home!

v v quick note to say I'm back in Singapore. Safe, in one piece and nowhere near the Chengdu quake.

hey! my 100th post!

Unfortunately it's not about anything very eventful. I went to the Summer Palaces yesterday. Maybe I've done too much sightseeing, or maybe I've already seen the best, but I wasn't very impressed.. it was nice enough, but not 'wow'.

Old Summer Palace:
Ruins in a big park. Almost all the pictures I took were of the wild flowers growing by the path, or of the sunset.. ruins wise, it's nothing compared to Rome, which it was like in a way.. 1700s stone structures in pseudo European style. Perhaps fascinating to the Chinese, but there was nothing there to interest me.

New Summer Palace:
ok. big lake. the usu style of buildings. the marble boat that cixi built. But I was still meh... I guess seeing 西湖，网师园， 黄山，紫禁城，天坛公园， 洪村 all in one trip has spoiled me for pretty much everything else... was not really impressed by much else, baring the usual beauty of nature kind of thing...

Today I will attempt to go wander ard in hutong, and, if time permits (prob not, knowing me, and pending when the cleaning aunty can come in), also go to the 798 galleries again. Both areas seem to have nice cafes I can just sit in for hours... and try not to shop.

I dropped off the dreadfully packed and slow and jerky and super long bus journey yesterday coming back from the summer palaces early - I think I would have puked if I had stay on. Ended up on a street with all the music shops. Some selling both erhu and trombone. People practising with their instruments on the sidewalk, a lao-wai on an erhu being instructed by an old man... it was not far from XiDan, one of the main shopping areas, where I popped into a mall to use the loo, which turned out to be a dressing room.. very nice. Better than sg hotel loos =P

Made the mistake of looking ard the neighbouring mall as it looked like an interesting bldg from the outside, and had a great lighting system over the entire façade. Nice on the inside too. Malls here can really be done very well. Walked into Uniqio. Damm. Lots of things I wanted to get, at prices I wouldn't have blinked at back home.. my debit card couldn't be accepted though. Phew? but being an upscale shopping mall, there was a stanchart atm for foreign cards only (and yes, i felt a bit atas while using it, because the locals before and after me couldn't get anything out of it )... but I managed to tear myself away w only a nice plain black tee =P v tempted to go back though. it's all v comfy, good quality material, fits me well, is classic yet fashionable... >.< I should just have stuck to the far east plaza kind of teenagers' mall across the road... though uniqio and muji are def more me style-wise...

I've seen some nice bldgs here, many of them from the bus or cab so I have no idea where they are, what they are, or who built them.. some nice ideas, some just done well, some just attention grabbing...

ok, i'd better go. my last full day in beijing!

yesterday: great wall = great!

We went to a relatively quiet stretch of the wall. Great scenery, nice dinner, was brought to a fantastic dvd shop and some high quality but still cheap fake goods shop, nice bar for strong drinks after. Good day.

Also, today has almost gone and I'm still in the house! had to hang ard to deal w electrician fixing the wiring (if not, no dvd nights or internet...)

so, that all for now!

I did not see the summer palace yesterday as planned. Went instead to the new National Theatre to try for tickets to Red Giselle by the St Petersburg Elfman Ballet, which yes, I have seen before (at the dans fest in sg last year) but would like to see again, and it's of a standard I think my wonderful host lw would like. Unfortunately only 400 and 800rmb tickets were left, I did not have enough cash on me, and forgot to bring the card out. Touts at the counter had apparently bought all the 100/200rmb tickets, and were pushing them, but I just think it's such a bad practice which should not be encouraged, that I refused to even listen to them... they are probably real seats, but it's just so wrong. Sigh. It takes time, I guess. and I can't fault them for trying to make a few bucks - it's in their blood? but it still gets on my nerves.

Then I went to Beihai Park and JingShan Park. They would have been pleasant places to sit or stroll or picnic. if not for the incredible wind and hence chill. That said, it's been getting warmer every day, so I'm feeling much better =) anyway, both places are nice as parks, to see the locals (usu older folk) dancing, singing, taichi-ing, gambling, etc... bldgs not so impressive or especially thought-provoking, but still nice. I think I've just seen too much already...

Then rushed to meet lw, jh and some other uni coursemates here on holiday for dinner, in a little restuarant in the hutong area the american landscape architect working here whom I meet in Suzhou had told me I must go. Really nice neighbourhood. I'll probably have found a hostel in this area if I hadn't already had somewhere to stay... there's a wonderful, gregarious owner who really made the place that bit more special in addition to the good food...

today. brunch, then to the 798 galleries. i def have to spend another day just wandering ard the galleries. so that's my 3 remaining weekdays (before may1/2 and my flight south) taken care of: summer palace, hutongs, and art galleries. After the galleries, we headed for the mandatary Peking roast duck dinner, then the Philip Stark designed lan club (not that fantastic except for the big comfy private toilets), then another club, then back to the aptm. The clubs here are def much more interesting than back home.. more varied, more character, stronger drinks.. =P

Tml, great wall w the group.

still alive!

yesterday: Forbidden City. Huge. Spaces. Hierarchy. Procession.

Many of the important buildings were totally out of bounds and wrapped in scaffolding and green netting as they get spruced up. I can see why they want to do that. Most of the place is looking kind of scuffed, and though that is the look I prefer - weathered and aged and full of history and stories - it's probably not quite the image they want to portray in such an important symbol of the city/country. But I guess the magnificence of the place lies in its spatial, or processional, qualities. Not just the huge ceremonial squares and architecture, but also in the smaller palaces/compounds behind and around, and in the long relatively dark corridors of the various gates; places that, as in the Suzhou gardens, constrict before expanding into the vast square, so that you truly feel the awed, overwhelmed and relieved by the open space, and by association, greatness of the emperor/empire . The hierarchy within the Forbidden city, and within each of its components... everything has its place and reason...

I barely saw the exhibits, I barely had time to see the spaces, to linger, to understand the place and imagine its rituals.

Of course, I know that much of what I imagine to be life there is very much inspired by that HK drama series from 2(?) years back about the concubines..

shit, it's 11am, and the Summer Palace, which I want to see today, is huge, so I really should get moving!

written yesterday but had problems w connection so here it is now:

I am.. not really in the mood to write... I can't seem to get myself out of the house before noon (when lunch beckons and tummy starts to whine), but I also realise that each of the city's sights are so huge and my pace of seeing things is so slow that I will need an entire day from early morning till closing time (at about 5-6pm for most sights) to get my fill of a place.. and I still need to run errands today.. sigh..

But yesterday was good. Clear blue skies. Lovely sunset at the Temple of Heaven. A little cold, but beautiful. The sheer scale of the public ceremonial spaces and the ordered approaches to each sight.. truly a masterpiece in experiential orchestration, inspiring awe and respect.. I feel many things when I look at it.. in a way, it's a huge part of where I came from. My people and culture. Things I've been far removed from and have, at times, ridiculed and felt embarrassed about, but now have trying to repossess and understand, as I try to find my place in the world, and to understand who I am and what will make me happy...

I'm liking Beijing much better than Shanghai already. People seem nicer and more polite and less frantic, there's a bit more space (though still not very walkable as things are very spread out).. not to mention that by now the weather is not as bitterly cold as when I was in Shanghai, though still far from balmy by my standards. It's big, and takes a while to get to know, though the basics of the city layout are easy enough to understand.

In a way, I'm really tired from the past 40(!) days so I'm thinking I should to take it easy, esp considering I have almost 2 weeks here before I leave for Shantou. Also, a bit sick of touristy sights, so I will just see the must-sees (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tiannanmen Square, a less developed stretch of the Great Wall, maybe the Ming Tombs? and a couple of museums), then spend the rest of the time walking ard hutongs and going to art galleries...

also, I desperately need to get new shoes (the current pair did not stand up well to the constant rain and scruffs, and walking around the whole day in pointy spiky heels is not fun for the feet) and a haircut (now that it's getting warmer and I no longer need to go around looking like a Neanderthal in order to keep myself a fraction of a degree warmer =P). So far, I have not been to the cheap(er) places and while I don't want to scrimp on shoes, 990RMB is too much to pay for simple ballet flats (and those were the only ones I saw that I sort of like..). Sigh.. I think I am already looking forward to a higher standard of living than I have been experiencing for the past month...

went to walk in Tiannanmen Square yesterday evening, but got there too late to go into any place other than the shopping malls nearby =P It's been raining the past 2 days so I have not really experienced the famed pollution, though the city is now one big construction site (but all must be finished/stopped by July). It's also very convenient to have someone who knows the hutongs and how to find a nice bar or restaurant in the middle of all the dark alleys =)

Arrived in Beijing. Tired and sleepy because the train was not a sleeper and the guy beside me snored. It's not as cold as expected (phew!). Sky is overcast and featureless, but at least it's not raining... lw's apartment is very nice and big, if a bit difficult to find and not exactly in city centre... the best thing is, I have a room all to myself =)

but I really need to go get some sleep first...

just a quick post to say I'll be leaving this afternoon on the 3pm train to Wuxi (0.5h trip) to take the 8pm train to Beijing. Sigh. Direct tickets to get to beijing on a weekend were sold out.

Today the street the hostel is on is very happening. and I'm sure, the shopping street is as well. It's the start of the Suzhou Int'l Tourism Festival. Here, there are stages and performances all along the street, crafts and art stalls and artisans and food and snacks, as well as a traditional wedding demo by the canal... quite cool. today's art students are not sketching but painting.

I know i've mentioned that I love this area already, but after yesterday (during which i didn't really do anything but walk ard the neighbourhood) i love it even more, because there are shops where people are weaving rush mat for the old beds, old men sanding wood and making wooden buckets, women drawing water out of the well which can be anywhere (at a village intersection, beside the road, beside the canal) and washing clothes, etc...

I need to check out soon... it seems to be a busy weekend...

cold wet dreary weather... today i abandoned my itiniery for the day after lunch.. tired.. and it didn't look like it as going to stop drizzling (though it has now that I'm back nice and warm in the hotel. figures.).

went to HanShan Temple today. Because of that damn poem. The temple itself is actually nothing very special chinese temples wise.. I guess it's just to see the setting of that poem...

I've been feeling so tired last few days.. partly cos of the weather, and mostly just becuse I've been travelling too long and have yet to really just take a day off and sit and not go anywhere...

ok, i'd better go next door and get those nice postcards so that I can write and send them asap =)

sigh.. my photo storage hard disk is out of battery, and it can only be charged by being connected to a computer, and as there's no way I'm going to head out to the gardens without being able to take pictures, I'm stuck here for a bit waiting for it to get just enough juice so it can start up and get yesterday's photos into it...

The weather is not so good today. rained yesterday and still looks quite dreary now at 8 in the morning.. and at the rate this photo thing is going, I'm not going to be able to miss the first of the tour groups by the time I can head out.. The gardens and other attractions all close around 5 or 5.30pm, so sightseeing time is limited. Of course, I could just go another day, 30Y is not much, but there are other day trips I want to go for.. suddenly my time is not as flexible as I wanted.. Will also have to go to the train station today and hope that sat night tickets on the express train to Beijing are still available... and I want a bed, not standing space! sigh.. must rememebr to buy tickets as soon as i arrive in beijing to get me back south to guangzhou so I will be forced to plan my time properly, and can confirm my arrival in guangzhou with friends and family there...

hungry.. the only problem with this hostel is that they don't provide (or I just can't find the dispenser for) hot drinking water, which has been essential elsewhere in making coffee in the mornings, a hot cup of water at night, or instant noodles for those times when I'm too lazy to go out for food.. man, i need coffee.. but I've been getting more stingy now that i know that a cup of americano or espresso can sometimes get me 5-8 meals...

groceries are a bit more expensive here than in the carrefour in hangzhou, but still cheap compared to back home. I need to buy shower foam and shampoo but the shampoo only comes in 200ml bottles, which is too much, and they don't seem to have shower foam, only bar soap.. dang, i had planned my toiletries too perfectly to last me till this past weekend, when i was supposed to reach Beijing (and free lodging!)..

I'm beginning to get a bit tired of travelling.. I think i prob need a day off to just lie in bed or sit in some cafe (there's a sabai sabai cafe down the street, next to an indian incense stall, and the architecture info centre's cafe/restaurant next door/opp0site), but I still really want to see so many things here!! Oh, my portable hard disk, please recharge fast!!

I must be going mad from hunger... =P

Tomorrow is last day of low season so I'm trying to whack the most impt gardens first, before ticket prices rise by 10-20 yuan.. went to Liu Yuan (Garden to Linger in) and Shi Zi Lin (Lion's Grove) today.. both very nice, but for the tour groups that started appearing after 10/11am.. I love the way they plan the gardens..

Lion's Grove was like a maze of stone caves and narrow passages through which you can always see other parts of the garden/the place you want to go, but which you can never quite reach... great for kids.. and lovers =P

Liu Yuan was also fab. I love that every bit of it is so well designed.. the borrowing of scenery, that every view is a landscape or arrangement of some sort, such that all views are beautiful.. and the flowers!! lovely gardens and bonsai... as if I didn't have a million photos of flowers already...

but the flowers, while sort of the same (as I'm in rel the same region), are changing too, with the seasons.. when I first arrived in hangzhou the plum blossoms were in bloom or blooming, and the floor was littered with their pink and while petals, then came the dandelions (?) floating in the air, and the wisteria and those bis blooms you see in chinese paintings (I forget the name right now) were blooming... today, along with the dandelions, the wisteria petals were also starting to grace the air and the streets, and other flowers are blooming...

food is good and cheap n everywhere =) had rice gruel and yu tiao for 1.5Y for breakfast, 4Y noodles for lunch, 1Y for 4 pieces of fried toufu... went to the I M Pei designed Suzhou Museum today... Nicer than I expected. Bigger too. I think it's because now that I'm here and have seen suzhou's architecture, I can better understand how it fits into its surroundings and culture. There's an old residence (of some impt guy) attached to it that was very quiet and pleasant..

the canals are all very nice in the evenings, when the residents hang out outside.. and throw their day's waste water into it...

but I'm really very tired now, after a whole day of walking around and not much lingering in the gardens at all (it's not very restful with so the constant flow of tour groups). so. ciao! tml: the Humble Ambassador's Garden, and the Garden of the Master of the Nets..

just arr in suzhou, as usu ppl waiting to use net, so a quick note to say: horrible journey from Tunxi to here, but the hostel and the area its in is so nice that i'm feeling much better. Suzhou is a much bigger city than i imagined, and not very pleasant, but this area is perfect. no big vehicles, still got people living in the maze of old houses and waterways all around, really like the 'venice of the east'. The aki centre/place thingy is just beside the hostel, and it seems a lot of old impt bldgs are all ard this block, so I may just buy the book and take a day to explore. It's very pictureques.
It's also very near the town centre/shopping area, but very far removed in spirit. Fantastic. And I haven't even gotten to the gardens suzhou is famed for! Feeing 100% better than when I first arrived. But still very physically tired... gg to rest tonight and hope the gardens are really places to linger in!

heh, finally, I am going to try to post a few select photos from the past couple of days.. oh, the joys of the 'countryside'... I only hope this comp can handle it.. starting second attempt *crosses fingers*

ok, i give up. It's taking too long to upload even 1 miserly 700kb photo. Sorry.. hopefully Suzhou works out.. if I get bored I'll try to upload again =P

Anyway, today was spent at Hong Cun, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 'one of the top ten most senic villages in China'. It certainly lives up to the name, I must say. I was there at the same time as what must be the entire cohort of art students in AnHui. Everywhere I turned, at every obscure corner where at any other time I would have been the only visitor, there was at least one or 2 students, if not a horde of them, perched on their little folding stools w a drawing board in front of them. Ah well. better than the usual tour groups. Some of their sketches/painting were actually quite good. The teachers usu had a big group surrounding them, so there was no hope of seeing their work... But yeah nice. and nice street food.. that's prob part of the reason I liked it =P

And before I forget, I really liked the bus ride to the village as well. The chinese countryside.. through smaller towns and little villages... mountains/hills/rocks/valleys/vegetable patches/rice? fields/fields of heather?(yellow flowers)/village kids/friendly passengers and bus lady/river/passing motor vehicles, one of which was a bike which was buried under a mountian of xiao bai cai... I definately like the less developed places better than the big cities..

Anyway, back to TunXi aka Huang Shan Shi to see the Lao Jie, which is basically a tourist street. I was very very tempted to shop.. made a seal for myself and a handphone trinket w my name (i wanted to make for friends too but i realised I have no idea how to write your chinese names =P ). There's lots of street food and little stalls and snacks! and the normal food is great tasting and cheap and has lots of ingredients too! There was a kind of black seseme paste that has red dates and raisins and nuts and the tangyuan flour mini balls and lots of stuff.. and there was this black tang hoon thing w sausage and vege and tuakwa in ball forn and bamboo shoots and musrooms in a slight spicy beany soup.. and satay and bbq squid on a stick.. and the snacks are great too.. I really like Tunxi and the area its in best out of all the places on this trip so far...

have I mentioned that HuangShan is impressive in my last post? I would like to go again, because my mood was totally spoiled by this woman who just stuck to me and kept talking (or more accurately, shouting) all the way up and on the mountain, and had bad breath, and was just so rushed and so 'scenic spot orientated'. I don't think she very really SAW any of those spots, she was always looking at the map and planning which other spots were to must sees... sigh..

anyway, I will leave for suzhou on the 7am bus. not sure how long it will take, but the trian is super slow and takes 12h and the bus driver from hangzhou to tangkou described it as 'painful'. So the bus it is. The roads are fairly good, the buses are all clean, public transport incl bus are easy to figure out and cheap, new highways makes travel between cities a breeze.. travelling here is much easier than I expected. Though I know that speaking mandarin is a huge part of that.. I have met westerners who don't know a word, and have been here 6months, so I guess it's possible to manage without, but it prob takes a lot more patience, though I guess they get a pass since they are so obviously foreign...

I don't think this blog can really convey what I'm experiencing.. there's too much, and at the same time, nothing to say...

ah well, I'd better go sleep soon in case I miss the bus tml!!

my posts have been getting shorter =P here's another short one. Yesterday was great. Again, did not go according to plan. found that Six Harmonies Pagoda is nicer than expected (read: not been 'rebuilt/restored') and the peonies they are famous for were all blooming beautifully, and there's a huge park, and hiking trails on the mountain behind connect it to all the other sights nearby (max 2h hikes). So of course, I walked to HuPao Springs, another nice big park, beautiful springs and trees etc..

Then my camera ran out of battery. sigh. Came back and out again, then headed out to dinner and to get groceries for huangshan (next stop!), then got caught in the rain when I decided to take a detour to see the musical fountain another time. So jeans and shoes are soaked again.. sigh..

Today had wanted to go to WuZhen, but I'm feeling lazy, so I think I'll just sit ard and read and gaze at the lake if the sun decides to make an appearance... =)

Thunderstorms expected today.. Guess the short Hangzhou spring is over and sunner is really approaching.. temperature is hitting highs of 20+ C, but it's also starting to rain a lot after qingming, and the lake is a lot more misty.. Xihu is like a woman I think: everchanging (and quick-changing) moods, but each side of her has a beauty of its own.. I wonder what she's like in other seasons.. she doesn't freeze, even in the last year's bitter winter, and from the various paintings I've seen, she's beautiful no mattr what clothes she's wearing.. I will see her in the rain today I guess. And yes, I remembered to bring the brolly out this time. Will try to hit Liu4 He2 Ta3 (six harmonies pagoda) today, and then back to the city to climb up the north hill/mountain to see the yello dragon cave and baochu pagoda, then sit by the lake and try to regain the inspiration I felt yesterday as I was doing that but couldn't act on as I didn't bring my markers out (for once, sigh).

Went to Bai Causeway yesterday and Gu Shan, wanted to eat at the famous Lou Wai Lou but I was ignored! Plus I realised it's really hard to eat at nicer chinese restaurants when one is alone.. chinese meals are, after all, communal events. sigh. I'm stuck w simple rice and noodle places and streetside stalls/shops I guess.. but hangzhou food is good. Quite happy.

heh. as usu I didn't go see what I had planned to see. the bus went by LingYin temple/fei lai feng so I decided to just get off there. Did NOT realise that it's a mountain monastary(s). And of course I could not stop myself from climbing Fei Lai Peak as well. Feet are dying. The other temple behind the main one was much better as there were far fewer touts/guides. super irritating and totally spoiled the temple atmosphere. They are working temples, so it was actually quite nice.. esp w all the mountian paths and bamboo forests and roadside flowers all in bloom and the little zen stone lanterns...

ok, need to rest my feet. a hot shower sounds good.. ciao! at least the shanghainese (who I suspect ALL came over to Hangzhou) have all left after the qing ming holiday, so I may be able to upload some photos soon =P

hmm.. still alive, feeling ok, but not really in the mood to write.. getting lazy.. maybe it's been too many days of dunning around with different groups of people.. having to socialise... need some alone time again.. but now that it's after qing ming it's really starting to rain everywhere so not so nice to stroll and sit and take it in.. today I refused all invitations and will just go check out the north part of Xihu.. and will have to do all the walking and climbing in heels cos my walking shoes are soaked after last night's downpour... sigh.. at least I will look good =P

went running, or rather, taxi-ing, ard town with the 2 girls before their bus and flight back in the late afternoon.. I've not had to pay for a meal since yesterday, feel quite paiseh.. went to repair the met student girls' cameras then met her friend and his friends for lunch at the zhejiang uni grad student restaurant (they have a mini xihu on campus!) before heading to the silk shops street.. it was very very hard to resist cos things are really cheap for that quality and some are quite fashionable. Been talking to many strangers, drivers, convenience store owners etc who are all very helpful in helping us understand how to tell what is real silk, how to get where, etc.

Friends!

Had a great time today, even though all my plans for the day were dashed. Ended up spending the whole day and night with my roommates and one of their friends. First brunch at the China Art Academy's canteen (cheapest, biggest meals ever! and quite edible too), the to the Nine somesomething which is a small waterfall with a pool at the bottom. On the way back from there we stopped by Shi Feng Shan's LongJing village for free tea at the villgers' houses but ended up buying a bit of very expensive (but very fragrant) LongJing Tea. It's apparently the top grade of the 5 different kinds of LongJing Tea (from different villages/areas). Had a nice chat w the family. the kid was very cute, as I have found most babies and kids here to be. Well behaved too. Then to a place selling pearls. From XiHu. freshwater. Some special discount period, plus the sales person thought we were students so we got a huge discount =P then to the silk products selling place, where at least we are assured of getting real silk. I got a small silk scarf/big hankie to replace the scarf I lost. So, it was a say of shopping of the 3 products that Hangzhou is famous for... plus very good company =)

In the evening we went for the music fountain on the NE of Xihu. Nice. And as one of my companions said, like a cleansing of the heart (sounds better when she says it in mandarin). Then dinner and a slow walk back to the hostel, marked by much giggling and laughter and trying to climb into the ferries and getting chased by the guards and taking photos of flowers at night (by and large unsuccessful) and getting scared by a beggar woman silently approaching us and suddenly grabbing our arms just as we were crossing a bridge and talking about grave and cremation and death... and then of course I missed my uni hostel friend, who I stood up by not appearing for dinner and getting back too late for drinks =P

So that's a very happy day. It's not often that one meets complete strangers who just seem to hit it off so well (we were all lone travellers/students). Unfortunately they are leaving tomorrow, both for their hometowns in different provinces, so I'll be alone again, enjoying a different side of Hangzhou I guess =)

Out of the big city and in wonderful, beautiful, relaxed hangzhou!! of course, I felt very different when I first arrived - it's a city, no mistake, and I was overwhelmed at the train station. I was truely a droplet in the sea of people exiting the station.. quite a feeling.. and trying not to stop for fear of getting crushed =P

The hostel is very nice. Great location just by Xihu. Cheap. Wonderfully nice and warm and fun roommates. But when I unpacked I realised that I had left or lost or been robbed of, my nice esprit thin woollen scarf in shanghai. Sign, it was something that kept me warm and made me look more classic/sleek and hence feel much better.. I have another scarf, but it's kind of thick and frumpy.. moped for an hour, then went out, and Xihu hit me, and all was well with the world again =)

didn't go far today. just wandered around a very small bit of the lake, taking too many pictures of flowers and plants and water..

Would like to download some since this comp is much better but there there many people waiting to use the net so I guess that's it for now.. Anyway this is not a place to wax lyrical about, beause it's not enough to convey the atmostphere here.. even photos can't do it justice.. I guess only the paintings by the masters who have lived and passed through here over the ages can do that...

last day in shanghai today! I'm not quite done with it, and am finally getting the hang of it I think, but it's already tiring me out.. Not used to city travel i guess.. so, went to the jade buddha temple today, then to MoGanShan Road to see quite a big collection of art galleries, then back to people's square (all on public buses) to see a very tiny little bit of the national museum before they closed, and sat in the park after look at and taking too many photos of the doves.. walked around the neighbourhood south of the hostel then back here.. indoors at dusk. i don't know why either.

Shanghai is not a place I love, but I can imagine myself staying here longterm. Liveable, interesting, lots of things to do... but not somewhere I'm at peace in.. though there are many things I'm mightily impressed with here. They are really making an effort to improve the city and its citizens. Its one place where the police and traffic wardens really work and are seen everywhere (though sometimes its just in groups lounging around). Looking at their contemporary art, and at the bestsellers in bookshops, and from conversations with the locals, I find their concerns - about themselves, about the youth about the future - not very much different, if at all, from those in my own society.

So, off to Hangzhou tomorrow! hopefully a smaller place will mean I am better able to relax... and think..

heh, just want to gloat: you guys would have LOVED the ferragamo exhibition at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art! They even brought the craftsmen who make the bags n shoes in to sit there and work (and you can touch the shoes on the table), and there's an italian lady there to translate any questions. Someone picked up a scrap of leather and asked to keep it, and the old man making the shoes gave her a real insole w the logo and all, and plucked the scrap out of the hands =) now even I want ferragamo shoes. custom made =P

Also today: peoples's park on a sunday morning. the usual gambling crowds of old men, the lone taichi ppl in varo\ious corners, one wannabe chinese opera singer guy, and the new thing is the hordes of old/middle=aged peopl with handwritten posters looking for marriage or partners, stating stats and what they're looking for. not sure if it's for themselves or their children or what. Another smaller group of young pple practising english nd waylaying unsuspecting westerners.

Akso today: Putong. Very impressed by the huge mall at the mrt station. Huge, and wonderful layout that really makes the huge bulding work very well in bringing people ard, and visibity of shops, and orientation of the place, and making sense of such a huge place, and having different kinds of spatial experience within so ppl don't get tired visually or mentally. of course a mall of that size can only work in a city of shanghai's scale, in china...

less impressed w the rest of pudong, or the view of the bund. they eally should light up the place. also, very cold today.

shall not hog internet. ciao!

woke up late today! I guess being bundled up nice and warm with 3 layers of clothing and 1 thick duvet on a really cold night really does make one hibernate. I'm off to see the ferragamo exhibtion at MoMA today, then back here to collect and hang my laundry up, then down Nanjing West Road for a nice expat reccomended burger place, then to JingAn Temple, then training it east to Pudong and JinMao tower etc.

can't seem to get through online to check hostels in hangzhou (where I'm headed next) or even read my own blog, though obviously I can post to it just fine...

it's a rainy day! so instead of going temple and more art enclave hunting I swapped it for tomorrow's programme of the museum rounds near the hostel. Unfortunately the Ferragamo exhibition at MoMA only opens tomorrow, but the Shanghai Urban Planning Centre(?) had 5 levels of related models and stuff, and one level of temporary art exhibitions incl Rembrandt's copperplate engravings/etchings/sketches.

The attention to detail and the time it takes to painstakingly render that on paper.. is a skill few of us have the patience for today, yet is perhaps at the very heart of art (at least in his day): that of understanding the world around. How lights works, how nature and plants grow, how animals move. I've been looking at so much art, of various kinds and from different cultures and times, and I realise, one of the reasons I've been rather stuck creatively is that I haven't been sitting down and not just observing and thinking, but also understanding and recording.

Before I started out on this trip, I had wanted to use it to resume precisely that, and had brought along a couple of pencils and a few copic markers with the intention of sitting in some garden or park or riverside and just drawing and trying to get back in touch with that I love the most - the hands on kind of creating. But the camera is both my friend and my enemy.

It's a tool to keep myself from forgetting where I'd been, the images are my view and impression of a place, and can be used later on to be the basis for other creations, but it is too easy and does not require the kind of effort and contemplation and study that sketching does. It is hard and sometimes intimidating to try and draw though. When there are hordes of people and tourists, it is hard to find the space both mental and physical to sketch, and the thought that there will be countless curious passersby looking over my shoulder at my scratches makes the thought of just taking a moment to snap and think 'I'll just draw from the photo when i get back' so much more inviting. But one never goes through on that promise, of course.

I then caved in and went to Raffles City Mall and ate pasta and warm choc cake at Bakerzin. Felt good to eat good food, though it cost the price of almost 2 nights' accommodation. Tried to go to the national museum after that, but it being a weekend and the museum being free, there was a horrendous queue for tickets, and I decided to give up and head across the road to the Grand Theatre Gallery instead. On the way there discovered that there is an underground shopping centre just beneath the National Museum. The Grand Theatre Gallery looks forbidding, but turned out to be free, and had many lovely pieces.

The thing about the museums and exhibitions here is that while I can't fault the exhibits themselves or even the curator ship, the settings are really not up to par. The lighting is patchy and often obscures or casts lights, shadows and unwanted reflections on the artwork, and the walls themselves show obvious signs of yellowing and even more obvious signs of putty patching up ho;es from other displays. And there seems to be no prohibition against taking photos in the galleries (with the exception of the Grand Theatre Gallery). It is irritating, but I guess I still did enjoy myself, because really, the art is good...

For now, I'll take a break and play with the hostel's resident cat family, and maybe do laundry (though not a good day -it'll never dry in this damp), and see if I can muster uo the energy to go either Pudong or west Nanjing road later tonight.. ciao!

feeling much better today! getting the hang of dealing with the weathr i guess -stay out of the cold, stop walking around esp by the main roads, use the metro and buses instead of walking everywhere, wear more, use the scarf and the hood of my coat.. still don't have much of an appetite, not sure if it's cos i just don't like or haven't found local food to suit my taste or i'm a bit sick or it's just so cold i just want to bunker down and hibernate...

Today went walking around the French Concession area, saw the Sun Yat Sen Museum/former residence, the Taikang art centre enclave, Xin TianDi... It was a slow relaxing day.. and I like the places i visited a lot, esp Taikang road area - art galleries and little cafes. Can imagine chinnie opening a cafe or retial shop there =) love that its blended in with the old and still lived in neighbourhood. Wrote most of it out sitting at coffeebean and warming up just now though..

XinTianDi is a lot more developed and also smaller than I had imagined though. it was ok. gentrified upscale area. 'Nice'.

Stomach starting to complain. Guess I can't live on coffee after all. (and dang, I'm finding out just how much of a coffee addict I am on this trip... ) Too lazy to go out and search for dinner so I'll just make instant cup noodles tonight.

Hate this keyboard. and also hate that the person using the terminal beside mine is smoking away. Sigh. I'll nbever get used to the smoke.

tired! loved Yu Yuan, but the walking and traffic and air and the bloodly omnipresent cigarette smoke everywhere and the hordes of people around the gardens gave me a bloody headache by the middle of the afternoon. so I'm back. eating less. not very used to the city other than the parks and gardens. guess I'm most at home in the country after all. or maybe its just the usual fatigue i get 2 weeks into a trip.

I like the parks and gardens. and the flowers. personal hygiene here leaves something to be desired, esp after the extra careful citizens of hk. not really in the go and whack mood, just want to sit in park and rot. will prob go museums tml to break but weather is gg to be super good tml so don't want to waste it.

shall go get some coffee instead of dinner (i had 16 xiao long baos for late lunch/tea all by myself) and may instant noodle it later.

shanghai-ed!

Not really, sorry for the duh title.

A bit tired from the 20h train trip here from hk so didn't do much today. Just walked east through people's park and various streets till I got to the Bund then walked back along Nanjing road. I like what I see so far. Train trip was good, the locals I met on board and in the rooms here are all very friendly and helpful. Also, I am better at reading chinese than i thought, have no problems getting around. They say my putonghua is good too, haha, maybe they're just being polite. But I cannot catch shanghainese. Should be going to YuYuan Gardens and the Old town tml.

The hostel is very nice, looks like a boutique hotel and they have real coffee, but food sucks.
It's 1 min walk from nanjing road and people's park and all the museums so for 55Y a dorm bed it's very good. doesn't seem much use for all the 1or 5 jiao notes so far. Books here are very cheap and good. and bookshops are really big. perfect weather in afternoon but gets more cold at night - i'm wearing t-shirt and 2 sweaters tonight.

The chanel exhibition on the last day in hk was good though. really good. Nice quotable lines, nice individual installations, good translations from point to point, thought-provoking, fantastic cntianer - alien organic landscapes!, fantastic voiceover - wonder if it's coco chanel's voice or zaha hadid's. really impressed.

oh! I had so much on my mind but somehow it all slips away..

Train trip: like taking a walk through the different industries. nice farmland and rivers, brick making factory with bricks laid out in the courtyard and the brick furnace looming over it all. science-fi like buildings in the middle of nowhere. A whole town with dutch styled houses that would not look out of places if you stick any of them in the middle of amsterdam. flowers. Guangzhou the big city. Super interesting architecture of the in-between. The fringe of the railway tracks. The way the railway officials' uniforms gett from immaculate in hk to messy in guangzhou to neat again in shanghai. Talking to different people on the train. eavesdropping on dissucssions on the train, trying to tune out shanghainese dialect on the train.

what else.. mind's a mess. nut at least I'm getting closer to getting my land legs back - things are not swaying so badly when i sit or slow down anymore. headache's better, or at least numbed by the cool air. Wished I could have gone along with the group os students/fresh grads from hubei/hebei but when i met them I was still carrying all my stuff trying to find the hostel. sigh.

okie, got people waiting, and the light here's not good for typring. ciao till tml =)

It's my last morning here, and I'm finally getting a proper cup of coffee. The ka fei here leaves a great deal to be desired. Even at Pacific Coffee, my cafe mocha tasted like milo. Thank you Krispy Kreme for decent coffee and great donuts =)

In a short while I'll be heading to meet e1 for the chanel mobile art exhibition, passing by the post office on the way to send some postcards home (btw, anyone who wants postcards from Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Beijing, etc can email me their address, and I'll do my best - it's always fun to send postcards and even more fun to recieve them, no?). On the way back the egg tarts shop should be open and I will get some buns and egg tarts for the long train journey ahead.

Will be getting on the T100 at 1515h to Shanghai, arriving about 11am tomorrow morning. i have yet to read up on Shanghai or plan my itininery there, but then I'll have 20 hours on the train to do that.. on an open bunk hard sleeper (but I've kind of been training up for the hard sleeper I guess -sleeping on the floor on a thick blanket this past week =P)

As anyone can tell by now, I really like HK. It's a one-sided view, to be sure, but I've seen enough to think I can live here. Granted also, I've liked most places I've travelled to, except a few of those that were seen in a hurry (and no country or place really deserves to be experienced in a hurry. Places, like people, take time to warm up to and let you in). Perhaps it is the relative amonomility and hence freedom I can enjoy in a foreign country that is so enticing and not HK itself. It's hard to tell.

Running out of time. I'm still wondering why my backpack is so huge (by my usual standards) and how I can lighten or just downsize it despite my fear of cold weather ahead. I so should write more about HK but my mind is already moving on to Shanghai =P

I'm not sure I know how to tell time anymore.

It both feels and doesn't feel like it's been 11 days since I arrived in Hong Kong. I'm both still excited by and tired of the city. It's so comfortingly familiar a place, the idea of which has been planted in my mind all through my life: in countless movies, music, magazines, television drama serials, and of course through my own very Cantonese family's speech, conversation, history, cuisine, habits and our way of life. And yet, because of the direction my life has taken back in Singapore, I have drifted away from my heritage and Hong Kong is to me, still foreign in a way. I would dare say I fit in better than the other 2, but I am still glaringly a gwai lau, at least once I open my mouth to say more than a few words.

Today was spent wandering around SoHo (again) with the ETs and taking photos. Memories for e1, of her days here. A nice relaxed walk. There's a cafe here named Antique, but unfortunately the staff were female, not at all like the manga, though the decor was every bit as fancy(?) I would have anticipated. We went to the ManMo temple down the road. It's good to end my trip here as I started it - with a visit to a temple. Then to Cat Street. I would love to have a place here to decorate. All the knick knacks and junk and old toys and furniture and paraphernalia I could collect!

I like walking along the streets, watching the character of each neighbourhood changing and blending into the next, the little narrow streets, sometimes empty, sometimes packed and fully utilised by floral shops and all, the way the shops used very opportunity to advertise - ads on the awning at the back alley facing the mid-levels escalator. I love seeing the decor and interior design of the houses and boutiques and clubs in the area. There seems to be not much space for spatial manipulation, but I think the treatment of surfaces and facades is really varied and exciting and really, one could do years of studies and documentation on just that.

What else do I love...

The escalators and linkway systems, the exquisitely landscaped little parks and sitting areas and playground areas everywhere, the flowers and trees. As much as Singapore makes so much hoo-ha about being a 'garden city' and all, it feels like Hong Kong does it better. Granted, they have the advantage of climate, but their parks seem to me to be more restful, and do a better job of providing breathing spaces for people in the city.

Yesterday e2 and I took the escalator all the way up, then walked to the HK zoo, then to HK park, then to Victoria Park to meet e1 for the HK Flower Show.

But e1 just finished cooking a supper of noodles for me, so I'll ciao first. Next update will be from Shanghai!

Today (sat) was nice, in spite of the weather.

It started with Appleseed: Ex-machina. Produced by John Woo, a few costume designs by Prada. Could tell the john woo influence in the opening sequence already, and I wished they hadn't done that, because sigh, it's so cliche and in a way unbecoming of an otherwise cutting edge film. I loved everything else about it though. I also like the audiences at the screenings. They're by and large very polite and appreciative, waiting for the credits to finish rolling before leaving the theatre and clapping after every show. It's a respect for filmmakers I wish I could see more of at SIFF.

Stepping out from the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (I wish I had taken a trip here to see their spaces for art and film events before doing my thesis project -the grandeur and glamour and pomp and circumstance that the spaces inspire!) onto the Tsim Sha Tsui coast/broadwalk/viewing platform I realised that it had rained and there was still a light drizzle, which meant that the public spaces were all really really empty for a weekend and I could get some nice aki shots, albeit in a rather flat light.

Had wanted to spent the afternoon lazing in Kowloon Park but the rain made that impossible so I just wandered from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mongkok, stopping by a Pacific Coffee outlet for an hour or so when the rain got really heavy.

Back at 6pm to the HKCC for the next movie: A Land without Baseball. All I can say is: yum. heh. but i would like to note one thing the producer said at the QnA after; that clothes, like masks, are something you put on. I also like that they don't really seem to feel the need to justify or provide anlysis for any of their art. After all, isn;t that for critics and historians to do? Artists should just do what they feel is right for them: in a way, trying to fulfil the roles of both artists and critic (though I admit some art is criticism) somehow pollutes the purity of art (and here i go opening up a whole can of worms - I'm not an academic, just spewing my thoughts, pls don't bash me =P)

Took a walk along the coast, lots of phototaking of the night skyline, ferry back to central, walk and more phototaking up to midlevels and dinner and home-for-the-moment. All in all, a good day, people were nice, tried to make conversation with cleaner aunties and stall helper aunties though rather limited by my dismal command of cantonese. happy.

the last 2 posts were written a couple of days ago, cos blogger didn't like me... sigh.. and still unable to get the pics onto this comp.

today was good, but its getting late and I think the other 2 want to use the comp, so ciao, updates later!

sigh. we always get less done than i planned. yesterday was just to lantau buddha and the very short walk around it to the PoLin temple and the wisdom path. So many many tempting hiking routes! Im already thinking that I'll come back to HK someday and do all the things I wanted to do, at my own pace... getting more stressed and mentally stretched thinner everyday.. i need time, and not just a couple of hours in the morning or an afternoon alone. out of the frying pan into the fire. sigh. will go to lamma island today.

bleh. this laptop doesn't like my photo storage harddisk after the first time they got together. sigh. no photos for today. so. Monday and yesterday. After a very nice brunch of beef brisket noodles, Monday was spent wandering around Soho and sightly west.. we had though it would be e2's last day here so we didn't want to stray too far. It was like Chinatown back home x 100 the number of any one kind of shop. There were whole streets of shops selling birds nest. another street selling dried goods. yet another selling ginseng/medicinal herbs. A line of shops selling joss paper and other paper goods (paper LV ballet flats or top -of-the-line multimedia hi-fi systems, anyone?) There was jade street with small touristy stalls where i bought a 'silver' butterfly ring. As expected of the world's main jade carving centre, the quality and artistry of some of the pieces were a marvel. I liked the name 'chop street': doesn't it just conjure up images of people all in the row waving choppers or even better, chopping? in synchrony? (ok, I just watched sweeny todd on Sunday night). or a gang fight! (go get this gang! but chopping is only to be done on chop street!) It turned out even cuter actually. It was chops as in stamps. or as in your red name seal kind of chop. This is also an area of art galleries, but I find them a bit intimidating at the moment =P I'm not so keen on the antique shops - too many issues about authenticity and the morality/legality of bring those artifacts out of their origin country... though i suppose there's no harm done, as e2 does, to stand at the window and exclaim over them (esp since its equal opportunity - she also exclaims over birds, cats, clocks, jade, jewellery, stuffed toys..). i also love how easy it is to navigate despite the sometimes overwhelmingly tall and cramped buildings. mountain to the back, water to the front and you're set! and somehow there is a sort of balance on the mess, enough so that I can still breathe... there is also a level of civic consciousness here that I wish there was more of back home. In a way, it's more sheep like, but I think its what makes it possible to live here and not explode.. Also also, I like the mtr station designs. Many of them use mosaic tiles. and how at diamond hill its back tiles but with a few silver sparkling ones set around the station name. <3 mosaic is used quite often here, and somehow they've managed to find a million and one ways to make it hip and modern and so full of character and variety. We had macs for lunch, walked around ultra hip IFC mall, then headed back to pack and rest. Ended up on the comp checking prices of air ticket for a week or more later. Later that evening I managed to meet pH (dinner for her, dessert for me) which was really nice for me, hee. ok, I'd better go now so i can see more alone! ciao! Tuesday's thoughts and updates maybe later tonight or tomorrow morning.

while e2 is showering and I'm waiting for the laundry to be done...

we have flowers in the apartment and groceries in the fridge (e2 was inspired after watching nigella lawson on tv last night)...

I'm stressed and tired physically and mentally...

Will have to try waking up earlier to wander around the city alone... and maybe go out at night after dinner on a few nights....

Today.. we went to the Tin Hau Temple, browsed in the Central Library, had a leisurely stroll around Victoria Park (except for the foot reflexology part =P and we're saving the Flower Exhibition for the long weekend and e1), walked through Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, took in the view from the HK Exhibition and Convention Centre, dropped by the HK Arts Centre, then it was back to Soho to get groceries and dinner and do the laundry.

I tried to buy HK film fest tickets. I'm Not There is sold out but I manged to get seats for Appleseed: Ex-Machina and City without Baseball. Should have just booked tickets online the day I found out about it. Sigh. Anyways, go see the entries for the appleseed trailer remix contest.

Tomorrow morning I will head to the railway station to get my ticket to Shanghai. Should be getting the hard sleeper as the extended stay here and a bit of shopping has left me rather short on HKD =( I should have a bit of time after that to walk around tsim sha tsui before my movie (about a permanent part-timer in Tokyo, haha) at 1230 at the science museum. By then e2 should be up and done with her 'stocking' and hopefully she can find her way to meet me for lunch then we can go see the art and history museums (free on Wednesdays!) till evening, then have dinner and view the skyline and maybe that light show thingy YL mentioned before taking a ferry back to hk island.

I have to say I still do like the place, just have to find the right state of mind... Will try to expand on the what-i-did-today paragraph when I have more time on the comp... now to download/upload the photos and collect laundry!

in HK!!

I've been here for 2 days already and I'm liking it! It helps that E1 lives in a really nice apartment in Soho *grin* hmm.. where to start...

For one, I like hearing Cantonese, even if I'm not very good at understanding it and even worse at speaking it. It's just a very comforting language from childhood.. And the food!! It's a place I could easily grow fat in =P I also love both the very well designed parts of the city, the attention to detail in the MTR trains and stations, as well as the unplanned but so organically beautiful parts of the city... I supposed I have yet to experience the full crush of Hk crowds or fast paced life or even really spoken to any locals at length, but so far, I love the place.


quick rundown of the past 2 days:


We arrived Thursday night, then had dinner and planned our itinerary for the next few days. On the airport express to the HK island I saw an advert for the Chanel mobile art exhibition, container by Zaha Hadid, which as it turns out E1 had also wanted to go to, so on Friday morning we walked over. Unfortunately you had to pre-book slots to see it, and the earliest available ones were on the 25th. So that's when we'll be going, and that's probably when I'll be leaving Hk as well.


After that we went to Wong Tai Sim where I had my face/palm/fortune read. Very good prognosis overall. In fact, it was too good. Though I was quite impressed with the accuracy of some of his observations.


Another place I love is ChiLin Nunnery which we went to next. The zen calmness of the Buddhist complex was a good contrast to the Taoist temple earlier. It's a place to linger in...


Dim Sum this morning with e1's friend. yum. CKH joined us for dinner and drinks.


Also, I found out just before I left Singapore that HK Architecture Biennale was on till today, so E2 and I hopped over this afternoon. It was a much bigger exhibtion than I expected, and I found myself inspired and excited by architecture in a way I haven't been for a few years... I only wish I had had the chance to visit both yesterday AND today so i could see and digest all the exhibits properly. It was also nice to see some of the exhibits from the local school of architecture and recognise some of the student exercises as similar to what we had to go through in our first year and compare the different approaches they took as compared to us.


HK film fest starts next monday, so I should be able to catch a few shows! yay! They're showing appleseed ex-machina! and I'm not there! I hope tickets are still available...

Have not had much time to sit and reflect and write and blog and upload photos. Prob will be able to do that after monday... g'night!

I will try to upload a few more photos here when i can

out in two

*glances at archives on right* Looks like been quite a while since I've done any travelling! Once a year weekend trips to either KL or Cameron Highlands in Malaysia don't count, by the way.

Fortunately, I'll finally be on the move again in 2 days. First, to Hong Kong for a week or so, then up north to Shanghai and the Suzhou/Hangzhou/Nanjing areas as well as, hopefully, HuangShan. Then its north again to Beijing for a while. It should take at least a month, depending on how fast my budget runs out or how much I like or dislike the places.

This was supposed to be a go there and look for work kind of trip, but it looks like I've procrastinated too much (as usual) and may not be ready for that. What I am ready for is a real, much needed holiday. So, here I am.

Blogger, as well as my photo-taking equipment, has improved much over the past couple of years, so I should be posting photos as I go along, and I hope this test post works =)

photo above: Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve.
photo below: East Coast Park.