Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (5)

Once again thanks to my cousin, I explored a few more rural areas in Hong Kong. It was a great escape from the congested and polluted city during the Christmas week. I even spent a night at my cousin's house at Tai Mei Tuk, waking up to the morning of fresh air. We drove up the mountain scenic road, at one point even reached the border of mainland China. The main attraction of the day is at Fan Ling. It is one of the few walled villages from the old times. Around this area, there are few historical sites like the ancestor's hall and temples.

At night, I returned to the city and managed to catch the Symphony of Light show from Avenue of Stars, Kowloon. I was expecting a grand show with some dramatic orchestra music but it turned out to be less than expected. Nevertheless, still an experience to be enjoyed. Christmas decor and lighting at Heritage 1881 opposite Avenue of Stars is fantastic and must be visited during Christmas.

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Best Peking Duck Restaurant

If you are in Beijing and want to eat Peking duck, you can try DaDong restaurant in one of the four branches in the city. I've tried the one in NanXinCang (南新仓) cultural and pedestrian street at Dongsishitiao Rd. (东四十条). It was the best Peking duck I've tasted in my life. The chef of this restaurant is well known all over the world based on the awards, stars and pictures on their Hall of Fame wall. Since this place is popular among expats, you should come earlier during dinner time. If you don't mind the queue, you can always hang out and socialize at the very modern open bar at the entrance. Although considered fine dining restaurant, the bill is not too exorbitant. I had a ten course meal with Peking duck for just 200 yuan or SGD$40 per person.

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Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (4)

It is always great to have relatives in the country you visit because they can bring you to beautiful places less well known to tourists. This time in Hong Kong, my cousin brought me to Hong Kong outskirt places like Sai Kung, Shek-O and Stanley Bay. Sai Kung is actually a very interesting place where you can find "水上人" (water people) that live on their boats and trade their daily catch of seafood. There are many seafood restaurants here with huge varieties of seafood to choose from. Or you can simply buy live seafood from the "水上人" and bring it home to cook. Shek-O like its name is a rocky bay area at a secluded place south of Hong Kong island. Here you can find interesting rock features with many bungalows built on the cliffs overlooking the vast ocean. I'm sure this is one of the hot place for wedding photography for the locals because I think it provides a fantastic backdrop. While I was here, there was a couple taking their wedding shots here. Stanley Bay is just another small residential area but with many pubs lining the coast line. People flock here during the weekends to look for drinking hole and also food.

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Mini Travel Log: Macau, China

I am one of those typical naive tourist whom are easily charmed by the beauty of Macau on advertisements shown on TV and billboards. Since young I have always been fascinated by that wall of St. Paul Church ruins. Now that I have seen it in person, it is really just a piece of wall of a typical church. Macau is such a small place, some call it country. The only glitters are the night lights of Macau casinos. Amid these glittering sin towers all over the city, the rest are just run down and cramped apartment houses. This place is heaven for gamblers, a hell hole if you lose all your fortunes in the casinos. Tourist attraction places are limited to a few spots. Unless you plan to blow away your fortunes in the casinos, you can just spend half a day here and you would have seen all of Macau. Many tourists are doing the same half day tour that I have suggested from Hong Kong and Zhuhai.

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Great Wall of China

If you are wondering how does the Great Wall of China look like from the air, well here are some pictures. It was a lucky day for me to fly on a rare unpolluted clear day in Beijing. Somehow I think the Chinese controller knew this too and gave us an opportunity to fly above their Great Wall to impress us. Instead of the usual early turn, they asked us to fly straight into the mountain range. I managed to see the magnificent Great Wall that stretches far from the East to the West clearly. Nothing can beat this rare experience.

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Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (3)

I couldn't believe that I'm seeing a perfect clear blue skies over Hong Kong on my arrival. For many many years and days, this city has been choked with extreme haze and polluted air. Many have blamed the polluted air coming from nearby China cities like Shenzhen. For the first time, I managed to snap clear pictures of Hong Kong city skyline at the harbor. But there's an old saying about "calm before the storm". I left Hong Kong one day later on my way to San Francisco. Without everyone's notice, a huge storm had been brewing over the China Sea. It churned out such a powerful typhoon that for the first time in decades, it was labelled a Category 10 typhoon which is the highest warning that carries a mandatory citywide shutdown. Typhoon Vicente, as they called it, swept ferociously over Hong Kong and into Guangdong area, wrecking massive havoc and damage. Many flights were grounded in Hong Kong and many more were diverted away. I was flying over the North Pacific coming back to Hong Kong when the typhoon made landfall. I totally had no grasp at all over the severity of the storm when presented with just a number statement of Category 10. But a look over the weather report, it is impossible to land the plane in such bad conditions. Eventually, the plane was diverted to Seoul, Korea. Once the storm had passed, the plane finally took off again and landed safely in Hong Kong. For the next 2 days, I spent most time indoors as rain continued to fall. A good time too for me to catch up on sleep from my previous 30 hour awake-work ordeal.

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Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China (2)

I had the chance to visit Hong Kong again en-route to and from San Francisco. This time, I made sure I had my camera glued to my body wherever I go in the city so I won't miss out any photo opportunities like I did last time. I arrived on the right timing during the weekend. My aunt and cousin were kind enough to be my tour guide bringing me to some beautiful places in the countryside. To my surprise, away from the congested city area, Hong Kong is actually quite large with many lands in the countryside left undeveloped. However because the younger generation love the "entertainment" and "lifestyle" of the city, they would rather live in cramped and run down city buildings than in the beautiful spacious countryside. Probably they are too conscious of their social status as "modern city dwellers" and don't want to be labelled "villagers".

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Mini Travel Log: Beijing, China (4)

Temple of Heaven - The place where the powerful Emperor of China; regarded as God himself, offered his prayers and sacrificial offerings to the even mightier Gods in heaven for good harvests to the country. The huge complex and all the grand temples in it survived the occupation and looting of the foreigners, although some were desecrated and had collapsed. Through years of restoration, this temple is back to its magnificent days and also listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, it is opened to the public where it was once forbidden where only the Emperor was allowed to step foot into it. The surrounding park is a popular place for the older generations to gather for leisure activities.

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Mini Travel Log: Beijing, China (3)

Spring time in Beijing can be as beautiful as the over-rated sakura season in Japan. If you are looking for a bargain holiday to enjoy the spring blossom, then China is your destination. Food here is fantastic, lodging is cheap and the surprisingly convenient and modern public transport only costs around 2 yuan per trip! For a more comfortable ride, you can always take a cab which is very cheap as well. Jingshan and Beihai Park are located just behind the Forbidden Palace and they offer great panoramic view of Beijing city. During spring season, you can also view beautiful flower blossoms inside the park.

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Mini Travel Log: Beijing, China (2)

The Forbidden City aka Forbidden Palace in Beijing sounded like a sleazy place to me. It was indeed an imperial harem. The whole place is just a brothel in disguise for the horny emperors. If you were to stay in different concubine rooms each day, you need to take more than 3 years to have stayed in all the rooms. That...is the amount of girls the horny emperor had to himself. And yet the folks last time believed the emperor is the son of God while he is having a whale of kinky time in the palace. Really unbelievable humans can be such simple minded. Even now, humans still fall into cults and wrong beliefs even when all the red flags are glaring in front of their face. There are so many crooks out there using the same old trick the emperor used centuries ago to cheat their followers in their cults.

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Mini Travel Log: Hong Kong, China

I've flown to Hong Kong so many times. But none of it that I have the chance to step out from the airport. This time around, I have 2 days in Hong Kong. I made sure I spent my time well there without wasting a single minute. However, Hong Kong is just too good and I came to realize 2 days are not enough. I will definitely go there on my own holidays in the future.

The city is so beautiful especially at night. I regret not to bring out my camera to capture the moments. Clubbing in Lan Kwai Fong is really good. The crowds are crazy and beautiful, dancing till the wee hours on high club floors overlooking the city of lights. Down on the street clubs, it is even more happening. The only photo souvenir I carry home this time are photos of Big Buddha in Lantau Island on my first day in Hong Kong.

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Mini Travel Log: Shanghai, China (2)

My previous experience of Shanghai was not too great. Constructions were everywhere for the World Expo and many attraction sites were closed. But this time, I am really impressed with such a drastic change in just a short time. The city is so beautifully done up now and amazingly clean. The government must have put in a lot of effort and money to stop people from spitting everywhere on the street. I traveled to many old parts of Shanghai and found so many interesting sights. There are many hidden gems here which I don't even know if I don't visit these places. Also as promised in my previous post, I stayed out till night to capture the amazing night skyline of the modern city of Pudong and classical Shanghai Bund. Sadly, I didn't see the pandas yet again on my third visit to China as I couldn't squeeze extra time for the zoo.

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Mini Travel Log: Shanghai, China

My second destination to China; Shanghai. It was a very short stay for me and I didn't have enough time to explore. And I STILL haven't get the chance to see pandas yet (Grrr!!!!). Well, I was very impressed with the world class infrastructures in Shanghai. It is really a metropolitan city which is on par with any Western cities. However, the mentality of the people is still very much third world, especially when you see how the devils drive on the road dangerously. And yeah, the people here still spit everywhere. The city is so polluted that even on a clear sky with bright sun, the light couldn't penetrate the layer of pollutants. I wonder how they can achieve long life expectancy while living in such conditions. Constructions are ongoing everywhere in the city and at the time of this writing, the walk down the famous "Bund" of Shanghai where old colonial buildings are is closed. I was actually quite disappointed when I got there. Went to the other side of the river to see the Oriental Pearl Tower. Here, constructions of mega buildings are ongoing as well. On my next return, I will go out at night instead to avoid the smog and to capture nicer pictures. Oh yeah, I need someone to remind me to visit the pandas too. :P

Last post for the year of 2009. I wish everyone HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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Mini Travel Log: Beijing, China

My hotel is just next to the Olympic Park where the Bird's Nest and Water Cube are located. I was all excited like a kid and ready to go out when my cab pulled up at the hotel entrance. Entrance to the park itself is free but there is a fee to go into the Bird's Nest. The Water Cube is fenced up and looked abandoned. It is very sad to see such huge sports complexes not utilized for sports activities and left to collect dust. And it is definitely a huge waste of money on maintenance. In the evening, I visited Tiananmen Square. Unfortunately, the sun was already setting when I reached the place. The winds were howling and temperature dipped to minus 6 degree celcius. I didn't stay there for long to be a snowman. I will return next time to explore more and enter the Forbidden City. On my way back, I passed by the Olympic Park again. The place was beautifully lit up with illumination, especially the Water Cube. Definitely worth to check out for those who love night scenes.

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