Bus stop is gōngjiāo chē zhàn (公交车站)

If you want to travel or live in China, one of the most important words to learn are "bus stop" or gōngjiāo chē zhàn (公交车站). 

gōngjiāo chē (公交车) is literally public bus so gōngjiāo chē zhàn (公交车站) is a public bus stop. 

I spend a lot of time waiting at the bus stop (公交车站 Gōngjiāo chē zhàn) and sometimes, I can't help but snap a photo of the people waiting. 

Here are three Chinese women checking the bus schedule and waiting for the bus along a busy main road in Xiamen:  

 

I look like the woman in green while the young, hot and sexy woman in the white and grey dress with black hosiery and high heels is one of the colleagues that my husband sees everyday. 

We lived in an apartment right in front of this main road, which is super convenient because there are rows and rows of restaurants along the bus stop. 

Street food vendors will also set up shop at night along this road so you can easily get your Chinese breakfast, lunch, dinner and even supper here. 

SM Mall is located at the end of this road, which is about 2 bus stops away. 

Sheraton Hotel Xiamen is also located on this side of the road. 

Shopping for Handbags

My personal shopper has been buying Coach handbags for me so he thinks that I am a lifetime fan of Coach -_-  

Eventually, the personal shopper spotted the said bag and asked the stylish sales assistant to hold up the two Michael Kors bags just for me to estimate the size of the bag against a female frame. 

 

I notice that the sales assistant's face is not shown. Guess what? 

My husband is actually enjoying himself chatting with all the young and sexy sales assistants on the pretense of shopping for a handbag for me.  

As you can see, the black drawstring tote bag on the right is not visible and so my eye focused on that ugly bag on the left. 

 

Sadly, I do not own that elegant Michael Kors tote drawstring bag :( 

COACH handbags are ugly...

These medium-sized square handbags do not fall nicely on a petite frame. I don't know about you but I am not a fan of slouchy bags. I need structure.  

 

We gave these huge square bags with the Michael Kors logo a pass...actually, they were a total fail. 

 

Michael Kors Shoulder  and Laptop bag?

Later, the personal shopper sent back photos of these zipper purses (US$169), which would work on a date night. 

I need a tote bag for books, dude! And the 13 inch or 15 inch laptop...

If you're hunting for an MK bag for college, check out Large Leather Tote Handbag

 

Here's the review from a satisfied customer on Amazon:

"I can easily fit a 13' laptop with 2 folders and 3 legal pads in the laptop sleeve. The little pockets inside make organizing easy and it holds a lot of weight. I drop water bottles in it in the morning walking into the office and easily get the bag to 25lbs.

 

September is jiǔ yuè (九月)

Sweet September? 

Nope. September is the 9th month of the year and it has become a significant month in my life because a third party (情人 or actually a xiao san) entered my husband's life.

9 used to be my lucky number and I would tell my husband that I am his lucky number. 7 is also my lucky number. 

Guess what? 

A bitch born in the year 1979 was hired by my husband's close colleague and hey, he must have thought that she is his lucky number since she's got 7 + 9 together, right?

Beijing Welcomes You bĕi jīng huān yíng nǐ (北京欢迎你)

Do you know how to sing this song "北京欢迎你 bĕi jīng huān yíng nǐ / Beijing Welcomes You" made famous by the Beijing Olympics 2008?

This karaoke video has the song lyrics written in pin yin (without accents) and an English translation for you to sing along to: 

Whenever you enter a shop in China, you'd be greeted with:

"欢 迎 光 临 huān yíng guāng lín", which literally means, "Welcome, the light has arrived."

It took me a LONGGGGGG time to catch the last two words guāng lín 光 临 because they don't sound like anything I've ever heard. Then again, I don't speak Mandarin.

Now that I know a classic Chinese poem - Jìng yè sī (静夜思) by Lǐ Bái (李白), the words "guāng lín" 光 临 has some meaning.

Here's the original music video (with Korean translations):

 
The only equivalent I can find in the English language is that famous song by the Beatles: "Here Comes The Sun" where a person's arrival brings them as much joy as the arrival of the bright and warm sun shining after a cold, long winter.

"Here comes the sun, and I say
It's all right"

Get it? :D