*Yun's Traveling Tales...Life Tales...*

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

First Time Ever, On My Own...
Guangzhou ---> Macau ---> Hong Kong

Backpacking is the coolest form of traveling, more so when you are backpacking alone and even greater so if you are a girl!
Say, when the queues for locals dragged on endlessly in the immigration hall, curious (and admiring) stares would fall on you as you sashayed down the empty lane for “Foreigners Only”. Even the custom officer couldn’t help asking, “Miss, isn’t your backpack heavy?”.

And when the unexpected typhoon forced all shops to close, and you’ve nowhere to go except Starbucks, which persisted on to provide a refuge for the restless youth & tourists who would otherwise be cooped up in their tiny, windowless rooms.
It turned out to be an extremely romantic experience for the lone traveler… Sitting alone on a high stool in the corner, amidst the warm lighting falling on the wooden décor; as classical music played while the wind howled outside… with maps and travel guides laid out as you planned for the next destinations of your lone trip.

I suppose, the significance of traveling alone is freedom. You’ll have all the time to absorb the details in the environment. And usually, it is when exploring on my own that do I capture the best pictures on my camera.
On the other hand, time is utilized to the max as you proceed without compromising to the pace of others.

Having said that, I have to confess that were definitely experiences of loneliness when there was no one to share the endless variety of dessert with, and no one to try out the famous pubbing street of Lai Kui Fong in Hong Kong (cuz its simply too weird to go pubbing on your own, as a girl).
And after a few days of lacking in conversations, I started to yearn for the company of my pals…

All in all, traveling alone is way better than traveling with companions of varying attitude and conflicting interests; but traveling with companions of similar taste and personality is certainly one of the greatest joys in life! :D

For anyone with sufficient independence, do embark on a trip by yourself at least once in your life time! It’ll be one great satisfaction! :D

--- July2006

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Monday, July 10, 2006

My Nice Tibet Trip, 11-21 Jun 06'

I'm so very glad to have embarked on this trip. For right now, a strong authentic culture could still be observed aplenty on the streets. This will not be guranteed anymore in years to come when modernization takes a stronger foothold.

Already, with the opening of the Golmud-Lhasa Railway on 1July 06, linking mainland China to Lhasa, there'll be an influx of tourists adding to the already-commercialized capital. What a great fortune that I was there just before the opening of the railway.

The mystical and centuries-old Tibetan culture may have been what drawn me and fellow travelers to this highland, but it would be unfair should I wish for the primitive lifestyle of the Tibetans to be retained. As what my kind traveling mate said, perhaps it is precisely modernization that the Tibetans themselves are looking forward to.

On the day the railway opened, I was in Pakistan and caught the news of it on the Chinese channel, CCTV. It had a detailed coverage on the occasion; all the commentaries hailed to the benefits of this project while all the Tibetans interviewed said that the railway will improve their lives, and hopefully, brings Tibet's economy on par with the cities in mainland China. Everything sounds so great yeh... no disapproval at all huh...

On the next day while watching CNN's report on this same occasion, I heard the words "controversial" being used and this statment made, "But will it help or hurt Tibet's culture?"

Do you sense the difference? Is there some propaganda somewhere?? keke.

Anyway, I'm very, very grateful for the opportunity to see in person, the sights of many Tibetans still wearing their traditional clothings, the daily ritual of their pilgrimage around the holy hills and monestries, the praying wheels, the astonishing praying form of 磕长头 and more........

Most of all, I've a wish for the Tibetan people ~~ May His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama be allowed back to his homeland someday very soon~~

*Please visit my Tibet photo journal @ http://yun-photo.blogspot.com/
*Stay tune for My Tibet Food Series and Traveling Tips...

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Friday, June 09, 2006

My Self-Made "Hotel Food"

Although it’s a privilege to be traveling about, there have been times where I didn’t feel like stepping out of my hotel for meals. It wasn’t laziness nor a lack of interest in experimenting foreign foods as I LUV to eat, but more so for the following reasons:

1) The only food being sold are things that you don’t mind giving a skip.
e.g. boring burgers, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, hot dogs, very hard pretzels or fish n’chips which are most prevailing in US and Britain.

Even in countries like Australia and New Zealand where asian eateries are abundant
and foodcourts have wide varieties of asian food, they’ll just consist of the all-too-
familiar fares like fried rice, mee goreng, kway teow, wanton mee and ramen etc.

2) Have already tried what ought to be tried (within financial meanns), so might as well save up the $$.Otherwise there’ll be endless excuses to keep spending on food!

3) Insufficient time. Say, you’ll be checking out in a couple of hours.

4) The hotel is too isolated, there’s no eatery nearby.

5) Its unsafe to be out at night. e.g. Los Angeles.

How about the hotel buffets then? Yup...have tried a few and the spread were eye-opening, but the novelty wore off eventually. More importantly, its unhealthy to stomach such luxurious food too often.

How about in-room dining? Too expensive.
In-room dining is universally-costly regardless of the economy of a country. For instance, that in Indonesia will cost as much as in Japan.

So at times, I'll revert back to the humble instant noodles. But this isn't the only solution, two months ago in Auckland (New Zealand), an alternative solution suddenly striked me -- Dip bread into piping hot instant soup!

This’s the most interesting flavour I managed to find in NTUC Fare-price, no exotic flavour like laksa over here. It tastes nice only if you add minimal water. But the crispy toast it claims to contain did really maintained its crispiness!

I was paying a visit to the supermarket as usual cuz New Zealand prohibits the bringing in of most food product to protect their dominant farming industries. It’s a fun thing to shop at supermarkets actually, cuz you’ll be able to get an idea of the diet unique to each culture..........
(Article continues at my Food Paradise site, since its a topic on food! Click here!)

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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Perth, 2 Unusual Experiences

Perth, May 2006
1. I Didn't Feel Like I was in Perth

Somewhere in Northbridge (the name of a district) within the City of Perth, there stands a bubble tea ( 泡泡茶 ) shop. I'm sure you know what a bubble tea is! :D

Just like the other major cities in Australia and New Zealand, the Asian population has ballooned at an alarmingly speed. When I was in Sydney last year for the second time since I was 13, I was a little taken aback by the scene of more asians than caucasians on the streets! In Auckland, there's a whole stretch of road lined with Korean restaurants and in Christchurch, there's a small mall with only korean boutiques inside.

The asians aren't merely tourists strolling about... they have infused into the environment, mainly as cashiers and shop assistants. Perhaps they are just students doing part-time jobs... but it is kind of funny that almost everytime I stepped into a shop, I would be greeted by a fellow asian!!! Hey! Where have the ang mohs gone??

There's a mutual understanding that our native languages aren't English, yet this is the one language that has binded us together... Us, from various asian countries brought together in a foreign land... for our own different reasons....

Back to the Pao Pao Cha shop.....
It's a big premise with rather ugly furniture (Sorrie). A counter to the right of the entrance is where you select your choice of flavour from a list written in English and Chinese. Somehow, so very naturally, my pal & I placed our orders in mandarin (Don't forget we were in an ang moh city!).

We had a 百香绿茶加珍珠 and a 青苹果绿茶不要珍珠! :D You'll pay the money here and proceed onto the left where there were plenty of black sofas with coffee tables. Take a seat and you can start enjoying the big-screen TV in front, which was showing........guess, guess, guess.... No, I'm not asking you to guess what the TV was showing... it was literally我猜我猜我猜猜猜* by Jacky Wu!

The owner has apparently video taped the program and using it as a signature attraction for the shop. I'm not sure if this has infringed any copyright, but it's certainly a very nice way to cure homesickness, especially for the Taiwanese. :)

They weren't the only nationality around though... I heard Hong Konger's cantonese and Singaporean's Singlish as well.... It made me think again, that the variety shows, manga and drama serials etc have brought us, Asians from different countries into this little world amidst an ang moh city.

Further into the shop were shelves with thousands of Manga (Japanese Comic), and some Japanese and Korean VCDs. I picked a comic book, 金田一少年事件薄 , paid A$10.30 and brought it back to the sofa to read at my own sweet time. Upon returning, $10 was returned, hence it cost only $0.30 to borrow the book. How cheap! :D

I didn't keep track of the time and had no idea how long I've been in that shop... It didn't matter...cuz it was one of those precious moments where you have the luxury of time... where you can let the world goes by..... and nobody cares.... :)

It was dark and chilly when I stepped out of the shop. Phew! Am I really in Perth?

The name of the shop : Famosa Cafe, North Bridge, City of Perth, Western Australia. :)

*Note - Guess Guess Guess is a popular Taiwanese variety show aired in Singapore too. Funny man Jacky Wu is the host.

2. Fire in Fremantle!
I suppose, a fire isn't something of frequent occurance in many people's lives. Furthermore, I was staying in peaceful Perth for a mere two days, how fateful that was for me to witness one then! And it wasn't a small one...

Since something of this sort rarely happens, the k-po-ness arised in me. However!!! The behaviour of 幸灾乐祸 (translate: deriving pleasure from the suffering of others) is unarguably WRONG! Hence while watching the action taking place, there was a sincere wish that no one was trapped in the fire and that property damage was minute.

I happened to be in Fremantle at that time for its famous Fish n' Chips (but ended up having a Seafood Platter for Two which is Whooh!!!! Thumbs Up!!!).

While walking on one of the streets, I saw thick smoke rising out of an old structure that looks like a warehouse with a thatched roof. What first came to my mind was rather Out actually : "Could that building be some old train station that 's now opened for tourists to take joy rides on the steam-engined trains? And the smoke is from the train?"
"Hmm... but that's quite a lot of smoke for a train...."

We walked to the side of the building and through the glass windows, our doubts were answered... Bright orange flames were rising to the ceiling! I have never seen a fire of this scale! Some youngsters were letting themselves down from the window ledges after jumping up to examine what was happening...

My pal and I never stopped in our tracks, we just kept walking to the direction of my pal's car. All this while I was frowning and mumbling "I hope someone has called the fire engine".

We got into the car, intending to head towards the eatery which we have decided on... But my curiousity could contained no more! "Shall we just go take a look at what has happened to the fire?"

And so we drove the car to somewhere near the fire. I was rather embarrassed to be too near the scene to watch it as if it were a show, but my pal didn't care. As we got nearer....... Cheh! So many Aussies were already surrounding the place watching as if it were yah... a show!

I felt like taking some photos but again, was rather embarrassed to do it... But at that instant, a man started to snap away on his SLR!!! What the... I was paisei no more!!!!

I even filmed a short video clip of the fire fighters in action, and so did a guy in front of me, just that he was doing it on his little handphone...

It was heartening to see that the fire was extingushed within a few minutes. The building turned out be a weekend market, thus on that Wednesday evening, I suppose no one was in the premise as no ambulance was called in. Wasn't it eventful for an accidental passerby like me....? :)

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Monday, May 08, 2006

Getting Drunk on a Cheese Fondue

Zurich, Switzerland, May 2006.
I've tried the cheese fondue once before at the Swiss Culture restaurant in Suntec City and remembered not quite liking it due to the tint of alcohol added, which made it bitter. Now that I was in Switzerland, shouldn't I try an authentic Swiss cheese fondue? :)

So, through the recommendation of my nice tour guide, I ended up in a homely restaurant tucked away in the buzzling city of Bahnhofstrasse (Voted as Best City for living in the world). But before entering, I checked the stickers on the wooden doors to ensure that Visa is accepted, cuz I knew that this meal wasn't going to come cheap....and I was already running out of cash....

A plump, friendly waitress greeted me and I was immediately delighted by the cozy furnishings of wood and warm colours. :) Surprisingly, only three tables were occupied on that Friday evening, one by an elderly man on his own and two window seats by couples, looking romantic against the backdrop of the rain outside.

I pondered over the menu, trying to decide between the traditional cheese fondue or the one with pored mushroom (什么来的??!). Guessing that I was new to the dish, the waitress came to my rescue and suggested the traditional one. A house white wine was recommended too.
(For the past few months after coming into more contact with the ang moh culture, I've become quite accustomed to having wine while eating an ang moh meal. But still, I've a problem acquiring a taste for any type of alcoholic drink... Alcohol is simply too bitter for me! Gimme jasmine green tea, ice lemon tea, teh si anytime!!!)

At this time, three American girls entered (recognized by their accent), and they exclaimed at the pot of cheese over the tealight candle flame, "Oh! This's sooo cute!". I overhead them asking if its possible that alcohol not be added? And the waitress said No.

My boiling cheese fondue arrived accompanied by the dinstinctive stench/aroma and a plate of french bread which has been cut into bite-sized cubes.

Yummy yum yum... and so I tucked in.....
BUT.............Argh @#$%^*#$ ! The fondue was terribly bitter!!!! I think the alcoholic content is up by 15% from the one I had in Suntec!!!
Oh Gosh.... each bite was a painful one......

When the chef and waitress weren't looking, I would eat the bread plain without dipping it into the fondue. And when they were looking, I would swirled the bread in the pot slowly..... so very slowly.... hoping that the alcohol will evaporate ASAP!!!!

It didn't helped that the wine was painfully bitter too.....

Towards the end of the "torture", I was dying for a sweet dessert to curb the bitterness. And so I ordered a meringue which was unexpectedly big with a huge pile of sinful cream. :(

The bill amounted to 51Swiss Frank (about S$66.30). When I saw myself in the mirror, my face was all flushed up!!! No wonder the chef was giving me a weird look when I swayed my way to the ladies.

Anyway...I managed to take the tram and stumbled my way back to my hotel room, where I concussed right on the bed there and then!

I suppose it'll be a long time before I'll try another cheese fondue unless the alcohol is removed... but hey!! That'll be a cheese dip and not a cheese fondue!!!

One Day in Paris
(note: My CD rom for Paris got corrupted and many of my beautiful pics are gone...sob... So this posting may be rather uncomprehensive without the visual support, I beg for your pardon)

Paris, April 2006

What do you do if you have just a day in Paris? I cramped my itenery as follows:

1. The Louvre (Just to take pics outside)

2. Notre Dame

3. Montmartre

4. The Eiffel Tower

Perhaps you've heard of only 1, 2 and 4. Myself, who has yet-to-see-much-of-the-world, didn't know of no 3. until a day before I embarked on my trip. All my friends who have been to Paris have mentioned about Montmartre, so did a French man I met on the plane, as well as the hotel concerige.
Oooh! I'd better not leave this place out then!

It turned out that Montmartre is a charming, olden part of Paris...
That suited me exactly! That's what I love to do -- to immerse in the local environment instead of just visiting touristic landmarks!

More about Montmartre later, lets return to my itenary. :)

1. The Louvre

It wouldn't do justice to this world-renowned museum should I just give it say, 2 hours. So, I'll have to settle with just taking pictures at its outside. The next time I come, I vow to dedicate half a day to her!

Take the Metro to Palais Royal Musee du Louvre station, walk through the subterranean mall of the Louvre and you'll emerge into the chamber housing the unusual La Pyramide Inversee. This is the final scene in Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code where the "female meets the male". ;)

The Holy Grail' neath ancient Roslin waits.
The blade and chalice guarding o' er Her gates.
Adorned in masters' loving art, she lies.

She rests at last beneath the starry skies.
(Source: The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown)

La Pyramide Inversee

I then went up the escalator to the ground floor where the modern Pyramide du Lourve stood awkwardly amidst the centuries-old buildings....

Should there not been this glass pyramid, the place would have been really spacious and unobstructed. But on its own, the Pyramide du Lourve is really pretty. And undeniably, it has provided an iconic identity to the museum. ( Anyway, it is certainly way nicer than our two durians! :p )

The silhouette is that of the centuries-old main part of the Louvre Museum, creating a nice framing for the glass pyramid.

2. Notre Dame

This grand cathedral, romanticised by Victor Hugo's Hunchback of the Notre Dame, and made cuter by Disney's cartoon version (I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it was when this cartoon was shown did I first heard of Notre Dame... Well, I was still a kid then, okie! ).

Notre Dame is a well-known represetation of the Gothic architecture. There are the meticulously detailed carvings which made me awed and wondered about the super-human effort spent on its construction.

Let me reveal something about myself... I've always felt a sense of eerieness by the term "Gothic", which is probably a result of stories about vampires, cults, and witch-burnings etc that seemed to have happened during that era of the Gothic fashion.

It was a Sunday when I was there and a mass was going on, but visitors were allowed to enter via another entrance to take a tour around the interior. I was surprised that photography was permitted and so of course, after being deprived of this at almost all the other places, I wasted no time in snapping away!

The cathedral organ was played at intervals. It was a kind of music that didn't seem to have any melody nor rythm. Each note echoed through the ancient walls in a loud, prolonged manner...and it made me felt uneasy....

To have a better understanding of what I'm trying to describe, imagine: the kind of music that somehow accompanies the sudden appearance of Dracula, with his black cape and sharp fangs ready to pierce and suck....(pardon me, don't mean to be rude).

Anyway, upon entering, I dropped 2euro into the donation box and lit a tea candle to pray for myself and a pal :)

I'm a free thinker but I've the utmost respect and sincerity when entering various religious places and even just dropping a coin into a well to make a wish... hah!

3. Montmarte

Changed quite a few metro lines to get there. The trains on certain lines are new with automated announcement at each station. But on other lines, the trains are older where the doors wouldn't opened unless you unlock a flap yourself. Fortunately, I've observed others doing that earlier on, otherwise I would have stood in front of the door and waited like a goondoo for it to open!

As I was exiting the station amidst a crowd, I noticed a lift to my left. But I suppose that most most people skipped the idea of queuing up for the it since it wasn't a big deal to take the stairs! But er hrm... the stairs were winding and very very high....There was no sigh of an end to it even after a very long while of climbing.

A middle-age couple stood aside to take a break, what the..this was the first time I've ever seen people resting midway climbing the stairs of a train station! Imagine how deep underground that sation was!!!

Finally, I emerged from the underground, took a look around me and YES! This is indeed THE place that one must go in Paris! Forget about the LV shops please! :p

Rows of low, lovely apartments lined the narrow streets...al fresco cafes were abundant, painters gathered in a world of their own, street performers were showing off their amazing talents that'll bring many of today's record company-churned pop idols to shame.

The lone artist

The streets in Montmarte slope up towards the highest point in that arena, where stands the majestic Sacre Coeur (translation: Sacred Heart). Please visit this link sacre-coeur-montmartre.com to know more about Sacre Coeur (Its too tedious to type on my own). No photography this time round though, I dropped yet another 2euro to make a wish...

Up here, you'll be able to have a 360 degree paranomic view of the surrounding. I heard that the majority of Paris is flat land, hence while standing on a high point, one will be able to see across a vast area.

4. The Eiffel Tower

I suppose I can't be considered as having been to Paris without seeing the Eiffel Tower. Its certainly beautiful enough not to create disappointment, which many landmarks in the world tend to cause, when one finally see them in person. Here's a nice landscape pic I've taken of it and its surrounding.

Military personnel patrolling at the Eiffel Tower

Note: Every first 10min of the hour at night, the lights on the tower will *sparkle*.

I didn't go up the Eiffel Tower... mainly cuz I thought I can already imagine the scene I would see...I might as well save the money (yeh..I'm a cheapo kia, I noe).

There was a long queue of people waiting for their turn to ascend the tower and I guessed the platform up there was crowded as well. How romantic can that be with all the tourists? Did Tom Cruise really find it that romantic to propose to Katie Holmes up there???

After I returned, a pal of mine asked me if Paris is really romantic? er.... I didn't quite felt so when I was there except that couples could be seen french kissing more commonly than elsewhere! :)

Hungry Hungry Hungry...

I've already tried a crepe which is one of the common items sold at the many roadside stalls in Paris. Other items will be a kind of square toast (I'll try that the next time :) )... and hotdogs and french fries... er...gimme a break! I'm in Paris! I want proper french food!!!

And so I dragged my growling tummy around in search of a place for dinner.... Finally I came upon a posh-looking restaurant with reasonable pricing. And so there I had my 3-course dinner - an Asian girl alone in a corner amidst the ang mohs... Drew some stares for sure, but I ignored them... I just needed food!

The dinner caused me a damage of S$40! Second most expensive meal I have so far. What an indulgence for someone who's so thrifty like me! But seriously, that was just 20euro. For a dinner in a restaurant like this in Europe, its considered inexpensive.

The nice aura of the restaurant

Salmon Lasagne... rather blend, like many Ang Moh food. My taste buds have been immuned by the full flavoured Sporean palate of sambal chilli, curries, oyster sauce, black pepper lah..

The cute dessert platter of an expresso, a chocolate mousse, a vanilla mousse, a chocolate stick and a candy :)

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Monday, May 01, 2006

Shanghai Apr 06'...Stumbling Upon the World of the Local Folks....

I had to help my aunt buy some Chinese fans for her dance class at a touristic shopping district known as Cheng Huang Miao (城皇庙). But after scrutinizing the shops in vain for a long time, I thought I'd better try my luck in the shops outside the shopping district

All thanks to this blessing in disguise...I stumbled upon my most valuable experience in Shanghai in the world of the local folks. ~~ A world where low housing congregated with their weather-beaten facades...where laundry hangs on strings from one's window to his neighbor's across the street...where a roadside barber could still be found and where elderly gathered for majong in the communal area etc...

This 's exactly what I LOVE about traveling i.e. submerging myself in the local culture instead of merely visiting touristic spots and shopping. :p
If I'm not wrong, this residential area has a really romantic name
~ 上海老街 The Old Street of Shanghai ~

It always break my heart to see an elderly doing manual work . Do they really have to do so for a living? Do they not have a family to support them? Or have they chosen to lead an independent life? But these elderly are very much agile and strong despite their age. Could it be due to their constant activeness?

See the very modernised skyscraper towering over the old shophouses in the pic below? Looks like a "cut & paste" yeh? Haha..but no... its real, no photoshop! This's how it's like in Shanghai where the most modern architecture stands side by side with old buildings that've been left behind to exude their old world charm. :)

There's this unusual building with the flowery top amidst the skyline of Shanghai (See pic). Its called the __________ (er...I'll fill in the blank when I've found out its name alrite, or when some kind soul has informed me).

Anyway, what I want to say is that near this building is another skyscraper with a distinctive logo at its top ( didn't managed to capture it on my camera as I was speeding pass in a cab). Many Singaporeans will probably feel a sense of familarity when they see that blue and green logo... well....Its one of Temasek Holdings' property arm --- Capitaland.

It was so often mentioned in school "Singapore has limited land for development, hence property developers have to venture out....and the two main places where opportunities await are the speedily developing China and India blah blah blah..." :) (BRE students, u-noe-wat-i'm-talking-about)

A similar occurance took place when I was in a cab as well in Beijing in Dec 2005. I was looking out of the window and to my surprise, ta da! I saw the words "Raffles City" on the hoarding of a construction site.

"What the.... must be some kind of Singaporean development lah!"

True enough...its Capitaland again...
Singapore is certainly making its presence felt....

Beijing, Dec 2005