Monday, July 28, 2008
Adventures of this gaijin in Kyoto
Right, on to the second part of my Japan trip – Kyoto. Gaijin is the Japanese word for foreigner, which I totally was.
Shinkansen is FREAKIN expensive
I paid 13,000 yen for an unreserved seat in economy class, one way. Took 2.5 hours to reach Kyoto.
I wanna say that the Shinkansen really no big deal, you can't tell how fast it’s going (i.e. super fast), but apparently, that’s why it's such a big deal. Oh well, I always thought the idea was to watch things zip by until your neck hurts from trying to turn so fast...
Anyway, just like the other time in Hong Kong, I tried to get a free upgrade to a really nice cushy seat in the best class cabin by just walking in and plonking myself down – to get my money's worth, you know. But unlike Hong Kong, somebody actually reserved this seat and conductor actually comes by to check if you’re in the right cabin, so I had to change seats two times.
Japan summer sizzles and burns
Joy was complaining that it was really hot, but I kept insisting that it wasn't as hot as Singapore. I had to eat my words when I arrived in Kyoto (and also when I returned to Tokyo on the last day). It was ridiculously hot and humid. It's like this wave of hot air smacks your face as you exit any building and hugs you tightly as you move around the day. I was burnt lobster red, and even had a mild heatstroke at some point.
Thank goodness when I arrived, people were handing out fans for promotional material – it became one of my top four most treasured possession. The other two were my cap, passport and wallet.
Word to the wise, don't go to Japan in the summer. If you must go and you don't like caps, use a wide-brimmed hat. It's rude to use umbrellas - take up a lot of space on the sidewalks and poke other people’s eyes. Wear a cap even if it doesn't feel hot because you'll feel the heatstroke later. Expect to be sun-burnt. Drink lots of water, don't worry there are vending machines everywhere.
Kyoto = shrine/temple heaven
May I just say I have never been to so many temples and shrines in my life before, nor have I seen so many buddas before. Although I don't subscribe to either Buddhism or Shintoism, I wanted to see what the temples and shrines were like. Some were actually quite nice, and every shrine does have its own feel.
I actually found a shrine that was supposed to be the place where people (including professionals) come to pray to the "soccer god" for blessings. Actually, the "soccer god" has evolved into a "ball-sports god" because people left baseballs, volleyballs, water polo balls and tennis balls there too.
The night I arrived, there was this shrine festival going on. This procession of men (old men, young men, even kids) were along the shopping street and they were chanting "wakoe wakoe, wakoe wakoe..." while they danced/jumped vigorously, and carrying this throne/altar thingy to their destination. They came really closed to me and it was almost like they were a possessed mob. Gave me goosebumps.
Getting lucky
I actually said to a friend, "Hey, let's go geisha-spotting tonight, we might get lucky!" Only after I said it did I realize what I had implied, sigh. Anyway, we got to see two geishas get out of a taxi to go for dinner and the next day I saw another two posing for some photographers. One of them smiled back at me when I grinned at her.
Apparently geishas and maikos (girls training to be geishas) are far and few between so I'm glad to see some. I have to say, I thought geishas were supposed to be slim (like Zhang Ziyi in the movie) but I guess that’s not always the case.
One day pass bus cards – learn from my mistakes
In Kyoto, you can pay 500 yen and get a one day pass for unlimited rides for all flat-fare buses in the city. This will pretty much cover any tourist destination and is a pretty good deal so long as you take more than 2 bus rides. But it's not that easy to get, because nobody taught me how to get it!
The first time, I threw my 500 yen fare down the coin collector machine and then indicated I wanted a card, but the bus driver was unhappy because he did not get to see how much I paid. I think he asked me if I paid 500 yen, to which I nodded my head. He decided to give me the benefit of the doubt and gave me my card.
The second time, I decided to ask the driver for the pass card first, he took it out and then pointed his open palm to the coin collector machine, so I dropped my money in. WRONG. You’re supposed to put the money in his palm!!! How would I know right? If you want me to put the money in your palm, then don’t point to the machine! Place your open palm OVER the collector, not in a place where it could be mistaken for pointing to it!
Anyway, I think I damaged the reputation for all asian looking gaijins in Kyoto. Sorry guys.
Asking for directions to non-tourist destinations is like charades
I'm pretty good with a map, really. But without a map, my sense of direction is pathetic. Without a map and any language ability, I'm even worse. Thank goodness when I wanted to look for something that was not on the map (like UniQlo & Muji shops, or Krispy Kreme), I was at least with a friend who could speak a smattering of Japanese.
The trick is to ask the right person. This meant scanning the crowd for someone who looked (age) and dressed like she would know the brands so that they could point us to the shops. Then you say the brand, or point to the logo on the shopping bag (from our intended destination), and a series of hand actions that indicate "Big (as in large shop)," "Time (as in how long does it take to reach)" and "Far?" and then confirm the directions with a series of jerky hand motions.
Sightseeing recommendations
Within Kyoto itself, you should go to Kiyumizudera temple, Nijo castle, Kinkakujin temple, Maruyama Park at least.
Don't bother with the Imperial Palace, it's not worth it because you only get to see the exterior of the buildings and you have to go there one day in advance to make the reservations. Oh, I also set off the alarm when I lept across the drain to walk next to the castle wall so that I could walk in the shade because the heat was unbearable. Guess that's not allowed, haha.
Nara – day trip, take a half day hike there. Lots of deer, you can go up and snuggle one of them I think. I got as close to patting some and stroking their ears. Has a few UNESCO Heritage sites, apparently this place is rated #2 in scenery after Kyoto.
There are also some walking tour routes in Kyoto city you can take, which can be quite nice if the weather is good. The information is readily available at the Kyoto City Tourism Info Office located at the Kyoto station. You can also get bus route information there too.
I think about 3-4 days in Kyoto is good. Took an overnight bus back to Tokyo which was much cheaper (4,200 yen) and managed to sleep pretty well too. Kyoto really was quite okay.
17:45 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Monday, July 21, 2008
Mt. Fuji summer pack list and notes
If you're planning to climb Mt. Fuji in the summer and you're planning to spend a night at one of the cabins for a night, here's what I recommend you pack:
- Winter jacket (for strong winds and cold weather during the night and when ascending to the summit)
- Ear warmers & scarf, thermals/long johns (unless you're really resilient)
- Cap (provide shade under sun, block face from flying sands, keep head warm)
- Extra T-shirt and long sleeve shirt (layer as you go up)
- Wet wipes
- 2 litres of water
- Energy bars/snickers/beef jerky/biscuits
- High altitude meds (you don't realize you need it until you start feeling really sick, by which time it's too late, you can't turn back)
- Headlight (for lighting the way when you climb in the dark)
- Extra pair of thick socks
- Cash 2500 yen (5x100yen for toilet, 2000yen for buying a hot meal and drinks - you appreciate the hot food and basically become price insensitive at that point. there is no free hot water available in the cabins)
- Cards/book (something to entertain while resting at cabin)
Optional: camera, ipod, sunglasses
When you start at 5th station, wear long pants (i.e. cargo pants/jeans), hiking boots, t-shirt. cap to start.
Accomodation: I think it costs 6000yen to stay a night at the cabin - that's excluding the 2500yen cash you should bring for toilet and food.
Notes:
I've heard of people starting at the night (~10pm) and then making their way to the summit by sunrise (~430am) but I think that's too tough for anyone who's not trained or fit. We started at 1245pm and reached our 8th station cabin at 5pm-ish. I think latest you should start is 2pm, reach the cabin around 8pm, grab a hot meal, rest/sleep and then leave the cabin at 130-2am to ascend to the summit (~2-3hour climb because of the jam in human traffic, dark and narrow conditions and low oxygen level)
If you don't make it to the summit for sunrise, don't worry, you'll be able to see if from anywhere on your way up from 8th station.
All the best and enjoy your climb!
P.S. If you hate downhills, beware the EHOD (see my last post) and mentally brace yourself for a 4-5 hour descent...
10:00 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Headlines from Tokyo
I had a fantastic time in Tokyo hanging with Joy, Seng and Jukebox. I don't think we were in Tokyo city proper, but that was just fine, I was just there to chill. Didn't go shopping or even step into Shinjuku or Ikebukuro - will do that on my way back.
Just followed along with whatever Joy and Seng had on - which was quite a bit actually. We went to Joy's kids' club, camping with their neighbors, hung out/had meals with their friends, and climbed Mt Fuji. I didn't have a camera but you can ask Seng if you wanna see pics, or maybe I'll try to copy some from Seng and upload them here.
Anyway, here are some highlights from my time in Tokyo.
City mouse proclaims captured trout "so fresh!"
As part of our camping trip, Joy and Seng's neighbors brought us to this small artificial pond en route to our log cabin. Basically the owners catch rainbow trout and throw them into the pond and you use these bamboo rods with fishing lines attached to catch the fish using salmon roe as bait. The pond has quite a lot of fish so technically, you can't possibly not catch any.
But of course yours truly tried three times with no success - those sneaky fish had figured out a way to eat my bait without getting caught on the hook - and I was starting to worry that I was a total loser. Finally, after a positive demo from Taka (neighbor, Japanese male) and moving my bait to a "high traffic zone", I caught my first fish. Determined to prove that it wasn't just luck, I caught a few more.
There was this particular one though that just kept twisting and flipping as I pulled it out of the water. It seemed extra energetic and so I (obviously a city mouse here) exclaimed, "Hey look at mine! It's so fresh!" Yes, yes, I know, Jukebox was also wondering how my fish could be any fresher than the rest of the fish that were also captured alive.
Anyway, we were so amused by the entire experience, the girls were squealing and shouting, I think the neighbors were probably laughing at us secretly.
Smoked fish speaks to catcher: "Hello Joy, you catch me!"
We had a really good barbecue at the log cabin. Taka smoked the fish - it's the first time I've seen it done like that. And the fish were super yummy, and yes, so fresh! Anyway, we had all eaten our fill and there was one fish left. This was Joy's but she has some issues with eating animals that she has seen alive prior to them being served on the plate.
We tried to reason with her that this was her share and that the fish was really delicious but she was having none of that. Then Taka suddenly used his hand to mimick a fish talking and made a squeaky voice, "Hello Joy, you catch me!" which had me burst out laughing. Because Taka seems to me like a man's man kinda person and I certainly wasn't expecting him to be funny like that. We started to add on in our squeaky voices, "Eat me! Eat me! I'm yummy!" but that didn't do anything except tickle me even more. (In the end, Jukebox, Seng and I ate up the fish - wasn't going to let something so good go to waste)
This still tickles me when I think about it. I don't think my description does justice to how funny the moment was. It's one of those things that you have to be on-site to watch to realize why it was amusing to me.
Jukebox discovers new superpower/ability
It seems that some are more blessed than others, and some have stranger gifts than others. Jukebox is called Jukebox because she knows almost every song you can think of. She has this amazing storage of song lyrics and melody and can probably identify any song within 5 seconds of hearing any part of it.
On this trip, we also realized that she can sleep anywhere anytime - sometimes in this strange Spiderman position, like she's scaling a wall or something. She can even sleep a good 2 hours in the cramped and poorly ventilated cabins of Mt. Fuji where Joy, Seng and I were barely able to catch forty winks.
I'd like to see the writers of Hero or 4400 write in a character with her superpowers/abilities, it'd be interesting to see those in play in the plan to save the world.
5 minutes of sunrise
Just when I thought we were going to miss it, we managed to hit Mt. Fuji summit right on time to see the sunrise. It was gorgeous. Most definitely worth the climb. Watching the ball of bright chrome yellow quickly break through the clouds and head on up and looking around the surrounding peaks of nearby mountains peeping through the sea of clouds quietens you as you take a moment to ponder on the beauty of the things Papa has made.
It felt great to have made it to the top, and I was all ready to say that I had conquered Mt. Fuji, except that I was only halfway through. The worst was yet to come - EHOD.
EHOD - Eternal Hell of Descent
If you ask me, conquering Mt Fuji is really a test of willpower. I don't think you have to be very fit to get up and down, but you must stay the course to finish. And as far as I'm concerned, the descent is much tougher than the ascent. I can't run down or stride down the gravelly steep slopes zig-zagging down the mountain because I'm not that confident of my footing and I feel like I'll just slip, roll and fall off the ledge 2000 meters down the mountain.
You know how some people belief there are 18 levels of hell, or that hell is like a cauldron of super-hot flames and destruction? Seng called this a modern form of hell (tongue-in-cheek of course) - they just keep making you walk down steep gravelly slopes that hurts your knees and constantly makes you feel super unsure of your steps. This goes on for like 4 hours! It was most definitely torturous.
09:15 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Monday, July 07, 2008
Half a plane full of kids
My flight back to Singapore was half filled with Chinese 3rd graders. They were on some program that the Singapore government is running, their bright red t-shirts exclaiming singaporeedu.gov.sg on the back. I dreaded the flight, 50 little boys and girls had the potential to turn the 5 hour flight into a nightmare.
I have to say, it didn't turn out as bad as I thought. Except when they kept exclaiming (in Chinese), "Earthquake! Earthquake!" when the plane was trembling as it took off. Except when they kept going "Woooe... woooe..." whenever we encountered turbulence. Except when they kept calling out "Ah yi, ah yi..." to get the air stewardess' attention (because they didn't know about the call button. Except when they all started requesting for endless refills of coca-cola during meal service. Except when 2 girls cut my line for the bathroom (I don’t care if they’re kids and they need to go, a line is a line is a line! But yes, I let them go in front of me anyway.)
But at least there was none of that screaming or running up and down nonsense. And it was quite tickling to hear them all laugh in unison at the "Just for Laughs Gags" video that was being played. I found myself laughing along like a kid too. And then when the plane started playing "Shaun the Sheep" clay-mation cartoon, I figured I wasn't going to get any proper in-flight movie after all. So I content myself with watching sheep breakdance, watching a sheep play a bouncer, watching another sheep pretend to be Picasso and so on.
I still can't figure out why the cartoon is called Shaun the Sheep, but who cares. Just happy to be home.
17:50 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Relocation
For work purposes, I will be relocating to Beijing in August. Maybe I will have a chance to be there for the Olympics after all. This relocation is in effect the result of June’s upheaval and turmoil. Well, actually I thought about it and decided almost 3 weeks ago, but it's just now that I'm sharing about it.
Essentially I need to be closer to potential investors. And they're not here in Chengdu, they're in Beijing and Shanghai. It so happens that my apartment lease expires this Thursday so I've been slowly packing up for the past three weeks, preparing for the day.
The past three weeks have also been rather stressful because of work problems, and they are still being worked out. Being in a startup is like taking a course in hardship. We're not talking beginner level here; it's more like Hardship 640 or something. Seriously, do not be an entrepreneur if you're not ready to rough it out. And I mean, REALLY rough it out.
Anyway, this is my last weekend living in Chengdu. Future trips back here will be exactly that, trips. I'll be staying in a hotel, and maybe for a week or two only. As I walked around these past few weekends, it confirmed one thing: I am glad to be leaving, or rather, I am glad that I will no longer be living in Chengdu.
As I have expressed in earlier posts, this place is not my home. I feel no sense of attachment, and I have nothing tying me down here. Despite a fair part of my possessions being here, the fact that I have spent almost three years here, and that my project companies which I am very committed to are located here, I am truly relieved to be going away.
I am looking forward to be living in community (a Singaporean family in fact), being in a place where I have much more eating options (rather than Sichuan cuisine which I don't enjoy very much), possibly be involved in church and have regular bible studies. There will also be many more single working expats that I can relate too. I feel that I have lost a huge chunk of life (as I knew it) here and can't wait to have part of it restored.
So I'll be back in Singapore this Friday, be in Japan for 2 weeks, and then preparing for Beijing.
18:00 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Testing testing ichi ni san
I'm toying with the idea of going to Japan. Anybody want to go during 17-23 July?
11:51 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Triangle of Life
I received a forward containing some useful information on earthquake safety which I think can applied to all situations when you are fear that the place you're in might collapse. As a Singaporean, I never had to deal with earthquakes or any natural calamities, so it's good to know such stuff.
===
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the 'triangle of life'. The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts; the larger the void; the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.
The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the 'triangles' you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
*TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY*
1) Most everyone who simply 'ducks and covers' WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different 'moment of frequency' (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads – horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get near the outer walls of buildings or outside of them if possible. It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked..
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
'We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly'
In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did 'duck and cover,' and ten mannequins I used in my 'triangle of life' survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the 'triangle of life.' This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA, Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
===
Update @ 30 May: Read the comments on this post too
09:05 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
Monday, May 26, 2008
Feeling campy?
Came back to Chengdu today. Apparently our building has been checked and deemed alright. But some apartments have cracks and people are worried. With the aftershocks (especially yesterday's 6.4), the courtyard has now turned into a camping ground.
Update @ 27 May: The apartment doesn't have any cracks. The office has some minor ones. Slept like a baby in my 17th floor apartment last night. Apparently for aftershocks are expected for 2 months following the quake but so long as these shocks are not stronger than the quake, the buildings that are still up today should be fine.
Update @ 28 May: The photo up there was taken only when the top right corner of the courtyard picture was filled with tents. We had an aftershock of 5.x yesterday afternoon, so more people have come out to sleep in tents. I have to admit, I still get a little worried when that happens, but I'm mentally more prepared now.
Update @ 30 May: There are now tents filling the circular part of the courtyard.
21:25 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Monday, May 19, 2008
Remembering the earthquake
You've probably seen a lot media coverage on the earthquake, mostly on the epicenter region. Thankfully, Chengdu is holding up reasonably well and there is no disruption of utilities. I hope you never have to go through the same thing.
Though my building was really swaying during the quake, I somehow managed to stay strangely calm and unafraid. I was worried, yes, but not freaking out. Perhaps it was because I knew that Jose would do everything he could to make sure we were safe and unharmed, but I think it was also knowing that Papa would take care of me. My mom probably messaged everyone she knew in church to pray for my safety.
When the quake happened, we scrambled under the table (protect our heads), then crawled to the toilet (smaller ceiling span, less likely to collapse), scrambled to the elevator lobby (reinforced walls make this the most solid part of the building) and then down 18 floors of stairs to the ground. We could see the windows and roof antennas of the building rattling vigorously, and the dogs were going berserk barking away.
We spent the first night in the open air courtyard of our building in sleeping bags, the second night in a friend’s house (he lives on the 5th floor – easier to run out if needed). We left the city on the third night. Jose felt there was no need for me to take any more risk of returning to Chengdu so soon, so I have returned to Singapore for the time being. How ironic that I returned to Chengdu on Monday May 12 just in time to experience the earthquake only to try and get out asap.
Thank you for emailing and messaging me to check how I was doing. Your concern is very much appreciated.
China has been really unfortunate that in what is supposed to be its year of fame (because of the 2008 olympics), it has also had a whole lot of bad luck/publicity – Darfur response (or lack thereof), Tibetan riots, HFMD outbreak and now the earthquake.
It is good to be back in Singapore and be with family and friends again.
14:25 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Trying to get out
We are trying to get a flight out of Chengdu to Macau today. If things work out, we should be in Macau by tonight.
Update @ 15 May: Have arrived safely in Macau, will stay a night or two. Waiting for latest update from Chengdu government on status situation, likely to hang around here/HK for these few days as we are expecting some VCs to visit our project companies soon. Also don't feel like travelling too much as I have been on the move for the past 2-3 days and just want to be in one place for a while. Anyway, will play it by ear. Am still contactable by mobile. Thank you for your concern and prayers for me. Please continue to pray for those still in the affected region.
Update @ 17 May: At macau airport now, waiting to board flight back to singapore. Decided to go home as parents are worried. Latest news from Chengdu was that buildings are still up and government will gradually make their rounds around the tall buildings to assess structural integrity. Some companies have already resumed operation.
12:45 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Earthquake in Sichuan Province
Quick update.
1. I'm alive and contactable on my mobile - get my number from jukebox or my bro (until my battery dies, but I will try to find power). I will check email periodically, but not frequently.
2. I'm glad to be staying with a friend who lives on the 5th storey as opposed to my 17th storey apartment.
3. Can't get out of chengdu, flights canceled for the most part.
If you pray, please pray for the safety of those alive, rescue for those who are trapped, and peace for those who have lost loved ones. Thanks
21:50 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Monday, May 05, 2008
Played out
One of the things with working away from home is that you don't get to wear out the stuff you leave at home at a normal rate. For example, I've been using the same pair of slippers/sandals for like 5 years now. I leave them back here so that I will have some casual footwear on standby rather than having to bring too much footwear when I come back.
So, I was walking over to Jukebox's place in my old sandals last Wednesday. Right in the middle of my walk, I felt the left side give way. The glue of the covering flap (for lack of a better name) wasn't holding up well anymore and it was starting to remove itself from the sandal base. I groaned, and tried to walk more "gently", hoping that I'd make it to Jukebox's in time and borrow her sandals for the rest of the day.
No such luck. 5 more steps and I was out. The entire flap had come off and I was left with a non-functional left sandal. I was stranded!!! I couldn't move with the sandal and I was looking really ridiculous trying to drag it a long. Thank goodness my dad had just come home from a meeting and so I called him to come bail me out. But I decided then to walk barefoot to my pick-up point and kinda scalded my feet on the hot concrete pavement as a result.
Totally played out by my sandals. So embarrassed.
09:45 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I spy with my little eye
So, I don't do this often but here are some pictures that I took in New Zealand. I feel like I don't have to put up many pictures of the sights because you can easily google them, but here are a few which I thought were nice.
And I got a chance to get pretty darn close to some animals too. I like how they look me in the eye.
And here's two exotic creatures that I bet you didn't know could be found in New Zealand if you're really lucky...
Update: You can see all my pictures here
22:45 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Just for the record
New Zealand IS beautiful.
Will write more another time and try to get some pics in here too.
19:08 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Shenzhen stopover
I’m here in Shenzhen now at Mr. P’s place, about to leave soon though to head back home.
We’re still getting this freak weather in China. Freakin’ cold, that is. Shenzhen air-conditioners generally aren’t equipped to provide warm air, and that’s a problem… Mr. P graciously gave up his bed to sleep on the couch, but since the only air-conditioner in the apartment that does provide warm air is in the bedroom, the poor guy had to sleep in his ski pants too, that’s how cold it was.
I’m glad that I’m already in Shenzhen because there won’t be a problem of planes not being able to take off since it’s not cold enough to snow and ice up the runway and stuff. My Singaporean friend in Nanjing though, he’s stuck, that area isn’t equipped to deal with snow…
In other news, I wrote a letter of complaint yesterday at this café I was having lunch at. I waited 40 minutes for my set lunch only to realize that the waitress never placed my order. I was reading my book while waiting so I didn’t quite realize the time until my stomach started to growl.
I was not a happy camper. I think I must have all this pent up angst in me that made cumulated in me being so intolerant yesterday. I suppose normally I would be upset, but I wouldn’t get to the point of writing a letter of complaint. I wonder if it’s because of the crap I’ve been getting lately from the various government departments and bank and I just needed to vent. Or maybe it’s just side effect of 2.5 years of frustration in China. (Anyway, the manager called me in the evening to apologize.)
Anyway, I’m glad I did this stopover thing because it was good to catch up with Mr. P. And as we all know, chatting in person beats talking over the phone anytime.
Alright, gotta go. Singapore, here I come. Gonna check out the new Terminal 3 when I land...
11:25 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Monday, January 28, 2008
DON’T let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
I always thought I’d be a big fan of snow. You know, girl living at the equator, don’t get to see snow much. Snow is a rarity, almost like a luxury good, because I only get to see it on vacation (which means spending a decent amount of money). But my aching tailbone is telling me snow is no friend o' mine.
Why do I have an aching tailbone? Because I slipped and fell on this sloping mountain road when I was walking on it.
Why was I walking on it? Because the driver of BMW I was in, was panicking as he made his way down. Icy roads. And my other bosses Mr. S and Mr. T felt that it would be safer if we walked.
Why was the driver panicking? Because he didn’t have the experience to deal with such road and weather conditions. Afterall, how often do you drive down 40 degree icy-road slopes?
Why were we driving down on the 40 degree icy-road slope? Because we decided to take the old mountainous roads to our destination.
Why did we decide to take the old mountain roads? Because we couldn’t get back onto the highway without waiting forever. The roads to the toll gate leading to the highway were jammed all the way back for a really long distance. Mr. T thought the old mountain roads wouldn’t be sealed off and we’d be able to reach our destination in better time.
Why were the roads leading to the highway so freakin’ jammed? (You’re starting to sense the frustration, aren’t you?) Because the highway was sealed off and the cops refused to let anyone on so as to avoid accidents.
Why was the highway was sealed off? Because they were icy.
Why were they icy? Because of the freak weather we’ve been having over this part of China. Snow plus little bit of sun (but not enough to melt it all away) plus cold winds = icy roads.
Therefore, by simple cause-and-effect logic, I conclude that snow is the cause of my aching tailbone, which is bothering me when I sit and even when I sleep.
The ironic thing is, after I fell down, we finally made it to the car which had reached a non-icy part. We made it back to the highway – they finally let cars through – and it was only supposed to be an hour’s drive more. But it was getting dark and the roads were starting to ice up again. And there was an accident way ahead. So the traffic stopped.
We waited for the police and tow truck to come clear the mess. But drivers were scared. And the police would only let one car on the highway at a time. So we ended up waiting 4 more hours in the car.
I spent a total of 16 hours in car for this journey. We stopped for lunch, but not dinner. Lucky for us, I had randomly packed some biscuits in my bag, so we ate that to stave off the hunger. We arrived at our destination at 2am, instead of the original 3pm.
I’m making my way back to Chengdu tomorrow, and for the first time, I’m wishing that it won’t snow!!!
22:02 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Queen of the bunny slopes
You know, when I said “…it doesn’t even matter how Beijing turns out,” in my previous post, I didn’t quite realize what it would entail.
First, I had to wait 6 hours in the airport and 1 hour on the plane before I could take off from here. There was a really bad fog and the airport control refused to let any planes take off. I have to say it really sucked to have to wait that long, especially since I had to wake up so early to get to the airport. But I should have known since it was a rather precarious taxi ride to the airport – even the taxi driver had severe visibility problems.
But then as I sat waiting in between bouts of consciousness (I was napping at the airport to catch some sleep), I realized that I’d rather be waiting at the airport with the hope of taking off that day, than to be back at my apartment doing anything else. Finally they allowed us to board but we were informed we had to wait for our turn to take off, so there was more waiting. Anyway, I had a pretty good book with me (“Odalisque” by Fiona McIntyre) so that wasn’t a problem either.
Finally, I landed in Beijing and when I arrived at my friends’ place, I realized that I had left their gifts at home. In my excitement to leave, I actually forgot to take their presents out of the cabinet. I was so embarrassed; I know I’ll never live it down. Sigh. The upside of this though means I have another excuse to visit them randomly. Then again, they are such good people, and I’m also such a pleasant person, they’d never say no to me. LOL. But seriously, they are such good people.
Christmas eve we went to a buffet dinner thingy organized by the church my friends’ are part of, and we got to sing carols that night. It’s been so long since I’ve sung them in such a fun way and with people who also want to sing them, it reminded me when I was still a kid and every year in middle school, my church friends and I would go caroling at public venues. I don’t think we were really that good, but it was the experience was enjoyable. I was surprised I still remembered the words to the songs.
We went skiing on Christmas day. I know realize that if I had started my skiing experience here, I would not be rolling down the slope the past 2 times I went skiing. Meet the queen of the bunny slopes, people, watch me go! :p
However (there is always a “however” with me), the most ridiculous part about bunny slopes for me was how often I fell off the devices that were supposed to bring you up to the top of the slope. No, not the chair lifts that bring you up the proper slopes. For the bunny slopes, they had everything but the chair. I don’t know if this is what bunny slopes are like anywhere else in the world, but I’ve never used this before, so…
I suppose you didn’t need a chair since the slope is so gentle. So on one of them, it’s like this pole you grab on to (with a rubber/metal plate thingy at the end) with your legs. You don’t sit on it because there’s spring thing inside that extends with the moving cable as and when necessary so it can’t hold your weight. You’re just supposed to grab onto it and let it pull you along and then you kinda ski upslope. Guess who lost her grip and fell off twice (out of the 7 times) before she even reached halfway.
Oh and when you reach the top, you’re supposed to let go of that thing and ski around the bend away from the cable as it turns. At the end of the “ride”, thereis a little mound that you have to ski over so that you have some momentum to move forward. No points for guess who had problems letting go of that thing and crashed a couple of times into the snow stack beyond mound.
On another bunny slope, it was this stiff rubber thingy that stuck out of the cable that was supposed to bring you upslope. So, with the lack of instructions, and to the ordinary eye (i.e. mine), it looked like you grab onto it in front of you, and then you let it drag you up. Let me tell you know, that is very wrong and tiring. Because it will also involve you losing grip and falling off the thing. You are supposed to lean on that stiff bar thingy (like somewhere at your lower back) and let it push you up the slope.
My only saving grace was that I wasn’t the only moron who used that thing the wrong way. And I don’t think I was the only one who fell off with such embarrassing consistency either. But I tell you, once I was on the top and set off, I totally ruled the slope. Along with the other little kids and beginners. Lol.
(I moved on to the intermediate slope and that had a chair lift so no more embarrassment going up thereafter.)
Anyway, these were the main highlights of my trip. We did other stuff too, like had meals, a little shopping, etc but all that’s not as fun as what I just told you. I hope you had a good Christmas, if not at least a good rest.
I’m aching from my skiing now but it was all worth it. Queen of the bunny slopes, people. QUEEN.
23:04 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this
Saturday, December 22, 2007
HO-LI-DA-AY, CE-LE-BRA-ATE!
I’m in a really good mood now. I’m going to fly off to Beijing in 8 hours and I’ll be on my Christmas vacation.
I was supposed to be in Tokyo with my bro and Jukebox to visit Joy and Seng but because of work I couldn’t go. Then I was hoping to go to Singapore but because of work I couldn’t go either.
Then I was hoping to go to Shenzhen but that didn’t work out. Then Beijing finally looked good and I was all mentally set to leave Thursday (yesterday night) but work didn’t let me go. So I bought a ticket to fly Sunday instead.
This has been an awful week and I was quite upset that I had to delay my break. But now I’m cleared to go off tomorrow so I’ve changed my flight and am all packed. I had to pay quite a bit to get into tomorrow’s flight but this is one thing that I’m willing to pay for right now.
I think it doesn’t even matter how Beijing turns out. I just need to get away and relax. It’s Christmas, and I should be happy during Christmas.
Sing it with me people, HO-LI-DA-AY, CE-LE-BRA-ATE!
00:04 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Monday, September 03, 2007
Made in China
The thing with Chinese TV programming in general is that it isn’t the kind of thing that you need to pay full attention to, so I’ve been working on this cross-stitch thingy recently.
Finally finished it last night. There’s something about cross-stitching that makes me really want to race to finish, especially when I can see the end in sight. Now the tips of my right thumb and index finger are a bit sore, because of how I hold the needle. It I’ll need to take some time off before I embark on another project.
When I was done, I realized that I had created my very own Made in China product. I should try and snag one of those tags and attach it on to my project, just for the fun of it.
Who would have thought that there’d come the day when I’d become part of the Chinese workforce? Lol.
12:59 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Xi’an adventure: Reflections
The things I saw and experienced also led me to realize some things about myself on this trip.
With regards to the Terracotta warriors, I wondered if Emperor Qin (the first king to consolidate all of China under his rule) had a major inferiority complex or if he was crazy. Not to say that the workmanship of the warriors, chariots and all was poor or ugly, but what would motivate somebody to do something like that? Apparently construction of his tomb (and I suppose this army) started when he came to power at 13 years old. And he also had all the potters and workmen involved in this place killed to keep this a secret. I think he didn’t want it to be a secret. He wanted to be remembered forever.
On a personal note, when I die, I don’t want to be remembered as the one who left behind this kind of legacy, or created this piece of history. I want to be remembered as a person who loved deeply and been deeply loved. It’s ok if people who don’t know me forget me, to be remembered fondly by those who really did know me will suffice.
Of course, there’ll be people who are quite upset at me for saying what I said about Emperor Qin and think I’m self-centred and disrespectful, but that’s ok, because I am.
As for the obvious lack of pictures even though I say the city is beautiful, and even though I’ve considered getting a camera before, I know I’m not one of those people who enjoys taking pictures even if just for fun. Travelling for me is the taking in, the being there. I hate lugging cameras around because they’re an additional piece of baggage. One might say that I will forget what I see and feel with time, which is true. But then I’ll know which ones truly left an impression, and those are the ones which I’d recommend to people.
Finally, I just want to thank Matt for being such a good traveling companion. By the end of each day, I’d be pooped. When I’m tired, I get quiet and I’m not good company. He was really quite good about it. Also, it was great that he did all the reading and research and decided on where we would go. Thanks, friend.
13:20 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Monday, July 30, 2007
Xi’an adventure: Little notes
I had actually written this post first and was planning to publish it before Parts I-IV, but then I think it’d be better here. So first, the little peripheral notes, I’ll give it to you guys exactly the way I had it.
Experience: Taxi driver claims he knows our hotel but I give him address anyway. Apparently he ignored my address, and drove us to the wrong branch of the hotel. Call up right branch for directions and we get there. Dread having to argue with cab driver over fare later. Offer half the metered fare which cab driver refuses, I say take it or I’ll just walk away. He thinks I won’t do it. I do, I throw the note onto the shotgun seat and walk off.
Note to self 1: Can’t believe I did that, now I know I really have it in me to be a bitch. Suspect this is merely the beginning of more bitch-like behavior in my life.
Sight: There’s this rather upset guy throwing stuff e.g. rubbish bin, bottles of beer around the hotel lobby. Clearly not a guest, perhaps an upset ex-employee, contractor. Shouts at guests to be careful if they are staying at this hotel. Quite a disturbance.
Note to self 2: Keep wide radius from crazy people like these. Do not even make eye contact.
Experience: Taxi drivers who nudge their cab a little bit more to make the meter jump to the next dollar, even though I tell them they can stop already. Also, restaurants with two menus (English and Chinese) which have different pricing.
Note to self 3: Sneaky rats, you all!
Experience: Was looking for washroom at one of the sights, which was a mosque. Walked by this chamber called “Ritual cleansing room” in English. Stopped to wonder if this was it. Stepped a little closer to read the words “Do not enter”. Walked a little further to see separate small building called “WC”.
Note to self 4: Always read the fine print.
Sight: Extremely angry young man who was holding a pole and looked like he wanted to beat somebody up for trashing his streetside stall. Not sure what it was about but it certainly looked like something the gossip in me wanted to investigate. Urged by Matt to move on as he looked like he could beat anybody up, including me.
Note to self 5: Mind your own business, girl.
Experience: Went to hole-in-the-wall restaurant which only had Chinese text menu, no pictures. Not sure what’s what. So looked around to observe what people were eating. Not able to identify what was being consumed, had to ask people what they were eating, how much it cost and so on. Got a few looks from people like I was weird or something.
Note to self 6: Who cares what people think. You’re a tourist, so it’s really ok behave touristy.
Experience: Having tried the recommended local foods which were not too bad, still made effort to go to Mac’s for 1 breakfast (yummy), KFC for 1 lunch (yummy) and Starbucks for 1 coffee break (mmmm…)
Note to self 7: I am a city mouse, no doubt about it.
Yeah, this really isn’t a post about Xi’an specifically, more like some generic observations about being in China, but these things only came to attention because I was on the trip, so they're published here.
12:05 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Friday, July 27, 2007
Xi’an adventure: 3rd day
We walked the city wall (RMB 40), visited the Forest of Steles museum (RMB 45) and then the ShanXi history museum (RMB 35).
The city wall is incredibly thick. It felt wider than the Great Wall even. Get up there just because. The Shanxi history museum was ok. It’s supposed to be one of the better museums in all of China, but then I’ve never been a museum person.
Having said that, you can imagine how I felt about going to 2 museums in one day. But the Forest of Steles museum was different, all because of its last room. Steles, by the way, are these huge stone tablets with carvings of Chinese texts on them by famous people that are erected as monuments. When they called this museum a “forest”, they weren’t kidding. I never saw so many big stone tablets gathered in one place.
So anyway, the last room was the best. There were these workmen making ink copies of the stone carvings to be sold. They plaster this paper on the wall, pound the paper repeatedly with this wide, flat circular pad/stamp to transfer ink onto the paper. So the paper turns black where the stone surface is flat, and remains white where there is any depression, crack, or carving. Watching them work was fascinating. Some of the stone carvings in this room were also the nicest I’d seen in the museum. This last room made visiting this museum worthwhile.
After that, we made our way to the airport for our afternoon flight. We had fit in quite a bit in our trip, my legs were definitely sore, and I was tired from the early mornings. But I’m glad I came, I was very satisfied with what I’d seen.
11:45 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Xi’an adventure: 2nd Day
Today we cover the big boys. We are going out of the city to visit the major attractions. We had thought about chartering a car, but then decided to wing it with public transport, which turned out to be quite alright. Take bus 306 from the train station.
First stop, Hua Qing Chi – this is like the place you go to see the bathing pools of the Tang dynasty royalty. Honestly, the bathing pools are overrated, it takes a lot of imagination to see it in all its grandeur. Think of it like a park with Chinese architecture and culture, and some big ponds and you’ll be able to appreciate it better. There’s a dance show at night, but we didn’t hang around for that. Entrance fee: RMB 70 (excluding night show)
Next, get back on bus 306 to the Terracotta warriors. Now we’re talking. 3 sites to visit. The 1st and 3rd were pretty much uncovered, with the second only partially dug up. We went to the 2nd site first and even though we couldn’t see much, and were pretty much awed by its magnitude. The 1st is actually the biggest site but somehow with everything uncovered, it made the majesty of the discovery less amazing. I think there’s something to be said about the power of imagination here. It’s imagining what’s underneath and the true size and quantity of the army that makes you realize what you’re really looking at. For souvenirs, Matt got 8 terracotta warrior magnets to guard his fridge. Entrance fee: RMB 90.
Last stop is the BianPo Museum (RMB 35). It’s also another archaeological find, but of remains of a Neolithic (about 6,000 years ago) tribe. It’s a very old site, and clearly not maintained as well, nor as popular as the Terracotta warriors. To get here, you have to take bus 306 to ShiLiPo and then take a short cab ride. I didn’t think too much of this place. Maybe because it had this museum of photos of an African tribe and made me feel like it was such a rip off, like they were trying to pass of a group of Africans as very tanned Neolithic Chinese people.
Super tired, we then headed back to the hotel to rest by Bus 15. Rested and showered, we went back to the Muslim Quarters for food (Buns with lamb/pork, more beef on skewers, and a bottle of Xi’an beer (which was average).
The one big tourist attraction we missed was the tomb of Emperor Qin. There’s a local saying that we should pay respects to the king before visiting his army (of terracotta warriors), but we decided to forego the huge mound that was his tomb and check out the Neolithic museum instead. The tomb apparently goes very deep and has lots of mercury flowing in it somehow to discourage tomb raiders. And you can climb all the way up to get a view of the size of his grave site. Might have been something, but we were really more interested in the army than the king himself. Heh.
13:00 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Xi’an adventure: 1st day
I’m not sure if we did the standard tour routine, but I think we worked out everything quite well. Here we go.
Day 1: Arrive at noon. Check in at hotel. Cover the city sights for rest of the day.
1. Muslim quarter. We weren’t sure if were in the muslim quarter until we saw the Arabic writings on the shops. (I was almost expecting the “Halal” food sign to be on the boards but there weren’t any) Local food to try is “Yang rou pao mo” (literally translated, “lamb bubbles”). It’s this stew of lamb meat with broken up bits of bread. Overrated, methinks. The skewers of lamb and beef are nice. We’ll be back for more. Visit Qingzhen temple/mosque (RMB 25), which is ok.
2. Smack in the city centre is the Bell Tower – which is gorgeous. We think that Xi’an people must be so proud of their city to have such a centerpiece and drive around it everyday. I think the bell was used as a warning system for the people, as a signal for major events, and probably to tell the time. Entrance fee: RMB 20.
3. Not far is the Drum Tower, and there are all these drums in the tower for different purposes. Each drum generates a different sound because of its type of skin and size. There’s a set of big drums that tells the weather, like sunny, overcast, thunderstorms, freakin’ cold, mild cold, etc. Cool! And then there’s all these other drums I couldn’t figure out what for. Also caught tail end of this drum troupe performance, not bad. Apparently, the proper technique of hitting the drum involves the knees, hips and back too, interesting. Entrance fee: RMB 20.
4. Big goose pagoda – out of city centre but fit in nicely into our schedule. Pretty. Climb all the way to top of pagoda, acknowledging lack of fitness throughout, but it feels good to make it up there. View was unfortunately not so clear due to slight fog. Windows prevent you from accessing railing that lets you lean out of the pagoda on the 4 sides, but I think I’d rather not take the risk of falling out. There’s a hole in the window that lets you stick your camera lens through though, which also becomes the hole through which people can throw money as offering for peace, luck, fortune, marriage. Lotsa believers, apparently. Entrance fee: RMB 70 (main gate + pagoda).
Not too bad for first impression of the city. I like it already. Legs starting to ache. Time to rest.
14:30 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Xi’an adventure: The going
Matt and I went to Xi’an 2 weekends ago. I’ve been meaning to write about it, but it has been strangely difficult. It’s not because I don’t remember, but because I don’t know how to organize this piece.
Background: Matt’s assignment is up and there’s only one place in China he wants to visit. Not Beijing, but Xi’an – where the army of terracotta warriors are. I decide on the spot I’m in. I’ll get us there and back and the language problem (Matt doesn’t speak a lot of Mandarin), and he’ll figure out the itinerary. This is great division of work because I’m the sort of person who’s just happy to bum around on a vacation. But if somebody else plans the activities, I’ll go along.
(More background: Jukebox reminds me occasionally of the time we went to Bali and how content I was just sitting in the hotel playing cards with our friends all day. She had to nag at me that we were on vacation and we should go out and check things out, which we did because everybody else decided where to go, I just had to follow. We had a great time, by the way.)
So anyway, the trip to Xi’an was going to be an adventure because it was just two foreigners getting around in a city we’d never been before yet had heard stuff about. Coupled with the fact that it was organized at such short notice, it was even more exciting.
We spent about 2.5 days in Xi’an proper (excluding traveling there and back) which was just nice actually. I think about RMB 2,000 in all, including plane tickets to and from Xi’an.
I mentioned before that Xi’an also won the award for Best Tourism City along with Chengdu (ok, cut the jokes on how many "Best"s there technically should be), but I’d easily say that Xi’an is more beautiful than Chengdu. The air is cleaner, the people speak standard Mandarin (putonghua) as opposed to the Sichuanese dialect in Chengdu, and the city is just, prettier.
You should definitely go to Xi’an if you can. I’ll write more about what we did there tomorrow. Stay tuned.
12:55 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Getting myself some Western civilization - Part 3
In Shenzhen, we decided to check out the nearby tourist attraction “Window of our World”, which is basically a large park with miniature versions of renown scenery or monuments, like The Eiffel Tower, The Niagara Falls, The Taj Mahal. Quite pretty actually, if you ignore the irritating tourists who kept crossing the “Do not cross” line to take pictures with the various sights. After a short rest it was time to head back to Chengdu.
In hindsight, I achieved what I set out to do - to get myself immersed in some western civilization. I attended concerts, got lots of reading material and saw sights of Europe and the States (and even other parts of the world) that I might not get to see until a long time more. I’m glad I did it. And it was good to see peterbur again.
One of the realizations I came to on this trip was that I was not interested in exercising the privilege of being based in China and the relative convenience of seeing all the other supposedly beautiful sights in this land. I realize that my experiences with today’s Chinese people, today’s culture and attitude have left me rather jaded, skeptical and unappreciative of what is supposed to be my heritage.
This is not to say that China is not beautiful nor its culture unrefined. But just that I am not in the right state to appreciate it. I imagine that this will change when I become more mature, or at least stop working here. Just like how I never quite appreciated the beach, even though I’ve lived practically right next to it for the longest time until now, when I’m based in a landlocked area.
This is just the way I am.
14:45 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Getting myself some Western civilization – Part 2
The next day involved running some errands and then catching a concert in the evening by this group called “Poum Tchak”.
Errands included a search for a good English bookstore, buying some cross-stitch and a calligraphy pen set. You’d think that these were all easy things to do. No siree.
The hunt for the bookstore was in hindsight quite agonizing. Peterbur and I were actually looking forward to delving ourselves into zillions of English words but the search was rather tiresome. First the hotel concierge gave us some rather vague and incorrect directions on where a good bookstore could be found. And then we went on an extended walk to find that bookstore the concierge had mentioned in the humid weather, only to be told be a very nice police officer that the store had relocated. And by sheer fluke, we chanced upon said bookstore on our way to another bookshop. So we got ourselves some books. I got myself quite few classics to sink my teeth into.
The search for cross-stitch and calligraphy pen set was trickier, although I’m glad we didn’t try to hard given the climate. The search brought us to the PageOne bookstore at Causeway Bay, hoping they would sell some stationery. Great place. A proper English bookstore! I could almost see words flying all over the place. Got myself even more books. Whoopie :)
(So anyway, we didn’t find the cross-stitch or the pen set, but I was fine with that.)
The concert by Poum Tchak (“Poom Chuck”) was great. Mind you, we were taking a chance since we had no idea who this group was. But when we arrived there, the hall was quite full so I kept telling peterbur that so many people could not have made the same mistake, and thank goodness we were all right. Mostly gipsy-ish music and very entertaining performance. Lovely.
Then it was back to Shenzhen to spend the night.
10:55 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Getting myself some Western civilization - Part 1
So, in my first battle against boredom I decided to take off to Hong Kong for the weekend just past. Boy I’m glad I did. The theme of the trip was to “get myself some western civilization.” And peterbur very sportingly agreed to accompany me on this trip, even though he’d just been there the previous weekend.
Anyways, we attended a classical concert by the HK Sinfionetta the first night. The first piece was horrific. It was this series of extended crescendos and descendos of a 15 minute squeal of what seemed to be only one note. Absolutely uncomfortable. The second piece was much better, a piano concerto played by this Frenchman called Cedric. (No, I’m not on a first name basis with him, its just that I forgot how to spell his last name.)
Cedric was a last-minute replacement for the original piano player and rather good by my standards. He was really involved in his playing, crouching over the piano on the very soft notes, and leaning backwards when he had to play louder, watching him was like watching the volume knob turn with the loudness of the music. Music was nice and he was very entertaining. Also a tall lanky guy with long arms, he made it look so easy to cover length of the keyboard. I know now that no matter how hard I had worked at my piano playing if I had kept at it, I would never reach the level of enjoyment and achievement this man did.
The last piece was an orchestra piece which was also quite nice and relaxing. It had this repeated theme that I thought I had heard in movies before but just couldn’t place it. Anyway, I was calm and relax at the end of the concert and all ready for bed soon after.
More about the next day later.
Afternote: The French piano player’s name is Cédric Tiberghien. You can also see his picture here. Although I’m proud to say that when I saw him at the performance, he also had bangs like mine. Heh.
10:15 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Making do
I was in Wanzhou, a city east of Chongqing city on Sunday and yesterday. While we were coming back from visiting a project site, we saw all these people washing their clothes along the ChangJiang river.
This picture below just shows about half the length of people doing their laundry. If you look closely enough (click to expand), you can actually see the detergent that is going into the water, it actually lightens the water, turning it from dark to light blue.
On the right is a picture (click to expand) of some of them gathering at one of the spin dryers. They pay RMB 50 cents (USD 7 cents, SGD 10 cents) to spin their clothes so that they don’t have to lug such a heavy load back, and the clothes will dry faster when they hang it up.
As I looked around, I started to get angry. It’s not right, I told my GM, who has come on this trip with us. All these people washing their clothes with chemical detergents directly in the river. The detergents pollute the water and kill aqualife. People are bound to get sick. It’s not as if this was back in the day where people were washing clothes in the river using organic cleansing materials (because technology wasn’t so advanced then).
My GM had a different perspective however. He said that these people were poor and they had no where to wash their clothes. They were just making do, it was not a matter of right or wrong, they had a need and they resolved it this way. Furthermore, the pollution they were causing paled in comparison to that of the factories. And the sewage pipes were probably leading right into the river without any treatment in between anyways.
It didn’t make less angry but I realized that he was right. They were not at a point to care about the environment, nor had they thought about where their drinking water was coming from.
This is what I mean when I say that I’m glad that the issues I’m struggling with are not fundamental needs, but those of a more philosophical, quality-of-life type. But I must admit that this sight brought back to the realities of life and left me feeling rather awkward.
18:20 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Brr...
It’s so cold that…
- The grass has turned brown
- Some pigeons have gone beserk (this flock of pigeons that keep flying back and forth between 2 points)
- I have to wear 2 layers to sleep (my fleece PJs and a full set of thermals) + 2 thick blankets + the heater
- My fingers are always cold even indoors (but I can’t wear gloves because they hinder my finger motions)
- I take 2 hot showers a day (at night to keep myself nice and clean before I hit the sack and in the morning to warm me up)
- I drink so much hot water to keep my insides warm that I keep going to pee (yes, you had to know that)
- My face is starting to flake (believe me that’s not good so now I have to lather on the moisturizer)
- The Internet has frozen over (well actually it’s just insanely slow from the consequent damage of the Taiwan earthquake)
Granted, it is not as cold as other places, but zero degrees celcius is cold enough for me. And this is my blog so i'll whine if i want to.
But seriously, the fact that the internet is super slow has severely handicapped me. A lot of websites I frequent are hosted outside of China and it takes forever (if at all) to load up the pages. About half of the regular sites i visit are no longer accessible to me. I cannot even access my own blog so I have to email my posts to my blog. Which explains the random footers at the end of this and future posts like “Try amazing new 3D maps! Check it out!” These are those advertisement footers that appear at the end of most free email accounts. So please put up with the footers, and possibly bad formatting, for the time being. I’ll tidy up as soon as I have decent direct access to my blog.
17:30 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Some little luxuries off the top of my head
1. My coffee (albeit the instant 3-in-1 mix kind) steaming by my side while it’s cold out.
2. My recently purchased music playing off iTunes on my laptop as I write.
3. Along with the one just listed… being able to belt at the top of my voice with Faith Hill, Avril Lavigne, Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson and Mary J. Blige without having anyone hear.
4. A licensed copy of Microsoft Office so that I can use Word to type this.
5. Wireless internet access so that I don’t have to have cables spewing out of my laptop, and I can sit anywhere I want and still access almost any information I need right now.
6. Opportunities… to go home for Christmas, to visit a Mr. Globetrotter before that, and possibly spend new year’s in Tokyo.
7. A few single working professionals to hang out with, especially Flo since she lives in the next block.
8. Ajisen Ramen, Carrefour, Starbucks, Western restaurants, Hong Kong restaurants, all of which make this place a little bit like home.
9. Foot massages
10. 6 DVDs of all 6 seasons of CSI: Las Vegas
15:24 Posted in On the road | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Swedish meatballs
So guess who’s come to town. IKEA! That’s right, the Swedish furniture people. This is their fourth branch in China - the other three are in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Flo and I decided to check it out today to see what it was like.
So IKEA Chengdu looks exactly like IKEA Singapore, and every other IKEA I guess. The layout and flow are the same. And they have the same café inside selling Swedish meatballs, and the same hotdog counter on the ground floor near the checkout lines.
We had to line up to get in. It almost felt like we were entering some tourist attraction, or lining up to get into the Harrod’s clearance sale in the UK. I felt like a sheep being herded around all over again. Lots of pushing and shoving to get into the snake queue, and even overtaking of people even as we moved in the snake. Can’t quite understand what’s the rush though. It isn’t as if IKEA is leaving anytime soon, it’s not as if they are going to run out of stock or the products are going to perish. It’s furniture, people! Anyway, I have never had to line up to get into IKEA before, but I guess with 10M other people in Chengdu, you have to have some sort of traffic control.
IKEA is not as enjoyable crowded. One of the thing I like best about IKEA is that you get to imagine what your home could be like. They have these little spaces where they fit out kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, studies, or even an entire apartment, and you don’t get to walk around or sit down and pretend that this was all yours. “Get a whole new kitchen for RMB 1,888!” the sign exclaims. But today, it was so crowded that there wasn’t the space for us to play pretend. What really irritated me was all these people sitting on the sofas. They were not testing, they were resting! Some where sleeping, some were sending text messages. Don’t they know that they are not supposed to do that??!?!?
The IKEA café was good. Haven’t had Swedish meatballs in more than two years. The freshly brewed coffee from the IKEA coffee beans was great. Free flow of quality coffee for RMB 6. Flo and I were working out the numbers. After considering transport costs and time involved, IKEA might well become one of my weekend breakfast destinations. Coffee and a book or something like that.
Then we decided to hike it ba