We set off for our 1st place of interest, 文殊院, some sort of museum beside Sim’s House. But we were such cocks when we mistook an old building as Wen Shu Yuan; that’s the consequence of not doing research before coming here. Eventually we found the real Wen Shu Yuan but decided not to enter. Reason: Not Interested (museum = boring).
We got on a cab (在中国叫“打滴”) to一环路南三段, to get our trekking equipment. Chengdu city centre is surrounded by a river and the roads are in circle, hence there is一环，二环，三环 (1st ring, 2nd ring, 3rd ring). Along that street there are a lot of outdoor sports shops but we decided to get everything from one shop; for convenience as well as to save time. For me, I just want to “bio” that 2 Sichuan salesgirls (wonder if the other guys felt the same).
Now that we got what we want, we went searching for ATM with Mastercard or Visa function as we know the $ we brought won’t last us 30days. Seems like only Bank of China (BOC) has such service. The rest like China Construction Bank, China Agricultural Bank… all provide local service only. We asked a大婶, where is the nearest BOC and she told us very near, about 200m in front. We followed her but very soon, she like got kungfu like that; we fell behind in no time. And the worst part was, it seemed more like a 2km walk than 200m! After crossing a river and walking for some distance, we finally found our BOC.
We stood in front of the ATM and just 2nd day in China, we let our guards down. We were counting all the $ we have in front of dozens of hungry eyes so as to gauge how much more we need to withdraw. The security guard in the bank saw that and told us to come in and count. The moment we stepped out of the bank, some men approached us and offered to exchange currency with us. We quickly left the place.
Half a day had gone and we decided to settle for traditional Sichuan dish for lunch. 麻婆豆腐，凉拌兔肉，回锅肉，呛抄菠菜，冬瓜汤. The Rabbit meat was the shock of our lives! We thought Liang Ban supposed to be cold dish but when the dish came, it was 1 big pot of red chilli oil with the meat inside. In what sense is it凉? We ate a bit and decided to leave that pot untouched. Our mouths were really numbed after the meal and it was all because of a little devilish spice which can be found in almost all Sichuan dishes.
Next we went to Carrefour to get some food supplies and then back to Sim’s to rest. A couple had just joined us in the 12-men dorm and we were speculating whether they were Japs. True enough they were and the girl was really cute. Jap gals have always been my all time favourites, followed by SiChuan Meimei (for now, haha).
After briefly packing our stuffs for tomorrow’s Er Mei Shan trip, we went to a big bookstore beside Sims (经典书局). Very big and full of books but the place lacks ventilation. I already had eyes on some of the books and will definitely return here on my last day to make my purchase. JH wanted to search for the “凉粉aga aga” store recommended by Sims but we couldn’t find it. We couldn’t take Sichuan spice anymore and hence decided to eat Mac for dinner.
Coming to China to eat麦当劳, really not what I really want but the spice here is really buay da han for us. But we did try a different Mac flavour, 四川烧烤鸡. And the Mac is different from those in SG, the manager will use a microphone and say to everyone, “麦当劳喜欢你来，喜欢你再来!” Her voice is so sweet and “diah”! After dinner, we returned to Sims.
Best part of Sims is they have a nice little area beside the pond for guests to sit and relax. We spent the evening there playing Chinese chess, Big 2 and eating Banana pancake (with honey). We had to rest early as we will be visiting周芷若tomorrow: to Mount Er Mei (actually ErMei Shan is also associated to蜀山奇侠, not just倚天屠龙记).
After 2 days in CD:
1. People here are very friendly and hospitable. Cashier in supermart will ask you got discount card. If you don’t have the one behind you will lend you.
2. CD people like SG people. Like to talk to us.
3. 四川出美女! At least it is true for me (the other 3 guys seem doubtful of this). They have good complexion (with a bit of reddish cheeks), sweet voice, looks demure and gentle (but heard from local guys they can be as hot as the Sichuan food).
4. The 4 of us building rapport. Well we known one another for more than 10 yrs so not a surprise. Really like the jokes shared among us such as: who invented the chess game ‘checker’ (also called “dumb”).
5. 川话: although quite close to Mandarin but still hard to catch.
6. 川菜: 4 different flavours. 辣，麻，油，咸 (hot, numb, oily and salty).
7. Love the people here but not the city as it is too polluted.
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