Hainan Island Trip | Day 1

Dad booked us (Mom, himself and I) 3 air tickets to Hainan Island, China, for our family trip. =)

We left for Hainan Island on 4th of December, 2010. It was a 6.55am flight and we had to be there before 4am for the check-in.

We reached LCCT at around 3am and we could see a lot of passengers sleeping on the floor.

And that included me. It was just so torturing! Feeling like I was having some pillow talk with my sistas back in Uni and the only difference is that there was no one to talk to this time.

4am, checking in.

We boarded Air Asia Flight AK… (So sorry to say that I couldn’t remember what flight number we took) at around 7am.

I was starving to death already when they finally decided to serve breakfast. Nasi lemak, I think it was a very small pack of Nasi Lemak for a starving young lady!

It took us 3 hours to reach the island.

Our tour guide, Guo You, was at the airport welcoming our arrival. =)

And this was the mini bus which was incharged to fetch us around the island for 6 days 5 nights. =)

Our first destination of the day was of course lunch! (I was again VERY hungry then)

There were a lot of dishes served for our lunch and most of them were vegetables!

I really felt like I was having a vegetarian meal. =.=

This was my favorite dish, Dong Fun (glass noodles)!

Spotted this cute motor outside the restaurant. =)

The highway in Hainan Island looked kind of similar to the ones in Malaysia.

Loved the farms!

But I enjoyed the scenery in Hainan more! =)

Next stop: Hou Cheng Coffee Cultural Recreation Tourism Zone

It was a really nice place for families to hang out during weekends.

I really like the place very much.

Fresh air, green garden, a pond for you to fish and also a nice place for you to drink coffee. =)

Green land.

Coffee hut number 1.

Coffee hut number 2.

These were really rarely seen pictures for me. I never see families gather around a small pond to fish while drinking coffee in Malaysia. Hainanese, really know how to relax!

And I found it kind of weird to have a family living inside this coffee house.

And there were vegetables planted …

and also ducks around??

Amazing! A small farm in a coffee house! =)

Third Stop: Millennium ancient salt fields (千年古盐田景区)

It has more than 1,200 years of history, an area of 750 acres of existing salt fields, more than 1,000 different forms of rock salt tank. Unbelievable!

The landscape was really unique with its natural beauty! =)

Look at this amazing scenery, don’t you just love it?

Guo You, our tour guide, explaining about the production of salt by the locals at this ancient salt fields.

Here are some photos of the salt:

I can’t tell any difference between the salt made in Malaysia and this, can you?

The local kids were there, trying very hard to sell their specially packed salt for RM5 a pack. I don’t know why do tourists want to buy salt from China.. And I don’t think any tourist will buy…

And I don’t understand why my dad bought one packet from them??? =.=

And I think the kids loved him more after he became their customer.

Forth Stop: Dong Po Academy (东坡书院)

It is a historical building which is located in the small town named Danzhou.

It was built to honor a very famous commemorate the Northern Song Dynasty writer, Su Dong Puo (苏东坡).

The entrance.

It has a very nice garden, with a pond right after the entrance and a small hut for you to sit and relax.

A very “China-ish” looking pond.

I really love the green surroundings. I want that big tree on the left in my garden when I have my own house! =)

     

The main hall with a statue of Su Dong Po.

Honestly, I never heard of this name before. Dad was very thrilled about the place and asked me if I had learn about him during my history classes. Em.. No, all I remember learning from my history classes were Parameswara, Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat. Thanks to the Education System in Malaysia, I  have no idea about Chinese history at all.

And also, the name “Su Dong Po” would only make me hungry as it reminded me of the dish Dong Po meat (东坡肉 )

Yum yum yum…

Eh hem, anyway, he was very famous lah..

The classroom.

He was also a teacher back then, teaching the kids of the parents who let him stayed at their residence.

Statue of Su Dong Po teaching.

Another statue of Su Dong Po.

I wasn’t interested in knowing about him though. I spent most of my time admiring the architecture of the building and also the garden while my tour guide was explaining the story of him.

     

Love the doors.

 

Tress which are more than 250 years old.

How did they live for so long??

 

Lovely Hibiscus.

A well in the middle of the garden.

But the public toilet was a little scary to me..

The toilet, very simple looking.

We could actually see who was inside the toilet. Damn awkward and I don’t like it at all. =.=

Here are some photos of us: =)

♥ Mom and I ♥

      

♥ Dad and Mom ♥

I love this picture of mom very much! =)

Final Stop of The Day: Hainan Blue Ocean Spa Resort (海南蓝洋温泉度假村)

It is the scariest hotel or resort that I’ve ever stayed in my life!

The main entrance.

It is located in the middle of no where actually. No shops around. All you could see were trees and trees…

The tour guide told us that this was the best hotel in that area and it was rated as a 3-star hotel. REALLY?? I really doubt about it. I think it should be re-rated as 1.5 star hotel.

The hot spring.

The reception.

The hotel is actually quite old and not well maintained. There were no lifts and we needed to climbed up 2 floors with our heavy luggage to our room. And the room.. was a little bit eerie for me. =.=

And I won’t dare to look out of the balcony in the middle of the night. You will know what I mean when you look at these:

An empty building.

An empty big pool.

Nothing-much-to-see garden.

From the pictures you may think that everything looked fine but it’s the energy there that made me feel uneasy. I don’t know what it was. But I would never go back to the hotel.

The scary long corridor outside my room.

So that basically made my first day in Hainan Island.

Three of us slept at 8pm that night. Haha. That was just too early!