3-10 Nov 2007 - Shanghai

My chinese colleagues Elva (left), Amelia (right) and myself (centre)

Just came back from training in Shanghai. The weather is cool at around 12-18 degree celsius. I bought a few long sleeves top when I was there. I did not bring enough clothes ;p Shanghai is the business hub in China. I am impressed when I walked down Nanjing Road at night in Shanghai.

A big Coca-Cola advertisement

I extended my trip to catch up with Liujie whom I have not met for more than 5 years. I also met up with his wife and another friend.

He brought me to an 'ancient' city on the west part of Shanghai. We took a public tranport for about 1.5 hours. It looks like Hoi An in Vietnam. Many small stores side-by-side and across the stores along an alley.

Some local products.

Liujie

Dee

Share with you some interesting pictures I took in Shanghai.

This tree is very special.

People use the dried fruit as scrub.

Great Wall here I come....

I thank God for the privilege of being offered the opportunity by my company to go for overseas training in China. I just came back from Beijing, China yesterday. After a week of class-room workshop and outdoor experiential leadership training climbing one of the 7 wonders of the world, the Great Wall in Beijing. I was exhausted but grateful.

I would share with you some interesting snapshots of what I have seen, observed and learnt.

Guess where can u find this fish?

Answer: It's very amusing. It is part of the table decoration where we dined.

As part of corporate social responsibility, a visit to Hope Primary school is organized for us to learn to look beyond our scope of work in office. A company, even as individuals, should look at how to benefit the society at large.

We spent an afternoon with them painting, drinking and eating snacks, played their local game related to great wall on the field in front of their school, tug of war..etc.

Their school do not have adequate facilities. I visited the toilet and I was shocked. We, Singaporeans are very privileged to enjoy good education back home.

We also attended a 2 day workshop on Taking charge of your development. It is very insightful and practical. I can even use some of the materials for my caregroup ;-)

We stayed one night at Great Wall Courtyard before we left next day for Great wall. I had never stayed in a chinese courtyard before. Something very fresh and new to me ;-)

We climbed the ancient Great Wall of China, the section that is not refurbished for tourists. My colleagues told me that if we walked the touristic part of Great Wall, we would not see any wall but sea of people. The sight of the ancient Great Wall is spectacular! No wonder it is one of the 7 wonders of the world!

We spent a night in a tent near Great Wall after walking and climbing the wall for 3 hours. The next morning, we walked up hill to the one of the highest point at Great Wall to have a bird's eye view of the magnificient creation.

Above is my NIKE running shoes after the Great Wall climb. I left this pair of shoes which has been with me for more than 2 years in Beijing.

Lesson learnt: I must wear the proper shoes for mountain trekking.

More photos here.

Building a prevailing generation

http://hopeadultscamp.blogspot.com/

Can we be the prevailing generation that thrives in tough circumstances, bears fruits and be fresh in our walk with the Lord?

Are we Word-centred?

What are our pathway to God? Relational, intellectual, serving, contemplative, activistic, creation or worship?

Do we see the value of learning?

Have we capture a vision greater than our career?

We "prevailed" in this church camp at Malacca. It was one of the better church camp I had attended. I had good time of fellowship with my caregroup and also others who joined us from family group. We tried the popular chicken rice ball but were quite disappointed. It did not taste like the first time I tried in Malacca several years ago. We had chendol, a popular dessert in Malacca.

After this camp, I am more convinced that God is real and powerful and He desires to work through every area of our lives that will bring Him honour. He desires everyone to have victorious lives that will lift His name up UP UP UP.....

Chicken rice ball and chendol are popular in Malacca

Close of my travel chapter

I would like to close this chapter on my Vietnam trip. Overall, it has been a great and invaluable trip. I saw many new and interesting things, met new friends, understand the history of Vietnam, saw the lives of the locals, shopping and great food....etc. The Vietnameses are very friendly and helpful.

Recommend all who have not been there to go. Go there with an open mind and you will be surprised by the many news things you see and experience, and the people you meet.

Check out Jay's blog from his perspective on our Vietnam trip.

Rice Paper Making

In Vietnam, fresh spring rolls use rice paper wraps. Below is a video on how rice paper is made.

Saigon = Ho Chin Minh City

The most memorable day I had at HCM was when I visited Cu Chi tunnel. It was dug by the Viet Minh and later expanded by Viet Cong. It was used a base for storage, refuge, sleeping quarters by the Viet Cong as an offensive against the American troops.

We completed the 90m crawl in the narrow and dark tunnel. It was quite an experience and we were all wet after the crawl.

"Same Same but Different" team

Offensive traps against the American troops

This American tank was destroyed by a landmine

Nha Trang - Islands hopping

The 3 of us did not sleep well except for Jay. Something interesting happened on the coach. 3 persons slept on the floor of the coach. One on a hammock hooked to the side of the seats, while the rest just laid a cloth on the floor and sleep. We arrived at Nha Trang at 6+am.

We changed into our swimming gears at An Phu Travel group to prepare for a day of swimming and snorkling at the islands. We also visited an aquarium on one of the islands.

We check-in to a hotel to wash up and rest for a while. Jay, Danny and I got sun burnt as we did not apply sunblock on our back. It was painful ;-(

We had a good dinner at Mecca restaurant (rating: good). A lot of the Vietnamese restaurants have pretty dim light with neon lightings.

After dinner, we had a walk before returning to the hotel to prepare for our night train to Saigon.

It was indeed a tiring day and when I laid my head on the pillow on the train, I dozed off despite the noise from the moving train.

"My Son" - Beautiful Mountain

The next day, we left for a day trip to My Son. It was an impressive site worth going.

My Son which means beautiful mountain, was built by Champa kingdom in the 4th-13th century, whose origin was from the Javanese in Indonesia. This site was the area of worship to their gods. It was fascinating to understand how the Champa people worship as the local tour guide explained. My Son was a smaller version of the Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

The Viet Cong used to use this area as their hideout but it was later bombed by the American army. A few temples were destroyed.

After My Son, we took a boat ride to an island where wood handicraft was made.

We went back to Trung Bac for Cao Lau again for lunch. My last meal in Hoi An.

Lanterns are sold in many shops here in Hoi An. Our tour guide bought us a lantern each.

After which we went back to our hotel to prepare for our 12-hour night bus ride to Nha Trang.

Hoi An

We left from Hue in the morning for Hoi An, a small town at the central of Vietnam. It takes about 4 hours bus ride from Hue to Hoi An. After we checked in to the hotel, the hotel shuttle brought us to Pho Hoi Garden restaurant (rating: good) for lunch.

After lunch, we went to Cua Dai beach. It is beautiful beach and many tourist came her to swim and sunbath. Jay and Danny rent a pair of bermudas each to enjoy the dip in the clean sea water while Estella and I sat by the beach sipping our coconut juice under a shade. Every 5 minutes, the locals will approach the tourists to buy their fruits, products and even leg massage and pedicure service. After the guys had their share of fun in the water, we left.

The hotel shuttle dropped us near Hoi An's central market and the old quarter. There are a lot of cloth shops where customers can make their jackets, dresses..etc and collect them within a few hours or the following day. I enjoyed walking down the streets though it was rather warm. I bought a book called "The Girl in the Picture". It is about the life story of this girl whose picture was seen all around the world and helped turn public opinion against the Vietnam War.

We went to a silk embroidery shop, where we saw the process of how silkworms grow to become a cocoon then the silk is used to weave into fabric.

In this silk embroidery shop, we saw the handiwork of the locals. It was impressive. The embroidery work looks like still life from a distance unlike the many embroidery work we saw in Vietnam. These works do not come cheap. The prices range from USD200 - 500.

We tried Cao Lau, a local dish at Trung Bac restaurant (Rating: good). It was tasty. After our sumptous dinner, we walked to Phang Dinh Phung to wait for our hotel shuttle to bring us back to our hotel.

Blackout!! It happened when we were back in our hotel. Thank God, the power came on shortly. Do not be surprised when you experience black out in Vietnam!

Hue

We reached Hue at about 8am and we checked in to Sports Hotel (Rating: Good). The weather was surprising hot as compared to Hanoi. It was even warmer than Singapore.

After check-in, we left for a day trip to visit the Imperial City, tombs, local art-works and etc.

Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen Dynasty and is one of the cultural cores of the country. Nguyen Dynasty ruled Vietnam between 1802 - 1945.

Outside view of Imperial City. It is built on the same principles as Beijing's Forbidden Palace.

It was a pity that certain parts of this city were destroyed during the Vietnam War when the Americans attempted to root out the Viet Cong soldiers at the Citadel.

We visited some emperors' tombs like Tu Duc's. It was interesting to hear the stories of the lives of these emperors.

[Left] I am about the same height as this Emperor.

Along the way, we stopped by some local craft shops. There was a little girl making incense.

A lady asked the tour guide,"Aren't she suppose to be in school now?"

Not all children have the privilege to have proper education like what we have in Singapore. We saw another boy at night seeking for income by polishing shoes for tourists. Even when we were in Cua Dai beach at Hoi An, many children earn a living by asking the tourists to buy fruits, snacks..etc. In Singapore, it is not legal for children to work at such a tender age.

Due to the warm weather, all of us were tired and sticky, we left the rest of the tour group and went back to the hotel to rest after lunch.

We went to the Perfume River in the evening after dinner. We boarded a boat to view the traditional cultural performance.

Halong Bay, Hanoi

In the morning we departed from Hanoi to Halong Bay. We passed by Quang Ninh province where coal is mined thus making this area polluted. Healthcare and sanitation are not very well taken care of in Vietnam. It is normal to see people wearing masks in Vietnam to protect themselves against the pollutants in the air. Does these masks really help to filter the pollutants? Such scene reminded me of those SARS period where we were given "certified" mask to wear, which would filter harmful elements and are hard to breathe.

It took 3 hours to reach Halong Bay. Thank God for the good weather as the day before it rained. The weather was cool and refreshing while the scenery was spectacular.

Jay and I shared a table with a Vietnamese family when we had lunch on the boat. We had a good conversation with them. They have a cute little girl whom I enjoyed playing with.

It took us more than 4 hours to reach Hanoi from Halong Bay. The bus moved like a snail on the road and possibily caused a French couple to miss their night train. Felt so sorry for them.

We changed our hotel at Hanoi as we found difficult to sleep. The new hotel was slightly better but I found strange practice here in Vietnam. The hotel will close for business after certain hours like in our case, the doors were closed with the metal doors pulled down at about 1030pm.

We went to the recommended fish restaurant in Hanoi the next day. Though there is only one dish in the menu, many people patronized this popular eating place. We arrived at about 11+am and soon after the restaurant was full house.

After lunch, we visited the several art galleries at the city centre while on our way to the museums. The history and revolution museums were not very impressive. The presentation and layout were not user-friendly for visitors to grasp the history of Vietnam. Display items were all over the place.

We tried home-made ice-cream and rested by the lake for a while before we headed back to have dinner before our night train to Hue.

Day 1 - Singapore to Hanoi

We went to the Budget Terminal to catch Tiger Airway to Hanoi. The Tiger Airway was delayed for 3 hours due to air-conditioning fault. Several passengers missed their connecting flight at Hanoi and were complaining and one man even asked to meet the manager. Nothing was done to pacify the fuming passengers. Personally I think Tiger Airways should give adequate explanation and compensaton for the delay. We only knew that the delay was due to air-conditioning fault when the pilot apologized for the delay as we board the plane. We departed from Singapore at 9pm and reached hanoi at 12pm (Hanoi time). Hanoi is one hour behind us. Our poor tour guide, Hanh, waited at Hanoi airport for about 6 hours as she was there at the airport at about 6pm.

We took at cab to Prince hotel (rating: poor) at the old quarters. After putting our lugguages, we went down the street to Hanh's office and met her sister. They run a tour agency together. We had our supper together along the street. Quite a shock for city dwellers like us. We saw tissues thrown all over the floor. We sat on stools and had our soup noodles.

After this we went back to our hotel for a rest.

What a day to start a holiday trip!!

Vietnam - 23 Mar 07 - 1 April 07

Jay, Danny, Estella and I went for a 10-days Vietnam trip. We flew via Tiger Airway to Hanoi, then took a night train to Hue, bus to Hoi An, a night bus to Nha Trang, night train to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and then back home to Singapore.

It was my first visit to Vietnam and it has been an eye-opener indeed. Thank God for His providence and guidance throughout the whole trip. I was also reminded of how blessed I am as a Singaporean.

I will detail my trips in the following posts. Please check it out.

Auckland, the city of Volcanoes

Recently I went to Auckland for business trip and I stayed over the weekend to visit Hope Auckland and to roam the city. The caregroup that I visited made up of people from Nigeria, Ghana, Germany, China, Thailand, Taiwanese, Malaysia..etc. People with great faith in the Lord. I went to the Sunday service which was held in Auckland University and there after went for shopping to catch some stuff before I fly back to Singapore the next day.

Left: A landmark in Auckland University

New Zealand has about 4 million people, about the same number of people in Singapore. You see people everywhere in Singapore but not so in Auckland which has about 1 million people. I like the crisp air in Auckland.

Over the weekend, I was pondering whether to go to Devonport or the Auckland Museum. I chose the 'cooler' option, Auckland Museum which has air-con. It is Summer in Auckland and the weather is warm and the thought of walking at Devonport under the scorching sun was a no-no for me. I met an elderly couple on my way to Auckland Museum. Both of them are English and the primary reason why they were in Auckland was to attend their son's wedding in Auckland. We talked about the countries we live and briefly about Auckland. It was great to meet people on the road especially when I travelled alone in a foreign land.

Auckland museum was great. I enjoyed the many interesting exhibits like Maori, Polynesian, nature, world history, volcanic etc there. I learnt that Auckland is not just a city built on volcanoes, it is also a city built of volcanoes. I went into a room where it simulated how it would be like if the volcano erupted in Auckland. The room shoke, sofa that I sat on moved and the lights went off.

On my transit flight to Sydney, I met a German girl who was on her way back to Germany has travelled in New Zealand for 4 months. She was very young and she did it mainly on her own. I wondered whether I would travel alone for extended period of time. I felt occasional pang of loneliness when I travelled alone over the weekend.

I had a good chat with an Australian man on my returning flight to Singapore. We chatted about the on-demand movies on the Qantas airline, life, work etc. He was on his way to Paris for conference. When the plane landed in Singapore, I remembered his words as we bid each other farewell, "Live well". Indeed, life is a short journey. Live well.

25 Nov 06 - Ipoh : Water rafting and caving

Thank God for the great weather and the new friends that we made on this trip, who had been a blessing to us.

[Left] - The starting point of the water rafting.

Jay and I had a free adventure trip to Ipoh. All thanks to a friend who gave us a free travel voucher. We made our night journey on board a night coach from Singapore to Ipoh. I never know that we can do water rafting in Ipoh. The last time I water rafted was more than 7 years ago in New Zealand. Looking forward to this trip to break away from busy life in Singapore, to get new zest of life ;-)

We met another 2 guys who were on the same trip as us. We went an early breakfast at 7am and most of the stores, opposite the hotel that we were waiting for the agent in Ipoh to pick us up to go to Sungai Kampar, the rafting site, were not opened. We had chee chong fun which mushroom sauce while our new friends had chee chong fun with curry chicken. Never know that there is chee chong fun with curry. That was new to me!!

It was thriling to raft on the rapids. We were soaked wet by the big splashes of cool water on us. I was pulled into the water by the guide when we were on calmer water. Some of us went into the water and let the currents drift us down the river for a distance. When we almost reaching our destination, we capsized our dingy on purpose. It was fun!

Our rafting guides

Jay and I decided to add on caving to our travel itinerary to continue our adventure with our new friends.

Our new friends.

I never seen lotus seeds on sale like this. It was interesting.

After lunch, we continued our caving adventure. Initially, I did not want to add this to our intineray because I thought the experience will same as the one I had in China just looking at the limestones. But here, we had to walk in the cool water, be on our fours at times to get through narrow path, slide down a steep slope, climbed down a hole....It was a whole new experience ;-)

After the whole day of activities, I was dead tired. Muscles aching and some bruises. Neverthless, I enjoyed the trip. We washed up at our new friends' hotel and then we went 'shopping' for food togeher. We had mutton soup noodles, beehoon goreng, satay, curry chicken bun. Great food and fellowship!!

We left Ipoh for Singapore. We took a night coach and I dozed off soon on board. I was too tired.

Thank God for everything.