China Day 2 - Pengalaman Overnight di Beijing Railway Station

Assalamualaikum. Ni Hao!

Previous post (here).

The subway trip from Niujie to Beijing Railway Station took less than half an hour. Ntah apa mau dikejar kan, awal gila balik sana. Malam masih muda namun kaki kami sudah longlai. Gitu alasan. Been walking since early in the morning, them legs deserved a rest.

Once arrived at Beijing Station (metro subway), we exited the station & walked to Beijing Railway Station building.

Info: These 2 stations aren't connected underground so you need to exit the subway station in order to get to the railway station building.

Unlike this morning, kali ni masuk station with highest confidence level. Jangan sibuk ikut queue di booth KALAU kau sudah ada tiket. Terus masuk jak ikut pintu yang ada scanner. Oh yes, barang diingat semua ah. Every railway stations in Beijing required you to pass a security check prior entering the station. Jadi sila jangan merungut or buat blur. Ni macam di airport lah, kastam buat thorough checking on you & your belongings. 

#1 Rupa Beijing Railway Station from the outside. This station is huge

#2 Once inside, nampaklah ada information counter. Also information board. Ok great, ada Starbucks (terus berkilau mata si Err)

First thing first, kami pi ambil anak gajah we stored in the locker earlier this morning. Sebab ahjumma jaga locker balik jam 10pm. Train kami pi Harbin esok pagi adalah seawal Subuh. Lambat kalu, ada menangis kena pakai baju sama 3 hari di Harbin.

Settled ambil bag, masa untuk tawaf station. Mau tengok apa yang ada dalam station. And paling penting, survey tempat beradu malam nanti. Considering which platform to board the train isn't on the board yet, we chose to sleep on the upper floor. Sebab atas lagi banyak waiting hall a.k.a banyak kerusi

#3 Orang diorang memang ramai. Hence the huge station I reckoned. Adalah sekali sekala kami terserempak tourist lain

#4 Ronda Beijing Railway Station

#5 Okay mari naik atas

#6 Sekali mendongak, eh KLCC lah. Wah bangga we'olls

#7 Manusia sana sini

Okay, masa ni aku sudah start rimas dengan orang. Mana suara orang bercakap macam bergaduh, mana suara budak kecil nangis pastu the Mother memujuk pun suara ala halilintar. Not being racist here tapi Chinese kan memang jenis cakap bertempik. High notes all the way. Ala-ala macam Spaniards & Venezuelan people. Gitu negara jauh kau bagi contoh kan Bie. 

So, cancelled segala impian ngopi di Starbucks. Lagipun cafe tu penuh orang melepak main phone (even non-customer pun ada; apa aku peduli katanye). Sobs.

#8 Waiting halls mostly penuh, hampa to the gas

Lepas timbang tara we decided to lepak at the 1st Floor first. Maybe it's still early, we said to calm ourselves. All the night trains are yet to depart hence the ocean of people swamping the waiting hall. Jadi yang still ndak tau di mana waiting hall diorang, sila lah berkampung di celah-celah column or belakang escalator. *sedar diri*

#9 'Turun takhta' jap lepak belakang escalator. Sambil menjamu taro pie. Always chewing something this lady; macam ndak pandai kenyang

#10 Aku ada spray bottle Bie kalau kau nak gi toilet; gitu lah lebih kurang ayat si Jea masa tunjuk bottle tu

Lama jugalah kami jadi temporary resident belakang escalator tu. Buat gitu di sana memang ndak payah malu because we ain't the only ones 'loitering'. Ramai lagi umat lain. Around 11 pm, less bising sudah.

Meaning upper floor sudah less crowded. So we moved upstairs. And started cari port baik untuk beradu. Alas all seats are armed. Memang jadi gymnas kejap malam tu. Auto flexible terus bah body masing-masing.

#11 The Chinese invented ramyeon hence it is no surprise aplenty of hot water dispenser found in the stations / trains / airport

For me this is totally a bonus. Well, hantu ngopi + makan = ME. Ada lah few times ulang alik buat hot drink. Lepas tu risau bila fikir satu kerja kena ulang alik toilet kalau overdose ngopi. Walaupun memang sebelum pesta ngopi aku sudah keluar masuk toilet. 

Alhamdulillah juga sepanjang malam berkampung dalam station, toilet ndak pernah kotor. Surprisingly tiap kali masuk, mesti up to my standard. No overflowing tissues in the bin, no wet floor nor sink. The cleaner lady memang bersihkan toilet tu every 10 minutes rasanya. Bila aku masuk jak, mesti dia pun keluar bawa mop & tongs + plastik sampah. Ok kentara kau kerap buat toilet visit kan Bie. 

#12 Be flexible like the locals. And Jea. 

Info: Beijing Railway doesn't provide heater during the winter. Hence explain why everyone is still in their padding / jacket. I slept with 2 heat packs stick on my inner sweater; back & front. Also hand warmers inside both my jacket's pockets. Be prepare if you plan to stay overnight here (and every railway stations in China to be exact). 

#13 Pemandangan biasa but worry not; this won't last long as a cleaner will come with her big long broom & sweep this in one go

Malam tu tidur half-lena bukan sebab bising (semua pun memang membuta) but mainly sebab sejuk gigil sampai tulang belikat. Makan sumpahan jaklah station tu that night. 

Honestly, sampai saat ni memang masih ndak dapat lupa tahap sejuk dalam station. Berapa kali ntah tahan diri dari bergerak too much, tapi tulah terpaksa buat lawatan toilet pula. Rasa mau tidur jak tepi hot water dispenser tu tapi apa cer tidur berdiri kan. Memang menghitung setiap masa bila lah boleh naik train. Sadis sungguh perangai.

Tapi tulah, ni semua pengalaman berharga for both of us. And never would I trade with anything in this world. Maybe orang akan pertikai 

Kenapa seksa diri, 

Kenapa kedekut sangat untuk keselesaan diri

Kenapa itu

Kenapa ini

Kalau aku, ndak sanggup

Kalau aku, biarlah labur duit sewa bilik

Jawapan aku senang jak

Keperluan orang berbeza

Level mampu orang berbeza

Level kedekut berbeza

You do you

I do me

As long as

Apa aku buat ndak menyusahkan siapa-siapa

and kami happy

Paling penting

Neither you nor us

"Berdarah"

Sekian explanation. Gitu.

Tapi so far part sejuk tu memang 'isi utama' aku bila cerita pasal Beijing Railway Station.

Till next entry, wassalam.

eryantierdabdulkarim