First of all, I have 2 disclaimers:
1) My face only appear 16 times out of the total 232 pictures. Bcos my mum is not a skillful photographer.2) Unlike my previous holiday blog, not much food photos taken. Bcos it is a group tour, table of 12 people, 我不好意思叫陌生人不要吃，让我先拍照。
3 Dec 08: 出发前的前一晚
Taking the 6.30 am flight.
By Tiger Airways.
On the plane, we were being distributed with the China Arrival Card which needs to be completed upon arrival.
Behind the card.... ALIENS?!?!
Guess all of us have received emails on China's English words before, the way they translate is really funny, this trip to China I must really go and 亲眼目睹一下！哈哈~~
After 3.5 hours of flight, we finally arrived at 海口 at 10 am. The weather out there is cooling and misty. Love this kinda weather.
The crew out there is transporting our luggage from the plane.
Here is the map of 海南岛。It looks like the shape of a slanted 雪梨。 Interestingly, usually a country will run from North to South. But bcos of it's odd shape, 海南岛 runs from Northeast to Southwest, about 300km++.
A brief introduction of 海南岛：
1) Its size is 5 times of Singapore.
2) Population is 8 million. Singapore is only 4 million plus. That's why in 海南岛，the roads are quite empty, the population are dispersed all over the island itself.
3) 海南岛 is the 2nd largest island of China, Taiwan being the biggest island.
4) It used to be together with China, due to some geographical reasons, it got separated from China and became an island on its own.
This is the bus that brings us go around the island during our 6 days trip. It is only on the 5th day, we realised that this bus is going to be scrapped next month. Can yall imagine how old is the bus and how dangerous it can be?
This trip is actually organised by 972 and there are many people sign up for this holiday. We were allocated to bus number 26. The first day we arrived, we have to rush all the way from 海口 to 三亚 which is 300++km away for tonight's events.
The journey will take about 3.5 hours. That's exactly the same duration that we took a plane from Singapore to 海口 isn't it? Haha. There is an international airport at 三亚， but Singapore flight only fly direct to 海口， no choice so we gotta go by bus.
On our way to 三亚， after travelling for 1.5 hours, we have a break at 兴隆 for lunch. 兴隆 scenery is quite pretty isn't it?
The kitchen of the restaurant. Better dun see too much, see liao 吃不下。
Cute little puppies running around, 脚短短的，好可爱喔！
After lunch, we came to this 兴隆's famous 怡然咖啡厂。
Inside there, saw this interesting toilet sign. Female toilet is known as 姐妹，Sister.
Finally, we arrived at 三亚。 The tourist attractions are all mainly in 三亚。So we will be staying here longer than other places. 三亚 is the most southern area of 海南岛。
Interesting fact: 三亚 is ranked 2nd out of 165 countries for it air quality. The reason being this is bcos 三亚 belongs to less industrial area. No air pollution.
So we came to this 亚龙湾，also known as 东方夏威夷。 There is this saying about 亚龙湾：海如碧，沙如绵
亚龙湾 is a crescent-shaped beach of about 7.5 km, the sea off the beach is so clear that visibility can reach almost 8 m, making it ideal for divers attracted to the nearby coral reef.
At 亚龙湾，saw this interesting recycle bin. The un-recyclable logo first caught my attention then only I noticed the English words that they used, haha.
972 宣传大使， 陈建彬 came to our bus to sing and entertain. Our 导游 very funny, she 偷偷 tell me and my mum when she was first informed by her company that a Singapore Superstar is coming, she is very excited. She saw the 海报 also quite handsome leh, but when she sees him in real, she is kinda disappointed, haha.
The 导游 there call him 阿彬哥。 阿彬哥 accompanied us to the restaurant for dinner. In China, it is very interesting when it comes to drinks. There will always be 2 bottles of beer and 1 bottle of soft drink. In China, soft drink is more expensive than beer. So if you would like to exchange beer for a soft drink, you will have to use 2 bottles of beer for the exchange of 1 bottle of soft drink.
Tonight we are having 海鲜大餐。 Range from prawns, crabs to 海胆，cockles, scallops and so on. As per disclaimer, not convenient to take photos, sianz...
I only managed to take a picture of the below 椰子盅。 海南岛 is nothing but full of coconuts and beaches.
The history of this 椰子盅 goes like this: In the past, it is believed that coconuts will only fall and hit on people who are stupid. One day, a princess is being hit by a fallen coconut. Out of anger, she ordered her men to chop down all the coconuts trees in 海南岛。 普通老百姓 very scared bcos they rely on coconuts for living.
Coconuts can be used for drinking, its flesh can be eaten. It's oil can be used to make soaps and edible cooking oil. It's shell can be made into a handicraft for selling. It's "hair" can be used to make brooms and ropes. It's juice can be used to make sweets, wine and vinegar. It's stems can be used to make furniture. It's leaves can be used as the house's rooftops. It's roots can be used for medical purposes.
So the 老百姓 are thinking of various ways to convince the princess not to chop down the trees. One of them decide to cook coconut soup with chickens added in it. The princess tried it and finds it very special and tasty, 还可以养颜美容。Only then she found out it's cooked from coconuts. So in the end, she ordered her men not to chop down the trees and here this dish is created, haha...
我们边吃饭，阿彬哥 边唱歌。
After dinner, we checked in into this Eadry Resort Sanya （三亚鸿州埃德瑞度假酒店）。 The only 5* hotel in 三亚 that has the scenery combinations of mountains, seas and rivers.
At night after we checked in, my mum and I went out for a stroll on our own. Came by this hooping game, but my mum did not manage to hoop any one of it, haha.
Outside our hotel, there is this stall selling SHOW 蠔 :p
Bought this KFC look alike for tonight's supper, hehe~~
