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Tuesday, 20 November 2012

Last year's Autumn at Avatar's Homeland

I am going to miss autumn and winter this year.  Cos' super broke after my trip to Bangkok.  My autumn/winter wear will have to shelf to next year T__T  .

Last year around this time, I was at a very special part of China .  The knowledge about China is limited to Shanghai and Bejing for most people.  However I had chosen my first visit to China at Hunan (湖南) to enjoy my autumn.  Movie Avatar had screened some of scenes on mountains and peaks at this natural reserve of Zhang Jia Jie (张家界) in Hunan.  Thus the place is nicked name Avatar's Homeland.  Ironically, hardly anybody around me heard of it.  Imagine the hard time I had searching for information before I went ahead with this trip.

I had blogged about this unusal trip previously in my old blog at freewebs, but fond memories just came back and I thought it's worth another blog post, especially for my new readers.  At the same time, hope to give some inspirations on what to wear for those lucky ones who are heading for autumn/winter holidays.

Things was made easy with Chan Brothers Travel Agent.  I know most people dislike group tours as they would bring you to "chop carrot" shops to earn extra commission.  This tour group I went with DO NOT INCLUDE TOURIST SHOPS!!!!  I am dead serious!  We did not visit any shops selling of cheena medicine/herbs,  whatever silk, knives, totally no craps!!!

I had took hundreds thousands of pics, not possible to post all, but here are some and I hope you guys will like them :)

This was the hotel we stayed and it was like a palace.


Pic was taken at the backyard of the hotel.
My main "motive" of posting this pic is to show-off my red cape.
Gotten compliements even from strangers, heeheeheee.......
In fact, I get compliements everyday in China  ^_^
Back in my own country?
I get weird stares, get people telling me I dressed too loudly etc... hardly anything positive.
Back to my red-riding hood cape, I love it to bits but I can't wear it here T___T
Huh?  Where I bought from?

Entrance of the Poetry Wall.

Yes, that's tiny me at the right hand corner.
The Poetry Wall is 4000m in total length with poems engraved on marble.
Only walked part of it, cos' had to reserve stamina for other days.

More details on my attire -
Picasso knitted cap - stolen from sis
Cream boots and stockings - 淘宝 but I don't have to links already, so sorry
Fluffy fur bag - Charles & Keith

Pic taken during travelling on coach.

Self take of me in puffy eyes.

Visited Furong Old Town.
This ordinary town became famous overnight after a movie was filmed here.

It was a peaceful and quiet town, away from the bustling city, aw................



The location where the movie was made, shop owner proudly display photos from the movie.

This purple wool dress also from the same seller from 淘宝.
Black stockings - Uniglo
Military Boots - 淘宝, do not have the link any more but it's less than S$20.
Pic taken with vintage vechicle with old buildings on the right and modern buildings on the left, heehee..

Cable car ride to Tien Men Mountain (天门山)
Scary, but we made it alive, lolxx......

Another scary pic, but we had to walk over it to get across.
It was narrow, we walked in single-line.

Freaking 999 steps to 天门洞

I stayed below to take vainpot pics.
I looked really rounded cos' that time I was around 50kg.

Super fat me, but the costume was nice.

Bao Feng Lake (宝峰湖)
Like postcard right?  Pic taken by me, couldn't believe I was there.
It was so beautiful.

Walking down countless flights of stairs wasn't easy.

Had to wear this "butt protector" cos' we were about to take a slide.
The slide was very long, which could save up about 2hrs of walking down the stairs.
Obviously, this wasn't my butt, my hubby's lolxx...

Me sliding down with excitement!  It was a candid pic, I didn't know where's the camera!

This place is called Grand Canyon (大峡谷) too.
There were 2 bands of rainbows actually, but the camera could only capture one.
After the photo taking, we witness the rainbows fading away.
Pink vest and brown shorts from Korea, long sleeve and stockings from Uniglo.

Dragon King's Limestone Cave (龙王洞)

I love getting my hair washed and style during travelling.
It was RMB55 and I looked groomed with my double chin the next day.
We should looked well groomed on hoildays and not as if we were running for refudge.

BaiLong Lift (百龙天梯), the longest exterior elevator in the world.
Yes, we took the lift -___-|||
It was unforgettable.......

Golden Whip Stream (金鞭溪)

One of the scene from Movie Avatar

And now, I going to show you the REAL THING
Peaks of Zhang Jia Jie (张家界)
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Magnificent? Marvellous? Spectacular? Breath-taking?
All these words are too shallow to describe the sights.
My eyes were actually welling while posting these pics, I was deeply touched by the beauty of nature.
Able to see these creations by God is a blessing.  It was an unforgettable experience.
I was a "richer" person after this visit.

I bought this light brown wool coat from a local supermarket and it's less than S$60.
Temperature as low as 10 degree celsius in the morning.....

and 20 degree in the afternoon.  This pic was taken outside Mao's resident (毛泽东)

Outside MaWangDui Museum 马王堆省博物馆
Was wearing Espirit's short sleeve cotton jacket and grey long sleeve from Uniglo.
My grey suede 3 inches high heel boots was really comfortable even after many hours of walking.

A lot of people remarked that it's a waste of money to buy so many autumn/winter outfits just for travelling.  But to me it will be even more wasteful to spend so much money on tour fees, and come back with lame pictures wearing the same outfit throughout the entire tour.  I don't give a damn if I get to wear an outfit for once or twice.  It's just not possible for me to wear the same thing every day.

I may not be a fashion expert but if you like my style, here's how I chose my autumn/winter outfits-

* Try not to buy beanie caps, they look cute only on children.  I had tried and it made my face even rounder.

* Try not to buy boots with fur linings, so that you can wear them locally too.  Buy 2 sizes bigger and wear them with woollen socks.

* Avoid down feather jackets.  They are expensive, makes you look fat and are not necessary unless the weather is below -5 degrees.  If it's necessary, chose bright and feminine colors instead of greys/blacks so that people can still identify your sex from a distance.  If you wear a dark colored shapeless down feather jacket with jeans and running shoes, changes are you will look like a boy or a country pumpkin which Singaporeans are "famous" for.

* Invest on coats instead of inner wears.  No matter how pretty your inner wears are, they are always covered by coats/jackets.  Lots of people prepare only one coat but many inner wears for travelling.  Seriously, inner wears can be worn for 2 to 3 days lah, they won't stink in those kind of cold weather.  So what if you change your inner wear everyday?  You'll look the same every day for the entire trip if you only had one coat.  As such, I buy simple plain long sleeves and turtle necks from Uniglo; reasonable prices with good quality.  Then I spend more on coats from 淘宝, not paying more than S$50 each.

I hope my readers will look fab and enjoy their autumn/winter holidays.  Will going to the airport in 5hrs' time, flying to Ho Chi Minh.  Will do nice blog posts with lots of pics when I come back ok?  Bye bye =P


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