away head to this counter to change your ticket. Sekian.

And one more thing, DO NOT change your e-ticket to any self-service ticket machines as those machines ONLY accept Chinese ID card for collection. Memang jimat masa kalau collect di mesin tapi first of all, kau ada kah Chinese ID card? Just mau share benda ni; untuk tidak mengulang kebijakkan kami dua. We approached one local & asked her about the ticket collection, bersungguh dia bawah kami pi hujung bangunan. And pointed us the ticket machines. Alas, kecewa berganda. Mana mau dicekau Chinese ID di saat itu wei?

#10 Panic no more seeing all these people. Gituuu kondifen sudah meresap dalam diri

#11 The ONLY counter with English Service. Sila tahu & ambil tahu.

Rasa gumbira akhirnya berjaya dapat paper ticket cumalah bertahan sementara. As bingai muncul kembali. Where to store our bags? Ndak mau tinggal di 'Left Luggage' sebab harga cekik darah. We wanted a locker (wayyyy cheaper). And so we exited the station. Pastu naik escalator because according to my notes, those with tickets boleh enter from either south or north entrance. We decided to store our bags inside the locker at waiting hall on 2F. 

Drama bermula bila officers yang jaga scanner tu mau tengok our tickets. Dalam ramai-ramai yang scan bags, kami juga yang kena tahan. In which I reckoned was truly a blessing for us. Else, memang lagi panjang kami jadi 'orang bijak' dalam station tu. Then, dia pun cing-cun-cing-cung sama kami. Ayam Itik level paling ke langit oiii. Adalah dalam 10 minit he tried to explained to us while pointing our ticket. Aik ndak kan ndak boleh tinggal bag dalam locker if departure esok paginya. Salahkah mau spend overnight di station tu? Kami mau berjimat hence we opted to not book for an accommodation. 

Officer gave up to explain further. So dia bawa kami pi jumpa another officer. Yang muda sikit dengan harapan orang tu boleh lah ber-Ingris sama kami. Hampa! 

Ndak lama, muncul seorang officer warga veteran (WV). Tanya apa masalah. Officer yang tahan kami tu pun cing-cung explained. Then, officer WV pun explained to us in passable English. Fuh, akhirnya! Words we can understand. 

"You can put your bag in the locker. No problem. But why you want to put here, you will go to Harbin tomorrow morning from Beijing Railway Station. This is Beijing West Railway Station."

Bam! Immediately rasa batu jatuh atas kepala. OMG! Gila betul kau Bie. Beribu kali Merengmate remind pasal this 2 stations. Jangan confuse, jangan confuse. She repeated that thousands of times because she doesn't want you to be like her. Obviously, Merengmate got confused between these stations as well. Tu yang dia remind aku, supaya pisang ndak berbuah dua kali. Yang aku pula? Jadikan reminder dia tu as angin lalu jaklah kan??

Settled masalah bingai, we quickly made our move to Beijing Railway Station. Few hours sudah masa terbazir gara-gara menjadi bijak ni. Harap lah sempat jejak semua tempat yang dalam itinerary. Walau cuma dua tempat tapi barang diingat, Summer Palace tu seluas alam. Mau round half taman tu pun rasa bakal ambil masa seharian.

#12 Ni lah rupa depan Beijing Railway Station

#13 Yang queue ramai-ramai ni sebab mau beli tiket. So sila jangan join queue if u already have your ticket. If mau tukar e-ticket pun, JANGAN tukar sini. U have to enter the building & go to the counter yang macam di Beijing West tu juga. Clear?

Actually masa sampai Beijing Railway Station ni, kami jadi bingai kembali. Pi joined queue orang yang mau beli ticket subway. Mampu? Nasiblah ada sorang Singaporean ni nampak kami 'jadi kulat'...and dialah bagitau kalau setakat mau masuk letak bag dalam bangunan station, boleh masuk dari pintu belah hujung (either left or right). No need to join segala jenis queue yang ada ticket booth. Just masuk & haruslah lalu scanner dulu, itu memang al-perlu kalau di Beijing. Security to the max kisahnye.

Alhamdulillah Allah hantar orang baik-baik tolong kami. Else, makin panjanglah drama kami. Silap-silap bermalam di Beijing West, pastu tertinggal train pi Harbin the next morning. Distance between Beijing West Station & Beijing Station pun boleh tahan jauh juga. 

#14 Arrow shows where the queue in picture #13 is. To the far left (ada macam dot-dot merah) tu tempat beli subway ticket. 

#15 Taken after the security check

Berjaya masuk dengan jayanya. Harap-harap no more drama sebabak the whole day lah kan. Ka ada lagi? Bijaksana kami ni bukan boleh diramal, kan. Once inside, we went to the first storage locker that we saw. There are aplenty at the station especially near the waiting hall. 

And sekali lagi Allah mudahkan kerja bila suddenly a local approached us & asked if we need help. Obvious rasanya muka kami berkulat-kulat mau atur ayat bagitau Aunty jaga locker tu. Urusan simpan bag dalam locker settled in less than 5 minutes thanks to the Amoi. Lega gila.

#16 Aunty, we need 2 big lockers. And we will come back later at night to take our bags. Gitu conversation kami translated by that the young lady (lupa ambil gambar dia)

Jangan tanya rate untuk locker sebab aku memang langsung ndak ingat. Soon after dapat kunci locker, terus kami pecut pi subway station. Amazing race betul lah since morning. Masa kelam kelibut tu nasib perut ndak meragam minta makan. Before check out, breakfast memang ala kadar jak. Nasib baik tenaga dari kebab last night masih ada. 

Where to next? Summer Palace it is! Walau sudah tengah hari, misi tetap diteruskan. Ndak kan mau seharian di station tu kan. Biarlah ndak dapat round the whole palace, janji dijejak.

Yang tu harus aku update next entry. Yang ni pun terlebih jelaan bebelan sudah.

By the way, just to remind once again. To those yang mau pi Harbin, train will depart from Beijing Railway Station. And dari Harbin, train will arrive at this station as well.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim

China Day 1 - Olympic Stadium, Beijing

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post (here).

Angin rajin bertahan sementara cuma di dalam sistem. And I'm back to my dormant phase once again. Dapat reminder call pula dari Merengmate. Haruslah pantas tuntas aku seru balik angin rajin tu. Nasiblah angin jenis obedient. Am not sure how long it is gonna stay. Harap-harap mampulah berlamaan sikit. 

12 January 2016

Beijing, China

We went to the infamous National Stadium later in the evening. Alhamdulillah, the evening nap rejuvenated us. Memang terus segar bugar lepas bangun tu. Hence semangat kental berdandan lagi (read: putting on layers of clothes on the body). Tu yang siap terbeli pink sweater from the shop nearby our hotel. Was in huge dilemma whether to buy or not. Ya lah kan, baru 1st day oi. We have another 13 days in China. Takut lupa diri jak beli itu ini sampai lari budget. 

Tapi tulah, tetap kalah si Err dengan sepasang padding pink. Kalau ndak beli, nanti termimpi-mimpi. Kalau beli nanti, takut kedai tutup pula masa kami balik nanti. Kesudahannya, duit & padding bertukar tangan. Pasrahlah jiwa. Impromptu purchase macam ni lah paling aku seriau sebenarnya. Tapi tetap dilayan nafsu membeli tu kan. Senyum sampai telinga masa keluar kedai. Pfft

After the super short lepas kempunan shopping spree, we walked to Dongsi Station. And took the subway to National Stadium located in the Olympic Green Village, Chaoyang District. 

Direction to National Stadium, Beijing

Dongsi Station Line 5 (purple) ---> Beituchengdonglu Line 10 (pink) ---> Xiongmau-huandao Olympics Spur Line (dark green) ---> Olympic Sports Centre (dark green) Exit B2.

Dari Exit B2 tu memang kena walkertapaki dalam 10 minutes untuk sampai area stadium. Gigih lah dua wanita jelita berjalan dalam sejuk beku demi menunaikan impian kami. To stand before these two well known stadium; that is. Alhamdulillah, wish list ticked.

#1 This was temporary I reckoned because I didn't see this in any of my friends photos who came before me. 

"The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) was designed as the main stadium of 2008 Beijing Olympics Games. The Olympic events of track and field, football, weight throw & discus were held there. After the Olympics ended, it has been opened as tourist attraction. The opening & closing ceremonies of another important event; Winter Olympic Games will be held here."

#2 The form of the stadium looks like a big nest which embraces and nurses human beings

#3 Tercapai impian. Demi kenangan, dalam sejuk bedi ku gagahkan posing

#4 Nothing much done to the look of the stadium. The brilliant designers just exposed the steel structures entirely; and let them become the most natural appearance. Less is more

#5 Percubaan guna camera canggih tapi tetaplah failed

#7 Bila kau gigih tunggu the color change to your favourite. Tapi yang warna warni juga aku upload. Motiflah menunggu

#8 The National Aquatics Center (Water Cube). Didn't know that the First Level is for tourist. And they have lots of functional zones inside it. Water Park, Waterdrop Theater & SPA Zone to name a few

The Water Cube is blue in order to reflect sunlight. It shines in the sunlight like a pearl in water. From the inside, one may discover that the pneumatic cushions of all sizes are just like sea bubbles"

#9 Yours Truly + white plastic bag that contain my newly bought pink padding *proud face*

"National Aquatics Center is the FIRST building in the world built upon "the soap bubble" theory, and sports a polyhedral steel-framed structure"

#10 Jea + her Mr Kwangsoo (her most loyal companion)

#11 And another shot of us before the Water Cube (mission accomplished!)

#12 Percubaan mem-panorama. These 2 unique buildings stand just opposite each other

By the way, there are actually lots of winter activities held inside the National Stadium. I just found about it months after our visit (sebab initial niat memang untuk tengok stadium jak). The Happy Snow & Ice Festival is held here every year from Dec to Feb. The stadium turns into the largest ski resort in Beijing during this time. And there are aplenty of activities for tourist to take part. 

Didn't regret it although it could've been quite an experience if we try skating on the rink. Admission fee is CNY 120 (weekdays) & CNY 160 (weekends & public holiday). Tapi kalau tau awal pun maybe we might not enter the stadium. Kan trip budget so segala benda yang melibatkan admission fee ni memang kami avoid selagi boleh. 

#13 Sajalah mau ber-art bagai. Taken from the bridge that connect the road to the Olympic village

#14 Muka pasrah tahan sejuk (mau winter sangat kan, hambek!)

Lepas cuci mata tengok Olympic Stadium, masa untuk kembali ke sarang hotel. Memang pasrah jaklah si Jea ikut aku meredah sejuk. Angin pun boleh tahan menampar. Dalam kepala masing-masing memang sudah terbayang katil melambai-lambai. Tapi at the same time, perut pun minta isi.

L to the Par! And kami memang tau ndak kan sempat mau kejar closing hour restoran sebelah hotel tu. Mau pi cari di tempat lain, kaki macam sudah give up. Sikit masa lagi both of us qualified jadi sistur-ngensot. Ok, teringat maggi yang kami bawa dari Malaysia. Bolehlah tu kan buat alas perut. Ndak kan mau jadi picky eater pula di saat darurat macam tu. But seriously masa ni aku ingat, sungguh-sungguh aku doa kami terjumpa at least bakery shop. Sebab perut aku mampu bertahan kalau buns or pastries ni.

Dalam subway train on the way balik hotel, kami ndak bercakap banyak. Save energy katanye! Walhal tahan diri dari mengungkap perkataan lapar (wow bahasa kau Bie).

On the way to the exit, kami terbau something. Automatik macam dalam kartun masing-masing. Walkerthon ikut bau. Once out from the station, nampak this one cart in front of the road heading to our hotel. Kecewa at first sebab ingatkan cart non-halal. So berjalan lemah gemalai lah kami depan cart (still berharap it sells halal food). Sekali Ahjussi tu nampak kami, and immediately he greeted us with Assalamualaikum. Allahu akbar! Masa tu rasa mau berzapin pun ada. Melompat girang!

Whats more bila nampak halal sign dekat cart dia. Repeatedly bersyukur. Mau jak bow seribu kali sambil ucap xie xie sama Ahjussi. Allah Maha Baik, indeed He is. Dia hantar Ahjussi kebab untuk kami yang kelaparan ni. Memang rezeki kami.

#15 Tengok ni pun berliur lagi. Seriously sedap ke langit. And super pedas as well.

#16 Katanye famous. Ahjussi searching articles about him in the net; semata mau tunjuk kami.

Lagilah yakin bila dia beria mau tunjuk bukti he is a Muslim. When asked to search via our phone, we told him we don't have internet connection. Tu dia terus keluarkan phone. Terima kasih Ahjussi buat kebab sedap, pedas & mengenyangkan. Moga Allah murahkan rezeki dia. 

Aku beli dua kebab ni. 1 makan on the way to the hotel, 1 lagi makan di bilik. Nampak ka ndak kebuluran si Err? Or was it more to nafsu? Lantak lah kan, janji doa termakbul. Alhamdulillah. Dapat tengok Bird's Nest & Water Cube. And as bonus, dapat pula kebab panas-panas for dinner+supper di kala perut berkeroncong lapar. 

Of courselah malam tu tidur lena. Mau ndak lena sudah bantai 2 kebab kan. Esok pagi kami check out, will be going somewhere colder. Yang tu nanti aku update next entry *semoga masih rajin*.

Till then, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim