Shenzhen with TL: Day 2, Snowboarding Lessons and Getting Lost

The plan was to wake up and head for bfast at 7.45am. The hotel only provided 1 pillow per bed. That, as well as per most 1st night in hotels, my sleep was quite affected. I woke up a few times but at least fall back to sleep quickly. By 7am, I automatically woke up. 

Bfast was provided. I conveniently headed to bfast in my sleeping clothes and the hotel slippers. 

The food was very Chinese, making up of various carbs and pickled vegetables. 

The hotel has a “gym”, or more so a few equipment in what could possibly pass off as a storeroom. Luckily I didn’t need this gym bcos we were going snowboarding/ skiing! Otherwise I would probably be pouring sweat. 

We checked out, lugged all our bags and headed to Huafa again, specifically asking the driver to drop us at Gate 2. While the resort only opens at 10am, the mall opens at about 9.15am on weekends. Bcos it would be crowded during the summer vacation weekend (what I had read from Red Note), we arranged to meet the school earlier. This school was recommended by J, whom I met in Trifecta. 

The school has a shop located at level 3 of the mall. When we entered the mall, we realised that there were many more shops; we were just at a wrong part of the mall yday, the part that is not fully operational. 

We changed into our thermal. I initially didn’t read the instructions given by the school via WeChat and was about to go for lessons in my dry fit long sleeves and thighs. Auntie TL reminded me and I reluctantly packed my thermal. Still, I don’t think I needed extra long pants or jacket on top of the thermal. I am sure I will work hard enough to stay warm; snowboarding, especially and falling and standing up are hard work. 

After we were changed, we headed to the entrance. There was already a Q forming. The different slopes - we bought the tickets for beginner and intermediate slope, lasting 4 hours. We met up with our instructor - Macy would be teaching me (one to one) while Auntie TL and QQ would be taking skiing lesson from Coach Wu. The school also helped us with the ticket purchase in advance. 

Once we entered the snow resort, the clock started ticking. We were led to collect the ski suit, the boots and the helmet and to the school’s club room to gear up. I brought my own butt, knee and wrist guards bcos snowboarding is dangerous business. That lady is Macy and the skiing instructor was helping Auntie TL and QQ with their boots. 

I paid extra CNY 99 for the step on boots bcos it is so difficult to stand up on snow and I needed to conserve every little bit of energy. 

While the external area (cafe, club room, rental) is at room temperature, the moment we entered the snow hall, the temperature dropped to 6 degrees celcius. The beginner/ learning slope for snowboarding and skiing are separated, which is a good thing bcos all beginners are dangerous to themselves and others, let alone put newbie skiers and snowboarders together. There are magic carpets for the beginner slopes. 

As usual, we started with the heel side warm up. I was taught how to “step in” to the board. It was literally stepped and locked and money well spent. Macy was observing and walking down the slope when I went down for the 1st time. It was so much more slippery than Trifecta or Snowmonster. After a couple more times, we went for the toe side and Macy corrected my posture a little. Not long after, she said that we were ready to do the turns (heel to toe and back to heel). I scared…

Macy held my hands for the 1st few turns and it was so much easier than on the snow carpets back in Singapore! I saw people lift their hand up, parallel to the board and asked if that helped. Yes, bcos my arm is supposed to move as per the board and by looking at where my hand was, my whole body would move in the same and correct direction. We did that for a couple of runs. I could put down my arm anytime, when I feel confident enough. When I manage the turns, I was overjoyed; I didn’t expect myself to get them so quickly. All the classes in Trifecta and Snowmonster are paying off. 

At some point, I was pathetically messy. My left eye was irritated and tearing, my nose was running and my hair was all over my face. Bcos my wrist guard was on top of my glove, it was too much trouble to take them off and upkeep myself, until I cannot take the messiness anymore. I tidied up before Macy said that we should next take the ski lift to the intermediate slope. #panic

I hated getting down from the ski lift. I had never manage in my previous trips, either falling when getting off or carrying my board onto the lift, if allowed. The instructions were simple - the master foot would be strapped in and placed in front. When we stand up from the lift, we are to use the free foot to propel ourselves forward a little, so that we are faster than the lift and it doesn’t knock us over. Then the free back foot is to stand on the board, and l am to lean forward on the front strapped in foot and lean to heel or toe side as needed. Sounded so easy and logical, right? We even practice a little on a mini slope before attempting the ski lift. 

I was damn stressed. Despite how I repeated the instructions to myself, my body decided to do otherwise. The ice was slippery and I could barely lift the free foot to step onto the board and the ski lift was chasing and pressuring me. Once onto the mini slope, it was just so easy to intuitively lean backwards. That was when everything goes wrong and of course I fell. I also almost knocked Macy over. Sob.

The intermediate slope is a lot longer and steeper. Macy asked that I do falling leave in the beginning part of the slope which is a lot steeper, before snowboarding as normal for about 1/5 into the slope. Bcos of the increased inclined, I was going so much faster. Did I managed to turn? Yes, but was still going very fast when my board was parallel. Macy said that I wasn’t leaning and sitting enough and keep reminding me to do so when going down the slope for stability. I survived and it was so fun! 

The 2nd time that I took the ski lift, Macy asked me to take the extreme left seat. That was the perfect idea bcos once off the ski lift, I could move left, out of the ski lift’s way, then take time to slide down the mini slope. I reminded myself to lean forward, before stepping on. I did and slide off nicely. Woohoo! Achievement unlocked! 

The 2nd run was equally fun. Now I understand why people get hooked and addicted to snowboarding. That is Macy’s story too. She is a Hongkonger and decided to teach after learning from her bf, who has been a snowboarding instructor for 3 years, quitting a permanent job. She teaches in Japan in the winter months and at Huafa at other times. I knew her story bcos I had so much time to chit chat with her while we rode the magic carpet and ski lift. 

Did I fall down during the lesson? Of course and it was so difficult to try to stand up. On my 1st attempt, I was struggling so hard until Macy asked me to look forward. That made standing up easier. 

The lesson was for 3 hours. We needed to exit the resort within 4.5 hours or we would be charged extra. At the end of the lesson, I met QQ at the bottom of the slope, her instructor had just brought her for her 1st full intermediate run, after Auntie TL decided to call it a day. They had earlier done the intermediate slope from the mid section, accessible from another magic carpet. Auntie TL realised that she needed to stop when she got too tired and started to lose control and just nice, the instructor could put all his attention on QQ.

QQ and I managed to go another 3 runs. I carried my board onto the ski lift. Hoho. In the last 2 runs, I was losing control and falling down a lot more. Yes, I was tired too. It was about 2.11pm when we went back to the club room. Then, it was mad tearing off the boots and the ski suits, retuning them to the counters and rushing out of the resort before 2.30pm. We made it. 

I was very happy with the snowboarding and was happy for the rest of the day… in fact, for the rest of the trip. I told Auntie TL that I am satisfied already and didn’t mind what the itinerary were for the rest of the trip. I would do whatever she asked. My bucket list ticked!

We changed out and took a didi to our other hotel in Futian - the JI hotel. Auntie TL’s in-laws were already waiting for us and she happily passed QQ over. We would be carefree adults for the next 2 days. Hooray! Our room was ready. We would hug each other to sleep the next 2 nights. 

We didn’t have time to linger and had to rush off for the remaining itinerary. The plan was to explore and view Shenzhen’s amazing AI capabilities. Auntie TL found this S6 Robot place that is located in one of the Coco Park malls. There were so many Coco Park.
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What we really struggled with was to find information. Addresses are a pain in the ass. We wanted to go to the Coco park, which was in Longgang and a long ride from the hotel. We arrived at a huge mall, check with the concierge and only to be told that we were at the wrong mall. The one that we wanted to go is also in the Longgand district but a lot nearer to our hotel. Zzzzz.. We aren’t the only ones bcos the staff even had prepared this printout. It basically says that we were at the wrong place. 

We took another didi to the right mall. This time, we found it!

BUT! Google AI gave us obsolete information. The shop closes at 6.30pm while Google AI told us that there is a last tour at 7pm. We were rushing mad for the 7pm tour and arrived at 6.40pm. Auntie TL was so upset. I was still in a happy mode from the snowboarding and was happy  to settle with a drink made by a robot arm instead. It was meh only.

We ended up doing some shopping, then had Korean BBQ for dinner. Yums.

It was a good dinner. Korean BBQ cannot go wrong. Food made us happy. 

After dinner, we were searching for a massage place and were using various apps to see which could help. The network was so bad and it was so frustrating trying to find information. The Chinese apps were lagging and difficult to navigate. When we tried Google AI, which was faster, but we couldn’t tell if the information was accurate or still valid. Given how exhausted we were, the difficulties really didn’t help. We ended up in a massage place about 10 mins walk away. We didn’t even know if it really existed. Fortunately it did. For CNY 250, we got an aromatherapy body massage. It isn’t cheap but we so needed a massage and it wasn’t too bad. 

When I was having my massage, I thought I had pain on my left thigh - the “fruit” of snowboarding. I didn’t even know how I got that. 

It was another late night. Yawn. There were so many things to do but so little time. Back in the hotel, I was tempted to skip hair washing but I had to spare a thought for my bed mate, who was protesting profusely. I was naked in the shower and couldn’t work the water and had to ask Auntie TL to help. All the while, I turned the knob the wrong way. I obviously was very reluctant to shower. Haha. 

The snowboarding activity cost a lot of money. I paid CNY 1,680 for the one to one lesson, then CNY 686 for the resort 4-hour entry and CNY 99 for the step on boots and board. It cost me SGD550 for a morning of fun. Worth it? Totally. Hoho. I already wanted to go back for more. 

In the original plan, we were doing the lessons on Friday morning and I was to head back on Saturday morning on my own for more practices. I lost the extra practice bcos of the canceled flight but also realised that I would be damn bored on my own. Was the resort very crowded? It was crowded enough that that we had to constantly watch out to not bash into people but I can’t tell if it was super crowded as I had no comparison basis. 

Mummy Lim

Shenzhen with TL: Day 1, Trying Again, Huafa and OH Bay

We were out of the hotel at 5am. 

Instead of ordering multiple taxis, the airline/ hotel had arranged for a bus. Our bus was filled and there were 2 other buses waiting. Yes, so many of us were affected by the flight cancellation. 

Our 2nd attempt. 

The hotel bfast only starts at 6am and we had to find bfast on our own at the airport. There is a 24 hours food court. It was the same boarding gate and I felt a little jinx. We were in the last 2nd row and suspected that we took the last few seats. Luckily for that or our itinerary would be very screwed. My heart leaped a little when the plane finally took off. I am sure I wasn’t the only one. At least this was a bigger plane and had better movie selection. 

Bfast! Eggs! Yum, yum, chomp, chomp.

I caught a movie and then slept. We survived on 4.5 hours sleep the night before. The original plan for last night was to take a car from HKG airport to Shenzhen as we would be too late for the last ferry. Now that we had arrived in the late morning, we opted for the ferry instead even though it would cost more. Tickets could be booked on the spot and AI said that tickets aren’t usually sold out. We landed at 11ish and got tickets for the 1pm ferry. It is very convenient, there are multiple timings and no need to clear the HKG immigration, saving some time. It was obvious how happy we were to touch HKG ground.

We had to enter the gate by 12.30pm and had half an hour. What did we do? The milk tea and carrot cake were good! Auntie TL had clearly displayed her approval. 

Boarding! 

The ride was about 30 mins and we had to clear the China immigration. There were only a handful of passengers on the ferry. 

We arrived at the Shekou terminal and took a didi from the port. Auntie TL did most of the paying and didi ordering; she had done a lot of preparation for the trip. I was totally reaping the benefit for tagging along. We had booked our 1st 2 nights in the 前海 area, to be near to the Huafa snow resort, which is tucked in the left side of Shenzhen. Bcos of the flight cancellation, we had to push our lessons to Saturday morning. The resort would be crowded but we didn’t have a choice. 

On the way to our hotel, we drove past the resort. The architecture is so interesting, designed to cater to the slope.

We booked a triple room in Zison hotel. It came with 3 big beds with the 3rd one was hidden in a corner.

We spent some time settling down and ordering Taobao. I always see people on social media traveling to China, ordering a ton of Taobao to their hotel room and then video themselves unboxing. I duno how much postage savings there would be, but I want to do the same too! I attempted to order while in Singapore but the Taobao app, which is in Chinese, is so hard to navigate. Auntie TL helped and reminded that we had to find suppliers who can deliver to our next hotel before we leave Shenzhen. It took us some time but mission accomplished.

Bcos our hotel was so far from everything and AI said that there are shopping and pampering services at the Huafa snow resort beyond just snowboarding and skiing, we headed to the resort as per the original plan. AI has a disclaimer that they are not always right. Ya, this was the situation. 

The mall was deserted. Many of the shops were in the midst of preparations for their opening. We found lunch at a HKG 茶餐厅. There were more food but we were too hungry to wait for everything to be served for photos. It was 5pm, we missed lunch and the bfast on plane was almost nothing.

Huafa was a disappointment. We walked around a little, agreed that there is really nothing and went on to our next destination - OH Bay, which was 35 mins drive away along the coastal road. The driver was very chatty and we entertained each other for the ride.

At least AI didn’t fail us this time. We opted to go in the evening too, when the weather is cooler. The must 打卡 book store. 

You won’t believe it, but we played the floor is lava. It was a 15 mins game and when we were done, the humidity hit me and I was dripping sweat. Workout clocked.

Bcos it was so hot, we had to get ice coffee. 

Then we went to look at the night views and the ferries wheel. 

There were quite some shops to browse, and we bought some clothes and trinkets. It was about 9pm when we decided to head back. Luckily we came to OH Bay or our 1st day would be so wasted. I don’t know if it was the heat or we had too much during the early dinner but we were still full and nobody was interested in supper or even snacks. Yes, I rejected Auntie TL’s invite to buy snack. We did buy a couple of small bread/ biscuits in prep of the class tomorrow morning. What we also did was laundry, free de.

It was already past midnight when we finally turned in. At least we only need to wake up past 7am tomorrow. Good night. 

Mummy Lim

Shenzhen with TL: Day 0, Flight Cancelled!

A couple of months back, Auntie TL asked if I am keen to go on a trip with her. Her in-laws are from HKG and had invited QQ to do the National Day long weekend with them in HKG. After she “sent” QQ to them, she would have a few free days. Of all the aunties, I would be one of the few who have a lot of flexibility. I still have a fair bit of leave to clear and the kids are independent. We booked the flight once Daddy Lim gave me the green light. 

Usually, I would be busy with researching and booking and planning the route from point to point. This round, the burden is shared and we do our part proactively. We didn’t even need to split the work - whoever has time would do whatever there is. I was keen to do the HKG trip bcos I got to know that Shenzhen now has the world’s biggest indoor ski and snowboard resort. I told Auntie TL that she can decide on any itinerary, my only request is to do snowboarding. I can even do it myself and meet her thereafter. I would be even happier if I can do 2 days of snowboarding! 

My original thoughts for HKG would include a hike, cycling and some neighbourhood/ island exploring but I wondered if these are doable in summer. It would be very hot and likely very wet. After much research, Auntie TL decided that she would join me in the snow resort; she and QQ would take skiing class, in prep of their year end winter trip. I got companions! We also totally switched our plan to do only Shenzhen as we have both done HKG many times in the past. 

Packing commenced over the weekend. There would be a fair bit of traveling and hotel change, thus we are traveling light. Packing has to start early bcos I was in Jakarta for work trip on Monday, back on Wednesday late night, work Thursday morning and jet off on Thursday afternoon again. Woohoo! I barely got to see Daddy Lim and the kids the entire week. 

Bcos we were doing Shenzhen, it was good that we both did the planning bcos it is not easy to find information about China in Google and most stuff are in Chinese. It is very tiring to read so many Chinese words and trying to find addresses in Chinese is nightmare. We ended up finding videos for information on Tik Tok and Red Note bcos I lazy. I am also so appreciative of the power of AI. We simply copy and paste the drafted itinerary, then AI told us that the logistics was crap and suggested adjustments. We refined the plan until AI agreed that it would work.

My morning started with saying “hi” to the kids before I miss them again for the next 4 days. They went to school and I rushed in a Bodycombat class, packing in a workout before the start of a trip that would probably involved a lot of eating. We should burn some calories 1st and also not eat so much if we can. Zzzzzz. I try. 

Daddy Lim had a dental appointment, took an off day and could send me home for my 8.30am call. I was just fretting over how to get home from Paragon in 30 mins. 

I had a busy morning, squeezing in another laundry load, vacuuming before Xiaomi did the mopping and completed the packing. Bcos the packing was done so haphazardly, I am not surprised if I missed anything. All I need would be my passport, my cc and my phone. I will just buy whatever I missed from Shenzhen. 

We arranged to meet at 2pm. The flight was supposed to be taking off from T4. I was so hungry. We met for lunch and cleared immigration. All smooth and easy. Yup, we packed light. HKG, here we come! Or so we thought.

It was a turnaround flight and there was a slight delay. We boarded soon after and were comfortably seated. Before long, the plane started moving and I was thinking to myself that the stewardess were very effective. 

But, the plane didn’t take off. An announcement came that the plane had to turn back bcos of some technical issues and the technicians had to check them out. 

We sat in the plane for 3 hours! After each hour, we would be informed that the technicians were still trying to figure out the problem. After 2 hours, they distributed snacks. I was hungry but would have preferred to be in the air than this fee snack pack.

At the end of the 3rd hour, the Captain said that the problem cannot be resolved and we had to disembark the plane. The staff at the counter would help us after we get off the plane. 

What greeted us at the counter was what we saw in movies. There were long Qs and people were crowding the tiny counter. Very little information was passed out. It was chaotic. I stood around to eavesdrop and knew that the next flight at 8.05pm was full. The business class and Diamond Club passengers were served 1st. The remaining commoners simply had to Q and wait. 

It was a long wait. While waiting, we were trying to figure out if the travel insurance would cover. It wouldn’t, bcos the cancellation was due to the flight mechanical fault. We should claim from the airline instead. What we could claim from insurance is flight delay.

When we were finally near to the end of the line, we received a SMS to inform that we are booked on the 7.20am flight tomorrow. Instead of heading home, we asked for a night’s stay at the hotel. We got the ask, as well as free taxi to the hotel. 

Here we were, walking dejectedly to exit immigration.

We were assigned to Aloft Hotel, which is near Zhongshan Mall. That is super near home actually. The room is decent and I get a big bed.

We are starving. The hotel would have provided us free food but their kitchen had closed at 10pm. We got MacD instead. #comfortfood

Our flight is at 7.20am and we would leave at 5am. Fingers crossed that everything would be ok tomorrow. 

Mummy Lim