weekleegeography

[weekleegeography]

How I Kinda Almost Died From Skiing.

Hi there! I have come to realize that I have not been typing for a while.

So here is another story of how I nearly died from skiing.

Wait? Skiing? In Malaysia? Hot weather? Of course not. It was in Harbin, China. I visited there in October 2017 for a study trip.

A quick introduction to this place. Harbin Wanda Indoor Ski and Winter Sports Resort is the world’s largest indoor ski resort. It opened its doors on 30th June 2017, which makes my visit only a mere 4 months from the time they opened. Have you heard of Harbin? It’s the capital of the Heilongjiang Province of China. It is known for its ice festival during winter because its cold is on another planet. The autumn in Harbin is as cold as winter in many places.

[A map of Wanda Indoor Ski and WInter Sports Resort]

Anyways, the locals thought of bringing us to ski as they know that hot Malaysia has no ski and it will be a great activity to kill time. Off we ventured to the indoor ski and we had a great time!

[Whee~ Four Malaysians not having a clue on what we are doing]

We went to the “beginner” slope, and we took some time to slowly understand the physics of skiing. It is much harder than we thought. We learned the basics of moving and braking. All is well, and all is cool. After skiing around the beginner slope for two rounds, we were slightly better with skiing.

[Beginner’s Slope]

My brain then spoke to me “Hey Henri, do you want to be a retard and shit in your pants by going up to the highest slope with your incompetency of not knowing how to ski at all?”

.

.

.

OH, HELL YES LET’S GO.

Bear in mind that I really only had two rounds of skiing at the beginner slope as my only experience in skiing and here I was with my friend, Wee Lee, thinking to go to the highest slope. Although it is not the most extreme slope in the resort, forgive me. I’m a Malaysian with literally zero experience in skiing.

 “Wee Lee, are you sure that we can go up to the highest? We don’t have much experience. Should we take it slo-“

Whoops. The chairlift scooped us to our seat and started bringing us up.

As we went up higher, I looked down and realized that we did make a mistake. Everything starts to look smaller. I then looked ahead and saw that we are nearing the destination. However, I realized that the chairlift does not get slower at the destination, unlike cable cars.

“Wee Lee, how do we get down from this chair?” I asked.

“Don’t worry too much. See that guy in front? He placed his legs down as he reaches and let the force from the chairlift glide him through the tracks. We just follow what he does,” he replied.

When we reached up, we tried doing the same thing, only to succumbed to Wee Lee slipping and falling. “WE ARE SO GONNA DIE MAN YO” I started screaming.

We then skied to the starting line of the slope and holy moly I was petrified.

It looks like a vertical dropdown. It is unlike anything I have seen before. I just stared down at my inevitable doom. I have no idea how to get down. There is no other way but to ski down.

That was when a person-in-charge came to us and asked if we knew how to ski. I told him the truth that we have never skied before. He was a little upset that we are here because it is not for beginners. I apologized to him and asked him how we can escape here. He told us that we can only ski down. There is no other option. He then proceeded to ski down. What a show-off.

Wee Lee then decided to try skiing down first. I watched in horror as he started flying down and rolling down the slope. I realized that there was another person beside me who also similarly watched his friend rolling down the slope. I then looked at that man, and he looked back at me.

He then asked me “Brother, have you skied before?”

“No. Have you?” I replied.

“No, I have not too.” He replied.

 We then laughed. “Ah brother, this is where we will die.”

“Good luck man. I’ll go down first”, he said.

 “You got this!” I encouraged him.

He then started skiing down and I too watched him stumbling and falling.

I then watched how many pro skiers go down in a zig-zag rather than straight down. I then figured out that if I moved zig-zag, I won’t ski down as fast. I then slowly tried and purposely drop myself to the snow as soon as I approached one side of the slope. I then picked myself up, and slowly turned my ski to the other side, and proceed to do the same thing. I remembered there was once I accidentally placed my ski straight down and I instantly started flying down. I literally thought I left my intestines behind. I had to drop myself down so that I do not fly further. 

I think it took me a solid 20 minutes to eventually reach down to the base. The rest of my friends who did not participate in our nonsense saw my mortified face. Wee Lee sustained a little injury and he told me that as he was trying to slow down, he accidentally flung the ski pole out from the track.

As mortified as I was, I was actually quite proud that I went through the challenge. I’m quite proud of myself that I did not back down and went through it. We then proceeded to end the session and got out of the skiing resort.

With that experience that I had, many might as if I will still ski in the future?

.

.

.

…………. Oh, hell yes let’s go!  

[Skiing is fun!]

Summary: Me having almost zero experience of skiing decided to go to the highest slope in the world’s largest indoor ski resort and really struggled going down as it was literally one of the scariest thing I have done in my life.

[weekleegeography]

9 Items (+1 Bonus) to Bring During Travelling

As you do something over and over again, you become better at it as you make mistakes and learn from it. You discover ways to make a task more efficient. I am far away from being a travel expert, but after travelling a few times, I managed to bring out a list of items that I personally feel is important to have which makes life easier during travelling. I’ll continue my quest to know even better skills and hacks, but for now, these are the lists that I have.

1) Travel Pouch You do not want to find yourself in a situation where you misplace your passport, flight ticket, or cash around your body, or even worst not even with you. You do not want to be at the immigration and panicking while desperately finding your passport with your bag and luggage. A travel pouch fixes it. Place your passport, tickets, money, and any other essential items in a pouch and secure it around your waist beneath your shirt. Not only you are sure where all the items are, but it’s 99% safe and you know that it will most likely be with you. Yeah, 99% because you’ll never know when the 1% might happen. It’s travelling, things do get wrong.

2) Pouch for toiletries If you’re travelling long and far, you may need to freshen up a little. It’s amazing to know that it can be done by brushing your teeth and wiping your body with some wet wipes. Find a pouch to store your toiletries. It makes life easier instead of placing it separately in your bag and have difficulty finding it afterwards. You may also want a waterproof pouch, cause the pressure difference when you're flying may cause your face wash/toothpaste/soap to leak out. If all else fail, you may get a plastic bag.

3) Extension Plug and Travel Adapter It's so important to know what type of plug the country you're visiting is using. The safest is to get a universal adapter. However, it is still good to do some research before you go. For people like me who has many things to charge, I'll recommend bringing an extension plug along so that you can charge multiple appliances with only one adapter. However, do check also on the capacity of the voltage so that you do not trip their circuit or destroy your appliances.

4) No belt pants If you are flying for the first time or you do not notice enough, if you are wearing a belt, you are required to take it off during immigration. It is such a hassle to take your belt off, go through the immigration, then wear it back. The best is to just wear a pant that does not require you to wear a belt. An example is sweatpants.

5) Plastic bag You will never know when you will need a plastic bag. It's such a versatile item that may help you in many situations. Mostly, it helps to deal with the situation when you get wet for some apparent reason. Otherwise, it can also be used to hold your dirty clothes. It's versatile and you can use it whenever needed.

6) Slippers I come from South-East Asia. A hot and humid place with ample rain. In Malaysia, slipper culture is so evident because it is just so convenient to wear and walk around for casual setting. In your hotel room and suddenly needing to go down to grab something at the mart? You can just wear your slippers down. I have tried wearing slippers out during cold weather in Zgorzelec, Poland (3°C) and it is still bearable. Of course, it is according to your capability. If it is unbearable, don't do it. Coming from Malaysia, slippers are some of the most useful items and I need a slipper.

7) Power bank You will most likely be out and about the whole day. Can your phone also last that long with so much picture taking, social media usage, and message communicating? High chances are that it can't. That's why a power bank is here to give your phone those extra juices. Trust me, you would not want your phone to be low on battery with no alternative to charge your phone.

8) SIM card opener pin If you are not changing your SIM card when you're travelling abroad, then it is fine to not have it. Otherwise, you may find difficulty in changing the SIM card, especially when you are returning to your home country with a foreign SIM card in your phone with no other way to take it out. I mean, you can take it out eventually when you visit any phone shop to get them to help, but if you want to change it quickly on your own, don't forget this item.

9) Ulcer management (Sanjin or Bonjela) Ulcer during a trip has got to be one of the worst ever. Not only it stops you from truly enjoying your food, but it is so uncomfortable and overall just severely reducing the quality of your travel. Therefore, the preventative perspective is of course to drink more water. However, if you happen to have it already, you can choose “Sanjin” which is a traditional Chinese medicine to cure ulcers and sore throat or “Bonjela” which masks off the pain after applying it which gives you temporary relief to eat the food without feeling any pain. Sanjin is to cure, Bonjela is to mask the pain. Oh, this is from a Malaysian perspective to cure. You will have to find out your country’s way to cure ulcers.

Covid-19 season (Face mask and sanitizer) Need no further explanation. Two of the important items to fight off Covid-19 virus.

In a nutshell, I hope that these help you a little better in travel planning. May you benefit from this blog. Thank you for reading till here! I am so sorry for not uploading often. I will try my best to upload more often! Hope you continue to stay tuned. Take care!

[weekleegeography]

Can We Travel During RMCO?

The Malaysian government has announced of Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) starting from 10th June 2020 till 31st August 2020. Here at Henri Travels, we want to answer some of the top FAQs regarding travelling during RMCO period. Here’s our summary.

1) You may now travel domestically in Malaysia as a Malaysian.

Yes, interstate travel is now allowed without having to apply from the police station starting from 10th June. However, it is worth noting that Sarawak and Sabah require Malaysians entering into these two states to undergo a covid-19 test and must be tested negative at least 3 days before coming into the state either by air, land or sea. This might have changed by the time you are reading this article, so always check with the immigration department of Sabah and Sarawak before planning your trip there!

How about international travels? Well, your dream to Paris or London will have to be put on hold first. Our borders are still closed and it is not possible to travel internationally yet. It’s good to travel domestically to improve your country’s economy!

2) Yes, you can travel with your friends.

On 12th June 2020, Minister of Defence, Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob has announced that private cars are now able to carry passengers who are not from the same family. However, be sure to follow the car’s capacity and not overload the car. Henri Travels recommend 4 people in a 5-seated car and 6 people in a 7-seated car. We have also reached out to Majlis Keselamatan Negara Facebook Page and sent them a message regarding the allowance of travelling with friends, and they have given the green lights provided that we follow the SOPs. We also recommend to not travel in such large groups. As much as we want to have fun, but remember that the fight is not over, and let us start slowly.

[Green Lights from the boss itself!]

3) Prepare these items before starting your travel.

It is the new norm, and we have compiled some lists and things that you should remember before embarking on your journey!

Download MySejahtera App

It can be used nationwide and it reduces the need for touching the pen and book to write down your particulars. Simply scan at the QR code and you're done checking in to the premise! It may be a little hassle, but it is the new norm and it greatly helps the government to trace covid-19 more effectively. You may also want to download a QR scanner app in your phone to scan other QR codes than MySejahtera. In Selangor, we called it the SELangkah app which does the same thing. 

Download this app on Google Play Store or iOS.

Remember to pack the face masks and hand sanitiser

Please remember to do this. Most shops require you to wear a face mask before entering their premises. You will most likely be stopped from entering if you don't have one with you. Not only it saves you from ruining your holiday, but also to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease to others and also reduces the risk of getting infected by others. Always sanitise your hands as well, especially after touching commonly touched items or money.

[This face mask, as in surgical face mask]

[Not this face mask, as in beauty face mask]

Always check if the place you wish to travel is open

Well, it will be a big bummer if it’s closed and you only know when you reach there. It is best also to book and pay in advance instead of the walk-in to minimise contact before starting your journey.

4) E-wallet and cards, if possible.

Money is one of the dirtiest items you can touch. It also increases your risk of spreading disease and getting infected. Therefore, it is best to go cashless. Make sure you have money in your e-wallet to be used. Of course, it is best to check with the respective place that you will be visiting as not every part of Malaysia is e-wallet friendly. Do you know that you can get RM50 from the government in your e-wallet account? Another great reason to switch to e-wallet.

Random advertisement

If you’re thinking to get a card to use, sign up for Big Pay. Malaysians, if you have not gotten BigPay, you are missing out big times. BigPay is basically a credit/debit card based on a Mastercard prepaid introduced by AirAsia. You can use it to make payments at over 30 million Mastercard merchants worldwide as it functions like a normal credit/debit card that is managed by the BigPay app. Just install the app, sign up, top up some cash into it and you are ready to use the card. While there are countless benefits on using BigPay, I will highlight two big reasons to get this card.

i) BigPay offers the best exchange rate when you purchase an item with BigPay card when you travel overseas. In other words, by using BigPay and purchase items using the BigPay card in another country, BigPay offers the best rate and pays to the merchant at the current exchange rate. To elaborate further, the money that you change at your local money changer will have a higher rate due to many hidden fees, but BigPay does not have any hidden fees. 

ii) If you are a frequent AirAsia flyer, use BigPay and enjoy zero processing fee while buying any flight tickets from AirAsia. Not only that, spend with BigPay and you can collect BIG points which can be used to redeem flight tickets. **I am not promoting BigPay but it'll be good if they can pay me for writing about them. It's a real lifesaver for travels. 

***But if you are going to get BigPay, why not use my referral code to sign up? You get RM10, I get RM10. It’s a win-win. My referral code is ZW1PKS7ATN.

End of advertisement 

5) Some restrictions in the hotel

Hotels will be open, but with some restrictions. What are they? No buffet, no bars/pubs, no pools, no jacuzzi and no saunas. Be sure to always follow the SOP given by the government for your safety.

6) Adventures such as scuba diving, snorkelling are allowed with SOPs

The government has also allowed these sectors to return. However, we highly do not recommend doing such activities yet as it still possesses high-risk for infection. If you want to, remember to check for the proper SOPs by the government.

7) Keep out the vulnerable

As we all know, young children and the elderly are in more vulnerable positions to be infected with Covid-19. Therefore, if you are in contact with these two groups of people, it is also highly advisable to not travel for the time being as you may bring back the virus and infect them. With that being said, do not bring them on a holiday also as it also increases their chance of getting infected. Better safe than sorry, eh?

8) Help the locals

Yeap, it is a pretty good time to help out the small local businesses. The mak cik selling nasi lemak at the roadside will thank you so much for supporting her business rather than eating big fast-food chains. As MCO has severely affected their earnings, this is the time that these small local businesses need our help to earn. Let us help one another as Malaysians.  

9) Stay updated to latest news and SOPs

To obtain the complete list of the SOPs, you may click here. For latest updates on MKN, you may follow their channel on Telegram here. 

In a nutshell, I hope that this blog answers some of your questions. If there are any more questions, feel free to message me on Instagram or Tumblr or you can also message MKN directly. With that, stay safe as always. Travel, but make sure that health and safety are always first!  

[weekleegeography]

Story Telling #1: Be Double Triple Sure of Your Stuffs

This story taught me to be more attentive and alert not only in my planning but also throughout my travels.

Somewhere somehow, you have heard how travelling allows you to discover yourself and how it teaches you many things that school cannot teach. As I solo-travelled more and more often, I have made mistakes which serves me a lesson today. Travel will not be memorable without some slips and errors. Humans are amazing to respond to stress and critical situations no matter how big or small. I have made many mistakes throughout my travels, and I am growing from it. I would like to share with you a particular incident (or rather incidents) on my first solo travel which taught me wonderful life experience.

My first solo travel came about in 2017 when I was 19 years old. I was scheduled to travel to Singapore to meet some friends and to experience solo travel for the first time. Singapore is an amazing place to start solo travelling as it is not only very safe, but also very convenient with its modern infrastructure, public transport, and internet access. If you're looking for a safe, comfortable platform to start solo travelling, I highly recommend Singapore. I'm getting off-topic, so let's go back.

Being my first time planning a solo trip on my own, I was responsible for booking my transportation, accommodation, and a rough itinerary during my stay in Singapore. Anything you do for the first time is definitely nervous, and I was no exception. I decided to book a bus ride to Singapore as it was the cheapest option to travel to Singapore from Kuala Lumpur with only roughly RM50 per ticket per way. A bus ride from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore takes roughly 7 hours to arrive, and I thought to myself that the bus ride itself is an adventure.

My first mistake happened when I was booking the bus ticket. After booking the tickets, I was proud of myself for making that bold move to travel on my own when I suddenly realized that I booked the wrong day. I got the ticket from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur correctly, but I have accidentally booked my bus ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore on a wrong date, which back then, was tomorrow. Frantically, I called the bus operator to ask if I was able to change, but they said no because the bus was scheduled to leave in a few hours, and it was too late. I painstakingly rebooked a new bus ticket with RM45 burned. As I just entered university at that time, RM45 was a lot and it was painful to lose the money due to my carelessness. I thought that was the time that I have learned my mistake but little did I know it was just the beginning of my travel woes.

[How I was so careless]

Fast forward to 21st June 2017, it is my travel day to Singapore! “This is it, Henri! You’re gonna do this today. You are solo-travelling and you should be proud!” I checked my bus departure time, it shows 8.30 am. Great! My mom dropped me off at the nearest LRT station from my house at 7 am at the crack of dawn and I took the LRT to KL Sentral (Malaysia's largest transit hub) where I will be boarding the bus. I arrived at 7.40 am. It was the rush hour and many people are heading to their workplace. I went to McDonald's and had a filling breakfast of Sausage McMuffin with Eggs and a cup of coffee. I sat and enjoyed my breakfast as I wait for the time to pass.  

[Oh my! I was using Snapchat back then.]

"Ah, nice breakfast! It's 8.10 am, I should start walking to the bus," I told myself. I took out the paper to check where exactly should I gather to board the bus. "Kiosk AK-01 blah blah blah Berjaya Times Square Jalan Imbi…….”

“Wait what?”

[Oh......... crap.]

I froze. I could not believe my eyes. I read and read and read again to make sure I was not dreaming. I was supposed to gather in Berjaya Times Square, not KL Sentral. I WAS SUPPOSED TO GATHER IN BERJAYA TIMES SQUARE, NOT KL SENTRAL.

[How far is Berjaya Times Square from KL Sentral]

Adrenaline kicked in, I looked at the time, it was 8.12 am. I panicked, I did not know what to do and for a moment I thought I will miss the bus and say goodbye to my adventures and money. There was no way travelling on the road will bring me to Berjaya Times Square fast. It is the rush hour after all and the roads will not be movable. I can’t run there as well it is almost 6km away. Is there some kind of train which I can take-

The monorail.

[This looks like the fastest viable option]

I don't remember sprinting so fast in my life. I was quite certain at that point that I would have missed the bus or to be more dramatic, reaching Berjaya Times Square to see my bus leaving me behind. However, I gave a shot. I ran to the monorail station and just managed to grab a train right on time before it shuts. If I missed that train, I would have missed my bus for sure as the next train will take some time to arrive given Malaysia's public transport system back at that time. I was restless in the monorail train. Jalan Imbi, the station which I need to get down from, was the fourth stop and for the first two stops, things were quick and fast as only a little passenger alight and entered the train.

THEN HERE COMES HANG TUAH STATION (STATION 3).

As the train enters the station, I felt a small part of my heart died when I saw the wave of people waiting at the station to sandwich their way into the train. I looked at the time, it was 8.24 am. "I have made it this far, please don't slow me down," I was begging and stressing. The train stopped and the doors were opened. The phrase “packed in like sardines” came to life as I was immensely squeezed in the train by boarding passengers.

THEN HERE COMES AN OLD LADY.

The train was so packed I could smell the armpits of the dude next to me. This old lady (let’s call her Nenek) was determined to join the sardine squad and insisted of going in. “Let me in, squeeze in, I want to go in,” says Nenek. “Nenek, wait for the next train, we can’t squeeze anymore,” one of the passengers told her. However, she was determined to enter, and the brawl between her and the sardines lasted for a full 30 seconds before she managed to squeeze in. I was internally dying, knowing that the 30 seconds lost could be the deciding factor that I will miss the bus.

“Anda kini tiba di Stesen Jalan Imbi, you have reached Jalan Imbi Station" I sprinted out from that sardine and looked at my watch. It was 8.29 am. I was honestly so shocked that I could even reach Jalan Imbi station in 20 minutes. I continued sprinting to Berjaya Times Square, running down the mall, exiting the mall and started finding for my bus.

And there I saw it.

The magnificent beast was still there waiting for me. I ran to the bus, showed my ticket and boarded the bus. I sat in my seat and looked at the time. It was 8.33 am. Within a minute, the bus closed its doors and left. There I was, drenched in sweat, panting my lungs out, but I made it. I was on my way to Singapore. I can't believe I beat the clock and raced all the way and managed to board the bus. I leaned on my chair and took a deep breath. “That was intense. Glad that’s over. I have learned my lesson to check my ticket carefully.”

Little did I know there was more to come. Oh, how wrong was I. How very wrong was I. I was 19, so naïve and innocent.

Anyways, I went to Singapore and met my Vietnamese friends. They brought me around, and I had an amazing time wandering around Singapore for 4 days and 3 nights. It was a pack 4 days of activities from attending an exhibition to massive long walks around Singapore, to enjoying the night view of this marvellous country. I felt contented and happy.

[Singapore skyline at night]

[My Vietnamese friends in Singapore]

[Another skyline of Singapore]

At last, we have reached the final day. My friend, Vanessa, agreed to accompany me until I board the bus and head back to Malaysia. I checked my departure location (carefully this time) and made it to the area. “The Plaza @ Beach Road,” I told myself. I looked at my watch, and I still had 1 hour to go before boarding the bus. I wanted to visit one more place before leaving. Vanessa said that we can visit the National Library, which is supposedly only a 10-minute walk from The Plaza. I agreed, and we went to the National Library. We spent around 40 minutes in the library, and I was fascinated at the size of the library. After that, we began walking to The Plaza.

[My view when Google Maps says I have reached my destination]

"You have reached your destination," says Google Maps. I looked at the venue. There wasn't any bus around. I looked at my watch, and sure enough, it is 10 minutes from the departure time. "The bus can't have already taken off right?" I wondered. I began walking around, but I still did not see any bus nor any sign of people around. To make things worse, I did not see "The Plaza", but instead I was greeted with ParkRoyal building. As I started wandering around and find, I began to panic. “No, not this again.”

I looked at my watch. 6 pm. I still fail to locate the bus and the venue. I was already imagining how I will have to sleep at the roadside for a night and fork out more money to buy another bus ticket back to Kuala Lumpur. In the end, I found the location. I did not venture in the building deep enough and it was somewhere behind ParkRoyal building. I frantically reached The Plaza, and a security guard looked at me.

[The Plaza, located behind ParkRoyal building]

"Excuse me, sir, there is supposed to be a bus to Kuala Lumpur here," I said.

“You’re late, the bus just left about a minute or two ago,” the guard replied me.  

Dead. I missed the bus, and now I have to sleep at the roadside and buy a new bus ticket tomorrow. Nice, Henri. You could have come and just waited for the bus instead of racing against time like this. Or you know, confirm and know exactly where your boarding place is before wandering off elsewhere. You messed up.

“However, I think you can try running to the bus stop at Beach Road outside ParkRoyal. The bus will pass there and if you made it before the bus passes there, they will let you in,” the guard continued.

That was enough to set me back to reality. “Thank you,” I replied. I looked at Vanessa and said “this is a terrible way to say bye, but bye thank you so much I’ll text you,” before sprinting off to the bus stop. I ran like a mad person, once again. The most dramatic moment came. I literally reached the bus stop at the same time as the bus was about to reach the bus stop. I waved my hands frantically to stop the bus, and thankfully the bus stopped for me. The bus driver was not too keen and scolded me for being late and delaying the bus. I apologized and grabbed my seat. Again, I was drenched in sweat, panting my lungs out…

But I made it.

As the gentleman beside me starts to scoot away from me due to my sweat odour, I texted Vanessa that I made it into the bus. I then just sat down and processed everything that has happened. I bought the wrong ticket, then I nearly missed my bus to Singapore, and I missed my bus back to Kuala Lumpur but managed to save it at the very end. Did that just happen? Yes, it did. It was a 6-hour bus journey home, and I reached KL Sentral at midnight.

Each travel taught me something, and this was no exception. It is common to mess and screw up during your travels. Things may not go according to plan, and stress is bound to happen at times. This is why some of the greatest travellers can adapt quickly to whatever situations that they suddenly face. Every traveller will have stories to share, and every travel will teach us something. For this trip, it taught me to be more attentive to the details.

[weekleegeography]

What To Prepare to China?

China, the most populous country in the world at 1.436 billion people (approximately 44 times of Malaysia’s population of 32.15 million people) and also the third or fourth largest country in the world (approximately 29 times the size of Malaysia). We have definitely heard a thing or two about China, with most notable “Made in China” in majority of your items. Production cost is one of the lowest in the world, hence why it is known as the world’s factory.

You might be planning to go to China, and so happened to stumble upon this blog as you are finding for some information on what to prepare before heading there. Otherwise, you could be my friend who read this because you saw me posting, or you just happened to see this for whatever reason. Not to worry. For my first ever travel blog, I will be sharing based on my experience on what you should prepare before heading to China and some things to keep in mind. I will be writing this from a Malaysian’s perspective (I’m a proud Malaysian), but I will try my utmost best to be as international-friendly as possible. Ya know… need to reach out to more readers! Anyways, hope you enjoy!

1) Let’s talk Visa.

No, I’m not talking about the credit card Visa. I’m talking about your permission to travel into the country visa. As of 26 December 2019, all Malaysians are required to apply for a visa before entering into the People’s Republic of China. You may use Passport Index to check if your passport requires a visa before entering to China. The link is right here!  

https://www.passportindex.org/

However, the process of applying a visa is incredibly simple. All you need to do is to go to this website. shown below!

https://www.visaforchina.org/web/guidance/StepByStep_questions.action?visacenterCode=KUL&request_locale=en_US&site_alias=KUL_EN

Just follow the process. It’s a very quick process and shouldn’t take more than a week. However, it’s always good to apply at least one month before your trip.

2) Cashless Society Is Real

You might or might not heard about it, but China is currently in a transition to a cashless society. By “transition” I meant like it’s probably 95% complete. You can literally pay anything and everything with the two e-wallets in China, which is WeChat Pay and Alipay. Even small shops, roadside vendors, and markets have their own QR codes which you can scan and pay. There is a higher chance that you are not able to pay with cash than e-wallet.

WeChat Pay

As of 23 December 2019, a foreigner is still unable to use WeChat Pay in China as WeChat Pay in Mainland China requires you to have a local phone number and a Chinese bank account to be able to use. Well, no cashless society for foreigners then.

BUT WAIT.

Alipay

Alipay has just very recently launched a Tour Pass which enables foreigners to join in the cool Chinese gang and pay with your mobile phone. Just download the Alipay app, register yourself as an international user, follow the steps to register and you will be able to use Alipay e-wallet in China for 90 days. How it works is that you will receive a virtual prepaid card issued by the Bank of Shanghai. Don’t worry at all, any remaining balance in the wallet will be refunded back to your registered card once the 90 days has ended. Alexander Wong from Soya Cincau wrote a simple article on this. Tap this link below to read more about it.

https://www.soyacincau.com/2019/11/06/alipay-ewallet-tour-pass-for-tourists/

In a nutshell, as foreigners, just set up Alipay and you will be able to pay with your phone everywhere.

Malaysians, if you have not gotten BigPay, you are missing out big times. BigPay is basically a credit/debit card based on a Mastercard prepaid introduced by AirAsia. You can use it to make payments at over 30 million Mastercard merchants worldwide as it functions like a normal credit/debit card that is managed by the BigPay app. Just install the app, sign up, top up some cash into it and you are ready to use the card. While there are countless of benefits on using BigPay, I will highlight two big reasons to get this card.

i) BigPay offers the best exchange rate when you purchase an item with BigPay card when you travel overseas. In other words, by using BigPay and purchase items using the BigPay card in another country, BigPay offers the best rate and pays to the merchant at the current exchange rate. To elaborate further, the money that you change at your local money changer will have a higher rate due to many hidden fees, but BigPay does not have any hidden fees. 

ii) If you are a frequent AirAsia flyer, use BigPay and enjoy zero processing fee while buying any flight tickets from AirAsia. Not only that, spend with BigPay and you can collect BIG points which can be used to redeem flight tickets.

**I am not promoting BigPay but it’ll be good if they can pay me for writing about them. It’s a real life saver for travels.

***But if you are going to get BigPay, why not use my referral code to sign up? You get RM10, I get RM10. It’s a win-win. My referral code is ZW1PKS7ATN.

So what is the bottom line from this long segment? I’ve topped up the Alipay app using the BigPay card, which I get the best rates while able to use Alipay to make purchase in China conveniently.

3) The Great Firewall of China

Took a nice photo and wanted to post it on Instagram? How about posting a status about how you are having a good time so far on Facebook? Want to make a video call with your friend using WhatsApp? Sorry, you can’t do it in China.

Yes, if you still do not know about this, China bans many, many websites that we access on a daily basis. Some top notable sites are:

Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit

Messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and Line

Anything from Google, including your Gmail, YouTube, and even Google Play Store

For a more complete list, I have attached a website here which you can take a look.

https://www.vpnmentor.com/blog/the-complete-list-of-blocked-websites-in-china-how-to-access-them/

Unless you are fine with WeChat, which is the only messaging app I can think of that is able to use in China, you will need a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to bypass the firewall.

My own experience to get by this problem is by getting a portable WiFi from Klook to bring over to China. Be sure to read the reviews stating that it can access the firewall. I got it from this website below!

https://www.klook.com/en-MY/activity/18737-3g-4g-wifi-mainland-china/?krt=s20&krid=3c37b711-5b56-4331-6e62-5a33130b4b6a

I also downloaded at least 3 to 4 of free VPNs from Google Play Store before heading to China with hopes that some of them work. China has been actively cracking down these VPNs, so not all VPN works. If you are able to afford a proper VPN, you can subscribe to a legitimate VPN service which will be much better. I have not subscribed to a VPN service before this trip, but now I have.

I personally subscribed to Nord VPN about a week ago and it is working charms so far. I managed to get a great deal of only paying RM230 for a 3-year subscription! PM me to know how or wait a while as I will post a new blog on how I got such a good deal! 

Be sure to download and prepare the VPNs before heading to China as you won’t be able to access to the Google Play Store once you are using China’s internet.

So with so many apps unable to be used, what do you use? That brings me to my next point.

4) Baidu Maps, WeChat, and Didi as your replacement

If you are able to read Chinese, then Baidu Maps is your alternative to Google Maps. It is basically China version Google Maps. Baidu is basically China’s Google.

Baidu Maps helped me to determine if it was worth walking, taking the public transport or driving to a destination. For public transport, it showed me the exact route to take, the exact bus number or train line to take, and even the total fare of the trip. As there is no access to Google in China, it is quite unreliable to use Google Maps in China even with VPN access as it does not tell you as much as Baidu Maps does. However, do take note again that it is only in Chinese, so for my fellow friends who can’t read Chinese, you can still download and try to work your way around the app.

WeChat is your replacement for WhatsApp, and why I would suggest to get a WeChat account is so that you can communicate should you need to communicate urgently. There was once that I was separated from my group, and thankfully I was able to find a café with WiFi and used WeChat to communicate. Sometimes, VPN can fail you, so it’s always better to get an app that allows direct communication.

Didi is your replacement for Uber. Sometimes, you need a taxi ride but perhaps you are too used to the e-hailing lifestyle. Didi is the app for you. Works just like Uber, except it is China version.

5) Bicycle apps

Now this was one of the things that I regretted not doing on my previous trip to China. The city of Chengdu has an excellent bicycle rental service and it’s literally so easy to cycle around the city. Sometimes, cycling is the fastest way to get to one point to another, and the rental is cheap.

The most notable bike sharing application that I’ve observed in Chengdu are OFO and Mobike. I did not do this process, but my guess it that the steps are:

1) Set up your Alipay account and top in money as told in the previous point. Make sure you sign up under the tour pass.

2) Download OFO or Mobike or both and complete the set up. Use the Alipay account to link it together.

3) Fly to China and enjoy using the service.

Again, make sure to do any downloading and signing up BEFORE heading to China.

6) Bin your toilet papers

Malaysia is blessed with an awesome sewage system, at least awesome enough that we can flush our soiled toilet papers into the toilet bowl and flush everything away. However, not everywhere is like this, and China is one of the countries that bins their soiled toilet papers instead of flushing it down. As habits are hard to break so soon, we might sometimes throw into the toilet bowl by accident or intentionally because it might be too unacceptable to bin it as it might smell or it is just pure disgusting thinking about it.

I’ve learned this the hard way in my trip, as one of my travel mate forgotten to bin his used toilet paper, and the result was that the whole toilet was clogged. By the time we managed to clear the clog, half of our day was gone and we had to throw some of our plans away due to a lack of time.

It’s real guys, you just got to bin it. It’s much more disgusting to see a clogged toilet bowl than a soiled toilet paper.  Speaking about toilets.

7) Yeah, it’s paper.

China has no bidets. So for #TeamWater, you can either shower in your accommodation, or bring wet tissue out in case the production happens outside.

8) Plug outlet

It’s different. Malaysia uses the Type G as we were once under British influence.

[Type G plug used in Malaysia]

​China uses the Type A plug, so be sure to bring a universal adapter to the trip. My little hack is that I also bring an extension wire along to plug into the universal adapter so that I can have more plugs to charge more devices.

[Type A plug used in China]

Be sure to always check for the plug outlet before visiting any countries. It’s a good investment to get a universal adapter.

9) Mala (麻辣) everywhere

At least for Chongqing and Chengdu, they take their mala very seriously. It’s hard to run away from their distinct mala taste in most of the food there. They even placed the Sichuan pepper into their stir-fried vegetables.

So if you are not a fan of mala or the numbing sensation from the mala, try to

bring some local food

from your country to compensate. Hard for me to suggest, as I’m usually very curious about the cuisines of each countries and will just try no matter how weird it is.

In a nutshell: 

I hope that some of these tips can help you to prepare before heading to China. I hope that you enjoyed my blog, and do share it with those who might need it. It is a big country with too many things to offer, but some fundamental preparation will be great. I am sure after visiting ones, you will know better on some hacks. Do share it with me too! I would love to hear them!

Pack your bags, and let’s get travelling! 

Just kidding, not now. Stay at home now as we are in a middle of Covid-19 pandemic.