New beginnings

今天是八月初一. The start of a good month - the eighth lunar month - as the Chinese believe it. It is the month of the Mid-Autumn festival, of bountiful harvests and the fullest moon of the year. It is a month of great unions (Chinese weddings spike during this month), love and beauty (symbolised by the Moon Goddess Chang-E 嫦娥) and longevity (symbolised by the Old Man on the Moon 月下老人).

Tomorrow is 1 Sep, the beginning of the ninth month on the solar calendar. Nine, 9, 九, is a symbol of longevity for the Chinese as it is phonetically identical with 久 (long). Tomorrow is also the first day of the Muslim holy month - Ramadan.

This great month is a month of new beginnings for the four of us.

Pauline is trying out something new - programme editing which hopefully makes better use of her creative talents - after 8 long years of corporate videos. Happy for ya girl!

Raymond finally receives a job offer after a long hunt since graduation day, and a good one if I may say, at Citibank. Great work bro!

雪 ... 认真的雪 ... is finally on the road again with some Singaporean tourists after 3 months of waiting in the aftermath of the 5.12 earthquake that devastated his usual route of Jiuzhaigou 九寨沟. Today he must be traversing the gorgeous terrains of Hailuogou 海螺沟. Hopefully, the tourists will return to Sichuan fairly soon ... I just came back and I can testify that it is home to some of nature's most extraordinary beauty!

Yes, I've come home. Although sad I've come to the end of this road trip, I am also grateful for having a job to return to. Me, too, like Pauline, Raymond and 雪, am embarking on a new beginning tomorrow. Having 3 other friends on the same journey makes this one especially meaningful.

Reminds me of that song by Richard Marx and Donna Lewis - At The Beginning. Have a great Sunday!

Life's firsts ...

I've air-travelled for at least 7 years and encountered many firsts. Today, I enccountered another - I missed my flight. Haha. Oh well, somehow, I'm not too unhappy about it. Just a change of place in where I spend the weekend. At my favourite teahouse :))

I have to be careful what I wish for. Haha ...

康定情歌之乡

Am now in the hometown of this famous love song - 康定 (Kangding). It's very chilly here ... below 20 degrees. Besides, it rained this morning.

Sigh ... I'm having not much luck. Thought I'd take a roadtrip out to Mogetso (hire a one-day jeep plus driver) but about 7 km before entering the area, there's a landslide so there's no way our vehicle could get through. However, the drive itself was well worth it as we passed by a gorgeous terrain of misty mountains, gushing rivers and plunging falls.

After turning back to Kangding, I visited a Tibetan temple called 金刚寺(Jingang Si). The temple is such a marvel ... the carvings and drawings are so intricate and the colours so vibrant. Simply gorgeous, I shall let the photos do the talking :) Go to Facebook, k?

Then, my driver who is a Tibetan brought me to his home which is also a guesthouse and had butter tea there. It's newly renovated for RMB400,000! Wow. It's quite a nice place with a hospitable family - my driver, his wife, daughter and his father. Would be quite an experience staying with a Tibetan family. Besides, he can help to arrange the itinerary to the scenic areas in these parts including Mt. Gongga and 九龙 (Jiulong) ... I have his contact if anyone's interested.

After that, I took the cable car up 跑马山 (Paoma Mountain) for an overview of Kangding. Thought I'd also spend some time on the mountain (though my friend said there's nothing much up there now that the annual horse festival is over) since I've got nothing very much to do anyway ... but it was getting really chilly up here I jumped on the next cable car back (well, almost) hehe! Should have heeded my friend's advice and brought the cardigan :(

I ended up watching the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics in the afternoon. I don't mind since I missed it. But still, I missed the first 20 minutes or so and the performance of the controversial lip-synching girl again.

Maybe in a while, I'll go out for some tea at a Tibetan teahouse ... though the butter tea is not really my cuppa. Okie ... maybe not then ... well, maybe I'll just spend a lazy afternoon online posting my pix and head out for a bowl of hot and spicy 麻辣拉面.

Thank goodness this hostel has wi-fi. Not sure why I couldn't get connected last night, perhaps the router wasn't turned on. It's not very fast though so I'm not sure how long it'll take to get all the pix up ... stay tuned!

黄龙溪

This is a rainy day. From the moment I woke up till now. Non-stop! No wonder it was still so dark at 9 am and I thought it was only 7 and planned to get back into bed after a toilet break. Hehe ...

I was wondering why my friend had not responded to the 2 SMS that I sent yesterday (found out later that he didn't receive my SMS yesterday and thought I was not back from Emei yet ... grrr...) when I decided to head out to the ancient village 黄龙溪 (Huang Long Xi) instead of waiting, in spite of the rain. It is south of Chengdu, an hour by bus.

I didn't expect it to be so touristy!! Well, mainland Chinese tourists but tourists nevertheless. Still, there're some nice things to see including more temples, one of a huge marble Buddha at 大佛寺 (Dafo Si temple) which is accessible by a short boat ride on the river and the 古龙寺 (Gulong Si temple) where the Laughing Buddha and Guanyin reside. Other than temples, there're lots of good food and endless rows of stores selling "tourist trap" goodies (hailing from Melaka, I know these things all too well!)

The teahouses and makan places serve cheap delicious food like the 豆花 (dao-huay) and 饺子 (dumplings) that I had for lunch. I absolutely love the dao-huay!!! It's not like our silky smooth dao-huay in sweet soup. In fact, it's more like mashed beancurd and cooked in chilli broth ... oohhh, the spicy goodness!!! I must have at least another helping before I leave next Friday - don't wanna go home :(

I spent about 4 hours wandering the cobblestone walkway, praying at the temples, cruising the river, eating delicious food and kay-pohing at the work station of an elderly couple who make 草鞋 (grass shoes) which are good for mountain climbing (saw some people wear these when trekking Emei). Returned to Chengdu about 5pm and it's still raining so I guess it'll be an early night for me ... might as well so I can upload the pix and blog some ...

Hope I can start early tomorrow (think the weather will be fab tomorrow - seems like a pattern ... *pray*) ... will be heading out to 康定 (Kangding) of 康定情歌 fame on Tue through Thu. Flying back on Fri nite (NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) ... will decide what to do on Fri morning ... maybe go visit my other friend - the pandas ;))))

Ciao!!!

Back from the mountains

My legs are screaming in pain!!!! Haha ... I underestimated the mountain. Thought I'd never do mountains again after the Kinabalu which gave me black toes and jelly legs for days (and that was 6 years ago) but I had chosen to attempt Emei. Ooooh ... on the map it looked great - the trails were well-planned out, there're guesthouses I could stay in along the way if I get exhausted and at 3,700-plus metres, it must be an easier one than the K. Wrong!

The slopes of Emei are very steep. While it does have proper stairs to climb (we had to climb stones most of the way on the K), it's tougher than the K going against gravity in a 60-70-degree kinda slope. Plus the rain. Scary!! Apparently, not many people attempted the trek. So for me, it's a far lonelier climb compared to the K ... and there're no persons or guesthouses for miles!!

In the end, I managed only one trail when there're at least 3. After only 6 hours of hiking, my legs could not take it anymore. I stayed the night at a family-run guesthouse at Wanniansi. The nice owner even took me to the temple and showed me the proper way of offering prayers to the Buddha the next day. Then, I took the bus up to the Golden Summit. Thankfully, the weather's good compared to the day before. Not exactly sunny but I got a pretty amazing view of mountains that stretch far into the distance. Awesome!

That wrapped up my Emei trip and I headed back to Chengdu on a 5.30 pm bus which departed at 5.15 pm when it was full. It'd be a 2-hour ride and I thought we'd be early but alas, we're caught in a jam just shortly before the expressway tollgate for an hour. In the end, we got back to Chengdu at almost 9pm and I was almost starving! I only had a local breakfast of noddles (which looked and tasted somewhat like dumplings) with some rice and an egg cooked in a sour liquid called the "laozao", which is a type of fermented rice wine. Tasted strange but not awful, though second helpings would be an overkill.

So here I am today taking it easy on my legs and basking in the sun in the garden at Sim's. Maybe I'll head out to the square later and spend the afternoon with the Mao statue and at some of the good makan places there ... like the Chen Mapo Tofu!

Posting pictures on Facebook ... check em out :)

Test blog in China

Though I've had the intention to blog, it struck me that Blogger may not work in China. But oh well, everything's good!!

I'm blogging from this lovely hostel called Sim's Backpacker. It's run by a Singaporean-Japanese couple (their 2 young daughters are just at the next table studying! Very adorable :( Little things like this make me happy). Got to this place by public bus from the airport. Wow! This is what I love. Get into the everyday lives of people. No matter if they were a rowdy bunch speaking in near-incomprehensible tongue (though if you listen hard enough, the Sichuan dialect is quite similar to Mandarin, just adjust the tones). It actually felt like home riding on those buses, somewhat like what we have in Melaka. It took about 1.5 hours getting from the airport to the hostel but well, it's worth that glimpse at everyday life in Chengdu :))

In the garden at the hostel now ... i's very breezy out here ... even a light shower just now. The general temperature in Chengdu is 30 degrees Celsius ... why have escaped the Singapore heat into another one!! Haha ... but soon I'll be out of it.

Think I'll head out to Emei Shan on Wed for some inner peace, dropping by the feet of the Leshan Giant Buddha en route. Should return to Chengdu on Friday and spend some catching up time with the friend.

Then probably Monday or Tuesday, I'll head out to former trading post between the Tibetans and the Hans - 康定 (Kangding). This is also the place the famous folk song 康定情歌 was based on. Next best thing since I can't get to Tibet... even so, being in western part of Sichuan, it's somewhat off-limits according to the travel agent here at Sim's, as long as I look and speak Chinese, shouldn't be much of a problem. At worst, I'll be deported to Chengdu.

Looks like I'll have to give up on the bamboo forests (属南竹海) this time cuz there's simply not enough time! My friend says Kangding is a more beautiful place, more culturally rich but of course.

Hmm ... ok, I'll have to give up either one cuz I'd like to really take the time and appreciate each place and this is supposed to be an ultra-relaxed trip!!! Haha ...

Update at 23:00

Took a walk around the neighbourhood. Feels like I'm finally seeing the real Chengdu. It's really bad going with tour groups as they only show you the best side of the city. Even in a city as modern and cosmopolitan as Shanghai, there are also the "heartlands", which we also discovered when we went on our own excursion around the city last year.

Last year too, Chengdu felt like a rich western city. Today I observe, for every rich man (there are some luxury cars zooming around town), there are many more struggling to make a living. Tiny homes double up as shopfronts selling dust-covered Pantene sachets and soft drinks. Little children sleep next to their moms who sew next to the window that opens up into a small cluttered bedroom, maybe about 100 sq ft.

Still, I saw computers in these tiny homes too. Mostly running gaming applications. Not sure if it's offline, online or MMORPG ... but the young 'uns were very engrossed.

And yes, people still use public phones operated by provision shop owners despite China being the fastest growing mobile market. Go west!!!

Off to Chengdu

Haha ... thot I''d be late but oh well, managed to drag my a** over here and now I'm just outside the gate waiting to board. Flight's at 7.20am, so that means I have some minutes to blog :))

It's been a whirlwind weekend, went home to Melaka. Didn't get to sleep till 1.30 am last nite. It's amazing how I took so long to pack when in the end, it's just a small backpack and a Crumpler sling bag. I'm traveling real light this time. Haven't been doing this backpacking thing in a bit so yeah! Excited I'm finally going on an adventure again.

Alrighty ... gotta go to the washroom now then head into the plane. See ya real soon!!!

Final Countdown

The final week ... feels kinda weird - excited, happy, apprehensive ... hmmm ... indescribable. But definitely looking forward to it. Yes. The final countdown begins.
v(~_~)v

How's your 08.08.08?

It came and went. But I'm glad to report it went fantastic for me ... started off a bit rough but ended on a high note :)

I spent a really awesome evening singing my heart out with fellow colleagues at a karaoke at Bugis Point. Even attempted a Backstreet Boys song! Haha ... there's this new Japanese designer Ryota who just joined last week and interestingly, he mentioned Backstreet Boys and started making these spastic dance moves of the boyband days. Then Garrick followed suit ... it was hilarious!! So we challenged the boys to some BSB routine - Adeline (forced into it too!) and I would do the song, the boys would handle the dance. Hahahahaha ...

Our car could be collected today so I guess I'll see it tomorrow (or rather, later today). Guess National Day this year would be fun for us as pa and ma are also in town so I guess we should be cruising around town hunting down some good makan places ... hehe ... gotta watch the waistline since I'll be heading out to Chengdu in a week for more of my favourite Sichuan delicacies ...

Speaking of China, hope I'll be waking up to at least some sequences of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony encore telecast on Channel 5 that starts at 6.30 AM. Who knows which other channel, on cable possibly, might be showing the repeat at a more earthly hour? Please, I'd like to know. I'm kinda very in the Olympics mood now, even joined the #080808 movement on Twitter ... as you may have noticed from my tweets :)

So I'm signing off and hitting the sack as I count down to the final week of my tenure at L&Y. I'm gonna miss all the people I had a fabulous time with tonight ... but all the same, I can't wait to be out of there. Change is at hand. Freedom is near. YES!

Gake no ue no Ponyo! 崖の上のポニョ

Looking forward to this new Miyazaki masterpiece!

Good weekend

How has your weekend been?

Mine has been good. I've been unusually relaxed this weekend, probably cuz I'm counting down to my last day of work. Two more weeks! And I'll be free to roam Chengdu and around for another 2 weeks before embarking on the next phase of my career.

My friends are at SingFest this weekend. I've decided not to join them since the weekend pass costs a whopping $300 ($270 after discount) and the only act I really, really wanna see is Jason Mraz. I can pass on the rest ... so guess I'll catch the man the next time he has a solo show in town.

With the "savings" from SingFest, I treated myself to an overdue haircut. Cute as always, thanks to my bold stylist. This time, it's back to mahogany base and red highlights. There's a cool "heartline" trim on the bob. I like this new style a lot! Not a boring bob, yet not too outrageous. And I'm not looking into the mirror every now and then trying to style it in a way more acceptable to my own impeccable taste ... hahaha ...

After the haircut, I decided to just hang out at Bugis Junction. They've renovated what used to be The Edge on the third level and it's now open with shops that sell mostly Japanesque things. The prices are quite affordable to cater to its core target market - teens. Well, there's this one store that really attracted me called EIII (E3) Street that carries cutesy Jap toys, bags and wallets *drool* I became uncontrollable! And I got myself this cute little colourful Elmer wallet.

It's love at first sight ... I was in the shop a long time, thinking that this and that and that and everything's so cute and beautiful but thankfully, my logic still got the better of me :) (Bear bear isn't part of the Elmer package ... it's from some cute Jap guy from NTT Docomo at CommunicAsia ... hehe)

So I had a little budget left over for a nice top from Isetan when we popped by Parkway Parade on the free weekend shuttle service between PP and Sengkang MRT Station. In a shade of aquamarine blue/green, the blouse is a strange yet harmonious blend of Korean and Victorian styles. At first glance, the lace trimmings in the chest area seem very Korean. But the multi-layered lace trimmings skirting the bottom seams of the blouse, as well as the crisscross drawstrings at the back, are distinctly Victorian. I like this bizarre mesh :) Especially when it gives me a great sihouette! Slim at the waist, thanks to the drawstrings, and kinda showcasing the assets upfront (not that I'm not already well-endowed - haha) with the bountiful lacework.

We rounded off the nice and easy little weekend with some Andersen's ice cream, and a call from Daddy that they'll be coming to Singapore on Tuesday. Yippie yippie yummzzzz yummmzzz ... zzzzz ... it'll be a great week ahead. It's the Olympics ... finally! (The torch passes through Sichuan today, the final stop before heading out to Beijing for the Games. Even I feel emotional - see you in 2 weeks Sichuan!)

Go! Snow Dragon!

Yeee haaa!! Another record-breaking win for Falcor! Falcor has also become a full-fledged snow dragon, whose pristine crystalline scales are made of sparkling flakes of pure white snow, woven in the most intricate patterns, the beauty of which is not immediately apparent to the naked human eye.