Road Trip from Xiamen to Guangzhou

Travelling from Xiamen to Guangzhou (and back after that) was an adventure itself. Thankfully for my experienced travel mate, we didn't face any major hiccups along the way. Overnight coach tickets were bought at Xiamen University. There are numerous daily night coaches from Xiamen to Guangzhou so it's quite a 100% guarantee that you'll get a ticket even though sale of these tickets start only 3 days before the departure.

The condition of the coach is unfortunately, up to one's luck. You can't determine the condition simply by the price of the coach ticket, nor can you select your own seat number. A cheaper ticket may bring you a newer and more comfortable coach in any case. And changing your seat depends if the coach assistant is friendly enough. One tip though, if possible, always negotiate an upper seat. But fret not! It's NOT anything that's very bad! My coach to Guangzhou was apparently a lower grade one but i didn't experience any discomfort.

My ticket (Xiamen-Guangzhou) which costs RMB188 (approximately SG$37.60)



View of the upper beds on my coach back from Guangzhou to Xiamen. All seats come with a blanket and bottle of water. There is also an in-built toilet in the coach itself. There's a mini compartment at the end of each seat for you to put your bag or shoes (you are supposed to remove your shoe the moment you step onto the bus. Complimentary plastic bags are provided to keep your footwear)



Me... on my first experience of such overnight coach



View of upper and lower coach 'seats' (or beds rather)

Chilling out in Xiamen

Chilling in Xiamen in a cosy and relaxing place... SPR coffee!!!







Mocha latte (left) and Banana Oreo freeze (right)

Street food in Xiamen

饺子

Freshly made 饺子, dumplings are readily available in here... And it's just RMB6 for 20 饺子!! Isn't THAT cheap? Ordered the 韭菜 filling ones (as featured below) and it was such a soothing snack in winter...



肉夹膜

Freshly diced braised pork (with braised sauce) stuffed in chinese-style 'hamburger'. It's really juicy cos the braised pork was obviously cooked in sauce for many hours and the taste is so rich you can't find anything less enticing. Cost RMB5.



Po pia

My repeated favourite snack inXiamen! Found the old lady in the same old corner at Zhongshan Road. Filled with white radish, malt sugar, peanut bits, coriander leaves and finally topped with a tinge of chilli sauce. Sounds weird? No no... the chemistry of all the ingredients is just aaawwww......



胖子小吃

Remember this pic? Took it last Dec (2006) And yup... we went back for dinner-cum-supper!!!



地瓜粉

Doesn't look very appetizing but it's really nice! Translated to be pumpkin noodles, it's QQ to each bite!




And of course.. the rest of our orders which are served literally on a metal tray... hur hur. Topped with their own spicy sichuan-like sauce, am missing it...



烤玉米

Didn't manage to take a picture of the barbecued maize but look! I caught the food vendor cooking it in a run-down corridor right behind their make-shift store. haha! Cost RMB2 for a barbecued maize topped with sesame and spicy sauce.



韩国烧烤

Don't know why it's called Korean barbecue. I mean what's really the link to Korea anyway? But well.. They are apparently quite popular with the locals cos they are really plentiful on the streets... Featured in the picture : Sausage, squid and chicken bits topped with pepper, chilli and cinnamon powder.

RIYUEGU in Xiamen

YES... finally a new entry to my nearly-dead-food-blog. hur... Pictures from my xiamen and guangzhou trip!!

I've never really talked about this hotsprings resort in Xiamen during my last trip. It was a pleasant retreat from work, just like what you need for a holiday.



A relaxing place to soak in the winter, it has a larger number of flavored hotsprings (around 30 if i'm not wrong) including red wine, beer, rice wine, jasmine, lavender, milk bath and even coconut hotsprings! The place is self-sufficient in that you'll probably need to bring yourself in for the hotspring. Swim wear is provided for free if you come unprepared. The show area is well-equipped with towels, shampoo and shower cream. There's even an area where you can blow-dry your hair (especially in winter). Hair brush and even rubber bands are plenty.



Morning breakfast buffet was appetizing!


Thankfully the made-to-order fried egg is still available!

陶然居 in xiamen

Apparently, it's a well-known Chinese Restaurant in china...

Spicy chicken and yam . It's cooked to melt in your mouth the moment you sink your teeth into it. It's just soooo soft....


Spicy Beef. It's actually a cold dish though it doesn't look any bit like it.


Ha... their rice bowl which i thought was cute. It's served with 2 pieces of corn on it. Doesn't it look adorable?


Laymen term: snails!!! Cooked in si chuan style which gives the main kick actually. The restaurant was thoughtful enough to provide plastic gloves and satay stick for the customers convenience.


I love this!!! Though it doesn't look glam or appetizing but NO!!! It's really nice! I tried it the first time when i went Beijing and there it was in Xiamen again... haha... Introducing 水煮鱼!!! (which means boiled fish literally) The fish slices are boiled in water and sieved out into a serving bowl filled with cooked chilli oil. yup. The WHOLE bowl of 'sauce' is actually pure chilli oil which they used to keep the food warm. It's not really oily though. And the fish has a spicy taste which is different if stir-fried with chilli on its own.

street food in Xiamen

An uncommon sight?? It's equivalent to our version of yong tau fu back here... Of course, there's such a WIDE range of choices one will end up filling the tray to its brim. Most of the food is fried, except the veggies perhaps. The sauce's spicy and hot but that's where the kick comes from. The final cooked food is served in a metal tray. We ordered di gua fen aka yam noodle (if i'm correct) in addition to the main stuff and it's really nice! The noodle's springy and thick. By the way, this store doesn't operate with a menu. Food is chosen and passed to the cook, after which the food is served and money changes hands. No questions asked about the price. Just that.


Fried fruits (in our case, we specifically wanted pears and apples only) fried in honey aka ba si. Served hot with a bowl of iced water to help separate the fruit pieces which may be sticked to one another. It's delicious! A good combination of fruits and honey.... ke


The eight treasures porridge aka ba bao zou. This is actually taken in Qingdao. The porridge is best served with sugar added to it. It's sweet and smooth.


The feast we had in Qingdao.


It was meant to be an appetizer sort of thing but i turns out to be quite large. ha... It contains red bean paste, banana and mango wrapped in dough. Delicious!


The famous peanut soup... The peanut soup is sweet and smooth. Peanut bits are so soft they don't need any chewing.

Peanuts and malted sugar wrapped in po pia skin, topped with more peanuts... It's cheap and nice! cost merely 1RMB which is equivalent to S$0.20

Fried chicken pieces bought along the streets.


One of their desserts which made all of us go crazy during our stay there. It contains qing chao aka grass jelly, peanuts, muah chee and red beans in bubble tea with milk. Got the picture? Funny combination as it sounds but it's really nice! Plus, it's served warm... ha

Jap cuisine in Xiamen

I miss the jap buffet we had in xiamen. It was so great, not to mention the nice view we had while lunching there....




Did i say it cost only 65RMB???!!! (equivalent to S$13).... hurhur

Unagi pieces

My favourite!!! Mushrooms wrapped with grilled chicken

Not to mention their super-duper fresh sashimi!!!! Can you see it?

Freshly made fried tofu

Veggie tempura

pork salad