There was a choice to be made still thou. Yading famous scenic spot located at the southeren spot of Dao Cheng County where one could see snowcap mountains along beautiful valleys and crystal clear blue ponds.
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| A Local Tibetian Buddist Temple in Yading |
The offical name is the Three Hue Snow Mountain which has a AAAAA grade tourist attraction. The catch, one would need to take the local bus up to the starting point, pay the entry fee and bus fee to almost RMB 370 and then hike along a short path or long path depending on one’s choice to see the scenic view.
When I heard Bus, I checked the road and route and gave it a hard pass as I saw the similar crazy winding roads that we got to Yading on motorbike. Bike I have control but bus .... the fear of motion sickness made the decision easy for me. The view however was something I would just have to come back another day eventually and push through the fear. Next time.
The other motivating factor was the heavy cloudy weather during the day. I was skeptical that one can see a snowcap mountain during this kinda of weather. The crew that went was only 4 out of 16 of us. Bing brought them into the scenic area as a guide while the rest of us just chilled at Yading town.
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| Exploring Yading Town |
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| Exploring Yading Town |
Yading became a split with me Seapirate and Bullet exploring together while the rest followed Captain in the begining but eventually all split up to go shopping for souviniours on their own. The hunt was on for stickers for the bikes without even anyone asking. First shop and the first nice shirt showing Route 318 was an immediate buy for Bullet and Seapirate.
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| Route Marker G318 which was how the sticker looked like. |
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| Locals Motorbike with so much Blings .... Unfortunately we could not find any of the blings for sale. |
I became the designated translater/bargain negotiator ever pressing down the price. The boys did a good job to linger on as well while I sweet talk the girls for lower price. Every now and then they make a grunted face while telling me in malay that its so cheap .. ok la ... but never suddenly cutting off the negotiation process dragging the time out to see how much lower the price can go.
In the end we got some great deals for when Captain gang met up an hour later we found out that they got chopped. Not much different but still a win is a win. Sticker was the biggest hunt in a way. Almost every shop has them now that we know how the sticker looks like. It could be seen pasted on windows, tables etc to draw attention of the customers. The stickers however were huge. They were meant to be stick to cars and pick up truck.
After 4 shops the guys gave up, and while I still kept going into shop to browse for no reason, out of the blue one of the shop had the petite size stickers, fully reflective 3M type and not those cheap printed stickers. I had to ask before the guy dipped his hand under the table to bring it out. I gave Bullet and Seapirate which was sitting outsite a glimpse and they jumped and ran into the shop.
The negotiation was hard this time for they could not keep their excitement contained. I decided to do a different way and go for quantity bulk discount instead. Thinking they would only have like 10 stickers at most, I asked for the guy to take out every single stock he had. My thinking was between Seapirate, me and Bullet .. we could easily eat up the whole stock. The guy fumble under the table and said no more .. only left this four ... AH .... suddenly he found the hidden stack ... and a thick stack of stickers was still in play.
Bullet thinking he could sell the stickers to the rest of the group bought 10 pcs.. I bought 2 and Khairul bought 2. Price bargained down was 7 Yuan ... and that price sticked throughout for the rest that manage to find the shop later in the day as well. Bullet plan fail as the other gang was very meticulate never giving up and asking at every single shop. Rather he said his plan was wrong .... he should have whacked the entire sticker collection to monopolized it,.
Moving on we saw a silver shop with the locals setting up fire and moulds for the production of craft. I could not help myself but walk in for a visit. Seapirate eventually kept asking about bracelet and so happen his wife called which I said Hi being his roomate. When Bullet and me was ready to go he was still hanging around trying to ask with english to the shop on price.
In the end we got some great deals for when Captain gang met up an hour later we found out that they got chopped. Not much different but still a win is a win. Sticker was the biggest hunt in a way. Almost every shop has them now that we know how the sticker looks like. It could be seen pasted on windows, tables etc to draw attention of the customers. The stickers however were huge. They were meant to be stick to cars and pick up truck.
After 4 shops the guys gave up, and while I still kept going into shop to browse for no reason, out of the blue one of the shop had the petite size stickers, fully reflective 3M type and not those cheap printed stickers. I had to ask before the guy dipped his hand under the table to bring it out. I gave Bullet and Seapirate which was sitting outsite a glimpse and they jumped and ran into the shop.
The negotiation was hard this time for they could not keep their excitement contained. I decided to do a different way and go for quantity bulk discount instead. Thinking they would only have like 10 stickers at most, I asked for the guy to take out every single stock he had. My thinking was between Seapirate, me and Bullet .. we could easily eat up the whole stock. The guy fumble under the table and said no more .. only left this four ... AH .... suddenly he found the hidden stack ... and a thick stack of stickers was still in play.
Bullet thinking he could sell the stickers to the rest of the group bought 10 pcs.. I bought 2 and Khairul bought 2. Price bargained down was 7 Yuan ... and that price sticked throughout for the rest that manage to find the shop later in the day as well. Bullet plan fail as the other gang was very meticulate never giving up and asking at every single shop. Rather he said his plan was wrong .... he should have whacked the entire sticker collection to monopolized it,.
Moving on we saw a silver shop with the locals setting up fire and moulds for the production of craft. I could not help myself but walk in for a visit. Seapirate eventually kept asking about bracelet and so happen his wife called which I said Hi being his roomate. When Bullet and me was ready to go he was still hanging around trying to ask with english to the shop on price.
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| Silversmiths Just Casting some ingots while the Sun is Out. |
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| Silvercrafting in Process |
Sensing he was really interested I became a translater ... then bargain negotiator ... price was 12 yuan per gram. And I translated it wrong as 12 yuan for the whole comb. The comb ended up becoming 600 yuan and it was a no go. Eventually I bargain the price to be 10.5 yuan a gram. Seapirate slipped a nice bracelet into his pocket and we were onwards to the next shopping shop
Along the way we stopped many shop really, and I had the opportunity to speak to many of the shopkeeper which were locals trying to ply their goods while the husband or friends collects and makes them at some other place. Seapirate and Bullet bag a few more stuff along the way while my small haul was stamps from the post office.
We eventually split up a bit for I wanted to find different food in Yading. There was only one Halal muslim food restaurant in Yading hence for two dinners and lunch the whole gang would be there.
Along the way we stopped many shop really, and I had the opportunity to speak to many of the shopkeeper which were locals trying to ply their goods while the husband or friends collects and makes them at some other place. Seapirate and Bullet bag a few more stuff along the way while my small haul was stamps from the post office.
We eventually split up a bit for I wanted to find different food in Yading. There was only one Halal muslim food restaurant in Yading hence for two dinners and lunch the whole gang would be there.
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| Splitting from the Group let me to this .... Black Chicken Noodle |
After dinner I took a walk and passed by the restaurant. I could see inside and some of the crew was there for their dinner. Seeing the panic on the girls face ( the family had a pretty young daughter working as a waitress ) I decided to walk in to help out.
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| The Only Halal Restaurant in Yading |
Earlier that day during lunch when I ate there with Seapirate and Bullet, Bullet asked for a photo with her using hand gesture. No translation required but the understanding send her running into the kitchen to hide and not coming out for a while. Her face light up with a smile so wide when she saw me outside knowing that I could speak mandarin and some of the crew already inside, immediately latch onto me for translation to order things they like or more like customizing their orders.
Only the second day and they were out of things to try in the menu. I had to slowly custom the menu base on request and ability of the restaurant to fix dinner. Before I could run, another group came in, and I was dragged by her to the next table, and another group (Captain) came in ... and I was dragged as well. Captain told me to go away that he could handle it ... less than a minute later the girl came running to me and drag me back to Captain table, which I told him, she could not understand you. I asked her then, if she would hire me to work here. All i got was a shy smile with no answer.
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| My modified dish, Chinese Style Speggeti with Lamb and Potatoes |
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| The Crew In the Restaurant ... |
Everyones food ordered and delivered, I bid my farewell to the girl but I was scolded by her. What happens when they need to pay the bill? Who is going to help explain and translate? They keep walking around switching places, taking stuff .. ordering takeaway but I have no idea who will pay for what item? You sit down and dont go.
I got stuck at that restaurant for 3 hours ... at least there was free tea.
When the last of the crew finally left the restaurant, looking back I could see the family finally slump into chairs with a sigh ... it was a tough crowd and I gave a smile for we Malaysian do love our food.
Traveld on: Jun 2023
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