While we meet .....

Trekking in Singapore (Sembawang - Yishun)

2013-09-14T13:17:00.000+08:00

We assembled at Sembawang Bus Interchange and took bus no. 882 to the Sembawang Park, where we started our trek today.

While we strolled around the seaside, one of the trekker reminisced about his early day living in the village around this area. He missed the delicious taste of the fishes that cooked by the fishermen immediately after they returned from the sea.

The Beaulieu House

Black and white colonial houses

Residential area near the Sembawang Park

"Soft Bone Grass"

Malay Settlement Sembawang Mosque

Simpang Kiri Park Connector

We dismissed at somewhere near the Yishun Industrial Park. From there, we took the only bus no. 169 to Northpoint and had our lunch there.

Trekking in Singapore (Pulau Ubin)

2013-08-28T12:40:00.000+08:00

As normally the bumboat will only sail off when there are 12 passengers joining the ride, we boarded the bumboats to Pulau Ubin in different batches while waiting for those late comers.

Changi Point Ferry Terminal

Not far from the Pulau Ubin Jetty is the town area, where quite a number of bicycle shops and eating houses located.

After about 20 minutes walk, we passed by a house which belongs to the head of the village. Some of our members had met him before, so they went into the house and said hello to him. They chatted like old friends, very much “kampong” feeling.

Taxi and bicycle are not allowed to enter Chek Jawa Wetlands, there is a space near the entrance for bicycle parking.

Jejawi Tower

After enjoying a panoramic view of Chek Jawa from the 20-metre tall Jejawi Tower, we walked along the 500 metre Mangrove Boardwalk into the mangrove area.

Attap Palm (Nipah Palm)

Mangrove Boardwalk

Thereafter, we continued walking along the 600 metre Coastal Boardwalk.

Coastal Boardwalk"

Sea Coconut

After that, we proceed to House No.1, which was built in the 1930’s. The architecture of this building is similar to cottages built in tea plantations during the British colonial era.

House No.1

Viewing Jetty

Probably the only working fireplace left in Singapore

On our way back to the Pulau Ubin Jetty, we met a family of wild boars. Some of our members were so excited and went very close to the boars to capture their image with handphone or camera. That made the boars quickly ran way and disappeared in the forest. I felt that it wasn’t that nice, as I think that the best way to get along with the wilds is to keep a distance from them, so that they would not be disturbed.

Quarry turned lake

We were back to the mainland at around 1.30pm. Instead of taking our lunch at the famous hawker centre, we headed the coffee shop at the other direction for the Hong Kong style Wan Tan Mee (Dumpling Noodle) and the local style Bah Chor Mee (Minced Pork Noodle).

"The Art of the Brick" LEGO Exhibition

2013-03-04T11:57:00.001+08:00

I chanced upon the "The Art of the Brick" LEGO Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum one Saturday afternoon.

It's by New York-based artist Nathan Sawaya, who was a lawyer before working full time as a LEGO artist.

"Yellow"

(About the metamorphosis the artist has been through on his journeys_

"Hands"

( It's literally artist's nightmare as hands are his most important tool. It took the artist 3 weeks to create.)

"Face Mask"

(The artist's self-portrait. It took him over a month to create)

"Untitled"

"Blue Guy Sitting"

"Square Torso"

(The circle, square and triangle are the fundamental building blocks of all things. And the colours red, blue and yellow are the primary colour of the world)

"Disintegration"

(Beware the winds of life that nibble away at your sense of self. Stay Strong.)

"Untitled"

"Bob"

(This portrait of a musician took him less than a week to create.)

"Courtney Yellow"

"Parthenon"

"Sing"

"Writer"

The exhibition contains strobe lighting and smoke effects.

"Dinosaur Skeleton"

(It's one of the largest sculptures the artist has ever made)

"ArtScience Museum"

Beside viewing the items on display, visitors can walk over bricks of different shapes and sizes to enjoy the reflexology.

Reflexology Path

There is also a "The Art of Play Activity Corner" where bricks of different colours and sizes are provided for the visitors to build to their hearts content.

Play Activity Corner

Retail

The Art of the Brick

17 Nov 2012 - 14 Apr 2013

ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands

Ticketing

Trekking in Singapore (Bukit Timah Hill)

2012-03-30T11:38:00.013+08:00

We started the walk at 8.45am, it took us about 5 minutes to walk from the visitor center to the quarry at Hindhede Nature Park.

Visitor Center

Quarry

After a short stay, we follow the same trail back to the visitor center and from there, trek through the green trail.

Greater Racket-Tailed Drongo

Although for some of us, this was our first time trekking in Bukit Timah Hill, we still chose a more challenging route instead of starting on the concrete path.

We reached the summit after an hour walk. While resting in the summit hut, we saw some oversea visitors listened with a puzzled or suspicion expression on their faces, when they were told that this altitude of 163.63 meters (537 ft.) is the highest point in the island nation.

The Summit Hut

We started our way down at around 11am and proceed to the hawker center in the Beauty World Centre. The mutton soup and Yong Tau Fu there are really delicious.

On the way down

Trekking in Singapore (Pasir Ris - Changi Village)

2012-03-01T20:49:00.019+08:00

We set out from Pasir Ris MRT station at 8.30am, passed by Pasir Ris fishing pond and headed Pasir Ris Park Mangrove Swamp.

Pasir Ris Fishing Pond

Pasir Ris Park Mangrove Swamp

After passing through some chalets near the beach, we came to a private estate.

Pasir Ris Beach

There was a “haunted” house. Nobody knows why it was said “haunted”, we had a peep over the fence.

As it was sunny daytime, we did not feel any horror standing outside the fence, what scared us instead was a long black snake near where we stood.

After that, we proceed to the Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple.

Loyang Tua Pek Kong Temple

We set off again after half an hour rest. We decided to take a bus instead of walking under the hot sun to somewhere near the military camp, then trekked from there to the Changi Point Boardwalk.

It took us one and half hour to walk to the Changi Village Hawker Centre and ended the day's trekking activity with yami food there.

Trekking in Singapore (Woodland - Sungei Buloh)

2012-02-26T12:37:00.016+08:00

We set off from Woodland MRT Station and headed Republic Polytechnic, walked through Admiralty Park and reached the Woodland Waterfront one hour after starting out.

From Wooldland MRT Station towards Republic Polytechnic

Woodland Waterfront

As our main destination for the day was Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, we did not stay long at Woodland Waterfront and continued trekking to Woodlands Town Garden, then took a 10 minutes break there.

Took a 10 mins break

We started off again at around 10am. After 15 minutes walk, we turned into a plot of grass beside a petrol station.

There was a railway track (had already been dismantled now) at the end of the plot of grass.

We trekked along the track and turned into Kranji Road at the intersection of the railway track and the road. After another 10 minutes walk on the road, we stopped by a coffee shop for a break.

When we were about to leave the coffee shop, the sky started drizzling. Our leader decided to proceed to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve by bus no. 925 instead of going there on foot. Luckily there were only a few passengers on the bus and it could accommodate all (about 80) of us.

Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve

We spent about one and half hours in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Although one of the members brought a pair of binocular, we didn’t get to watch much bird beside some herons, as none of us is good in birding.

However, we saw quite a number of lizards lying around, they just ignored us when we walked by, like what Chinese idiom says “well water does not intrude into river water”, there will be peace if we do not interfere each other.

At around 1pm, we left the wetland reserve by trekking through the Kranji Nature Trail.

It took us 30 minutes to reach the bus station at the main road and ended the day’s trekking activity.

Nostalgia - Screen Pictorial Magazine

2012-01-15T18:28:00.024+08:00

Saw this almost forgotten carton of magazines during the spring cleaning; it reminded me of the comparatively simple life in the 60’s of last century.

The Seven Princesses

I remember there were only a few families in the community owned a television. Everyday after dinner, neighbors congregated at those houses with a television, those who bore the hosts fellowship were allowed to enter to the house, whereas the rest just stood outside and watched the TV programs through the door or windows. The hosts had never closed the door because of privacy or noisy, I believed that they were not only feeling proud of owning a television, but also having the mindset of sharing.

The June 1962 issue of “The Screen & Stage Pictorial”

There was an article talked about the inauguration ceremony of Malayan Production “Morning Mist”, a film that based on Malayan background and starring of Singapore local talents.

Another article showed fishing activity in Singapore then.

Another article reported the two beauty contests in Singapore in year 1962.

Also, opening ceremony of “Maybo Company” at Kowloon City by Hong Kong celebrities.

The June 1961 issue of “Southern Screen”

There was an article reporting the visiting of the casting director for Universal Pictures, to find Asian actors and actresses.

The Nov’1961 issue of “Southern Screen”

The March 1961 issue of “International Screen”

Lunar New Year “Family Reunion” of MP&GI, Yung Hwa Studios and the International Screen

The May 1965 issue of "Screen Stories"

The October 1958 issue of "The Movietune Pictorial"

"The Great Wall Pictorial"

The above are all bilingual pictorial, the fonts used are very small as the space of a whole page is limited (for those who are interested to read the details, please click the picture to enlarge it). It is a challenge for me to read them at this age, yet I am reluctant to discard them after keeping them for so many years.

Trekking in Singapore (Khatib - Seletar Reservoir)

2011-12-22T16:59:00.016+08:00

The sky had turned dark when we started off from Khatib MRT Station at 8am.

The rain started 10 minutes later and became heavier; we had no choice but to stop for a while at the Bottle Tree Park.

We continued our journey after 20 minutes rest and headed towards Mandai Crematorium & Columbarium and after that, proceed to Seletar Reservoir.

We reached the Upper Seletar Reservoir Park’s rocket tower at around 10.15am and took a 20 minutes there.

After that, we continue trekking for about two hours.

Some of the paths were muddy whereas the others were dry like no rain at all earlier.

According to our leader’s original plan, we supposed to reach Zheng Hua at around 1pm, but we lost our way.

At the end of the day, although we finish trekking at 1pm as planned, we were not at Zheng Hua, but back to the Upper Seletar Reservoir Park instead.

One of the member had to scrap her trekking shoes after todays' trip

Trekking in Singapore (MacRitchie, Ruins of Syonan Jinja)

2011-12-17T16:10:00.017+08:00

We set out from the exit A of Marymount MRT Station and took about 15 minutes to reach MacRitchie Reservoir.

Marymount MRT Station exit "A"

It supposed to be an easy trek from MacRitchie to the Turf City at Bukit Timah before the Lunar New Year.

While we relaxed and walked by the board way, we met the other group of trekkers on the way to the Ranger Station, I called them the “Jinja” group for the nonce.

After a short break at the Ranger Station, our leader decided to change the route by following his friend from the “Jinja” group to the Ruins of Syonan Jinja.

Ranger Station

So, our journey into the jungle began…

For those who are interested, please click here or here or here and this video for more information.

Abandoned water tank

Stone water trough

3-round bases at each of the 4 corners of the trough

Flights

As there are quite a number of senior citizens in our group, our leader decided not to cross the water but return via the same way we entered.

Backtracking

The “Jinja” group had reached the opposite bank

Taking a short break

Ending of today's trekking

Trekking in Singapore (Bedok - Changi Village)

2010-06-08T14:35:00.012+08:00

Today’s meeting point is at a corner between the Bedok Bus Interchange and the Bedok Hawker Center. We set out at 8am sharp too.

We cross the road by the underpass and turn left to a private residential estate. Form there, we headed for East Coast Park.

Looked at those campers, a few of us started the reminisce of our young days. Most of us had not come to East Coast Park for years after our school days.

Around 10.30am, we came to a starting point of a 8km route.

After walking for quite long time, we still couldn't see the end of the road.

After two hours walk on this straight road, we finally reached Changi Beach Park.

A numbers of trekkers had rested and waited here for quite a while, some of them who sat at the refreshments stall quickly give their seats to us who arrived later. One of the lady trekker said that she had changed her two legs in order to walk till here.

We set out again after 20 minutes rest.

At the first glance, we thought that we need to walk from the red indicator to the end of the right hand side and felt so discouraged. Luckily a trekker realized our misconception and pointed out that we actually need to walk from the red indicator to the end of the left hand side, where the hawker center is, our morale was then recovered.

We finally reached the hawker centre at 1.45pm. We dismissed there for lunch and after that taking bus home. My bus journey was about one hour, after a nap in the bus, I felt not so exhausted when alighting, but my legs pained for two days, that's the result from walking 18km in half a day.

Trekking in Singapore (Yio Chu Kang - Upper Thomson)

2010-03-31T17:44:00.015+08:00

The assembly point today is at Yio Chu Kang MRT station and the group set out at 8am sharp.

After passing by the tennis court, stadium and swimming complex, we turned to a path beside a temple.

After that, we went into a grove. The surrounding reminded me of our trekking experience at Cat Ba National Park.

Not long after getting into the grove, we saw some clothes and sarong hanging around, and a few guys who look like illegal immigrants were standing beside a small pond. While passing by them, both parties were trying to act as if nothing were on our mind.

I was trying to catch the shot while the plane flying over us. One of the trekker joked that the plane is going to drop a bomb.

I asked him: “Isn’t it looks like a film image, we are to flee for safety while the enemy plane is trying to bomb?” The other lady added immediately: “No, we lose our way and this plane is here to search for us”. If there was a psychologist around, he probably would say: “One is a negative thinker whereas the other is a positive thinker”.

We saw quite a number of durian on the floor.

First "resting point"

Back to the main road

Second "resting point"

Went into another grove

Third "resting point"

We dismissed at 12 noon at Upper Thomson Road. Some of the trekker headed nereby for the An Pang Yong Tou Fu and the rest of us taking bus no. 138 to Ang Mo Kio for lunch.

Dismissed

Nostalgia - Banking Souvenir

2009-12-05T22:02:00.015+08:00

Although still having a vague memory of the old “China Building”, the owner does not remember since when and how this money box, which is a scale model of the old “China Building”, appear at a corner of the living room.

There are “OCBC”, “CHINA BUILDING”, and “华侨银行有限公司” on the front of the money box.

At the back of the money box, it list out as at Dec 1962, its paid up capital and branches location, e.g. Shanghai, Xiamen, Kowloon, Malacca, Kuching, ……

In the fifties and the sixties of the last century, peoples were encouraged to save. In lines with this policy, the banks had come out with some souvenirs to encourage children to open a saving account.

These doll model plastic piggybanks (there were also made of porcelain) were introduced by Chunk Khiaw Bank. Its hands holding a piglet with the words “CHUNG KHIAW BANK LTD” or “崇侨银行有限公司”. There is a hole on the piggy back for putting in coins. After the piggybank is full of coins, the coins can be poured out by twisting off the doll’s head.

Chung Khiaw Bank also came out with some animal decorations; depositor would receive one with a minimum deposit of S$50. There were also some bigger animal decorations that were also a piggy banks, they serve as a souvenir for those who opened a children saving account.

Besides, Chung Khiaw Bank also came out with a story book that relates to the above animal decorations, its content was to promote the benefits of depositing money into bank.

This picture bring back my memories of those young days, when I went to the Chung Khiaw Bank with my grandmother and auntie during primary school holidays, I always saw those lady staff in cheongsam talking to them friendly like a old friend. As time passes, the impression became vague; I always thought that those office ladies were in their forties or fifties then. Many years later, We recall those bank staff in one family gathering, I was told that they were actually only in their twenties or early thirties.

During primary school days, every student were arranged to open a saving account with POSB. I remember we had to buy stamps to paste on a card, after the card was filled up with the stamps, we then submitted the card to our teacher to deposit the “money” into our saving account. Although I was too young to understand the operation logic, I have had savings habit since then.

As times flies, things changed unknowingly. In the eighties, my colleague taught me that one should make use of credit lines to fully utilize one’s cash in investments, e.g stock. He said the return in share investment will normally more than the interest we pay for the credit card. That was an impact to my money management concept. Although I had an intuitive feeling that there was something not right about what he said, but I was not able to tell what was wrong.

Came to the nineties, that was an era that encouraging the people to be a shareholder. Later, we were encouraged to upgrade our housing. During those years, most of the people were either busy in trading stocks or busy in buying/selling house for upgrading (Housing upgrading was one of the major topics during election). Most of us had a new concept of financial management: saving our money in the bank is not a good cash management as the interest rate will never catch up with the inflation rate.

Later, after the merging in the banking industry, we don’t see Chung Khiaw Bank anymore, and the “People’s Bank” had also become a pass event.

Trekking in Singapore (Lim Chu Kang - Kranji)

2009-11-16T14:23:00.014+08:00

We took a bus from the bus station near Choa Chu Kang MRT Station to the end of Lim Chu Kang Road.

The bus station near Choa Chu Kang MRT Station

End of Lim Chu Kang Road

From there, we walked back about a distance of three bus stations and turned into a path. On the both side of the path are those factories engaged in the recycling industry.

Recycling industry Factories

After a brief introduction outside the factories, we headed for the frog farm. On the way, we saw quite a number of fruit trees that I couldn’t tell the name along the roadside.

Some trekkers picked the fruits from the ground and brought home, some trekkers just peeled and ate on the spot.

We visited the frog farm at around 9.50am and stayed there for about 20 minutes.

Jurong Frog Farm

The calls of the bullfrogs sound like symphony.

After leaving the frog farm, we trekked for about 15 minutes to the Fire Flies Health Farm.

Fire Flies Health Farm

We stop over for 30 minutes to take some snacks and do marketing.

We left the health farm at around 10.50am, it took us about 20 minutes walk to the main road. Before turning into another lane, some of the trekkers decided to leave the group.

Keep walking

Physically I felt very hot and tiring, but I wanted to visit the Kranji Farm Resort, after hesitating for a while, I decided to follow the group. Not long later, I realized I had made the wrong decision. Under the burning sun, the lane seemed endless.

and walking ...

Ten minutes later, my heartbeat became faster and faster, I could hardly talk, not sure whether this is the symptom of sunstroke. A lady realized that my face was very red and paid special attention to me. I told her I feel like taking a ride, unexpectedly she really stopped a blue lorry that passed by and asked the driver for a ride for me.

Thanks to the drive of this blue lorry

The driver gave me a ride to the end of the lane; I then had a chance to rest for 10 minutes while waiting for the group. After that, is another 10 minutes walk to reach Kranji Farm Resort.

I really struggled before reaching the resort, althought its only a 10 minutes walk

I was too tired to look around the resort, just sat down and panted, couldn’t even talk much when other trekkers told me that my face was very very red.

Kranji Farm Resort

After 30 minutes rest, half of us left the group and took the shuttle bus provided by the resort to Yew Tee MRT Station, the rest of the group carried on their journey to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, I really admire their energetic and stamina.

An Impressive Mini Car

2009-10-21T17:21:00.019+08:00

That was a Saturday afternoon in March this year, HM and I saw this mini car while stepping out of the Singapore National Museum. It was very impressive to me so I took out my handphone immediately to have it captured.

While I was busy in looking at it with the camera lens, HM who was looking at it with her eyes started testing me:
HM: “What’s the difference between this car and those we normally seen?”
I : “It is mini.”
HM: “What else?”
I : “The painting is more unique.”
HM: “What else?”
I : “The car plate is more colorful.”
HM: “What else?”
I : “Hey! Stop testing me; just tell me what you wanted to please.”
HM: “This is a left hand drive car.”

Oh yes! Only then I noticed that the steering wheel was at the left hand side, I was concentrating in taking photographs, didn’t really look at it in details.

I then recalled that about ten years back, SC and I were always appointed as the group photographer during overseas trips which organized by the association that we joined as members, although the photos we took were far below the professional level. During those years, only one of us will appear in most of the group photos taken.

Few years later, as we aged gradually, we started feeling that it was a burden to carry a bulky camera along for holiday. After our cameras were broken one after another, SC said it would be more impressive if we see the sceneries with our eyes than with the camera lens; and I agreed that I had always been busy in taking photographs rather than appreciating the beautiful views in heart. We then decided not to get a new camera and tried a few trips without bringing a camera along.

It was really more relaxing both physically and mentally, we really enjoyed the relaxation. But for me, when I saw those really impressive sceneries, I would feel like something is missing in my hands. The worse thing is, the sceneries I captured with my eyes did not impress me in mind more than those I captured with camera lens. When our friends talk about our trips or the places of interest we visited before, I had only vague memories on what they were recollecting.

Trekking in Singapore (Paya Lebar - Marina Barrage)

2009-10-10T18:07:00.013+08:00

We start from Paya Lebar MRT station at 8am, via City Plaza, old army camp, and then made a left turn after NorthLight School to the riverside of Geylang River.

Old army camp at the right hand side

North Light School

Geylang Riverside

An hour later, we took a break at Tanjong Ru Hawker Center for about 30 minutes.

Tanjong Ru Hawker Center

After the break, we forwarded along the riverside. There were quite a number of renovated dinning and entertainment building with bright color along the opposite bank. There were also herons and many other birds that I am not able to tell the names, perching or flying along the opposite bank. How nice if they could fly over this side so that I would have them captured in the photos.

Renovated Dinning & Entertainment Building

This one year old dog was standing quietly with its owner at a corner while our group of trekker was passing by. I lagged behind the group due to busy in taking photographs. As I was quickening the pace and passing by them, I made a casual wave to it and said: “Hello”. Unexpectedly, it dashed forward immediately even the owner was not able to pull it back; its forefeet were stepping on my thighs within two seconds. I was so scared, raised my hands, dared not make any movements and staring at the species that was almost as tall as me. The owner finally managed to pull it back only a few second later, I then realized that that was the way it shows its friendliness. Isn’t it over-friendlily?

We were at first walking inside the railing, it was blocked due to construction work in front, we then climbed over and walled outside the railing.

That was the blocked construction site at the left, trekkers in front were queuing to get through another railing, those who were skinny could squeezes through by shrinking their abdomen, those who were plump had no choice but to straddle over it.

After the railing was this “single-plank bridge”. As the age group of the trekkers across young children to senior citizens, this lady in red stand by aside to help whoever was in need of.

Not earlier, not later than, my handphone battery was dead when we reached Marina Barrage and therefore, not a single photo being taken during the one hour guided tour. Hopefully I will have a chance to visit it again in the near future.

Trekking in Singapore (Buangkok - Paya Lebar)

2009-08-29T23:24:00.013+08:00

I came to know about this trekking group that trek in Singapore monthly by chance. They used to start the journey at 8am. The unofficial leader does not take attendance, whoever wants to leave the group half way can always do so freely.

Today is the first time I join their trekking; the meeting point was at Buangkok MRT station. Not long after we left the station, we came to this park connector. As I always wanted to know where Serangoon River is, I quickly asked the leader whether this is the Serangoon River when I saw the “Serangoon Park Connector” signboard, he answered me with a smile: “Oh, no. This is just a big drain”. Luckily there were only two or three people around, and they didn’t know where Serangoon River is either, I then felt less embarrassed.

Is this the Serangoon River at the outer part of Punggol Park? I dare not ask anymore.

Ponggol Park

What about this? Is this the Serangoon River?

I Asked those trekker around me yet nobody knows. The lady in pink was very enthusiastic about clearing my doubts. When I speed up to shorten the distance with those ahead, I heard she raised her voice behind me and said: “Quiz game, quiz game, is this the Serangoon River?” (Only later then I knew that this is actually a tributary of Serangoon River).

Finally I get to see the truly Serangoon River.

Serangoon River

Defu Industry Park

Took a 30 minutes break at a canteen in Defu Industry Park after two hours walk.

Continue the journey after the break

Air Force Museum

After watching a short video and listening to the staff’s introduction, it’s about 1pm. Most of the trekker proceeded to 2nd floor to look around; I was exhausted and decided to leave early.

While I was waiting for the half-hour interval bus, I over-heard several trekkers’ conversation. From there I knew that the leader will normally recce first before every trekking activity, sometimes he needs to go back and forth several times on the same route to make sure it’s the best route. Also, some of the trekkers were from West side like Jurong, one of them even left home at 6.30am as he was not familiar with Buangkok area. I am really amazed by their enthusiasm about trekking.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D8

2009-08-17T14:56:00.012+08:00

The hotel normally start serving breakfast at 6.30am, as we need to leave for airport at 6.15am, they advanced the time of serving breakfast to 5.45am for us.

It’s still early after we checked-in at the airport; four of us stroll around the retail stalls for a while, and then walk leisurely when it’s close to the boarding time. Unexpectedly, we were declined at the gate and were told that we had wrongly approached the domestic boarding gate.

At the same time, we heard an announcement related to the flight number which we were going to board. We had no choice but quickly ran from one end to the other end where the international boarding gate was; luckily we finally board the plane without hitch.

After arriving Changi Airport, we took the shutter bus from Budget Terminal to Terminal 2, and then took the skytrain to Terminal 3 for our late lunch. Two of us had not been to Terminal 3 before, so we said this is the scenic we are going to visit today.

To look back at this trip, it was a wonderful holiday despite the early departure timing and the cold weather at Sapa. The two minor blemishes are we not being able to stroll round the Hoan Kiem Lake, and had not had a chance to try some food which I had been looking forward to savor.

View picture of the buffet I wanted to try (a Taiwanese lady had at “Brother Cafe”):
http://taiwan319.blog.shinobi.jp/Entry/322/

View picture of the spring roll I wanted to try (a Taiwanese lady had at “Little Hanoi”):http://taiwan319.blog.shinobi.jp/Entry/351/

These may become the reason of my re-visiting Hanoi.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D7 (Hanoi)

2009-07-08T12:46:00.014+08:00

We arrived at Hanoi railway station at around 5.15am, the staff from Golden Sun Hotel picked us up to the hotel, although it was not dawn yet, there were a lot of people exercise and joging around the Hoan Kiem Lake.

After taking a rest and freshen up, we followed a ‘36 streets’ walking route which we got form the internet to explore the Old Quarter.

When we got to the “secret café’, we were delighted with the environment and expected to enjoy a breakfast with French bread and Vietnam coffee while viewing the Hoan Kiem Lake in distance. We were very disappointed when we heard that they served only Vietnamese noodle and decided to look for another place for breakfast.

After taking a satisfactory breakfast (with French bread and coffee) at a café in a hotel nearby, we began to explore the various trades at the Old Quarter.

Meat Stall and Vegetable Stall outside a Souvenir Shop

Motor "Taxi"

Heavy Traffic

Lunch at Tamarind Cafe

Dong Xuan Market

We went to watch the Water Puppet Show after dinner at a restaurant near Golden Sun Hotel. Our hotel is near the upper left corner of Hoan Kiem Lake (with a red star on the card), and the Puppet Show theatre is near the upper right corner of Hoan Kiem Lake, the distance is about 10 minutes walk. As we were not very sure about the exact location and forgot to check with the hotel staff before going out for dinner, we decided to take a taxi there. Due to the one way traffic, the driver had to drive round the lake from the upper left corner to the upper right corner. We were yet to have a chance to stroll round Hoan Kiem Lake, so we took this as a substitute.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D6 (Tribes Village)

2009-06-30T17:35:00.015+08:00

We left the hotel at 7.15am to visit tribes villages. Our guide noticed that we had interest in bird viewing yesterday; he arranged a short stop over on the way at Hoang Lien National Park.

Fansipan Mountain

Tribes Village

We visited two tribes villages. The houses may look simple and crude, but almost every house we visited had a television, and had a satellite dish installed outdoor.

The master of the house below didn’t seem to be used to deal with tourists, our guide stepped in first to greet him and asked his permission for us to look round the house, he nodded and left after serving teas on the table quietly, we did not see him again until we left his house.

Living room

Bed rooms

The young girls were very curious to visitor and camera, they were more than happy to pose whenever we asked them to, and they were excited to see their pictures form the camera screen. Comparatively, the boys were very shy, once they noticed that the camera focusing on them, they would turn away immediately.

I was amazed by the sustainable and the stability of those pillars.

“Petrol station” for motorbike

Lunch at a eating house on the way back to Sapa

On our way back to Sapa, the driver stopped at a safe area for us to take photos.

We stopped over at the Silver Waterfall for 30 minutes

Silver Waterfall

We got back to Sapa at around 4pm. We were holding 7.30pm train tickets for Hanoi but were told that the correct departure time should be 8.15pm; we therefore had some allowance to freshen up and take our dinner before saying goodbye to Sapa.

We took the transport arranged by the hotel to Lao Cai at 6pm. An hour later, the driver dropped us and a few Europeans at a restaurant without telling us what to do next; anyway, he did not speak English at all. HM and I stayed at the entrance with our luggage, AH and BL went into the restaurant with a European couple, they came out a while later without any idea what to do next. We decided to walk to the railway station on our own. At the station, two of us staying at a corner with our luggage, the other two asking around about the ticket exchange procedures.

The ticket on the top was what we were holding; we had to change to the small ticket as shown at the bottom before we can board the train. Although we managed to change the ticket finally, we were still puzzled why is was done at the staircase outside the station (not any counter in the station?).

Temporary ticket exchange counter?

The train no. SP4 had not much difference compared to the train no. SP1, it’s clean and comfortable too.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D5 (Pha Long Market)

2009-06-29T20:10:00.013+08:00

We joined the Pha Long Market package organized by the hotel (for their guest only) today. We were told that Bac Ha Market is already much commercialized, sometimes tourists there are more than the locals. The Pha Long Market they recommended is far at the border between Vietnam and China, and takes about three hours drive to reach there. The Market is actually not open to tourist yet; therefore the fare to there is higher than to the other markets as it is inclusive of some “coffee money”.

Terraced field near Pha Long Market

The other selling point is that the sceneries on the way there are very nice. True enough, we saw a lot of very big and nice terraced fields along the journey (it’s a pity that we couldn't stop the car to take photos). In Pha Long Market, beside four of us, we saw only three other tourists who were from France (we were told that they were the guest of the same hotel too). During the two hours in the market, we did not encounter any store owner pestering us to buy things from them.

Pha Long Market

We realized these two days that most of the men in Sapa and in this market were not in their traditional costumes. For ladies, it’s common to see those at middle and old age in traditional costumes, whereas for those younger, most of them were half in traditional costumes, half in modern clothing.

As the market is near the border between Vietnam and China, some of the store owners can speak simple Mandarin. The lady in the photo below was able to tell us she sells mushroom sticks in Mandarin. Although there were not much tourists, the locals were neither curious about the tourists nor repel their camera lens. Some of them were quite glad when they watched their photos we just took from the camera screen.

There were quite a number of ladies carried their child on their back in the market, most of them were very young, about fifteen or sixteen years old, and most of the children on their back were about one or two years old. HM noticed that those children were quite independent, just enjoy the food in their hands quietly most of the time, none of them throw a tantrum like a spoiled child.

After spending two hour at the market, the driver drives us to a small town for our lunch.

Eating house at a small town

We stopped over in Lao Cai for taking photographs at the border between Lao Cai and China He Kou. We viewed a few birds near the bridge, and passed the binoculars to our guide to try, but he keep saying that the binoculars dizzied him.

Border between Lao Cai and China He Kou

We got back to Sapa at around 4pm, after taking a stroll at the central of the town and round the Sapa Lake; we couldn’t stand the cold anymore. All of us hid in the room after dinner and gave up our original plan – to visit their weekend “Love Market” at around 9pm.

Sapa Town Central

Roadside store at Sapa Town

Roadside Store at Sapa Town

Sapa Lake

Dinner at Mimosa Restaurant, the food is inexpensive and nice too as recommended in the internet. Having hot pot in such a cold whether was really an enjoyment.

Hot Pot

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D4 (Sapa)

2009-06-28T16:39:00.013+08:00

We reached Lao Cai at 6.15am, took another hour’s drive to reach Mountain View Hotel at Sapa. By the time we finished checking-in, taking breakfast and booking the tour packages for the following two days, it was about 10am. I stick to my original plan, not joining them for the Ham Rong Botanical Garden.

Breakfast at the restaurant next to the hotel, nice but expensive.

I went for a walk alone after taking half an hour rest in the room. My plan was to spend about two hours to stroll along Sapa Town and Sapa Market, one hour for lunch, and then three to four hours in trekking at Radio Tower or Cat Cat Village. Being alone, I felt a little bit lonely and excited.

Sapa Market

I was quite surprise to see three of them at somewhere near the entrance of the Botanical Garden half an hour later. They did not take the right route in the beginning and I just saunter to there by chance and didn’t even know that was the Botanical Garden they had been looking for, what a coincidence! That made me changed my mind and decided to join them.

Ham Rong Botanical Garden

The garden is pretty big, and divided into different sections, e.g. Orchid Garden, Stone Forest, etc. There is a pavilion along the hill where we can have bird’s eye view on Sapa town. As it was autumn to winter time, there were not much flowers in the garden, also because we reached there around noon time, we did not view much birds too. We had early breakfast this morning, so we just took some snack which we brought along in the pavilion as our lunch.

Bird's eye view on Ham Rong Botanical Garden

Bird's eye view on Sapa Town and Sapa Lake

After leaving the Botanic Garden, we strolled along the wayside stores, looked round the Church ……

Until after 3pm, we then had our lunch at “Little Sapa”, a restaurant AH got to know from internet. The food there was inexpensive and nice, except the chicken was too oily.

Lunch at "Little Sapa"

Since we had very late lunch, we thought that we would not had to have dinner, but I was hungry again at around 8pm, so HM, BL and I went to a restaurant near our hotel to have some snack before went on bed.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D3 (Cat Ba Island)

2009-06-28T12:50:00.014+08:00

Today we trekked for about five hours, up and down, slipping, sliding and falling, at Cat Bat National Park. We were told that there are many wildlife in the park, but we only saw a green snake on a big leaf, perhaps it is a good thing that we did not have the chance to meet the rest.

After all, it was a new and exciting experience to me, as I had never trekked in a jungle. Although I felt quite tough during the trekking, I am glad to have this experience.

We went back to the same restaurant where we had our dinner last evening for lunch. After that, transferred to Hai Phong City by hydrofoil, from there, drives back to Hanoi.

We reached Hanoi at about 6.45pm, as we had to leave for railway station at 8.15pm, we quickly exchanged our luggage with those we parked at the hotel, and then rushed to a restaurant nearby for our dinner.

Finally, we managed to meet the hotel’s staff on time. He called a taxi and went to the railway station with us. At the station, he left four of us at a corner; we do not know where he had gone and what he had done. After a while, he came back with the boarding pass and led us to the platform, and left after we boarded the train.

We traveled by train no. SP1 to Lao Cai, departed at 9.15pm. Four of us stayed in a soft sleeper cabin. It’s clean and comfortable and no ticket checking during the whole journey. We can rest without disturbance the whole night until somebody knocked on our door to keep us inform about 15 minutes before arriving Lao Cai.

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tour - D2 (Halong Bay)

2009-06-13T10:11:00.020+08:00

AH had booked on line a Halong Bay & Cat Ba Island package before we left Singapore, it save us from the hassle of asking around about the transportation and accommodation. The guide and the driver picked us up at 8am at Golden Sun Hotel, four of us were the only passengers in this tour group.

The first boat from the right was our "chartered" boat

On the way from Hanoi to Halong City we stopped at a handicraft shop for an hour, we reached Halong wharf at around 12 noon and transferred to a boat for the bay tour. Also, we were the only four guests on the boat.

We were the "VIP"

Lunch with fresh seafood was served not long after our boarding. The boat trip was about five hours, in between we spent about an hour to visit the “Cave of Surpirses”, the rest of the times we were sitting on the deck, AH did her bird viewing most of the time, BL and I enjoyed in taking photographs, HM, er ….. I think she spent most of the time in day dreaming.

Seafood Lunch

Halong Bay

Cave of Surpirses

We reached Cat Ba wharf at around 5pm, checked-in Holiday View Hotel at Cat Ba city after 45 mins drive. We took a stroll in the town after dinner. The town was quite quiet, maybe it would be bustling on weekend.

Dinner at Cat Ba town

8 Days Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa Tours - D1 (Hanoi)

2009-05-31T12:27:00.019+08:00

We reached the Changi budget terminal at 4am, the plane took off at around 6am and we arrived Hanoi at around 9am (Hanoi is one hour behind us), it took us another hour to reach the Golden Sun Hotel which located quite near to the Old Quarter ‘36 streets’.

Welcome breakfast provided by Golden Sun Hotel

After taken the welcome breakfast provided by the hotel, we took a taxi to Ho Chi Minh Museum. We didn’t manage to visit the museum as it was closed from 11.30am – 1.30pm for lunch break.

We decided to stroll the streets nearby after visiting the One Pillar Pagoda which is next to the museum, and at the same time, look for a place for our lunch.

One Pillar Pagoda

On the way, we passed by Quan Thanh Temple, West Lake, Presidential Palace, etc. When we got to a café near the main entrance of the museum, it was already around 3pm. By the time we finished our lunch, the museum was about to close for the day.

Lunch at the café near the main entrance of the Ho Chi Minh Museum

We then decided to walk to the Old Quarter. After strolling a few streets in Old Quarter, we stopped at the famous Dong Xuan Market, the expansive market that stocks everything from shoes, caps, jeans and clothes, to handbags, watches, spices and condiments. As we have been footing for hours, we did not stay there long before went back to hotel.

Dong Xuan Market

Golden Sun Hotel

Pressed Flower Art Exhibition by Shan Shan Shiao

2009-05-09T17:06:00.034+08:00

It takes about 10 minutes walk from Punggol MRT station to Fo Guang Shan.

I was quite impressed when I saw those statues of the little monks outside Fo Guang Shan building though they are not the leading role for today.

My main purpose is to visit the “Pressed Flower Art Exhibition by Shan Shan Shiao”.

All items on display are made of dry flower petals, leaves and barks.

Cats

Extracted from "Flower Fairy World"

Ballerina

Fantasy Sea World

Extracted from "Fantasy Sea World"

Extracted from "Mudras"

Zhen

Extracted from "Zhen"

Mudras of Buddha

Extracted from "Mudras of Buddha"

Extracted from "Horses"

Extracted from "Mandarin Duck"

Long Feather Rooster

Extracted from "Bear"

Extracted from "Monkey Village"

Dancing of Butterfly

Extracted from "Dancing of Butterfly"

Birds

It would not be done without imagination, patience and concentration. I really admire the artist for her patience. It is a pity the photos I took using handphone do not show the fine and delicate beauty of the exhibits.