Durian - you either love it or hate it!

Durian is considered as the king of all fruits in South East Asia. It has very pungent smell, and the strong odour may linger in the car for several days if the fruits are kept in the boot for just a few hours! I once traveled in a tour bus in my younger days, and somebody had packed a basket of durians on board the luggage compartment - you could imagine how the smell of durians permeated through the whole bus throughout the journey. And needless to say, it is forbidden to bring durians into the MRT station.

Most Asians love and adore durians. But majority of the caucasians and people from East Asia (Japan, China, Korea) abhor the fruits. It is the strong smell, which has been unceremoniously linked to that of human wastes, that is the main culprit in turning people away. I must say if one can overcome the initial disgust of the strong odour and venture to take a bite of the fruit, he/she will most likely be captivated by the bitterly sweet texture of the fruits.

In my younger days, my father would buy durians home for me whenever I returned home during school vacation. In those days, the durian vendors would just make a small cut onto the durian shell, so that we could take a peek at the texture of the fruits. We had to open up the durian shell on our own - the technique was acquired through repeated observations followed by practices. Inevitably, we would by poked by the thorns along the way, but the taste of durians more or less made up for the "suffering".

Now, it is my turn to buy durians for my children. Cheng Yee and Cheng Kai love durians, but strangely Cheng Jie abhors the fruits. Perhaps it has to do to the fact that he was born in America, and not in Singapore as my two other children! (and somehow the American way of thinking had permeated through his mind??). The durian vendors nowadays are quite professional - they make a deep and wide cut into the durian shell, making it easier for novices to pry open the durian shell!

Well, durians come in different grades and flavours. Some are rather exorbitantly priced. But for me, the economically priced durians, at 3 boxes per $10 (about 6-8 durians per box) are good enough!

Junior College Days

After completing Form 5 (equivalent of Secondary 4 in Singapore) in Chung Ling High School, I came to Singapore for pre-university study at Hwa Chong Junior College (under Asean Scholarship). One may say this is a one-way ticket from Malaysia for most of the Asean Scholars, though some have managed to return to Malaysia after completing their university education in Singapore.

In those days, the Asean Scholars were housed in the hostel at the then defunct Nanyang University, which had been converted into Nanyang Technological Institute (NTI). I shared a room with my fellow classmate (Say Yeong) from Chung Ling. We shared a common bathroom/toilet with our neighbour. We occupied about 4 blocks of building. We had our meals (dinner during weekdays, lunch/dinner during weekends) at the canteen located just 3-4 blocks away (within walking distance from our dwellings).

In those days, the hostels were rather quite most of the days. Being a resident of NTI, we were entitled to use the sport facilities and swimming pool there. A bunch of us would meet up for badminton during weekend. I only dipped into the pool once or twice, as I could not swim then.

In those days, all of us studied either in Hwa Chong Junior College or National Junior College (one of the most prestigious colleges then). Alas, the colleges were quite far away from our hostel. There was a direct bus (Service 174) that plied between NTI - Bukit Timah (where both junior colleges are located) - North Bridge Bus Interchange; the journey from NTI to our colleges took up 1 hour of traveling time. In those days, we would wake up at around 6am, took the 6.20 am bus, so that we could reach our college before 7.30am. Fortunately, NTI was the first stop - hence, we were guaranteed of a seat; most of us would doze off along the trip, and being woke up by some kind souls when we reached our destinations.

There was one occasion where I woke up from my slumber, thought I was late and rushed down to the catch a bus after a quick shower, only to realize that I have mistaken 5.30am for 6.30am; to my  dismay, I had put on socks of different colours for that day....

In those days, the only ways of keeping in touch with family were either phone calls or letter writing. Mobile phone only exist in science fiction movies then. I had to prepare pocketful of coins, insert them one by one while making the phone call back to hometown. The conversation only ended when we had used up all the coins and the time limit was up.

Looking back, it was quite tough and miserable in the first month - adapting to new ways of life, meeting up new friends, polishing up English etc. Fortunately, I had a great bunch of friends in the hostel and in Junior College who had helped me in more ways than others in overcoming those difficulties. I got to know one of my best friends, Soo Teik, during those years in Junior College.

In our second year, Singapore was the host country for the SouthEastAsia Games (SEA GAMES). All students had to vacate the hostels at NTI for the participants of SEA games. I had the opportunity of staying in the old King Edward VII Hall (KE VII Hall) opposite Singapore General Hospital. This was the hall catering for medical students mainly. I shared the room there with Soo Teik for about 2 weeks, before returning back to new block of hostel in NTI.

A lot of things have changed over the years. NTI is now called NTU (Nanyang Technological University). It has since diversify its courses to include arts/social studies/ business etc, and recently into medicine. Many trees have been uprooted to make way for new buildings. The buildings that are still intact are Admin Building, NanTah Lake, and the recreation centre located on top of a high ground overlooking the swimming pool (we had our mooncake celebration in the rooftop in our first year).

Do I have any regret of coming to Singapore? No. This is the place where I have the opportunity to pursue my interest in medicine, establish a stable career in medical line, settle down with my wife and blessed with three children. I am a contented man!

Free & Easy Trip @ Chengdu - Chongqing - Yangtze River - Wuhan (Mt Wudang) Tour

Day 1
we boarded Silkair @1245 hour and reached chengdu @ 1520 hour. the minivan driver that we booked through WenJunLou hotel was already there to receive us. we reached hotel around 7pm.

Chengdu Airport

after checking into our hotel, we went to look for prepaid phone card in the shops nearby,  but they didn't have the type that we wanted. all of us were quite hungry. so proceeded for steamboat dinner instead. then returned to hotel.

Day 2
woke up at 6.50 am, getting ready for our first outing to qingchengshan. reached train station at 8.30 am. alas,  all trains for 青城山had been fully booked. the next available train was at 11.30am. worse still,  we didn't carry our identity cards or passports,  hence could not purchase train tickets.
we had to make a last minute change to our travel itinerary - visited qingyang temple   青羊宫then the thatched cottage of dufu, 杜甫草堂 ,then took a shuttle bus to 武侯祠 wuhou shrine (60/person for each).

getting ready for the morning outing

view from our hotel

the road outside our hotel

breakfast

qingyang temple

touching the statue for good health and luck

The Thatched Cottage of Dufu

武侯祠

went for lunch 成都小吃 (140) at 锦里仿古镇 before visiting the wuhou shrine. 

all were exhausted after the shrine visit.  took a cab back to hotel (20), all 5 of us in the cab.  the cab driver was grumbling,  but agreed after we volunteered to pay him more.
reach hotel,  and quickly booked a private transport for trip to 花水湾安and西岭雪山tomorrow.(800)
everyone was exhausted,  hence took a short break in the hotel.
at 6pm,  ventured out to 宽窄小巷 wide and narrow lanes,  another touristy spot. mainly restaurants and bars. chengyee bought some souvenirs home - guess what: pandas related items, of course.

宽窄小巷
wide & narrow lanes

panda souvenirs

i had to rush back to hotel to relieve myself urgently. then off we go to 春熙路 shopping walking street.

Dinner at 春熙路

Ck wanted to buy earphones. ..but it was way too expensive, and the quality not so good. took a late dinner. then back to hotel. but,  alas the MRT line we wanted had stopped running from 10.15pm,  just 15 min earlier (not sure what had happened). as a result,  we had to take two separate cabs back to our hotel.

Day 3
morning call at 6am. all ready by 7 am. breakfast at 7.30am. then off we went to huashui bay 花水湾/ xiling snow mountain 西岭雪山 in a booked minivan.
before departing for snow mountain,  we made a detour to buy train tickets to 青城山 and 重庆. (17x5, 119x5)
by the time we reached four season valley hotspring 四季谷度假温泉村, it was around 11am.we spent over 3 hours in the hotspring. the tickets of 198 each included 泥疗，沙疗，鱼疗。

the hotspring water was dark in colour. Cy's new swimming attire was discolored as a result.she was terribly upset.
we then traveled another half an hour to the snow mountain resort.  bought entrance and cable cars tickets (60 +100 each). reached hotel 映雪酒店 at 5pm.
foggy weather - could not even see the bus parked just 100 m away! had dinner in the hotel (150). had early rest for the night.

Day 4
after taken our breakfast (extra 38 for extra person), we checked out from our rooms and made our way to the scenery cable cars. there were only a group of 20 odd tourists ahead of us. it was the longest cable car ride in Asia,  and took 40 minutes to ascend to the station on top if the mountain.

view from our hotel room

scenery from cable car

we then walked up along the boardwalk to 日月坪 and then towards 阴阳界。the climb was tiring at certain stage, but the scenery was quite mesmerizing - resembled those scenes depicted in Korean drama. it was rather foggy,  hence couldn't see the mountains and sea of clouds beyond.

it took us 4 hours to complete the return journey. by the time we reached our hotel, it was already 3pm,  and the chefs at the restaurant had left. the restaurant could only offer fried rice (literary rice with egg only). we decided to walked to a nearby food stalls about 150 m away for our lunch. it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the food was quite good and the price economical. by the time we traveled down to the foot hill,  our minivan driver was already there waiting for us (800).

going back to our minivan

it was lucky that we booked him for the trip home, as all of us were already exhausted by then.we dropped our luggage at the hotel,  and went to 春熙街 for shopping.  I bought my leather jacket (460) while the boys bought their leather shoes and my wife bought a pair of jeans. we then went back home eating cup noodles for dinner.

Day 5
woke up early to catch a morning train 8.30 am to  青城山。the train traveled at peak velocity of 190km/hour and reached our destination in 50 min (car may take two hours). at the 青城山 train terminal, we boarded bus 101 to the tourist spot.

waiting for the bus to qingchengshan

we bought combine tickets (including 都江堰 800)。
it was another tough climb up the slope, even with cable car ride covering s big bulk of our ascent. we took our lunch in a restaurant next to  上青宫 temple, and made our descent via cable car again.

husband & wife trees

may our wishes come true!

by the time we reached 都江堰，it was already 4.30pm ( the bus ride from 青城山 took about 20 mins).  we managed to catch a glimpse of the famed dam that helped to avert flood and enable irrigation of arable land in ancient time ( now a world heritage site).

by the time we reached chengdu and ready for dinner,  it was already 8.30pm. we went into a high end restaurant for dinner.  but an unfortunate incident occurred, and the dinner ended prematurely before it even started. we ended up eating cup noodles for the night again.

Day 6
engaged the service of the driver who picked us up from the airport on the first day. he drove us to panda breeding and research centre for a half day tour. saw quite a number of those cuddly and lazy pandas. the movie on the breeding of pandas was quite an eye opener.

Red panda

baby pandas sunbathing

checked out from hotel at 1 pm. embarked on second leg of our journey to Chong qing 重庆 (direct train, 2 h 15 min). took light rail from train station to 小十字站, then walked another 5 min to our hotel ( 9 号商务宾馆). after checking into our hotel,  we went for 重庆火锅。it tasted much better than the one we had in chengdu.
for some reasons, my wife,  Ck and Cj all have diarrhea after the hot pot.it was the earliest day for rest.

Day 7
had breakfast in the hotel. no coffee (expected). but alas, no soybean drink!  the breakfast was quite awful.  checked out of the hotel, but left our luggage in the hotel for safe keeping till we boarded the cruise later in the evening.
managed to tour the neighbourhood by foot - 洪崖洞 (amazing stacks of building which housed many stalls selling local food delights, souvenirs, hotel, international food stalls), 解放碑行人街 (high end modern shopping street),十八 梯( slum).

洪崖洞

food courts, souvenir shops abound

解放碑

shopping district

十八梯

Eighteen steps slums - to be demolished soon!

the contrast between the have and have not was heart ranching as 解放碑 and 十八梯 were  just a few streets apart!
ate lunch at 全聚德烤鸭店- had a sumptuous meal for 5; the portion was quite huge. we were still quite full  till late evening.
at around 5pm, cj and Ck went back to the hotel lobby while I went to pick up tickets for the cruise.my wife and Cy went shopping along some if the wholesale stalls selling leather bags and winter clothing.
finally boarded the cruise at around 7pm. was surprised to know that only about 16-17 out of over 200 passengers were foreigners. we bought 3 bowls of dry noodles for supper on board the cruise.

on board the cruise ship

from the balcony of the cruise ship

flyover across yangtze river

I shared a twin bedroom with another guy from suzhou.

Day 8
woke up at 7pm. took breakfast and then went for an excursion to ghost city 鬼城丰都。a pity that a big part of the ancient city had been submerged under water. only the temple at the peak that housed king of hell 阎王 was left intact.

奈何桥

from the uppermost deck of the cruise ship

went out for optional tour at 红石寨 red pagoda. it was a wooden pagoda built against a towering rock. the base was surrounded by tall wall which rang off the rising water level of Yangtze river ( prevent erosion). the view from top was simply heavenly,  literally 犹如登上九重天。

the wall the encircles the island to prevent erosion from surrounding water

the red pagoda built against the rock, without the use of any nails

the red pagoda (front view)

heavenly view...

skipped the fashion show at night.
retired early for trip to 白帝城 tomorrow.

Day 9
went for a trip to white emperor city 白帝城，the place where Liu Bei 刘备 entrusted his loyal advisor 诸葛亮 to guide and mentor his son 阿斗。this is apparently the only ancient city that was not affected by the rising water level after the Three Gorges Damn was built. not that impressive apart from the opportunity to view 夔门kuimen from the peak of the city.

entrance to white emperor city

Kuimen - this is imprinted on the 10 dollar note

the entire scenario of LiuBei entrusting his loyal advisor to guide his son is depicted here

the bridge that links the white emperor city to the land

we cruised through 2 gorges, namely 瞿塘峡&巫山。they were pretty but somehow not as impressive as those I saw 17 years ago.

family photo as we entered the first gorge, Chuitang Gorge

unexpected appearance of hydrofoil at the first gorge

2nd gorge, Wuxia

A veil of cloud at the top of the mountain at Wuxia

                                           

goddess peak

this was followed by a trip to 神农溪in the afternoon. the gorges and scenery there were most impressive. the hanging coffins were one of the highlight,  buy they were too distant away and too small! the trip took about 3 hours.

the town before entering little three gorges

hanging coffin

we discovered that local tour to 武当山was not available during weekdays. had to think of means to spend the next 3 days in 武汉。

entered the three gorges Dam quite late Ayers night at 10pm+. we managed to cleared the first gate after 45 mins! too tired to wait for the second gate to clear....went to bed after waiting in vain for over half-hour.

witnessing the closure of the first gate

water being drained from the first deck

Day 10

last leg of Yangtze river cruise. visited the three Gorges dam exploratory spots for tourists. had a closer look at the dam, and how the ships were translated from upper stream to lower stream. magnificent project.  it's just a pity that some historical sites have to be sacrificed in the process.

escalator to the site of three gorges dam project

bird eye's view of the three gorges dam

the cruise ship sailed pass the third gorge, Xiling Gorge 西陵峡, reputably the most beautiful gorges of the three gorges. it was rather misty and windy, hence could not appreciate its true beauty.

The Third Gorge, Xiling Gorge

checked out from the cruise after lunch. took a minivan (300) to Yi Chang 宜昌市东 train station.  managed to get tickets for the train that was leaving in 15 min. hence it was a mad rush to clear the security check and board the train.

two elderly men from France followed us from the cruise all the way to wuhan 武汉。

took a minivan (60) to green tree inn hotel at Taipei rd.

was almost giving up on visiting 武当山(no tour during weekdays) until we called a tour agency who left their contact in the hotel. we took up the offer of private tour (650 / person). the tour agency would send us to the train station in wuchang 武昌. we would then board the train ourselves, to meet up with the tour guide in 武当山。

Day 11

reached the train status in wuchang before 8 a.m.,  took out breakfast and then boarded the train for 武当山。

we finally reached Mt Wudang at 2pm. Alas, it was too late for us to go up the Golden Peak 金顶　via cable car. And to add salt to injury, the cable car would be closed for maintenance the next day. the tour guide had requested for additional 100 RMB if we wanted her to hike up to the peak, and this of course created unnecessary unhappy exchange between us and the tour guide.

we managed to visit the Taizipo 太子坡for the day, and checked into our 3 star hotel (located in the middle of the Mt Wudang).

Taizipo

winding path leading to the main temple

It snowed when we reached the hotel. 

the heater was unfortunately very "weak" - it failed to warm up the room. all of us were literally "frozen" at night (despite wearing our jackets and covering with layers of blanket). for one, we did not bathe that night. 

we felt that it may not be safe to hike up to Golden Peak in the slippery mountain slope. hence, decided to opt for 3 other tourist spots instead (南岩，紫宵宫，逍遥谷）

Day 12

woke up the next morning, and was immediately captivated by the amazing sight of heavy snow covering the road and building.

somehow, the winter/snow scenery is quite different from what we had encountered previously. the view of mountains/clouds and temples in combination reminded one of Chinese brush painting! Amazing!!!

南岩宫

south rock palace

simply amazing!!!

紫宵宫

 逍遥谷

Happy Valley

farewell to Mt Wudang

we left Mt Wudang at 2pm, took our lunch cum dinner near the train station, and finally boarded our train back to Wuhan at 7pm (quite a long and cold wait in the very rundown train station, without any air condition). 

Day 13

went for brief morning shopping in Wuhan, and headed for the airport at 12 noon. departed from Wuhan International Airport at 3pm for Singapore!

The entire journey had been quite rewarding. We managed to cover the major tourist attractions.

I must say Yangtze River was a disappointment - it has lost some of its charm after the building of Three Gorges Dam - the water is not treacherous anymore, and many ancient sites have been submerged under the rising water.