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Guilin and Guangzhou, China

Guangzhou Day 1 ~ pigging out!constance and i reached guangzhou at 11am. bot a local phone card and called up a few hotels to check vacancies. turns out that some were fully booked and others were v expensive by china stds(at about S$80 for double rm). this was partially due to the annual trade fair that was being held. so we made the decision to fly to guilin that day. managed to get discounted tix from shenzhen airlines to guilin for that evening (S$80). after leaving our luggage at the baiyun intl airport, we took the airport shuttle into the town centre. guangzhou is known to be the food capital of china so we wasted no time in checking out the recommended restaurants and street food. had lunch at this traditional restaurant called li wan ming shi jia. all the dishes we ordered were fantastic! including chee cheong fun and wantan noodles. also tried pigeon soup for the 1st time. we then walked around the pedestrianised street, di shi fu road. it was nice looking at so many shops, but after some time, i got rather bored as i'm not a shopaholic. the only things i bought were pastries from this highly recommended bakery called lian xiang lou, preserved fruits to snack on during the trip, and a short-sleeve shirt for william.the 1-hr flight to guilin was v noisy as there were a huge tour group of cantonese aunties on the plane. i was tired from the sensory overdose from walking the streets and slept through the din. It was nearly midnight by the time we checked into the flowers youth hostel in guilin. Guilin Day 1 ~ had an amazing lunch and had my fortune toldthe flowers youth hostel in guilin is really cosy and not too pricey (S$25 for double rm). the staff are v friendly too. i've always loved the atmosphere in youth hostels! see http://www.yhaguilin.com/ for info on the hostel.   for breakfast, we had noodles with the locals at a canteen beside the long-distance bus station. we had cantonese-style porridge and dumplings. after which we took an open-top bus (S$0.20!) to fubo hill which had lovely views of guilin town as well as limestone karsts in the distance. constance spent q abit of time indulging in her photography hobby. after which we had an amazing lunch at 'hao da ma' (meaning good auntie) which is a canteen-like restaurant with more than 20 stalls displaying foods from all over china categorised into cold meats, vegetarian foods, cold noodles, duck, porridge, soups, dimsum, desserts, etc. the ordering concept was q good - we were given a card by the waitress that states our table number, we then pass this card to the assistant in charge of each food stall who will indicate the dish we want on the card and then send the food to our table. we ordered roast goose, five-spice fish, towfoo soup and 2 dishes of veg. plus desserts of red dates and gingko nuts in a wheat-based paste which was absolutely delicious! and all these foods cost only S$15!to digest our huge meal, we shopped around town. constance managed to buy some gifts for her parents and colleagues. along the way, we took a break at the riverside and a fortune teller approached me asking to tell my fortune. even thou i refused, she said that she'll tell me something for free bcos my fortune is v good based on my face features. she was about 60% accurate as she correctly informed me that i was analytical, strong-minded and kind. she even told me that i was healthy except for a poor digestive system and that i was slightly amnemic, which were totally true too. i think she does have some knowledge up her sleeves. anyhow i was disappointed when at the end of the session, she asked me for a so-called donation to her temple. i parted with S$10. Yangshuo Day 1 ~ cruised the extremely scenic li river and watched a zhang yi mou productionwe took a half day cruise along the scenic li river (S$50) from guilin to yangshuo (~80km).we had opted for the chinese-speaking cruise boat as it was significantly cheaper than the english-speaking one. the cruise was extremely touristy with about 100 tourists on board (understand that this can't be helped) but i must say everything was well provided - observation decks, commentaries, drinking water, lunch and even photographers if you wanted to have your photos taken professionally. the scenery is nice, with lots of limestone karsts, but doesn't really excite me since i've been to halong bay, which is somewhat similar. certain parts were especially scenic, with the karst peaks reflected in the shallow green waters. one of the most famous karst peak is the nine horse painting mountain (jiu ma hua shan) from which you can pick out up to 9 horses. reached yangshuo in the early afternoon and checked into xiao cheng bu luo (S$16), which has a bar cum restaurant on the street level, but as we stayed on the 3rd floor, it wasn't noisy for us. yangshuo reminded me of the old towns of yunnan with lots of backpacker-oriented shops and cafes. as we were suffering from an overdose of sightseeing, we spent the lazy afternoon browsing the shops and sourcing for the next day's activities. in the evening, we watched a production by zhang yi mou, called ying xiang - liu san jie (S$40). This production was really one of a kind as the performance was done on the waters of the li river with the mountains as backdrop.  It was a v large-scale production and the creativity of the directors were amazing! Yangshuo Day 2 ~ visited the local produce markets and cycled to moon hillwe went touring in a tandem bike today (rental is only S$2!). it was a challenge for both of us as constance can't cycle and i have difficulty with the steering as she's q heavy. but we both got the hang of riding the bike after some time and after experiencing a near-crash! our first stop was the local produce market which was an assault on your senses as there were so much produce - veg, fruits, poultry, rabbits, dogs, seafood, packaged foods, etc. for me, it was interesting to see rice being sold in big sacks. but i left the market feeling v queasy as i'd watched a dog being beaten to death by the seller (for dog meat). it was really horrible as the hawker beat the dog on its head with a metal thing till it stopped struggling and bled. its even more horrid that the live dogs were placed in a cage right beside where the hawkers were preparing the dog meat. i had initially thought of trying dog meat but i've put off the idea forever as i think the dogs had their lives ended in a v inhumane way. after which, we cycled about 10km southwest to moon hill (yue liang shan) which had v lovely views of the li river valley. The hill is named after a crescent-shaped hole near its peak.  its my personal fave scenery in guilin and yangshuo thus far. along the way, we also visited the banyan tree where liu san jie (a famous chinese movie character) threw her embroidered ball (xiu qiu) at her admirer in the movie. the tree was nice. but i've seen a much larger banyan tree in calcutta india. we were really famished by lunch time as we did not really have a proper breakfast. stopped by a farmer's house cum restaurant for lunch. The highlight of our meal was free range chicken (tu ji) which was running around, then caught and slaughtered for us there and then. the chicken was tasty and rather chewy. it was late afternoon by the time we got back to town. As we both have had enough of sightseeing, we decided to go for a massage. unfortunately my masseur's skills were not up to mark but nonetheless a massage is always nice. Longji Day 1 ~ had lovely views of the longji rice terracesto reach longji, we had taken a 1.5 hour bus ride to guilin, followed by a 2hr bus ride to longji bus stn and another mini bus to ping an village where the longji rice terraces were located. we shared the mini bus with peng ge, a chinese civil servant posted to the village to explore development of the farmlands. xiaozhang and qiqi, both from guangdong and Anthony, an english guy who was learning taichi and teaching english in yangshuo. the website he created for the taichi school in yangshuo can be found at: http://www.southchina-taichi.com/?gclid=CM2ahP6o5YsCFSUPTAodFUFiSw peng ge recommended us to stay at the guesthouse that he was putting up, zhuang jia lou, and we all accepted his invitation. (phone no: 07737583033 ; 13977316051). Our guesthouse was also the residence of a zhuang family and was a traditional-styled wooden house. Ping an village itself was rather charming, with narrow and never-ending cobbled paths.  lunch at our guesthouse was fabulous, comprising local dishes of smoked pork, fresh bamboo shoots, beancurd (made by the neighbour) and veg. also tried the local rice wine (20% alc) which tasted like sweet dessert wine. constance and i acted as interpreters for anthony when he wished to communicate with the chinese. i could really appreciate the advantages of being bilingual. the ging-gang of us walked to the lookouts of the rice terraces. As it was v cloudy when we reached the lookout named seven stars half moon (qi xin ban yue), we waited around chatting away while waiting for the mist to clear. the mist did clear for a short while and we were rewarded with amazing views of the rice terraces. dinner was just as fabulous as lunch, comprising very fragrant glutinous rice cooked in bamboo, mixed with extra-hot chillies, and some stir-fried veg. Longji Day 2 ~ did a long trek to jin ke rice terraces and visited the home of the yao minoritywe had planned to leave longji after breakfast. but on our way out for a short walk, we met a chinese tourist who told us about the jin ke rice terrace, which according to him, is even larger in scale than long ji rice terraces. and that the walk there takes about 3hours. i jumped at the opportunity for a long walk. constance wasn't confident of doing the walk so she thought she might just walk with me to another lookout in longji which was on the way to jin ke rice terrace. it started raining when we reached the second lookout in longji so there was no view. constance changed her mind and decided to walk with me to jin ke rice terrace. We were duely rewarded as the mist cleared somewhat and the views along the way were fantastic.    we had lunch at the home of these 2 yao ladies that we met along the way. they had approached us to take photos with them and thereafter followed us to their village called zhong liu, which was located at the jin ke rice terraces. it was really nice to visit the house of a local farmer and observed how the yao women cooked. lunch was simple but extremely filling with steamed rice, sweet potato, bamboo shoots and a local veg called jue cai. the yao women shared with us that they had enough to eat and enough to wear, but they did not have money to buy things.  it was still raining when we continued on our way to jin ke. as constance was not confident with slippery steps, it took us some 3.5hours to reach our destination, da zhai village where we could take a bus back to ping an village. according to the locals, the average time to walk from ping an village to zhong liu village is about 1hour and another 2hrs from zhong liu village to da zhai.   we got back to ping an village at 6pm, just in time for yet another delicious dinner of local dishes. I really liked this place and wished William was there to share the experience too... i was also really glad to see that the local govt had many plans to develop the rice terraces, including the planting of herbs, improved irrigation, promotion of eco-tourism and etc.   Guilin Day 2 ~ had another amazing lunch we caught the earliest bus (7.30am) for longsheng town, where we were to catch another 2hr bus back to guilin.  Anthony was heading back for yangshuo so we travelled together to longsheng.  we had a nice chat on v diverse topics, including our country's political system, foods, views on immigration and etc. we decided to go back to 'hao da ma' for another great lunch. this time, I decided to order many small snacks so that I can try more dishes. its constance's birthday today, but we din really do anything special except for the great lunch.  As there was nothing else that we wanted to do in guilin, we spent the rest of the afternn chilling out in the flowers youth hostel, reading magazines and surfing the web. Headed for the guilin airport at 8pm for our return flight to Guangzhou. Thankfully, this time, the flight was not full nor noisy.     Guangzhou Day 2 ~ more pigging out! we stayed at the Guangzhou youth hostel located on shamian island, which is a rather charming place, with much less hustle and bustle than mainland guangzhou. Shamian island used to be occupied by the French and the british which explains some of colonial looking architecture.  As it was the annual trade fair week, all the accommodation in Guangzhou charged higher rates, so we decided to stay in the dormitory for S$20 per pax, which was actually the most pricey accommodation we've stayed during this trip. our first night in the dormitory wasn't a very good experience as the dormitory was unisex and 3 of our roommates were very drunk when they returned to the room at about 2am. the guy sleeping above me (on the double-deck bed) fell off the bed in the middle of the night! I asked him how he was but he didn't replied. And no one else got up to assist him, eventually he got up on his own and somehow managed to climb back to bed. I was extremely pissed with him in the morning as he stepped on my thigh when he was trying to get out of bed to go to the loo. this, plus the fact that the dormitory room is in a mess as the guys have strewn their stuff all over. I'm usually q a considerate room-mate but when antagonised, I can exhibit very bad attitudes. While everyone was still in bed, I got up, packed my stuff noisily and stomped out of the room. Even thou we're staying another night at the dormitory, I decided to store my backpack in the luggage rm rather than to leave it in the dorm, as I felt that I couldn't trust our room-mates.  Thankfully, constance understood why I was pissed.  our main activity in guangzhou is always about food, so we checked out the supposedly best restaurant in Guangzhou for breakfast. The dim sum was really good! After which, we stopped by another shop for lovely desserts. its our last day in Guangzhou so we did our final shopping. I was hoping to buy some outdoor gear for william's trekking trip to iran in july, but somehow we didn't come across any good outdoor shops and I didn't feel like searching for them as Guangzhou was q a big place. I managed to buy some hoodie jackets at some factory outlet shops that we chanced upon. Also went back to the pedestrianised street, di shi fu road, to buy pastries from the recommended bakery. And visited the supermarkets to buy tons of foods. We got around Guangzhou taking the metro which appeared v similar to singapore's mrt and we guessed that it might have been modelled after sg's system. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1175142900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1175142900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1175142900/tpod.html Sun, 06 May 2007 11:42:50 -0400 Wandering...

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South Island, New Zealand

Day 1 in queenstown ~ preps for trek After a 3.5hr coach ride from Canberra to Sydney (A$30), a 2.5hr flight from Sydney to Christchurch, and a 7hr coach ride from Christchurch (NZ$65), we finally reached queenstown, the adventure capital of NZ. There were lots of outdoor shops and we did a lot of browsing. we rented a sleeping bag and bought freeze dried dinners for the trek. Freeze-dried foods is cheaper in NZ as compared to oz. And cheaper in the supermarkets than the outdoor shops. Left some luggage that we didn't need for the trek in the hostel's lockers. also bought a bagpack raincover as I had forgotten to pack that.  Stayed at queenstown YHA tonight Day 1 of routeburn track ~ routeburn shelter to routeburn falls hut (8.8km) We decided to walk the routeburn track bcos I had read somewhere that it was one of the 10 greatest hikes in the world. Within NZ, it was the 2nd most popular hike, after the milford track. The routeburn trek is located at the southwest of the south island, within the fiordland and mt aspiring national parks. The track comprise some 32km of trails over a huge variety of landscapes, including temperate rainforests and alpine meadows. For more info on the routeburn track, go to http://www.doc.govt.nz/templates/trackandwalk.aspx?id=36713We took the arranged transport to routeburn shelter, one of the trailhead for the routeburn track. The trek today was mostly done in the shade of the beech forest (full of mosses, ferns and lichens). Crossed lots of swing bridges along the way. Reached our first hut on the trail, routeburn flats hut, after about 2 hours of walking. routeburn flats hut was situated beside a huge plains and meandering river. After a simple lunch of bread with peanut butter and some loitering at the grassy flats, we got on our way again. It had started drizzling by now and we put on our rain jackets and bag pack rain covers. It was another 1 hour of steady climbing through beech forest before we reached our destination for the day, routeburn falls hut. Routeburn falls hut was more fanciful than the huts we stayed on the overland trek in Tasmania. Apart from about 25 double-decker bunks that had mattresses, there was a huge kitchen cum dining area with gas stoves, heaters. And the toilets were furnished with toilet paper! I guess we were expecting v basic facilities. The views from the routeburn falls hut were lovely as we overlooked the plains and mountains, except that it was v cloudy today. we had lots of company and there were probly about 20 other trekkers, but we were the only Asians except for another Korean guy who mostly kept to himself. Had lamb fettucine and miso soup for dinner. Shortly after dinner, the hut warden came by to check our tickets for the hut accommodation.  Day 2 of routeburn track ~ routeburn falls hut to Mackenzie hut (11.3km) It had been raining for the whole night and was still raining when we got up at 7am. Had a lazy breakfast. Set off at 9+am when it stopped drizzling. We had planned on a late start as the weather forecast said that the skies will clear up by noon-time and we wanted to be nearing the summit then.  The views were really nice today! We had great views of the hollyford valley and the glistening harris lake. Unfortunately, it was still rather cloudy today and the Darran mountain ranges in the distance were shrouded in clouds. But the mistiness gave the track a surreal feel.  We were walking on very exposed trails above the bush line most of the time. Our waterproof, windproof and breathable jackets served us really well. I only wished I had brought my gortex pants cos my pants got soaked by the rain and walking became a lil difficult with the pants clinging to my legs. After a steady climb of about 1.5hrs, we reached the highest point of routeburn track, harris saddle (1255m).  After some snacks and chatting with other hikers in the harris saddle hut, we decided to do a side trip to conical hill. It was quite a steep climb but very enjoyable as we left our bagpacks at the harris saddle hut. We were supposed to be able to see superb views of the hollyford valley through to the tasman sea, but as it was still rather cloudy, the views on top of conical hill were similar to what we saw at harris saddle. Nonetheless, it was a good workout! Shortly after leaving harris saddle, we bumped into some trail runners and on our query, they said that they were running the entire routeburn track, wow! We later realized that they must be training for the routeburn track race that will be held the following weekend. After another 3hours of exposed trails, we descended into more forested trails. It had started raining rather heavily by now.  Despite the rain, I was walking at my usual pace and taking somewhat big steps. Then I slipped and landed on my tailbone (called the coccyx, which is the triangular bony structure located at the bottom of the vertebral column). As I was carrying my bagpack of some 12kg (I think), the impact of the fall was increased and I was dizzy when I managed to get up. This was my most serious fall since I started hiking some 10 years ago. I walked in pain for the next half hour before we reached the Mackenzie hut. We had rice and curry for dinner. For supper, we had black sesame paste. Over dinner, we chatted with 2 couples from south Australia and a couple from Cambridge, England. The English couple was esp inspiring as they were in their late-50s. and they took 1 year off when they were 30 years old to travel round the world. Wow!At 7pm, the hut warden came by to give us a briefing on the weather forecast for the next day as well as some history and facts about the routeburn trek. We had an early night at 9.30pm as we had to wake up at 6am the next day.  Day 3 of routeburn track ~ Mackenzie hut to the divide (12km) I didn't sleep well the night before, maybe bcos of the pain at my tailbone. We set off earlier today at 7am bcos we had booked the 10.45am bus and I wasn't confident of walking fast due to the pain. It was the worst trek of my life as I was in constant pain (6 upon 10). The pain level increased to 8 upon 10 when I took big steps to climb up and down the trail. I cried for a while during the trek.  And William had to run the last 1km to chase for the bus as we were already late by 15mins. Thankfully, the bus came late and we didn't miss it.Also thankfully the trail today was much flatter than the previous day and was mostly forested. The trail also passed the earlands waterfalls which was the largest falls that I've seen.    The whole routeburn track was not cheap. Huts costs about $40 per pax per night. And we had to arrange for transport to and fro the trailheads which costs $60. including rental of sleeping bag ($25) and freeze-dried foods ($30), we spent about $160 for the 3D2N trek.   Day 1 in milford sound ~ kayaking in milford sound We stayed at milford sound lodge, the only accommodation avail in milford sound, except for the mitre peak hotel which was only open to guided walkers.  It was q strange that milford sound has so few facilities when its probly the most visited place in the south island. Anyhow, milford sound lodge is located among lovely settings - surrounded by forest and beside the cleddau river.  The pain at my tailbone still has not reduced in intensity, so William was q positive that I had suffered a hairline fracture. Which would take weeks to recover, sigh!! was concerned that my stamina will definitely drop with the impending layoff, plus I had not been running regularly since I started traveling 2 months ago. I told William that I've decided that I was not gg to aim for a 3:40 marathon this year. Will be a 4:30 pacer instead. So far, I've not encountered any female pacers at the stanchart marathon, so hopefully I can provide some form of encouragement for the female runners.   We had booked kayaking with fiordland wilderness experiences in advance (www.fiordlandseakayak.co.nz) for about $135 per pax.  On the whole, the kayaking experience was q good and we had a knowledgeable and friendly guide. And we saw the fiords (cliffs), waterfalls, glaciers in the distance and a fur seal sunning himself while kayaking. Learnt that trees could grow on the steep cliffs, on just a layer of moss. Also learnt about tree avalanches. However, we were slightly disappointed as we were expecting more spectacular views of the sound. A fiord and a sound is different as explained in http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/Visitor/: "A fiord is a glaciated valley - typically narrow and steep-sided - that has been flooded by the sea after the glacier's retreat. A sound, on the other hand, is a river valley flooded by the sea following a rise in sea levels or depression of the land, or a combination of both." Our companions for the kayaking trip were a german guy, an American couple and an irish couple. Both of the couples were campervan-ing around NZ.  After the kayaking, we were dropped off at te anau, where we rewarded ourselves with a delicious lamb and salad dinner at the award-winning redcliffe café.   Day 1 in te anau ~ watched a great documentaryAs my sleep was affected by my tailbone pain, I started taking painkillers today. I had been awakened either by the urge to pee or the pain at about 4am every morning and couldn't get back to sleep. The pain was esp bad at this time and according to William, the body was more prone to inflammation at these hours and that was why the pain was more acute then. While waiting for our bus that leaves at 10am, we took a walk around lake te anau and also watched the documentary - shadowland ata whenua. It was a 30min doco on the spectacular scenery of fiordlands that is only screened in te anau.  The doco was was filmed by a helicopter pilot who had been flying in fiordlands for 25 years. From te anau, we took a bus back to queenstown where we picked up our rented car, a toyota 1.8L sedan. Car rental works out to NZ$75 per day as we had opted for full insurance coverage so that there was zero liability if anything happens to the car.  Day 1 in wanaka ~ trekking in rob roy valley From queenstown, we headed for wanaka. Enroute, we stopped at arrowtown which has very quaint looking houses and streets. after arrowtown, we drove on the crown range road which is extremely scenic.Decided to do the trek to the rob roy valley today as the travel guide mentioned that it has very dramatic scenery. After picking up some trail info from the dept of conservation office, we drove to mt aspiring national park. We had good views of the rob roy glacier and snowfields at the summit. Apart from other trekkers, we had lots of keas for company. Kea is the native NZ parrot and makes the sound 'kea' so we made an intelligent guess that its name comes from its cry. on our drive out from the trailhead of the rob roy valley, we encountered a huge drove of sheep. they were so lovely and cute and timid too... they stood at about 50m away from our car before deciding that they will come closer till about 2m away. then they will dash across our car in a single file. before this encounter, i had doubted whether sheep were really as timid and docile as they appear, i'm now q positive they are indeed so. That night, we watched the movie "the world's fastest Indian" in our hostel, which is a 2005 movie about this new Zealander from invercargill (located in southland) who broke world records on land speed. We stayed at purple cow backpackers on our 1st night in wanaka.  For our second night, we shifted to altamond lodge for the same price, but which is bigger and quieter.   Day 2 in wanaka ~ started our drive along wild west coast Took a walk around lake wanaka and also checked out the "earth from above" photo exhibition, which was also shown in Singapore in early 2006 (I think).  Did some touristy activities today, including visiting the museum at the dept of conservation office. And that Also visited the puzzling world which contained illusions and holograms. After which, we started our drive along the wild west coast.    Day 1 in west coast ~ wanaka to franz joseph glacier Stopped by salmon farm café for lunch. The farm was rather smallish and the café appeared quite touristy, anyhow we had to satisfy our hunger pangs.  It was early afternoon by the time we reached fox glacier. Went to the glacier lookout but the glacier wasn't really that impressive. Maybe bcos its autumn.  We also did a side trip to the gillespies beach, which was a black sand beach with lots of driftwood. Took a nice stroll there.     Day 2 in west coast ~ franz joseph glacier to greymouth franz joseph glacier is only 25km away from fox glacier.  Drove to the glacier carpark in the morning and did a short walk (20min) to the sentinel rock, one of the glacier viewpoints. There were other longer walks bringing you to the terminal face of the glacier, but by now, we've had enough of NZ's beautiful scenery plus we were feeling rather lazy.  franz joseph town feels extremely touristy, with lots of adventure operators. There were organized trips to the glaciers for about $300 where they bring you up to the glacier by helicopter, then you get to walk on the glaciers for a couple of hours. Accommodation here was more expensive as compared to the other west coast towns. Enroute to greymouth, we stopped at the town of hokitika for lunch and shop browsing.  Hokitika is the source of greenstone/ jade (or pounamu in maori language) in NZ and a lot of tourists go there just to buy jade. Hokitika even has an airport.  We were asking ourselves what would make this NZ trip a memorable one for us and we came up with the idea of going for a farm stay. But after checking the internet, we realized that farmstays had to be booked 2 months in advance! Furthermore, it was the easter weekend ahead so its probly too late for us to make any farm stay arrangements. I guess I might get a chance to go for a farm stay when we return to Australia in future.   Day 3 in west coast ~ greymouth to christchurch greymouth is the largest town in west coast and is also the destination of the transalpine railway, one of the world's great train journeys, that runs 225km from Christchurch to Greymouth. A major pride of greymouth is the monteith's beer that is produced locally. William likes this beer quite a lot. we stayed at the global village backpackers, our fave hostel in NZ. the whole hostel was adorned with lots of ornaments from Indonesia and Africa. Even the rooms had paintings, wooden statue baskets and other ornaments. The place was really cosy! The hostel even had a small gym, sauna (indoor + outdoor) and provided free use of bikes and kayaks. In the evening, we took a walk at disused jetty and enjoyed views of the tasman sea and watched some surfers doing their stuff. As it was easter Friday, almost all the shops were closed. But somehow the recommended railway hotel was open so we had dinner there. It was the cheapest dinners we had in NZ. I ordered BBQ of sausage, veg and bread for only $5. William ordered steak + BBQ for $10. but the sausage was not of good quality and the steak was rather small.  Day 1 in christchurch ~ shopping! Left greymouth at 11am and reached Christchurch at about 3pm. After checking into the Charlie B's backpackers, we hurried to the shops as they close by evening time. and the next day was easter Sunday so the shops won't be open. Went to this huge supermarket, pak and save, to get foods for dinner as well as bought some choc bars to bring home. Also managed to fulfill some shopping requests, including collagen cream for my mum-in-law and lanolin cream for my new colleague. Spent the evening watching simpson's and other misc shows in our hostel room.  Day 2 in christchurch ~ chilling out and watched a great movie Today is easter Sunday and our last day in NZ. All the shops were closed so we went to the botanic gardens for a stroll in the morning. The rose garden was esp lovely. After a DIY breakfast in our hostel, we decided to catch a movie, "the cave of the yellow dog". it was a simple story about the life of a nomadic Mongolian family.  The mongolian scenery was stunning and we got to learn about the Mongolian way of life. It was also coincidental that William is considering doing a trek in Mongolia during his own career break in july. For details of the movie, go to http://www.caveoftheyellowdog.com/. On our way to the cinema, we realized that the art center and surrounds were the only parts of town bustling with activity. There were live performances and the weekend market selling crafts, clothes and foods. Also visited the Canterbury museum which had good exhibits on maori history and culture, as well as a lovely exhibit of the penny farthing bicycle.   In all, it has been a great trip to NZ! but we were a lil bored at times bcos we have already seen so much of Australia (overland track in Tasmania and great ocean road) and NZ is somewhat similar. Our only regrets were that we did not do white-water rafting nor the avalanche peak in arther's pass. Partially due to my injury as well as it was generally rather expensive to travel in NZ. not sure how much we spent in total for this trip as we have to wait for the credit card statements. But on average, we spent about NZ$70 for accommodation (double rm) and NZ$40 for a restaurant meal.
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Canberra, Australia

Day 1 in Canberra ~ met gus After a 4-hour drive from Sydney, we reached Canberra which was some 170km away. I drove about ¼ of the way. Reached Canberra at about 11am. I've only eibeen to Canberra one other time, which was in 2003 when William and I participated in the Canberra marathon. The house that William lived in is v cosy! And his housemate, Andrew, is very nice too. Cooked spaghetti for lunch and lazed around the house. In the late afternoon, we brought Andrew's jack Russell, gus, out for a walk. I love gus! He's so hyperactive and friendly and his eyes are so kind and beautiful.  After which, we had dinner at some thai restaurant and did some grocery shopping. Day 2 in Canberra ~ ran 15km and tasted the loveliest yogurtWilliam had a presentation at the hosp in the morning so I went for a run on my own. Ran around lake burley Griffin which I heard had a circumference of 42km! According to Andrew, the lake was originally a small river and the lake is totally man-made. The lake was named after the American architect, burley Griffin, who came up with the design and layout for Canberra. Canberra used to be a small village until it was selected to be the capital of Australia as its location was in the middle of new south wales and Victoria, which were the 2 most prosperous parts of Australia then and which did not want to see the capital of the country located in the other state.  Even though the sun was q strong, it was v nice to run as it was dry (so you don't perspire much) and breezy. If I lived in Canberra, I think I would have no probs achieving my target marathon timing of 3:40.  Visited the fyswich fresh foods market, which stocked lots of local produce. Saw the largest pumpkin I've ever seen. Even the carrots and beetroots were interesting, with their roots still attached. We bought lots of fruits and homemade which we had for lunch. The passion fruit yogurt was the most creamy and delicious that I've ever tasted! There was a charity book sale at the markets and I bought 2 le cordon bleu recipe books which were published in the 1970s! After doing laundry, we headed out for town center and looked for hairdressers as I needed a haircut. Its v expensive to cut hair here and the quotations I rec'd were all about A$65, double the px in sg. I guess when I'm really desperate, I might go for one of the $10 hair cuts which are done by Lebanese guys.  Had tea at this new pattiserie in town, mosaic. The pastries were simply fantastic! And there was so much variety that I spent a long time deciding what to order.  William ordered his fave pastry, pecan pie whereas I had a mandarin orange cake. And a almond truffle that costs only A$0.80. wasn't very sure what truffles are so I looked it up on the internet. The pastry truffle is a chocolate desert. Whereas truffles are actually fungi found under oak trees and are priced by gourmets for its unique taste. after which we headed for the gym. Had dinner at a recommended vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant which was rather disappointing.  Day 3 in Canberra ~ ran up to black mountainI'm on my own today as William will be working 8am to 8.30pm shifts for the next 4 days. The run was much longer than expected and I took about 1hr plus to reach the foot of black mountain. Even though I was already q tired as I've not fully recovered from yesterday's run and gym session, I decided to run up the mountain since I was already there. Checked with the locals and realized that there were no mountain trails, so I ran up the road that leads to the top of the mtn. I was running rather slowly and took some 20mins to reach the top. Was absolutely tired and needed refueling, so I had breakfast of muffin and coffee at the café at the telstra tower on top of the black mtn. There was a panoramic view of Canberra from the towers. After hanging around and digesting my foods for 45mins, I ran down the mtn, this time it only took me 10mins. It started to drizzle on my way back. Back the time I got back home, it was already 1pm.  It has been a really lovely run as I was running on the trail most of the time. Enjoyed the lake views, grasslands, willow trees, colored pigeons, and views of black mtn in the distance.  also encountered many other runners and cyclists. Thus far, I definitely like Canberra more than Sydney. For dinner, I prepared udon noodles - with miso soup, carrots, capsicum, bok choy, ikan bilis and seaweed.  Also boiled chrysanthemum tea, which I had brought from sg.  Its so much nicer to cook for another person. If I was having dinner on my own, I'd have just eaten bread.   Day 4 in Canberra ~ explored town centerWas supposed to go for the sri chinmoy 10km run this morning, but I was still v sore from yesterday's long run. Andrew had a choir performance with his choir group, the resonants, at glebe park in the town center, so I tagged along. After which, I walked around the Canberra center, which is a huge shopping center.  Walked to buy runner's world but they were sold out. So only bought ingredients for dinner and tiramisu.  I cooked thai pineapple rice using the asian gourmet paste/sauce. The flavour of the rice wasn't as strong as I liked. But overall, the dish was nice as I added in lots of ingredients: pineapple, raisins, seaweed, eggs, chicken, ikan bilis, mixed veg, garlic and shallots.  Andrew joined us for dinner today and we had a nice chat with him.   Day 5 in Canberra ~ had a small situation with gusBrought gus out for a walk in the late morning and a small drama occurred. I let him go into the lake and he started swimming after the swans. There were a huge round of buoys that cordoned off a swimming area and he seemed to be stuck at one of the buoys. He was pretty far off and I could hardly see him. I waited for 10mins and he was still at the same spot and I started getting worried. Decided to fetch him from the lake so I started moving using the buoys but the water was too deep and cold and I was a v poor swimmer, so I turned back. Borrowed hp from some locals nearby to call the police. After some 10mins, the water police came and picked gus up. They said that he wasn't stuck but seems to be trying to swim across the lines in between the buoys. The police put him back on shore and b4 I could put the leash on him, he ran back into the waters again, sigh! Apart from the small drama in the morning, I stayed at home for the rest of the day, as I din feel like gg out anymore. I was also quite immobile as William drove the car to hosp today. Spent the day packing for our new Zealand trip, reading various newspapers and mags, also watched the 1st episode of jewel in the palace.  Day 6 in Canberra ~ made tiramisu and met eindra for dinnerMade tiramisu today. It was a small struggle as I was using the a very old style electronic hand-beater and I couldn't find a deep mixing bowl so the egg whites splattered all over when I was beating them. The tiramisu turned out ok, but not as nice as the one I made in sg, largely due to the ingredients. The sponge fingers and cocoa powder that I bought in sg was better. Did misc reading today and watched the 2nd episode of jewel in the palace. As well as final packing for NZ. Then met eindra for dinner at town center. Eindra was my public health course-mate from Uni of Sydney. The last time I met her was in 2004 when she visited Sg. She showed me a book that I gave her when she was returning home to burma after her studies, 'the little book of positive thinking' and told me that she brought the book with her everywhere, to burma, then Thailand (where she worked for 2 yrs) and now Canberra. I was touched to hear that my gift was treasured. we had dinner at this jap restaurant called wagamama which wasn't really nice. After which, we adjourned to eindra's apartment. William joined us much later after he finished work in hosp.
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Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-la, China

Traveling from Hanoi to Kunming traveled for close to 24 hrs from Hanoi to KM. took a 9.5 hr train ride from Hanoi to Lao Cai. then crossed the Viet-China border by foot. followed by 11 hr bus ride from He Kou to KM. my bums were really sore from sitting down so long. luckily, i had some nice company in the form of a Jap student who sat beside me on the bus. he's called song tian (chinese translation) and is doing his uni internship in the consulate office in Shen Yang, China. i seriously tot that he's a local cos he can speak Chinese very fluently and with an accent. in fact, he was sharing that in terms of conversation ability, he's best in japanese, followed by mandarin and english. it was interesting to hear about his 2 aims in life, which were to travel the world and to set up a family. think he's quite wise for his age, which i think should be in the early - mid twenties. on the bus, there was only 1 other foreigner, a French lady called nadia. Kunming Day 1 ~ hanging out with nadia in old streets of Kun Ming as we reached KM the previous night at 11.30pm and nadia was quite lost as she couldn't speak Mandarin at all and the locals can't really speak English. so we ended up sharing a twin rm (for S$12 per pax) at the camelia hotel (cha2 hua1 bin1 guan3). nadia is a civil servant with the ministry of finance in france, in her early 40's, and has been traveling around asia for the past 3.5months. she has 5.5 more months to travel around asia, wow! it was nice hanging out with her. we spent half a day walking around the old streets of KM and the bird and flower market, which is closed to all traffic (including pedal bikes). we basically snacked as much as our stomachs can take - pancakes, water chestnut, guiling gao, preserved fruits, a bai zu specialty called 'grilled milk fan' which is a pastry that is made of milk and yogurt. also did some admin stuff such as buying air tix as well as other necc stuff such as sun block and batteries. it was so difficult to find good sunblock in KM. found this french brand vichy, but it costs S$50! the most common brand of sunblock is nivea, but the sun protection is not strong enough. i finally chanced upon sunplay sunblock for S$10. i was surprised that sun-block is not more commonly and cheaply available as the sun is q strong in KM. i also had a hair-cut for S$4, thou i told the hairdresser just to trim, as i still trust my regular hairdresser back in sg. also bot a light fleece jacket and tights as it was quite cold in KM (6 - 21deg, KM stands at 2000m) and i  had only brought along a thermal top as i wasn't sure whether i'll really go to China from Viet. thanks to the recommendation of the taxi driver, we had dinner in this 100-year old restaurant, and had the local Yun Nan dish, guo qiao mi xian, which is translated to mean 'crossing bridge noodles'. all in all, it was a pleasant day. except that the public toilets in China are atrocious! they're basically indoor pit-holes, the stench is so overpowering that i always feel nauseous when i'm using them. and always swear not to use them again and to wait to use toilet when i reach the hotel or the toilets in departmental stores. apart from the old streets, Kun Ming is a big city with lots of buildings and departmental stores, so it wasn't really that interesting for me. 1 day is enough to explore KM unless u want to do day trips to the surroundings. Dali Day 1 ~ sightseeing in Dali decided to fly to Dali (S$50 incl taxes) instead of enduring another 12hr bus ride. the flight only took 1/2 hr! from the Dali airport, i had to to take a taxi and then local bus to the old town. enroute, the taxi driver was v kind and treated me to a bowl of local noodles and gave me some tips on the local foods to try. he also asked me qns about sg and my occupation. anyhow, on hindsight, i realised he had overcharged my taxi fare, but small matter lah...checked into the old dali inn which is under the hosteling international chain, so far this is the first hostel that i've stayed and i must say i really like such youth hostels as there's many facilities - diy washing machine, free internet access, movie screenings, in-house restaurant, bike rental and etc. there are dorm rms, single or double rms avail. i stayed in a single rm with shared bathrm for S$6. took a chairlift to the cangshan mtns, which is the 50km mtn range surrounding Dali. the views were really lovely fm the chairlift - with bird's eye view of the mtns, er hai lake and dali town. enroute to the old town, i also visited the black bear rearing place, which is govt owned. entrance fees is free and the guide was really good in her explanation. she then brought me to the shop inside and explained some of the products made of bear's bile (xiong dan). i bot some bear's bile teabags cos wanted to show william, who's a doc. and cynthia, who's studying TCM now. then walked around the old town which is v beautiful with cobbled streets and old houses. Dali is also very backpackers-oriented (or commercialised) with lots of cafes, souvenir shops. there's even a street called the foreigner street (or yang2 ren2 jie1). Dali is also the home of the Bai people. did quite abit of shopping. bot a cross-stitch set, some ginger candy (local specialty) and a fake mammut soft shell jacket (S$36) as its colder here in Dali, some hand-painted t-shirts, and a chinese novel which i plan to read during the rest of my travels. Dali Day 2 ~ attended another cooking classi'm wearing 3 layers today and i'm still cold. went to walk around the old streets again in the morning and saw parents bringing their children to school. had breakfast of pau and soya bean milk for just S$0.30! at william's suggestion, i bot a shehe (local brand) down jacket for S$145. the down jacket comprise 80% goose feathers and is the brand used by the china everest team. the shop owner, paul, was really professional and informed me about care & maintenance of the jacket. he also passed me a couple of china outdoor newsletters and mags. for lunch, i decided to try one of the local specialties, which is sour-hot er hai fish (from the er hai lake). and got the cafe owner to teach me how to cook the dish for an additional S$10. it was interesting to enter the small kitchen. the dish is q easy to cook, it basically comprise boiling the fish in water in a deep wok, then add various spices (chilli powder, salt, etc) then lower the fire so that the flavours can be absorbed by the fish (??) and then add tofu and shallots. Lijiang Day 1 ~ walked around Lijiang old town and went for a 2-hr massagetook the 3pm bus for Lijiang and reached at 6.30pm. found accomodation at this place called A Liang guesthouse, which is a Naxi old house (with the Naxi family still living there - Lijiang is the hometown of the Naxi people who are Tibetan descendants). the room is basic but i was so thankful for the bathroom, which is spanking new! its much colder in Lijiang, as it stands at 2,461m above sea level. i'm so glad that i bot the down jacket the previous day as it was really really cold in the morning. my nose experienced 'cold rush' a couple of times. but it got warmer as the sun came out. went for a massage at this chinese franchise called fu qiao. asked for chinese massage for 1 hr, but it became 2 hrs. anyhow, i'm v thankful for the really good massage! the massuaer also passed me some hot stones to put on my knees as she said it will help to reduce my blood clots. din do much today except to walk around the old town which is really postcard pretty! with streams, willows, narrow lanes, lanterns, stone bridges.  took lots of pix and did lots of window shopping (only bot some handpainted tees with dongba pictograms and a chinese outdoor mag). i was glad that i din stay too long in Dali cos Lijiang is nicer! unfortunately, the old town is really congested, with lots of chinese tourists as its the chinese new year 1-week hols. but the good thing is that there are more festivities and more decorations on the streets. also observed that china is quite enlightened in certain aspects of recycling and environmentalism. in all the cities that i've visited in china so far, the dustbins always come in pairs, 1 bin for recyclable rubbish, the other for non-recyclable rubbish. also, the shops and supermarkets in Lijiang give out thin cloth bags rather than plastic bags. but of cos, China is the 2nd largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind US. Lijiang Day 2 ~ cycled towards the yulong xueshan (jade dragon snow mtns) rented a mtn bike which is fake giant brand. but its not too bad as it has 3 x 8 gears. used my compass to make sure that i'm cycling in the correct general direction. its q nice to cycle on the highway as there's not too much traffic and the rds are gd. enroute, i passed by a few villages, went into one of them, bai sha village to explore. wanted to take pix but din feel comfy doing that as most of the villagers were hard at work - carrying water, firewood, construction and etc. the scenery is really nice! as i looked around, i'm surrounded by mtns, 360degrees! also visited this baisha frescos and dongba cultural centre along the way. attempted to visit the village closest to the jade dragon snow mtns, called yuhu village. it was a hard climb up the slopes. i was using the lowest gear poss and at times, i had to use the technique of zigzagging instead of going straight up the slopes, as its slightly easier this way. had lunch at a restaurant near the highest elevation that i reached. a chinese guy who was also having lunch there kept looking at me and whispering something, i think he was trying to flirt with me, oh my goodness. cldn't find the village after all, anyhow i started descending and visited shuhe old town. its similar to lijiang old town but much quieter. i wandered along the streets and tried more local naxi food. got back to lijiang old town at about 5pm. Lijiang Day 3 ~ r&r in Lijiang old towndun have any plans today as i've done all that i wanted to do in Lijiang. wandered around the old town and did some last minute shopping - trinkets and scarves to bring back home to give away and a shawl for myself. spent most of the afternn chilling out in the 'nice hiking club' cafe, which is really cosy except for the 2nd hand smoke from the other cafe patrons and owner. i must have scanned through at least 15 issues of the local mag, 'outdoor exploration' and was surprised to see the extent of the outdoor adventure scene in China. am definitely inspired!  chatted a lil with the cafe owner who gave me some tips on brands on outdoor products in china. ferrino is v good in quality, pureland is cheap and of acceptable quality. shehe is of good quality but not gd value-for-money. he also shared that its cheapest to purchase outdoor stuff in guangzhou (vs other provinces in china) and online via taobao.com. these tips came at great timing as i had planned to purchase a gortex jacket for william and a down sleeping bag + trekking pole for myself when i get back to Kun Ming. now, i hope to order these online and ask rebecca (my MPH coursemate who lives in Shanghai) to help take delivery and then ship to me.Northwest Yunnan Day 1 ~ trekked tiger leaping gorge and experienced my 1st motion sickness booked myself on a 4D3N tour to tiger leaping gorge and meili snow mountains (S$120, excl meals). was initially hesitant about going on a tour as i could have organised the treks on my own. but i wasn't prepared - din bring any of my trekking gear and also wasn't prepared to face the cold on my own. but the tour turned out to my great! the chinese tourists who went on the tour were a pleasant bunch! there were 8 of them - a couple from fujian. laowang and laocui from beijing. xiaowei and dabing from shanghai. fangfang from ha er bin. and xiaoma from beijing. i was pleasantly surprised that there were other solo travelers apart from me. fangfang and xiaoma were traveling on their own too. our tour guide, whom we call wangdao, is v knowledgable and helpful too.     after a couple of hours of bus ride north, we reached tiger leaping gorge. tiger leaping gorge is the world's deepest gorge, with the deepest point at 3,000+m (or 3,900m as stated on the entrance ticket). we took a jeep to the start point of the middle part of the gorge and spent 3 hours trekking through the gorge. the scenery was just awesome! apart from the 4 fitter ones, the rest had some difficulty with the trek as half of the trek was on ascending slopes. there was even this 'heaven ladder' which is a near-vertical 30m steel ladder. some of the girls were really frightened when they climbed this ladder. the only not-so-pleasant incident today was that da bing left his camera at one of our rest stops and when he went back to retrieve the camera, he was suspicious that the horsemen took it. it turned out to be true and he paid the horseman about S$100 to get the camera back. enroute, we also visited some other sights include the 1st bend of the yangtze river, the moon bend 'yue liang wan', which is a river the curves around a small mtn just like a crescent moon. some of the girls stopped by a rental shop to rent down jackets, the middle aged guys also purchased oxygen bottles, in preparation for the hike towards meili snow mtns the next day.   some of us experienced slight headaches when we got off the bus at our destination for accomodation, peng2 zi3 lan2. i tot we were experiencing AMS (acute mountain sickness) but upon checking with the guide, i realised that the cause for our headache must be motion sickness as the altitude of peng zi lan was only 1,900m. Northwest Yunnan Day 2 ~ trekked to lookout point of meili snow mountains we took the bus further northwest towards meili snow mountains. started our trek at 2.30pm. some of my fellow travelers, fearing a repeat of yesterday's strenuous hike, decided to go up using 'luo zi' which is a cross-breed of horse and donkey. was told that these creatures can carry heavy loads but cannot give birth. the trek was lovely thou somewhat muddy as it was drizzling, i saw plum blossoms and bamboo and distant views of meili snow mtn along the way. we din see any other trekkers on the trail as it was the low traveling season for Yun Nan. the view of meili snow mtn from the top (the lookout point) was amazing! but i wasn't extremely touched as i had seen other snow mtns. din stay long at the top as i was freezing as i din bring my down jacket to the top and was jus wearing 3 layers - thermal, thin fleece and the fake soft shell. those of us who trekked took about 4 hours for the return trek. spent the night at this place with altitude of 3,400m. it was so cold that all of us huddled around a stove of coal (which was ironically fanned using a hair dryer) to warm ourselves and to attempt to dry our wet clothes. i shared room with fangfang and xiaoma, we were so cold that we went to bed without washing face nor brushing teeth. for gg toilet in the middle of the night, we used a pail lined with plastic bag. i was a lil surprised to see that my fellow chinese travelers were as afraid/ concerned about being cold as me (if not more) as i tot they should be used to the cold since they experienced winter every year. Northwest Yunnan Day 3 ~ visited a tibetan buddhist templewoke up at 7.30am to see whether we can catch the sunrise over meili snow mountains. it is known to be really beautiful and there's even a term for it (ri4 zhao4 jin1 shan1). but unfortunately it was too cloudy. we headed back towards zhongdian (aka shangri-la town). as it had been snowing the previous night, the roads were all covered in snow. yang shu, our driver had to drive at about 40km/hr. it was rather scary at times and we could feel the tires slipping. enroute we passed the white horse snow mountains lookout at 4,250m (if i remember correctly). also visited the song1 zang4 ling2 si4, a tibetan monastery and buddhist temple. saw a number of devotees prostrating themselves nearby, towards tibet. i was happy to see the 200+ steps leading to the temple and raced up it, enjoyed the heavy panting! our guide explained to us the various types of offerings to the buddhas as well as the meaning of some of the tibetan paintings on reincarnation and living life. was surprised to learn from my fellow chinese travelers that most chinese in china (except for tibetans) did not have any religion. the masters student from fujian was sharing with me that she thinks that only people who are not educated believe in religions. i shared my opinion that i think there must be some explanations for the amazing sights that we see everyday - mountains, rivers, the eco-system which is 100% balanced, and even human beings and animals that have such intricate designs. spent the night in night in shangri-la town which is not really pretty. its city-like thou not as posh as chengdu or kunming. but its definitely a tibetan town as you can see people dressed in tibetan clothings and restaurants with dried yak meat and heads hanging at the shopfront. after a group dinner (which is typically 8 dishes + rice), i spent the rest of the night watching chinese documentaries on the tibet-yunnan tea-horse trade route (such a coincidence!) and chinese singers that influenced the chinese music scene in the past 20 years. i must say that chinese documentaries are v well-made productions.   Northwest Yunnan Day 4 ~ r&r in shangri-la and resolved to improve my dietjoined some in the group for breakfast, before setting off for the tibetan cultural and heritage centre, a govt-funded place. it was q educational, with a tibetan physician-in-training explaining to us the origins and constructs of tibetan medicine - which diagnoses illness based on looking at the palms (with different parts of the palm representing different body parts) as well as looking at the tongue and face. all of us had a free consultation with the visiting tibetan physician. 4 of us had the same physician and the other 3 had rather accurate diagnosis - 1 was correctly diagnosed as diabetic, another was diagnosed as amnemic and with low BP. my diagnosis was v unexpected! the physician said that i had weak internal organs and that i should start taking either western or chinese medicine, otherwise, i'll become more 'dry and yellow'. also, if i do not get treated, there's the risk of miscarriage if i were to give birth. thou surprising, the diagnosis was not unbelievable to me as i had observed that i seem to have shrunk a lil over the past few years - i've grown thinner and my face contours had become sharper. also, being public-health trained, i knew that i more or less practised all the health-promoting behaviors except for having a good diet. i have always ate my meals as and when i'm hungry, and often ate convenient foods such as buns, instant noodles and other processed foods. i dun often take fruits and veg too, as i mostly eat hawker food, which mostly comprise carbohydrates. well, i guess this shocking diagnosis is a good motivation for me to put in more efforts in improving my diet. parted with the chinese travelers after the visit to the tibetan cultural centre as the tour ends in Lijiang. but i had purchased my air tix for Shangri-la to Kun Ming. i'm really glad to have met this bunch of nice people! i've definitely learnt lots from them - improved my mandarin, knowledge of chinese food, and various other titbits of info. i certainly hope to keep in touch with some of them via QQ - the chinese version of messenger. spent the rest of the day just watching misc tv programmes in the hotel room as it was v cold in Shangri-la. i saw fm the tv weather report that the temp for Shangri-la that day was between -8 to -5deg, my gosh!Last day in Kunming ~ consulted a TCM physician and experienced a near-accident took a flight from Shangri-la to Kun Ming in the morning (S$120 incl taxes). thought of visiting Shilin, the stone forest, an attraction near Kun Ming, as my flight back to Sg was at night. but was too lazy to look for bus and etc. and i think i've seen enuff beautiful scenery. so i rented a bike and just wandered around town. looking for more gifts to buy home - managed to buy some 2008 Beijing olympics souvenirs for william's and my families. came across the Yunnan TCM school clinic so went in for a consultation. the TCM physician told me that i was healthy except that my digestive system was rather weak partly due to genetics and partly due to my poor diet. when i told him that the tibetan physican had said that i had weak internal organs and that he had accurately diagnosed 3 among the 4 of us, he din refute the diagnosis but just said that TCM was different in that the diagnosis is done based on existing symptoms. on my way back to the hotel, my bike crashed into the bonnet of a car. it definitely wasn't my fault as i was riding on the main road and the car came out from the side lane. but i was a lil shocked and also grateful that i wasn't hurt. the driver got down from the car and inspected the scratches to his car, and demanded that i pay him RMB100 (or S$20) for the repairs. i tried to argue that he was in the wrong, but in the end i gave in as i din want to make a scene. Overall tots... China is a really beautiful place though you have to travel long distances to see various sights as its such a huge country. the cultures in different regions can be very different too. in fact one of my fellow travelers commented that China should really be a few countries and that was why there was so much domestic travel within China.  i look forward to my next trip to China, hopefully to Yading, Daocheng in Sep 08 (xiaoma had suggested that i look for pan-pan on daocheng-yading.com).spent about S$1500 (incl intl airfare but excl warm clothings) for 2-wk stay in Yunnan.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1174460820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1174460820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1174460820/tpod.html Wed, 18 Apr 2007 00:33:24 -0400 Wandering...

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Sydney, Australia

Day 1 in Sydney ~ visited old hauntsAttempted to have breakfast at this recommended breakfast place, brown sugar, located at north bondi, but we just couldn't find the restaurant at the stated address. We later realized that the restaurant had shifted, such a pity! We had brunch at this restaurant called trio, also located at north bondi. The big breakfast is delicious and well-presented, with sunny side-up, ham, toast, mushrooms, avocado and grilled vegetables. After which, we went to the bondi shopping mall. The delicatessens in Australia are so nice! With cheeses, breads, pastries and all sorts of sauces and dips. They stocked lots of asian foodstuffs too. Headed back to hotel for a nap as William was still recovering from his hospital shift-work for the past 4 days. After which, we headed for university of Sydney, where William spent 2 years and I spent 1 year studying. It was rather nostalgic as everything was still the same. And the old buildings were so beautiful and full of history.  We wished NUS and NTU could like Usyd. In particular, NUS always had some sort of construction going on. We then headed for coogee beach which was my fave place in Sydney city. Coogee beach links to bondi beach via a 10km walk (I think). Even though bondi beach is more famous and popular, I prefer coogee as its not as crowded and pretentious - you don't see the hordes of topless sun-bathers. There's also 2 very lovely rock pools (outdoor swimming pools) at coogee beach. For dinner, we went to harry's cafe de wheels, which was located beside the wharf. The filling of the pies were delicious and it was v filling as the pie was topped with a huge serving of mashed potato. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1174057800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1174057800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1174057800/tpod.html Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:25:42 -0400 Wandering...

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Endau Rompin, Malaysia

~ 1.5 days in Endau Rompin National Park ~endau-rompin national park comprise 49,000ha of virgin lowland tropical rainforest. the park is also the habitat of some 230 species of birds, 179 species of butterflies and the great malaysian mammals (tiger, elephant, tapir, sumatran rhinoceros). this was a v last minute trip for melissa, tongling and myself but i liked the spontaneity! melissa initiated the trip as she was keen to see how the park has changed since the floods in dec06 / jan 07. melissa, tongling and i met at the tanjung pagar train station to board the 8.40am KTM train heading for KL. after 3hrs (incl clearing customs), we arrived at our destination - kluang. melissa had made pre-arrangements with the park to pick us up at the kluang train stn as it was another 55km fm the town of kluang to the park and abt half the distance was off-road and thus a 4-wheel drive was needed. reached the visitors' complex of the park at abt 3.30pm after a v bumpy ride. just in time to obtain shelter fm the impending thunderstorm. we stayed in the dormitory for just RM10/ pax and had the whole 20plus bed dorm to ourselves! according to the cafe chef, we had brought the rain with us as it hadn't rained for the past few days. i was q happy that it rained as i loved the rain (except when i'm outdoors) and it was really nice listening and watching the rain. we spent most of the time chatting while waiting for dinner, which was v delicious and v well-presented nasi goreng. spent the rest of the night reading and playing cards (chua dai di) with the chef and his friend. the next morning, we met our orang asli guide, osman. we first took the long-boat towards kuala jasin which has a v nice and well-equipped campsite. continued trekking towards kuala marong followed by upeh guling. the highlight of the trek for me was upeh guling along the jasin river. the 'bath tubs' of cascading waters looked really lovely and refreshing! we had our picnic lunch here and soaked our feets in the rushing waters. after upeh guling, we headed for tasik air biru which had waters that looked blue-green from afar. but up close, the waters was so clear that we could see the fishes. we swam and waded in the waters and enjoyed the natural jacuzzis. it was such a pleasant day! after which, we headed back to kuala marong where we did more swimming and wading. the only unpleasant part of the trek was the leeches and tongling was esp freaked-out by them as it was her first experience with these blood-suckers. thanks to the leech-proof socks that we purchased at the park, we were not that badly bitten by the leeches.  along the way, we did 8 river crossings as the bridges had been damaged by the floods. just before we headed back for the visitors' complex, we passed by kampong peta, an orang asli village where 800 orang aslis lived. all in all, it has been a most pleasant weekend trip for me. enjoyed the peace and beauty of endau-rompin. all the park staff were extremely nice too. and of cos, enjoyed the company of melissa and tongling, am definitely looking fwd to gg KK with them next yr!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1173188100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1173188100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/wander/wander/1173188100/tpod.html Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:16:28 -0400 Wandering...

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Singapore, Singapore

~ home sweet home ~well, this is my first solo trip and my longest travels (thou 5 weeks of traveling can't really be considered long). it has been a really great experience! and in a way, i'm glad that i did it on my own (as a couple of frens who were keen to join me could not make it after all). i'm really pleasantly surprised that its so easy to meet and hang out with fellow solo travelers. and i guess when you're traveling, you're more open-minded. others are more open-minded twds u as well. i wldn't say that i've learnt much more about myself as i think i'm old enough to have already done q abit of self-discovery. but i'm happy that i'm really as independent as i tot i am. similar to my previous trips, i've also returned with various inspirations. this time, my inspirations include ideas & plans for future trips (with william), setting up a shelf in my living rm to store and display my outdoor and travel gear which will serve to remind me to look fwd to future trips and adventure. am pretty happy to be home to enjoy all the material comforts - hot showers, ready access to internet & tv, lounging in my comfy sofa. in a way, i'm also glad that my solo travels are over (for now), as it means that its time for me to head to australia to join william. ~ 1.5 wks in Sg ~didn't manage to do all the things that i planned to do, as usual, since i always have too many plans up my sleeves, but too little time. during these 11 days at home, i managed to try out various recipes, including tiramisu, rice paper rolls, lemon grass chicken, sweet & sour pork, sardine sambal and marble cake. only the first 3 dishes were delicious. the rest tasted so-so only. also managed to read neil humphrey's bk 'final notes from a great island - farewell tour of singapore', which is q interesting. learnt about some aspects of sg that i never knew (history and places). also browsed thru some mag-books 'queer eye for the straight guy' and '1000 places to see before you die'. as well as went thru the notes for the basic exercise course (BEC) that i attended in Jan 07. to me, its really great to read as i always get lots of ideas and inspirations from reading (much more as compared to watching tv and surfing the web). maybe thats bcos u r less distracted when u read, and books tend to be more comprehensive and u can take your time to digest (and re-read) the portions that touches u. also visited my 2 families and met up with some frens - steph, constance, melissa, nick. din do as much running as i'd like to. maybe i'm really getting lazy... went for the safra group runs and it was really nice to have people asking me about my trip and my knee injuries. i guess friendships do take time to develop. even thou the safra runners come fm all walks of lives and even thou some of us may only be able to converse on a more superficial level due to v different backgrounds, i have a sense of camaraderie and affection twds the group as we see one another so often during the thrice-wkly runs. it has been 2 mths since i did a long run of at least 21km, i certainly hope i can start running that distance when i go to australia. apart from some running, i did my own 30-min weight training sessions at the gym and attended a really 'siong' spinning class.
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Hanoi and Halong Bay, Vietnam

Hanoi Day 1 ~ orientated myself around town & watched water puppet performance arrived at 1am in Hanoi as the flight fm Hue was delayed by 2 hrs. it was a very short flight, about 1hr +. i'm so glad i decided to fly instead of enduring a 16hr train ride and the fare difference is only about S$25 (incl of taxes). flying domestic within Vietnam is really cheap!the taxi fare fm airport to Hanoi town is US$10 even though the meter only says S$5. well, but i had to pay that amt as it was the agreed-upon px as well as the px recommended in the travel guide. stayed at a hotel that i had booked in advance since i'll be arriving so late. but hated the room! so far, i've been fine with all the hotel rms i've stayed in Viet until this. what i disliked about the rm was that the light switches are placed in very inaccessible places, the bed was very high (and i've some probs getting up & down since my knees were still hurting), and the blankets and towel din look very clean. today was spent doing admin stuff. went to the train station to purchase tix to Lao Cai, the Viet town bordering china, cos my next stop will be Kun Ming in Southern China. also went to intl SOS, as the bruises on my knees were still very large and hard. the Vietnamese doc was really patient and good. but i got a shock at the cashier, the bill came up to a whooping US$168! i certainly hope that i can claim that fm my travel insurance company. also booked 2D1N trip to ha long bay. also went to supermkt to buy toiletries that i'd run out of (esp tissue paper). the supermkt was really crowded with shoppers doing their last-min shopping for Tet, the Viet new year. the highlight of the day for me was watching an evening performance at the thang long water puppetry theatre. see http://www.thanglongwaterpuppet.org/. the stage was water and the water puppet show was really riveting and special, i loved it! i wouldn't mind watching another show! the puppet show was accompanied by live music played by musicians using traditional musical instruments. which included the yang qin that i used to play in secondary and JC days. one instrument was v special, the 'dun-bo', which has a very haunting and resounding tone. i've never heard anything like that before. Hanoi Day 2 ~ shopping on Tet new year's eve and caught fireworks at hoan kiem lakeat william's suggestion, i decided to change hotel today. which was a great decision, as the room had satellite tv which will bring me many hrs of enjoyment over the next few days =)walked around the old quarters of hanoi. the souvenir shops all looked rather similar, selling laquerware, silk clothes, embroidery, tees, etc. i managed to buy some silk scarves (S$5 each), silk sleeping bags (also S$5 each & can't wait to use them!), 1 pirated book (S$9, which isnt cheap at all), a red cotton dress which i think i can wear to the office (S$40). and a very lovely handmade teddy bear (US$15). shopping in Viet ain't as cheap as say, China and India. watched lots of tv in my hotel rm - discovery channel (shows on coffee art, cocktails, and anthony bourdain's food tour of his hometown, new jersey) and Channel News Asia. while waiting for the fireworks which will happen at mid-night. the streets were absolutely crowded when i left the hotel at 11pm. frankly, the fireworks were so-so. so far the best fireworks i've seen are in sydney and sg. enjoyed experiencing the atmosphere. its not unlike in sg, where pple camp out on the pavements to get good viewing points of the fireworks. there were even people climbing onto trees to get a better view.   Hanoi Day 3 ~ reading and chilling outnothing much to do today since all the shops are closed for the new year hols. had wanted to join the hanoi hash house harriers for their weekly run, but decided against it since my knees were stilling hurting.woke up at 12nn! i slept for 10 hrs, which is very atypical for me! read the pirated bk i bot, the life of pi, at the lake, followed by highlands cafe, which has become a place of refuge for me, whenever i wanted to escape the noise and pollution of Viet streets.  then went back hotel to watch lots more CNA and discovery channel. there was an episode on ian wright's travels to tunisia and other parts of north africa. also watched a feature on this jap female artist who married an indian man and has successfully assimilated to life in new delhi, india. met Mitsue for dinner at an italian restaurant. Mistue is a very charming lady from Hawaii who's working as a freelance writer cum career planner in Hanoi. had met her earlier at the cafe.  Hanoi Day 4 ~ chilling out with Mitsuemet Mitsue in the morning, had breakfast and and attended church service at the Hanoi International Fellowship. the last time i went to church was some 5 years ago? with richard and i remembered we kind of fell asleep during the sermon then, haha. church service was nice, but i wasn't particularly touched. i dun really know what i'm looking for, maybe some strong sign to let me know that God is indeed around. then we went temple hopping around the west lake, as its the customs for vietnamese to visit the temples during the new year hols. i wasn't particularly interested in temples thou, but it was nice to observe the vietnamese. the 2 of us also squeezed (rather uncomfortably) onto a motorbike taxi and toured the entire west lake, which was in the suburbs of Hanoi. thoroughly enjoyed her company and chatting about various things. and also learnt more about living life 'in the moment' from her . Hanoi Day 5 ~ watched a movie and experienced $$ issueswanted to go for a massage, but the massage places that i called were still closed for the hols. so ended up watching the movie "the holiday", which was really nice!then met mitsue for a drink as she wanted me to show her how to choose a bagpack for her hiking trip to Romania later this year. the bagpacks in hanoi are all fake (northface, columbia, deuter etc), and the prices range from US$10 to $40. there's also fake gortex jackets, trekking pants and etc. starting to run out of money now but hoping not to draw any more $$, cos i've spent about S$1,000 so far for this trip, excluding the air fare. while purchasing a baguette today, i felt my sling bag moving so i turned around and saw a woman very close to me and that the zipper of my sling bag was open. quickly checked that my wallet and hp were intact, otherwise i'd have given chase. but still, it was quite a shocking experience, as i guess i'd starting letting down my guard since it has been safe traveling in Vietnam so far. also today, while waiting for the salesperson to help me top up my local prepaid phone card, i wasn't very sure whether she gave me back my change. there was also another previous occasion when the cashier short-changed me but when i tried to clarify, she insisted that i had given her a smaller amount. well... at the end of the day, the $$ amounts are not large, but i guess no one likes to be conned.Halong Bay Day 1 & 2 fm Hanoi, i took a 2D1N tour to Halong Bay. the scenery was really awesome! its so much nicer than other cliffs and seas that i've seen (in Thailand, Indonesia, etc). none of my pix can do justice to the beauty of the place, you just got to be there yourself! took about 3 hrs to reach Halong town by mini-bus. after lunch and clearing the port customs, we boarded the boat to Halong bay, where we'll spend the night on the boat and return next noon-time. i wished so much that william could be there with me to enjoy the scenery cos its really breathtaking! its the most beautiful place that i've visited in Vietnam. however, this time round, my fellow passengers were not pleasant - there's 2 australian groups (1 family and 1 group of teenagers + parent) and 1 german couple. i guess during your travels, as in life, you'll meet nice and not-so-nice people. for eg, the aussies refused to eat most of the food that was provided as they were concerned abt the cleanliness. they also refused to eat eggs as they were concerned about contracting bird flu. i felt like telling them that i think the chances of them getting bird flu fm eating the eggs was much much lower than the chances of getting getting hit by a motorbike on the streets. but i kept my comments to myself as it was 5 against 1.  anyhow, so i was really glad for the company of the book "the life of pi" by yann martel. its a really good book! and i finished it during the bus and boat ride. its coincidental that the fictional bk is about the a castaway (indian boy) and how he managed to survived in the pacific ocean for 7 months. and while reading the book, i was on the seas which i think is also the pacific ocean. the book also has a very interesting defence of zoos, as well as the essence of religions. for the book synopsis, go to http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/life_of_pi1.aspit also helped that the tour guide for this trip was nice and quite cute-looking (in an Asian way). and he asked me twice whether i was attached, haha. got back to Hanoi at about 4.30pm the next day. had 4 hours to while away before my train for Lao Cai (Viet border town with China) leaves. went to the internet cafe and bumped into ania, the polish girl. it was an amazing coincidence! as after parting with her at Hoi An, she headed south whereas i headed north. and she'd just got back to Hanoi the previous day. both of us were in need of listening ears! cos she has some personal issues with her Vietnamese boyfren and i didn't talk much during the Halong Bay trip as my fellow passengers were not approachable. had dinner with Ania (thank God she gave me a treat as i had run out of Viet cash and was planning to jus have bread for dinner) and she sent me to the train station. i shall always remember her as one of the lovely people i met during my career-break travels. and i certainly hope to visit her in Poland some day!Overall, i'm v glad to have chosen to visit Vietnam. its a v special country with its previous French and Chinese heritage as well as war history. its also blessed with beautiful scenery - mountains, rivers and seas. and a very fertile mekong delta. and i'm really glad that its the only country in the whole world that is meeting/ even exceeding the millenium development goals (see http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) and is the country that is the fastest in getting out of poverty. and of cos, i'll miss the vietnamese drip-type coffee, which i've been drinking everyday. and all the nice fellow travelers that i've met in Vietnam. in a way, i'm also glad to be moving on cos the pollution and noise can be q overwhelming at times. also, i'm getting rather tired of always being charged 'foreigner' prices.spent S$1,200 (incl intl airfare) for this 3-week trip to Vietnam. original budget was S$1,000 but Vietnam was more expensive than expected.
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Hoi An and Hue, Vietnam

Hoi An Day 1 ~ experienced train ride in Vietnamafter a 17.5 hr train ride from HCM, i finally arrived in Da Nang. the train ride wasn't as nice as expected, maybe bcos the previous long train rides i had were in india and they were nicer - not as noisy, no smoking allowed and of cos, william was with me then. i shared the 4-bed (2 double-decker) cabin with a vietnamese family - parents, 2 sons and 1 auntie. but din talk much with them as only the father knew english and being a family, they are rather occupied with taking care and watching their sons. the view fm the train was nice though - paddy fields, lakes and villages.. and it was fun watching the many cute kids on the train. i felt rather envious of all the family bliss i saw. fm Da Nang, i took a hired car to Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site. the streets of the old town within Hoi An are very charming with narrow cobbled walkways, alleys and lots of shops selling very colorful goods such as paintings, tailored clothes, ornaments, lanterns, antiques and etc. due to its history as a major trading town where japanese and chinese merchants settled, there are various chinese assembly halls and a japanese bridge cum temple in town. to me, its a pity that traffic is allowed within the old town (comprising 3 streets) as otherwise, the old town will be even more charming. chose to stay in a guesthouse that is one of the 200-year old merchant houses within Hoi An. it was different from the usual guesthouse as the family lives in the house and the house itself was charming with chinese antiques, furnitures and fixtures carvings. thou it was also a lil scary at night with the altars and lanterns.Hoi An Day 2 ~ attended a cooking class!signed up for a 1/2 day cooking class with the red bridge cooking school (see http://www.elephantguide.com/redbridge/school.htm), which started with a tour of the local markets. the mkt tour wasn't that insightful for me since i already knew most of the tropical fruits & veg. the guide also showed us the various knives and kitchen equipment used in vietnamese cooking, i bot 3 items for about S$7, hopefully i'll put them into good use back home. we then took a short boat ride to the cooking school, which was also a restaurant. learnt how to cook 4 dishes, including hoi an pancake, fresh rice paper, eggplant in claypot, squid salad in half-a-pineapple. also learnt how to make a rose out of tomato and the vietnamese hand fan carved from cucumber. we had for lunch whatever we cooked! the dishes were quite simple to cook and i was more mesmerised by the beautiful setting of the cooking school. it was just beside the thu bon river overlooking some fishing nets and the small red bridge and bamboo plants made the whole setting very lovely. Hoi An Day 3 ~ cycling and r&r with ania met ania in the morning to go cycling to cua dai beach. cos both of us were rather tired from the noise and pollution. ania is a jovial 25 year-old polish student (doing her masters in psychology) who's traveling to China, Vietnam and Cambodia. met her at the cooking class the previous day. i experienced the joys of riding a mtn bike again as i've been riding a road bike in sg (and that's not very often nowadays too). the last time i rode a mtn bike was during my cycling trip in nepal. even thou the rented bike looks cheap and the roads are not very good, the ride is surprisingly rather smooth. cua dai beach was about 4km away from town. the beach is so-so but it was a nice break from town. enjoyed chatting with ania. as far as i remember, i think she's the first polish person i've met. it was interesting to discuss our perspectives on relationships (she has a viet boyfriend who lives in poland) and other world views. i'd say she's definitely a traveler rather than tourist, as she's not merely into sightseeing but is curious and asks lots of qns about the local cultures and ways of life. in the evening, we met linh and nhung, my 2 new-found vietnamese friends who had returned to their hometowns in hoi an for tet, the viet new year. they brought us to a romantic spot, beside the vegetable fields. unfortunately, we arrived a lil late and could not catch the full glory of the sunset. after which, we went on motorbikes to the seafood restaurant located right on the beach, and feasted on crabs, squids, mussels/ cockles and fish porridge. but i enjoyed the company even more!Hoi An Day 4 ~ visited my son, ruins of the champa kingdom went on a 1/2 day tour to my son, which is another world heritage site. due to the bombing during the viet war, not much is left of the temples. i guess i'm not the type to appreciate such historical places and temples, but i do appreciate the preservation of historical sites as the past has contributed to the present (hmm.. am not trying to be philosophical here..). i'm sunburnt and down with a cold today, so rested as much as i can in the guesthouse. in the evening, i had dinner with takako, whom i met earlier during the my son tour. she's a lawyer posted to the hanoi branch of her jap firm for 1 year and she has successfully learnt how to speak vietnamese. she's the first solo asian traveler that i've met so far. the other lone travelers are all caucasians. we had dinner at the very lovely hai's cafe. its somewhat like one of the restaurants along rochestor park, very tranquil and lovely environment. we chatted about various things and found out more about each other's country. this is really the 1st time that i'm traveling on my own (apart from a few days in myanmar and china respectively some years ago), and i'm really pleasantly surprised that its so easy to meet and hang out with fellow travelers.Hue Day 1 ~ arrived in Hue arrived in Hue, the capital of Vietnam in the 19th century. the bus ride to Hue was quite scenic, passing by the central highlands, hai van pass (at 1000+m) and lang co beach. found this fabulous hotel which has a computer and internet access in the room! and which has 2 double beds, cable tv, air-con, fan, bathtub and even a balcony. and all these for just US$12/nt. the staff are really friendly and i'd highly recommend this hotel: binh duonh 3 located at 4/34 nguyen tri phuong tel: 054830145. recuperated in the hotel rm for the rest of day as i'm down with full-blown cold.Hue Day 2 ~ checked out the ancient imperial city rented a bike and cycled around town and the citadel (comprising imperial city and forbidden purple palace). even the river in Hue has a very lovely sounding name - perfume river. the area around the ancient has more trees and gardens than other cities of Vietnam. did some opportunistic shopping today (so far, i've hardly bought any souvenirs in Vietnam) - bought fishermen pants, some postcards to send to friends, and 2 paintings from a seller who approached me when i was having lunch. according to him, some proceeds of the paintings will go to the street kids, of cos i dunno how true that is. Hue Day 3 ~ visited the demilitarisation zone (DMZ) the DMZ is the stretch of land (10km wide) along the ben hai river that separates north and south Vietnam from 1956 to 1976. North Vietnam comprised the communist soldiers and supporters whereas South Vietnam comprised non-communists. was expecting to see barren ground/ soils and desolation. but the heavily bombed areas are thankfully, now reforested with coffee and acacia. we visited various sites but the highlight of the trip was the vinh moc tunnels (some 2000m long), which was dug by the villagers living in the northern part of the DMZ when they were attacked by the americans (who were supporting the non-communist south). and where the villagers lived for 6 years. during those 6 years, a total of 17 babies were born in the tunnels. the tunnels were very well-preserved and we got to go into it for about 700m. it was really claustrophobic and i can imagine myself going crazy if i were to live there for even a few hrs. it was also ironical that jus outside the tunnels were really beautiful beaches.  the scenery on the 3 hr bus ride to the DMZ area was v nice. along the way, we also stopped at a minority village comprising laos people as the border of laos was only about 20km away.
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Ho Chi Minh and Mekong Delta, Vietnam

HCM Day 1 ~ had the scariest ride of my life! my 1st day in HCM! and i already feel so comfy here.. i guess that's bcos i've been to a number of developing c'ries.. even thou i'm travelin on my own, so far i've not felt lonely at all! in fact, i think the fact that i'm travelin on my own somehow makes it easier for me to interact with the locals.. at changi airport (budget terminal - which btw, was really budget looking), a vietnamese man, tony, approached me and asked whether i could share some of my luggage allowance with her mom, who was returning to HCM. i also helped her with her extra hand-carry luggage. along the way, i met with another viet lady, linh, who was also helping this old lady with her hand-carry luggage. it was nice chatting with tony and linh. and linh offered to show me around in HCM tmr... and one good turn deserves another - i got a free ride to town fm HCM airport bcos the old lady's son (who's a taxi driver) came to pick her up. i got off at de tham, which is the main backpackers stretch. most of the recommended hostels/ hotels were already fully booked. those that were not offered me cheapest US$12 and din allow me to bargain. i guess its the peak season now as tet, the vietnamese new year was jus round the corner (same dates as CNY, followin the lunar calendar). in the end, i found this hotel, which has a very strange layout - with only 1 or 2 guest rooms on each floor. i bargained for US$5 a nt, after asking for the cheapest room which is on the highest floor which has a very steep staircase leading to it (but gd for vertical marathon training haha), and which comes without cable tv nor hot water. which is perfectly fine with me. what's impt to me is that the rm is clean, bright, not too noisy and has attached bathrm =)then took the motorcycle taxi (known as 'xe om') to the train stn to buy tix for my onward journeys. the xe om ride was scary!! i was hanging on for my dear life for the first 5-10 mins. after that, i learnt not to think about the ride, but jus to focus on the street scenes. what scared me was that the traffic was super heavy and all the motorists seem not to follow traffic rules (such as using the correct lanes and overtaking all the time). it was esp scary at the x-junctions, where there were no regulating traffic lights and it was free for all. i think it takes a very great amt of concentration to drive on HCM roads! i did consider renting a motorbike, but i dun think i wanna risk my life... well, i guess in a way, i'll never be bored in HCM cos even crossing the roads is so exciting. cos the traffic is so heavy that u either have to dash across. or jus start walking and dodge the oncoming traffic along the way. another strategy is to just close your eyes and cross and wait for the traffic to dodge you haha. had dinner at this lovely cafe called 'wrap and roll' - very healthy meal - grilled beef wrapped around lemon grass stalks and rice rolls, which i had to diy with the rice paper, veg, vermicelli and dipping sauce. and pomelo juice. i love viet food! was really surprised when adam mentioned that he din like viet food during his recent visit to north vietnam. after dinner, i walked around downtown viet and its q prosperous! with all the high end shops such as gucci, mango, and other names which i can't rem as i'm not into such branded stuff... but i cldn't help but step into the addidas and nike shops, the prices were similar to spore! which was a surprise since i tot the vietnam is one of the manufacturing ctries for these sports goods. anyhow.. now i wished i'd brought more clothes, cos the vietnamese are not as conservative as i'd thought and its ok for ladies to wear sleeveless tops and shorts.HCM Day 2 ~ made 2 new vietnamese frens and ran my first hash run! met linh, the viet lady i met on the plane yesterday and nhung, her fren. they picked me up in their motorbikes, which according to linh, she has been riding for the past 8 years. linh is a fresh biz graduate and recently visited her sis in sg who's studying in NUS. she's now looking for job and boyfriend =P. as for nhung, she has worked for the past yr in the PR dept of an investment consultancy. both of them are from hoi an and are in their early twenties. we first went to highlands coffeehouse for coffee (local coffee place which has many branches, which looks like starbucks/ coffee bean & tea leaf), followed by ice-cream at this very lovely cafe called cafe napoli. had a very nice chat with both of them - sharing about the cultures of vietnam and sg as well as personal stuff such as hobbies, plans for career, marriage and how to choose the right guy. they were really nice and i really enjoyed their company! check out nhung's blog (there's a para on me) at http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-W.lUPfQ9bqjcMsjeaP2T_8Aeahst in the afternoon, i joined the saigon hash house harriers (see http://www.saigonh3.com/ and http://www.saigonh3.com/stats/run842.htm). it was my very first hash run and it was really really interesting! we took a 1-hr coach ride to the countryside and started the run beside the paddy fields. the format of a hash run is that there are paper shreds left along the trail to ensure that the runners are on the right trail, and when there are branch-offs, runners will have to check both trails to find out which is the right one. the correct trail will have 3 consecutive clumps of paper shreds. and there are cries for identification. when a runner sees a clump of paper, he will shout "on-on". if he doesn't see any paper for a while, that means he's on the wrong trail and he will call out "on-back". the runners are mostly expats living in HCM, though there are a few locals, i also met this s'porean lady, shu fang, who's recently posted to HCM for work and who's a marathon runner too. we ran for about 1 hr 35mins and it was rather adrenaline-pumping as we were running on the forest trails and shouting most of the time. the villagers must find us a very curious bunch! one of the runners told me that the 3 key things about a hash run is running, drinking and sex. indeed, all the regular runners have hash names which are all R rated, with the likes of 'pencil dick', 'handjob', 'pussy'. at the end of the run, all of us gather for cold drinks and the hash circle, where 'charges' were made. and the 'sinners' have to sit on blocks of ice and down mugs of beer. these charges are fun stuff like having a poor fashion sense, walking too much during the run, being disrespectful to the hash customs such as wearing caps in the hash circle. newcomers were also made to introduce themselves and the organisers to give their comments about the run. there were lots of jokes and it was great fun! even the bus ride back was fun with lots of singing (songs with lots of sexual teasing). including the traveling, the whole run took 6 hrs. now, i'm q happy with the peace & quiet and being by myself... its been quite an eventful day! and nope, i'm still not lonely yet =)HCM Day 3 ~ visited the cu chi tunnels and met some vietnamese-chinese localsi actually booked myself for a full-day tour, to the cu chi tunnels followed by the cao dai temples. but i was late for 5mins as i had gotten the time wrong. and the bus left without me! so i went for the 1/2 day tour instead, and no, the ticket price is not refundable. my lesson learnt is that the buses here leave really punctually! the cu chi tunnels are a network of 200km of tunnels dug underground during the french colonisation period (about 50km dug) and during the vietnam war (about 150km). during the vietnam war (lasting about 30 years?), the viet cong/ or guerillas lived and fought the GIs from the tunnels. and the resistance at cu chi was one of the main reasons why the americans decided that they cannot win the vietnam war. the tunnels were deepest at about 8m and very narrow (only passable by asian physiques). we saw one of the many entrances to the tunnels, some of the booby traps made by the viet cong, the fighting trenches, and etc but the most interesting experience was when we went into a short section of the tunnel (40m). the passages were only about  0.6m tall and we had to crawl on all 4s. without our torchlights, i can imagine the terrible darkness. its really sad that the vietnamese pple had to endure such hardships yet at the same time, their resilience was amazing! at that point in time, i have the naive wish that all the world's political leaders will be enlightened and will prevent any future wars or sufferings. during the bus ride to cu chi tunnels, i sat with a dutch lady, berpske, who's been living in various countries for the past 9 years, and whose husband is a soccer player who manages/ plays on teams from different c'tries. it was nice chatting with her! felt really lethargic after getting back to town from the trip to the cu chi tunnels, as we had to endure a very slow 2 hr bus ride. so decided to chill out at gloria jean's cafe in dong khoi, the stretch of town with many designer boutiques. followed by pedicure and manicure (S$16) at some beauty salon. i was so tired that i nearly fell asleep during the beauty session. was ready to retire for the day at 7pm when i realised that i've not visited chinatown and tonight is my 2nd last night in HCM so i better check out chinatown tonight.  so i took a 20-min motorbike ride there. CNY in sg is definitely more exciting as the shops selling the CNY stuff are all clustered together. whereas the shops in HCM chinatown were very scattered. decided to try the local durians which i heard are nicer than thai durians. i guess i'm no gourmet so i couldn't really tell the difference but viet durians are definitely nice! chatted with the ladies selling the durians, who were the first people who can speak mandarin that i've met in vietnam. they were really friendly and one even gave me a ride on her motorbike. then i decided to stop to eat more food at the roadside stalls and started chatting with the hawkers selling fishballs and soya bean milk who were both vietnamese chinese too. all the chinese that i've met tonight commented that i'm brave to travel on my own. at the same time, i can sense a tinge of envy that they cannot afford to travel. i don't even dare ask them whether they have visited hanoi. well, i guess we must always count our blessings.HCM Day 4 ~ visited mekong delta and met many fellow travelers booked myself on a full-day tour to mekong delta. after a 3-hr bus ride, we reached the mekong delta around where we took a 1 - 2  hr boat ride to see the floating markets and to see life on the mekong river. along the way, we stopped at some villages to visit the houses and to see how local sweets were made. it was interesting to see the making of coconut candy, popped rice and etc. we also stopped to take a walk at the local land markets. i was fortunate to be with a very nice group of fellow travelers. there were 2 middle-aged couples from israel. another middle-aged couple from canada, a older couple from south africa + oz, a young couple from oz and a dutch guy, anthony, who's my age (thou i din disclose my age to him). one of the israeli ladies was a genetic counselor and she explained to me what genetic counseling was about. the oz lady was a nurse working in the area of public health. the canadian couple were heading for sg in a few days and i'll be emailing them some recommended things to do in sg.  my 1st (and hopefully last) accident on the trip happened today. while getting off the boat which wasn't tied to the pier (i was the first to get off), i fell and landed on my left knees. i really dunno what happened, i tot i saw the step very clearly and i stepped off the boat. then suddenly, i found myself landing very hard on the step. i was lucky that i din hit my head or something. my body was in shock for a few mins and i just stayed there on the steps. but my fellow travelers said that it was dangerous for me to stay on the pier so they moved me. and then i fainted. they carried me to the pharmacy when i was semi-conscious for a short while. it was the 1st time that i fainted. well, i guess my lesson learnt is not to be over-confident. i've alway prided myself on having a good sense of balance (i can cycle free-hand since young) so this accident has reminded me to not be over-confident and to be extra careful esp since i'm traveling on my own.. the israeli couples were esp concerned about my fall, and i felt rather touched. the most amazing thing that happened today was about the dutch guy, anthony. on our bus ride back to HCM, our bus picked up other tourists who had gone for the 2-day mekong trip. he met another dutch tourist who was also going to have his birthday tomorrow. and they are of the same age! it was so amazingly coincidental! to be of the same age, same birthday, in the same country and same bus at the same time! it was slightly coincidental that anthony stayed just opposite my hotel. so we had dinner together last night.HCM Day 5 ~ last day in HCMslept in today. then visited ben thanh markets (largest mkt in HCM) and had brunch there. ben thanh market was huge and bustling! wet market selling all sorts of meats and slimey looking stuff. stalls selling flowers, fruits & veg. dried goods, clothings and all sorts of souvenirs. attempted to buy some clothes as i only brought 5 sets of clothes over. but the clothes were all rather 'auntie-looking'. after which i went for a 1-hr massage which is so-so (S$15). so far, i've tried massages in china, india, thailand and now vietnam. to me, the massage in china is the best, followed by thai. also visited the war remnants museum today. its full of heart-breaking and gory images of soldiers (viet and GIs) and civilians in combat in the viet war. there were also images of victims of agent orange and naplam burns. agent orange is a defoliant and about 75million litres of it was sprayed over vietnam, to remove the forest cover under which the vietcong army hid. the effects of agent orange are still being felt today, with babies born with defects as their parents had been affected by the chemicals. it was hard to come out of the museum dry-eyed. i hope to read up more about the viet war during this trip. after packing up and while waiting for the train to danang, i checked out this new cafe in town, called bobby breweries coffee. tot that the concept was really great! there's 3 storeys to the shop, 1st and 2nd floors are the cafe seating areas. 3rd floor is a movie theatre that can seat about 20 pax and has plush sofa seats. there're even buttons that you can press to call for service. english movies are screened whole day long FOC. and the prices were similar to that of other cafes in town. but i only had 1 hour to enjoy the facilities. if only i had discovered this place sooner! well, i guess this shows that i'm still a city kid at heart!
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