Gobi March Part 1- From Dusk to Dawn

Beep...Beep...Beep...the alarm rang at 5am on 5th June that morning. For some reason, sleeping was difficult the night before. In my mind, i was filled with excitement and apprehension. Questions such as "Have i bring everything i need", "Is the food enough", "Have i train enough for this" etc..Hurriedly, i woke up and went through my bag one last time. After which, i went and prepared myself to head off to the airport. In the car, there was some silence and i knew my wife was worried for my latest insane activity. Although for the past few months, she has been very encouraging and supportive, i knew that she had been praying hard for me, "God, bring him back one piece to me and our children". I couldn't bring myself to say anything to her at that moment as i was afraid i would hurt her.

TiTi...my phone beeped twice. It was Tian Yew who asked me if i have left. I replied no and arriving soon. Lam texted me and said counter 8 to check in. I thanked my father-in-law for driving us to the airport and he wished me good luck. Check-in was smooth and no excess baggages. Surprising, my check-in bag weighed only 16kg. We looked around and was surprised that we did not see other fellow Singaporeans on same flight. We headed to one of the cafes in T1 and had wanton noodles. We took some pictures with Tian Yew. Soon, it was time to board the gates. I hugged my wife tightly and we prayed together for our safety(She was also leaving for Taiwan in next few days). I waved at her as i walked and the image of her grew smaller as i walked further. Before baording the plane, i called her last time and thanked her.




It was an 3:45hrs flight to HK. Managed to catch the movie, Vantage Point. Was surprised that Steven was enjoying all the free Heineken Beers in the plane and i snapped a picture of him. Very soon, we touched down in HK airport. We have 1.5hrs transit and we hanged around in the departure area till our next boarding time to Beijing.



Again, another 3.5hrs to Beijing. Entertainment sucked! I missed SIA! Oh well, i "forced" myself to catch some sleep. I was so happy that we landed at Beijing aiport. I was surprised that airport was almost empty. Isn't the date near Olympics? Where are the people? Immigration officers were friendly and efficient. Soon, we were out of the transit and in the arrival hall. Quick check with the Info counter, she scribbled our hotel in Chinese. We took a cab, boy, the driver was totally lost and had to stop passing vehicles and people to ask directions. By God's grace, we found our hotel (Sino Swiss) in 15 minutes, amist of our aimless wandering!

Our airport hotel was in the middle of a self contained town. Many interesting shops, supermarkets and restaurants nearby. We came across a huge SPA centre and went in for a full body massage. Dirt cheap! RMB88 for 1.5hrs. The back massage was good and the rest was crap. Went for a real authentic chinese dinner that had pork, fish and veggies. Went back airport to retire early and have a flight to catch to Urumqi in the morning.



To be continued!