Finally, after a seven hours of flight from Singapore to Korea Incheon and again twelve hours of flight, we arrived at San Francisco airport, transiting again to Las Vegas. The body clock is totally out of order right now, as it is midnight in Singapore, but day time in USA. The worst part of it was there was many turbulences throughout our flight to San Francisco, there wasn't much chance we could get a good rest. First thing of all after landing, find a place to smoke.....

A hard ride for hardcore smokers, staying on plane for more than 10 hours without a smoke. Unfortunately, there wasn't a smoking corner inside the airport and we have to exit from the waiting area to outside. At last a breath of fresh air outside the airport. Really cool weather. Seems like there are upgrading the airport at the moment. Perhaps a new control tower at the back ?

Queuing up and re-entry into the airport really exhaust me. After a day long of flight without a good rest, I am starting to feel fatigue, but how could I sleep in such broad daylight ? Yawns. Transit flight to Las Vegas is slightly delayed so better close my eyes and take a power nap.

Boarded the plane and just another one hour we will be reaching Las Vegas, ending my twenty over hours of ride in the high skies. Nice weather, hope the flight too will be good.

Believe this ? Virgin America really found a good way to package their plane. Cool lighting. What is more cool is their own Virgin America safety video, really creativity way to catch one's attention. Good bye San Francisco, I will back again for my one day stopover soon. 

China Lane is a historical and cultural district of Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The entire area is generally classified into three different streets that run along in east-west direction and the moss northern lane to the most southern lane are named Kuan Xiang Zi (Wide Alley), Zhai Xiang Zi (Narrow Alley) and Jing Xiang Zi (Roadway Alley) respectively. These alleys used to be the residence area for the famous Eight Banners during the Qing Dynasty. Since 2007, Chengdu has started to transform the alleys, relocating more than 900 households and over 50 courtyards. Furthermore, the government has done 30,000 square meters floor restoration and building alteration and repair and incorporating a 11,000 square meters underground parking facility. It was reopen in 14th June 2008 and consist of many cultural dining, leisure shops, etc.

While the alles has formed a cultural showcase to the ancient Chengdu tourist destination, it eventually won the "China's creative industry projects Achievement Award in 2008 and Commercial pedestrian street with Chinese characteristics n 2009. Below are some photos of the 3 alleys which I took during my very short trip.

Jing Xiang Zi Alley （井巷子）

Zhai Xiang Zi （窄巷子）

Kuan Xiang Zi（宽巷子）

Sitting right in the centre of the shopping parade square was a statue of Mr. Sun Yat Sen, the political figure that has direct influence in the China revolution.


Long stretch of shops lined along both side of the street while there are sights that more shopping centres are upcoming with the current construction. Meanwhile if you have noticed, most of the brands which they are selling are domestic brands except for a few shops like MacDonalds and Giordano. Hotels are shelved together with the shops as well so it is easily accessible for tourists to stay in the city without worrying about shopping and food. Prices for fashion are not that expensive, especially since winter seasons are ending soon, there are a lot of clearance sales ongoing. 

This restaurant has been promoted as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), which mainly focus on their aspects of culture. While the main culture this restaurant is keeping is the traditional dish that they are making with beef and cow's internal organs.

During the 1930s, when poor people are not well fed and their body was in very weak condition. There was one physician, by the surname of Luo empathy on the scene of these poor people decided to gather herbs to concoct medical soup for these people. In the meanwhile, he saw that those from rich families are throwing away the internal organs of the ox away and he thought it is a waste that these are not being eaten by anyone thus putting the internal organs into the medical soup and boil together. To his surprise, the soup tasted fantastic and with the help of the herbs, it aids in curing and prevent illness in these poor people. Soon after, words spread and people from all over came to taste the soup. While the poor people are not well educated, they crossed their legs while eating the dish thus the name "翘脚牛肉" was formed.

翘脚 = Crossing of legs
牛肉 = Beef

The Leshan Giant Buddha statue is located at the Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area an has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. Standing at 71 meters in height and shoulder width of 28 meters wide, it is the largest stone Buddha in the world as well as by far the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. The statue depicts a seated Maitreya Buddha with his hands resting on his knees, meaning stability. One of the local saying that "The mountain is a Buddha and the Buddha is a mountain". It oversees the the Minjian, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province, though the water looks calms on top, there are turbulence current beneath that claims many lives while people tries to swim in it.