Australia – Melbourne

My original plan to travel by train from Ayers Rock (Alice Springs) to Adelaide was changed due to the unmatched train schedule. I flew to Melbourne instead.

Melbourne is smaller, quieter than Sydney. The coastal water is colder, uncomfortable for swimming. The 2 National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) are good. The Immigration Museum is interesting but the ACMI is a little bit bored. Crown Casino - the largest in the south hemisphere is located here.



There are many fauna conservation parks around Australia, displaying unique animals only found on this continental, like wallaby (the smaller type of kangaroo), kangaroo, wombat, koala, dingo and Tasmanian devil. Admission fee is not cheap. Kangaroo feeding cheered up the tourists gladly.



A trip to Phillip Island is recommended, though it’s a boring 3 hr drive (one-way) from Melbourne. The beaches are good but the wind was too chilly and strong. The extreme southwestern tip of the island is the Nobbies, sceneries are unbeatable. Seal Rocks is a short distance offshore, inhabited by Australia’s largest colony of fur seals. Through the telescope thousands of seals were seen scattered on the rocks, but too far for a detail look. The tour guide said boat trip is possible to get close to the seals but tourists are not allowed to get on the Rocks.

The Penguin Parade was the highlight of the trip, was to see the world’s smallest penguin drifted ashore after sunset waddling from the sea to their land based nests. No photographing was permitted, said not to frighten the cuties. Tourists were sitting on the benches in front of the beach, exclaimed excitingly when the penguins appeared. Interestingly, when the 1st penguin was drifted ashore, it would stand facing the beach, waited till rest of the penguins gathered and queuing up in discipline before marching to their nests like an army troop.

Australia – Ayers Rock (Uluru)

Amazed what a manmade wonder was done on this barren desert. Various range of hotels are constructed in Yulara Resort, basic facilities are well established. Post office, bank, supermarket, restaurants and free shuttle buses are available, water supply is clean and power supply is stable.



The scorching heat is quite uncomfortable. We were welcomed by millions of flies since landing at the airport. It was disturbing and irritating. The China made head covering “fly net” was the most popular “souvenir”, costs AUD10!

The aerial view from the plane shows an immense arid flat area in the central Australia. The Ayers Rock (Uluru), the world’s largest piece of rock, emerged oddly and its ochre red is eyes catching. Acc’ to Lonely Planet, it’s believed that 2/3 of the rock is beneath the sand.



The main attraction Uluru is a holy place to the aboriginals. Tourists are advised not to remove any rock or sand in this area. The tour guide said lots of tourists sent back their “stolen souvenir” when they deemed being cursed as rumours go.

I joined the 10km Uluru base walk the next morning, circumnavigating the rocks. The guide narrated the mystic stories about Kuniya (a woma python) and Liru (a poisonous snake), the conflicts between tribes. Of course, legends were always exaggerated. We were advised not to photograph any holy places, I didn’t know if camera could capture spirits. In order to compromise the income of community and the curiosity of some tourists, the climb to the holy Uluru is allowed, though discouraged by the Anangu people, the Aboriginal traditional owners of Uluru. Some indigenous paintings could still be seen in the caves.

Adjacent was Kata Tjuta (means many heads), another few pieces of rocks emerged from the plain desert. Not really special indeed.

During my short stay in this outback, I didn’t see any 1.8m tall, weight 80kg kangaroo.

Australia - Cairns

This is a typical tourist town… pretty small. Surprisingly there is no beach in this town, the shore was a swampy muddy area. Better beaches could be found out of town.

I came here solely for the sake of diving in the renowned Great Barrier Reef, as most tourists did. My high expectation turned out disappointing. Large area of corals of the 3 dive spots were dead, the grayish and whitish underwater world was really ordinary. Probably the influx of scuba divers to the same area had ruined the eco-system. The global warming was blamed. The plus: we saw a couple of sharks and feeding turtle underwater.

This was the only place I had seen a small crowd of aborigines. Sorry to say… no hard feeling… their body hygiene should be slightly better taken care of.

I planned to visit the Tjapukai Cultural Center (indigenous culture and show biz), but the center was closed for special occasion… no luck… worse, I lost my favourite Adidas cap in the art gallery later.



We bought kangaroo steaks for dinner. Friends were reluctant to savour this Aussie specialty. The meat was OK… later I learned from a tour guide that a kind of parasite could be found in kangaroo meat, it should be well cooked.

Australia - Sydney

I was advised of possibly facing “interrogation” by the immigration officer upon arrival due to the strict immigration policy and control. Well I went through the procedure without hassle, though I was a little annoyed when she instructed me to go for baggage checking. Why the Caucasians queuing in front of me were exempted? … eventually my baggage was left uninspected.

I didn’t expect seeing so many Asians in Sydney. The Asian foods are authentic and delicious, more variety than in Malaysia.



I like Sydney though it’s lacking of great monument or centuries old historical buildings. Like the cozy atmosphere, like the views of both Sydney and Darling harbours, the breezy white-sand Bondi Beach, and I spent quite some time simmering in the art galleries and museums. The aquarium was not bad, was excited to get inch close to the sharks (of course separated by a glass shield). The section named “Great Barrier Reef” with colourful corals and fishes displayed affirming my decision to visit this world’s largest coral reefs next.



Coincidently the yearly Mardi Gras was held in Sydney on 07-Mar-09. It was a great street show, was fun to see the performers (majority gay and lesbian people) dressing flamboyantly and enjoying themselves. Friends said the parade is dwindling in size and less entertaining due to budget reduction.

Thanks to JK (ex-schoolmate), RC (friend) and Kuan (cousin), they were my guide in Sydney. Ha… was interesting.

Australia - General

After the 5 weeks journey in Australia, I start loving this country better. I told my friends, if I had any plan to migrate, this country would be my first choice (for now). The good infrastructure, government’s commitment to the public, relative low population, safe living environment, good civic consciousness etc impressed me. Occasionally I heard of racism comments against immigrants from Asian countries, mainly on employment subject, but this “sensitive” issue is not discussed openly. The living expenses are almost at a par with European standard.



The magnificent sceneries along the coastal lines and the good collections in the art galleries are my picks.



In Sydney I was advised to stay away from the area where the aborigines gathered for safety sake. Plenty of negative comments were put on these aborigines. The first glance on the indigenous arts was crude and dull, but the 2nd look changed my opinion. It’s unique indeed. Respective tribe has his own painting style and craftsmanship. Some of the paintings were really creative and finely drawn.

Australia - Bits and Pieces

Have been 2 weeks travelling in Aussie. Well, generally it's fun. Following are some of my opinions on this country.

- Aussie slang is difficult to catch sometimes... especially on the phone. They speak fast and used to cut short the pronunciation.

- The atmosphere is quiet here.., even in Sydney and Melbourne. Relax...

- I was told without working experience in Aussie, it would be difficult to find a job. Being a universal rule, connection sometimes does play vital role.

- Unlike most of the Asian countries, the ordinary family couldn't afford to have a house maid. In this respect, our life at home is lazier.

- When I arrived at Sydney, the weather hit record high 43C. The next day, it dropped to 24C. The diff was too big and too fast!

- The recent bush fire case in Victoria has claimed more than 130 lives. Just thinking aloud, could this be an terrorist act?

- There was a shark attack case reported at Sydney harbour. A diver was mauled in the early morning. A few days later, a surfer was attacked at Bondi Beach in Sydney. I was cautious while having my diving trip on 13-Feb in Cairns. Well.. I saw one (longer than 1.2m), but the shark was shy away.

Well... that's all for now... short of credit for internet surfing.

Leaving to Australia

Leaving tonight to Australia... have no detail planning where to visit in this huge country. Will decide on arrival. The Great Barrier Reef diving is a must!

Gathering

Have attended the annual ex-coursemates New Year gathering this afternoon. Less than half of us were present. Was really glad to meet again, most of them brought along their spouse and kids… I was the odd case. A few of the ladies even have no sign of aging…

The venue was held at one of the coursemates place. Wow… her house was GRAND. The atmosphere was good. Everyone seemed to be content with their life, happy for them.

We should start planning the upcoming 20 years friendship anniversary gathering in July. Hope all of us could attend the same.

财源 vs. 裁员

Retrenchment seems to be the most used headlines on the newspaper financial page these days. Almost every big company has announced slimming program coupled with organization restructuring. Banks announce record loss, mega projects have been called for a halt or deferment, national economy shrinking, unemployment soaring, salary freezing, compulsory no pay leave… We should cherish to have a secured job these days… well, I’m looking for one.

I reckon this year economy would be worse. The 2nd wave of financial crisis is surfacing, the developing countries would be harder hit this time. Under the term of globalization, no one would be spared from this crisis.

Lots of peoples are hoping Mr.Obama, the new president of the USA, would salvage this global dilemma. Hope is just a hope, I’m pessimistic. The present problems can’t be solved by himself or by the USA alone. Otherwise the worldwide share market wouldn’t tumble 4% on his inauguration. When his strategy doesn’t bring instant positive results, lots of his supports will turnabout and become the voices of critics.

I wish this year of BULL would bring prosperity back to the world.

Photos Uploaded - China

Photos of the recent China trip are available in my Travelogue now.

新年快乐 Happy New Year

听了许多年传统的新年歌，多都是围绕着“财”字，哪股铜臭气太俗了，也腻了。藉以下这两首新创作，祝大家身体健康，新年快乐，万事如意。

ShenZhen (09-Jan-09 till 11-Jan-09) – Friends

To ShenZhen was to meet friends. Teddy, met him 3.5 yrs ago in XinJiang, China. He is one of the handful met on the road who still keep in contact. Lani, I knew her in Sudan. She is working with her British husband here. I’m really happy for her marriage.

The hostel is situated quite far away from the city center. Had thought to shifting out the night of my arrival. Luckily I didn’t. The hostel itself was a converted loft. Nearby there are many more used factories converted artistically mainly to design related businesses. It’s a lovely place.

I spent a few hours in the shopping district DongMen. The crowd was so dense that people were almost elbowing each other. Went to a shopping mall frequented by the locals. The space was so packed and narrow, I think it has seriously violated emergency evacuation regulations. Most of the items seen were imitated products… cost a fraction of the original if you could bargain hard. I bought a jumper… for EUR8!... Lani said it could be cheaper…

Want to thank Chuan Dong for his kind companion to show me around ShenZhen. He is voluble, knowledgeable and promising. I bet he will be successful in his career.

FoShan (08-Jan-09) – YeWen & HuangFeiHong

Again, unexpected turned out to be quite fun.

The highlight of FoShan is the ZuMiao (Ancestor Temple). It was not to my knowledge that the exhibition halls of YeWen (martial arts teacher of actor Bruce Lee) and HuangFeiHong were situated inside the compound too. The movie stories had exaggerated their heroic background. In fact they were just ordinary people.

The main structure of ZuMiao is frequented by devotees, quite different to the other temples. In general, FoShan is worth for a day trip from GuangZhou.

GuangZhou (07-Jan-09) – Defensive

I had to be here in GuangZhou to catch my flight back home. I didn’t expect much from this city, but somehow I had some fun here. By speaking the local dialect (Cantonese), basically no one suspected I’m a foreigner… I liked this trick.

The QinPing market was full of traditional herbs dealer. Crisscrossing the alleys, discovering some funny and exotic things, and observing local life. Adjacent to it, the wet market was busy with fresh seafood trading, ranging from huge lobsters, shells, frogs, turtles, snakes, crocodiles to the tiny scorpions. Wondering what else we couldn’t eat?

I spent a morning to the temples, seeing the devotees praying to the Buddha and deities. I prayed for my family and friends, hoped they will be blessed.

Something was strange in GuangZhou. It happened 2 times that we (with another backpacker) were asking someone for direction, they retreated instantly a couple of steps backwards trying to avoid us. Did we look like bad guys or something abnormal? One man even refused to hold our camera to take photo for us. I didn’t know what had happened before making people so defensive and cautious to each other.

YangShuo (03-Jan-09 till 06-Jan-09) – River Cruising

A Mecca for backpackers… the attractions are similar to GuiLin i.e. the beauty of river and hills, but YangShuo is more laidback and less hassles.

River cruising is a must-do. The manually maneuvered bamboo raft was drifting slowly on the YuLong River, complete serene, quiet and peaceful. The reflection of the hills on the mirror flat river composed natural beautiful Chinese paintings. This was my preference.

The trip on the higher traffic Li River was quite noisy. Tens of ferries were cruising on this wider river, the sceneries were grander but the engine of the bamboo rafts was disturbing our mood throughout the trip.

LongSheng (02-Jan-09) – Terraced Fields

Acc’ to the locals, their life had been greatly improved ever since the asphalt road to this village was paved, under the governmental plan to help developing tourism in this area. In the last decade, people were basically isolated from the civilization, students had to walk to school miles away daily over the mountains, communication to outside was completely cut off during the hard winter. Nowadays tourism has become the main income resources for the locals, roughly 60 motels in this small village.

The terraced fields cover large area of mountain slopes, construction began since half a millennium ago, the idea was to solve the problems of agriculture lands shortage and prevent soil erosion. The sceneries now were not spectacular, the spring and harvesting season should be beautiful.

There were different tribes residing at this area. On the hill, a young lady from Yao tribe offered to lay down her long hair for photographing, with small amount in return. I rejected her begging, was not a matter of money, because she was not photogenic.

GuiLin (31-Dec-08 till 01-Jan-09) – Crystal Palace

The gifted crystal clear LiJiang (Li River) and the up thrust karsts studded along the river are forming picturesque sceneries which attract thousands of tourists to GuiLin. Many tourists chose ferry cruising to YangShuo along Li River (costs RMB243 per ticket), I postponed this program to YangShuo later. This river has become the main income resource for the local government.

I didn’t have any specific feeling to this town, but the various kinds of foods and snacks were indeed delicious.

Another attraction of this town is the natural cave LuDiYan (Reed Flute Cave) famed for its stalactites and stalagmites. The cave looked so artificial with colourful lighting projected on the walls. The flooring was well paved and no awful smell at all. I had to admit that a view named “Crystal Palace” was beautiful (see picture). The magic of lighting works… the rest were not interesting… The tour guide was explaining to us that this looked like an old man, that looked an owl etc… again another Picaso’s painting lesson. Boring!

At night there were plenty of pimps on the road, offering massage and lady escorts for all passing-by male tourists. I had been offered not less than 10 times in one evening.

ZhangJiaJie (28-Dec-08 till 29-Dec-08) – Picaso’s Abstract Paintings

Tourists used to combine FengHuang and ZhangJiaJie in a single trip. ZhangJiaJie is famous, comparable to HuangShan… many people said so, but I was not impressed.

I didn’t like the path up to the mountains, it was not challenging. The sceneries along the path were not that great. Up on the mountains, the view was OK, but getting fed up after short while. A name was assigned to each karst based on the respective shape. Occasionally some tour guides passing by, explaining that this karst looks like a monkey, that looks like a lion and so on. After figuring each one, I think it helps me to understand Picaso’s abstract paintings easier.

Met Ivan and Dong (HK), friendly and funny, would never feel bored with their companion. From our conversation, I learned the general opinions of HK younger generations towards their future, social and political views. Don’t worry about your career, your vision will be expanded later, it’s not limited by the scope of your studies.

FengHuang (27-Dec-08) – Swamped By Chinese Tourists

Being one of the most famous ancient towns in China, it has been over developed and commercialized. The small town is swamped by Chinese tourists. The sceneries are fine though small. The over crowded tourists were too noisy, I didn’t feel relaxing in this atmosphere. Many bars were scattered in this small town, couldn’t tolerate the KaraOK pubs blaring the screeching voices of amateur singers.
The night arrived at the hostel, I met a young lady in front of the hostel selling local snack. She is, quite pretty, talkative and friendly. The snack was delicious. I hoped to meet her the next evening, but she didn’t turn up before I left to the bus station.

XiJiang (26-Dec-08) – Minorities Are No Longer Primitive

Before visiting XiJiang, the so-called “Miao Village with Thousand Families”, I related it to less development, dirty and poor… I was wrong, instead the village was clean, internet and TV facilities were available and quite touristy.

This was not the right season to visit, the crops had been harvested, leaving dry brown lands which to be irrigated in spring. Somehow it was interesting to get lost in the maze-like villages built on the hill slopes.

It was so serene, people were friendly. A leisure walk to the terraced fields was refreshing. Possibly we could find a much more traditional village somewhere further in the mountains, but the trekking might take hours.

After sunset, the village was so quiet, any footstep on the street could be clearly heard. Was thinking what to do at night, surprisingly a modern bar is available in this village. Glad to have someone to talk.

ChongQing (23-Dec-08 till 25-Dec-08) – Hospitality

I didn’t have any plan to visit this city initially, dropped by only because the way from LuoYang to GuiYang was too far.

The city is built on hill slopes, makes it hard to navigate. The 2 adjacent roads could have significant height difference. Plenty of small paths and alleys with staircases are connecting one road to the other. It is hard for non-local to find the shortcut and determine directions. The driving attitude of the drivers could qualify them to Formula 1.

Most tourists came to ChongQing are to board the 3 Gorges ferry cruise. I didn’t try any, as most of the historical places have been flooded. If there is possibility to schedule a custom plan boat trip to remote areas, I would love to come back again. The 3 Gorges museum was good, housing fine artifacts and rich information.

Was glad to meet a group of local friends at the youth hostel. Their hospitality and friendliness left me a good memory. The atmosphere of the restaurant inside the air-raid shelter was exceptionally impressive, food too but extremely spicy!

LuoYang (22-Dec-08) – “Alternative” International Youth Hostel

Yesterday night, from the bus station to the hostel, I was besieged by agents volunteered to bring me to their recommended hotels. I ignored all, but one lady ran along with me for about 500m kept persuading me that she was the most honest and helpful person to show me the cheap accommodation. Of course I ignored her too, at last she realized that she couldn’t make any business with me, she shouted behind me that I would be regretful.

After checking in the international youth hostel, I learned that the room has no hot water supply, the heating system was not well functioning. The room was cold…

There is something special with this hostel - a sauna business attached to it. It was fine with me (but never seen with youth hostel). The rendered services listed on the board are something fishy… try your imagination what do these mean “Passionate Style 2 – RMB200”, “2 Stars Embracing Moon – RMB400”… (see picture).

LongMen Caves was interesting, better than my expectation. The caves perched along the river bank, though not as grand as Datong’s YunGang Caves, they are worth for a visit.

ZhengZhou (21-Dec-08) – Everything Went Wrong

We arrived at ZhengZhou in the early morning. After settling down in hotel, friends purchased train tickets to Shanghai. A moment later, they changed their mind to fly to Shanghai instead. So they returned the train tickets and booked the flight tickets. The air ticket agent refused our credit cards, but insisted only accepting China bank cards. At last we pooled sufficient cash to pay for it.

10:30am, we headed straight to the bus station. The bus refused to depart before collecting sufficient passengers to make up the trip to Shaolin. It delayed more than 1/2 hr.

3:00pm, we arrived at Shaolin. The weather was freezing coupled with the chilly strong wind, was uncomfortable. We were informed that the martial arts performance was relocated to the open space… gosh… I was sorry for the performers with thin clothing, while we were shivering and trying to cover every inch of our skin.

Right after the show, we rushed to the highlight – Shaolin temple. The guide gave a quick brief introduction, again we had no time to move around.

4:30pm, we rushed and caught the bus back to ZhengZhou. Oh no… the bus broke down on the way back. Not to take any risk, we flagged down a taxi (paid extra). Close to ZhengZhou, the taxi driver said he was not familiar with the traffic in the city. After small argument, we again transferred to another taxi (paid extra).

7:00pm, we arrived at our hotel. We checked out immediately and friends travelled straight to the airport, while I bought a bus ticket to LuoYang.

XiAn (19-Dec-08 till 20-Dec-08) – Metamorphosis

The main reason to visit XiAn was to see the most famous Terracotta. Everything is still the same… no excitement to me, too.

On the 2nd day, we arranged cycling on the ancient city wall which is said the best preserved in China. We spent about 2 hr to cycle around the 14km wall. At higher altitude, I liked to observe the buildings around and the ordinary life on the streets. Disappointedly, lots of old buildings had been or were being demolished, to spare spaces for new and modern building constructions. The original was no longer felt. The city has transformed faster than I expected.

We spent lots of time on eating, a buffet lunch costs RMB48 (EUR5) was worth a try though not exceptionally special and delicious.

BeiJing (16-Dec-08 till 18-Dec-08) – No More Excitement

This is the 2nd trip to BeiJing after year 2005 visit, with 3 friends, I was their trip planner. Basically nothing really excited me no more. The main tourist attractions were still the same, except the magnificent new Bird Nest and Water Cube stadiums illuminated in red and blue lighting were truly beautiful.

I always oppose to join tour package because it always in rush, wouldn’t allocate sufficient time to move freely. And it was compulsory for them to lead the tourists to go shopping. I later learned that the commission rebating to the tour guide could be as high as 30% of the sales! There was no doubt the tour guide could provide more professional info with all transportation organized, but I still prefer having my own freedom to stay or to move. The “audio guide” is normally available for rental.

For time saving on the 2nd day in BeiJing, we joined a local tour to Ming Tombs and Great Wall. At the Ming Tombs, we were only shown Chang Ling, but the more interesting Ding Ling (which shows the actual underground tomb) was neglected. I complained to the tour guide, she replied that the time was constraint and said not all tourists are interested to visit the tomb. Instead she spent our time on jade shopping and the lousiest foot massage.

New Camera

After selling my old camera Sony F717 to my colleague, I bought a new Sony again 3 days ago – DSLR-A300K. Gosh… I look quite professional when it hangs on my neck though it was heavier.

I was thinking to buy a Canon or Nikon, but the price of the same spec costs 25% higher. I hope this new piece won’t disappoint me…

China Trip

Couldn’t sleep well on the first night (04-Dec-08) back home… too warm.

The next morning, I carried the big black round eye bags to the immigration to renew my passport. The photo was horrible… looks like an inmate.

This morning I have collected my China visa… YES!!!… I’m ready to explore China again. The first 7 days I will accompany my friends, hope they would have chance to experience snowing winter, and I can shoot the winter sceneries of Forbidden City and Great Wall with snow clad.

I will move to the south alone after departing with them. The route is not finalized yet… only a rough plan in mind. Will concentrate mostly on the minority tribes… which means I have to travel to the remote area, expecting less hygienic living environment, and the primitive toilet…

I will depart from GuangZhou on 13-Jan-09. Teddy, can we meet on 11 or 12-Jan?

Going Home (03-Dec-08)

The moment saying goodbye to colleagues was quite hard. The ladies cried too much… was contagious… my eyes were drenched too.

Back home, finally… the trip from Kyustendil till I arrived at home consumed 26 hrs… tiring.

The flight from Kyustendil to Frankfurt was fine. 2 Bulgarian seamen besides me had their mini fiesta on this 2.5 hr journey. They played music with their mobile phone and drained their half liter whiskey bought from the duty free shop (they ignored the warning given by the stewardess).

The flight from Frankfurt to Singapore was a disaster. Lufthansa was using the aging Boeing 747-400 for this 11.5 hr long flight. I was given the seat on the last row, which was against the wall and cannot be reclined. I had to sit straight up through out the journey. Worse there was no screen (entertainment) in front of me (unlike the Boeing 777 or the new Airbus 340), boring! And the flight was packed!!! I won’t choose Lufthansa for this route in future.

Birthday

Wow… this year I received many birthday greetings from family, friends and colleagues… no one could guess my age right except my secretary – she ordered a cake with writing on it reads “Happy 28th Birthday”.

Reputable Lufthansa

My flight back home on Wed is scheduled to have a stopover at Bangkok. Worrying the prolonged siege of Suvarnabhumi Airport would change the schedule, I asked my colleague to inquire further info from Lufthansa.

Surprisingly, the feedback was Lufthansa would divert the route to Phuket Island (Thailand) and assume no further responsibility to send me to the final destination Kuala Lumpur. They offer to reimburse my air-ticket if I’m not satisfied with this arrangement. What the heck’s this reply? It doesn’t sound like the reputable airline that I’m familiar with.

Probably I will change my flight to Singapore and purchase an additional ticket to Kuala Lumpur. This would be not so fine… because I have to collect my luggage and re-check-in again, and to pay overweight AGAIN!

In fact, the logo of Lufthansa has already given the hint “There’s no better way to fly.”