JohnPaul's travel

Hot air ballooning and sightseeing flights

2012-01-10T07:54:00.000-08:00

The recent (7 Jan 2012) hot air balloon crash which killed 11 in New Zealand brought to mind the hot air balloon trip we did in the Atherton Tableland in Australia with Raging Thunder.

It was 1997 and as part of our 26^th wedding anniversary, we had signed up for an adventure holiday based in Cairns. The tour company, Raging Thunder, picked us from our resort village in Cairns at 4.15 am (yes a.m.) for a long drive in the dark early hours of the morning to Mareeba in the Atherton Tableland, where the hot air balloons were being set up and the burners were firing up. When the balloons were filled, we climbed into the waist high balloon basket, and with the burners roaring away, we were lifted up into the sky. When we reached our cruising height, Andrew Lee (the pilot) cut off the burners and all was silent. It was totally silent as we drifted above the breathtaking Atherton Tableland, with Andrew pointing out the occasional animals and the landmarks. I did wonder how he steered the balloon but was too engrossed to ask. It seemed as if we were just drifting, with two support vehicle tracking and trailing us on the ground. I was engrossed by the landscape, but was also often drawn to the shadow and silhouette of the balloon as the gorgeous sun rose over the horizon. We skimmed the treetops and bumped the ground once or twice before we landed, Andrew having instructed us to hold on to the rope surrounding the inside of the basket. Upon landing, the support crew were there, but insufficient in numbers to deflate the huge balloon and all passengers participated in helping to deflate and pack the balloon, which Kit thought was great fun as it reminded her of her childhood days, playing with inflated platforms. We were then driven to the Ranging Thunder Café where we had a traditional welcome champagne breakfast.

The other adventure which came to mind was our flight over the Southern Alps in New Zealand, from Mount Cook.

It was December in 1979, eighteen years earlier, and we took T, who was 6 year old then, with us. After visiting Sydney and Melbourne, we flew to Christchurch and rented a car to drive the South Island of New Zealand. On that drive, we drove up to the Hermitage at Mt Cook. There was a sightseeing plane sitting out on the tarmac, and we enquired about it, and were told that we could go and view the glaciers and mountains when the pilot deemed it safe to go. We booked ourselves on the flight and waited for a short while. It was a small propeller plane with a seating capacity of about six. A rather oversized lady was at the Hermitage and she was also going on the flight. As we boarded the plane, the large fat lady wanted to sit next to the pilot, and to balance the plane out, my son, T, was made to sit behind the lady, with Kit and myself occupying the last row. We took off and had a marvellous brilliant flight over the Southern Alps and the glaciers and valleys. T had a great view of the lady’s back, but he enjoyed the flight, which was an adventure for him. The plane did not have much instrumentations or gauges, and I asked the pilot how he was able to swerve left and right and to dodge the mountain peaks. He told us that he did it visually and would pull to climb when he saw two mountain peak landmarks coinciding and hopefully the landmarks had not shifted. I dared not ask him what happens if a sudden wisp of cloud were to cover the landmarks. I later learned that these pilots pay the highest premiums for their life insurance. Anyway, it was an invigorating and breathtaking flight and we thoroughly enjoyed it, even T, who was sitting behind the fat lady. On that same trip, Kit and T were taken to the cockpit of Qantas’ new Boeing 747 which flew them from Sydney to Melbourne and had a great view on that flight.

Our most memorable and also most recent sight-seeing flight was the one we did in 2007 on the 5^th of July when we docked at Juneau in Alaska.

After disembarking from the Dawn Princess, we visited the Mendenhall Glacier and the Mount Roberts Tramway when the sky was a little overcast and it drizzled at Mendenhall. After our descent from the Tramway in the afternoon, the sky cleared. We quickly signed ourselves up for a ski-plane sight-seeing flight over the glaciers from Juneau. The itinerary included the Norris, Taku, Hole-in-the-Wall, East and West Twin glaciers of the Juneau Icefield. It was an exhilarating and wonderful flight, the best we have done. The sky cleared and the sun shone throughout the flight, and we saw the icy blue of the crevices and folds of the glaciers, the verdant green of the deltas, and the majesty of God’s creation. .

1964-1966 - Student Holidays

2011-12-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/19641966UniversityTripsExPostcards#

Whilst clearing the store room, I came across a stack of about 100 postcards, posted by me whilst I was a university student in Manchester in UK.
The first few were from our cruise on board the 28000 ton Lloyd Triesto’s M/V Galileo Galilee from Singapore to Genoa in early September 1964. It was a 23 day cruise, and we visited Bombay, Aden, the Giza Pyramids, Port Said, Messina, Naples, Pompeii, ending up in Genoa, from where we took the train to London and then, by myself, to Manchester.

It was then studies, with only weekend trips to the Peaks, Liverpool, Derby, Lake District, and nearby countryside, until the summer of 1965, when I went hitch-hiking (relatively safe in those days) and youth-hostelling (cheap for poor students) in North Wales. We covered quite a lot of grounds starting from Chester. We visited Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Conway, Sychnant Pass, Penrhyn Castle, Bangor, Caernavon Castle, the Roman Fort, etc.

Youth hostel charges were 2 shillings a night or less than a Singapore dollar then. (20 shillings make a pound, and a pound was nine Singapore dollars then). A simple hotel, at that time, would have cost 40 shillings or 18 S$ per person.

In September, I had a marvellous and memorable time in Scotland. From the postcards, we visited many places, some of which were: Dryburgh Abbey, Melrose (Sir Walter Scott), Glasgow, Kyles of Bute, the Three Sisters, Glencoe, Fort William, Ben Nevis, Loch Leven, Pitlochry, Perth, Linlithgow Palace, Edinburgh, the Military Tattoo, Balmoral Castle, Deeside, Devil’s Elbow, Forth Bridge, Alboyne Highland Games, etc.

After the trip to Scotland, I spent a week touring the Isle of Man, which is an island in the Irish Sea, between Wales and Ireland. I took the steamer ferry, which took four hours. It was an interesting week, as not many had nor has visited the Isle of Man, which was better known in those days for motorcycle races. Douglas is the capital, but there are other sites like Port St Mary, Port Erin, Peel Castle, Rushen Castle, etc. Mr Joe Graham who was the Post Master at Peel drove us around and took us to his home.

Being second year and more settled and accustomed to University life in 1965, I took more trips within England in 1965. In October, we went to see the illuminations at Blackpool and coached back to Manchester at 3 am in the morning. We organised a group of 62 Mancunians in two coaches to Leeds to played games and have socials with the University Chinese and Malaysian Student Societies. That was March 1966. In April, I was down in London attending the FUEMSO conference as a committee member. In June, it was Stratford upon Avon, and also in June, overnight at Oxford. Nottingham was in summer of 1966, as was Windsor, and Malaysia Hall in London. My vacation job attachment (internship as it is now known) was in Chester with the Octel Company, which made the lead additives used in petrol.

In September 1966, I spent a week in Paris, flying into Paris on 5/9/66. We saw all the sights we possibly could, covering the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Madeleine, Moulin Rouge (with an evening show), Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, took the motor cruise down the river, etc.

I flew back to Singapore after my studies on 19 September 1967.

P.S. In 1964, Singapore was part of Malaysia and some of the postcards were marked as such. By 1965 (9 August), Singapore was independent, but the post office of the Isle of Man added the word "Malay" to the destination address on my postcard.

P.P.S. The postal address 8 Eber Road, Singapore 9 (and the building) does not exist anymore, although Eber Road still exist; but not many know where it is today and who it is named after.

2011 - Nov - 20 World Orchid Conference, Singapore

2011-11-16T04:10:00.000-08:00

The 20^th WOC was held at the MBS’s Sands Expo Centre in Singapore on 13-20 November. Its theme was “Where Old and New World Orchids Meet”.

We visited the orchid show at MBS on Monday 14^th Nov.

The show featured 55 displays from 19 countries and was a kaleidoscope of colour and visually stunning. PNG’s display came up tops in one of the categories, and we were glad for them, as they participated also in the biennial Singapore Flower Shows of 2010 and 2008.

http://daddytravel.blogspot.com/2010/07/2010-july-singapore-biennial-flower.html

The WOC show had orchids from many countries and continents, with some unusual flowers from European and South American countries like Ecuador and Peru. There were hybrids of almost every colour, pattern, hue, and shade, and also many competition categories. The Taiwanese was grand champion with their orchid.

This is what I found out about the Taiwanese: - “according to Taiwan Floriculture Exports Association (TFEA), orchids account for US$87 million of 2007 exports. In 2005, Taiwan became the world's top orchid exporting country, replacing Thailand -- an honor it still holds”.
So, now I know. In the export of orchids, Taiwan is number one, and Thailand is number two.

I think the Dutch are still number one in the export of tulips. They were also the originator of the “Black Tulip” and its economic lessons. When I was in Tasmania, I discovered that the Australian were cultivating tulips for the Dutch, as it is more economical to grow them in the South (and export them from there) than grow them in “glass houses” in Holland. Energy cost and air freighting does change the Floriculture business.

The Singapore 20^th WOC also allowed visitors to have a sneak preview of the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay, which we did on Wednesday 16^thNov. This is ahead of the opening of the Gardens by the Bay scheduled for June 2012.

From a design and engineering viewpoint, the Flower Dome (and also the Cloud Forest) is a modern marvel. It is “clam” shaped, gigantic volumetrically without pillars, had shades that could be programmed to track the sun or whatever, had cooling pipes below ground, humidity controlled at about 40 percent, etc.

The displays from all the different continents of the world, except Antarctica, were impressive and very diverse. From the Flower Dome, one walks through the Heritage Gardens via the Dragonfly Bridge to connect back to MBS.

When the Cruise Ship Terminal is ready in 2012, cruisers could literally and seamlessly connect from the cruise ship to the Casino in MBS via the Gardens by the Bay.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011Nov20thWorldOrchidConferenceSingapore#

2009 - March - Papua New Guinea

2011-11-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

The 20th World Orchid Conference was held in Singapore over 13-20 Nov 2011 at the Marina Bay Sands Exhibition Halls.

For the past years (2008, 2010), Papua New Guinea had participated in the biennial Singapore Flower Show, held at Suntec City Exhibition Halls in Singapore. They displayed their masks, changing and improving on them at each exhibition.

This year, 2011, and at the World Orchid Conference, they won with their display, and are champions.

The past masks are in the blog and photo links below:-

http://daddytravel.blogspot.com/2010/07/2009-march-port-moresby-papua-new.html

https://picasaweb.google.com/113276805671166430864/2009FebPapuaNewGuinea#

11-11-11 - Gardens & Nature - Singapore

2011-11-11T23:36:00.001-08:00

Often we travel out of Singapore to find nature and gardens, whereas there are much of these in the little triple-A country.

On 11 November 2011, whilst doing my morning walk, I snap some photos of the Botanic Gardens, which is a treasure trove of history, botanic and national.

One could hardly imagine such lovely Fall Colours in a hot tropical island like Singapore.

Of the places in Singapore, I treasure Pulau Ubin, Sungei Buloh Wetlands, the catchment areas of Pierce, Seletar, and MacRitchie, Bukit Timah and its trails, HortPark to Kent Ridge to Mt Faber, Fort Canning, Marina, East Coast, Changi, Pasir Ris, Ponggol, etc.

These are interesting places to “travel” to.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/111111GardensNatureSingapore#

1971-1980 - various

2011-11-03T02:12:00.000-07:00

Whilst clearing my storeroom, I found some old photos. These were not documented but I could recall them.
http://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/19711980AustriaManilaNaraColomboNiigaraFallsCopenhagen#

The earlier ones date back to 1971 when I travelled separately to Holland and London, and visited Copenhagen, Athens (Delphi, Sounion), and Madrid (Toledo).

In 1973, I took Kit for a belated honeymoon in Austria and London.

In the mid 1970’s, I travelled to Manila quite a few times, and Kit/myself holidayed in the Philippines, HongKong, Macau, Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Nikko) in Dec 1977. We also went to Taiwan in June 1975.

In 1976 enroute to Holland or in 1977 enroute to London, I spent two memorable nights at Lovina Beach in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

In 1980, after a Madec course in Copenhagen, I flew to Toronto and went to the Niagara Falls then flew to San Francisco and went to Yosemite Park.

1986 - cruise on M/V Coral Princess - Malacca Straits to Medan

2011-11-02T03:49:00.000-07:00

My second cruise was with my wife and children in 1986, when we sailed in the M/V Coral Princess from Singapore up the Malacca Straits to the port of Medan in Sumatra. The ship stayed the night in port, whilst we took a tour to Lake Toba and spent the night up in the mountains. This ship sank in the Malacca Straits a few years later. The M/V Coral Princes had wooden deck and wooden deck chairs and exposed life boat. How times have changed

2011 - October - Singapore National Museum

2011-11-01T16:23:00.000-07:00

It was a good day on 31^st October 2011, when after my routine morning walk, I took a trip down to the National Museum of Singapore to view the exhibits of paintings, drawings and photographs from the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. Enroute, I helped a blind man catch his bus; this small action gave me a sense of gratitude for my sense of vision.

After collecting some medicine from my family GP, I strolled across to the Museum just in time for the one hour introductory tour of the exhibits by a volunteer docent.

There were 140 pieces on loan from the Musee D’Orsay, which was undergoing renovation and repair. The pieces exhibited covered a period between 1850 and 1914 (First World War), and covered the transition from neo-classicism to post-impressionist (with hints of the abstract). There were pieces by Manet (black), Bernard, Rousseau, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet, Degas, Gauguin, van Gogh and others.

After the visit, and visually surfeited, I ate at Bugis during a heavy downpour, before heading home when the rain eased.

I was also at the Asian Civilisation Museum when it had an exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors (the first Emperor of China and his legacy) from June to October 2011. That exhibition had 100 artefacts from Shaanxi province, besides the original Terracotta Warriors from Xian.

The year before, I saw the Ancient Treasure Ships and the Great Oman Voyage, which showcased many Chinese porcelain, gold, jade pieces and Omani dagger found in shipwrecks along the route, dating back to the 8^th to 16^th century. I recall this exhibit because a recreation of a 9^th century merchant ship sailed from Oman to Singapore, a 8000 km journey, in 2010; and this vessel is now on display at the Sentosa Resort World Maritime Musuem.

2011 - Oct 24/25 - Changi Cottage

2011-10-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2001OctoberChangiCottageSingapore#

Not a travel note, but our “away-from-home” overnight stay in Changi Cottage, up in Changi at the Eastern end of Singapore, merits a little note in our travel blog.

Whilst reconnoitring the Changi Point Government bungalows for a Girls Brigade camp in November, we walked past the booking reception office and saw a wrought iron gate marked “Changi Cottage” with a private driveway with well tended plants. Walking down the driveway, we saw a pretty cottage-like bungalow, guarde by two stone elephants. We then returned to the booking office and found that there were two available one-day slots for this bungalow; and without hesitation, we plumbed for the 24 Oct booking.

We checked into the Changi Cottage at 2 pm in the afternoon, after an hour drive from home. Check-in time was supposedly 3 pm, but the bungalow was ready and the 9 keys to it were available, and so we went in and explored the rooms, the fully equipped kitchen, the surrounds, etc.

Some friends and relatives started arriving, and a party of 6 went walking from the Cottage to see the sunset at the end of the boardwalk. Two of us stayed behind, and soon two other friends arrived, and three of us then went for the “board walk” and caught up with the party of six. The view from the Changi board walk showcase another side of Singapore not well known to the busy Singaporeans – serene, soothing, picturesque, though a little humid.

After the walk, 8 of us went to Changi Village and had a sumptuous tasty seafood dinner of chilly crabs, BBQ fish, crispy squids, herbal chicken, claypot tofu, and sweet potato shoots; we, having ,unanimously, agreed to give the cafe food at the Sailing Club or the Civil Service Club a miss.

After dinner, it was scrabble time, until bedtime at about 11 pm. I stayed up to watch the re-play of the EPL soccer match, where a 10-men Man United team was beaten 6-1 by Manchester City, before going to bed at 1.30 a.m. on 25^th October.

At 7 a.m. in the morning, BK & I walked to Changi Point for the famous Nasi Lemak and Teh Tarik for breakfast, before returning to Changi Cottage with 3 packs of Nasi Lemak for the rest of the gang, who were having their breakfast of fruits, muffins, pumpkin cakes, orange cakes, etc. A couple, whose mother was hospitalised at Changi Hospital, visited us whilst the gang was having breakfast.

After breakfast, it was packing time followed by more scrabble time, before checking out at 11 a.m. It was a time of good fellowship and sharing with close friends in a historical building within Singapore.

P.S. In 1965, LKY, the then Prime Minister of Singapore, stayed at this Changi Cottage because it was deemed that the Oxley Road house which LKY was staying was unsafe and insecure. Changi Cottage was within the RAF compound and the Changi Airbase and was secure.

P.P.S. Just after the visit to Changi Cottage (also known as LKY bungalow) in October 2011, I chanced upon a photo of Mr & Mrs LKY which were taken at a spot where Kit & I took a photo in 2008. Mrs LKY passed away in October 2010. The background was somewhat antediluvian and passé, but,

“Imitation is the highest form of flattery”.

2000 - May/June - Sabah, East Malaysia

2011-10-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2000MayJuneSabahSKKSapiMtKinabaluPoring#

The year 2000 was designated “Visit Sabah Year”. Sabah is also known as the “land below the wind”. Its capital is Kota Kinabalu or KK, also known as “Aki Nabalu” which is “Home of the Spirits of the Mountains”.

We bought a 3D2N MAS package for 329 S$ each, which is very reasonable, and paid for hotel extensions into a 6D5N trip, as there is more to Sabah than just KK. We flew into KK at about noon on 28 May.

The KK hotel was the Promenade, with a good view of the South China Sea and the islands (Sulug, Manuka, Mamutik, Gaya, Sapi) of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park. After checking in, we explored the town which was developing fast (eg Sutera Harbour, Api-api Centre, Sinsuban); and also the older parts like the Central Market and the jetty for boats to the islands. We had dinner at the famous Port View Seafood Restaurant.

On 29 May, we took a boat from the jetty to the islands; and ran into a storm. The boat was a small aluminium tin can; and I asked the boat man how many times he ran into storms. He replied, “Quite often, but he only capsized once.” We wanted to land on one of the islands and abort the rest of the “tour”, but he felt obligated to fulfil his part of the contract; so we drove on in the storm; and we were glad to see the refuge of Pulau Sapi, before returning to KK. We had dinner at the Kinabalu Club and heard the news of an explosion in KK and the progress of the 21 hostages at Sipadan Dive Island.

On 30 May, we were at the Padang Merdeka to witness the Sabah Kaamatan Festival. It is a colourful and ethnic Kadazan-Dusun harvest festival and featured cultural dances and a beauty pageant. The Kadazan-Dusun took great pride in their culture and costumes and we had a great time soaking in the atmosphere and festivities. We had dinner at the Wind Bell Restaurant, quite a drive away; but the boss’ son (Liau) drove us back to the hotel, since taxis were difficult to call for at night.

On 31 May, our taxi (SA4232R) with its driver, Sukiri, came and fetched us on the drive to Mount Kinabalu Park. Sukiri is an amiable and likeable man, keen to show us his town & country, and extremely polite. We had agreed on his taking us from KK to the Park for 110 RM and to fetch us back from Poring at 230 RM, and in the end, tipped him 40 RM.

On the drive to Mt Kinabalu, we stopped along the way to view the majestic 4095 meter mountain (tallest in SE Asia) and to buy fruits, with 4 pineapples at 1 S$. At the Park, we did the Garden walk and stayed the night in a twin bedded chalet inside the Park.

On 1 June, we did the Canopy (tree-top) walk, which was quite lengthy and was just a plank wide, suspended high above the ground, and swayed as we walked. We did not even thought of climbing the 5000 meter mountain.

After the canopy walk, we went to Poring hot springs, rented a private chalet/bath tub, and had a long relaxing soak in the hot water tub. We had lunch at the restaurant at the hot spring, and had a long wait, because a huge group from A&M Texas University was there.

As agreed, our driver Sukiri came and fetched us from Poring to KK and that evening we had dinner at the Kampung Nelayan Restaurant, a large but charming restaurant with fresh seafood. We stayed the night in KK and flew back to Singapore on 2 June

1997 – May/June – HuangShan and Three Gorges, China

2011-10-02T02:17:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/HuangShanThreeGorges1997#

With the progress of the damming up of China’s Yangtze River for hydroelectric power and to control flooding, the historical natural beauty of the Three Gorges would soon be a thing of the past. Realising that in 1997, Kit, Ern and I joined a 10-day tour to cruise the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. The tour itself was more than the Three Gorges, as it covered the HuangShan (Yellow Mountain) and also the cities of Kunming and Chongqing.

We left Singapore on 28 May, and flew Yunnan Airlines to Kunming and spent a night in Kunming. On arrival in Kunming, we coached to the Yunnan Minority Tribal Village and spent an interesting day seeing the SiSuanBanNa’s elephant show, the Bai tribe’s “tiger” totem pole, the Moshou tribal dance, the Naxi tribe’s housing, etc. In the evening, we managed to find a small creamy “shoe” cake to celebrate Kit’s birthday.

After breakfast on 29 May, we flew Yunnan Airlines from Kunming to Guangzhou, and then transfer to China Southern Airlines to TunXi, the other name for HuangShan. At HuangShan, we visited a Chinese Inn factory, for which TunXi is known for. We then visited the old town, with 800 year old buildings, dating back to the Sung dynasty.

On 30 May, we took the cable car from Cloud Valley up the mountain and visited many of the well known scenic views like the Immortal Bridge, the White Goose Peak, the Crouching Dragon Pine, etc before checking into the BeiHai (North Sea) provincial hotel.

After lunch, Ern and I took a four hour eight kilometre hike from the hotel to Bright Top Peak and back via the Flying Back Rock. Those unable to do the walk, paid the locals to carry them in sedan chairs facing backwards. Near the Bright Top Peak and the Turtle Rock, one could see a dam.

On 31 May, we woke up at dawn, put on the heavy warm clothing provided by the hotel, and went out in the cold to watch the sunrise over the Yellow Mountain. We were fortunate to be able to see the sunrise, as often the mountains are shrouded by clouds. After breakfast we descended to the town of HuangShan, and took a chartered propeller plane to Wuhan, where after visiting the Yellow Crane Pagoda and gardens, we coached to Yichang, where we boarded the cruise ship PingHu for the night.

On 1 June, we left Yichang after the ship was lifted up the ship lock at Yichang. We then sailed upstream from Yichang into the Xiling Gorge, the most downstream of the Three Gorges of the YangtzeJiang. The scenery along the Gorge was awesome, some 175 meters lower than what it is today. The mountain peaks really tower over the ships and boats on the Yangtze, and the shores were lined with villages, which has since been flooded. The new waterlines were clearly marked and new apartment houses were being built in 1997.

We sailed into Wu Gorge, the middle of the Three Gorges, and the most awesome and beautiful of the three. We spent the night at WuShan.

On 2 June, we visited the Lesser Three Gorges, which were located along the TaNing River, a tributary of the Yangtze. We left the PengHu and boarded into five smaller boats which took us up the TaNing’s first Three Gorges, after passing the Dragon Gate Bridge. At another tributary, we went ashore on the pebbly beach, and transferred into yet smaller flat-bottomed boats, which went up the small-small-Three-Gorges, all of which do not exist any more, with the flooding and the rise of the water level by 175 meters.

On 3 June, we sailed into Qutang Gorge, the most upstream of the three, and visited some historical sites, including FengDu (Devil’s Town). Along the three gorges, we saw the footprints of history, holes in the walls along the ledges where past generations of boatmen used to haul the boats by manual labour up the Yangtze, caves and hanging coffins of earlier civilisation, etc. That night, we docked at Chongqing.

After breakfast on 4 June, we left the cruise ship, PingHu, and boarded a coach which took us to Goose Mountain in Chongqing to see the confluence of the two rivers. We also visited the Chongqing museum and the dinosaur exhibits which Szechuan is famous for. We also visited a garden with a windmill and an exhibit of the military importance and history of Chongqing. We stayed the night in Chongqing.

On 5 June, we coached to Chengdu and visited the historical home of a famous Chinese poet, some other museums and gardens and experienced the daily lives of people in Chengdu. We then took a domestic flight to Kunming.

On 6 June, we took the chairlift up the Western Hill to LongMen (Dragon Gate) to view the Lake in Kunming and then visited a garden before catching the flight back to Singapore.

Travel souvenirs - paintings

2011-09-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/TravelSouvenirsPaintings#

After photographing the 1993 painting of the Akra tribeswomen on the eight-foot fan hanging in our living room for the blog on Travel souvenirs, I took my point-and-shoot camera and went to shoot the other travel souvenir paintings around the apartment.

In 1973, whilst on a trip to Manila, I took a liking to an abstract painting from an unknown artist in Metro Manila and bought it (and brought it) home to Singapore. Since then, we have hung it in our homes as we moved from an HUDC apartment to a semi-detached and now to a condominium. The colours are still bright and brilliant after almost 40 years and now hangs in my study.

In 1984, when China was opening up to the world, we visited the main cities and tourist sights in China, from North to South. In Guilin, we had a most enjoyable time and we met a 74 year-old mandarin who was ambidextrous. We gave him our children's names, and with them, he composed two couplets, and wrote, simultaneously with both his hands, a calligraphic scroll, which we had them framed in Singapore.

The two scrolls now hang in our spare bedroom. The past 30 odd years, and the humid weather in Singapore, have spotted the rice paper on which the couplets were written, but we have a photo of Kit watching the master mandarin as he was writing on the scroll in 1984.

In 2005, we had a very enjoyable time in central Vietnam, visiting Danang, HoiAn, and Hue. Whilst there, we bought two silk thread embroidery which were framed, and carried them back to Singapore, one of which we gave to our in-law. The other now hangs in our bedroom.

Travel souvenirs

2011-09-03T00:11:00.000-07:00

Whilst clearing the storeroom, I found two tiles from Portugal. One was from my trip with Kit to Lagos in Portugal in 2004. It was a ceramic tile with a hand painted picture of Igreja (Church) of St Antonio. The other was from my son and DIL’s trip also to Lagos in Algarve of Portugal in 1996, some 8 years earlier. It was also of the Igreja St Antonio. What a coincidence, or was it really ?

We have collected some “tourist” souvenirs over the years, but one of the better ones is an eight foot fan with a painting of the some Akra tribeswomen doing their laundry at a village stream which we bought in Northern Thailand in 1993. To this day, the painting hangs in our living room.

On the floor next to it is a 24 inch panel from China which we bought in 1984. It is of black lacquer with inlaid mother of pearls showing storks and flowering branches. We have mishandled the panel and exposed it to direct sunlight and rain, and yet it retains its colour to this day.

1984 - June - Guilin, China

2011-09-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/1984JuneGuilinToYangshouChina#

During our 1984 tour of China, we flew from Shanghai to Guilin in a Boeing 737. In those days, there were no restrictions on photographing from the airplane; and I had a few good shots of the River Li and Guilin as we approached the city.

In Guilin, more a little town than a city, we stayed at the Rong Hu Hotel, which meant Banyan Lake Hotel. We visited the Reed Flute Caves with its stalactites and stalagmites and dripping water droplets. We also attended a grand musical extravaganza based on a popular folk story called “third sister Liu”.

Guilin (translated as Cassia Woods) is world renowned for its scenery, especially downstream from Guilin to the riverside town of Yangshou, a distance of 50 miles which took five and a half hours by a tourist boat.

On the boat, we had lunch; the supplies of fishes, shrimps, etc were from a fisherman who pulled alongside the tourist boat. We also purchased a turtle which the chef cooked for us at tea time. The kitchen was at the aft of the boat, and the water supplies came from the river, just downstream of the guest toilets!

Besides the magnificient scenery of the limestone hills on both banks of the River Li, it was interesting observing the rural peasant and fisherman daily lives along the river Li, especially the Cormorant fishing form bamboo rafts (only 5 bamboos), the rivercrafts used for crossing the river, etc.

The cruise down the river was very scenic and dreamy, like a Chinese ink-painting, with an occasional slight drizzle to add to the mist and mystic

1984 - May/June - Chinese food in China

2011-09-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

Whilst rummaging through her cooking recipes, Kit found a 1984 dinner menu from a Kwangchow Snake Restaurant; this prompted me to go through the 600 photos we had of our 1984 trip to China, and to extract from them those that are related to food.

http://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/1984MayJuneChineseFoodInChina#

The Kwangchow (now spelt Guangzhou) Snake Restaurant was a well-known restaurant, and we had dinner there, but we did not eat any snake as it was summer; snakes are eaten mainly in winter as it is “yang” or “heaty” and is good for the colder months of the year.

At Guangzhou, we also had dinner at the DaiSunYuen (Big Three Dollar) Restaurant, another well known restaurant in Kwangchow. Their speciality was Cantonese roasted meat, like roast duck, roast pork, etc.

For breakfast in Guangzhou, we went to the Bei Yuan Restaurant in Guangzhou. It was typical Cantonese Dim Sum, and we sat along the veranda facing the garden, eating the delicacies and drinking Chinese tea, what was and still is known as “yam cha”.

When we were in Beijing, we went to the Peking Roast Duck Restaurant for the world renowned Beijing roast duck. Back in 1984, unlike today, the style and sophistication was not there, but the substance was. We thoroughly enjoyed the duck, not too oily and extremely fragrant; and Kit was in the kitchen area where they did the carving of the duck.

In Beijing, we also went to the Listen Oriole Restaurant in the Imperial Gardens inside the Summer Palace. In 1984, the Restaurant was not well refurbished, but original; and the guests were mainly overseas visitors and the price was reasonable and we had a marvellous ten course meal.

http://daddytravel.blogspot.com/2008/08/1984-2001-beijing-china.html

When we were at Tien An Men Square, and after visiting Mao’s mausoleum, we were thirsty. By the side of the Square, there were tea stalls, catering to the thirsty visitors. A big bowl, yes, bowl, of tea, more than adequate for two, was to be had for 2 cents. We had to try it.

At Yangzhou, a historical and cultural town not far from Shanghai, we had a very memorable time with a University Professor as a “stand-in” guide. We also had a memorable meal in the Government’s West Garden Rest House, where we stayed. The dinner comprised 15 dishes, and I took photos of the first two dishes, because the meal was memorable.

I also took photos of the Suzhou (another historical town not far from Shanghai) street food scenes: one of street noodles and another of street breakfasts. We did not try the noodles, but the breakfasts of steamed buns and fried dough fritters were hot and delicious.

In Hangzhou (yes, another historical town not far from Shanghai), we had a 15 course Chinese dinner. All I have of this meal is the menu, but I am sure it was delicious too, looking at the menu.

http://daddytravel.blogspot.com/2010/02/1984-june-shanghai-and-surrounding.html

We flew into Guilin (Kweilin, as it was known) to sail 50 miles down the Li River to YangShou. With the opening of the economy in 1984, individual farmer was allowed to sell his fruits in the “free” market, and we bought some.

As we sailed down the Li River, the lunch was prepared in the open kitchen in the aft of the boat. Supplies of shrimps and fishes were from passing fishermen. We even bought a turtle which the chef cooked for us at tea time. The Li River was not only scenic but authentic back in 1984.

Kit has also kept another menu from our 1984 China trip. This menu has 19 dishes (8 side dishes) but we do not remember which city it was from; all we know is that, in China, more was, and still is, great.

In 1984, the way into PRC was to fly into Hongkong and then take the Kowloon to Guangzhou express train. On our return from PRC, we took the train into HongKong, then a British colony, to eat at the then Jumbo Restaurant before flying back to Singapore.

1984 - Chinese postal stamps

2011-09-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/1984ChinesePostalStamps#

Whilst rummaging through her recipes, Kit found a 1984 restaurant menu of our 1984 visit to the Kwangchow (Guangzhou) Snake Restaurant. The calligraphy, presumably by the chef, was quite artistic, to an untrained eye like mine.

It brought back memories of the souvenirs we bought on that 1984 trip, of which were PRC postal stamps immaculately arranged in booklets, lovingly stamped, and described in careful details. I have digitised three of them to share.

The first is of the “Theatrical masks of Peking Opera”. There are 8 stamps in all, ranging from the Monkey God to the Ghost Catcher, and the colours are brilliant as the masks are.

The second is of Qi Baishi's paintings, a total of 16 stamps. Qi Baishi died in 1957, but his Chinese ink paintings of flora and fauna are world renown. Black and white with splashes of colour, they are beyond words, and the images do not do him justice.

The third is “the 12 beauties of Jinling, from A Dream of Red Mansions”, a Chinese classic. I have not read the “Dream of Red Mansions”, but names like Daiyu, the heroine, is known to all Chinese.

We bought other stamps in booklets, including “the bronze vessels of the Western Zhou Dynasty”, “the Terracotta Warriors and Horses from the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang”, and “the art of potted landscapes”, all art pieces in their own rights.

2011 - August 7th - Istana Singapura

2011-08-07T16:07:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/2011Aug7IstanaSingapura#

When we travel, we would visit the residences of the Head of States e.g. Buckingham Palace, the White House, the Blue House, etc.

Being a Sunday, 7^th August 2011, and being a pleasant evening after the rain, DW and I took a bus to the Istana and found a 4-deep queue waiting to get into the grounds. I was hesitant to join the queue but it was moving quite quickly and DW wanted to see the expenditure of her taxed money. So we joined the queue and were into the grounds, after security screening, in less than 15 minutes.

There was a little commotion behind us as we started walking and saw President Nathan shaking hands with the crowd behind us. We walked on and saw Mrs Nathan on a buggy and I had a good chat with her, away from the crowd who did not realise her presence.

We strolled through the Museum & NHB exhibits and arrived at the main building and saw an assembled group standing on the steps. One of the men in the group asked me to take a picture of him, then did we realise that President Nathan was following us to be photographed with the group.

NaThAN is probably the most photographed President of Singapore, so snide some critics. But besides enjoying being photographed with people, the simple explanation is not just the two terms of office (12 years) held by Nathan, but more because of the digitisation of photography. How technology changes our lives.

On the 17^th of August, in 10 days after our visit, Singapore would know who of the four TAN’s will be contesting in the democratic election for the successor to Nathan, and in 10 days after nomination day on the 27^th of August, DW and I will be going to the polls to elect (i.e. exercise our rights and responsibilites in selecting) our next President TAN.

After a noodles dinner at Plaza Singapura next to the Istana Singapura, DW bought some black cherries and we took a bus packed with Philippino maids and returned home. An interesting evening in Singapore.

1998 - May20-June16 -New England & Niagara Falls

2011-08-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

Having digitised my 1994 New England photos, I did the same to the 1998 ones.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/1998MayJuneNewEnglandUSA#

DW & I flew into JFK and arrived at New Haven on May 20^th. We rented a 4-door Ford Contour for 4 weeks and stayed at Judith’s B&B on Canner Street from 20^th to the 29^th, helping E with her packing and relocation home.
Yale’s commencement ceremonies were over 23^rd and 25^th May 1998, and due to a medical condition aggravated by the long flight, I attended not all the ceremonies.

After the commencement ceremonies, we spent the next few days around New Haven. On 27^th May, we had a pleasant day at Wateredge in Westbrook, CT. On the 28^th, we revisited Old Mystic Seaport. On both days, we had delicious meals of clam chowders and lobsters and seafood.

On the 29^th May, we drove north into Massachusetts to visit Hancock Shaker (Amish) Village, Williams College, and Shelburne Falls via the Mohawk Trail. We spent the night at the Comfort Inn at White River Junction in Vermont and slept through a stormy night.

On 30^th, we visited Dartmouth College in Hanover (NH) and then revisited Quechee Gorge, which E did not go to in 1994. We spent the night at Waterville Valley in the White Mountain of New Hampshire. The next day, 31^st, we visited the Flume Gorge, Liberty Gorge & cascades, Old Man of the Mountains, Twin Mountains, and Bretton Woods. We tried to go up Mount Washington but it was closed because of impending thunderstorm. We spent the night at Tornado Dot’s Wildflower Inn in Conway (NH) when the sky turned green and there was a Force 8 tornado alert.

On 1^st June, we drove south and circled Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire’s lake region, and then headed out to the Atlantic coast of Maine. We had the best lobster and seafood dinner at Cape Neddick Lobster Pound, and then spent the night at Scotch Hill Inn at Ogunquit, Maine.

The next day, 2^nd June, we had a candlelight breakfast with red strawberries on blue plates, Scottish bread, etc. We walked the beach at Ogunquit, the bridge over Perkin’s Cove, visited the Cliff House at Bald Head Cliff, and Kennebunk Beach where the Bush’s hang out. We then headed out towards Lake Winnipesaukee, drove the Kancamagus Highway in the White Mountains, including Bear Notch Road, and then spent the night at Ralph, the taxidermist’s, B&B next to the Saco River in Conway.

On 3^rd June, we drove from Conway to Lincoln to St. Johnsbury to Stowe in the Green Mountain Valley of Vermont. We were to make Stowe our base for the next 4 nights, using it to visit the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, Ben & Jerry Ice Creams, Vermont Teddy Bear, Vergennes, and Burlington on the 4^th; to visit Lake Champlain, Grand Isle, Alburg (Canadian Quebec’s border town with USA), and Smuggler’s Notch on the 5^th; to visit Champlain’s country fair and hot-air balloon festival on the 6^th. We also rode the 14 mile recreational cycle path and visited the Sound of Music’s von Trapp family’s Lodge.

On 7^th June, we drove the I87 south to Glenn Falls to Albany, then west to Cooperstown to visit E’s Yale suite mate at her parents’ Baseball B&B. We stayed the night at the Lake & Pines motel overlooking Lake Otsego.

On 8^th June, we drove west across New York state to Niagara Falls, arriving in time for the 4 pm Maid of the Mist ‘Over the Falls’ boat ride up the American and Canadian and Horse Shoe Falls and also to walk to the Hurricane Deck of the Cave of the Winds under the Bridal Falls. We spent the next two nights at Niagara Falls.

On 9^th June, we visited Goat Island, Three Sisters Islands, Rainbow Bridge, Whirlpool Bridge, Robert Moses Power Plant, etc.

On 10^th June, we headed back to Mount Greylock, highest mountain in Massachusetts, and went to the summit; but we failed in our third attempt to go up to Mount Washington (once in 1994, then 29/5/1998, then 10/6/1998) due to the weather up in Mount Washington.

Instead, on 11^th June, we went to Hyannis, MA, and took a two hour harbour cruise to view the Kennedy residences with rented binoculars. On the 12^th, we took the two hour boat trip to Martha’s Vineyard to Oak Bluff, Gay Head, and did the round the island tour to see the five light houses.

On the 12^th June, we drove up to the tip of Cape Cod to Province Town with its gay rainbow flags and had a good time on the beaches of Cape Cod.

On 13^th June, we crossed the state border from Massachusetts into Rhode Island to Newport to visit the Mansions, seeing the Marble House, the Breakers, and the Elms. We had some awful/awesome ice creams at Newport Creamery, and spent the night in Newport.

On 14^th June, we headed back to Saybrook, spent a night there, and then spent the rest of the week in New Haven at Judith’s B&B, doing more packing, before returning the car on 16^th June before heading home to Singapore.

1994 - August - New England, Yale, New York

2011-08-04T00:46:00.000-07:00

On 19 August 1994, K/E/myself flew to JFK arriving on the 20^th and loaded our luggage into a car and headed towards Yale in Connecticut. We checked into a motel enroute, napped, and then ordered a large pizza for dinner for the three of us. The LARGE pizza was to last us for the next day, for breakfast and lunch. We also had a half-gallon of ice-cream, and even though the American gallon is smaller than the English gallon, we could not finish the ice-cream. We then realised that in America, things were LARGE, when it was large.

We spent a sunny Sunday (21^st August) at the olde Mystic village before E checked into her dorm at Yale on the 22^nd August. K and I then left her to settle in and we went upstate to New England.

We visited Vermont, stayed at Killington Resort, went to Sugar bush mountain, Granville, Little River State Park, Quechee Gorge, Brattleboro, before returning to Yale to catch up with E on the 26^th August.

We stayed in New Haven, and helped her with errands, visited Phelps, old campus, Saybrook hall, etc, before heading out to Boston.

In Boston, we did the touristy things like the Beantown trolley, Freedom trail, old granary burial grounds, old and new State House, etc.

We then headed out to Plymouth before returning to New York by way of Mystic Seaport, Saybrook Point, and Yale.

In New York, we visited Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, Lincoln Centre, the Met (Metropolitan Museum), Museum of Natural History, United Nations, Little Italy, Chinatown, and met up with Bobby/Linda to go up the Empire State Building.

We then flew back to Singapore from JFK on 5^th Sept 1994.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/1994AugustNewEnglandNewYorkYale#

1994/1998 - New England, USA - lobsters

2011-08-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

A primary school classmate who had just returned from a holiday in New England sent me some photos of Maine lobsters and waxed lyric about them. This goaded me to dig up my New England trips in 1994 and 1998 to have a look at the lobsters we had more than a decade ago.

In 1994, we were there from 20 August to 4 September and the exchange rate was 1.5 S$ to 1 USD. In 1998, were there from 20 May to 16 June and the exchange rate was 1.7 S$ to 1 USD. Now, in August 2011, the exchange rate is about 1.2 S$ to 1 USD.

One of my 1994 photo showed lobsters at less than 5 USD each in New York’s Chinatown.

Although my wife likes and enjoys lobsters, I personally prefer medium-sized prawns (or shrimps, as the Americans would have them). I particularly like the “ang-kar” (red feet) sea prawns, as they are sweeter, delicate in flavour, and much less stringy than lobsters. Having said that, I would not mind New England lobsters as they are much sweeter and fresher when eaten in the States. But food is a personal and individual taste.

Having said that, I personally prefer the chunky creamy New England clam chowder to the tomato-based Manhattan version, realising full well that the latter is healthier and more in vogue.

The link below shows some photos of lobster places we went to in New England.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/NewEnglandLobsters19941998#

The Weathervane chain offered value for money lobsters. The best lobster (and clam chowder and fish) we ate in 1998 was at the Cape Neddick Lobster Pound somewhere between Ogunquit and Newport. Even MacDonald’s offered ‘lobster’ burgers in 1994 when we were in New England.

Just to add that I have sneaked in a 1998 photo of our visit to Ben & Jerry's in Vermont.

2001 - Sept/Oct - Vancouver, Canada

2011-07-14T23:55:00.000-07:00

We flew into Vancouver, Canada, on 10 Sept 2001 to be woken from sleep on September 11^th to learn of the New York Twin Tower disaster and the consequences to our travel plans.

We stayed for a month in Vancouver (instead of going to New York and New England), and whilst in Vancouver, we stayed at Burnaby, close to MetroTown, where more Cantonese Chinese rather than English was spoken.

We took the occasion to tour the Canadian Rockies, Yellowstone Park, and went up to Whistler and across to Vancouver Island.

Whilst in Vancouver, we visited Grouse Mountain Cable car, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park, Stanley Park, Granville Island, Queen Elizabeth Park, Deep Cove Marina, etc.

Some of the photos are at this link:-

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/200110SeptTo10OctVancouverBCCanada#

2011 - Sept 18 to 20 - Whistler, B.C., Canada

2011-07-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2001Sept1820WhistlerBCCanada#

Whilst in Vancouver (September 10^th to October 10^th), we took the opportunity to go up to Whistler on 18th to 20th Sept. We took the Greyhound coach from Vancouver to Whistler for 40 CAD return. The coach ride had a short stopover break midway through the ride.

We had booked a Studio room at the Town Plaza in Whistler Village and did not plan to have a car. Whistler Village is conveniently located and had all the amenities. From Town Plaza, walking south, we reached the Village Square, then Mountain Square, then Skier’s Plaza, where the three gondolas/chairlifts to Whistler Mountain were located. To the east is Upper Village with the two gondolas/chairlifts to Blackcomb Mountain were located. The Studio room was well furnished and had a living/dining area and a well-equipped kitchen, which we did not use much of.

After checking in, we strolled around the Village, enjoying the autumn colours of the “in-between” season, with not many visitors, the summer having passed and the ski season not yet starting. We walked to Blackcomb and visited Club Intrawest, a time-share where a sales representative tried to induce us to a talk with a free “fleece” jacket. We did some trail walking up to Fitzsimmons Creek and signed up for a horseback ride up Cougar Mountain for the next day.

The next morning, an MPV picked us up and brought us to the base of Cougar Mountain, where we were geared up, and, together with others and a guide, rode the trail up to Castle Rock to have a magnificent view of the valley and mountains.

In the afternoon, we rented two mountain bikes and rode to Upper Village and then to Lost Lake Park, round the Lake, and returned via highway 99.

The next day, we took the Greyhound coach back to Vancouver.

2001 - Oct 1 to 5 - Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada

2011-07-11T02:16:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2001OctVancouverIslandCanada#

Whilst in Vancouver in 2001, we took the opportunity to tour Vancouver Island.

We took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay on the 1^st of October which was a very reasonable 9 CAD per pax. At Swartz Bay, we took the public bus into Victoria and after finding a most entertaining accommodation for the night at the Strathcona Hotel right in the middle of town; I went to book an Avis group B car for three days, which amounted to about 200 CAD, starting on the 2^nd Oct. The Strathcona Hotel has an unusual pub called the Sticky Wicket Pub, which we had the pleasure of visiting twice again during our two Alaskan cruises in later years. In the afternoon of 1^st Oct, we walked the inner harbour, visited the Empress Hotel, the Parliament Buildings, etc.

On the morning of 2^nd Oct, we collected the rental car and drove down highway one which overlooked the Gulf Islands, and had views of Mount Baker in Washington State, USA. We stopped at Chemainus and spent quite some time viewing and admiring the world famous murals, especially the ones of the natives and the Chinese ‘Bull Gang’ who moved the big timber logs on wheeled carts back to 1863. We then visited Nanaimo and cut west to Port Alberni to Tofino on the Pacific coast. We stayed the night at the lovely Duffin Cove Resort and ate at the Schooner, after waiting in the cold for a table. At dinner, we were introduced to the Summerhill Gewutrztraminer wine, which I liked to this day.

On 3^rd Oct, we toured the Pacific Rim National Park, from Tofino down to Ucluelet. We visited Radar Hill, Schooner Cove, Long Beach, Wickaninnish Beach, and walk the trails of rainforests, bogs, stunted old trees, mosses, etc. We spent the night at the Tofino Motel overlooking the harbour.

On 4^th Oct, we retraced our route back to Victoria, taking a slow leisurely drive and enjoying the autumn colours along the route. We then visited the Butchart Gardens at about 4 pm until sunset before returning the car at Victoria, having covered about 800 miles. We spent the night in Victoria.

On 5^th Oct, we visited the Royal British Columbia Museum, which changed an entry fee of only 4.5 CAD per pax. There was a special exhibition of Emily Carr, the eccentric artist and author. We then took the ferry from Swartz Bay back to Tsawwassen and Burnaby in Vancouver.

2001 - September - Yellowstone National Park, USA

2011-07-10T07:30:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2001SeptYellowstoneNationalParkUSA#

Whilst in Vancouver in September 2001, we took a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is one of the oldest, if not the oldest national park. It was created by an act of Congress in 1^st March 1872, about 130 years ago.

We were in Vancouver over September 11^th, and had to change our travel plans, one of which was this 6-day trip to Yellowstone starting on 22^nd Sept 2001.

We left Vancouver in the morning of 22^nd Sept and travelled through Seattle and arrived at Lake Mosses. After a leisurely afternoon tea at the lakeside restaurant, we proceeded to Spokane, where we visited the site of the 1974 World Expo. We overnight at Spokane, WA.

On 23^rd Sept, after breakfast, we travelled to Coeur d’Alene, a famous vacation spot in Idaho. Neat streets and elegant houses lined the lake with the world’s longest floating boardwalk at 3300 ft long. We then crossed into Montana and overnight at Bozeman.

On 24^th Sept, we entered Yellowstone National Park by the original north entrance at Gardiner and visited the Mammoth Hot Springs and the Park’s headquarters. Yellowstone is indeed a treasure trove of nature, with hot springs, terraces, geysers, all forms of fauna and flora, its own grand canyon, Hayden valley, Yellowstone Lake, and bounded by Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. We then visited Tower Fall, Mt Washburn, Gibbon Falls, and Norris Geyser and the basin. We stayed the night at Gray Wolf Inn in West Yellowstone and watched the IMAX movie on Yellowstone that the night.

On 25^th Sept, we visited the Fountain Paint Pot, Midway Geyser, and Old Faithful and the old Park hotel. We visited the modern Lake hotel and then went up Hayden Valley with its herds of bison to admire the Lower Falls of Yellowstone River and the grand canyon of Yellowstone. We spent a second night at Gray Wolf Inn in West Yellowstone.

On 26^th Sept, we left West Yellowstone, and journeyed into Idaho, with a rest stop at the 10,000 silver coin rest area. We overnight at Post Falls in Idaho near the border with Washington State.

On 27^th Sept, we visited Dry Falls (WA) in the morning. Dry Falls is the biggest (dried) fall remaining from the Glacial Period with a width of 3.5 miles. After the visit we travel to Leavenworth, a Bavarian Village in Washington State, which recreates the German architecture and atmosphere, and had a tasty meal of pork knuckles, sauerkraut, washed down with German beer followed by black forest cake. In the afternoon, we retraced our route and returned to Vancouver, Canada in the evening.

2001 - Sept 12 to 16 - Canadian Rockies

2011-07-09T07:32:00.000-07:00

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2001Sept12To16CanadianRockies#

We were caught in Vancouver on September 11^th 2001, and spent a month in Vancouver from 10^th Sept to 10^th Oct in Vancouver, making short trips out to the Canadian Rockies, Yellowstone Park Whistler, Vancouver Island, etc, having scuttled our plans to go to New York and New England and Eastern Canada.

On the 12^th of Sept, day after the New York Twin Tower incident, we boarded a 47 seater coach with only 23 passengers on a short trip to the Canadian Rockies. The coach took us through the Coquihalla Highway to Kamloops, where we lunched on Ginseng Chicken Soup and visited the Ginseng Farm where they cultivated the ginseng. We then continued on Highway One, through Eagle Pass, visited the Last Spike of the Trans Canada Railway, visited the scenic Three Valley Gap and Ghost Town, over the highest point of Highway One (viz Roger Pass) and then overnight at the town of Golden.

On the 13^th, we got onto the Icefields Parkway and visited Peyto Lake, Bow Lake with a view of Crowfoot Glacier, and had a snowcoach ride on the Athabasca Glacier. We then travelled to Athabasca Falls and Maligne Canyon, visited Jasper, had a good dinner with wine, and then overnight at the Hinton Holiday Inn.

On the 14^th, we headed east to Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, visited the Parliament Building, etc. In the afternoon, we headed south to Calgary, where we went up the Calgary Tower (second highest tower in Canada) to have a magnificent view of Calgary, followed by a delicious dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

On the 15^th, we visited Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park and took the gondola ride up 7500 feet up to the mountain, where a Canadian flag was flying at half mast to commemorate the September 11^th incident. We next visited Bow Falls and Bow River, made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the film “river of no return”. We then went to Chateau Lake Louise for a buffet lunch, followed by walks in the grounds of the Chateau to marvel at the lovely Lake and the Victoria Glacier reflected in the blue lake. We then travelled to Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley and overnight at Kelowna.

On the 16^th, we visited an orchard, the Summerhill winery, and had a boat ride on Kelowna Lake. After lunch, we retrace our way back to Vancouver.

1993 – Dec – Delhi/Agra/Jaipur (India) & Srinagar (Kashmir)

2011-07-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Whilst comparing the Venice of 2011 against 1993, I came across my photos of our trip to Northern India and Kashmir. Since I was digitising my photos, I took the occasion to also upload and describe them.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/1993DecNorthernIndiaKashmir02#

We (Kit, Ern, myself) joined a tour group departing Singapore on 10^th Dec 1993 for New Delhi. Upon arrival, we coached to the Park Hotel, where we were greeted by drummers, elephants, garlands, tika, and welcome drinks. We rested for the night.

Next morning, 11^th Dec, we coached to Sikandra (near Agra and about 200 km south of Delhi) where we visited Akbar’s mausoleum, which was completed in 1612. We checked into the Clarks Shiraz hotel and visited the world-famous Taj Mahal, dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal who died in 1629. The Taj was completed in 1653. We also visited the Agra Fort, better known as the Red Fort.

The next day, 12^th Dec, we coached to Fathephur Sikri (40 km west of Agra), which was the capital of Akbar between 1570 and 1586, but was abandoned because of water shortage. We then drove to Jaipur, the Pink City with 7 gates (Maharajah Jai Singh 1699-1747). We visited the City Palace and Museum and the famous Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds). We saw the humongous silver vessel used by the Maharajah to carry Ganges water when he visited England !

The next day, 13^th Dec, we visited Jaipur’s Amber Fort and Palace, riding up to the Fort on elephants and coming down in jeeps. In the evening, we took a 2 hour bus ride in the dark to Samode Palace, where we were given a red carpet welcome with camels, elephants, garland, etc, treated to cocktails and dinner, watched some Rajasthan dances, went to the roof-top to have tea and to watch a fabulous firework display.

On 14^th Dec, we returned to Delhi for a City tour, visiting the India Gate, Gutar Mimar, Parliament House, the Bahai Temple, dined at the Bristol complex, and watched a cultural show.
On 15^th Dec, we went to the airport and took a domestic flight (we hope you enjoyed your fright with us and will fry with us again) to Srinagar, Kashmir (with a refuelling stop at the Amritsar, of Golden Temple fame. At Srinagar, we took a shikara (boat) ride to our house boat on Dal Lake and also visited the Nishat floating gardens and Nehru Park.
On 16^th Dec, we spent half a day at Gulmarg (meadow of flowers), had pony rides, sled rides, played with snow.
On 17^th ^Dec, we flew back to Delhi and visited a local home and did some shopping, rested, and flew back to Singapore on the 18^th of December 1993.

Venice - June - 2011 vs 1993

2011-06-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/Venice2011JuneVs1993June#

After our recent (June 2011) Norwegian Jade cruise in and out of Venice (twice), we noticed some changes, in particular the garish advert hoardings around the Bridge of Sighs, which made the bridge almost unnoticeable. I then dug up some of my old (June 1993) Venice photos and put them next to the 2011 photos just for comparison.

In the process, I also dug up our May 2008 visit to the Golden Roof in Innsbruck, Austria, and put it next to our June 1993 photo (a lapse of 15 years) for comparison.

In June 1993, we spent a night and a day in Venice and had a ride on the gondola, where the gondolier serenaded. In June 2011, we spent 3 days and 2 nights in Venice, but could ill afford a ride on the gondola, both because of the cost and also because of “jadedness”.

Kit noticed that we were more warmly clothed in 1993 vs 2011, which she attributed to global warming. I must say that 2011 June was really hot and I do remember that 1993 June was colder.

2011 - June - Mediterranean Cruise on NCL's Jade

2011-06-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Scouring the cruise lines (Princess, RCI, NCL) in August 2010 for a Med cruise, I found one which matched our requirements. It was a back-to-back 2x7 days cruise on the Norwegian Jade departing Venice for the Eastern Mediterranean followed by the Greek Islands in June 2011.

The itinerary was what we wanted. On the first leg, it departed Venice (Italy) on a Saturday, visiting Dubrovnik (Croatia) on the Sunday afternoon, followed by a day at sea. Then on Tuesday morning, it arrived at Piraeus (Greece), and Wednesday morning at Izmir (Turkey), followed by a sea day. On Friday it sailed into Split (Croatia) at about noon, returning to Venice on Saturday morning. We then had a whole day in Venice, before sailing off again to four Greek islands, namely, Corfu, Santorini, Mykonos, and Katakolon over a week.

To be able to visit 4 countries (Italy, Croatia, Greece, and Turkey) over the first 5 days and then the Greek islands, without packing/unpacking luggage and searching for accommodation, food, and entertainment sounded marvellous. So I placed an EBF (Early Bird Fare) booking for an inner stateroom at 1600 USD (2000 S$) per pax. <p/s 3 weeks before departure date, NCL discounted the 7 night cruise to 550 USD for a balcony and 800 for a suite !>

I was able to also book a return flight to Venice, with a 2-hour stop-over in Dubai, on Emirates for 1200 S$ per pax. Then began my hunt for accommodation in Venice for the night before and after the cruise. Hotels in Venice are extremely expensive, especially in summer. After some searching, I was able to locate a (> 200 S$ a night) basic 2-star hotel (converted from a 16^th Century monastery) at Piazza Roma, which fitted my logistical requirements, Venice being a non-vehicularly-motorised city.

So everything fell into place for our June 2011 Med cruise. With the 14 night cruise and 2 extra nights in Venice, and with airfares and 250 S$ cruise gratuities and miscellaneous expenses, the total was just over 4000 S$ per pax. (p/s Greece has a VAT of 23 pct, but for food it is concessionary at 13 pct. On 1 July 2011, as part of austerity measures, just announced that restaurants will now be at 33 pct !!!)

We flew Emirates early in the hours of Friday 3^rd June, arriving into Dubai at sunrise, and had 3 hours to wander around the fabulous duty free shops before boarding the connecting flight to arrive at Venice’s Marco Polo Airport at 2 pm on the same day. We took the every-half-hourly airport coach, very convenient and efficient, to arrive at P.Roma. With a short walk and not needing to cross any bridge at all, we arrived at our hotel, the Casa Sant Andrea, which is also at P.Roma. The hotel is basic, high-ceilinged, and clean, with no TV, and just a bed, a dresser, a wardrobe, and an attached shower/WC, with clean scented white towels and amenities. We napped from 3 to 6 pm, and then walked across the new bridge, passed the Railway Station (Ferrovia), and had a 9E dinner of two pastas and a piccolo of house wine at Brek, noticing that its first outlet overseas is at T2 Changi Airport in Singapore.

The next morning, Saturday 4th June, after a decent breakfast at the Casa Sant Andrea, we walked out into Venice, and lo and behold, we bumped into LCS/J from HongKong, who were cruising out of Venice on the Neuw Amsterdam on the same morning.

After a short stroll, we returned to the hotel, picked up our only suitcase (Norwegian is freestyle cruising without formal evenings, which suited us fine, as Venice is not luggage friendly), and headed out to the docks at 11 am, taking the newly opened (2010) People Mover, an elevated 3-carriage train similar to train shuttles used at airport terminals. The fare was a princely 1E per pax. Check in was smooth and we had lunch on board the Jade in the Grand Pacific dining room, which was our preference for the rest of the cruises. After the 4 pm safety drill, we attended the sail away at 5 pm, and were stunned and amazed by the magnificent view of Venice from the 12^th deck Port side as the Jade sailed down the Canale della Giudecca. We were too tired after dinner, and gave the Duo Acrobatique and the Welcome Aboard shows a miss.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June4VeniceItaly#

Some highlights of the cruise follows:- (1E = 1.8 S$)

5 June – Being Sunday, we attended the non-denominational worship service at the Spinnaker. At 1 pm, we arrived at Dubrovnik (Croatia) and we tendered ashore at 2 pm. We spent 2 to 4 pm visiting the Cathedral, Rector’s palace, the theatre, clock tower, etc and walking down the Placa, we bumped into LCS/J again at Pile Gate. We then bought the 70 Kuna ticket and climbed & walked the old city wall for two hours, which opened up to scenic vistas of the Dalmatian coast and the old town and its many defensive towers. We tendered back to the Jade at 6.30 pm, which sailed at 9 pm. We gave the singer Grazia Quaranta show a miss.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June5DurbovnikCroatia#

6 June – A sea day, and we attended the “Welcome Back” party and other cruise activities. After dinner, we watched the “Showdown” where the four Jade singers competed vocally.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June6NCLJadeSeaDay#

7 June - Jade docked at Piraeus at 7 am. We got off at 9 am and shared a taxi with an Italian couple at 20E (ie 5E per pax) to the foot of the Acropolis in Athens, arriving at 9.30 am ahead of the tour buses. We queued for entrance tickets (1/2 hour) and took the elevator (for the handicapped) up to the Parthenon. We spent about 3 hours at the site (my third visit and Kit’s first), leaving the Acropolis at 1 pm and had lunch at a Taverna at the foot of the Acropolis (a half litre Mythos beer and zaziki and mousakka for 20E). We then walked through the Plaka and to Monastiraki Square and caught the green train at 2.30 pm to Piraeus and walked back to the Jade, boarding at 3.30 pm for departure at 5 pm. In the evening, we saw the illusionists Cripton & Renata at 7.30 pm and Spin on Broadway at 8.30 pm, both shows was impressive.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June7AthensGreece#

8 June – Jade docked at Izmir at 8 am. Having being to Ephesus before (twice for me and once for Kit), we opted to visit Izmir (Smyrna) town instead. We left the ship at 9 am, took the hop-on/hop-off tourist bus (10E), which took us on a big loop from Alsancak port past the cultural park, the Agora, the old Kemeralti bazaar, Kizlaragusa Han, the clock tower, the Kordon waterfront, etc. We then continued on the bus to the bazaar and Han, where Kit bought a kilo of dates and some apple tea, and we had a 15E lunch of mixed kebab, of which the chicken was delicious. We returned to the ship at 3 pm for sail away at 5 pm. After dinner, we saw the “Beatles Celebration” show and the “Newlywed” game show.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June8IzmirTurkey#

9 June - A sea day and cruise activities. We have not used the pool or swim at all as the deck was crowded with Americans and Europeans out for tans. The evening’s entertainment was the new production show “Elements”, which I reckon is the best cruise show I have seen to date. It featured the acrobatics pair, flying trapeze acts, the illusionist, the production singers and dancers, cleverly choreographed into a seamless dazzling pulsating whole with elements of earth, air, water, fire, and wind. It received a standing ovation from the audience. It was also chocoholic’s night, which was at the 7.30-10.30 pm buffet and had 350 lb of chocolates for 2500 pax, compared to the 500 lbs for 2000 pax of the Norwegian Sun, which was more of an event.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June9NCLJadeSeaDay#

10 June – Jade anchored at Split (Croatia) at 11 am and we tendered ashore at 1 pm. We visited Emperor Diocletian’s Palace, walked the old town, and visited the stalls along the esplanade. We had 5 gelatos for 5E and tendered to the ship at 4.30 pm, for sail away at 6 pm. The evening’s entertainment was the hilarious Crew Show, with the Bavarian executive chef amongst its many performers.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June10SplitCroatia#

11 June – Jade docked at Venice at 8 am and we were ashore at 9 am. We took the People Mover to P.Roma, and walked past many churches, Campos, bridges, etc to Rialto and visited the fruit and fish markets. Kit bought half a kilo of cherries for 2E and we had a glass of wine by the canal. It rained heavily at 1 pm, but cleared at 2 pm, and we wandered through the maze of Venice, lunched at Brek, and returned to the ship at 4 pm. The ship left at 5 pm for the second leg of our cruise. We attended the “Welcome Aboard” show at 9 pm.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June11VeniceItaly#

12 June – It was sea day and we had the Cruise Critic M&G meeting at 11 am and the “Welcome Back” party at 1.15 pm. In the evening, we were at the West End hit Mod Musical “Shout” at 7.30 pm, the “Newly Wed” show at 8.30 pm, and the “Rock & Roll” dance party at 10.30 pm.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June12NCLJadeSeaDay#

13 June – Jade docked at Corfu, Greece, at 8 am. We went ashore at 9.30 am, took the local shuttle into the old port and town for 1.5E. We visited the St Spyridon church and many other churches, the Spianada (Esplanade) and cricket ground, the Palace of St Michael & St George, the Asiatic Art Museum (free entrance as it was a Greek holiday) and the Ancient Citadel (also free entrance). We had a lunch of Zaziki and 500 cc of rose wine in a taverna in the old town before catching the shuttle to the ship at 2.30 pm, which sailed at 3 pm. In the evening, we watched the spotlight show “4-Ever” (which featured 4 talented divos) at 9.30 pm and danced with the Jade stars at 10.30 pm.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June13CorfuGreece#

14 June – The ship anchored at Santorini’s caldera at 1 pm. We tendered ashore at 2 pm, took the 5E donkeys up to Fira, walked the souvenir shops to the local bus station and took the bus to the quaint touristic Oia to see the views before returning to Fira. We walked Fira and then took the cable car down to the old port, tendering back to the ship at 6 pm. We sat at the 12^th deck “Great Outdoors”, sipping ice-cold beer, listening to the jazz band playing, and soaking in the view. We had dinner on board the Jade and watched the sunset at 8.30 pm and the moon rise before that. The Jade sailed at 10 pm from Santorini.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June14SantoriniGreece#

15 June – Jade docked at Mykonos at 8 am, but not planning to visit archaeological and historical Delos, we went ashore at 10 am. The port provided a free shuttle into the harbour. We enjoyed the walk along the touristy but yet pleasant water front tavernas, the lovely Little Venice, and the unusual windmills. We had a light lunch of Zaziki and beer and returned to the ship at 3 pm for sail away at 6 pm. The evening’s entertainment was great comedy, magic, and acrobatics by “Flash & Fever” at 7.30 pm and “Spin on Broadway” at 8.30 pm.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June15MyknonosGreece#

16 June – Jade docked at Katakolon at 9 am. Having seen enough ruins and not being extremely sports-minded, we opted not to take the coach or the train to Olympia, a distance of 25 miles. Instead we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then strolled the one-street town of Katakolon between 12.30 and 3 pm, met a Greek restaurant owner from English Brighton and ate freshly-caught sardines and octopus at a fishermen’s shack by the jetty at the “local” price of 4E. Kit bought a 15E dress and a T-shirt. The Jade left at 6 pm. That evening, we saw the fantastic production show, “Elements”, a second time at 7.30 pm, which received a standing ovation again, and we swung to the big band ballroom with the Jade Orchestra at 8.30 pm

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June16KatakolonGreece#

17 June – A sea day and it was packing day. We watched the quartet sang at the 4-Ever concert at 3 pm, Ocean Vibes play The Beatles at 8.30 pm, and Kerry Whiteside at 9.30 pm

18 June – Jade docked at Venice at 8 am and we were ashore at 9 am. We took the People Mover to Casa Sant Andrea again, left our suitcase with the hotel, bought a 12 hour vaporetta ticket and cruised down the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco, starting from P.Roma at 9.30 am. We spend much of the day at San Marco and wandering all over San Polo and Santa Croce, visiting Campo san Polo, san Rocco, san Frari, santa Margherita, Accademia, Santa Maria della Salute, La Fenice, etc and criss-crossing the Grand Canal on our 12 hour vaporetta pass. We had lunch at the 30-year-old “Al Bacareto” (Calle delle Botteghe, off Campo Santo Stefano) as recommended by Eyewitness Travel and had the delicious traditional “bigoli in salsa” (spaghetti with anchovy and onion puree) and ½ litre of wine for 30E. The best part of the meal was the complimentary chocolate with liqueur. We returned to the hotel at about 6 pm, rested, and cleaned up before leaving at 8 pm for dinner at Brek (two pastas and ½ litre wine for 20E) and then taking the vaporetta down the Grand Canal at night to San Marco, returning at 11 pm.

https://picasaweb.google.com/103888485910436380638/2011June18VeniceItaly#

19 June – After breakfast at Casa Sant Andrea, we walked a little, had a light pizza lunch, and headed out to Venice’s Marco Polo airport at noon, using the airport coach from P.Roma. The Emirate flight was at 15.45 hr arriving at Dubai at 23.35 hr, where we bought two bottles of duty-free liquor and then connecting on the 02.45 hr on 20 June reaching Changi at 1405 hr.

Thus ended a wonderful 14 night cruise of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Greek Islands, with 3 wonderful days in Venice.

2011 - April 10 to May 10 - San Carlos, California

2011-05-10T05:35:00.000-07:00

Although not strictly a holiday in the popular sense, this journal entry falls under the travel category.

Departing Singapore’s Changi Airport at 1 pm on the 10^th April, I arrived at SFO airport at 4 pm on the same Sunday evening, having gained a day crossing the International Dateline. In this age of mass air travel, this is taken for granted. Some 50 years ago, crossing the Dateline is a big event, with only a small number of people crossing it on a long sea journey once in a life time.

The 20 hour flight, with a 2 hour transit in Taipei was comfortable enough. Upon arrival, I was fetched to J/E/N home in San Carlos and rested. We had two birthday celebrations the following week, with mine at the Town Restaurant in San Carlos. I also received the news that my only niece gave birth to a baby boy in Singapore on the date of E’s birthday. Double happiness.

The next four weeks were spent bonding with the family of three, in their routine work and daily life. Besides playing with N, I spent my time following GE2011 (Singapore’s General Election) from a distance and researching the ports of call for our upcoming Mediterranean cruise.

The social media eg Facebook, U-tube, podcasts, etc has changed the face of communications and added to the excitement of GE2011, with the introduction of the new candidates leading up to Nomination Day on 27^th April and Polling Day on 7^th May. The advantage of the time difference between CA and Singapore allowed me to track the polling results without having to stay awake through the night, although I paid the price in having to adjust to Singapore time when I returned home. For me, the adjustment time needed for “jet-lag” seemed to increase with age, quite dramatically and not proportionally.

The internet has revolutionised communications, and besides Skyping with Kit and e-mailing, I was able to link up with some of the other cruisers (from Australia to Europe to America) going on the Mediterranean cruise and arrange land tours and outings with them.

In San Carlos, J/E worked in downtown SFO on weekdays, and we spent the weekends attending church, met up with E/J friends, and doing the groceries, laundry, and household chores. E’s overgrown wild tomatoes in the backyard had made way for an herb garden with cilantro, oregano, etc. Her grapefruit and lime trees are laden with fruits, and I spent an hour squeezing more than 60 limes into juice for drinks. I also harvested 20 grapefruits from her tree, leaving about 100 behind. Garbage day is only once a week and are sorted into recyclables (plastics, others), garden, perishables, etc.

E and I took N to the Californian Academy of Science on 25^th April, and I watched the IMAX movie there. The Academy is a wonderful place for kids and adults with lots of learning and interacting opportunities, and I recall taking E there back in 1984 on her first visit to California.

E cooked, mainly Chinese (and all organic), on weekdays; and we ate out on Friday evenings and weekends (Mexican, American diner, Continental fine, Cajun, Vietnamese Pho, Japanese ramen, Chinese, Korean, Northern Indian) in the suburban towns around San Carlos eg San Mateo, Foster City, Redwood City, Alto Palo, etc.

I returned to Singapore on 10^th May, after the return to power of the PAP, with 60 percent of the votes cast (a reduction from the previous 66 percent) and forming the 16^th Singapore Parliament, which PAP now has 81 out of 87 elected MP’s. "We hear all your voices," said PM Lee at post-election speech.

Thus a month was spent, as a grandpa, in San Carlos 8446 miles (or 13593 km as the crow flies) from Singapore.

Californian visits - 2007 onwards

2011-05-10T05:28:00.000-07:00

Californian visits – Year – (Dates)

2007 (May18 – July28)

<Burlingame>

May 24-29 (+ T/Y) Napa/Monterey/Brentwood

Jun11-14 Irvine

Jun30 – July10 Dawn Princess - Alaska

July 13-22 Washington DC

July 23-25 Mendocino

2008 (Sep4 – Oct3)

Sep 21-Oct2 Norwegian Gem - Mexico

(Nov17-Jan 27 AHC, Nov17-Feb10 KIT)

Dec 5 Nathan birthday

2009 (cont...2008 Nov17-Jan27 AHC, Nov17-Feb10 KIT)

(Jan 16-27+ T/Y)

Jan 19-23 Lake Tahoe

2010 (Mar4-Apr10 KIT pneumo); (Sep2-Oct6 points)

<San Carlos>

Sep 4-6 Carmel

Sep 9-19 Sea Princess - Alaska

2011 (Apr10-May10 AHC pneumo)

(Dec 26 -

2012 (cont...2011 Dec 26 -

1977 - Nov/Dec - Tokyo/Nikko/Osaka/Kyoto/Nara

2011-04-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

The recent (3/11 2011 Friday March 11th ) magnitude 9.0 Earthquake & resulting sunami triggers off a search for contacts with our friends in Japan. It was in 1977, some 34 years ago, that Kit & I first visited Tokyo and Kyoto for a holiday. Subsequent to that, I visited Tokyo in 1981, 1988, and 1992 on business. How time flies.

I managed to retrieve the photo album we have of our 1977 visit to Tokyo & Kyoto, and was able to scan the faded photos and store them digitally.

We were in Tokyo/Kyoto between 27 Nov and 12 Dec 1977. On the first evening, we were taken to a sumptuous dinner by Omahe, Imauka, Kasuga, and Naito.

Over the next few days, we visited many tourist sites in Tokyo e.g. the Asakusa Kannon Temple, the upmarket Akasaka area, the Imperial Palace, Ginza, etc. We also watched the all girl Shochiku Revue at the Kokusai Theatre and a Kabuki play. We were intrigued by the cultural activities of the people e.g. Pachinko, hammering the popping weasels, the teens Shinjuku, etc.

We also took a trip to Nikko to visit the Toshogu shrine and the Samurai house, and stayed overnight at the Kanaya Hotel and ate some exciting Japanese food e.g. grilled field sparrow, etc.

Naito took us to his home in Yokohama and we stayed the night with his family, eating a lavish dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Yokohama and living as Japanese would, e.g. taking a bath, after careful instructions from Fumiko, Naito’s wife.

Kasuga took us to his home in the suburbs of Tokyo and we had much to eat and drink, such that he was not able to drive us back to our hotel and had to call for a taxi to take us back to Tokyo. The taxi ride, over toll bridges and past midnight came to hundreds of dollars, the most expensive taxi ride in my life.

We then took the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka, where we were met by a Japanese friend. We then visited the Osaka Castle and were driven to Kyoto, where we visited the many temples and shrines viz Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Nanjen-ji, Shisen-do, Kiyomizu temple, Kamigamo shrine, Nijo Castle, Nimomaru Palace, etc.

We also went to Nara to see the deer and the temples.

It was late autumn in 1977 and the maple leaves were in hues of crimson, red, and orange, contrasted against the green of the pines and evergreens, and was most scenic. And as a young man of 33 years, I had a great holiday time with my wife and those Japanese friends.

In the late eighties and early nineties (time and not age), I interacted with quite a few Japanese at work, of whom two were closer, namely Hideki and Fujisawa-san.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/TokyoKyoto197727NovTo12Dec#

2005 - April - Shandong (China)

2011-04-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

In 2005, in April, we flew Shandong Airlines to Qingdao (of Tsingtao beer fame) for an 8 day tour of Shandong. We went with China Express at a price of 1212 S$ per pax, all inclusive.

We left in the early hours of 13 April (my birthday) and on arrival at Qingdao, had lunch, freshened up, and then went sightseeing. We visited the East Ocean Road, the water front & beach, Lao Shan, and Tai Ching Kuan. Lao Shan is an 1133 metre high mountain, and Tai Ching Kuan is a Taoist temple of ChangSanFeng fame.

14 Apr – After breakfast we had a city tour and then headed out to Yantai, a city on the mouth of the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli) which leads into Tianjin, the port for Beijing.

15 Apr – After breakfast we visited FengLai scenic spot, where the 8 immortals of Chinese legend were supposed to have resided and where they were supposedly to have “cross the sea”. We then headed westward to WeiFang.

16 Apr – We visited the Yang family arts & crafts and after lunch went to an interesting, but relatively unknown, location in the middle of rice fields where there was an on-site museum over the tomb of some king and his stable and horses.

17 Apr – Sunday and our big day. We went to the famous Shandong Peony show (10 Apr to 8 May), but were somewhat disappointed as the weather had not been good, and the peonies were not that impressive.

18 Apr – We were in Zibo, the birthplace of Confucius, and visited the temple, residences, forest, etc. There was a group of American college students who were having their graduating ceremony and they were adorned in flowing Chinese robes and hats. We spent the night at TaiAn.

19 Apr – After breakfast, we took the cable car up to TaiShan (Mount Tai). There is a trail and also steps up the mountain, and there were other brave souls (mainland Chinese) who did the climb. We overnight at Jinan.

20 Apr – We visited Jinan’s 3 springs (the ancient name for Jinan is Spring City) and its shopping centre and mall, and, after lunch, took the plane back to Singapore.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/ShandongChina2005April#

2011 - Singapore muesums

2011-03-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Besides places of tourist interests in Singapore, there are much to do in Singapore.

Often we travel overseas to visit musuems and historical or archaelogical sites. But, with improving muesum quality, exhibition venues, and global logistics, we are seeing more and better better exhibits and artifacts being brought into Singapore.

Besides the recent visit to the museum to see the artifacts on Egypt from the Kunsthistorishes Musuem in Vienna, we also frequent others in the past year, some of which are posted here.

1993 - June 8-18 - Best of Europe

2011-03-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/1993June818BestOfEurope#

Back in 1993, Kit & I joined a coach tour covering Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland in 11 days, starting from London.

Those were the days when we were young and energetic, and enjoyed being rushed from one highlight in one country to another. The tour fare was 718 US$, but there were optional tours in the cities when we were there, and we took quite a few of those.

In Venice, we did the Venice by Night (motorboat ride on the Giudecca Canal with wine & snacks included) and the Venice Gondola serenade (gondola ride & serenading by gondoliers). In Switzerland, we did the boat ride on Lake Lucerne and the then new “Rotair” revolving cable-car ride to the summit of Mt Titlis. In Paris,Kit did the Cabaret by night and the excursion to Versailles.

We flew into London and stayed at the tourist Royal National Hotel at Bedford Way (near Russell Square). We left on June 8^th, and drove to Dover (with its white cliffs), where we took the ferry across to Calais in France. We then boarded a continental coach and drove to Brussels.

The next day (9^th) we did the optional city sightseeing tour of Brussels, visiting the main highlights of Brussels, including the tiny little Mannekin-Pis. We had a mussels-in- white-wine sauce for lunch at the Chez Leon along Brussels’ famed restaurant alleyway. We then drove past French Lorraine and Alsace into Germany and the valley of the Rhine.

Day 3 (10^th) was a busy day. We visited Lake Titisee, the Rhine Falls at Schaffhausen, past Lake Constance into Liechtenstein, through the Arlberg Tunnel, before over-nighting in Auland in the Austrian Tyrol.

Day 4 (11^th) was a relatively slower day. We were in Innsbruck and we visited the famed Golden Roof, took the funicular across the River Inn to Hungerford, and then took the cable car up to Hefflelaker.

The next day (12^th), we drove East across scenic Austria and then South over the European Bridge and the Brenner Pass into the beautiful Italian Dolomites, with a short stop in Cortina. By evening, we reached Venezia (Venice), and we went on the optional Venice by Night tour.

Day 6 (13^th) was Venice day. We did all the touristy things like St Mark Square, glass blowers, Bridge of Sigh, gondola ride in the canals, etc.

On Day 7 (14^th) we left Venice across the Lombardy Plain, north to Lake Como and then Lake Lugano, then through the St Gotthard Tunnel, down to Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.

Day 8 (15th) was Lucerne day. We took the optional boat trip on the Lake, walked the Chapel Bridge, visited the Lion Monument (in honour of the Swiss Guard of Louis XVI), and took the optional Rotair revolving gondola to 10,000 ft Mount Titlis (where Kit built a small snowman).

The next day (16^th), we left Lucerne and drove across France to Paris, arriving in time for Kit to go to the optional cabaret tour. I did not go because I have been to the Moulin Rouge before.

Day 10 (17^th) was Paris day. We visited the Eiffel Tower, Opera, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, and other Parisian sights. Kit took the optional tour to Versailles. Once again, I did not join her in the optional tour as I was in Versailles in 1966, the first time I was in Paris.

The next day, we drove from Paris to the Channel, crossed it by hovercraft (which was delayed from noon to late afternoon because of the choppy sea) and reached London after midnight, when we checked into a bed-and-breakfast at Russell Square without our dinner.

Thus was our 8 countries in 11 days Best-of-Europe coach tour in 1993.

2011 - Feb 26 - LOS cruise to Bali

2011-02-27T00:47:00.000-08:00

Whilst surfing the web, I chanced upon an 8-day 7-night cruise on the LOS (Legend of the Sea) being priced for less than 600 S$, inclusive of taxes/port charges/gratuities. I told Kit about it and we booked online.

Kit asked that we let the Thursday GG badminton group know about it, and so I emailed the information to the group and another couple from Life Church.

Within two days, we had eight others wanting to go, and I signed them on online. J heard about it and found a rooming-mate in S, who was in Washington, DC. J signed on a day later, and had to pay a hundred dollars more; nevertheless, at less than 100 S$ a night all inclusive, it was a good deal. It was good that I was able to secure all six cabins on the 6^th deck for the 12 people on the cruise.

The LOS is a 2000 pax Vision Class RCI ship, and our cruise had 1600pax from 45 nationalities. The ship’s itinerary was a day in Indonesia’s Semarang (principally for a tour to the world heritage Buddhist Borobudur Temple) and then overnight in Bali (arriving in the early evening).

Kit and I had been to Borobudur (myself twice before), and not wanting to travel the 2-3 hour journey from Semarang, we decided not to go on tour to Borobudur. The group concurred. When we were in Semarang, some of us remained on board, whereas about half a dozen took the ship’s shuttle into Semarang town and had a good massage and foot reflexology at a shopping mall.

For Bali, I got in touch with Kadek (second born, and brother-in-law of ROS’s Kadek) and arranged to have two MPV’s to take us around Bali for a day. More of that later.

On 26^th Feb, we checked in at the Harbour Front Cruise Centre at about noon and bee-lined to the Windjammer for lunch, as the cabins were being cleaned and not quite ready. After lunch, there was the mandatory emergency drill, but we were not required to adorn lifejackets at the muster stations. After the drill, we went on deck to see the “sail-away” from Singapore, with pananomic views of Resort World at Sentosa, the offshore islands, and an interestingly curvilinear building under construction near to Tanjong Belayer and Labrador Park.

In between, FY and I went to have our dining arrangements sorted out. Although I had requested for the 12 of us to be seated together, it was not possible as the LOS has 10-to-a-table for the Romeo & Juliet dining room for the second seating at 8 pm, and two in the group (FY & KL) were allocated to the 5^th level instead of the 4^th.

We managed to change the seating to 8 at one table, and 4 at another table, where we had the pleasure of getting to know Eric & Marilyn (from UK) and Karen (from Chicago/Frankfurt) as dining companions. The 12 of us took turns to sit with Eric/Marilyn/Karen, who had the chance to savour 12 different idiosyncratic Singaporean senior citizens, and our rotational seating did also confuse the wait staff, especially efferversent Fatimah, somewhat.

That evening, I had a sumptuous meal of pumpkin soup, Caesar salad, prime roast, sorbet, and soufflé; that being my regular 5-course meals in the evening on cruises.

The next day was a sea day, and the group was up early, doing their morning walk, followed by buffet breakfast at the Windjammer. I did my morning swim, hot-tubbed, and then went for my “traditional” breakfast of crab-cake Benedict, etc. Kit slept late, and I met her later at the buffet breakfast.

Before lunch, it being a Sunday, we had a “worship” service at the Viking Lounge, followed by a Bible study of the last lesson on Paul’s journey for the ladies. The group then had lunch at the Windjammer, although for lunch, I prefer the soup & salad bar at the Romeo & Juliet dining room.

The evening was “formal” evening, with a ‘welcome back’ party and “meet the captain and staff”. The ladies were decked out to their nines, although the men had only on Batiks, the national dress of Indonesia, as we were in Indonesian waters. After dinner, we watched the production show, of which there were three on the cruise, the best being the last night when we were treated to some beautifully choreographed and costumed dances by the RCI dancers and lively songs by the four RCI singers. The other evening entertainments were lady singers, one of who was not only a good singer but an experienced entertainer who had the audience participating and laughing away hilariously "under the boardwalk".

A typical day on the cruise was spent doing whatever each of the group fancied, which centres on board games in the Games Room. BC and myself climbed the rock wall (BC did it on two occasions), and quietly J went on her own too. FY & Kit did some line dancing and the latter went to dance lessons too. There were much organised activities like towel folding, cake making, etc, which some participated, and some won prizes in the Trivia contests. To each his own. We also attended the “enrichment” talks by a HongKong based lady journalist, who talked about the personalities she interviewed in her 40 years of work.

Jumping to the 1^st March, we anchored off Port Benoa in Bali at 6 pm in the evening, the day we did not eat at the restaurant. Instead, we had some hotdogs and pizza in the early evening, and took the tenders ashore. From the ship, Benoa Port looked to be close to Nusa Dua Beach. However, when we arrived ashore at Benoa, the taxis were asking for 20 US$/pax to take us to Nusa Dua Beach, which we declined. We then took the tenders back to the LOS, and some of us made it back to Romeo & Juliet for dinner.

The next morning, 2^nd March, I arranged for 12 tender tickets (#5) departing at 8.30 am from the ship. The tenders reached the Port at 9 am, and the gate of the Port was inundated with hordes of tour drivers and scalpers. I managed to find Kadek, our driver, and we were huddled into two MPV’s for our tour of Bali.

We headed out of Benoa Port and were caught in a little traffic jam, with 1600 LOS ship passengers (not adding those from the Silver Shadow which was also in Port) all heading towards Ubud. In Ubud, we first visited a Batik factory/shop, which had good quality Batik but rather pricey. We then visited a silver/gold store, which had finely and intricately crafted silver items.

Kadek, a Hindu, then steered us towards a large temple (of which Bali is famous for), but it was jam-packed with tour buses from the ship’s land tours. So diplomatically, we suggested to Kadek that we should move on. We bypassed the other arts and crafts of Ubud, like wood-carving, stone-carving, kite-making, etc. But visited a painter’s gallery.

Being about lunch time, Kadek took us to Bebek Tepi Sawah, a restaurant and resort up among the verdant rice fields. There, we had a pleasant and pleasurable lunch of Crispy Duck and Nasi Campur (whilst FY had fish) washed down with huge coconuts at 15,000RP each.

After lunch, enroute to Kintamani, we visited an agricultural and fruit plantation, where we were shown various plants like cocoa, vanilla, avocado, etc and were treated to some six different concoction of drinks for tasting. The owner also had some civet cats and produced the famous civet cat “poo” coffee, which we paid 50,000 RP for a cup to taste. FY had the pleasure of finishing it up.

After lunch, we drove to Kintamani to view the volcano and the huge Lake Batur, formed from an eruption many years ago. Although it was cloudy on the way to the volcano, the weather cleared when we were there, and we were able to see Lake Batur and the surrounding peaks.

From Kintamani, Kadek took us to view the rice terraces, where we took some pictures and bought some souvenirs. We then had to hurry back to the ship as it was close to 5 pm and the drive would take us an hour and a half.

Enroute back to the LOS, Kadek explained to us that the coming Saturday 5^th March was “silent” day in Bali. Once a year, in March, there is a “holy” day, where no work is permitted (no flights into/out of Bali) and people fasted and the whole of Bali is “silent”. The 2^nd March was “beach” purification day, and there were purification ceremonies on the beaches of Bali, and we experienced it when we were delayed for about half-an-hour at a traffic junction, where our MPV’s were held up whilst the “purification” celebrants were crossing the road en-masse.

We reached the tenders at about 7 pm, and returned to the ship at about 7.30 pm, in time for a quick shower and for our second seating dinner. We left Bali at 10 pm that evening, having spent an interesting day touring and sightseeing Bali.

The next two days (3^rd & 4^th March) were sea days, and we had another formal evening. Kit & I also attended a Diamond plus party, although we are only Emerald members. We docked at Singapore Cruise Centre at 7 am on the morning of 5^th March, and disembarked at 9 am, having arranged for all of us to have the red 5 luggage tags, the last to leave.

What have I missed out?

1) We must have walked pass the casino and the gaming tables at least 50 times, but we did not succumb to temptations. I had 12 gold gambling chips, which I have the pleasure of distributing to the group members as souvenirs for their strength and determination.

2) I had an onboard credit of 25 USD, which I had the pleasure of buying two rounds of drinks (4 glasses of red wine), one each for Eric & Karen.

3) We crossed the Equator twice, once on 27^th Feb on the way to Semarang, and again on the 4^th March from Bali returning to Singapore, and we have a certificate signed by the Master of LOS, Yngvar Knutsen

4) It was good to see the group enjoying themselves and intermingling, and bonding with one another. In our time, we are thankful that God was good to us, especially for those who almost could not make it for the cruise (e.g. Sock, GS)

5) Lastly, we thank God for his protection and blessing.

Some of the photos are at:-

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/JohnPaulSTravel#

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/BaliLOSFebMar2011#

Cruises - with RCI - from 2007 to 2011

2011-02-01T03:16:00.000-08:00

Just received from RCI the history of my cruises with them since 2007, and thought I will just add it to my travel blog.

26-Feb-2011 Legend Of The Seas 7 Night Bali & Semarang Cruise
04-Jan-2010 Legend Of The Seas 5 Night Spice Of Southeast Asia Cruise

13-Mar-2009 Rhapsody Of The Seas 18 Night Circumnavigation Of Australia

24-Feb-2009 Rhapsody Of The Seas 17 Night Circumnavigation Of Australia

27-Jan-2008 Rhapsody Of The Seas 12 Night Exotic Asia Cruise

17-Dec-2007 Rhapsody Of The Seas 4 Night Isles Of Southeast Asia Cruise

1997 - Mar/Apr - Paris,Chartres,Marseille,StTropez,Aix,Florence

2011-01-22T00:40:00.000-08:00

BGJ was planning to visit Italy over the coming Easter Weekend in April and we talked about his plans. My advice was to book his hotels in advance in view of the number of visitors over the holiday weekend, which reminded me of my trip in 1997 to Firenze (Florence) to witness the Lo Scoppio Del Carro at the Piazza del Duomo.

T was doing his internship in Paris in 1997, and Kit took the opportunity to visit him for a month from the 9^th March to 4^th April. T was with La Farge and rented a studio room with an attic in the centre of town, about 200 metres away from the Notre Dame, which accommodated many visiting friends, as Paris hotels rooms were expensive.

Whilst Kit was in Paris, E crossed the Atlantic during her Spring break from Yale and met up with T&Kit. There, E took Kit to the Parisian museums and art galleries and tutored the latter in Western art, especially the Impressionists.

Later in the month of March, I took leave from work and flew to Paris, spending 20/3/97 to 4/4/97 with them. During the fortnight, besides seeing much of Paris, we also went to Chartres, Marseille, the French Riviera, and Florence in Italy.

Our French Riviera trip was just after my arrival in Paris. Kit & I took the overnight train from Paris on 25^th March to Marseille. Kit had one of her most dramatic, if not traumatic, train journey, because of the people sharing our overnight compartment.

Upon arrival in Marseille, we booked into a hotel, explored the town, especially the Vieux Port (Old Harbour), and took a boat to Chateau d’If, the island prison of Count of Monte Cristo fame. That evening, we had a bouillabaisse of seafood (4 sea urchins, oysters, mussels, barnacles, etc and two bottles of wine) for 334 FF in the Old Harbour before straggling back to our hotel for the night.

The next day, we rented a car and drove from Marseilles along the French Riviera to St Tropez (of Bridgette Bardot fame) passing Cassis, Toulon, Caravelle La Mer, etc. We had many interesting encounters like not knowing how to pay toll fares (we threw money into a net basket and were overtaken by the following car whose French driver stopped to return us our change) and fondly remember the exquisitely delicious but late lunch (2 pm is not late for the French) at a 8-room old hotel restaurant up in the hills between Toulon and St Tropez.

We also visited Aix (an hour from Marseille) to experience the Spring colours and shimmering points of lights which the Impressionists saw in the south of France. We overnight at Caravelle La Mer.

A town which we remembered fondly whilst in Paris is Chartres. Chartres is 90 km southwest of Paris and its Cathedral is a story of western civilisation, with its Romanesque Old Tower and 1134 Gothic New Tower (capped over in 16xx). It has magnificent Rose windows, gargoyles, and buttresses. We also enjoyed the tourist-free old town on the spring day on 2^nd April.

Between 29^th and 31^st March, T arranged for the three of us to visit Firenze (Florence) to see the Lo Scoppio Del Carro on Sunday 30^th March. We took the overnight train from Paris to Florence, arriving on the 29^th, spending the day exploring the Medici chapels, the manuscript library, Giotto’s campanile, the Palazzo Vecchio over River Arno, the Duomo, etc.

Early Sunday 30^th morning, we were at the Piazza del Duomo, which was a little quiet for a big event like the Lo Scoppio Del Carro. We were early, because we were unaware that summer time began on the last Saturday night of March, so we were an hour early ! But it was good in that we were able to select our vantage viewpoint.

The parade started with flag twirlers, bands, choir, flag throwers, etc, (all in traditional garbs). Then the white bulls pulled in the Cart and there were some ceremonies, declaration by the mayor, and the Cart fired its arrow at the Duomo (Cathedral) door, and all hell broke loose, with lots of fireworks, sparklers, firecrackers, etc . So ended the Easter weekend in Florence.

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/ParisChartresMarseilleStTropezFlorenceMarApr1997#

1993 - June - London

2011-01-12T00:59:00.000-08:00

Whilst I was browsing through book on Italy's Venice, I saw a picture of the "Bridge of Sighs" (linking the Doges' Palace with the Palazzo delle Prigioni (prison cell blocks) which brought to mind the "Bridge" I saw in Oxford.

I scurried through my photos and managed to retrieve our June 1993 trip to London, from where we visited not only Europe, but also Oxford University, where I saw the Hertford "Bridge".

On that same June 1993 trip to London, we went to the Trooping of the Colour, which was for the Queen's Birthday, which ironically falls on the 21st of April.

Photos are at:-

http://picasaweb.google.com/HokangG/LondonTroopingTheColourJune1993#

2010 – Travel Expenses

2010-12-31T18:18:00.000-08:00

2010 – Travel Expenses – (total 21,600 S$)

We are quite thrifty in our ways, but travel being one of our hobbies/educational experiences, a big ticket item of our expenditure is on travel. Below is a summary of this in 2010.

Cruises (total = 6150 S$)

Jan 4-9 Legend of the Seas (Phuket, Langkawi) 2x750 = 1500 S$
Jul 7-9 Star Virgo (Redang) 3x312 = 950 S$
Sep 9-19 Sea Princess (Alaska) 2xUS$1116 = 3100 S$
Sea Princess (Alaska) plus gratuities/onboard = 600 S$

Local trips (total = 1200 S$)

Jan 29-Feb 1 Kuching (Ryan) 2x132 = 250 S$
Mar 23-25 Sibu (Fishing) 150 S$
Jun 9-13 Kuala Lumpur (Camp) 2x250 = 500 S$
Jul 20-22 Sibu (Fishing) 2x150 = 300 S$

Air fares to/from SFO (5200 S$)

Mar 4-Apr 10 Deluxe single return 1734 S$
Sep 2- Oct 6 Economy (mileage points upgrade to Elite) 2x1730 = 3460 S$

Tours (8800 S$)

May 16-26 Shanghai World Expo 1270 airfare plus 1260 expenses = 2500 S$
Jun 29-Jul 6 ZhangJiaJie, Hunan 2x1098 = 2200 S$ (others 250 S$)
Oct 21-31 Yunnan, China 2x1733 = 3466 S$ (others 400 S$)

Phuket

Between 17th and 20th December to J.W.Marriott bonding with Nicky and grandmas
(underwritten/paid for by T/Y)

2010 - December - Phuket JWM

2010-12-23T23:45:00.000-08:00

17th Dec - Kit & I took a taxi to the Budget Terminal where we met up with Y/M/N who arrived in another taxi.
We then met up with Tze who had flown in from Dubai after a business trip.
The six of us, five adults and a baby, then checked in for Tiger Airway’s 9.25 am flight to Phuket.
After immigration, Tze had his cup noodle laska breakfast and N played at the children’s corner before the flight.

Upon arrival at Phuket Airport, we took an 800B Parjero van to the J.W.Marriott hotel at MaiKhao Beach, and on arrival, were directed by the “logistics manager” to go North to the Vacation Club check in, and so the van took us there.
We waited in queue and when we were served, we were told that our check in was at the “hotel proper” itself. So a buggy was arranged and we returned to the main reception when it started to drizzle.

We checked in at the main reception, and then it rained, and instead of going in the rain to our villa in the South, we went to the Café and had our late lunch, where Tze ordered a bottle of champagne !
After lunch, the rain stopped, and we took a buggy South to our two bathroom villa in the South wing near the Blue Pool. Our luggage followed soon after. We spent the afternoon resting.

In the early evening, we took the buggy to Turtle Village and had a light dinner of “westernized” Thai food at the Coffee Club. M’s choice of a club sandwich was probably the best order.
At dinner, sociable N said “Hi” to an American couple at the next table.
After dinner, the ladies did some shopping and M bought from Jim Thompson’s shop.

18 Dec – In the morning, we went down to MaiKhao beach with an overcast sky.
As we approached the beach, we met the American couple whom N had said “Hi” to the night before.
They told us of a “genuine” Thai eatery round the corner from our Southern villa.

On the beach, N gingerly warmed up to the sand and played at building sand castles with the adults all pitching in.
Yili enjoyed picking shells and Tze catching baby crabs for Nicky.
We then went back to the villa, cleaned up, and went to explore the Thai eatery for lunch, where we met the waitress from the Café.
We had five Thai genuine dishes, including a superb Tom Yam Goong and a delicious curry prawn dish. The bill came to 600B for a yummy authentic Thai lunch.

After lunch, T/Y went for the 400B Thai massage at the beach whilst N napped.
After N’s nap, we (except Kit who went to the massage) went to the main pool and N/T/Y enjoyed the children’s pool.
N & T went down the slide twice, and really loved the “bubble path”, also the big turtles, and Marjorie put her feet in the Jacuzzi by the side.

In the evening, being Saturday, the Café was closed, and we ended up in the Deli for our meal.

19 Dec – Sunday, and we were out on the beach in the morning with N, followed by the children’s pool.
N had a blast of her time at the beach (where we saw two long tail Thai fishing boats) and also at the pool (where Kit went down the children’s slide).

Lunch was at the Deli, as the yummy eatery was closed for Sunday.

In the afternoon, Kit went for her second 400B massage and her Happy Hour Margarita at the Blue Bar.

In the evening, Tze had booked a place for dinner at Zest (in the North), but when we arrived in a buggy, we were told that there was only buffet and no ala carte meals.
So Tze called Kabuki at the main hotel, and they managed a place for us.
So we returned by buggy back to the main area to the Kabuki and had three Teppanyaki meals, four large helpings of sushi’s, and also two sake’s.
It was a good & satisfying meal (at 7500B), and we packed away the unfinished fried rice for the next day.

20 Dec – We had an extended check out to noon.
So in the morning, we were down at the beach again to “play sand” and catch “baby crabs”, followed by swim at the children’s pool.
Kit went for her swim at the Southern end swimming pool near the Blue Bar.
We then went back to the villa to clean up and checked out at noon.

We had lunch at the Thai eatery, where we brought two cans of beer and ordered two helpings of yummy omelet. The bill came to a princely sum of 700B (less than one tenth of Kabuki's).

After lunch, T/Y/N/M went to the Turtle Village Coffee Club for N to take her nap in aircon comfort, whereas Kit & I snooze on the day beds at the reflecting pool.

We then met up and had a light meal at the Deli and then took a non-hotel van (700B vs Hotel's 1200B) at 6 pm to Phuket Airport and caught the 8 pm flight to Singapore, arriving Singapore at about 11 pm.

Thus were four productive days of bonding and rewarding time enjoyed at Phuket’s JW Marriott in December 2010.

At Phuket Airport, there were many Europeans (and many Russians) who were waiting for their planes to return home,
Europe being covered by a very fierce and thick snowstorm for the past days.

Whilst waiting, we picked up somebody’s Tiger Airways ticket slip which showed an all-in fare of about 150 S$, of which tax/surcharges were 112 S$; whereas Tze, because of late booking, paid 350 S$ for ticket plus 112 S$ for tax/surcharges plus 85 S$ for services/seating/luggage totaling 550 S$ per pax.
This shows the difference in fares for Budget airlines.

Rendezvous at airports - 1985-2010 - Phuket

2010-12-23T23:14:00.000-08:00

We first visited Phuket as a family beck in 1985 and the children and my mother had a roaring great time staying at the Cabana by Patong Beach.
Then back in December 1989, I booked a family holiday at the Club Med at the edge of Kata Beach in Phuket.

For some reason, I had to travel to Europe on business around those dates back in 1989.

So I arranged for Kit & T/E to fly into Phuket from Singapore; and for myself, I flew into Phuket from Europe, arriving early in the morning, just a few hours ahead, to rendezvous with them. I remember distinctly having breakfast at a canteen in the airport whilst waiting for them to arrive.

Flash forward to December 2010, 20 years later. My son, T, booked a holiday at the J.W.Marriott by MaiKhao Beach in Phuket for us and our granddaughter and her mother and her mother.

However, he had to travel to Dubai on business around those dates.

So he arranged to fly from Dubai into Singapore’s Changi Airport on the morning of the 17 December, and the five of us from Singapore met him inside the Budget Terminal of Changi Airport, rendezvousing with him to fly Tiger Airways into Phuket.

A few of the photos between 1985 and 2010 are in the link below :-

http://picasaweb.google.com/ang.hockchye/198520062010PhuketSnapshots#5554070455302130098

P.S. I also remember, years ago, for whatever reason, after a business trip, I was to go the next day on a holiday with the family.

Since my flight was arriving at around midnight into Singapore, I thought it unproductive to return home from the airport in the early hours of the morning and then leaving again for the airport with hardly any sleep.

So, instead, I booked a night at the Changi Terminal 1 Transit Hotel, which was WITHIN the terminal itself and flew on from there.

The Transit Hotel (Singapore had only one air terminal then) was reasonably priced, single bed with a TV, and shared shower and toilets – basic, comfortable, and adequate.

This makes me, probably, one of the few Singaporeans who had spent a night at the Changi Terminal One Transit Hotel.

2010 - China production shows

2010-11-14T16:36:00.000-08:00

Whereas one visits West End or Broadway to watch shows and musicals like “Mousetrap”, “Les Mis”, “Phantom” or “Lion King” and names like Bernstein, Gershwin, and Webber are familiar, when one visits the cities of China, it used to be acrobatics and kungfu.

However, in many cities or scenic spots of China, there are large scale production shows taking in the local culture and using the scenic spot as stage backdrop.

Our recent visits to Yunnan (Oct 2010) and Zhangjiajie (June 2010) in Hunan allowed us to see 4 large productions, namely:-

(1) Yang Liping’s “Dynamic Yunnan” in Kunming ( 8 pm 26/10 300 RMB),

(2) Lishui Jinsha Song & Dance Ensemble’s “Water, Mountain, Love” in Lijiang ( 7.30 pm 28/10 140 RMB),

(3) Zhang Yimou’s “Lijiang Impressions” at Jade Dragon Snow Mountain ( 2 pm 29/10 priced into tour), and

(4) Tan Dun’s “Tian Men Fox Fairy” at TianMenShan in Zhangjiajie ( 8 pm 2/7 360 RMB).

It is difficult to compare or rate the 4 shows as each has its merits and uniqueness.

For myself, I would rank them in this order:- (1) “Dynamic Yunnan” (2) “Tian Men Fox Fairy” (3) “Water, Mountain, Love” (4) “Lijiang Impressions”.

“Dynamic Yunnan” is artistically tops, “Tian Men Fox Fairy” has wonderful backdrops and music, “Water, Mountain, Love” is ethnically compelling, and “Lijiang Impressions” is grandiosely Zhang Yimou.

Do not miss out on “Dynamic Yunnan” when in Kunming and Yunnan’s ethnical minority tribes when in China.

Postscript :- Having just seen the live telecast of the water-themed opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Asian Games (13 Nov 2010), I must say that I am impressed by China's capability to host "big" events. The 2008 Olympics Opening and Closing ceremonies in Beijing were eye-openers. The 2010 World Expo Opening and Closing ceremonies in Shanghai were impressive. No doubt the 2010 Asian Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Guangzhou will wrap up the three cities capabilites in hosting international events and show off China's capabilities to produce shows.

2010 vs 1994 - Yunnan, China

2010-11-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

Some things change, some do not.

Mao’s statue at Lijiang, presumably the same one in 2010 as in 1994, still stands in the square, but largely ignored by the crowd of tourists and visitors.

2010

1994

The old monk (not lama) at the Jade Peak Temple on the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain has aged, and is now more than 90 year old and deaf, although he still tends the 500 year old camellia tree.
He no longer wears his red robe and cap, and did not offer us walnuts and wild honey.

Camellia tree 2010

Camellia tree in bloom 1994

The 500 year old camellia tree still stands strong, although it was not in flower in October 2010, which it was in April 1994.

2010 Stone Forest

1994 Stone Forest

The now UNESCO registered Stone Forest is now prettier and less rustic than 16 years ago.

The world heritage Lijiang Old Town is now unrecognizable from the Old Town before the earthquake.

1994 Lijiang

2010 Lijiang

2010 stream

1994 stream

A walk down the stream through the Old Town is a totally different experience.

2010 - Yunnan 18 oddities

2010-11-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

Back in 1994, when we visited Yunnan, I took this photo of a straw conical hat being used as a steamer cover, observing it as being unusual. This is now one of the 18 oddities of Yunnan.

In 2010, on our visit to Yunnan, we kept bumping into this “blurb” about the 18 (eighteen) oddities (Yunnan Shiba Guai) of Yunnan, which is a tourist “sell” on the unusual or peculiar cultural customs/facts/foodstuff which separates this south-western province apart from the rest of China.

With the expansion and opening of highways south (historically, the Romans controlled its empire with its excellent road network and army and the Mongols roamed the world on horses) to the borders of Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar, the highways will provide easier access south for China in case of emergencies (e.g. natural disasters) or necessities (e.g. man-made).

One of the 18 oddities which my wife bought in 2010 was a packet of bamboo grubs, which I trust her friends enjoyed.

2010 - Oct 21-31 - Yunnan, China

2010-11-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/ang.hockchye/2010OctYunnanLijiangJDSMStoneForest #

http://picasaweb.google.com/ang.hockchye/2010OctYunnanExclLijiang#

A primary school classmate of mine was organizing a trip to Yunnan but could not gather the requisite 10 people for the trip, and I agreed to make up the numbers. My last trip to Yunnan being in April 1994, some 16 years ago, I thought it would be good to see the changes in Yunnan.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ang.hockchye/1994AprilYunnanChina#

We returned from San Francisco on the 7th Oct and were scheduled for the 14th Silkair departure, but due to some rearrangements, we were rescheduled to 21st departure, which gave us more time to recover from our jet lag.

There were 9 of us on the trip, and it was an 11 day tour covering Kunming, Luoping, Jianshui, Yuanyang, Dali, and Lijiang.
21st - We flew Silkair ETD T2 at 810 hr arriving Kunming at 1230 hr with no time change.

The English-speaking guide (George, 27 year old, philosophical, open) met us and took us to sample the famed “cross-bridge noodle”.

After lunch, we took a 17-seater coach with a likeable and safe driver (Duan) to visit the Jiuxiang Cave, about 90 km south of Kunming), a journey of about 2 hours. Enroute, we saw the upstream of Pearl River and the country side which was “corn” or “maize” country.

Jiuxiang Cave is a member of the International Cave Association and is the most amazing cave we have seen to date. There were numerous stalactites and stalagmites and deep gorges. But what were amazing were the twin in-cave waterfalls and the Karstic terraces.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ang.hockchye/Caves1957To2010#

There was a boat ride before entering the cave and we left the cave via chairlifts. We left the cave at 7 pm for the 40 minute journey to Shilin and checked into the 3-star Tianqi Hotel at 9 pm.

22nd – We left the hotel, which was next to the Stone Forest at 8 am, and enjoyed time at the local market before the tourist buses arrived.
We took the tram and circled the Stone Forest, took some photos, and did not venture into the boardwalk or the pavilion as there were hordes of tourists.

The Stone Forest is now UNESCO registered, and very popular with domestic and foreign tourists, and is now much greener and beautified, which has its pluses and minuses.

We left the Stone Forest at 1030 am and proceeded to Luoping, passing through much rural agricultural country growing garlic, etc , arriving at about noon.

We had lunch and then coached to the DuoYiHe scenic area and visited the park, which is relatively newly opened and featured a 4 km tram ride, 10-waterfalls, and what we coined as “Mr. LeiGongTan” waterfall. We were at the park for about 2.5 hours and enjoyed the natural scenery with hardly any tourist around.

That night, we checked into the 3-star Duoyihe Hotel.

23rd – We left the hotel at 8 am and drove through cauliflower oil country for about an hour to the Nine-dragon Waterfall where a BuYi woman with a baby on her back served as a “unofficial” guide.
She was a child bride at 13 year-old, and now at 26, has an 11 year-old daughter.

We walked to the beautiful Nine-dragon waterfall, and being adventurous, agreed on crossing the river via stone-steps and to climb the 699 steps up the hill to take the cable car down.

We then spontaneously arranged to have lunch at the BuYi woman’s uncle’s (Mr. Liew’s) house.

After lunch, we drove to Mile, where we checked into the 5-star HuQuan Hotel, and enjoyed the mineral spa between 5.30 and 6.30 pm. We then showered, had dinner, and went to bed at 8 pm, after a rewarding day.

24th – We left Mile at 8.30 am to visit the Yunnan Red Wine Chateau. The quality of wine is debatable, to say the least, but it is now “fashionable” and “upper-class” to drink wine in China.

The present owner took over the business about a decade ago from another failed company. Their flagship is the “Honey Rose” grape, which they claim originated from some French missionary, but is now only grown in Yunnan, China.

But they will have to improve their quality to match that of Qingdao beer to gain acceptance by the international market and it is still a long way to go, but I wish them luck.
George, our guide, was good enough to tell us that the entrance fee of 10 RMB was redeemable for wine, and so by pooling the 9 tickets, we were able to exchange it for an 88 RMB bottle of Honey Rose wine, which we shared at dinner.

After the visit to the Chateau, we took the winding road to YuanYang to visit the Terrace Fields of the Hani tribe.

Enroute, we had an enjoyable lunch at a Moslem restaurant, the owner is Han, his wife a Moslem, in a town which has 90 percent Muslims.

We were heading for LaoHuZui to view the sunset, but as we approached YuanYang, the fog started to settle in. YuanYang has 180 foggy days out of 365, so we had a 50 percent chance.

We spent the night at 3-star Yunti Hotel, where hardy and adventurous French, Dutch, and European tourists were holed up.

25th – We were supposed to leave the hotel at 5 am to see the sunrise over the Terrace Fields at DuoYiShu, and then visit the Bada Terraces.
However the fog, with less than 10 metre sight, did not lift and we kept postponing our departure from 8 am till 10 am, when we decided that discretion and safety overrides interest and headed downhill towards town arriving at 11.45 am.

(A Dutch foursome we talked to said that they had prearranged with a taxi, and were up at 5 am with cold takeaway breakfast and were up at DuoYiShu and all they saw was darkness for the risk they took.)

We then proceeded to JianShui, an old town of 1200 year old history.
Enroute, we bought 4 papayas and 2 combs of bananas for 40 RMB. The area is the fruit basket of Yunnan. The river we drove alongside is known as the Red River, and it flows down to Vietnam.

Although Jianshui is reputedly historical, currently it is a stopover between YuanYang and Kunming.
The old town is being “rebuilt” and “modernized” to cater to mass tourists.
There is debate within JianShui whether to keep or dismantle the old city wall, which no doubt causes traffic congestion.

At Jianshui, we visited the Zhu Family house, which is open to tourists to stay in.

26th – After an early morning visit to a Tofu (Bean Curd) making shop, we left Jianshui and drove to Kunming, where we visited the Green Lake Park, Nanping Street, and watched the 8 pm internationally acclaimed show “Dynamic Yunnan” by Yang Liping (300 RMB) with the Chinese Peacock dance, which reminded me of Margot Fonteyn and her dying swan in Swan Lake.

That evening we stayed at the 4-star WeiLong Hotel where we left some luggage behind to be collected on our return stay.

27th – George and driver Duan left us at Kunming, and a new driver (Mr. Zen) drove us on the 4.5 hour trip to Dali, where we were met by local Bai Nationality JinHua (Golden Flower) guide.

We had lunch and drove to ErHai Park, where it rained; and as we changed our plans to visit Xizhou Town, the sky cleared, so we took the cable car up the Cangshan Mountain, and had a beautiful view of the ErHai Lake and Dali, without any other tourist in sight.

We then strolled Dali Old Town with its famed “Foreigner Street”, and spent the night at the 4-star Landscape Hotel in old town, a huge Bai architectural complex, which is lovely in its own way.
That evening, we chatted with two Yunnan girls studying English at the Yunnan University and working as Tea-house demonstrators in the evening.

28th – After breakfast, the local guide went with us to Xizhou where we were entertained to the “Three course Tea” ceremony and a “bridal/marriage” performance.

The guide then left us, and we were driven by Mr. Zen to Lijiang, a 3 hour journey.
We were met by a local guide and had lunch at a 5-star hotel.

We then went to the Black Dragon Pool, and walked from there to the Old Town of Lijang, and the Square Market.
I saw no trace of the Lijiang I knew 16 years ago.
There were masses and hordes of tourists and shops and souvenir sellers and eateries.
But this, after all, is “progress”, and Lijiang had an earthquake in between the years.

We bought 120 RMB of Yak beef jerky to eat with dinner, and bought the 140 RMB 7.30 pm tickets for the LiShuiJinSha show at the Nationality Culture Exchange Centre Theatre.

29th – A hectic day.
We visited the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Scenic Area, together with thousands of tourists.

By taking a short cut and paying more for the longer cable car ride up to the Yak Meadow, we were relieved of much of the masses.

However time was not on our side, as we were to see the 2 pm Zhang YiMou’s “Impression of LiJiang”. So were rushed through the White Water River (known as the small JiuZhaiGuo) on a 40 RMB tram, had a hot pot lunch before attending the show.

After the show, we visited the Jade Water Village and then, for two of us, a revisit to the Jade Peak Temple and the 90 plus year old monk.

30th – An early morning 8.10 am flight took us to Kunming.

Domestic flights in China can be exciting.
We were on China Eastern, which is of international repute.
But domestic airport security clearances can take longer time than expected, so queue jumping is the norm, and this creates anxiety and fear amongst travelers.
Boarding gates may change unexpectedly, so do departure time.

Anyway, we arrived at Kunming, to be met by George and a new driver, who took us to two gardens until our checking into Weilong Hotel.

That evening, we had dinner at a Moslem restaurant, where the group enjoyed the hotplate Tofu and the GongBao chicken.

After dinner, we had a 45 minute massage by a blind man at the open park and Kit did a haircut, dye, and shampoo for 188 RMB at an “up-market” saloon, with lots of young and spendthrift Z-generations. We retired to bed at midnight.

31st – After breakfast, a drive to the “Flower” market, a huge tourist-orientated outlet next to the airport for last minute shopping before our 1310 hour Silkair departure, which was delayed for about 45 minutes due to traffic.
We landed in Singapore at about 6 pm.

1994 - April - Yunnan, China

2010-11-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/1994AprilYunnanChina #

Between 14th and 21st April in 1994, the four of us in the family took an 8-day tour of Yunnan, covering Dali and its environ, Lijiang Old Town, the Stone Forest, and Alu Caves (160 km from Kuming).

We flew into Kunming and spend the evening exploring the side streets of Kunming with its street markets and vendors selling dog meat, which we did not try. We did buy some strawberries at 10 RMB for 1 kg, which was a bargain.

Kunming is known as the eternal spring city as it sits at 1894 metres and the average monthly April temperature was supposedly 16.7 degC, but when we were there in 1994, it was 25 degC.

We were in Dali on 15th April 1994 and stayed at Xizhou, in a hotel which was once a landlord’s house. The next day, the local guide, dressed in traditional Bai costume, took us towards XiaGuan and we visited Dali Old Town with its old city gate, visited the three pagodas and CangSheng Temple, and were entertained to songs, dances, and the traditional 3-cup-tea. We were introduced to the Bai customs and traditions and their architecture and costumes. We then drove along the shore of ErHai Lake towards ShangGuan and visited the Butterfly Spring. The Bai had a saying that went “the WIND of Xiaguan, the FLOWERS of Shangguan, the snow of Changshan Mountain, and the MOON reflected in Erhai Lake”.

The next day, we drove from Dali to LiJiang, passing through some beautiful country scenery with spring flowers in bloom, especially the white blossoms of the pear trees.
At Lijiang, we visited the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the Yulong Temple, where the 500 year old camellia tree was in full bloom. The monk at the temple treated us to walnuts and pine seeds dipped in wild honey. We also visited the Black Dragon Pool with its Belt (5-arch) Bridge and learnt something about the Naxi matriarchal culture and their 7-star costume and pictorial writing. We also explored and enjoyed the atmosphere of Lijiang (4-square street)
.
We drove back to Dali for dinner and the night of 17th April, returning to Kunming on the 18th of April.

On 19th April, we drove to the Stone Forest, which is 120 km southeast of Kunming. We had a great time exploring and walking the 3 km stretch of paths in the stone forest, with its many precariously balanced karst boulders, ready to topple over any moment in time.

On 20th April, we visited Alu Caves, which is 80 km from the Stone Forest. It is named after the Yi tribe who inhabited the area. We took a cable chair to reach the caves, which were lit up with multicolors to display their formations.

On 21st April, we returned to Kunming, visited the Western Hill’s Dragon Gate, DianChi lake, the minority tribe (ethnic) village, before flying home to Singapore.

2010 - Sept 15th Wed - Chef's Table onboard Sea Princess

2010-10-15T04:40:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010Sept15thChefSTableOnboardSeaPrincessAlaskanCruise#

We were invited, at a cost of 75 USD each, to the Chef's Table on the Sea Princess whilst on the Alaskan Cruise. The Chef's Table needed to be booked in advance and the Chef had the right to choose who the invitees were. There were only two Chef's Tables on the 10 day cruise.

We received an invitation from the Maitre D’hôtel, Fabio Marcotti, in our cabin. Fabio was born and raised in Northern Central Italy and joined Princess Cruise in 1997 and was the consummate Italian Maitre D’hôtel. The invitation requested that we meet him at the Explorer's Bar by the Atrium at 7 pm, where we were given white chef's overalls to dress in before proceeding to the galley.

There, we were introduced to the Executive Chef, Christian Cabillet, a French man from Chaumont. Christian spent 12 years in the Middle East, and first reached Executive Chef in 1985 in Seychelles with Intercontinental Hotel. He spent time in Australia and was Chef de Cuisine on QE2 in 1987. He opened Restaurant Les Bosquets with three dining venues in France. On board the Sea Princess, he headed 178 cooks and utility staff.

We, the five invited couples, were made to scrub our hands and proceeded to see the working galley at the "anytime dining" Rigolette Restaurant, accompanied by Chef Christian, who explained to us the working of the galley, which churned out a dish every 7 seconds. Whilst in the galley, we were served French champagne and four appetizers created specially by him. They were a Tuna Carpoccio with Yuzu Dressing, a cone of Caviar with sour cream, a black Truffle Ragout with white truffle oil infused flan, and a parfait of Foie Gras and champagne cooked apples. Simply heavenly. After his talk and answering some questions, the chef led us into the dining room, with all eyes on us, to the Chef's Table, beautifully decked out and with Fabio himself, a head waiter, and two waiters in attendance.

We proceeded through a five course meal paired with three French wines.

The first course was a Risotto with prawns, mushroom, and lemon foam. It was paired with a white Pouilly Fume. Crisp and delightful. Rich and luxurious.

The second course was a Bloody Mary Granite. It was not just a sorbet or an ice. Much much more than that. It was drizzled with Vodka by Fabio --- what else! Kit really loved it.

The main entree was Lobster Tail Thermidor and Roast Beef Tenderloin with Morrel Dust. Chef Christian carved it at our table. The Hollandaise sauce and pepper corn sauce was out of this world and the touch of chili sambal gave it a lift beyond gravity. The accompanying asparagus, vegetables, and scalloped potatoes were just rightly grilled and masterfully cooked and flavourful. The French red was a Chauteau St Michel Cab Sau which was really good.

The cheese dish was whipped Brie de Meaux Feuillete on Walnut Brioche and it had Riesling soaked green raisins, which were a treat themselves.

The dessert was the Chef's special hot double chocolate Fallen cake, with Raspberry Coulis, and French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. This was paired with a Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Beyond words.

As the Princess Corporate chef (a rank above the Executive Chef), Andrew Wachter, was onboard for a week to introduce the new menu to the cooks and wait staff, he appeared and presented a whole tray of homemade Bitter Chocolate Truffles and Pistachio Macaroons, which was not only a visual delight but gastronomical too.

It was a delectable repast which tickled and satisfied our taste buds and met our expectations.

We were more than delighted and impressed by the food, drinks, service, layout, and ambience and considered it time and money well spent.

Bon Appétit.

2010 - 2ndSept to 6thOct - San Carlos, California; eating in and out

2010-10-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010SeptSFOEatingInOut#

Having sampled the food on the Sea Princess, especially that at the Chef’s Table, I must comment on the food we had in SFO.

J enjoys using the large BBQ set, and he would grill Alaskan halibut, rib-eye steaks, sausages, and also fresh organic vegetables/eggplants for us. E would, normally, stir fry vegetables, meat dish, and stew/soup. She also makes a yummy fresh tomato soup with tomatoes and basil and other herbs from her garden. So we enjoyed eating what they cooked.

We had eaten some good food at places they are familiar with, like the Peruvian restaurant called Fresca in downtown SFO, where we had some interesting limely cherviches and two big plates of seabass with seafood.
The ABC at Foster City is convenient and child-friendly and we went there for dim sum.
We also ate very good Pork Ramen at a Japanese near to San Mateo, which had excellent stew pork.
We also ate at another very child-friendly restaurant, a Korean near San Carlos, where we had Bibimbap and Tofu stew. Once we went to Korean town, Oakland, just south of Berkeley, and with Sin & Kare & spouses, ate Bulgogi, Bibimbap, seafood stew, and a pancake similar to our oyster-cake.
We also ate at Ikea, where we had meatballs for lunch, when we met up with Rebecca & mum.
Towards the end of our stay, we ate dinner at Izakaya in San Mateo, which had good sushi and oysters.

When we were at Monterey, we ate at the Fishwife cafe, which had delicious crabcakes, calamari, and huge clam chowders. When we were at Carmel-by-the-sea, we had some unusual and yummy tapas at Mundaka.

2010 - Sept - Carmel-by-the-sea, California

2010-10-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010Sept46MontereyCarmel#

On Thur 2nd Sept noon, we were at Changi Airport Singapore boarding EVA flight to Taipei connecting to SFO, arriving at SFO at 4.20 pm on the same day, having earned a day by flying across the International Dateline. J was at the SFO airport to fetch us at 5.30 pm to his home in San Carlos. As was to be expected, we were tired and jet lagged.

We spent Fri 3rd Sept resting, trying to sleep, and recovering from the flight. We also played with N.

In the early hours of Sat 4th Sept, J/E/N and we left San Carlos for the two hour drive down to Monterey. At Monterey, we went down to the "touristy" waterfront, enjoyed the sea breeze, saw the wax museum from the outside, walked past Cannery row, and had a great family time together. We had lunch at "Fishwife" seafood cafe in Monterey, where we ate the last time we there with T/Y and J/E in Monterey. The huge bowls of clam chowder and seafood were exceptionally good.

After lunch, we checked into the beautiful Alpine-style Hofsas House at Carmel-by-the Sea, where J/E had booked a two-bathroom suite for us. It was a lovely old hotel overlooking the trees and the sea and had lovely continental breakfast in a little coffee room. We enjoyed this lovely little seaside resort town and E bought Kit a bottle of Kurtz Ice-wine jelly. We had Tapas for dinner at Mundaka, a Spanish Restaurant. We had some delicious and unusual tapas, beer, and Sangria for dinner.

The next morning, Sunday, we visited the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, which is three miles south of Carmel on Highway one. Point Lobos derived its name from Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point of the Sea Wolves, and is the crown jewel of the State Park System. We had a great time there bonding as a three generational family enjoying Mother Nature's spectacular beauty and unique geological formations along the coast. We then visited the old Carmel Mission, Clint Eastwood's Mission Ranch, and Carmel's white sandy beach, the latter two of which N enjoyed tremendously.

That evening, Kit and I babysit Nathan, whilst J/E attended a wedding and dinner at a private golf course at Carmel.

On Monday 6th Sept morning, being the first Monday in September and Labour Day, we walked a little of the town and then drove 3 hour back to San Carlos, in time to attend the Picnic at Western Hill Church at 1.30 pm.

It took us another couple of days to recover from the flight and the wonderful time we had with the family at Carmel-by-the-Sea, before boarding the Sea Princess on an Alaskan Cruise starting 9th Sept.

2010 - Sept - Bonding in San Carlos, CA

2010-10-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010SeptBondingInSanCarlosEnviron#

E took three days' leave off work to spend time with Nathan and us.

Wed 22 Sept - We left at 8.30 am for the Farmer's Market at Western Hills and bought some vegetables and rum rolls. We then went to Burlingame Park where N had fun sitting on the swing. Going down the slide, and, with a twig, tried to turn all the bolts and nuts. Kit, whilst trying to chase after N, knocked her head, not once but thrice, against the ladder. Some babies never learn. We then went to the Milbrae Clinic to get a flu jab for N, but due to a 'silly' mistake by the appointment clerk, the flu shot was not available till October. We then had lunch at a very child-friendly Korean Restaurant, where we had Bibimbap and Tofu stew.

Thur 23 Sept - We left at 8 am to buy flowers and deliver them to Joel, whose grandmother had just passed away. We then went to Shoreline Park, where N chased after the many migrating geese that were there. We then went to the Palo Alto children museum and zoo, and N had fun at the zoo, looking at the rabbit, peacock, bobcats, and goose. We then met up with Becky, Elliot, and grandma at Ikea where we had meatballs for lunch. N took E by the hand and led him to play with the toys. Elliot is recovering well from his chemo therapy and active. After leaving them, we went to Menlo Park to pick up the 4 bottles of wine for Tze, returning home after 1.30 pm.

Fri 24 Sept - James was working from home today. We (J/E/N/K/I) drove downtown to SFO to the de Young Museum in the morning, planning to visit the exhibition of Impressionist paintings brought in from Paris' d'Orsay Gallery. We parked and approached the museum before realizing that we were a day early. The exhibition was from 25 Sept to end November. Anyway, Kit visited the washroom, and it must be one of the most expensive one she had been to, as the parking was not cheap at the de Young. We then drove to downtown for an early lunch at the Fresca, a Peruvian restaurant, where we had some interesting limely cherviches and two big plates of seabass with seafood. We then returned to San Carlos for ice-cream and naps.

Sat 25 Sept - We left at 8.30 am for San Mateo farmers' market to buy vegetables and three prunnets of organic strawberries for 7 USD for eating over the next days. We then went to Costco and bought vitamins, muesli bars, dried berries, face creams & scrubs to take home to Singapore and also food and chicken wings, which we warmed up for lunch. We then had early naps from 11.30 am to 1 pm before leaving for downtown Oakland waterfront's Children's Fairyland to meet up with Sin and Kare and their husbands and children. The three couples and babies then had a good time riding the merry-go-round, the train, exploring the Fairyland, and watching a puppet show called "the three oranges" till 4.30 pm. We then went to Korean town, Oakland, just south of Berkeley, and had coffee/tea before adjourning to a Korean Restaurant to eat Bulgogi, Bibimbap, seafood stew, etc. After dinner, we bid Sin & Kare and families goodnight, and headed home to San Carlos, settling into shower and bed at 9.30 pm.

Sun 26 Sept - We went to the 9 am service at Foster City's Central Peninsula Church where the sermon was on "wheelbarrow faith" from Genesis 12:1-9 and Abram's blessing. We then had an early dimsum lunch at ABC Restaurant before returning home. Dinner was E's pork rib with her garden fresh tomatoes and beef with snap peas. After dinner, we walked around the neighbourhood with N in a child's pull cart. We retired early as they prepare themselves for work next week.

Sept 29 - Oct 3 N caught a fever, most likely viral, on 29 Sept and visited Dr Tan on 30 Sept. So we spent the weekend of Oct 2/3 at home and the days before it looking after N. It was a time of close bonding. "We're glad you're here" are four or six simple words, but they meant a lot to us.

Whilst we were around during the first week, J would BBQ Alaskan halibut, steaks, and grill fresh organic vegetables/eggplants for us, and E would, beside her Chinese dishes, make fresh tomato soup with herbs and tomatoes from her garden for us, and they are pretty good at these dishes.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010SeptSFOEatingInOut#

On weekends, we would shop at Costco, Ranch, Trader Joe's and have lunches or dinners at Peruvian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or BBQ.

2010 - 9th to 19th Sept - Alaskan Cruise on Sea Princess

2010-09-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/20109thTo19thSeptSeaPrincessAlaskanCruise#

Whilst visiting E/J/N in SFO, we took a 10-day cruise to the Alaskan inside passage on the Sea Princess between 9th and 19th.
On Thur 9th, J/E/N sent us to Pier 35 arriving at 1130 hrs. The check in was swift and we were on board for lunch at the Travatia Restaurant at noon. Our suitcases arrived soon after and we were unpacked before sailaway at 4 pm on a lovely sunny day. We went under the Golden Gate Bridge and into the open sea.

The next two days (10th & 11th) were sea days, and we were kept busy with lots of on-board activities. Kit went for dance classes, line-dancing, Trivia, etc. I swam and hot-tub twice, and won the silver medal at the Ping-Pong tournament. We went to the naturalist lectures by Dr Gregory Wheeler and the "Welcome aboard" and "Piano Man" production shows. We attended the 10.15 pm shows, because we opted for the late seating (8 pm) traditional dining at the Travatia. After the shows, we spend time at the Wheelhouse bar for music and a bit of dancing. We normally napped a little in the afternoon, and missed out on the wine-tasting, bridge lessons, art and craft lessons, and the library. We did not watch any of the movies, either in the lounges or on deck "under the stars", the weather being not conducive for the latter. The formal nights were on the first sea day and the day at Victoria, Canada (17/9), the latter was also the Captain's Circle Welcome Back cocktail night.

We arrived at 7 am on Sun 12th at Ketchikan (a new port for us) and went ashore after a late breakfast. We walked to Creek Street, explored the shops, took the cable tram up to the lodge and totem poles, walked to the Salmon hatchery, took the town shuttle back to Creek Street, and visited the famed Dolly's brothel. After some shopping, we returned to the ship for a late lunch before ship's departure at 3 pm. The highlight of Ketchikan was the salmon run. We had never seen and smelt so many salmons, alive or dead!

We arrived at 8 am on Mon 13th at Juneau and, again, after a late breakfast, we took the tender ashore to catch the 10 am Glacier Express (14 USD return) to Mendenhall Glacier. As was the day before, it was beautiful sunny weather in the sixties (degF) and we spent four hours (between 11 am and 3 pm) at Mendenhall, walking the one hour trail to Nugget Fall, watching the documentary at the Visitor Centre, looking at mountain goats from the Centre's telescopes, etc. It was so pristine and post-card pretty just walking and strolling the Nugget Fall trail and being so close to the waterfall and the glacier and the blue icebergs. Kit was thrilled holding the blocks of million year old glacier ice with bubbles in them. We returned via tender to the ship at about 4 pm in time for delicious scones at afternoon tea. The ship left Juneau at 10 pm that night.

We arrived at 7 am on Tue 14th at Haines (a new port for us) and after a late breakfast, again, went ashore. Haines is a pretty small little town of 2400 people surrounded by mountains on three sides. After a look at some galleries and shops, we bought two return fast ferry rides to Skagway (which we visited in 2007) for 48 USD each. The ride itself was scenic and took 45 minutes, passing a glacier and some waterfalls. At Skagway, we had a smoothie, revisited the Visitor's Centre, strolled the town, bought some "bits & pieces", and then took the 2 pm ferry back to Haines, in time for the Fisherman's BBQ on board the Sea Princess. We then napped and at about 6 pm, we took a late evening stroll along the waterfront of Haines, before the ship's departure at 8 pm.

Whilst in ports over the three days, we did not attend the comedy showtimes, instead we opted to listen to the pianist/singer Jackie Wood at the Atrium or dance music at the Wheelhouse. We had brilliant sunshine whilst in ports and the locals said it was "freak" weather and one in a million chance.
Wed 15th was scenic cruising into Endicott Arms. We were rescheduled to Endicott Arms from Tracy Arms and some passengers were not happy about it, but for us, because we were at Tracy Arms 3 years ago, we did not mind the change in schedule. We woke up and went on deck at 6 am, and found the place rather quiet and found a nice table with a view in the Horizon Court. Later did we found out that we had reset our clocks one hour one day earlier, and we were up on deck actually at 5 am. Anyway, the cruise up the Arms and finally reaching within arm’s length of the Dawes Glacier (2 miles across and 300 feet high) was awesome. The scenic cruise was from 5 am to 10 am, according to the Captain's log. On the way out into Stephen's Passage, we were having lunch on Deck 14, where we spotted over a period of an hour some 12 hump back whales, one or two, were close as 100-200 metres from the ship. That same evening, we were invited (at 70 USD each) to the Chef's Table for dinner. More of that in another blog, with following links:-

http://daddytravel.blogspot.com/2010/10/2010-sept-15th-wed-chefs-table-onboard.html

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010Sept15thChefSTableOnboardSeaPrincessAlaskanCruise#

So Wed 15th Sept was a highlight, with Endicott Arms, Dawes Glacier, a dozen whales, and dinner by executive chef Christian Charbillet at the Chef's Table.

Thur Sept 16th was a sea day to recover and the highlight was the "Premier String Quartet" in concert and they played Vivaldi, Bizet, Strauss, and Kit's favourite pieces. The Quartet was Ukrainians from Kiev and had played with symphonies in Moscow and Eastern Europe.

We arrived at Victoria, BC, Canada at 6 am on Fri Sept 17th to a drizzling morning, the first since we started. After a late breakfast, we were at two minds on whether to go ashore, when the sky cleared, and we took a 7 USD all-day shuttle into town/inner harbour to revisit the BC Museum, Empress Hotel, etc. It was good to walk the inner harbour and the gardens recollecting the Sept of 2001 when we were stranded in Vancouver and spent a week driving around Vancouver Island and also our last visit in July of 2007 when we were in Victoria with the Dawn Princess. We took the 1 pm shuttle back to the ship for a 2 pm departure. It was formal evening, and we were at the Captain Cirlcle's Welcome Back cocktail from 7 pm. After dinner, we attended the "Moments to remember" production show featuring Kenton Fridley/Kimberly Sava and the Sea Princess Dancers.

Sat Sept 18th was a sea day, and we arrived at SFO on Sunday Sept 19th at 7 am. We had breakfast at the Travatia, went on deck to relax, scheduled off the ship at 9.30 am, had J/E/N fetch us at 10.15 am, and were home in San Carlos for lunch.

It was a lovely cruise, where we met many interesting people and made new friends. The food was good, especially the bread, the scones, the lobster tail and Crab legs, baked Alaska, and the Chef's Table night. Entertainment was good, with the three productions shows, the pianist, the band, and the string quartet. Ketchikan and the salmons, Juneau and Mendenhall and Nugget Falls, Haines and Skagway, Canadian Victoria, and especially Endicott Arms and Dawes Glacier and the dozen humpback whales. But above all else, it was the weather, brilliant sunshine and blue sky in September that made the trip.

2010 vs 2007 - Alaskan cruise weather

2010-09-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2010Vs2007AlaskanCruiseWeather#

Having returned from an Alaskan cruise where we had brilliant hot sunny weather in September, and having said that “weather maketh a holiday”, I rummaged through my photos to compare some of these from the two different Alaskan cruises we made.

Our recent Alaskan cruise in September 2010 was on the Sea Princess calling at Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines (where we went to Skagway), Dawes Glacier at Endicott Arms, and Victoria.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/20109thTo19thSeptSeaPrincessAlaskanCruise#

Our previous Alaskan cruise in July 2007 was on the Dawn Princess calling at Victoria, Sitka (4th July), Juneau, Skagway, and the Sawyer Glaciers at Tracy Arms.

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2007JulyAlaska#

The weather in September 2010 was brilliantly sunny at all our Alaskan ports of call, and we spent 4 hours at Mendenhall Glacier walking the Nugget Falls Trail and enjoying the scenery. We saw lots of Salmon at Ketchikan, and took a fast ferry from pretty little Haines to revisit Skagway. Dawes Glacier (2 mile across) was brilliantly blue in the sunlight. The highlight of the cruise was the cruise up Endicott Arms, spotting a dozen humpback whales at Stephen’s Passage, and the Chef’s table all on 15th September 2010.

The weather in July 2007 was colder but there were more snow on the mountains and the rain and cloud did clear at Juneau for us to take a floatplane to view the glaciers and icefield from above, which was the highlight of the cruise. We had sunny weather in Victoria in 2007, saw the 4th July Parade in the rain at Sitka, went up Mt Roberts Tramway at Juneau and the White Horse Pass at Skagway. The scenic cruise up Tracy Arms and the Twin Sawyers Glaciers were more dramatic with lots more icebergs and much colder.

So each holiday has its highlights and pluses/minuses, weather being one of the factors.

2007-2010 - Trans Pacific Flights - SIN to/from SFO

2010-09-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Our first flight was many years ago, but starting in 2007, we have been flying from SIN to SFO at least once a year with EVA air. This note records some of the experiences with EVA air.

We first flew EVA to SFO in the summer of 2007 (July), then again in Sept 2008, and again in Dec of the same year (returning in Feb 2009), and then in 2010 we flew in Sept, with Kit additionally flying by herself in April 2010. That made it 4 return trans-Pacific flights over 4 years on EVA for the two of us, and 5 for Kit over 4 years.

We have been flying the class in-between economy and business, called "Deluxe" or "Elite" by EVA, since we were introduced to it.

A one-month economy SIN-SFO return ticket retails for about 1300-1500 S$, with various restrictions like penalties for return date change, non-reroutable, non-refundable, etc. A 3 or 6 month Elite/Deluxe ticket retails for about 1700-1900 S$, which allows for date change without penalties, etc.
An economy ticket with validity of more than a month retails for more than the one-month ticket.
Since our trips normally cover more than a month, it makes sense to purchase the Elite/Deluxe ticket.

In 2007, EVA used the Airbus A330 for the SIN-TPE sector, which is only business or economy, and Deluxe class travelled in economy on this sector. The TPE-SFO sector was Boeing B747 and the 2-4-2 configuration was almost business class and very comfortable. Food was reasonable.

In 2008/09, after the American financial melt-down and cost-cutting exercise together with the delivery of the new B777 planes, the TPE-SFO sector Elite class seatings were less spacious, the food quality poor, but the planes were newer and entertainment was on-demand.

In Sept 2010, we purchased economy tickets but used 50000 mileage points to upgrade to Elite class for the TPE-SFO sector. I noticed that the SIN-TPE sector used the newer B777 with Elite class available. On the TPE-SFO leg, we had the older B747 Combi which was more spacious in seating for Elite class, the food quality was better than Kit's April trip in a B777, but the planes were older and so were the entertainment. On our return leg SFO-SIN, we had the B777 all the way, with the Elite class 2-4-2 configuration for the SFO-TPE leg. We were in the economy 3-4-3 configuration for the TPE-SIN leg, with ample leg space and Kit found it more comfortable than the B777 leg rests.

We have always found the booking/counter services and the cabin service good, especially when the latter hydrate the passengers frequently during the flight.

The 2010 Sept EVA fleet stands at 14 B777 (316 pax), 3 B747 (372 pax), 4 B747 Combi (276 pax), 11 A330 (252 pax), and 6 MD90 (134 pax).

The surprising part to me was that the Deluxe/Elite class pitch were all 38 inches on the B777 and the B747; and we were comfortable with the 33 inch pitch in the B777 economy, more so than the same 33 inch pitch of the A330.

Perception seems to be different from reality.

2009 - March - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

2010-08-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/2009FebPapuaNewGuinea#

The 2008 Singapore Flower Show had some display of flowers from PNG and also three very large and colourful masks, of almost similar design. We were intrigued and enthralled by them, especially the masks.

On 3rd March 2009, we sailed into Port Moresby, the capital of PNG. It was an interesting day visit and port of call. We saw the town from the Rhapsody of the Seas, went ashore and strolled around the town, taking some pictures (see photo link above) and interacting with some locals.

The 2010 Singapore Flower Show also had an exhibit from PNG. This time, there were also three masks, but they were not of similar design. One of them had an ant-eater in its mouth where the tongue used to be displayed. No red-coloured tongue from betel-nut chewing this time round.

2010 - July - Singapore Biennial Flower Show

2010-08-01T16:20:00.000-07:00

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ang.hockchye/200620082010SingaporeFlowerShow#

For the past years (2006, 2008) and now in 2010, we have attended the biennial flower shows in Singapore. It is normally held at Suntec City, and for 2010, it was held between 15th and 22nd July and occupied two levels of the convention hall.

We were there at 10 a.m. when the show opens early in the morning and left at 2 p.m. to attend the AGM of SMRT at the Marina Mandarin at 2.30 p.m. In between, we had a quick lunch of about half an hour.

The flower shows are impressive and the flowers are gorgeous with entries from many countries and floral and garden designers of worldwide repute. This year, we also took some pictures of large masks from Papua New Guinea, the capital of which we visited on our Cruise on Rhapsody of the Sea in Feb/Mar of 2009.

In all, I took some 150 photos/video clips. This is because it is digital, and cost/quality is not a major concern compared to the analogue days when I was shooting with a SLR on 35 mm films and slides. It is so easy to lose one’s skill and composition, now that, with digital, one can just shoot and select/edit at one’s leisure.

2010 - May 8th - Bocelli at Botanic Gardens, Singapore

2010-08-01T03:31:00.000-07:00

On the evening of May 8th, the Singapore Botanic Gardens saw a “once-in-a-life-time” performance by Andrea Bocelli. He was in Singapore for the YTL Concert of Celebration 2010, after singing at the opening of the World Expo in Shanghai on May 1st.

Also on stage were soprano Sabina Cvilak, flutist Andrea Griminelli, and Australian singer Delta Goodrem, who did duets with Borelli. They were accompanied by the Singapore Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonic Chamber Choir, conducted by Eugene Kohn.

Before the performance, which was graced by the President of Singapore and held at Swan Lake, the audience at the Palm Valley was entertained by Jeremy Monteiro and Rani Singam.

In the afternoon of the 8th May, it rained heavily, with lightning and thunder, but, by grace, the downpour stopped at 5 pm and the thanksgiving and celebration performance started on time in the evening, with a heartwarming speech by Francis Yeoh, the MD of YTL Corporation, which donated S$ 850,000 (and raised to 1 million dollars by an anonymous donor) to Singapore charity.

We were given a goody bag which contained, among other things, a well produced DVD of the 3 tenors (Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti) performing at the YTL Concert of Celebration 2003 in Bath, England. We were also given chicken, pie, ice-cream, and water for a picnic dinner. It was indeed a “once-in-a-life-time” evening of moving music and thanksgiving.