Shanghai Shanghai

The last leg of the tour took us to Shanghai.

We visited the Lion Forest Garden, a scenic location that was supposedly a favorite holiday resort for the empress. Here stones in the shape of lions (apparently transported from the sea) were placed in the gardens for the emperor and empress's enjoyment.

So huge were some of the stones that they formed small mountains with labyrinths in which one could climb and walk through. These were actually limestone mountains and rocks eroded into their present shapes by the elements.

It was here I go to know the oldest member of our group, an 80 plus grandmother with 12 children (including 2 pairs of twins)! She could still walk although she needed some support holding on to her granddaughter who followed her for the tour. This is one thing I like about group tours - making new friends.

Again we were taken to 3 shopping places:

1. Silk Museum - I have been to a silk shop in Beijing but not like this one. At the shop in Beijing we were only shown the loom as an exhibit. Here at Shanghai the silk museum was actually the factory where the silk was harvested from the cocoons of live silkworms. We picked out the greenish bluish worms squirming between our fingers. Fear factor anyone? Just put them in your mouth! 

We saw how the good silkworm casings were separated from the bad ones. Then the casings were soaked in hot water and the threads separated at a long loom. One by one the silk threads gradually formed a half-opaque silk blanket that could be stretched by hand on all sides. The silk blanket were then placed inside silk bed-sheets thus making silk spreads. This was real-life not just an exhibits!

So good was this place that our tour members must have spent RMB20k buying silk bed-sheets, bed-spreads, pillows, pillow-covers, comforters, mattress protectors at the silk shops. The grandmother also bought some lovely silk blouses too. 

No wonder the tour guide was smiling from cheek to cheek!

2. We were then taken to a jade museum. Here a charming man (he says he is one of the partners) married to a Malaysian with a house in Taynton View gave us a talk on feng shui (most of the time I really don't know what he is saying though)! He took up about an hour and half of our time extolling the virtues of jade and telling stories.

All I know is that the jade pendants are really expensive. They cost something like RMB44k to RMB100k (divide by half to get the RM)! Break it and you probably would have to break your savings to pay them back!

3. We were again taken shopping this time to a medical shop known as TongRen Healthcare. Eager to close a sale, they felt my pulse and said that I should avoid animal innards (actually I have no taste for these things) and they told Tim to avoid fried things. However all their diagnosis seem to be the same for almost everyone!

The cream for burns and arthritis plasters were good but unfortunately they were not willing to sell them piecemeal even though our group wanted to buy 9 of the cream!

2 by 2 we were then taken into consultation cubicles by the Chinese sinsehs present.

One of the Chinese sinseh wanted to recommend Chinese herbs worth RMB400 a month for Tim! We made a hasty retreat.

The highlight of Shanghai was the bus ride passing the Bund and the boat ride on the Huangpu River. The Bund is a gorgeous wall complete with flowers and leaves that made patterns on it lining the main street of Shanghai commercial district.

It was beautiful and stunning to see the commercial buildings (including the Shanghai Tower) lighted up at night along the river banks. With orange, blue, red, pink, green, purple, grey and many colored hues with many designs and patterns - all of us agreed that this was the icing on the cake, the best part of the whole tour!

The boat cruise took us about an hour and God was good in giving us clear weather so that we could take clear shots of the lighted buildings.

We stayed the night at the elegant Rayfont Shanghai Xuhui Hotel.

Suzhou - Venice of Asia

Perhaps one of the most beautiful cities in China must be Suzhou also known as the Venice of Asia due to its many canals.

Here we had good looking male tour guide (apparently a University graduate) who took us to the 7-mile ShanTang Old Street. We saw Chinese boats cruising up and down the canal. The front doors of the houses at the Old Street opened up to the road but the back door opened up to the river that was very clean. It was a beautiful sight with the overhanging trees and lanterns in the background. Truly it reminded me of Venice but in a more old-fashioned way.

We were left to explore the small curiosity shops along the street but we did not find anything we could buy as souvenirs.

Later we were taken to see our 3rd show - the Suzhou delicate traditional song and dance show at the Suzhou bird nest theater. Like I said this trip is unique in the sense that we could video tape every show we watched in Hangzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou. 

Some common features of Chinese shows:

1. lavish back-drops making use of the digital images of beautiful Chinese sceneries like a sense surround

2. awesome stage that can rise or go up and go down

3. fantastic acrobatics and stunts

4. flying stunts

5. traditional music and instruments

6. song & dancing include fighting scenes that are graceful but with a story to tell

It was here that Tim and I got lost as we were the last to leave (going to toilet) and we took the wrong escalator down the other entrance. Praying so hard, we back-tracked and waited for the taiyo at the reception area. Thank goodness she came back for us!

Wuxi - Hollywood of China

We made the 3-hour bus ride to Wuxi from Hangzhou on the second day. 

At each city we had a change of tour guide. At Hangzhou was a friendly guide by the name of Chang who had been to Malaysia and knew all about durians!

At Wuxi we visited the Hollywood of China called Wuxi Studios. Spanning more that 80k square miles, this is the movie set specially built according to the architecture of the Tang and Han dynasties with palaces, houses, gardens, pastures, gates, rivers, lakes, boats (big and minature) to cater for the shooting of some of the most dramatic Chinese movies like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

We took pictures posing with lotus-filled lakes and ancient Chinese junks built for battle scenes! We visited ancient Chinese homes where supposedly battle strategies were discussed and mapped.

We took a boat ride in one of the Chinese junks and enjoyed the wind and the breeze. The weather was very clear and cooling.

It was here that we watched our second show in the open air theater where guests sat on wooden benches in the circle. The show was about horseman and fighting among the kingdoms with horses, sword-plays, canons and explosions.

After Wuxi studios we were taken to a Pearl showroom. There the tour guide was so eager to make sales that she started the sales pitch even before the sales lady came! Pearl cleansers and creams were going for almost 1.2k RMB! 

However some of us bought beautiful pearl earrings for RMB 200, hand-creams made of crushed pearls for RMB 25 per bottle, bangles with pearls for RMB 100.

We hopped onto the bus for our lunch (a spread of 10 dishes or so) and made the next stop at the Zisha Gallery. Here all kinds of tea-pots were sold. Our tour members bought clay lined mugs and vacuum flasks. RMB300 with a free teapot set thrown in!

We got on the bus again for another hour's ride to Suzhou.

Hangzhou & Wuxi

Buffet breakfast at the hotel was simply scrumptious. We ate the local dumplings in soups and tried the noodles and fried rice. We had the local deserts and also local broths. Fruits such as melons and honeydew were common.

In the morning, Seow Wen left us at the Haining China Leather City Mall. The entire mall was dedicated to all things leather - leather bags, leather jackets, leather souvenirs, leather shoes. At the lower ground floor the bags were affordable but as we went higher up we were shocked to find the fur-lined leather jackets were selling at RMB100k!

The other thing we found puzzling about China toilets in an expansive mall like this was that they were all mainly squatting toilets and dimly lighted! In fact of the toilets in other places featured only the steel longkangs!

After the free and easy shopping we were taken to the North Peak mountains and up to a temple (we did not go in). Apparently the point is the highest point in West Lake accessible only by cable car seating 6 people at a time. The view of the green landscape below us while on the cable car was stunning.

After a sumptuous buffet lunch at a revolving restaurant in Hangzhou (giant crab claws, fish with figs, different kinds of nutritious soups, barbecue fish, Beijing duck, barbecue meats, herbal teas, traditional Chinese deserts and many more) we then visited the Long Jing Tea Village for a taste of Hangzhou's famous Long Jing Tea. 

"No discount" was the oft-quoted phrase of the tour guide because this was apparently a government funded industry and prices were fixed. We were taken into a room and heard the virtues of AAA green tea extolled to us. The price? A cool RM600 for the best quality green tea! Nevertheless some of our tour mates asked for freebies which were also given!

The accommodation at Wuxi was the Scholars Hotel (a classical hotel) with books as our bedside companion.

Hangzhou on Oct 14

17 of us were greeted by Seow Wen at the Hangzhou airport. She sounded pleasant enough but as the days unfolded we found out that she had quite a sharp tongue!

Although most of the time, I did not understand what she said in Mandarin (in a way I was glad for this) I was happy to be spending time with church friends and my beloved hubby for this October tour. Also it was a good thing that I am quite an anglophile cos I was told by one of my good friend who came with us that she was scolding me during the last day of the tour and I wasn't the only one who got it from her!

It was a great crowd. I really appreciate the Tan family, Suesan and Wilfred (our meal companions) and the other 6-member family who brought along their 80 plus year-old grandma. She needed a small chair to get around (not a wheelchair but more like a push-chair) but she gamely walked up and down, here and there with us whenever she could!

There was also another couple who had a 3-year old son whom they loved very much otherwise they would not have been willing to buy him thousands of RM worth of silk bedding at the Shanghai Silk Museum!

Anyway the moment we were met at the airport we were whisked off to West Lake. The weather was really cooling and wonderful. Although we had to walk quite a bit and my knee started acting up (got to lose weight once I balik kampung) I loved the beautiful and scenic lake. 

We brought black corn that tasted hard and crunchy (sold for RMB3 each) and took it on board with us while cruising the lake. The weather was delightful as it was very clear and there was no mist unlike the time when we were in Beijing.

The lake was calm, clear and really very huge. The beautiful willow trees on the banks of the lake were like 'weeping' over the waters. They made really good background for pictures! There were junk-like Chinese boats on the lake and waiting for passengers at the docks.

We had a good dinner before attending the "Night of West Lake Show" described as the most famous indoor real large-scale song, dance and acrobatic show in Hangzhou.

As for the dinner, we had fish, prawns, pork, vegetables, soup, tau-foo, eggs (about 10 dishes). The meal was totally unexpected as Wilfred told us that he went for a very cheap China tour organized by a famous tour agency (about RM1k) years ago and lost 7 kg as a result cos he was only given vegetarian food! Thus the meal was a surprise to him!

The show was fantastic. In terms of quality, backdrop, singing, dancing and acrobatic acts (including flying acrobats) and the finale of 4 motorcycles criss-crossing in a steel glass bowl (very very dangerous) I would say that this show was almost as good as Golden Mask Dynasty. The back-drops featured digital images of spring, butterflies, fire, palaces, farms. The stage also had rain sprinklers and certain parts of it would rise up from the floor with people dancing and singing on it!

We were video-taping away with no one stopping us!

Our hotel was really good in terms of size, comfort, cleanliness and a bathroom with complete accessories like towels, toothbrushes, combs, shower-cream, shampoo etc (Hangzhou Yu Long International Hotel).

Hangzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Shanghai - Overview

Simply awesome!

This Monday to Friday October tour of 4 cities in China really left us gasping for breath.

Firstly we cannot believe the price - RM399 per person for an all-inclusive tour of 4 cities in China with the following:

1. A young tour guide (Mandarin speaking) who offered to refund us the lunch money if we could not make it for lunch on the last day before we boarded our flight.

2. A bus that took us from city to city with a very skillful driver who avoided a massive traffic jam on the way from Shanghai to Hangzhou airport.

3. 3 meals a day including a very expensive buffet lunch (RM140 per person) at a revolving restaurant in Hangzhou with reasonable meals in each city featuring dishes unique to that city or region.

4. 3-shows including a very expensive show involving Chinese acrobats (about RM130 per person), flying gymnasts and dare-devil motorcyclists in a round-glass cage in Hangzhou.

5. Chinese battle enacted life in the Hollywood of China in Wuxi Studios and a delicate dance and song cultural show in Suzhou.

6. Boat cruises in Hangzhou on West Lake,  a cruise on an ancient Chinese battleship in Wuxi.

7. The simply beautiful boat cruise in Shanghai on the Hangpu river with the mesmerizing and magnificent display of lights on commercial buildings with ever-changing designs and colors at every turn of the boat

8. Lodging at 4 local international very comfortable 5-star hotels in each city we went to with a clean beds and fully equipped bathroom offering amenities akin to 5 star hotels and daily buffet breakfasts!

We just cannot believe it!

Although flight is on our own, the price is still unbelievable! And to top it all this is our cheapest holiday cos between us we must have spent only about RM300 per person on gifts for family and friends!

One of our tour member mentioned that the tour which was actually worth RM1,399 (actual price) tour must have been sponsored by someone as the RM399 we paid was already busted on the first day! I found out later that it was actually subsidized by the tour agency Bon Holidays.

Shopping was not the "pressure you to buy" type. 

We were taken to all the government-linked industries like the silkworm factory (now here is where you can literally touch the squirmy, squishy, squashy blue-green silkworms and watch how the entire silk harvesting process unfold before our eyes), the tea farms where the prices are fixed with no discount as we were told that the tea farms were government enterprises (that still did not prevent our tour mates from asking for freebies) and the Haining China Leather City Mall which appeared to be a government-sponsored initiative!

Whatever it is, we wish to thank Groupon and Bon Holidays for making this possible for us!

This trip equals the quality, the value and the depth of culture we experienced in our June Beijing tour. 

The only difference was that we had only 3 shopping stops in Beijing where the selling was hard and fast. In this October tour, there was no hard-selling....it was as though the sales people were just promoting their products and leaving it to us whether we wanted to buy or not. Surprisingly even the medical hall people at TongRen Healthcare did not push Tim too hard to buy the medical package of RMB400 plus per month!

Hard Rock Hotel Penang

The cruise ended on Wed. We checked out for Hard Rock on the day itself. 

Hard Rock Hotel was really cool and casual from the start. The upsetting thing was that they made us wait for 2 hours getting one of our rooms ready although we were informed that our rooms were upgraded from hill view to sea view!

I decided to ask for a free dinner to compensate for the delay. I learned this from watching the Apprentice. You need to ask for some extras if checking in is delayed as hotels such as Hard Rock has a reputation in the hospitality industry and the comfort of the guests is paramount.

I was glad when the supervisor offered us evening cocktails at the King's Club, a place for the privileged and frequent customers of Hard Rock Hotel.

We had simple meals of spaghetti, fettuccine, prawn fritters, poh piah, cakes and sandwiches and also ordered mocktails and fruit juices. It was as good as a dinner actually and it was on the house!

We then drove down to the stretch of stalls at Batu Feringghi to have a look. It turned out that this place also sells original, branded, fake products. Amanda and I bought 2 longchamps for RM40 plus all in. Well worth it as the longchamp bag is a foldable bag that can be really handy for travel-lovers like us!

Supper was at Mcdonalds. We turned in early as we wanted to go swimming the next day. 

Krabi long tail boat

From a very exciting, colorful and fantastic show in Phuket we sailed into quiet Krabi.

First time in Krabi, we signed up for the longtail boat trip to see stalactites and stalagmites high up in a cave.This cave was used by the Japanese to hide out during the war. We can see why. It was really high up and cooling. Apparently they found tents and equipment used by the Japanese when hiding out in the cave. Statues of the Japanese and prehistoric man were erected in the cave to remember the discovery. Apparently bones of people were discovered along with pots and pans and even jewelry in the cave when it was discovered, thus leading to the belief that prehistoric man lived in the cave  before Christ. 

I told the guide, Nick about the Bible story of the flood and Noah's ark. He said that he believed it was possible as fossils and shells were found at the top of mountains making it highly likely that the earth was covered by waters at one time many ages ago. 

It was also here that I distributed a number of the tracts I took with me.

After the cave exploration (we had to take a long tail boat to the cave and waded through ankle high waters) we were taken a  quiet Krabi island. Here we saw all kinds of fishes among which the most interesting was the puffer fish. The puffer fish could survive out of water for a long time. When taken out of the water, it puffs up its whole body like a small ball. It was so cute. I just could not understand why the Japanese would want to eat it!

We had a delicious lunch of prawns, crabs, mixed vegetables, white tomyum, fried cuttlefish at one of the fish farm where we met our first puffer fish and a long black fish that was the length of a hockey stick but as fat as a pillar!

We sat on tut-tuts, tricycles that could take about 3 people on board. The motorbike riders were elderly weather beaten Krabi-ans. The tut-tuts took us past narrow roads with padi fields, bungalow houses, isolated villages and narrowly missed some iguanas crossing the roads!

We then did some shopping at the Krabi fruit market. Here we saw cauldrons of food cooked like the chap fun ready for the lunch crowd. We saw people packing dishes for their lunch (dinner as well perhaps). The cauldrons were huge!

Amanda bought some clothes here. Tim and I bought some cashews and ikan bilis for gifts to Joseph's parents.

It was really idyllic. Krabi - I will not forget you! I will be back to tour your beautiful islands!

Phuket Fantasea

If you haven't seen Phuket Fantasea then you haven't seen Phuket or even the cultural aspect of Thailand.

We decided that we were not going on any shopping trips as per previous but we decided to watch Phuket Fantasea. Never mind if we had to get down at 4 pm when the ship had docked at 9 am in the morning. Never mind if we had to get home minutes before the ship sailed for Krabi. Never mind if this was the most expensive of all the tours. We had to see Phuket Fantasea.

Anyway let's start from Monday morning. 

At 6 am in the morning while it was dark, I went up the highest level on the ship and walked a few rounds. The wind was absolutely relaxing and I had a wonderful time with the Lord. I also met a group of 12 from PJ - Catholics who prayed with the rising of the sun! I was to bump into the group a few times during the trip.

I then did my devotion and the 40 day prayer and fasting prayer focus. The sun began to rise from behind dark clouds. It was an awesome sight. Believe me there is nothing as beautiful as sunrise on a ship!

We decided to have a continental breakfast at Four Seasons. 3 restaurants serve free meals on the ship. Four Seasons - European cuisine. Ocean Palace - Chinese cuisine and Mariner's Buffet which services an international cuisine. You can eat 5 meals a day on a cruise and still be hungry because there is just so much to do to work off the calories.

We had a lovely leisurely breakfast of eggs, tea and fruits. Nothing much but very filling.

At 9 am we had a dancersize with the crew to the tune of Gentlemen. Now I had earlier thought that because of the name Gentlemen, the dance exercise was only for men! How naive I was! Gentlemen was actually Psy's latest song! Anyway I think gangnam dance steps are so much easier! I love line dancing or simple dance steps as it is the best form of low impact exercise for me.

You see I suffered mild arthritis after my trip to Beijing. The doctor prescribe me Viatril-S. After taking it for 2 months, the condition of my knee improved. He said that the arthritis was due to age and it was normal. In fact there was a crick sound when he moved my knee! Getting old! However after a 2 month dosage, the sound left my knee.

Tim and the children went for a dip in the jacuzzi in the blazing heat. Me....I chickened out as I forgot to bring my swimsuit. I watched TV till 4 pm....the time to leave the ship for Phuket.

At 4 pm we were guided off the ship and taken to a van. About 11 of us had signed up for Phuket Fantasea.

I guess the small number must be due to the fact that this was the most expensive tour organized for Phuket.

We had a friendly tour guide who spoke American English by the name of Woody. He allowed us to go shopping at Patong beach and a shopping complex in Phuket before taking us to Phuket Fantasea.

We were told by the ship entertainment director that we could buy original branded fake stuff at Patong beach. He was right! The choices were just mind boggling. The haggling was fierce and furious. Amanda bought a Jimmy Choo wallet for RM30. I almost wanted to buy a Jimmy Choo handbag for RM70. Decided not to at the last minute as I had just ordered an Oppo bag from Living Social.

Phuket Fantasea is about 40 minutes away from Patong. When we reached the place it was packed with people. 

Some amazing things:

1. A musical mountain at the entrace. Rows of lights on a mountain forming shapes of musical instruments that played music became a favorite picture taking spot. The musical instruments looked like the traditional instruments. I just could not describe them.

At the little lake below the mountain, fat (I mean really fat) goldfish of many lovely golden, white and orange colors swam happily.

2. We went inside the Phuket Fantasea cultural village. Now this is a village like no other. Shops had beautifully colored facades. At first look they did not look like shops. They look like fancy buildings from a children's story books! 

3. There was a sort of like a miniature zoo housing a white tiger. After dinner at the biggest restaurant in Asia (really humongous) we went through dark tunnels and caves to see the most beautiful pair of white tigers ever seen! I have seen white lion at Bukit Gambang (not exactly white) but these tigers are really white!

4. The Kinnaree restaurant serves the best tom yum. I mean the best. The food was absolutely scrumptious. Dot said that it was even better than the ship. I just loved the tom yum soup!

5. Phuket Fantasea started at 9 pm (Phuket time). We had good seats. The show was fantastic. Elephants marched in. Thai dancers in resplendent costumes of ancient Thai kingdoms danced all over the stage. The dancing actually told a story but I could not make it out. I just knew that the magic shows interwoven with the dancing were funny and comical. The dancing was really beautiful, full of Thai charm and grace. There was a part where pictures of the smiling Thai people were shown. It was like a patriotic concert like no other!

I particularly like the bamboo dancing which was executed with great finesse. Elephants performed sit-ups, waved their ears, marched with their tails linked to each other, put their feet on each other's back. Chickens ran in rows along the stage in a village scene. Kambing or goats jumped over obstacles. Birds flew in pairs over our heads. Rain also fell on the stage!

I really like the padi harvesting dancing and singing scene. They sang in Thai but it was so lively and sweet and captivating and really sweet!

The finale was a magic show of a live elephant dissapearing on stage!

All I can say is if I come for another cruise, I would like to watch this show again in Phuket!

Superstar Libra - Aug 18 to Aug 23

Well I can't remember how many times we have boarded the Libra but I think this must be the 4th time.

We were excited because this time we were trying out a Groupon deal. This deal cost us only RM1,200 per person (inclusive all the port charges). A normal deal is about RM2k per person.

Will it be value for money, we wonder?

From the first day we were not dissapointed.

On Sunday 6 of us (Dot and Fong Cheh included) boarded the Superstar Libra. We had a quick bite at the Chinese restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at the size of our rooms. Usually we were given levels 3 and we had to sleep in double deckers that were really narrow. This time there were no double deckers, just 2 L-shaped beds and even a TV!

We decided to watch the early show of Zee Deneck. For shows on board ships, one had to book seats as early as an hour especially for the front seats. Zee Deneck combines humor, magic and pick-pocketing as his show.

Guess who were selected to take part?

ZD pick pocketed Tim's room key card from his pocket and poor Tim had to go on stage to claim it back! Whilst onstage, Tim got his belt removed.

It was absolutely hilarious to see Tim trying to hold up his pants cos his belt was taken away! As for yours truly, ZD gave me the mike to hold and requested me to say "O my God!" every time he pointed to me which was quite often!

After the show, we had dinner at the pool deck. It was a good barbeque dinner and we met the captain.

We then decided to visit a Bollywood meets Hollywood event at Boomers Disco and instead met up with a group of 55 people from Chennai celebrating the 50th birthday of one of their family members. We had fun learning how to bollywood as well as eating their delicious nuts from Chennai!

Grandma

Dear children & grandchildren

When we grow old we hope that you will take care of us just like the way we care for our mother, Madam Khoo Siew Tuan.

She is in her late 70s and she is my mother (Ruth writing).

At first I did not understand why she did not want to stay with anyone of us, did not like to be house bound, did not like to be bed-ridden, did not like to be in a wheelchair and takes her vitamins diligently.

I did not understand her daily schedule of waking up early, sleeping early, going to her favourite coffee shop for her morning coffee ( a glass of hot kopi O with a glass of water), eating 'beh' or oats, eating simple meals or also her preference of taking a bus to town to walk around, drink her coffee, chit chat with friends and then taking a bus back. A simple chore of paying bills in town is a break to her monotony and something to be looked forward to.

I also did not understand why she wanted her independence and has set ways of doing things. Neither did I understand her home remedies to cure colds, fevers and like sicknesses. I normally do not follow any of them or go to the medicine shop to buy the various herbs she recommended me to buy for general health (being a modern person who believes in modern medicine).

However things became clear to me when I watched the show "Carnation".

This Japanese show about 2 generations of fashion designers in Japan really touched a chord in me. The 3 girls, Yoko, Naoko and Satoko became top designers in Tokyo and London but the mother refused to give up working at an old age. Even when she broke her leg and suffered from ill-health she continued designing clothes and even launched her own line of clothes!

This true story really touched me because I saw that the mother behaved just like my own mother. When the 2 eldest girls asked her to go to Tokyo to stay with them she refused and call them her "enemy"!

When they offered their brand names to launch her clothes line, she refused preferring to use her own name instead. When they asked her to retire, she refused flat-out. She forced herself out of bed and called her daughter in Tokyo to remove the hospital bed from her house!

She insisted in carrying on her business, meeting her customers like she used to do and even scolded the young people who worked under her!

Finally she got her way and at an age when people should be retiring and taking things easy she continued designing, making clothes and teaching the young men that worked with her the ropes of her trade.

Even her rebellious granddaughter Rika changed from a girl who only wore jerseys and got into fights to a lovely obedient girl. Rika was touched by the guts of her grandmother and her stubbornness to let others to do things for her. In a way, Rika saw herself in her grandmother as wearing jerseys day in, day out was a sign of rebellion.

In Itoko Ohara's words "I am just too busy to die"!

When my mum had her fall last 2 days, suffered a blood clot in the brain and had to have stitches to her skull to stop the bleeding, I am thinking that my mother's spirit is like the spirit of Itoko Ohara. Finally I understood why my mother behaved the way she did. Itoko refused to have a sick bed in her house or to move around in a wheel chair opting to risk falling down rather than be pushed around! Every morning Itoko would go through a set routine of talking to those who had gone before her, talked to the pictures of those who had died, eating her meals in front of the TV, speaking to her 2 faithful employees, speaking to her clients and barking orders to her employees.

I rushed back to Penang when I heard the news. Grandma said she fell when boarding a bus. Witnesses said she was hit and grazed by a hit and run. She fell and suffered a knock on her head. The bleeding could not stop.

I decided to stay with my mother in the hospital as I felt that it was what the Lord Jesus wanted me to do.

I prayed for my mother throughout the night as it was most difficult to sleep in the hospital deck chair.

I offered my younger sis to pay for my mother's medical fees and then to claim it from my other siblings. She said to me "Good luck to you". Somehow I knew what she meant. One of my siblings will make comments about the hospital charges. Some will say that they do not have the money. Some might not even pay at all. This was from a previous experience I had when 'collecting' money from them for a previous hospital stay.

I want to thank God for showing me that its not just enough to pray for my mother but I must love my mother with my actions and my words. Going to Penang at short notice is an action of love, speaking to her and praying for her is my words of love.

I was encouraged when my mum lifted up her hands and said "Hallelujah" after I prayed for her.

I had to rush back the following day as I had things to do that day but I promised my younger sis who is giving grandma loads of love and care to keep in touch and to come back soon to see her.

Younger sis says we have to work out a solution otherwise she will keep falling down and the next fall could be more fatal than this.

I hope that you will not abandon me and your father when we are old. We do not like to depend on people but there will be times when we will need your help. Will you be there to help us?

Love

Ruth & Tim (parents & one day will be grandparents)

Night Jungle & fire show

Night Jungle

If your vision is not so good its best to give this a miss.

Most of the time I found myself doing eye exercises like squinting into the glass enclosures and second guessing where the animals were hiding. The tapir was visible because of its size but it was sleeping when we saw it. The skunks on the other hand were having a great night foraging for food and releasing their smell, the armadillo, hedgehogs, porcupines, squirrels, racoons and other marsupials were busy trying either to eat, sleep or hide from us. 

Anyway all I can say is that the selection of animals in the night jungle is really great although it does take time to stare into the glass enclosure before one can start detecting shapes or movements among the rocks, trees and shrubs in the animal enclosures.

Fire show

The fire-show was something else. 5 young men from Australia or some foreign country gave us a stunning performance of fire-blowing and fire-eating (a very dangerous act). 

Blowing fire from their mouths was just as easy to them as blowing air or blowing bubbles!

Most amazing was this young men who ate fire! He would wipe his mouth each time he put the fire torch into his mouth as though he relished and enjoyed the taste.

In order to make the fire bigger all the fire blowers would drink kerosene and then put the fire torches into their mouth before blowing out fire.

I knew it was kerosene because each time they drank from a bamboo tube some of it spilled onto the ground and I went forward to just see what it was....it smelt like kerosene.

This is a very dangerous act and must have taken many years to master. Surely not for a novices but for skilled masters of the act....

Simba and the meerkat

Well it was worth it to pay RM38 for the Savannah, the white lion in the glass enclosure, the night jungle, the animal show and the fire show, all of which were housed within a huge building before the start of the Savannah. 

One cannot walk through the Savannah as the animals are wild animals but the animals in the huge building at the entrance of the Safari Park were placed in cages or enclosures for public viewing the petting.

The white lion named Simba was taken out of his natural habitat and placed for public viewing in a glass enclosure. He had a nonchalant look about him but he was really magnificent-looking. Like I said he does remind me of Aslan in Narnia.

The restaurant is just side by side with his enclosure. For RM48 you could buy yourself a buffet dinner and 'dine' with the lion.....

Simba 

Animal show

What do you call a bird who can count, add, multiply and identify pictures? Well this beautiful blue bird could do all the sums given to him. Even more amazing was it was the audience who gave him the sums to do not his keepers! 

The meerkat was another popular animal with the young men. They spent a relatively long time stroking her and playing with her. Yes, the meerkat was like a half cat half tiger but really domesticated and kind of lazy. When Tim tried to hold her for photos she rebelled so these photos were taken only after patiently 'coaxing' her to pose for us.....

Meerkat

"This is better than my hamsters back home....."

Simba is my favorite animal in the Safari Park, the meerkat is the children's favorite....

Wild Savannah

We dilly dallied about whether or not to go for the Safari Park but decided that we had to as it was touted to be the largest in Malaysia. When completed the Park will be largest in Asia.

The Park is actually half completed with the desert landscape and bear mountain yet to be completed. Also certain animals were not yet brought from the Boeing 747 which apparently transported them from Africa.

Not sure whether our guide was joking with us when he told us about the 'imported' animals but I will remember him as he said that his name was Nasa (the US space agency). 

He gave us a tour of the African and the Asian animals at the Park. I think there must have been 3 Sections of the Park that were ready although certain enclosures had no animals such as the hippopotamus enclosure.

I liked the African Savannah best as I could see elands, topis and wildebeasts, antelopes, zebras close up. I could also see the infant giraffe which were as tall as trees (adult giraffes grow even taller). 

Sitting in the safety of a safari designed tram with closed windows we had an ostrich pecking at the window, 2 tigers resting in the evening breeze with one of them taking his evening dip. We also saw a herd of buffaloes enjoying themselves up to their necks in the mud. They must be taking their beauty mud bath!

Most of the animals were still young probably just recently imported from Africa. According to Nasa, we need to come back next year to see the bears and the desert animals. Right now he asked us to imagine the animals being there in their enclosures....!

A tip - to go to the Safari make sure you go there in the evening. Animals like to come out and play in the cool of the evening.....

Water Park

BGRC in its brochures claims to have the best water park in Malaysia.

Well for our children who has gone to Australia, no other water park in the world can rival the the huge and 'dangerous' water rides of the Wet & Wild in the Gold Coast.

Which is true, although the water park in Bukit Gambang is not too bad by Malaysian standards.

The only complaint I had was we had to pay to rent the towel, pay to rent the locker and pay to rent the double giant floats for the lazy river. 

We arrived to a very crowded water park on a Saturday morning. The wave pool was packed, the lazy river was 'bumper to bumper' (or float to float). People were everywhere!

You had to edge in somewhere or you will miss out.

Me....I chickened out showing off my swimsuit because nobody was wearing a swimsuit! All the ladies were in t-shirts, shorts, long pants, long sleeve shirts and some even in their day clothes! I just lugged the camera around trying to find an empty cabana (which also had to be rented)!

Fancy being in a water park and not being in the water....

Anyway the water park is rather compact but the racer slides were very popular with the 2 young men who came with us for the holiday. All in they must have raced down on their tummies lying flat on a blue rectangular mat more than 5 times! Watching them I can understand the thrill of the race.

Tim took the double float and slept while cruising the lazy river! Can't imagine him with his rather protruding tummy being bumped by others floating around on similar floats.

It wasn't fun for me because I could not get into the water due to my designated role as "jaga camera" (camera keeper) or rather my self-imposed shyness in getting into the water with my one piece swimsuit. 

My husband said that everyone will flee if I were to go in like that....(sob sob)! Worse still I could be asked to leave for 'indecent' exposure. I will be

smarter next time to bring extra t-shirts for water parks. If you can't beat them, join them!

The white lion

Perhaps one of the majestic animals on the planet must be the lion.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful of all lions must be the white lion. The white lion at Bukit Gambang Resort City has a flowing mane and is the size of a Myvi (no kidding). Standing high on a man-made rock the king of the animals beheld us from behind a huge glass enclosure. 

Not exactly white but of a golden brown hue, the lion that graced the dinners held at the Simba Dining Hall was really a beautiful creature.

I was reminded of Aslan in Narnia just looking at him rearing his head. I could watch him all day! What a beautiful creation of God....

Diners can actually choose to dine with the white lion (not eaten by him but eating with him)! Yes....while he is watching you eat meat behind his comfortable glass enclosure you can admire his graceful and powerful moves as you eat!

The price of the buffet dinner is rather pricey at RM48. So we opted for the Egyptian restaurant at the Foreign Village and spent about the same amount for a dinner for 4!

Groupon special offer of Bukit Gambang Resort City is really a deal. Built in less than a year the Arabian Resort at BGRC was where we stayed for the 3 day 2 night holiday. 

It was a 2-room apartment for 4 people. We reached there rather late in the evening and opted for a Chinese set meal at Oriental Oasis. At RM120 for 4 people the meal was reasonably priced and delicious.

While the young men went off to play snooker the older folks retired early....

More on BGRC....

Oriental Oasis set dinner - fish, golden coin taufoo, choy sam, prawns and szechuan soup

Pandas

Day 2 of the tour and we were excited as we were going to xiong mao (pandas).

The life span of giant pandas in the wild is approximately 20 years. Captive pandas may live even longer.

The eyespots of a giant panda cub are initially in the shape of a circle. As the cub grows, the circles become shaped like a teardrop.

Giant pandas are on the brink of extinction, with just over 1,000 pandas left in the world. Scientists are hoping to increase the wild panda population to 5,000 by 2025.

The giant panda has been an endangered species list since 1990. The most significant threats to pandas are habitat loss and poaching. 

Pandas have been a symbol of peace in China. For example, hundreds of years ago, warring tribes in China would raise a flag with a picture of a panda on it to stop a battle or call a truce. Today panda diplomacy still exists. China loans its pandas out to other nations as a symbol of friendship and peace.

Pandas evolved between 2-3 million years ago

According to legend, the panda was once an all-white bear. When a small girl tried to save a panda cub from being attacked by a leopard, the leopard killed the girl instead. Pandas came to her funeral wearing armbands of black ashes. As they wiped their eyes, hugged each other, and covered the ears, they smudged the black ashes.

Pandas can stand upright, but their short hind legs aren’t strong enough to support their bodies. A panda’s bones are twice as heavy as the bones of other animals the same size.

Pandas are pigeon-toed; in other words, they walk with their front paws turned inward.

 A baby panda lives with its mother between 18 months to 2 years

Female pandas ovulate only once a year. They are fertile only two or three days of the year. Apparently pandas in captivity lost their natural ability to mate. The Singapore zoo had to "show" a live panda mating session captured on TV to their panda pair in order to "educate" them on mating!

Giant panda cubs are usually born in August or September and are the size of a stick of butter. A cub has pink skin, a thin coat of white fur, a long tail, and no teeth. Its eyes are closed. By the end of the first month, the baby panda has all of its spots. Its eyes open around 4-6 weeks. A baby panda is almost 2 months old before it is the size of an average human newborn baby.

Mother pandas in captivity give birth to twins more often than mothers in the wild do.

The panda’s round head is due to powerful jaw muscles

A giant panda’s face is cute, but it is not chubby. It gets its shape from massive cheek muscles. In fact, a giant panda’s jaw and cheek muscles are so powerful that a panda can easily chew an aluminum dish into tiny pieces. They can also easily bite through a thick bamboo stalk. Humans have trouble cutting the same stalk with an ax.

A panda is a zoo’s most expensive animal

Keeping even a single panda in a zoo is expensive. A panda costs five times more to keep than the next most expensive animal, an elephant.

In China, giant pandas are considered to be national treasures.

To be frank, I was not very impressed with the pandas I saw at the Beijing zoo. Most of the time they were busy eating bamboo and did not even bother to look at the crowds busy taking photos of them! I was also most unimpressed with their dirty coat of fur. Perhaps their caretakers have yet to give them their daily bath.

The only thing I liked about this visit was that I could buy 2 cute panda toys...

Tiananmen Square and Forbidden Palace

Tiananmen Square

The square, named for its Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen), contains the monument to the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the museum of history and revolution, and the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall.  Chairman Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic in the square on Oct. 1, 1949, an anniversary still observed there.  A massive demonstration for democratic reform, begun there by Chinese students in April 1989, was brutally repressed on June 3 and 4. It was initiated to demand the posthumous rehabilitation of former Communist Party Chairman Hu Yaobang.  The government was tolerant until after his funeral; then Deng Xiaopeng denounced the protests. The demonstrators were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants, until over a million people filled the square.  General Secretary Zhao Ziyang expressed sympathy, but lost out to Deng, who supported the use of military suppression.  Martial law was declared on May 20. The protesters demanded that the leadership resign, but the government answered on the nights of June 3 and 4 with troops and tanks, killing thousands to quell a "counter revolutionary rebellion."

When I stood at the square on June 1 (just 3 days from the anniversary of the massacre) I felt my heart crying for the thousands who had died there.

The square is as plain as a square it can be. It is only the history of the place that brings sadness and grief to the heart. 

Not far from the square is the Forbidden City where the emperors, empresses, concubines and court officials once lived. 

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City (near Tiananmen Square) was the home of 24 Ming and Qing emperors, their families, and their coterie of eunuchs and servants for 600 years from 1406 (when construction began) until 1911, when the Qing dynasty was ousted and the Imperial era ended. 

Ordinary people were not allowed inside its gates—which is why it was called the Forbidden City—until 1925 when members of the public entered it for the first time.

There are many palaces, halls and gates within the Forbidden City. There are also numerous gardens within the Forbidden City. It would take a day and more to explore all the palaces, halls and gardens. 

Wanfujing

Later in the evening we were taken to a shopping district called Wangfujing. 

This shopping area is interesting because you can actually see live scorpions squirming on satay sticks together with starfishes, seahorses, silkworms and all kinds of bugs (which you would not be able to name when you see them sauteed and marinated) on display at side stalls selling all kinds of traditional Chinese delicacies.

How are they cooked? You choose a stick skewered with these unusual insects and the vendors will barbecue them for you!

Giant splayed sotong are also barbequed on request together with the innards of unidentified meats.

Our tour guide advised us not to buy the things on display to eat as the season was summer and the food had been left in the sun the whole day long. 

Eating them could cause us stomach disorders....perhaps the Chinese have stronger stomach walls as we saw many munching away at the giant sotong!

Of course we also saw vendors selling steamed sweet potatoes...the staple food of the Chinese eaten during times of famine and war.

Dinner was szechuan cuisine which was not exactly to my liking. The fish, the vegetables, the pork, the milky soup (Chinese soups are either too plain or too milky) and the chilli vegetables left a kind of numbing feeling in my mouth! Too hot, too oily!

It was here at the luxurious restaurant that we saw our first mask changing act and a young man dressed like a chef juggling plates!

Bird's nest

"Affectionately known as Bird's Nest, it is situated in Olympic Green Village, Chaoyang District. It was designed as the main stadium of 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

 

It was built at the cost of RM200 million and requires maintenance at about RM5 million a year. Its seating capacity is about 90,000 people.

 

The Olympic events of track and field, football, gavelock, weight throw and discus were held there. It was here that Usain Bolt created the Olympics record in the 100 meters.

However Since October, 2008, after the Olympics ended, it has been opened as a tourist attraction. Now, it is the center of international or domestic sports competition and recreation activities.

The design of this large stadium was accomplished together by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and Chinese architect Li Xinggang and the others. 

 

The architects brilliantly exposed the steel structures entirely and left them in the most natural appearance. 

 

The form of the stadium looks like a big nest which embraces and nurses human beings. Also it looks rather like a cradle bearing   hope for the future.

 

The construction of this building started on December 24, 2003. On July, 2004, the project was stopped temporarily due to the amendment of the design. 

 

On December 27 of the same year, the construction was resumed and finished in March, 2008....."

National Stadium is like a huge bird's nest.

Inside Scene

- Updates from China Travel Guide

All I can say that this is an iconic building which is really stunning from far off.  However going near it all I could comment was that it needed a good wash.

Apparently in winter, it doubles up as a large ski resort in urban Beijing.

Hutong at Beijing

"People say that the real culture of Beijing is the culture of the Hutong and Courtyards. How true that is. They attract more tourists from China and abroad than the high-rise buildings and large mansions.


The lanes have their own layout and structure, and when viewed from the air the combination of the lanes and courtyards resemble a chessboard with delicate gardens, fine rockeries and ancient ruins this makes them a wonder in the world.

Because of the cross interlacement of the lanes every houses connected to the other, making it easy for local people to keep in touch with their neighbors. Therefore, once one enters any of the lanes, one can feel the deep and warm relationships among people, which is rarely found in this modern world.

In the twisted lanes one can experience the life of the ancient Beijing people. The bathrooms and public toilets can be found in these lanes. Shops sell all kinds of goods that satisfy the local people’s daily needs. It is just like a community. Gossiping in these lanes is a common scene as it is the main way for people to strengthen their relationship. These lanes have witnessed the development of Beijing. Where there is such a lane, there is a story..."

- taken from a website on China.

After a really good and light vegetarian lunch (perhaps one of the best vegetarian lunches I have ever had) we made our way to visit a Hutong.

It was at the start of our trip to one of this Hutongs that we were scolded by a guard at a hospital. While we made a bee-line for the hospital toilets, the security guard stepped forward to scold us and asked us to enter the toilets 2 by 2.

The reason why we had to use the hospital toilet was because the tour guide told us that the toilets at the Hutong have no doors. Further they were squat toilets thus making it tough for those of us with weak knees.

Anyway our tour leader calmed down the Chinese guide. It was our first experienced with a "rude" Chinese person although at most of our shopping trips the sales people were friendly and helpful.

The first thing we saw at this Hutong which we visited were rows and rows of red rickshaws. Rickshaw pullers dressed in white uniform of the same design sat around talking while waiting for passengers.

There could be a hundred or more of them. Anyway we boarded the rickshaw at 2 per rickshaw.

It was amazing to see our rickshaw rider pitting all his strength in cycling the rickshaw we boarded to take us on a trip around the Hutong.

Surely these men worked really hard for a living and for that I asked the Lord to bless him and give him even more customers!

The rickshaw contingent stopped in front of a courtyard home. We went in to have a look.

Although I could not understand the explanation in Mandarin, I knew that this was the home of a family who actually lived there. The rooms were built around a square. There were bedrooms for the just married, the single son or daughter for the family, the elderly folks and a library cum art studio.

Antique furniture decorated the rooms. Perhaps the only thing modern about the home was the kitchen!

We asked the young man who gave us a tour of the rooms and he told us that this is his home.

Wondering around the Hutong we realized that this is a community or neighborhood of old Beijing preserved for tourists and a remembrance of the heritage of China.

Narrow alleyways and low houses dotted the streets. The homes were inhabited but with modern amenities like air-cons. The architecture of the houses reflected China in the olden days.

The houses had the look and feel of houses in ancient China.

There was also an area in the Hutong of bars and small open stalls.

Magnificent Longqing Gorge

The magnificent Longqing Gorge is a must see when in Beijing. It is a lake among majestic mountains and simply astounding in beauty and quiet serenity of its waters.

It is located at the mouth of the Yanqing Old City River, in the northeast of Yanqing County approximately 85 kilometers away from Beijing. 

The scenic spot is famous for its gorge. Visitors compare the scenery of the gorge to the Three Gorges of the river Yangtze, but its mountains are much steeper than those along the Yangtze. The scenery also resembles the river Li in Guilin, but the water here is much clearer.


When we arrived at the spot, the first thing we saw was the Longqing Dam. The seventy-meter-high dam is inset between hills. Looking to the north side from the dam, the picturesque scenery of hills and white clouds reflected in deep green water can be appreciated.

To get to the cruise at the top of the gorge, we had to step inside the highest escalator in the world, an escalator with several levels inside the body of an artificial dragon. 

The escalator is about 258 meters long and can take people to a height of 90 meters.

We got to the top of the escalator and boarded a boat to enjoy the beauty of the gorge by cruise. Every turn around the hills in the gorge astounds in beauty and serenity.

The scenery here combines the charm of rivers in southern China and the magnificence of mountains in northern China. Along the river we saw heavily forested steep cliffs and the bare limestone in different shapes, eroded by the constant splashing of the water. 

The most important spot to look out for is the Comb Hill, also known as Solitary Beauty Peak, which is a hill of 70 meters high and surrounded by water. It is the landmark in this scenic spot.

Flowers Cave is another must-see spot, which covers 3,000 square meters. There are more than 1,650 kinds of artificial trees and flowers decorated with birds and other animals in the cave (although we did not get to see this cave).

In addition, the Longqing Gorge is famous for its ice lantern show in winter from January to February. Although every year, the lantern show has its own theme, but the spectacular ice-fall against the dam wall is something to be admired.

Ice-carvings abound during winter and the place is gloriously lighted at night (we saw some beautiful photos of the ice-carvings and the festivities around the gorge during winter)!

Truly another of China's natural wonders!

Golden Mask Dynasty

I cannot recall the date or day we saw this show but this is really an awesome show and worthy of mention.

Of all the shows we saw in China, this show is really the most colorful, the most lavish in terms of costume, the most inspiring in terms of its music, the most difficult in execution in terms of its acrobatic content and the most unique in terms of its stage presentation.

Built at a cost of RM100 million by Overseas Chinese Town, the theater features  rotating stage behind a stage. The theater itself could be rotated to different heights and angles. 200 actors and dancers from China and abroad made up the cast of this famous show.

The story depicts the success of the golden mask queen of the golden mask dynasty who repelled and captured the blue mask king of the blue kingdom. 

Soon the country returned to its quiet pastoral life. One day the queen decided to build a tree to symbolize the peace and serenity of the kingdom and released the blue mask king. Grateful for his release and touched by her benevolence, the king fell in love with the queen.

The story is told in moving songs, rich music, 20 over well choreographed dances. Ballet, modern dance and Chinese acrobatic stunts intertwined together were incredible.  The story which was written in English and another language (looks like Korean) was flashed into side screens before each important dance scenes.

The movable stage had at least 3 levels so that dancers were dancing and performing acrobatic stunts upside down and right side up. The choreography of dance and acrobatic stunts is really mind boggling and breath-taking, really like a 3-dimensional performance on stage. Watching the dancing and singing at the front of the stage, one also is constantly conscious of performances right at the back of the stage which opens up to another 2 levels deep into its recesses!

One had to keep one's eyes darting all over the place to truly enjoy this whole show as different things were happening at different part of the stage!

The actors and dancers wore costumes of a by-gone era. There was also an amazing peacock dance to incredibly haunting music and fantastic acoustics and lighting.

Even more incredible was the floor of the stage that opened up to rivers and waterfalls. Halfway through the musical drama, the versatile stage opened up a huge waterfall depicting scenes of a great flood which was part of the story! The waterfall fell from the top of the stage down to the stage at eye-level flowing down a series of staircase-like rocks. Water fell into trenches built into the front and sides of the stage. 

The country of the golden mask queen was badly flooded and she gave her life to save her people. Later she became a sunbird watching over her people whom she loved very much.

All I can say is that this is the artistic capability of Chinese engineering brought into the theater to show-case the huge talents and gifts of the Chinese people.

This trip to China is eye-opening for me. I have begun to appreciate Tim's love for China and why he has such a huge admiration for this nation.

Indeed this is my ancestral heritage too!

Perhaps one day I will visit Fujian, the province of my hock kien speaking ancestors....