While the baby’s expected delivery date was brought forward to beginning of March, I had to make a last minute plan for a 3D2N trip to Taipei to meet with our client and his customer who’s the end user of our product. I flew in on Wednesday and returned just yesterday.
I was arranged accommodation at The Fullon Hotel Taipei. Initially I wasn’t quite impressed when I received the confirmation fax with the hotel letterhead, but when I arrived I loved it right away.
It’s modern, clean and definitely chic. The furnishing was all new. The bed was the softest I could imagine.
My room has a strange but practical design. The wardrobe is accessible from both the corridor between the front door and the bed… and also from inside the bathroom on the other side. Ingenious idea!
Dinner was arranged with our client Benson and his wife at Wang Ping Steak House (王品). We were told it was the best in town. For less than $50 each, we had full courses of appetizer, soup, main course, fruit, dessert and coffee. Mind you, it’s not a Denny’s family meal. They’re all quality stuffs. Since I’m to abstain from beef and seafood, I had this humongous piece of pork chop… biggest I’ve ever seen. I was first served the outer layer (which is actually a lean layer of the pork leg) while they bring the inner layer back to be cooked a little longer. It came back looking like a completely new dish.
It’s my first time in Taipei… and between the meetings and business meals, I had very little time to see much. So I had to pick just one or two places to visit within the two nights. I was recommended a few, and I picked Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) for the first night and Ximending (西門町) for the second.
The streets at Shilin Night Market reminds me of a blend of Bangkok and Guangzhou, but a lot cleaner and the people friendlier. It was already close to midnight and yet there’re still lots of youngsters roaming the street. Most of the clothes and stuffs are so cheap I could not believe I was calculating the right conversion rate.
The street food… aaaah… HEAVEN! I saw so many things I wanted to try but after the gigantic pork chop/leg, I couldn’t stuff anything else down my stomach.
By the time I got to the end of one street, I had to turn back and call it a night. I wanted so much to explore the whole of Shilin but there’s just too much to see in one night and it was going to be a long day tomorrow. It was such a waste not to be able to try the street food. Nevertheless, it’s a place I’d definitely want to come back to.
After a breakfast meeting with Benson and Mr. Len, we took a 2 hour train ride to Chiayi, another city south from Taipei, to meet with the big customer of Benson, an industrial end-user of our coconut cream.
Here’s a video showing how fast the train went… Note the green fields. The only other place I’ve seen such green fields was in Japan.
It was just four of us meeting a whole team of 15 over people from various departments. The meeting lasted hours but it all went well. After the meeting, we were brought out for dinner before rushing back to catch a train back to Taipei.
Back in Taipei en route to the hotel, Benson briefly showed us The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It wasn’t much to see and it was smaller than the Tiananmen Square, but the sight of the memorial buildings are just fantastic in the night lights.
Video for a panoramic view of the place…
By the time we reached the hotel, it was already 10:40pm. Needless to say, it was too late for me to visit Ximending so I decided I’d just head back to Shilin for some last minute shopping before they close at 1-2am.
Some of the stuffs I bought include…
... a Domo-kun hat for Liang Hwei
... a double wrap leather wrist strap
... a silver ring and bangle to match my old silver ring
That’s not a lot, but I must say I’m more satisfied with the shopping than I expected. Though I couldn’t find the sneakers I was looking for (or the grey Lux for Derek), I’m pleased with the leather wrist strap, the silver ring and bangle which I’ve searched for years for. So it’s quite a good catch within such a short time span.
The next morning, while waiting for the rest for breakfast, I took a walk around the street outside the hotel. Taiwan residential street reminds me a bit of Japan. The narrow lanes and small apartments resemble so much of those in Tokyo.
After a hearty breakfast (I even had nato beans on rice… a favorite Japanese breakfast choice) and before heading off to the airport, we made a short visit to the Carrefour. Nothing much interesting but I saw this giant shopping cart just outside the entrance. I wonder which giant left his/her cart outside the store.
So that was that… a short visit to Taipei. I’d definitely return… and next time with Sunsun and baby. I had the chance to visit just one of the many night markets. I’d definitely must explore more the next time.
I made a heritage trip back to my ancestral hometown in Chaozhou (潮州) with Dad last week. After the quarterly meeting with our Hong Kong customer, I met up with Dad in Shenzhen before driving up together to Shantou (汕头), which is close to Chaozhou, to meet a former business associate. Since we were close to Grandpa’s hometown at Liyang (礼阳) and I’d never actually been there, we decided to drive up for a visit.
Liyang is split into two parts, one Zheng village (郑村) and the other Li village (李村). Of the Zheng village, our remaining relatives is an 87-year-old lady (wife of Dad’s late cousin), with her three generations of Zheng descendents. We call her “Lao Kim”
Lao Kim
The highlight of the trip is not meeting our long distant relatives, but to see the house that Grandpa and Grandma lived and preserved exactly the way they left it when they moved to Singapore in the 1930s.
As were most villagers in their time, Grandpa and Grandma were poor and lived in a house shared with several other households. Their own living quarter was no bigger than a HDB bedroom we see in Singapore today.
Believe it or not, most of Grandpa and Grandma’s furniture are still around, even the bed they slept on. Though covered with dust, they are considerably well preserved for over 7 decades.
Around the old house, the villagers today still live a very rural lifestyle. Though most of the other houses have been torn down and rebuilt, much of the layout of the narrow village street have changed very little.
Grandma, Grandpa and my great-grandparents
Some of Grandpa’s calligraphy works
While Guangzhou is the place for food and Beijing is the cultural center of China, Shanghai is the financial and commercial center of the country. Being the front-line hub for foreign trade and investment, the city is lined with booming trend of modern architecture and urban amenities making it the most foreigner friendly place in the country. As remarked by Ben, who knows no mandarin at all, English is spoken here more than the other two cities we visited.
DAY SEVEN 上海
We booked and flew to Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, which is further from the city than the older Hongqiao Airport, with an intention. We wanted to experience the world’s first commercial Maglev train.
For those who isn’t familiar with the term, ‘Maglev’ stands for ‘magnetic levitation’. A maglev train is one that suspends, guides and propels via magnetic forces. Meaning… no wheels! It is faster, quieter and smoother than wheeled mass transit systems. Ideally, it is capable of reaching velocities comparable to turboprop and a jet aircraft.
While the journey lasted only for 7 minutes, the experience of travelling at top speed 430km/h so close to the ground is something we don’t get everyday. Woohoo! Can I go around for another trip? Can I??
Upon alighting at Longyang, we took a cab across the Huangpu river past the old city to our hotel. The view was amazing. Being a fan of Manhattan, the old bricked buildings of Shanghai had that similar appeal to me.
We stayed at 东湖宾馆 Donghu Hotel. Donghu Hotel has a few buildings along Donghu Street. The one we were staying was a French style three storey residence built in 1925.
While the interior has been renovated and the rooms now look very clean, you can’t help realizing the building is more than 80 years old. It’s just as creepy as staying at the old Raffles Hotel, I guess.
Only less than two days in Shanghai, we didn’t want to waste much time. So we headed out to the street after some bathroom breaks. 陜西南路 South Xiaxi Road is a street not too far from the hotel, adjacent to 淮海中路 Central Huaihai Road at 百盛购物中心 Parkson Shopping Center. It is a small road lined with some interesting shops for street fashion. The lines of street-shops stretches to 新乐路 Xinle Road and 长乐路 Changle Road.
We spotted some street marketeer in mid-drifts distributing some stuffs from big bags. I wonder what they are.
Dinner was at a Shanghai fushion cuisine restaurant called 夜上海 Ye Shanghai located at Xintiandi. Like most other fushion restaurants, it has a nice contemporary deco. Dimmed lighting. Wine glasses.
They even provide these mini chairs for your handbags.
More 长寿面 Longevity Noodles for dad.
After dinner, we took the chance to enjoy an aftermeal stroll at 新天地 Xintiandi, a car-free shopping, eating and entertainment street, composing of restored traditional 石库门 shikumen (“stone gate”) houses on narrow alleys with some newer buildings serving as book stores, cafes and restaurants. At night, the place is vibrant with people, locals and foreigners alike.
While Dad decided to go for the new movie 赤壁 The Red Cliff, we just wanted to chill out somewhere. We settled at a restaurant/pub called Fountain.
After some nightcaps and lots of laughs, we called it a night.
DAY EIGHT 上海
It’s our last day in China/Shanghai. We decided to relax and just roam the city area. Enough of rushing from one historical site to the next like we did in Beijing.
We decided to start the day with a local Shanghai breakfast. Along the way, we got to see how the locals live on a typical street.
Mission #3: eat xiao longbao in Shanghai is accomplished!
We couldn’t find coffee in this local food place, so we went back to the main streets to hunt for a coffee joint and found Città. Not a bad place for a morning coffee break in Shanghai.
As we strolled more, we saw more colonial style buildings amidst the modern infrastructure. With the weather hot and humid, we decided to stop over different air-conditioned buildings once in a while to shop and more coffee.
Dinner was at an old Shanghai restaurant called 上海早晨 Morning Shanghai, near the Bund.
And finally, we walked to the “Lung-fan… Lung-lao” famous place in Shanghai, The Bund. Pretty crowded but the beautiful sight was worth the walk.
Be careful of your belongings. The crowd here is always full of weird characters.
The famous Peace Hotel closed down.
We went for foot massage to pamper our tired feet from all the walking before heading back to hotel.
So that concludes our trip to the three big cities of China. Given another chance and perhaps more time, I would definitely want to visit again.
Woke up with a little jolst of excitement. It’s our third day in Beijing and we were going to see the Olympic stadiums and more historic sites. We’re going to take it easy today. It’d been too much walking for the past days.
DAY SIX 北京
Out of the 12 new stadiums added to the list of venues to be used for the 2008 Olympics, the two most significant architectural works of art that we were going to see were the National Stadium (nicknamed “The Nest”) and the National Aquatics Center (nicknamed “The Water Cube”).
Photos of the stadiums taken from the internet. Fantastic sights at night.
Well, it turned out the Olympic stadiums were already being barricaded in preparation for the Olympic events. The public could only view from a distance.
At the front end of the Olympic Green near the gate we were at was the Digital Building.
Other new buildings along Beichen West Road with super large TV screens. Works great for PS3 after the Olympic games
So that was all for the Olympic stadiums. Wish we could catch more close-up without those damn barricades.
Next we took a subway train headed towards 东单 Dongdan for lunch. Dongdan was where the locals go for shopping and food.
This had to be the simplest lunch we had in China. Finally something light…
After lunch, we roamed around the area before catching a cab to 天坛 Temple of Heaven. It’s a place visited by Emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties annually for prayers to Heaven for good harvest years.
Unlike the Forbidden City which signifies the Chinese history of monarchy, the Temple of Heaven symbolizes the power of heavenly authority. As per Wiki… “In ancient China, the Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing, heavenly authority. To be seen to be showing respect to the source of his authority, in the form of sacrifices to heaven, was extremely important.” This practice of heaven worshipping is said to even pre-date Taoism.
Surrounding the temple hall is a vast garden. We got to enjoy an escapade of fresh air amidst the pollution we see all around Beijing.
It was approaching evening by the time we exited the garden. We took a bus back to Tian’anmen to witness the daily flag-lowering ceremony. This ceremony takes place precisely at sunset everyday, which exact time can differ from day to day. It’s amazing how many chinese citizens from outside of Beijing city actually travel to witness this important daily event.
Tired and hungry, we decided to settle for a simple meal of sliced beef in hotpot. It’s amazing how a simple restaurant like this can provide such a satisfying meal.
So that concludes the Beijing part of our trip. Tomorrow we’d fly to Shanghai!
After the birthday bash for dad in Guangzhou, we flew off the next day to our next destination of the summer trip. Beijing is a much bigger and more interesting city, so I will have to break it into separate posts in part 2 and 3.
WARNING: This is going to be a LONG post and a modem burner.
DAY FOUR 北京
We arrived Beijing close to evening. Just nice to catch the low summer sun around the city landscape. It was much warmer here in Beijing.
Flags and signs for the Olympics are everywhere. Too bad we won’t be staying to watch any of the events. It’s nice to witness how a city prepares for the big event though.
While Guangzhou is more commonly favored as the Gourmet Town, Beijing is called the 中华文化之城 Cultural City of China. Other than the historical side of the city, it is slowly sprouting the modern side with new architectural marvels.
One of these much acclaimed architectural marvels is the new Linked Hybrid building, which was still in construction. Too bad it’s too early to see the finished work just yet. Perhaps the next time.
We couldn’t get any good room on time so we stayed at a local budget hotel called 如家 Home Inn. Not too bad for RMB 300/night. Clean and no-frill. (When I mean ‘no-frill’, I really mean ‘no service’... the service level somewhere in the bottomless pit.) No breakfast included but it doesn’t really matter. The in-house breakfast sucks. Their coffee tasted like dishwater. Other than that, I like it for the location. Home Inn chain has like 30 over hotels around Beijing city area. Really convenient.
We caught more landscape in the evening sun while heading out for dinner. Reminds me of summer evenings back in Boston but this is definitely different. Dinner was at this Sichuan restaurant close by called 沸腾鱼乡 Fei Teng Yu Xiang. The specialty dish is the sliced fish in 麻辣 mala (numbing spicy) oil. If you like spicy, you’d have to try one of these and you’d know a new meaning of ‘spicy’.
A great meal is never complete without a good smoke… mmmmm.
After dinner, we took off to 王府井 Wangfu Jing (supposedly named after a famous water well belonging to a Wang family). It’s a popular shopping street, for both locals and tourists. It’s a HUGE and WIDE street with a good mix of old and modern architecture. You will find modern retail stores like the Nike flagship store here, along with large chinese style emporiums and narrow eatery streets.
Then we called it a night. Phew… that was a lot of walking in the big streets of Beijing, but nothing compares with what we experienced the next day.
One night in Beijing… 我留下许多情
DAY FIVE 北京
The city sure looked different in day light. We passed Wangfu Jing again the next morning en route Tian’anmen before the weather turned greyish, but it didn’t stop us.
Check out the weird morning runner in his boxers. Beijing in a potential breeding ground for oddities.
While waiting for the rain to soften, we had a good dose of caffeine at Starbucks in 东方新天地 The Malls at Oriental Plaza. It’s no wonder why people need so much caffeine here.
The rain didn’t quite stop, but as mentioned it didn’t stop us. We braved through the drizzle walking from Wangfu Jing to 天安门 Tian’anmen. I apologize, but I’ve to overuse the same term… it’s HUGE!
The sheer size of the 天安门广场 Tian’anmen Square makes me wonder how the country can afford such space when the city gets so congested.
Within a short walking distance (an understatement), we came to yet another architectural marvel… the 国家大剧院 National Centre for the Performing Arts, also known as Beijing Opera House or simply The Egg. While we couldn’t see the building at night, which looks much MUCH better, the size and shape of the structure is enough to blow us away. These photos aren’t doing justice to the actual thing.
A night scene pic taken off the internet.
By the time we got here, we were hungry. We must have burned out all the calorie intake from all the walking. Time for lunch!
Lunch was at 全聚德 Quan Ju De.
不到长城非好汉，不吃烤鸭真遗憾
A trip to Beijing is never complete without seeing the Great Wall or a meal of Peking Duck.
Our #2 mission (eating Peking Duck) is accomplished! Mission #1 accomplished was timsum in Guangzhou.
After this satisfying meal, we embarked upon the most important part of our Beijing journey… inside the 故宫 Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City is basically a huge palace compound surrounded by a rectangular shaped high walls, separating the space and life of the palace from the outside world. Hence the name. Our visit to the Forbidden City followed the same alphabetical order from A to H as shown in the map. The Meridian Gate (A) is the outer gate while the inner gate is called the Gate of Supreme (B). The center of the Forbidden City holds the three main halls of the outer palace… the Hall of Supreme Harmony (C), the Hall of Central Harmoney (D) and the Hall of Preserving Harmony (E)... are the key structures where the emporers held meetings with his councils.
The Hall of Heavenly Peace (F) and the Hall of the Terrestrial Peace (G), also known as the halls of the inner palace, are the living quarters of the emporers. The surrounding compounds around this area are the living quarters of his family and concubines.
Finally, before approaching the north end gate is the emporer’s own backyard… the Imperial Garden (H).
Two hours and many blisters later, we exited the palace compound at the north gate. It was hard to get a cab around the busy road outside the north gate, so we took a bus to the nearest place we knew… back to Wangfu Jing.
We didn’t quite dare to take one of these motor-tricycles taxis. Another street sleeper. Short siesta seems like a common sight around here.
Rain… and more rain. When we reached Wangfu Jing, we didn’t hesitate crashing into Häagen-Dazs® for some ice-cream. Yummmm…
All the walking in the heat and rain finally killed my Nike Wildwood sneakers I was wearing. The foam at the sole gave way and disintegrated… Won’t last for another day. So I bought a new pair of Premium Dunk Mid
And finally dinner… supposedly a light one after all the other meals of rich food. It’s a Mongolian style mutton house. So much for a ‘light’ meal.
We’re back… and utterly tired. It was one unforgettable week of family reunion for dad’s 60th birthday, celebrating over countless feasts in three cities- Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. There is so much to show… lotsa food and places like no other in the world.
I really mean LOTSA FOOD! You’d see what I mean in this and the following posts. Almost every meal we had is special, espcially in Guangzhou. As the saying goes… “吃在广州... When you eat in China, you’d have to eat in Guangzhou.”
It’s also important to note than in China, everything is HUGE. You’d get what I mean…
I shall have to share the pics and stories in separate posts, starting with this one on Guangzhou.
DAY ONE 广州
Though we had previously explored the new Changi Airport Terminal 3 when departing from the other terminals, it’s the first time we’re actually taking a flight from the new terminal.
How was it? I think it’s a work of art. Despite the criticisms on the busy deco, I happen to like it better than Terminal 2. The panels on the high ceiling compliments the pixated floorwork well, giving it a Picasso look. I love it!
Usually, I will prepaLime myself with new playlists on ipod and a book/magazine to kill time on long flights… except when flying with Singapore Airline. The extensive list of movies-on-demand and the flight gormet are something I actually look forward to. Always fly with Singapore Airline!
Day 1 is a quieter day. We arrived Guangzhou a day earlier than my sisters. Dad picked us up from the airport, dropped off our luggage at the 3rd uncle’s vacation apartment before heading for dinner. After dinner, we roamed a bit at the 天鹅城广场 Swan City Mall.
DAY TWO 广州
Day 2 was more interesting. My three sisters Becky, Jerri and Annie arrived, along with Jerri’s boyfriend, Ben. We had lunch at one of dad’s favorite restaurant chain in Guangzhou city called 澳门街 Macau Street.
After lunch, we did some shopping at some of the wholesale centers around the 广州火车站 Guangzhou Railway Station. It’s a huge place with different buildings selling different things at wholesale prices. Not exactly a place for tourists but you can find great buys with ample of time, which is the exact luxury we did not have.
Just an hour before dinner with dad, we returned to the apartment to freshen up. While Sunsun and I stayed at 3rd Uncle’s apartment, my sisters were housed in Small Aunt’s vacation apartment just next door. A nice roomy apartment with a nice view of Guangzhou city from the balcony, it’s a great place to hangout with my sisters.
Dinner was at another of dad’s favorite restaurant in town called 陶陶居 Tao Tao Ju. It’s a famous timsum and seafood spot in Guangzhou located at the busy local shopping district 龙井路 Longjin Lu.
Annie with her favorite dish… Phoenix’s Claws. We all gave our share to her. Lucky girl!~ Ben and I had a taste of the local beer. Not bad for quench of thirst over a chinese dinner on a hot summer night.
After dinner, we strolled back along Longjin Lu. Jerri wasn’t feeling too well, so we called it a night early. It’s gonna be a long day tomorrow!
DAY THREE 广州
We started the day with another big feast for breakfast. Conveniently, it’s located just below the apartment we stayed. Believe me, chinese tea never tasted any better than on a timsum breakfast here.
After breakfast, we headed to dad’s home at 番禺区 Panyu district. It’s one of the many suburb residential districts around the Guangzhou city. It’s a nice quiet place with clean air and a nice little garden in the backyard. It’s no wonder why dad chose this place as his retirement home. While most of us had been here before, it was the first time for Jerri to see how dad lives in Guangzhou.
The center of attraction at dad’s place is the massage chair. Notice the faces of ecstasy while testing it out.
Lunch was at another food highlight (which one isn’t, anyway…) at a nearby restaurant called 渔民新村酒店 Yumin Xincun Restaurant (translated “Fisherman’s New Village” Restaurant). It’s a seafood restaurant housed within a five story high complex. It’s so huge that the owner even display his collection of cars and motorbikes in the foyer.
We got to pick our fresh seafood on one wing of the complex. There’s so much variety to choose from. We almost got ourselves lost in this place. There’re even snakes and crocodiles the adventurous tastebuds. Since we had a big breakfast not too many hours ago, we settled for a fish, drunken prawns and some cold salad. We wanted to keep the meal a light one so we’d be ready for the bigger birthday feast for dinner.
The day’s not over yet!~ After lunch, we had some time to kill before the big dinner at night so we did more shopping near the Railway Station. Remember if you wish to explore this wholesale distribution area, give yourself ample of time for traffic jams and for exploration. It’s a HUGE place.
It’s dinner time! Dad’s birthday banquet. It was at this restaurant at 花园酒店 The Garden Hotel called 桃园馆 The Peach Blossom.
Check out the size of the abalone. My favorite is the foie gras.
Dad with his birthday gifts… a Sony AVCHD camcorder and a digital photo-frame. He so loves the camcorder he started using it immediately. Heeh! Glad I pick this one for him.
That was just the first part of the birthday bash. The second part was at karaoke joint called 国会俱乐部 Club Congress. We did the ritual birthday cake thingy, had lotsa drinks and sang many cheesy songs. Guess what, it’s actually more fun than we had expected!
Dad actually asked so many time if we enjoyed the evening. It’s more important you enjoyed yourself, Dad… I guess he must have, coz I caught a glimpse of tears with the smile. Nothing beats having his family with him on his 60th birthday.
This weekends, Sunsun and I went for a one-day road trip down to Malacca. I was scheduled for a follow-up visit to have my liver scanned at Mahkota Medical Centre, so I thought we can arrive a day earlier to roam the historical town.
Malacca (or spelled “Melaka” locally), dubbed The Historical State, is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The state’s capital is Malacca Town. The town has numerous historical spots, including the famous red-painted Stadhuys Building and the many churches left from the western settlements. The key unique thing about Malacca is the ethnical varsity that differs from other parts of Malaysia, being the birthplace of the Baba-Nyonya (aka Peranakan), descendants of the very early Chinese immigrants who have partially adopted Malay customs, and home of the Kristang people, a unique ethnic group of mixed Portuguese and Asian descent. The Portuguese forefathers of settled in this area between the 16th and 17th centuries and today, they speak a distinctive Kristang language, a creole based on Portuguese and Malay.
While we roamed the town to kill time before we could check in the hotel, we couldn’t find the Portuguese Square which I was hoping to see cultural melting pot. After a few fruitless rounds, we got hungry so decided to stop for a quick lunch.
We had chicken rice balls for lunch. Ee Jin Ban is located along Jalan Melaka Raya 3 and is one of the many chicken rice spots around Malacca. Can’t compare to the one at Jonker’s Street, but it’s still really good. It has the chicken rice balls, which is claimed to be from Malacca. Not sure who had it first, but the ones I used to see in Singapore are bigger than these. While these Malacca chicken rice balls are of the size of pingpong balls, Singaporean chicken rice balls were the size of tennis balls.
Since we couldn’t get the last minute booking at Holiday Inn, I got a room at the Mahkota Floor at Mahkota Hotel instead. Not a top range hotel but it was comfortable for a night stay and is conveniently next to Mahkota Parade and Mahkota Medical Centre.
The room is really clean, though I wish they’d given us more towels and get the air conditioner vent cleaned. Other than that, it’s relatively comfortable. It has a bouncy bed for great nocturnal activities *ahem.
Not the best balcony view facing the sea like the rooms at Holiday Inn, but it’s still pleasant for an evening sunset view. In between Mahkota Hotel and Holiday Inn next door is The Jetty, a newly constructed structure built on a jetty, housing several restaurants, spas and pubs. We wanted to try the place out but decided we wanted more historical places.
Mahkota Parade, just next to the hotel, is probably the largest shopping mall in town. Though we can’t compare it to Parvillion, KL, it’s still a nice air-conditioned hideout from the heat of the afternoon.
Dinner came early next door at the new Newton Food Centre, Melaka Raya. Apparently there is an older Newton Food Centre at Banda Hilir. Unlike the crowded Newton back in Singapore, this new food centre is nicely spaced and is amazingly cooling beneath the malay styled high celing.
While trying different dishes, Sunsun claims to have found the best popiah ever. Better than even the ones in Singapore. My guess is that they use real fried pig lard instead of substitutes like the ones back home. I had what was probably the best kong-bak rice I ever tasted. The dark soya sauce is simply phenomenal!
After dinner, we drove around to catch sights of the town before it gets dark. It turned out… that the city became more beautiful as the sun set. The glow of the city at nightfall transformed the old streets into a different wonderland. I love especially the row of shophouses near the Stadhurys building painted with the same red. With the red lightings up, the place became some kind of mystical.
”... That’s me in the corner. That’s me in the spotlight, I’m losing my rel…”
From here we walked across the bridge and came to Jonker Street, a street near Chinatown full of antique shops. At night, this street came alive with more than just antiques.
At one end of the street is a street performance stage. A lady in her late years sang hokkien songs about drinking in misery while her dancing companions of similar ages grooved to tune in their personal cha-cha steps. Very cool! There was even a solo Uncle Joget in front of the stage joget-ing to his own ecstaticism.
While walking back, we saw the famous Jonker Walk Coconut Kungfu Master who smashes coconuts with his index finger. Unfortunately his show was really long winded and we didn’t wait to catch his final coconut-smashing act.
So that was that for the highlights. The rest are just a boring half-day at the medical centre. Good and bad news. My liver is in good shape, but my cholesterol level is still high. Need to work out more and cut the nasi lemak, I guess.
On the way back, we came across this beat up classic Datsun with a hand drawn vehicle plate. How crazy is that?!
Just got back from a short business visit to our Hong Kong distributor. This time round, we stayed at Shenzhen commuting to Hong Kong instead.
Though still a mile from Hong Kong, the city of Shenzhen comparably more modern and cleaner than Guangzhou. We have heard of the insecurity of this border city to be comparable to Johor Bahru, but personally, I just don’t feel it. Maybe it’s just me.
We both got bored so we decided to venture out to a place from the bottom of our “places-to-go” list… Bangsar Village.
Located just a couple kilometer from Mid Valley, Bangsar is a suburb residential area with many small spots for food and shopping. To certain extent, its euro-asian community mix of that place reminds me of Holland Village in Singapore.
The only difference, I guess, will be Bangsar Village shopping centre and its newer twin Bangsar Village II next door.
Inside Bangsar Village and Bangsar Village II, there’s a wide array of posh boutiques and cozy caf
