My Very First Blog

My Meals At Mickey Mao's

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:39:00 +0000

Hi, everyone! I am back from my Tasik Kenyir trip! Did you all miss me? : )

Now should I blog about Tasik Kenyir or should I continue with my China trip? Oh, what a dilemma! I have so many things to share about Tasik Kenyir but I do not want to stop blogging about my China trip!

Well, since I did not have the time to sort out my Kenyir photos yet, I guess I would continue blogging about my China trip in the meantime.

After leaving Xingping on bus, I started to feel some discomfort in my stomach. Luckily I managed to control my urge to go to the toilet during the 40 minutes ride. On reaching Yangshuo, we checked into Xi Jie Hostel again. I relieved myself in the toilet before we proceeded to West Street for lunch.

There was this restaurant with the funny name "Mickey Mao's". Obviously, they had very cleverly replaced the word "mouse" with "Mao's" as in Chairman Mao. We took a fancy to its very creative name and decided to have lunch there.

I forgot to take photo of the restaurant's front entrance but these were what we ate.

Don't ask me what the dishes were because I have already forgotten although you can sort of guess from the photos above. Oh, and the reason I forgot is because these were dishes eaten by my two travel partners.

Now this is what I ate. I normally remember what I ate : )

Yes, it's fried rice! But I think my mom can cook better than this! Haha!

I was not feeling very well so I did not really enjoy it. But I thought I like the lime drink!

I've forgotten what my two friends drank but this lunch cost me 33 yuan (RM16) which I think was quite expensive!

We planned to do some cycling later in the evening. Now if you remember, I do not know how to cycle so we actually planned to get a two seater bike for me so I could sit behind either Jam or his friend. Thomas, the boss of Xi Jie Hostel had earlier promised us free rentals of the bicycles.

But it was not to be. After lunch, we walked around West Street for a while and then went back to the hostel to rest. I think we were too tired because we actually slept the whole afternoon! By the time we woke up, it was....OMG!....8pm!!!

I guess Jam and his friend were still recovering from diarrhea and I was feeling sick. It was a good rest we desperately needed.

With our cycling plans down the drain, we decided to go for dinner! I was still not feeling very good. In fact, I felt nauseous. Still, I made up my mind to follow Jam and his friend for dinner.

And guess where did we go for dinner? It's at Mickey Mao's again! Haha!

I did not bother to take photos of what my friends ate.

I tried my best to finish my mushroom soup.

But I could not finish my spaghetti bolognaise.

The food was quite OK but I just did not have the appetite. Maybe it was the wrong choice of food in my condition. Anyway, I ended up paying 43 yuan (RM21.50) for the soup and spaghetti.

This must be the most uninteresting day of my entire China trip! Luckily for me, after a good night's sleep and a dose of probiotic supplement, I fully recovered. Thank goodness for that!

Random Notes 4

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:48:00 +0000

1. I am supposed to blog about my China trip but unfortunately, and I don't understand why, I could not upload my photos onto both Slide and Photobucket! Wonder what's wrong! Well, I guess I would have to do random notes today.

2. Christmas is coming soon! Yay! I love the Christmas season with the Christmas trees and decorations and Christmas music in the air!

That reminds me - I read through my letter to dear Santa last year and I just realised Santa did not grant me any of my wishes. None at all! He should have at least granted me wish No. 9! That's all I need!

And I put in so much effort to play him White Christmas on my piano!! Bah! No more letter to Santa this year! : (

By the way, did you know that if you rearrange the letters in Santa, he becomes Satan? (trembles...)

Image courtesy of Hellbiscuit

3. Oh! What a coincidence! I just overheard Christina Aguilera sings Genie In A Bottle on the radio! Hmm, maybe I should ask the Genie to grant me my wishes instead!

Let me ask you a question. If you stumble onto Aladdin's lamp, and you rub it and out comes a Genie but this Genie is not so generous as he offers to grant you only 1 wish, what is that ONE thing that you will ask for?

Image courtesy of Zazzle

Please think carefully before you answer! Haha.

4. Now if you will excuse me, I'm off to my weekend holiday at Tasik Kenyir! Woohoo! Some of you have asked who is that blogger friend I am going with. Well, I am afraid I can't tell because he requested that I keep his identity a secret! And I thought I can take photos of him! What a shame!

But suffice to say, he's a blogger most of you should know or at least heard of. Will I be able to keep it a secret? Oh, I don't know - it's hard, it's hard.

Well, sorry I won't be able to drop by your blogs these few days, but I will do my best to catch up with you all when I return. If possible, I will try to tweet a little so come follow me on Twitter!

Have a great weekend, everyone! : )

How To Know If Your Husband Is Having An Affair In Under 2 Minutes

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:37:00 +0000

If you are a woman, have you ever suspected your husband of having an affair? Want to know the truth without confronting him?

Let me teach you this psychological technique which I learnt from the book "Get Anyone To Do Anything" by David J Lieberman.

It allows you to actually look into a person's mind and find out if he's hiding anything. It's called 'similar scenario' technique.

What you need to do is to ask a question that does not accuse the person of anything but rather alludes to it. Then simply observe his response.

Let us take the case of a woman who suspects her husband of having an affair with his secretary. Instead of confronting her husband, she plays it cool and casually asks him over dinner "Gee, you know what, honey? My boss Jim, I think he may be having an affair with his secretary."

Then she just need to observe her husband's response.

If he asks questions and becomes interested, she can be reasonably sure he's not doing the same thing.

But if he becomes uncomfortable and looks away and tries to change the subject, then he's likely to be engaged in a similar behaviour. She will notice his immediate shift in demeanor and attitude.

Photo courtesy of weird cool photos

Now why is this technique so useful and why we should not confront a person directly? Typically, when we confront a person, it would put him on the defensive. If it turns out that we're wrong, there's a good chance we may appear paranoid or jealous and the relationship suffers.

With this technique, we are able to bring up a particular subject and find out if he's comfortable or concerned with the topic, all without making a single accusation!

By the way, this technique does not work for women only. If you are a man and you suspect your wife is having an affair with the gardener (just an idea I plucked from Desperate Housewives, haha!) you too can use this technique to find the truth.

A scene from Desperate Housewives

In fact, this technique can be used for more than just finding out if your partner is having an affair. It has a myriad of other uses and is especially useful if you are tired of being deceived or taken advantage of.

Let's take another example. You suspect a salesperson in your office is stealing the office supplies. If you confront her and say "Have you been stealing from the company?" that would achieve nothing.

Reason being if she didn't do it, she would say no. And if she's guilty, she would still say no.

The better way is to say "I'm wondering if you could help me with something. It had come to my attention that someone in the sales department has been taking home office supplies for personal use. Any idea on how we can put a stop to this?"

If she did not do it, she would be eager to offer her suggestions.

But if she is guilty, she will appear uncomfortable and may probably assure you that she would never do anything like that. Now there's no reason for her to bring herself into the picture, unless of course, she's guilty.

FIRST COMMENTER

5 Amazing Things I Like About Thailand

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Do you know who are the friendliest people on Earth?

I don't, since I have not traveled widely enough to all countries in the world. But one thing is for sure, it's not us Malaysians!

A lot of foreign tourists said we Malaysians are warm and friendly, but if you have ever been to Thailand, you will know we are no where near their level.

I am not writing this post to criticize Malaysia or to praise Thailand, but just to share what I think. Strictly my own opinion and you are welcome to disagree with me!

And so here are 5 amazing things I like about Thailand based on my personal observation.

1. Did you know that traffic jam is legendary in Bangkok? I went there a couple of years back and the roads were just clogged with vehicles! And their 'tuk tuk' drivers were simply notorious for their reckless driving!

Photo courtesy of ESL Teachers Board

And yet, I could not help but feel it's also one the safest cities for drivers and pedestrians alike! Have you heard of serious road accidents in Bangkok? Well, at least not as many as in KL right?

And what really amazed me was they were not horn-happy unlike Malaysians! Even with all the traffic on the road, I did not hear a single driver horning his or her car! Isn't it amazing?

A 'tuk tuk' image courtesy of sino.net

2. Did you notice that most Thai people are slim? I hardly see any fat or obese people in Thailand! Now why is that? I guess it's their fresh and healthy food, devoid of too much oil and fats! Also, I think they walk a lot!

Now I have nothing against fat people, but I just marvel at how the Thai people manage to stay slim! I guess they are active people unlike most Malaysians who eat 24 hours a day and do not exercise!

Tom yam goong image courtesy of Thailand Travel Online

3. Do you think the Thai language is one of the most gentle and polite languages in the world? I really think so! Maybe that's why when the Thai people talk, they seem to appear so much more polite than Malaysians!

But I don't think it's in the language alone. I am pretty sure the people there are polite and caring. And most importantly, they give the best service! Is it any wonder that Thai's tourism industry is booming like nobody's business?

Photo courtesy of Mantrav International

4. Did you know the living condition in Thailand is worse than in Malaysia? And they are suffering from economic problems and political upheavals. Yet, the Thai people are simply nonchalant about all these. They seem to persevere and have the Mai Phen Rai attitude.

Mai Phen Rai is a well known Thai phrase for 'never mind', or 'no problem' or 'it doesn't matter'. And that's what I like about them! They take their problems in their stride. Life just goes on!

Now if only Malaysians have this Mai Phen Rai attitude and stop complaining when they are faced with minor obstacles and problems!

Image courtesy of Bangkok Noir

5. I notice Thailand is a very open country and they do not discriminate against people with different sexual orientation (read gay). Where else in an Asian country can you find go go girls and gay bars being openly promoted to lure in tourists?

I doubt Malaysia will ever be this open. Especially when the authorities here think being gay is tantamount to committing a sin that is worse than murder. I really think we should accept people as they are, be they straight or otherwise!

FIRST COMMENTER

Random Notes 3

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:17:00 +0000

1. I don't normally blog on Sundays but today I just feel like blogging. Maybe it's the nice cool rainy weather. It seems to have an effect on me. A good one that is. And I'm going to say this for the umpteenth time - I LOVE the rain!!!

2. I had so much fun writing my Tribute to my blogger friends that I am definitely going to write a sequel to that very soon! But blogger TZ was not very happy with me for calling him a loony. I hope he's not taking it too seriously because I was just joking! Read his post and my response here.

3. I am finally on Twitter! Yup, I'm tweeting practically everyday and it is becoming somewhat addictive. I even update my Twitter on my mobile phone when I go out. Seriously, I must stop this unhealthy obsession! But if you like, do follow me on Twitter! : )

4. Yesterday, I talked to a very young friend of mine who had never been to Thailand before. He told me he wanted to see tigers! Haha! That reminded me of my hilarious conversation on tigers!

5. I am excited and looking forward to a short holiday trip with a fellow blogger next weekend. This trip will be a series of firsts for me. It will be my first time going there, my first time going on a trip with this blogger and also my first time flying Firefly! Well, there's always a first time for everything, and flying Firefly is no different. Haha!

FIRST COMMENTER

Are You Searching For Happiness?

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:31:00 +0000

Are you happy? Or are you still searching for happiness?

What makes you happy really?

A lot of people tell me that they will be happy when they earn their first million.

Some tell me they will be happy once they they lose weight and achieve that perfect figure!

Others tell me they will be happy once they are married and have children.

Yet others tell me they will only be happy when they are successful and famous!

I guess most people will only be happy when they reach their goals in life. So in other words, we are all always striving to reach that state of being happy.

Have you ever wondered why we work so hard? Well, for the majority of us, we work hard for the money.

But why do we need to have money? Besides being able to buy food, pay our house loans and other necessities in life, we can buy things we like. And why would we want those things so much? Probably because they help us accomplish certain things in life or we want to look cool.

But why do we want to accomplish those things? Why do we want to look cool? Keep questioning yourself and you'll find that the real reason is because that would make you happy. You see, it all boils down to this craving for that state of happiness.

Now don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong in pursuing our dreams and our goals.

But if it is really happiness that you are after, why go through all the troubles? Since happiness is just a state of your conscious mind, don't you think you can simply 'choose' to be happy?

As ridiculous as this may sound to you, don't you think that you can just sit back, do nothing and be happy?

Why go through all the hard work to reach your destination when you can actually arrive at your destination now?

Believe me, there are people who have already achieved this - they are the reclusive yogis, who choose to do nothing and be happy.

I guess it's not easy for us to do that because all our lives, we have been conditioned to work hard in order to achieve our dreams. And then and only then, would we be satisfied and be happy.

But here's the problem. That happiness will not last very long. For very soon, we will be craving for more, for that next step because as humans, we always want to progress.

Funny Pictures

And so, people will continue to strive for that elusive happiness all their lives, wondering why do they feel so empty after having achieved so many things in life. You see, searching for happiness outside of you is an illusion. Because happiness is found within.

You already have happiness inside you. Be happy NOW. No matter what circumstances in your life right now, you can choose to be happy. IT'S YOUR CHOICE.

Why not be happy even as you continue to strive for your goals and dreams? You don't need to be happy only AFTER you have achieved them. As they say, success is a journey not a destination.

If there is a really good time to be happy, the time is NOW.

You can choose to be happy. Right this minute.

Have a happy weekend, everyone! : )

FIRST COMMENTER

A Tribute To My Blogger Friends

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:42:00 +0000

I have a blogger friend named QC,
Who always tease me 'bout my obsession with MC.
He says he much prefers a singer called Britney,
But I really think she's worse than Miley!

Don't worry QC - this is a joke and is meant to be funny,
So please don't get all hot and angry,
By the way, thanks for making me sign up for FB,
It's quite fun and I'm enjoying it actually!

I have another blogger friend by the name of Pikey,
I have not met him before so I wonder if he's geeky.
Anyway Pikey, when can you join me for karaoke?
I assure you that I am not pitchy!

Although I don't think I can sing like Daughtry,
Or look as good as George Clooney,
I do believe I'm better than P.Diddy,
But don't blame me if you find that I sound like a banshee!

And then there is my travel partner Jam who is oh, so environmental friendly,
I think he's too serious that it's starting to get freaky,
But asking me to switch off my aircon on a hot day is just crazy!
Save the world? - well, I guess I'm simply not ready!

There's blogger Mariuca whom everyone fondly calls Marzie,
Who loves to go 1Utama on a shopping spree.
She always send me lots and lots of meme,
Oh, please don't do that to me, honey!

And then there's Mei Teng who is obsessed with photography,
Just like I'm obsessed with Mariah Carey,
But her photos are really good, don't you all agree?
If I'm half as good as her, I'll die happy!

I'm sure you all know this blogger by the name of TZ,
He's such a gym addict he goes Fitness First daily!
He's also into travel, Starbucks and photography,
I sometimes wonder where he gets all his money!

There are times when I think TZ is a loony,
Coz he goes to gym and work out excessively,
If you don't already know, he's pro-Starbucks and anti-OldTown White Coffee,
But guess what, recently he dumped Starbucks for Bad Ass Coffee!

I have a blogger friend from USA called Heidi,
Who looks really good in her swimsuit bikini!
She dishes out health advice like it's so easy,
Believe it or not, reading her blog makes me feel oh, so healthy!

I got to know a blogger by the name of Ayie,
She tells me it's her nickname though it doesn't matter really,
She's currently in the middle of her pregnancy,
Good luck and thanks Ayie, for adding me on FB!

You all know SK whom I think is a little chubby,
I know I shouldn't say that so OK, I'm sorry!
He just went for a week or two binging at McD,
Now he's thinking of ways to trim his big, fat belly!

He's a fan of Doraemon, now don't you think he's silly?
OK SK, please don't be angry with me!
I'm just joking and trying to be funny,
Here's my advice to trim that belly - eat nothing but zucchini!

I love those random notes by Shingo T,
So much so that I even decide to copy,
Great! Now I can post random notes on my blog when I'm busy,
Or on those days when I'm just too lazy!

Recently, I met up with Witch at Mid Valley,
It's my first time meeting her so I was full of anxiety,
She's tall and pretty but she's no Angelina Jolie or Zhang Ziyi,
And guess what, we both own a Panasonic Lumix LX3!

We had a great meal at Chili's though I was not really hungry,
So probably I ended up being very chatty,
Nice meeting up with Witch as she's such a foodie,
Perhaps we shall meet up next time for a meal of pan mee?

I guess all of you know that yellow man who always follow you and me?
You know who I am talking about right, even if you don't subscribe to DIGI,
He reminds me of a blogger who works in that company,
Yes, that's Vialentino - no prizes for guessing correctly!

Some bloggers are just so damn funny,
Like Kenwooi who always make my day sunny!
Although sometimes I prefer my day to be cloudy,
And occasionally even rainy!

You see, the rain does not make me feel sad or lousy,
But it does make me feel more sleepy,
However, reading Kenwooi's blog would make me go all perky,
Don't you all think he's such a Kenny Sia wannabee?

Faisal seems to think that the sound of rain is sexy,
Gosh! I don't seem to get that - do you think he's being cheeky?
On second thoughts, I think he's probably horny!
Tell me what you all think, really!

Whether it's rainy, cloudy or sunny,
It's always much better than hazy.
Cos when the haze from our neighbour gets to me,
And believe me this happens almost yearly,
I feel like throwing myself into the deep blue sea!

I guess this post is getting too long already,
So I think it's time to stop being funny.
Besides, I don't know why Mozilla keeps crashing on me,
Maybe I should just switch over to IE.

Oh, by the way, I have yet to watch 2012 the movie,
Maybe I should watch it tomorrow at GSC,
Or should I instead watch it at TGV?
Some say it's a nice movie I just hope it's not too corny,
Especially when it's not endorsed by Oprah Winfrey!

Now if some of you think I've forgotten about you - don't be silly!
It's impossible to mention everyone, don't you agree?
Cos that would stretch this post so long it would reach all the way to Italy!
Just remember this is a Tribute to all my blogger friends, so ALL OF YOU are in my memory,
Who knows, I might just do Part 2 if I am free!

With that, I would like to take this opportunity,
To thank you all for visiting and supporting me!
Now don't make my eyes go all teary,
Bye bye and see you soon, from Foongpc.

FIRST COMMENTER

3 Common Myths On Diabetes

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:28:00 +0000

November 14 was World Diabetes Day and I would like to take this opportunity to counter some myths on diabetes.

World Diabetes Day Logo

Here are 3 common myths regarding diabetes.

1. Diabetes is caused by high consumption of sugar.

This is only partly true. There are people who do not consume much sugar yet they get diabetes. Besides, all food once digested turn into sugar in your body. It's not just sugar that you must control, but the amount of food and the portion that you must be aware of.

To be on the safe side, avoid all refined sugar and processed food. Add to that you must also practise a healthy lifestyle like exercise on a regular basis, sleep early and manage stress.

This is not an advice for diabetics only. It holds true for non diabetics as well that is, if you want to avoid becoming part of the statistics.

2. Diabetes is not a very serious disease as it can be controlled by medication and insulin.

This is a very dangerous myth because I notice a lot of diabetics still eat like they normally do thinking the insulin and medication is enough to help them control their blood sugar. Take note that diabetes is an incurable disease. Once you have it, you have it for life.

With diabetes, you will eventually suffer from stroke, heart disease, kidney problems, and eye problems. It's what you must do NOW to slow down the effects so that you can delay these problems from happening too soon.

To do this, you would have to change your lifestyle. Eat low GI (glycemic index) food, control your portion, do exercise and manage your stress well. In this way, the medication and insulin you take in do not have to work that extra hard to control your blood sugar.

3. Diabetes can be spread or inherited.

Diabetes definitely cannot be spread from one person to the other like the common flu. But it can be inherited. However, not everyone who gets diabetes inherits it.

You are considered at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes if any of your first-degree relatives have diabetes. So if you are one of the unfortunate ones, all the more you must take really good care of your health. Do not wait - start the healthy lifestyle right now!

I remember I have blogged a little about diabetes before I left for my China trip. To refresh your memory, read it here. I had put up a list of popular food and asked you, my readers to guess the amount of sugar in each of them.

So here are the answers.

Mc Donald's sundae ice cream (180ml) - 10.3 teaspoons or 28.7% sugar

A&W Root Beer (325ml) - 7.6 teaspoons or 11.8% sugar

Coca Cola (325ml) - 6.5 teaspoons or 9.9% sugar

Ribena (500ml) - 65 teaspoons or 64.6% sugar

Kellogg's Corn Frosties (275g) - 19.3 teaspoons or 35.1% sugar

Uncle Tobys Muesli Bars (125g) - 16.8 teaspoons or 59.9% sugar

100 Plus (100ml) - 5.7 teaspoons or 8.8% sugar

Chipsmore Cookies (180g) - 13.3 teaspoons or 36.9% sugar

*Source : CAP Guide "How Much Sugar Is Hidden In Your Food"

How much sugar are you eating daily? According to American Heart Association, women should not take in more than 6 teaspoons of sugar a day, whereas men should limit to 9 teaspoons a day. (This however do not apply to natural sugar found in fruits). Read the report here.

Based on their recommendation, it looks like by eating that McDonalds sundae ice cream, you would have exceeded your daily limit!

FIRST COMMENTER

Lost In Xingping (Part 5)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Just when you thought it's over, here we go again with another part of Lost In Xingping! But rest assured, this is the final part and I promise not to mention one more word about Xingping after this post!

Unless I want to. Haha!

Anyway, I was no longer lost so the title of this post may be a bit misleading. Well, whatever.

The day after my adventure in the mountain forest of Xingping, we went to take some photos of the Xingping Port which was just 50 metres from the hostel we stayed.

By the way, Jam had almost recovered from his diarrhea after he went to a Chinese physician and ate some Chinese medicines the day before. So he was able to walk around without having to camp near the toilet. Haha!

Look! So many boats! Must be a busy port!

Oh! There's a weir dam here too.

Remember where I mentioned about weir dams? Haha, if you can't remember, refresh your memory here.

I think it would be quite nice to walk across the weir dam to the other side!

Nice reflection on the water.

See the women washing clothes by the river? They were from the Water Village.

Here's the entrance to Xingping Water Village.

There's a water wheel here.

This is the bridge leading to the village.

I didn't really visit the Water Village, just strolled around that place and came back out again.

We had to check out of the hostel by noon and head back to Yangshuo. Before that, we went to the roof top of the hostel and took some photos there.

I really liked This Old Place Youth Hostel. They have some sort like a roof top bar for you to relax at night.

But I did not come up here at night. If you remember, after that adventure in the mountain forest, I decided to retire early.

Anyway, there's hardly any night life in Xingping. It's a small town and the locals there usually go to bed by 9pm. Not my kind of life for sure, since I am a night owl, but it's good to experience it once in a while.

I saw two letterboxes at the roof top.

Doesn't it look cute?

Well, that's about it. My adventure in Xingping had come to an end. It's time to return to Yangshuo. Somehow, I felt a bit sad leaving Xingping. Was it because I did not get to visit the fishing village? Or was it because of the extremely good service I received from this hostel?

As I went up the bus heading for Yangshuo, I felt a little nauseous. My stomach was not feeling too good. I kept this to myself and did not tell Jam and his friend. I hoped that I was not going to come down with food poisoning!

FIRST COMMENTER

OldTown White Coffee vs PappaRich

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:32:00 +0000

If you are living in Malaysia, you may have come across OldTown White Coffee. You may have even eaten there.

At the last count, there are 135 OldTown White Coffee outlets in Malaysia. That's a lot if you ask me!

Is it any wonder that I seem to bump into at least one OldTown outlet a day? And if you are to drive around town, the chances of seeing an OldTown outlet is pretty high!

Photo of an OldTown outlet courtesy of Chowtimes.com

I wonder why is OldTown so popular. For one, I think their food is nothing to shout about. You can actually get similar food at better quality at your normal coffee shops. And for that kind of food quality, OldTown are charging at really high prices!

Now why would anyone want to eat there? Maybe for the ambience? Or maybe for the free wifi?

I must admit I quite like OldTown's garlic bread, though.

OldTown's garlic bread photo courtesy of Aliceteh.com

Recently, I visited another similar kopitiam or coffee shop called PappaRich. Have you eaten there?

At the last count, there are 23 PappaRich outlets in Malaysia, all in the Klang Valley region. At only 23 outlets compared to OldTown's 135, they sure have a lot of catching up to do!

Steaming dimsum at PappaRich

I don't know about you, but I think I prefer PappaRich. Why? They have more variety of food! So much more! Let me tell you what they have that OldTown does not.

OK, they have dimsum like vegetarian bao, avocado buns, pumpkin buns, and egg tarts! Granted, their dimsum are not fantastic, but at least they have them!

Steamed pumpkin buns

And the different kind of breads they have really amaze me. There's roti bakar, roti stim, roti kulit bakar, roti kulit stim, wholemeal steamed, wholemeal toasted, roti bakar susu, naan and even an imitation of the famous Rotiboy coffee flavoured buns!

Photo courtesy of Papparich.com.my

As for drinks, they have lots of nice delicious variety to choose from! I really like their red bean cendol drink, and their soya cendol with gula melaka!

As for desserts, they have ABC special with durian! Yummy! And even soya milk tang yuen!

Pappa ABC Special with ice cream

Now I am not saying the food quality at PappaRich is excellent. In fact, some normal kopitiam shops sell better quality food at cheaper prices! However, the food sold in PappaRich are costlier than OldTown, although the portion of food served in PappaRich is larger.

I am just saying that PappaRich has so many more varieties of food that you can have more choices.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I am fed up with OldTown. Bored, even. I actually can't stand their food! They should seriously improve on their menu or people will most likely flock over to PappaRich!

Well, that's just my opinion. What about you? Do you prefer OldTown or PappaRich?

Or perhaps you think Station One Cafe or Kluang Station is better?

Coming up next : Just when you thought it's over.....Lost In Xingping (Part 5)

FIRST COMMENTER

Lost In Xingping (Part 4)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Continued from Part 3

As I was about to enter the mountain trail, two bulls appeared in front of me. Yikes! I quickly stepped aside for them to walk through. There were bells hanging from the bulls' necks.

It's a pity I did not take any photos of the bulls as I was just too stunned. The old lady laughed and bid me a safe journey to the fishing village. She reminded me to always take the right turn at any junction that I come across.

The trail up the mountain was narrow but the stones and rocky steps made it easier to walk.

I just hoped I would not come face to face with any bulls coming down the hill!

It's a good thing they have bells hanging from their necks so if I were to hear the sound of bells ringing, I could quickly prepare myself and jump into the bushes on either side of the trail!

Luckily for me, I did not encounter any more bulls for the rest of my climb up the mountain.

The scenery along the journey was breathtaking!

I don't think my photos would be able to do any justice to the beautiful scenery there. You have got to be there to appreciate it. Somehow, I just love the mountains and the forests!

As I continue to climb up the steep rocks, there were some buzzing sound around me. Must be flies! But I could not see any!

I looked at my handphone. It was already close to 4pm. I wondered how long more I had to climb. I pushed myself to climb faster but had to stop several times to catch my breath.

It was 4.15 pm and I was still climbing. There was no end in sight. I was thinking, should I continue? What if I reach the fishing village late and had to walk back through this forest in the late evening? The thought of trekking the forest in the darkness did not appeal to me at all.

The buzzing continued. It was getting irritating.

And then, I reached an open space with rows and rows of tall plants! This was a flat surface with no rocky steps on the ground. The plants were as tall as me, some even taller.

Walking along, I felt myself getting lost in this sea of tall plants. Soon, I came to a clearing with man-made rock formations. I did not take much photos to show here. After passing that clearing, I saw the rocky steps going up the mountain and climbed them.

I thought it was getting darker. But it's only 4.30pm. Maybe it was going to rain? I sure hoped not although I had a raincoat with me!

There was not a single soul here. I wondered why. Surely there must be some locals or even tourists who would walk this mountain trail.

I was seriously deciding whether I should continue. I did not know how long more it would take. Besides, I did not want to come here after dark. I knew that I had to use this route for my return journey after visiting the fishing village.

I made the decision to turn back. I was not going to take the risk! Walking here in the dark of the night would be no fun, believe me!

The image of a Chinese female vampire flying from tree to tree flashed through my mind. What the hell was I thinking? Erase! Erase! Erase!

Perhaps the darkened sky and the loneliness was starting to get to me. OK, I am turning back right now!

I descended the rocky steps and reached the clearing and the open space with the rows of tall plants again. Walking among the tall plants, I could not find the slabs of rocks from where I came up earlier.

After a few attempts, I still could not find my way! I realised then that I was lost! Oh no!

Then I heard someone calling my name. My Mandarin name to be exact. I froze. Did I just imagine that?

Looking around made me dizzy. I felt panicky. Help!

I kept repeating to myself to stay calm. I assured myself that the voice I heard was all in the mind. Erase! Erase! Erase!

I visualised an invisible shield surrounding me. This was a method I learnt from one of those Mind Power seminars I attended a few years ago. The invisible shield would protect me from any harm. I knew I must not underestimate the power of my mind!

I felt calm after that and my mind was clearer. I took a deep breath and reassured myself that I would find my way. Looking at all the pathways before me, I decided to take one that was slightly to my left. I really did not know why I choose that but it was just a gut feeling.

Walking among the tall plants, I soon saw the slabs of rocks again! I found my way! Yes!! You cannot imagine how relieved I felt at that moment!

I am sorry there is no more photos after this because I was just too overcame by relief to remember taking any photos! Haha.

It was unfortunate that I was not able to visit the fishing village. But who knows - maybe I will visit Xingping again a few years down the road? And next time, I will be better prepared!

FIRST COMMENTER

Lost In Xingping (Part 3)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:27:00 +0000

Continued from Part 2

I reached a clearing. I remembered walking through this clearing when I came up earlier. There were some man-made rock formations circling the edges on one side of the clearing.

Walking past the rocks, I reached a large open space where I remembered seeing these plants. They were as tall as me, some even taller. They filled up most of the open spaces.

I stopped and looked around me. Suddenly, I was not sure of my sense of direction anymore. Should I turn right or left?

I followed one of the paths further to the right but it led me to a dead end. It was as if the tall plants had blocked the path midway.

So I walked back and tried going the opposite direction. Another dead end. How could this be?

I walked back to the centre of the open space. Behind me were the rock formations at the clearing I mentioned earlier. I stopped to think for a while. From which direction I climbed up just now?

Somehow my brain wasn't working. I decided to just walk straight ahead. But as I followed the path surrounded by all those tall plants, I felt it was not the right direction. I quickly returned back to the starting position.

The tall plants in front of me were beginning to overwhelm me. I realised I was lost!

Looking around me made me feel dizzy. The view on my right....

and on my left ...

They were making my head spin.

I suddenly felt lonely. Very lonely. I was all alone in the middle of this deserted mountain forest.

Then I heard it.

Someone calling my name.

Was it my imagination? Maybe it's just the wind. Who would know my name in such a place? Besides, it was my Mandarin name that was being called. No one ever calls me by my Mandarin name!

My heart was beating faster by the minute. I was on the verge of panic.

I have heard about spirits in the forests and I sure as hell did not want to encounter any such things in the middle of nowhere in China!

Two hours earlier, I was having a nice time chit chatting with one of the counter staff at This Old Place Youth Hostel where I stayed. Before embarking on my solo trip to Xingping's fishing village, I had to make sure I know exactly how to get there. So I enquired at the lobby and I was glad the staff there spoke reasonably good English.

There was one girl there who actually spoke excellent English and she showed me this map.

To reach the fishing village, I would need to hike up a mountain. As you can see from the map, the fishing village is on the other side of the mountain facing the beautiful Li River.

From my hostel, I would need to walk past the bus station (it's written as bus park on the map) on my left and then turn right into a village road. From there, I need to turn right into a hiking trail going up the mountain.

According to her, if I come across any junction during my hiking, I must always turn right to prevent myself from getting lost.

This should be a piece of cake......or so I thought!

Before I left the hostel, I made sure I knew how to pronounce the word yú cūn which means fishing village in English. I had to make sure the locals there understand where I want to go if I ever need to ask them for directions!

Looking at my handphone (I did not have a watch with me), it was already 2.30pm. I had better hurry. According to the girl, it would take at least one hour to reach the fishing village and that also depends on how fast I hike up and down the mountain!

After passing the bus station, I was not exactly sure where the road leading to the village was so I asked a man manning a stall opposite the bus station. He pointed me to the right direction and asked if I was going alone. When I said yes, he sniggered. Now what's that supposed to mean?

Anyway, I continued walking and reached this road.

It was one long road and there was no right or left turn.

I met a middle aged lady and asked her how to go to the fishing village. I did not understand her completely but I think she asked me to turn right when I reach the mountain trail.

If the road I walked looks deserted, let me tell you it was indeed deserted. But the beautiful views of the green hills made the walk quite pleasant. Once in a while, I would pass by the local people there and I would just greet them with a "ni hao" or simply smiled.

I wondered what building this is!

Maybe it's one of those outdoor toilets so I was not too keen to find out!

Further down the road, I saw some small farms and fruit plantation.

See the fruits?

Wonder what fruits these are? Pears?

If only Jam was not sick, he would be here with me, probably talking to some of the local people and asking them about these fruits! Oh, well...

Look at what I found!

An old fashioned water pump!

I guess the locals here still use this instead of modern taps!

All along the village road, I tried to search for the mountain trail on my right side. There were actually a few right lanes. Which was the correct one?

I actually tried all of them! But all of them did not lead me anywhere. One or two led me to a dead end.

So I continued walking on the main road and reached here.

This road led me back to the big main road where the bread shop I visited earlier was located! So I was back to square one! I decided to turn back and search for the mountain trail again. I could have missed it!

I think I must have spent almost an hour walking up and down that village road! What a waste of time!

Finally, I bumped into an old lady who was cleaning the compound outside her house. I asked her how to go to the fishing village and she immediately pointed to the lane next to her house. I wondered how I managed to miss that lane! Still, I really think they should put up a signboard or something!

As I was about to enter the lane, I was stopped by the sound of bells ringing. What was that? Then right in front of me, they appeared. I was stunned!

To be continued ....

FIRST COMMENTER

Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:52:00 +0000

No, I am not an angel. And no, I am not writing memoirs about my life.

If you don't know already, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel is the name of superstar singer Mariah Carey's latest album.

As you have most probably guessed by now, I have bought her album and listened to it for many rounds already. So want to know what I think of it?

OK, so here's my take on Mariah's newest album. Well, that is, if you don't mind reading a review written by one of her huge fans! Just keep in mind that I'm a little biased, but I will try my best to give a fair review. Haha!

I will review every single track on the album and rate it from 1 to 5 stars, where the ratings go like this.

1 star - the song sucks!
2 stars - not really good, but passable.
3 stars - quite good, but won't make it to No.1 on the charts.
4 stars - great song - love it!
5 stars - Wow! A potential chart topper!

And I have included a 30 seconds sample of each tracks for your listening pleasure. However, be warned! This album is unlike Mariah's past albums and there is no single track that I like on my first listen! Yes, incredible that I would say this, being a huge fan of her, but it's true.

Most of the songs in this album require repeated listening because they will sort of 'grow' on you.

On my first listen, I find them a bit monotonous, bland and even boring! The songs all sound pretty much alike! Suffice to say I was disappointed.

On my second listen, the slow songs started to depress me a little. I needed more energy, more vibes!

But on my third listen, the charm started to work its magic. I suddenly found I love almost all the songs very much and once I started listening intently to the lyrics, I was hooked! Few albums ever had this kind of effect on me, and I am glad this one did!

So do not judge these songs too quickly by merely listening to these 30 seconds tracks.

Memoirs of an imperfect Angel

1. Betcha Gon' Know (The Prologue)

This song is about catching your lover cheating on you and the hurt and vengeance that ensues. It is beautifully sung, with much emotion and breathtaking intensity. I love Mariah's voice on the chorus part! Absolutely a delight to listen to. In fact, I would even say this is a very classy, slow jam!

It is interesting that this song mentioned a little bit about Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters and how Mariah will "laugh right in your face" if you cheat on her.

This song definitely sets the tone for the rest of the album!

My Ratings : 4.5 stars

2. Obsessed

Before the song starts, Mariah said these words "I was like, why are you so obsessed with me?"

Now we would never be sure if she was referring to notorious rapper Eminem, as she kept denying it. Don't know anything about the Mariah vs Eminem feud? Read here.

But of course, both Mariah and Eminem took full advantage of this opportunity using social media and all the publicity generated to elevate their songs to the top of the charts!

In any case, I love this song! It's very radio friendly, with a catchy hook and chorus that can be sung to anyone whom you think is delusional or crazy. Haha!

And I just love the witty lyrics! Man, I think Mariah is getting better and better at writing sharp, put-you-down lyrics! Consider this...

"You a mom and pop, I'm a corporation.
I'm the press conference, you a conversation."

If those words are aimed at Eminem, I would say, OUCH! Of course, Eminem responded with another song but I will leave that for another post : )

By the way, this song made it to the top of the charts on Malaysia's Fly FM. Yeah! You can continue to vote for this song on Mix FM and Fly FM.

My Ratings : 4.5 stars

3. H.A.T.E.U

This song, which is a tribute to Minnie Riperton, is about a lover's lament (not necessarily Mariah) over the untimely end of her romance. Although the title seems to say "I hate you!" but in actual fact it stands for 'Having A Typical Emotional Upset'.

It's a beautiful heartbreak ballad filled with lush harmonies. Mariah seems to be singing a recurring melody in the upper registers not unlike in the style of Minnie Riperton. Ironically, this song is called "Hate U" while Riperton's famous song is titled "Loving U".

Not only that, Riperton's album is called "Perfect Angel". And this album is titled "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel". No coincidence there - I believe Mariah is a fan of Minnie Riperton!

I actually did not like this song on the first listen, but it seems to 'grow' on me. Surprisingly, most Mariah's fans love this song a lot!

My Ratings : 3.5 stars

4. Candy Bling

This song is all about reminiscing past love, mainly teenage love. Reminds me of the song "Underneath The Stars" from her Daydream album.

Not exactly my favourite, although again I didn't like it on my first listen, but it gradually grew on me. I guess maybe Mariah used too much whispery vocals throughout the song and it wasn't until towards the end that she let her voice go. Now that's the best part of the entire song!

My Ratings : 3 stars

5. Ribbon

I can't tell you how much I love this song! It just gets better and better with each listen! Currently, it's my most favourite song on the album although that might change later on.

I like the syncopated rhythm when she sings "Wrapped up, packed up, ribbon with a bow on it." I love how she adds in those counter melodies - she's just so damn talented!

Definitely a very radio friendly song with all the right hooks and a potential chart topper if released as a single.

My Ratings : 5 stars

6. Inseparable

Another song which took me some time to like. It uses a small sample from Cyndi Lauper's song "Time After Time".

I like Mariah's voice when she sings the second verse "Got photos of us on my refrigerator...". Nice song, but unlikely to be a chart topper.

My Ratings : 3 stars

7. Standing O

This is a stand out, foot thumping anthem with a tinge of raggae. Mariah is lashing out at her ex-lover and sarcastically salutes him by giving him a standing ovation.

I like this song on my second listen, probably due to its very infectious and addictive chorus. As usual, Mariah is brilliant in her counter melodies - just listen how she adds in those melodies while the infectious chorus is going on.

Oh, one interesting part in the lyrics is where she sings "As you embrace her in your arms, give her 'my all', give her more than you gave me." Incidentally, "My All" is a hit song from Mariah's Butterfly album, and also one of my favourite songs of hers! I guess only a fan like me will be able to spot this! Haha!

My Ratings : 4.5 stars

8. It's A Wrap

This one also took me some time to appreciate. But once I like it, there is no turning back! On this song, Mariah sounds refreshingly raw with no soft whispery vocals. Instead she showcases her strong vocals throughout which is a delight to listen to.

I even dare say this song may join Mariah's classics like "Vision Of Love" and "Always Be My Baby". What makes this song a good listen is Carey's multi-tracked voices that seem to flow around her lead vocal and all with minimal instrumentation - just perfect!

My Ratings : 4.5 stars

9. Up Out My Face

This is another song where Mariah lashes out at her ex-lover although she is also doing it in a most humorous way! It's actually humourous bordering on craziness! Don't believe me? Here's the ridiculously funny line from the song...

"If we were two Lego blocks, even the Harvard University Graduating Class of 2010 couldn't put us back together again!"

It must be a mouthful singing that, but Mariah sang it effortlessly!

I wonder if she's dissing Eminem again when she sings "You ain't a rapper, so you need to stop spitting it..." Haha!

I absolutely love this thumping club jam of a song. It's definitely hip-hop Mariah with an attitude! And minus the rappers, which I am glad as she does not need rappers to spice up this song! A potential chart topper IMHO.

My Ratings : 5 stars

10. Up Out My Face (The Reprise)

I could not believe my ears when I hear this track! It's the reprise of the previous song but using the big sounding marching brass band! How creative and clever! Totally unexpected and delightful at the same time!

It's tracks like this that makes me think that Mariah is a comedian or a joker!

My Ratings : 4.5 stars

11. More Than Just Friends

In this song, Mariah drops big brand names like our very own Jimmy Choo! Wow! This is not the first time Mariah mention famous brand names - she did it in the song "Shake It Off", from her Emancipation Of Mimi album, touching on Louis Vuitton.

This song is kind of fun and hilarious to me. Even Mariah pokes fun of herself and does not take herself too seriously when she sings this!

"I wanna be all on your lips like gelato,
Permanently paint me in your picture like Piccasso,
Love me down till I hit the top of my soprano. "

I like that they rhyme. Haha! This song seems to get better with each listening and now I'm thoroughly enjoying it!

My Ratings : 4.5 stars

12. The Impossible

According to Mariah, this song is dedicated to her husband Nick Cannon. There's a small sample from the R&B group Jodeci's song, "Forever My Lady" used here.

I did not really like this song on my first listen. I thought it sounded boring and monotonous. After some time, I like it more but it is still not a huge favourite of mine. Mariah seems to like this song though. Maybe because it is dedicated to her husband?

However, I like how she ends the song with "I almost given up, the impossible!" Nice touch!

My Ratings : 3 stars

13. The Impossible (The Reprise)

I don't quite like this filler, she should have cut this track out!

My Ratings : 2 stars

14. Angel (The Prelude)

I also don't quite like this prelude as it's mostly Mariah using her whistle voice ending up like some kind of otherworldly (or maybe angelic?) shrill. In my opinion, deleting this and the previous track will make the album shorter and tighter.

My Ratings : 2 stars

15. Angels Cry

This one should immediately appeal to those who like her ballads. But, surprisingly I found it to be just OK. Certainly not as good as her older ballads eg. "Butterfly", "My All", "Lead The Way".

And she is wrong about lightning not striking the same place twice as mentioned in the lyrics! We all know that lightning does indeed strike the same place twice!

Still, it is not too bad and the lyrics is actually quite meaningful. And I like it when she hold onto the long note at the end!

My Ratings : 3 stars

16. Languishing (The Interlude)

This song reminds me of the song "Looking In" from her Daydream album and "Rainbow Interlude" from her Rainbow album.

A nice and enjoyable song which blends very seamlessly into the next track "I Want To Know What Love Is".

My Ratings : 4 stars

17. I Want To Know What Love Is

Already released as a single but didn't do too well on the charts, this is a remake of the Foreigner's hit of the same name. When I first listened to this, I was not very impressed with it. Maybe wrong choice of song? Ooh, I am talking like one of those judges from American Idol now. Haha!

But after listening a few times, I am beginning to like it more. Especially when the gospel choir joins in and Mariah sings in her signature glass shattering high vocals, which I love!

By the way, if you are a fan, help this song reach No. 1 on Mix FM by voting here. Thanks!

My Ratings : 3.5 stars

Tracks 18 - 21 are remixes of the song "Obsessed", so I shall not review on those.

Overall, this album has a very cohesive structure. The songs are all interconnected through the lyrics as if each song is treated like an entry in a diary. As such, this album will not be able to produce really good hit singles. To me, that's a risk Mariah has to face for now the trend is on single sales and not so much on album sales.

I don't think this album will do that well commercially, but perhaps Mariah has reached the stage in her career where she does not really bother too much about sales or getting her songs to No.1 on the charts anymore!

Mariah also played it low key this time without resorting to over the top vocal acrobatics. But she did it with lots of class and style, elevating the sensual slow jams to an art form here. I really think she deserves a Grammy for this effort!

To fans who like her inspirational ballads, they may be disappointed with this album, but for me, it's a great and exceptional album, one which deserves to be in my collection and which I shall be listening to for many weeks to come.

So here's my ratings for this album and all her previous albums that I have in my collection!

Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel (2009) - 4 stars
E = MC2 (2008) - 4.5 stars
The Emancipation Of Mimi (2005) - 4.5 stars
Charmbracelet (2002) - 3 stars
Glitter (2001) - 3.5 stars
Rainbow (1999) - 4 stars
No.1s (1998) - 5 stars
Butterfly (1997) - 4.5 stars
Daydream (1995) - 5 stars
Merry Christmas (1994) - 4.5 stars
Music Box (1993) - 4.5 stars

FIRST COMMENTER

Lost In Xingping (Part 2)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:20:00 +0000

Continued from Part 1

As Jam was down with diarrhea, I went out for lunch with his friend. Although his friend was suffering from diarrhea too, his condition was not as serious as Jam. On the way, we decided to buy Jam some bread.

We came across this bread shop.

See the chairs dangling from the ceiling? I thought that was quite unique, although I have seen these swing chairs before from some blogs.

After buying some bread, we had lunch at this restaurant nearby. Anyone knows what is this shop called? I don't know how to read those Mandarin words!

They served only claypot rice.

Rice with pickled vegetables and meat. I think the pickled vegetables can be found in the rice noodles I ate in Guilin too. Probably these are staple food in small towns and villages.

After lunch, we passed by a shop selling wine containers and decided to take some photos.

Honestly, it was my first time seeing these wine containers!

They also have transparent containers. Not sure what these containers were made of!

We passed by a small supermarket called 99 Supermarket and decided to go in and have a look. I wonder if it has any connection with 99 Speedmart stores found in Malaysia?

The prices there was indeed low! How did I know? Well, I bought these two bottles of their famous tea for 1.70 yuan per bottle.

I found out that other shops along the same street were selling these drinks at 3 yuan per bottle. One shop even sold it at 4 yuan! What, they think we tourists are dumb?

When I told the boss that the 99 Supermarket down the street was selling it at 1.70 yuan, he did not look too pleased. Oh, come on, I really don't care whether you are pleased or not, I am not obliged to buy from you especially if you are selling at that kind of price!

By the way, I like the drink a lot! It was a mixture of sweet and sour in taste.

Hmm, wonder if the pictures of the models on these bottles are some famous stars in China? Anyone knows? I don't follow Chinese stars, only Hong Kong TVB stars, haha!

When we returned to our hostel, I rested for a while in my room before embarking on my solo adventure trip to Xingping's fishing village.

To be continued ...

FIRST COMMENTER

Random Notes 2

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:03:00 +0000

I am just so busy this week! Hardly have the time to blog, but no matter what, I got to blog! So it'll be a short post today, I hope.

I know some of you are waiting for Part 2 of my Lost In Xingping post - sorry about that! I shall post that once I'm free to do so. Thanks for your patience!

Today's post shall be another Random Notes so I'm calling it Random Notes 2 : )

1. I am planning to go for a 6-day holiday to Siem Reap, Cambodia with Jam and his friend next year from 29th July 2010 - 3rd August 2010. I am looking for a travel partner to share a room with me. Anyone interested?

Conditions as my travel partner are as follows:

No pictures of me and Jam and his friend to be posted on blogs or anywhere online.
Bring your own camera - no sharing of photos are allowed.
I may snore, so if you can't stand my snoring, bring a ear plug! No complaints on my snoring allowed.
Male preferably below 40 years old. Female below 35 years old and don't mind sharing same bed with me.

OK, just kidding on that last one. Haha!

Honestly, females are welcome! Just that I will book a room with twin beds instead of a double bed. But if you insist on a double bed, then please send me your latest photo and I shall decide. LOL!

Of course, if you don't feel comfortable to be sleeping in the same room with me, then I am afraid you can't be my travel partner!

Now I'm not being ageist (as in sexist) when I limit the age. It's just that this is not going to be some relaxing, luxury holiday. We are going for some sort of backpacking travel just like what we did in Guilin, China. So you must be reasonably fit and not get tired easily.

Of course if you are over 50 but is still fit and can go backpacking and not let us wait for you every time, then you are most welcomed to join us!

2. Jam and his friend will be going straight to Redang Island after returning from Cambodia. They will stay for 3-4 days in Redang. I am not sure if I would be joining them. I will decide on this later.

3. I just signed up for Facebook. Yeah, you better believe it! I know I have said that I don't do Facebook, but I do sometimes contradict what I said! Of course, don't expect to see my photos on Facebook! Well, if you want to add me as a Friend, please do so here. But do let me know that you read about it here as I don't simply add anyone!

4. What? We Malaysians have to pay RM50 credit card tax every year? Even though I only have one card, I am so unwilling to pay this unnecessary tax! I call this daylight robbery! I hope the banks will absorb the RM50 tax!

FIRST COMMENTER

Lost In Xingping (Part 1)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:47:00 +0000

The day after my Yulong River rafting adventure, we checked out of Xi Jie Youth Hostel in the early morning. We were planning to visit Xingping and stay there overnight before returning to Xi Jie the following day.

Xingping is a small town located about 25km northeast of Yangshuo. We took a bus from Yangshuo after our breakfast. The ride took about 45 minutes and it cost us 5.50 yuan per person.

On reaching Xingping, we had to walk quite a distance to Xingping This Old Place International Youth Hostel where we were going to stay for the night. I noticed something wrong with both Jam and his friend. They were not their usual selves. Jam was complaining that he was tired and not feeling well. I hoped it was nothing serious!

This is the entrance to the hostel.

This is the lobby. I do not know why I didn't take more photos of the lobby - maybe I was not in the mood!

As it was early, my room was not ready yet. However, Jam and his friend could check into their room so I decided to place my luggage in their room first.

It was then I learnt that Jam was having fever and diarrhea! He had to go to the toilet every half an hour! Jam's friend also had diarrhea but he was not as severe as Jam. Surprisingly, I did not have any diarrhea although I did suffer from stomach discomfort the next day. Could it be that I have been taking my probiotics supplements almost daily since my first day in China?

Anyway, we believed the source of this food poisoning was the lunch we had at Yulong River the day before. Jam recalled that there was no tap water there so the people there must have relied on the river for their source of water. Well, with people washing clothes and maybe children shitting in the river upstream, you can imagine how clean the river water must be!

Jam's room was on the 2nd floor. This is the balcony outside his room.

I sat on that "cradle" or rocking chair and enjoyed the views from the balcony. I could see my next door balcony. They had a rocking chair too.

Facing the opposite side, I looked through the "grill". Do you see that building in the distance straight ahead with its unique looking roof?

The streets below the hostel.

Not exactly a very nice view, but it's not like Jam would be sitting out here looking down at the streets below when he had to be within short distance to the toilet! Haha!

We had actually planned to visit the fishing village here in Xingping. But with Jam and his friend not feeling well, I wondered if we would ever get to go! So while Jam and his friend were resting in the room, I spent some time out here in the balcony thinking what I should do next.

Siting on the comfortable rocking chair, I rocked myself and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes, I saw this and thought why not snap a photo of it?

Can you make out what it is? Yes, I was looking up the ceiling and this is the top part of the rocking chair. Haha! I could not believe I was wasting my time like that!

I decided to go downstairs and enquire when my room would be ready. I found the staffs at the lobby to be very responsive and the girls were sweet and smiling all the time! Wow! Such nice people! A direct contrast to the lousy service we had at Backstreet Youth Hostel in Guilin!

Since my room would not be ready until past 1pm, I went out for a walk.

Xingping to me was like a small town with a few streets lined with shops and stalls. There was nothing really interesting here. I guess Xingping is famous for its beautiful landscape more than anything else.

Do you remember the Nine Painted Horses Hill I saw during my Li River Cruise? That hill is in located in Xingping!

Or the famous scenery depicted in the 20 yuan bill? That is in Xingping too!

This is another part of the street where the buildings looked more modern and new. I guess if you like a quiet and relaxing holiday, Xingping is the place to go.

When I returned to the hostel, my room was ready. I was given a room on the 3rd floor. When I entered the room, I was delighted to see how clean the place was!

This must be the cleanest place I have stayed during my entire 10 days in China! I was surprised because this hostel was in a small town and it was cleaner than those in the city like Guilin and Yangshuo.

The nice wooden carvings on the wall.

Of course to judge whether a room is really clean, one must check out the bathroom or the toilet! Yes, the toilet is the acid test in determining how clean a hostel is!

Guess what? I was amazed.

If you notice, this is my first time taking photos of a toilet in China and posting it on my blog. Because this bathroom/toilet simply deserves an A+ from me.

I can tell you it's cleaner than all the toilets I've been to in China, and it's cleaner than some of the 4 star hotels in Malaysia!

I was really impressed with This Old Place International Youth Hostel. At only 81 yuan (RM40), it was miles better than the lousy Backstreet Youth Hostel we stayed in Guilin which charged 108 yuan (RM54) a night!

Coupled with good service and ever smiling ladies at the counter, this hostel is a winner and I highly recommend it to all who visit Xingping.

Although my room did not have a balcony like Jam and his friend's, I realised that mine had a better view . Looking out my room's window, I was amazed with the scenery outside.

My room was actually facing the beautiful Xingping port which was just 50 metres from our hostel.

I like to stand beside the window and look up at the green mountain top!

The view outside changed as the evening drew closer.

Of course I did not stay inside my room the whole day and took these shots. I took them after I returned to my room later in the evening having 'survived' an adventure in the mountains of Xingping.

After checking into my room, I went out for lunch with Jam's friend. He was in a better condition and was able to have lunch with me. Thank goodness!

But he was not well enough to accompany me to the fishing village which we had planned to go. Besides, somebody was needed to take care of Jam and he might as well be the one.

So, that left me all alone. Well, I was not about to waste my holiday just because both my friends were down with diarrhea. Even though my Mandarin sucks, I was determined to go to the fishing village all by myself.

That involved trekking up the mountain and the forests to reach the fishing village on the other side. I did not know then that my solo trip would end up in disaster.

For the first time during my China trip, I was all alone and lost in the middle of the forests in Xingping.

To be continued ....

FIRST COMMENTER

My Yulong River Rafting Adventure (Part 3)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:35:00 +0000

Continued from Part 2

I have taken so many photos during my Yulong River rafting that I had a hard time deciding which ones to put up on this post.

The photos I like most are those which show clear reflection of the hills and landscapes.

I love the sight of green rolling hills reflected on clear water.

As we continued downstream, I noticed there were rafts heading upstream in the opposite direction.

I soon realised we were approaching another pier. If I am not mistaken, I think this is the Chaoyang Pier.

Lots and lots of bamboo rafts here!

Passing this pier, we soon came to another weir dam. After crossing this weir dam, my rafter stopped the raft by the side of the river bank and asked me to get down. He was going to bring me to observe the irrigation system on the farmland.

It was here that I met with an accident. I got down from the raft and stepped onto a huge slab of stone when I suddenly slipped and fell into the water! This is the spot where I slipped.

It happened so fast I did not know what hit me. The next second, I was in the river with the water reaching my waist level. It was quite a shock as I did not realize the water was that deep.

My rafter quickly helped to pull me out of the river. My first thought was my camera. Oh no! All my photos! All the photos that I've taken during the past 5 days! Would they be destroyed?

I had hanged my camera from my neck using a strap but I was not sure if it was submerged in the water when I fell. I quickly checked my camera to see if it was wet. Thank God it wasn't!

As I continue to check and re-check my camera, Jam and his friend quickly got off their raft and came over. It was then that I realised my right feet was bleeding. I felt a sharp pain there.

Jam's friend pointed out that the back of my left leg was injured too. I bent back to look and sure enough, there was a long cut there.

The cut from the middle part of my left leg extended up my left thigh.

My rafter managed to pluck some herbs from the farmland and applied those herbs onto my right toe to stop the bleeding. Thank goodness for the herbs!

I did not bring any first aid kit with me so I could not apply any bandage over it. My rafter just wrapped my toe with several pieces of tissues and advised me to keep my foot dry.

I could not move around much so I just took a photo of the water pump I saw at the farmland.

This water pump was used to pump water from the river to irrigate the farmland. There used to be water wheels in the olden days to carry water from the river but they were all replaced with water pumps.

When Jam and his friend had seen enough, we returned to our rafts. My rafter carried me behind his back and took me back to my raft. This must be the first time in my adult life being carried like that! Anyway, thank you to my rafter for his kind gesture!

Back on the raft, I took off the tissue that was wrapped around my toe. The rafter said I had to make sure I prevent my toe from being exposed to water and the hot sun to avoid any serious infection. So he asked me to put my right leg up to rest on the chair beside me, like this.

My rafter had adjusted the umbrella so that my right leg was constantly under the shade. Also with my leg high up on the chair, the river water would not get to splash onto my toe. Even then, I had to be extra careful and shielded my toe from the water every time we went down a weir dam!

As we moved downstream, there were more and more rafts along the river. It was becoming more touristy. I could see children and adults playing with water guns!

Hey, how come we did not have those water guns? I would love to shoot some water at Jam and his friend! Haha! But with the condition I was in, I was actually a little worried that these tourists would accidentally splashed my toe with water so I had hoped my rafter would quickly get our raft out of their way!

Soon it was time for us to stop for lunch. Our rafters brought us to Windmill Mountain Villa.

The name sounds nice doesn't it, but it's just another pier and a stopover for a meal. It was here I saw the only water wheel to be found along Yulong River!

See how the water wheel transported the water up from the river.

I did not climb up to take photos of the water wheel from behind. I left Jam and his friend to walk around the place while I rested my legs at the hut where we were going to have our lunch.

It was actually a nice place to have lunch as the view from here was beautiful!

The weir dam in front of the hut also make for nice viewing!

We invited our two rafters to lunch with us. These were what we ate.

Bamboo shoots.

Beggar duck.

I have heard of beggar chicken, but beggar duck? They were OK, though.

Eggs.

And vegetables.

The lunch was not too bad. However, we would end up regretting eating this lunch a day later. I will let you know why in my future post.

After lunch, we resumed our journey on the rafts.

There were lots more tourists downstream than upstream.

See this funny shaped hill? Looks like a thumb to me.

More beautiful scenery along our remaining journey.

Lots of bamboo trees!

Finally, after 5 hours of traveling on the Yulong River, we reached Gongnong Bridge, which was the end of our river rafting journey.

We docked at Gongnong Bridge Pier. There, we could see workers carrying our rafts up to the lorry to be transported back upstream for the benefit of other tourists who planned to go rafting on Yulong River.

I really enjoyed myself despite that unfortunate accident! I would not mind doing it all over again!

Coming up next : Lost In Xingping

FIRST COMMENTER

Random Notes

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:05:00 +0000

I am supposed to be posting Part 3 of My Yulong River Rafting Adventure today, but I think I will put that on hold to blog about some other stuffs.

I have been following Shingo T's blog for some time now, and I thought I like his 'random notes' posts. So I decided to start my own Random Notes! Here goes...

1. First, I would like to announce the winner of "I Heart KL T-shirt" contest. Congratulations to Reanaclaire! You just won yourself a "I Heart KL" T-shirt! Please email me your address so I can mail the T-shirt to you! Thank you for those who participated!

2. I bought myself 3 CDs last week.

They were worth buying as each CD costs RM25 only with the exception of the Mariah Carey's latest album which was retailed at RM29. It was actually sold at a special price of RM25 on the first day of the album launch in Malaysia but I was not free to buy it! : (

I know most people now download songs from iTunes and other sources online, but I still like to collect CDs. Probably I'm a bit old fashioned? : )

Anyway, these 3 CDs are worth buying as they contain great songs! No need for me to mention Black Eyed Peas - they already have several hits from their album! As for Colbie Caillat, I can sense some of the songs in her album to have great potential to be radio friendly hits!

3. I've been listening to Mariah Carey's latest album "Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel" for several days now. If you don't already know, I am a HUGE Mariah fan! Look, I have 12 of her CDs!!

I have even wrote a whole post dedicated to her! Read that here if you haven't already. I shall write a detailed track by track review of her latest album in my future post soon. Meantime, if you are a fan, help me to vote for Mariah's song on Mix FM and Fly FM. Thanks!

4. I love to eat cherries and grapes! Do you? Both cherries and grapes are full of antioxidants which are good for you! The other day, a friend of mine went to Selayang market and I asked him to buy me some grapes and cherries.

I was just a bit concerned over the grapes - the skin of the grapes were full of white spots. Do you know how to get rid of them? No matter how much I washed the grapes, the white spots or stains would not come off.

Anyway, the cherries were a hit with my family members. Within a short period of time, the full bowl of cherries became like this!

And before you know it, only the last one was left standing!

Guess who ate that? Haha!

5. I have over 600 unread emails in my inbox! I really don't have the time for this! I am very tempted to delete all the emails! Should I?

6. Anyone interested to watch "Cuci The Musical"? It will be staged from Oct 28th - Nov 8th 2009 at Istana Budaya, KL. Tickets are priced from RM43 (cheapest) to RM253 (most expensive). I normally buy the cheapest ticket seats on the highest floor and use my binoculars to watch! Haha!

The show also stars Adibah Noor, one of my favourite local singers.

The best musical I have ever watched at Istana Budaya is "Chang & Eng", a Singaporean production. Maybe because I loved all the songs - even bought the CD! Oh yes, I remember Adibah Noor performed in Chang & Eng too. She's fantastic!

I have watched "Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical" and "P. Ramlee The Musical" at Istana Budaya and they were not bad. The only problem with Istana Budaya is the seats are too cramped. Tall people would have a problem sitting in the seats there as there is not enough leg room!

7. I don't like the empty spaces on both sides of my blog! Can't they fill up the whole screen? Anyway, I find that it's nicer to read my blog if you magnify it (or zoom in) by pressing Ctrl and +. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl and scroll mouse wheel upwards.

You can press Ctrl and + a few times or scroll the mouse wheel until you reach the desired size.

The photos look even better at this enlarged size! To return back to default, just press Ctrl and the number 0.

Try it now. Do you agree with me?

FIRST COMMENTER

My Yulong River Rafting Adventure (Part 2)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:48:00 +0000

Continued from Part 1

Yulong River, which is a tributary of Li River, is approximately 15 km west of Yangshuo town. It is about 43 km long but our river rafting only covers about 15 km from Yulong Bridge Pier in Baisha town to Gongnong Bridge Pier near Big Banyan. You can refer to the map here.

The word "yulong" means "meet the dragon" in English. According to a local legend, a dragon from the East Sea once strolled across the Yulong River and was so taken in by the beautiful landscape that it decided to stay there forever. Villagers living on the river bank claimed to have seen the dragon, hence the name Yulong River.

We started out from Yulong Bridge Pier. I took this photo of the ancient Yulong bridge from where I sat on the raft.

It is not everyday that we get to see such ancient single-curvature arch bridge! Did you know this stone bridge is about 600 years old? There are 2 other similar single arch bridges nearby namely Xiangui Bridge and Fuli Bridge, but we did not pass them.

These were houses by the river.

I noticed that the river was quite shallow at certain spots. In fact, you could even see through the water to the riverbed. According to wikipedia, Yulong River has a maximum depth of 5 metres and an average width of about 25 metres.

I found the scenery simply mesmerizing! Yulong River was like Li River, only it's smaller and probably more beautiful!

I love the reflections on the water!

Oh! Does this look like a frog to you? It sure does to me!

Jam and his friend were on one raft while I was alone on another. Of course each raft has a rafter to steer the raft. The photo below shows Jam and his friend ahead of me.

Sitting on the reclining chair aboard the raft, I felt totally relaxed and was enjoying the beautiful views all around me!

If it wasn't that hot, and if I wasn't busy taking photos, I would not mind taking a nap! But I soon learnt that napping was impossible and you'll know why in a moment.

I was about to sit back on my reclining chair and relax myself when my rafter warned me to look out.

I sat back up straight and saw this!

Oh no! This must be the surprise Jam mentioned earlier. My guess was right! We were going down! Help!! I do not know how to swim and if I fall into the water, I am going to hold Jam totally responsible!

I quickly capped my camera lens and held on tight. I was not going to take any photos while on the way down! Firstly, I needed to hold on tight in case I got flung out of my seat! And secondly, I did not want the water to splash onto my camera and damage it!

We reached the edge. My rafter skillfully manoeuvred the raft. I held my breath as we dropped. In a matter of seconds, it was over.

Looking back, I took this photo.

We had just dropped down a weir dam! It was not as thrilling as dropping down a cliff, but still being my first time, it was thrilling enough for me.

And if I thought this was the only weir dam we had to cross, I was wrong. Throughout the entire journey, we had to go over no less than 20 weir dams! Now you know why I said earlier that napping was impossible. But after some time, it was no longer thrilling. And I think I could take a nap while going down. Haha!

The weir dams were constructed to irrigate the farmlands on both sides of the river. They were also used as walkways for both humans and animals to cross the river during dry season when the river was more shallow.

Having crossed the weir dams during this river rafting, I came to trust the safety of these rafts. A lot of readers commented that they would not sit on the rafts as they looked risky and dangerous but from my experience, they were not dangerous at all! Not once did my raft flipped when going over the weir dams!

I think the river water does not flow very fast here therefore the rafts are suitable and do not pose a risk. Besides, I learnt that the Chinese Government had approved the use of these rafts and the rafters or raftsmen have to undergo training and obtain licence before allowed to steer the rafts. All in all, I feel it's very safe but it would be better if they provide life jackets as that would definitely enhance our safety.

After passing the first weir dam, our rafters stopped and let us down to see farmers working on the farmlands.

A farmer plowing in the rice fields with the aid of a cow.

Do you know what these rice straws are for?

After spending some time on the farmland, we went back to our rafts and continued our journey downstream. There were no motor boats plying the river - only bamboo rafts. I loved the simple, natural and rural life here! Of course, I am a city boy at heart and I still think I belong to the city. Haha! But a break from city life sure helps to rejuvenate the soul!

I decided to put my leg into the water. Ooh! It's so cooling and refreshing!

A dragonfly flew towards me and rested on the raft. I quickly snapped a photo of it.

The natural landscape around Yulong River never ceased to amaze me. Look! Can you see a Chinese pagoda in this photo below?

No? Tilt your head to the left and you'll probably see it.

My rafter pointed out the pagoda to me, but I have forgotten which of the photos I took represents the pagoda!

How about this one?

No? Maybe I did not take the photo at the right angle.

Now, this looks more like the top part of a pagoda to me! What do you think?

The reflection on the water was simply stunning!

Soon, we approached a bridge. I think it's called Xiandu Bridge.

Here's the close up view of the Xiandu Bridge as we were about to pass under it.

This is my rafter.

We had a hard time communicating with each other as he spoke mostly Mandarin and I could not understand most of it. Well, I guess I just tried my best to make out what he said.

At one time, he pointed to the water and asked me to look.

I said, "Kàn shénme?" (What to see?)

"Fish!" he exclaimed.

"Oh! Nǐ zhīdao zěnme shuō Yīng wén!" (You know how to speak English!)

"Yīdiǎnr" (Just a little) he said, smiling.

I think that's the only English word he spoke actually. Haha! Wait! There's another word he knew.

There was once he pointed to a hill in front and said, "Hànbǎobao! hamburger!"

I looked at where he pointed and sure enough there was a hamburger right in front of me!

A giant hamburger in fact, haha!

Then I looked down at my feet and I saw this.

Now isn't that funny? Talking about hànbǎobao! I was wearing a pair of McD slippers! LOL!

As we continued downstream, the sun was getting hotter. Although the umbrella provided some shade, it was not enough. I had to reapply my sun block to avoid getting fried!

We were about to approach another weir dam where we would be getting down to observe the irrigation system there. However, something unexpected happened. I met with an accident!

To be continued...

FIRST COMMENTER

My Yulong River Rafting Adventure (Part 1)

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Before my trip to China, I was advised not to get involved in any activity that involves water. Yet, I went for the Li River Cruise, I sat on the raft to visit The Elephant Trunk Hill and I went river rafting along Yulong River in Yangshuo!

I do not know how to swim and I did not wear any life jacket. Either I was crazy or stupid, or both!

No matter, as I survived to blog about my experiences. Will I do it all over again? Maybe.

I have to admit that when my travel partner and blogger Jam first suggested we go river rafting, I was a little apprehensive. I mean, firstly I could hardly swim. Secondly, they don't provide life jackets over there. Thirdly, I know nuts about steering a raft!

But my apprehension was soon thrown out the window into the Li River when Jam told me that I do not need to steer the raft. All I do is just sit and relax while someone else steers the raft! Well, I have done it all before sitting on a raft to visit the Elephant Trunk Hill, so what else is new, right?

Of course, Jam did not mention about the surprise awaiting me and his friend. You want to know what the surprise was? Keep reading : )

It was our 6th day in China and 2nd day in Yangshuo. The day before, we had arrived in Yangshuo via the Li River Cruise from Guilin. We woke up early around 6am as Thomas, the boss of Xi Jie Hostel where we stayed would be taking us to the Yangshuo Bus Station to catch a bus to Baisha Town.

That is the Yangshuo Bus Station. Notice the beautiful karst hills in the background? Yangshuo is full of these karst hills making it one of the most beautiful town in China! There is a very popular saying that "Guilin's landscape tops those elsewhere, and Yangshuo's landscape tops that of Guilin".

Did you know that you don't have to stand in the bus in Yangshuo? In every bus that I sat during my China trip, I noticed they provide stools for passengers if there were no more seats left. How creative! Maybe the buses in Malaysia should follow their style. Haha!

We were to meet up with our two rafters in Baisha Town. Since Yulong River is not accessible by bus from Baisha Town, our rafters would send us there on their motorbikes! Gosh! This was my first time sitting on a motorbike! And just like everything else in China, safety was not a major concern. We were not given any helmets to wear. Oh well...

Anyway, this being my first time riding on a motorbike, I was initially a little nervous as the biker zoomed past cars and other vehicles! But I soon got the hang of it and was enjoying the ride. In fact, it was nice feeling the wind sweeping my face. And the beautiful scenery around made the ride even more enjoyable.

Thinking back, I scored many firsts on this China trip in terms of transportation. Sitting on a raft on the Elephant Trunk Hill tour, then balancing on a three wheel motorbike to Xi Jie Hostel and now riding on a two wheel motorbike to Yulong River! It's a pity I didn't get to cycle as well for that would have made it complete!

My advice to travelers is to experience the different modes of transportation and not to limit yourselves to just the buses or taxis. It would surely make your trip more fun and memorable!

We finally arrived at the Yulong Bridge Pier at about 8am. Look at the many bamboo rafts there!

Every raft has 2 seats. Since there were three of us, Jam and his friend occupied one raft, whereas I had a raft completely to myself! I was actually not too keen to be alone with the rafter because he could not speak much English and I could hardly speak Mandarin. So I was expecting some chicken and duck talk during my rafting. Haha!

While waiting for our rafts to be ready, I walked around and took photos of the place.

Oh! The raft sure looks imposing from this angle!

Washing clothes by the river bank. I was wondering, wouldn't all these washing pollute the river? But the river still looked so clear! I guess they must have been washing clothes there for thousands of years!

Ooh! Look at this little boy. Can you see the opening at his buttocks?

Here, let me magnify it for you.

No, his shorts was not accidentally torn open. It was done on purpose for obvious reason.

I thought he was such a cute little boy and decided to take more photos. But I think he got a little scared of either me or my camera (I hope it's my camera, LOL!) and refused to face me.

I think this is his mother. She was not too pleased with my photo taking. Oops!

But I could not help it. The little boy was just too cute!! haha!

Soon, it was time for us to get onto our rafts. Jam had earlier told us on the bus to be prepared for a surprise during our rafting. I wondered what the surprise was. At the back of my mind, I already had an idea what it was although I could not be sure.

5 hours rafting on Yulong river! It was exciting! I was determined to enjoy myself! Unbeknownst to me, an accident was waiting to happen.

FIRST COMMENTER

What Happened On The 9th Day

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:21:00 +0000

I am following the voices of the majority so here it is! Part 2 of Did We Pay The Tour Company?

Fast forward to my 9th day in China. We were back in Guilin. After the not so good experience at Backstreet Youth Hostel, I was glad that we checked into another hostel in Guilin. It's called Guilin Oasis Inn.

This would be the last place we stay in China, as we would be returning to Malaysia the following day.

At only 135 yuan (RM68) per night for a three-bed room, I thought it was worth our money!

This did not look like a hostel but more like a real hotel!

The service was good and the place was reasonably clean. I was going to have a good sleep that night! Or so I thought.

After having our dinner and walking along the pedestrian streets, visiting the night markets, we decided to call it a day and return to Oasis Inn. As soon as we entered the lobby, the lady at the counter received a phone call asking for Jam.

That caught us by surprise. Who would want to contact Jam in China? Nobody knew where we were staying!

As soon as Jam answered the call, I could see the expression on his face changed. He did not say much and then he put down the phone. I was like, what the ....?

The lady at the counter looked at us suspiciously as we hurried into our room. It was them! Jam told us it was the tour agent calling! My worst nightmare had come true! How the hell did they find out where we were staying?

And Jam had hanged up just like that. Great! What would the caller on the other side think? They would surely be on their way to Oasis Inn, we had no doubt about that! Maybe we should move out of the hostel? Run away like fugitives? That's out of the question! I do not want to end up in jail! Especially Chinese jail!

And guess what's worse. They could be bringing some gangsters to rough us out! Who knows what the Chinese people are capable of? Frankly, the thought of this made me a little panicky.

But luckily, we managed to calm ourselves and think rationally.

First things first. Did we try to avoid paying them? No, we didn't.

Did we try to run away? Not really. In actual fact, we were waiting for them to collect the payment from us, and it was not our fault if they did not do so.

So why were we so afraid? Maybe because Jam had hanged up on them. That's why! Jam, I am not blaming you for this. I would most probably do the same thing too if I were in your shoes. It was just too unexpected. Who would have thought that they would chase after us after so many days passed by without any news from them?

I told Jam maybe he should call them and explain the matter. Just then, there was a knock on our door. We stood there, too stunned to move.

Oh my God! They are here already!! How did they arrive so fast?

To my relief, it turned out to be the hostel staff. Phew!!

It was a call for Jam. Must be them again! Jam went to answer the call and came back telling us that they would be coming to collect the payment. I think the owner of the hostel was a little worried and asked us what was the problem. We said no problem! And went back into our room.

Gosh, I could not believe we did that! Oh, well....

We decided that we would meet them at the hostel lobby as it was not safe to meet them in our room. They could do anything to us inside the room! So we told the hostel staff to inform us once they arrive.

Meantime, we planned our strategy. Well, we were about to go to war!

We decided that we would not pay for the whole package that include the Li River Cruise, tour guide to Yangshuo's 5 tourist attractions and The "Impression Liu San Jie" show. That's because we went to the "Impression Liu San Jie" show by ourselves. So we would only agree to pay for the Li River Cruise and tour guide in Yangshuo. That would cost us 330 yuan (RM165) per person. Nothing more, and to be fair, nothing less.

Even then, Jam and his friend did not have enough money. They had splurged way too much thinking that the tour company would not be after us!

Fortunately, I had excess money with me, so I lent it to them.

Our main strategy of course, would be to make a big fuss over their poor service and question them over their inefficiency at collecting payment from us. Haha! We would act as if we were angry! They want to be angry with us? Let us show them that WE were the ones who were pissed off! Not them.

Despite this, I could not help feeling a bit jittery. Waiting for them to arrive must have felt like one of the longest nights in my whole China trip.

As it turned out, we had nothing much to worry about. A lady from the tour company came to meet us at the lobby. There were no men, no gangsters. Well, maybe the gangsters were outside, ready to move in if we fail to make the payment. Who knows? I could see the hostel owner was as worried as us. Poor fellow!

We talked to the lady and complained all we could. Well, it's part of our strategy and it worked. She agreed that we pay for the whole package except the "Impression Liu San Jie" show. So we paid up.

Before she left, we asked her how she managed to track us down. According to her, it was her duty to track us down. If she fail to do so, she would have to pay the company for the losses! So she went all out and contacted all the backpacker hostels in Guilin in search for us!

I could not help thinking what a coincidence it must be for us to be at the Oasis Inn's lobby when she first made the call. The phone actually rang the moment we walked in. If we had entered the lobby just a few seconds later, she would have missed us. And we would have gotten away with it!

I have never really believed in coincidences. There are no coincidences, as they say. I can only say this is karma at work. How else can you explain it?

It never once crossed my mind that a trip to China would reinforce my belief in karma. Anyway, it was a hell of an experience! And I'm pretty sure that this experience would remain in my memory for a long, long time.

Coming Up Next : My Yulong River Rafting Adventure

FIRST COMMENTER

Help Me To Decide!

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:19:00 +0000

A lot of readers have been asking me how many more posts would I be writing on my holidays in Guilin, China. I am afraid I have barely scratched the surface. I went to China for 10 days, and so far I have only managed to blog on 2 days out of that 10-day trip! I hope you guys are not bored!

I started with the first day in Guilin, where we checked into Backstreet Youth Hostel and then we visited the Elephant Trunk Hill on a raft.

After that, instead of continuing with what we did on the remaining part of the first day, I decided to fast forward to the fifth day where we went on the fantastic Li River Cruise to Yangshuo.

Of course, a lot of interesting things happened between the first and fifth day, so I shall return to the first day again in future posts. I thought it will be more interesting to blog in this manner instead of following in sequence from Day 1 to Day 10.

On reaching Yangshuo, we followed the tour bus and visited five famous tourist attractions namely Jian Shan Temple, Big Banyan Tree, Moon Hill, Ju Long Tan Cave and Exotic Stone Palace.

After that, we had a thrill riding on a bike in Yangshuo street to reach Xi Jie Youth Hostel.

During that evening in Yangshuo, we visited the famous West Street and had a good time.

Now that I have brought you up to date regarding my China trip posts, let's continue from we left off, shall we?

However, I know some of you are waiting for the conclusion as to whether we paid the tour company for the Li River Cruise and tour around Yangshuo. All I can say is that during the two days that we stayed in Yangshuo, they did not contact us. We also did not hear from them the following day when we visited Xingping. On our return to Yangshuo on the 8th day of our China trip, we had already forgotten about them!

But I would like to hint that something happened to us on the 9th day when we were back in Guilin. Now shall I fast forward to the 9th day? Or shall I continue blogging from where we left off in Yangshuo?

I really don't know. Maybe you can help me decide. Tell me what would you like me to do. I think I will follow the majority. Thanks for following my story, dear readers!

FIRST COMMENTER

Win A I Heart KL T Shirt!

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Before I continue with my next post on my China trip, I would like to bring you all up to date with blogger QuaChee's The Big Bibik & The Little Nyonyas.

If you have been following the webisodes, you would probably noticed it's currently at the 5th episode, which is halfway mark for this nyonya cookshow series!

For the benefit of those of you who have not watched this online show, here's episode 4 of the series for your viewing pleasure.

In this episode, the Little Nyonyas (played by Michelle Ng, Vanessa Hee and Charlene Meng) learn how to cook ayam ponteh but of course, they get scolded by Big Bibik (played by Kenny Chan) for their lack of cooking skills!

It was fun to watch and if you like to watch the other episodes, do check them out at Bookmarqc website.

OK, now about this "I Heart KL" T shirt. It's available at all Delicious outlets for RM25.

If you like to win this "I Heart KL" T shirt from me, just write a short post on your blog about The Big Bibik And The Little Nyonyas. You must however do the following 3 things to qualify for the contest.

1. Embed any one episode of The Big Bibik And The Little Nyonyas webisode on your blog post. Get the embed code from Bookmarqc.

2. Mention that you heard about this contest and this online show from my blog and provide a link back to my blog.

3. After you're done, drop a comment here saying you are joining this contest and have published the post on your blog.

This contest is open to all Malaysian and international bloggers.

Winner will be determined by lucky draw.

This contest ends on 18th October 2009, so hurry!

FIRST COMMENTER

Mei You Cafe

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:35:00 +0000

I had an accident during my China trip. I had a cut near my right toes and another long cut behind my left leg. It was painful.

The accident happened during my Yulong River rafting on my second day in Yangshuo. I will blog about that in my next post but for now, I would like to fast forward a little bit to what we had for dinner after we returned from the river rafting.

The night before, we had a good dinner at Cloud 9 Restaurant in Xi Jie (West Street). During dinner, we saw an interesting restaurant opposite. It was called Mei You Cafe.

As I have mentioned in my last post, mei you means "don't have" in English. So what was it that this cafe did not have? Curious, we decided to go to this restaurant for dinner the next day after our Yulong River rafting.

It was painful for me to walk from Xi Jie Hostel where we stayed to this cafe although it was less than 5 minutes walk. That was because the shorts I was wearing kept touching that injured part of my leg. Well, guess I had to walk slowly and bear with it!

Reaching the restaurant I saw this signboard that reads

Mei you Lousy Food
Mei you Rip-Offs
Mei you Pay FEC!
Mei you Bad Service
Mei you MEI YOU!
So mei you reason to hesitate
COME IN!

Don't know why I forgot to take a photo of that signboard! Anyway, isn't that funny? No wonder it's called Mei You Cafe! I thought it was very creative of the owner to come out with such a name for the cafe!

By the way, FEC means Foreign Exchange Certificates. To know what FEC is, read here.

We ordered the beef dish. Don't remember the actual name though.

Can't see much beef? That's because they were hidden below all those onions and green pepper!

We also tried the pumpkin leaves.

And Mei You Cafe's special soup.

Don't ask me what's inside the soup! I have already forgotten!

The food was just OK to me, and that's about it. I guess if we had tried other items on the menu, we might be able to judge the food better. But it had to be a quick dinner as we had less than an hour to eat before going for the "Impression Liu San Jie" show later.

I was hoping for mei you bill. Fat chance! The damage came to 91.80 yuan (RM46.20) or about 30.60 yuan (RM15.40) per person. I guess most people visit this restaurant because of its unique name. Well, I am glad we had the chance to dine at this famous restaurant on West Street!

Coming up next : My Yulong River Rafting Adventure

FIRST COMMENTER

A Walk Along West Street

mvfblog@gmail.com (foongpc) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:29:00 +0000

Having checked into Xi Jie Hostel in Yangshuo, and planned the following day's itinerary, we rested for a while before going out for dinner.

We would be going for a 5-hour river rafting along Yulong River in the morning and watch the "Impression Liu San Jie" show in the evening. I was extremely excited!

Before dinner, we decided to take a walk along the famous West Street (Xi Jie) which was just a stone's throw from our hostel. It was just as well as we planned to have dinner at one of the restaurants in West Street.

That's the stone carving with the words "Xi Jie" on it.

There were a lot of western style restaurants and eateries along Xi Jie street, mostly charging at "tourist" prices. I learnt that some of the shops here were actually opened and owned by foreigners who had settled down and married the local people here. No wonder West Street is sometimes known as "Foreigner's Street"!

In fact, it was a very touristy place with bars and all. Kind of reminds me of Bangkok with its go go girls although there were no go go girls here. There were however pretty girls dancing outside the bars! (pity I had to delete the photos as they were not very clear).

There were a lot of shops and stalls along the street selling anything from clothes, shoes and antiques to paintings, craft works and calligraphy. There were hotels too although I think staying here would be too noisy!

I could see that many foreigners of different nationality walking on this street and a large number of them were also seen enjoying their food at the cafes and restaurants here. I guess foreigners really love West Street!

There were also a lot of local Chinese people here. Maybe to them, walking and shopping in West Street made them feel they were in a foreign country. And perhaps that was the "in thing" to do!

Of all the places I visited during my China trip, I have to say I feel most comfortable at West Street. The reason is that a lot of the locals here speak English! Of course, they would still speak Mandarin when they talk to me, but if I responded in English, they could carry on the conversation in English!

I think they really take English seriously! While there, I even noticed there were a number of small schools teaching English! No wonder West Street is known as one of the biggest foreign language centres in China!

After walking for some time, we started to get hungry and decided to check out places to eat. We decided on Cloud 9 Restaurant because we wanted to be on cloud 9! Haha!

This is the entrance to the restaurant which was located on the first floor of the building.

There were not many people dining here probably because it was already close to 9pm. But the interior of the restaurant was nice and comfortable.

Since we did not have to pay the tour company, we decided to splurge a little bit for our dinner! Some sort of celebration, if you like.

We ordered their famous beer fish.

It was delicious! Wonder if there is any restaurant in Malaysia serving beer fish? Anyway, you can cook your own beer fish with the recipe here.

I guess with the Li River nearby, they would have no problem getting fresh fish!

Next, we ordered their pork and yam dish.

Another delicious dish! But the yam made it very filling for us. We could not finish it completely!

All meat and no vegetables would not be good, so we ordered broccoli.

After a whole day outside cruising on Li River in the morning and visiting the various tourist attractions in Yangshuo in the afternoon, we felt really thirsty. So we ordered Chinese tea, and coupled that with Coca Cola and a bottle of beer!

LiQ beer must be a very popular beer in Guilin and Yangshuo as I could see this brand in almost all restaurants! Since I do not drink beer very often, I really do not know if it was as good as famous brands like Carlsberg, Heineken and Tsingtao.

The bill came up to 139.80 yuan (RM71.30) or about 46.60 yuan (RM23.80) per person.

From Cloud 9 Restaurant, we could see an interesting restaurant opposite called Mei You Cafe. Mei You means "don't have" in English. So what is it that this particular cafe does not have?

I hope it is not mei you food and mei you service! Maybe it's mei you charge! Haha! I shall blog about that in my next post coming right up!

FIRST COMMENTER