We wish you a Merry Christmas… We wish you a Merry Christmas… We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Honestly speaking, although we are very lucky to see it snowed today in Harbin, the Christmas atmosphere isn’t as great as Singapore. Is it that I am over patriotic or that it is the simple truth?

I am really grateful that the horrendous day didn’t follow me through to Christmas day and the itinerary for the day is considered slack. We went to this famous river in Harbin to watch people swim in the icy waters at such freezing temperature. These swimmers are really powerful! I had both the polyester and cotton thermal wear on plus my jeans and I still felt chilly. Can you imagine yourself in bathing suits walking a distance comparable to the distance between the Cathay and Dhoby Ghaut MRT station? That’s what they did! They walked from this building that I supposed is their resting place to the pool. The pool is actually a rectangular area dug out from the frozen river. All of us, spectators were standing on the frozen river, watching them as they plunged into the arctic waters and swarm around like it was summer.

Then, we went to the Church of St. Sophia in Harbin which was one of the oldest Catholic churches. However, they are of a different faction from the usual Roman Catholic churches we see in Singapore. They belonged to this faction known as the Russian Orthodox and pardon me if I am wrong, another name will be the Scandinavian or Eastern Orthodox. The cross is obviously very different from the Roman Catholics whose crosses are usually plain cross or cross with Jesus on it.

This is a picture of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic cross.

We were brought to a shop which sells Russian folk toys and other related products. They sell Russian chocolates, coffee, Matryoshka or better known as Nesting dolls and other handicrafts like jewelry boxes in metal, porcelain and wood.

This is a nesting doll. There is a fable behind this toy. It is said that a poor young boy went out to hunt and beg for food one winter day as his younger sister was very hungry. After begging and walking for a day in the brittle cold, he still didn’t get any food. What’s more? When he reached home, he realized that his sister was gone and he was filled with remorse. He shouldn’t have left his sister alone. He should have brought her along with him. So everyday, he carved a doll out of wood in regret and hope for his sister to be safe. Each day, the size of the wooden doll got smaller. However, all the dolls had a hollow interior. On the ninth day, miraculously, his sister walked back home, safe and sound. To celebrate this, he decided to keep the last tiny doll solid and full. Due to this fable, many also believe that this doll can be used as a wishing doll.

We were then let loose at it’s city square to shop but it was too cold for me to want to wander around. So we hid in a KFC and munched on. An observation which is unrelated to anything that I have mentioned before, Harbin people seemed to prefer Audi cars. Apparently, I didn’t spot any BMWs or Mercedes. The closest to that range is Audi. How come an area so richly influenced by the Russians are deeply in love with German cars? Anyway, dinner was pretty exciting!

We had dinner at this ice palace at Harbin’s Shangri-La. It is the only Shangri-La that takes in tour groups. It was at Shangri-La that my parents told us that we requested to stay at Shangri-La but we sent in our reservations too late and it couldn’t take us in. =( Sob sob!

Dinner was steamboat in the a pot each style in an igloo. It’s damn cool! It was a nice experience and although I was dreading the cold before I entered, I come to love it by the end. They even have a bar in the ice palace filled with ice stools and tables. So pretty! It was a really good experience!

Well, it’s late and I am tired from typing out what I wrote during my trip. I regretted not bringing my laptop as internet access via data cable was available in motels and hotels in China. Arrgghhh… If I had brought my laptop, I wouldn’t need to write and scribble on paper. I shall update my next two days in Shanghai tomorrow and put up my Harbin pictures soon.

On Boxing day (26th Dec), we flew off to Shanghai at noon and reached Shanghai at 5plus in the evening.

amor,esperanza y fe 12:33 AM.

We wish you a Merry Christmas… We wish you a Merry Christmas… We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Honestly speaking, although we are very lucky to see it snowed today in Harbin, the Christmas atmosphere isn’t as great as Singapore. Is it that I am over patriotic or that it is the simple truth?

I am really grateful that the horrendous day didn’t follow me through to Christmas day and the itinerary for the day is considered slack. We went to this famous river in Harbin to watch people swim in the icy waters at such freezing temperature. These swimmers are really powerful! I had both the polyester and cotton thermal wear on plus my jeans and I still felt chilly. Can you imagine yourself in bathing suits walking a distance comparable to the distance between the Cathay and Dhoby Ghaut MRT station? That’s what they did! They walked from this building that I supposed is their resting place to the pool. The pool is actually a rectangular area dug out from the frozen river. All of us, spectators were standing on the frozen river, watching them as they plunged into the arctic waters and swarm around like it was summer.

Then, we went to the Church of St. Sophia in Harbin which was one of the oldest Catholic churches. However, they are of a different faction from the usual Roman Catholic churches we see in Singapore. They belonged to this faction known as the Russian Orthodox and pardon me if I am wrong, another name will be the Scandinavian or Eastern Orthodox. The cross is obviously very different from the Roman Catholics whose crosses are usually plain cross or cross with Jesus on it.

This is a picture of the Eastern Orthodox Catholic cross.

We were brought to a shop which sells Russian folk toys and other related products. They sell Russian chocolates, coffee, Matryoshka or better known as Nesting dolls and other handicrafts like jewelry boxes in metal, porcelain and wood.

This is a nesting doll. There is a fable behind this toy. It is said that a poor young boy went out to hunt and beg for food one winter day as his younger sister was very hungry. After begging and walking for a day in the brittle cold, he still didn’t get any food. What’s more? When he reached home, he realized that his sister was gone and he was filled with remorse. He shouldn’t have left his sister alone. He should have brought her along with him. So everyday, he carved a doll out of wood in regret and hope for his sister to be safe. Each day, the size of the wooden doll got smaller. However, all the dolls had a hollow interior. On the ninth day, miraculously, his sister walked back home, safe and sound. To celebrate this, he decided to keep the last tiny doll solid and full. Due to this fable, many also believe that this doll can be used as a wishing doll.

We were then let loose at it’s city square to shop but it was too cold for me to want to wander around. So we hid in a KFC and munched on. An observation which is unrelated to anything that I have mentioned before, Harbin people seemed to prefer Audi cars. Apparently, I didn’t spot any BMWs or Mercedes. The closest to that range is Audi. How come an area so richly influenced by the Russians are deeply in love with German cars? Anyway, dinner was pretty exciting!

We had dinner at this ice palace at Harbin’s Shangri-La. It is the only Shangri-La that takes in tour groups. It was at Shangri-La that my parents told us that we requested to stay at Shangri-La but we sent in our reservations too late and it couldn’t take us in. =( Sob sob!

Dinner was steamboat in the a pot each style in an igloo. It’s damn cool! It was a nice experience and although I was dreading the cold before I entered, I come to love it by the end. They even have a bar in the ice palace filled with ice stools and tables. So pretty! It was a really good experience!

Well, it’s late and I am tired from typing out what I wrote during my trip. I regretted not bringing my laptop as internet access via data cable was available in motels and hotels in China. Arrgghhh… If I had brought my laptop, I wouldn’t need to write and scribble on paper. I shall update my next two days in Shanghai tomorrow and put up my Harbin pictures soon.

On Boxing day (26th Dec), we flew off to Shanghai at noon and reached Shanghai at 5plus in the evening.