DO I EVER WANNA GO SYDNEY AGAIN?

The last time i had an airport saga was in Shanghai, but that was because the flight was cancelled without my knowledge.

But who would expect someone who travels looking like this plane(picture courtesy of VB) will be a target of suspicion for...what....illegal immigration? Prostitution?

The minute I touched down and spotted travelling solo, an officer asked to see my arrival card. The notion of 'holiday' which i marked as a reason for travelling there and 'for 3 days' didn't quite click with him. He asked repeatedly if I was sure I was there for a holiday for only 3 days. I thought he was assured when I said I had to get back to work. He marked a Big 'RED' word across my arrival card and i was allowed to proceed to the immigration counters, only to be stopped again after that.

The same officer came out, led me to a counter in full view of other travellers, put on a pair of rubber gloves (like those for surgery or murder) and started tucking into every piece in my luggage, and all these while firing me questions like who i was meeting, how much money i brought, where & how I was meeting them, what kind of friends, where they from and what we gonna do. As I'm not a seasoned 'cross examinee', i found myself not answering fast enough and i think that aroused more suspicion. Worse when the words 'internet friends' was mentioned. The last straw was when the term 'pole dance' which i made an effort not to mention, had to, and was blurted out...THAT'S IT. "Pole dance? Oh yeah? You do pole dance? You here to be a pole dancer?" My head was rung by repeated attempts to get me to admit I was there to get a dancing job. At this point I almost wanted to tell him why would i want to do that as I probably have a better job then him back home...I'm here to pole jam with some pole enthusiasts I met online, after we gonna have a costume party...THAT'S IT!! Uurgh! Wa kao!

And then he found my teeny school girl costume.....haha.....he said "that's it? that's all you have, ok, you can go now....have a good time.". He must be convinced by now as I think my costume not HAWT enough and too un-stripper like! Hahahah....

As if that was not enough, on the day I departed the place, I was again checked and questioned......think i'm blacklisted or something.

After those (plus some other not-so-pleasant) experiences, I told myself I don't think I EVER need to go back Sydney. But I changed my mind after sinking my teeth into the first macadamia nut I bought from a nut shop there.....wa, damn nice, can't find them here. I actually bought 8 packets meant to give to colleagues and friends but decided they too precious to be used as gifts (sorry la), except for 1 packet i gave my dear monday auntie who always cooks such nice crabs for me (i promised her before i left)

Footnote:

Can't imagine what will happen if this outfit ah...... taboo....hahaha

GUANGZHOU SPECIAL!

No I wasn't there, but Meow was. Promised her i will post up some pics to share. So Meow, please provide a commentary if you wish, cos my information agar-agar only from what i remembered over tiramisu and latte. Btw, Meow took these pics with her tok-kong handphone camera, so clear right? Can ZOOM somemore.

This is a Kar-na ji (some nuts) before carving

After

These are how small they actually are. These Chinese people can make carvings out of anything...grain lah, hair lah!

Some Chinese delicacies that Meow dared not try! First the HORSESHOE CRAB OR KING CRAB (Meow was arguing with me the name, it turned out both were right) Don't they look like 'xiao chiang' (ka-chua) overturned? I don't blame her for not eating.

And than this is called the SAND WORM! Apparently called sand worm because inside filled with sand. They cook it by chopping off the head and tail and using a chop stick to push out all the sand and fried.......suppose to be very yummy.........(yeeeee! )