A week of indulgence
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Singapore

I spent a total of 8 days doing nearly absolutely nothing else apart from eat, sleep, watching TV and reading trashy literature. The only deviations are occasion visits to homes of friends and relatives, or gatherings which can only imply more eating.

It didn't feel too good at the beginning. In fact, after over-indulging myself in junk food, I felt like my body was screaming for me to stop. I felt sick and nauseous most of the time and had little appetite. By the third day I couldn't bring myself to eat anything but steamed vegetables (of course that wasn't all I ate).

On the other hand, by stubbornly refusing to use my brain for an extended period of time had brought surprising bliss to my mental health. After a month of extreme ups and downs in my love life and travels, I had lost the capacity to function in my usual aggressive self. Only with a full 8 days of serious retardant could I suppress my depressive mood enough for my true self to resurface.

Chinese New Year - Year of Pig
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Singapore

Today is the third day of the year of the pig. The year of the golden pig, as a matter of fact, the year that my brother will be having his first child.

Last Thursday I returned to Singapore after a short trip to Melbourne. Given recent events in Australia, I am very glad to be back home.Since touch down, I've been trying my best to do nothing, think about nothing and eat a lot of things. This kind of life is good for retarding the brain and healing the soul.. or perhaps I'm not really healing my soul but just escaping for as long as it is humanly possible.

Nearly everyone asked about my love life. Last year my brother got married and now that they are expecting their first child, the couple had done nearly everything gossip-worthy. This year everyone's attention is on me, undivided. There is no more fingers to point. Yet strangely enough I responded to them with a sense of abandonment - telling them everything they want to hear but nothing that is really true. There is a strange pleasure in lying - doing something that is not 'right' and rebelling against my usual instinct of a goody goody.

A!Guatemala No Mala!
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Latin America

That plane was by far the worst aircraft I had ever been on. But when that Cubana flight landed effortlessly onto the tarmac of Guatemala City airport, I applauded heartily for I was chuffed to be out of Cuba and thrilled to be in Guatemala.

 

The first thing that struck me about Guatemala was the abundance of advertising. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by billboards, posters, stickers, bus advertisements. It struck me that for the past two weeks in Cuba there was a near total absence of it, leaving behind a vacuum at the part at the back of our head that is used to ignoring adverts. The second thing that struck me was that for the first time for a long time people on the streets were chatting to me because they were genuinely interested in a conversation as opposed to wanting to make a fast buck off ignorant foreigners.

 

Lake Atitlan was our first stop. Through a sequence of chicken buses (the nickname given for the local bus transport) we attempted to make our way to our secluded lodge in Santa Cruz. It didn’t take us very long to realise two universal truths about Guatemalan bus drivers. The first was that all of them had death wishes – in one of our bus rides that was meandering through some seriously winding road, the manic driver tried to overtake another fast vehicle on a blind curve. The second truth was their unrelenting optimism in the number of passengers that can be fitted into their vehicle. Now I can say I’ve once been squashed into a mini-van happily sped across a highway, holding together 29 adult passengers.

 

We spent 3 nights in Lake Atitlan, from Christmas Eve till Boxing Day. Situated amongst the highlands of Guatemala, Lake Atitlan is the second largest lake in the country. The locals there don the traditional Guatemalan clothes and their street market lifestyle still evident in the sprawl of food stalls across all town centres. The atmosphere was chilled and relaxed, good food was plentiful. The air was cool and the scenery was good. Lake Atitlan was pleasurable.

 

The Guatemalans in general are kind people, and given that a good proportion of them are farmers who you’d expect to have an affinity with soil, it was disturbing to see how they are unaware of the damages colourful plastic garbage is doing to their land. Everyone – young, old, male of female litters. I cannot bear to think the amount of trash that now clung to the depth of the lake.

 

Antigua is a nice colonial city. I have been to a fair number of colonial cities in this world to say that they look more or less the same (thanks to colonisation!). Nonetheless, I enjoyed the views of the numerous volcanoes that surrounds the old capital of Guatemala.

 

Rio Dulce means Sweet River. The water from the river comes from the largest lake in Guatemala – Lake Izabal, and flows onwards to the Caribbean Sea. Surrounding the few bodies of water is tropical rain forest. Parked along the river is a large number of yachts and boats from various rich men’s land. We spent New Year Eve there and while our lodge did not organise any parties, we managed to watch a lavish display of fireworks from other loges and the Rio Dulce town.

 

Flores is a little town in the midst of yet another lake (Lake Peten) of Guatemala. Tourist use the pleasant little town as a stopping point for Tikal – my favourite Mayan Ruins by far. Apparently one episode of Star Wars (a 1980s older one) was filmed there. Standing on top of one of the pyramids confronted with the spectacular view, it is not hard to imagine why George Lucas was inspired to include this ancient ruin in his blockbuster. Tikal was at its height in the Maya Classic Period, approximately 200 AD to 850 AD. Soon after no new major monuments were built, some of the palaces of the elite were burned. The population gradually declined until the site was abandoned, estimated to be the end of the 10th century. A lot of speculation was made regarding why this amazing civilisation went into oblivion, but there are little evidence that supports any hypothesis. I read a decent amount of books regarding the Mayan history – yet nothing beats visiting the site in person.

 

Guatemala is nice – I enjoyed it. It is not a dangerous place nor are the people poor and desperate, I was thankful my personal experienced differed from rumours I’ve heard about the country. People are gentle and friendly – they cook really well too. Given the chance I will still go back to that part of the world, perhaps spend more time exploring the Mayan sites and research for I am truly fascinated by this extraordinary civilisation.

Cubanisimo
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Latin America

Where or how do I even begin about Cuba? As a child I had more than a fair share of exposure to communism lifestyle, through the colour media of Hong Kong movies, stories from my father who read intently about the political life of Chairman Mao’s political life, and even more tales from my mother the ‘accidental’ communist who literally danced to the tune of communist China. I remember China in those days where they had local currencies and tourist money, and days when mainland Chinese rarely have the opportunity to venture overseas. My communism experience continues in my grown-up travel days, through visits of many ex-communist states such as Russia, the Balkans state and the Czech Republic. I even read a number of books loosely related to socialist Cuba before my visit to this surreal society. But nothing really prepares one for Cuba.

 

 

Geographically speaking, Cuba is gorgeous. For its sub-tropical climate, the country boasts a surprisingly varied terrain. On the west of the country, there are the ‘mogotes’, of limestone hills comparable with Guilin in China and Halong bay in Vietnam. The beaches are beautiful, as one would expect of a country in the middle of the Caribbean. The hilly land surrounding Trinidad provides a spectacular backdrop for the sugar mills, one the industries that brought in the influx of Africans and made the Spanish rich. In the ‘winter’ months, the temperature lowers as a result of cold fronts arriving from the north, making the climate far more pleasant than the typically burning hot tropics.

 

 

Cuba may be one last true communist state in the world. China is one imperialist in a communist skin. North Korea is really a military/ dictator/ semi-out-of-this-world country. Eastern Europe had all but wave Marxism goodbye. I must show my respect to the leaders of Cuba, giving their people the highest literacy rate in the world, and the most comprehensive healthcare system that looks after each and every Cuban. Nonetheless, looking at some rich fat Cubans with handy-cams and mobile phones fancier than mine, it became apparent to us that in this communist state, everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.

 

In terms of skin colour, Cuba is probably the 2^nd most diverse country in the world, behind only Brazil due to the absence of native Cuban Indians. We saw a man who has charcoal black skin and hair, but clear grey-blue eyes. The effect was quite stunning.

 

 

As far as the tourist industry is concerned, granted they had opened up their country to tourism since the 90s and had been eager to draw big bucks from the despised Imperialists, the service is shite, food is horrible and everyone in the trade tries relentlessly and systematically to rip you off. The farmers and people from the country side are by far the better people – I suppose that is because Marxism, in the first place, was designed with an inclination to the working class and people who work the earth for a living. We visited Havana for the Mojitos and Daiquiris (my conclusion is I’ve had better Mojitos in London), Viñales for the mogotes, Maria La Gorda for the diving and accidentally got eaten alive by the sand flies. Santa Clara for its numerous ChÄ“ shrines, Trinidad for the sugar mills, steam trains and music scene. We reluctantly stayed in Valadero because Cubana screwed up our exiting flight and we had to stay in Cuba for 3 days longer than expect.

 

There are great musicians, if you look hard and long enough. Unfortunately there are far more lousy musicians who like to provide unsolicited service (i.e. stick their guitars in your face and sing in a half-hearted unprofessional manner) and demand for a big tip later.

 

 

And yes, Cuba is like a time capsule. Walking through magnificent old buildings that are also magnificently run-down, it sometimes feels as though that the whole city had been abandoned for decades. Buildings that are refurbished for tourism sits oddly next to one that hadn’t had any paint job done for 4-5 decades. The old American cars emits more than just style but also a prolific amount of nasty fumes. There are rows of buildings in Havana facing the coast, and if that was a ‘normal’ capitalist country the houses would have long be converted to beach front lifestyle houses, if not, cafes and restaurants. Yet they sit there, unloved and falling apart.

 

 

At the end of the two weeks there, we were all but cigar + rum + salsa + Che-ed out. Unless one is prepared to venture totally out of the tourist sights, live and sleep with the real Cubans, one will find him/herself trapped in a Disney-fied version of what Cuba ought to be. We enjoyed the stay there. I personally will not choose to go back, though I strongly recommend people to visit before Mr F-C kicks the bucket.

The Longest Journey Ever
Mood:  down
Topic: Latin America

It was around 7am Cancun, Mexican Time (equivalent to 9pm same day in Singapore time) on the 5^{th of} January 2007 when I checked out of our little wooden hut overlooking the Caribbean Sea. The day before, the last day of my vacation, I had an exceptionally relaxing day, diving in the cenotes (underground fresh water caves), visiting the Tulum Mayan ruins, swimming in the sea with Ben, having a glorious Argentinean grill dinner together and finally obtaining a good looking Mexican hat as my only souvenir for the trip. I thought I was well prepared for the long journey home, but little did I expect that I will only emerge out of the aircraft onto Singapore Changi airport some 41 hours later, 2pm on the 7th January. It was the longest journey I’ve ever took in my life (not including the 4 days train ride Trans-Siberia, since the train ride was a joy itself). And it was pretty bad.

The original plan was straightforward - 3 flights in total. I was to take a 2 ½ hours flight from Cancun to Mexico City, staying 1 hour in transit then boarding a 4 hours flight into Los Angeles. I was to have 4 ½ hours transit in Los Angeles, plenty of time to deal with the ACOWAHPPMS (American Customs Officers Who All Have Permanent PMS), pick up my bag then re-check in for my 8pm flight from L.A back to Singapore.

What really happened was as follows: the Cancun flight left Cancun 20 minutes late. When we touched down in Mexico City, I had a bad feeling that things are not going to be good, and was hoping to get off the flight ASAP. Unfortunately, the blasted airport couldn’t get their buses together in time, and held half of the passengers on the aircraft for 30 minutes. When I finally got out of the plane, it was already some 50 minutes passed the boarding time. The boarding gate turned out to be half way around the massive terminal, and Mexico City, at 2,200m above sea level is not one place that is conducive for sprinting. Around 8 of us were meant to be on that same flight, and we ran into the boarding gate just in time for the ground staff to tell us that it was too late to board, and we watched with our horror, the aircraft departing without us. We have missed the damn flight because there weren’t enough buses in the airport.

The Mexicans obviously thought all of us fat gringos (the Latin American term for foreigners) needed more exercise, so they sent the few of us on a running regime around the airport for about 20 minutes to get our flights re-booked. We managed to get booked onto the next flight, some 3 hours later, which would have meant I will be missing my connecting flight from Los Angeles to Singapore. And as if that slap in the face wasn’t sufficient, the replacement flight was delayed by nearly 30 minutes.

Upon touch down, all of us take eternity to make our ways through the ACOWAHPPMS and onward to our baggage carousel. When one thinks that things couldn’t get worse, it will. Mexicana lost our luggage. Every single piece of it.

Of course the Singapore Airline flight had taken off Los Angeles without me. I was stupendously lucky enough to get onto a standby ticket for a flight that takes off to Singapore that same evening. The flight that connects in Taipei was suppose to take 18 ½ hours including stopover time. Eventually, due to strong currents and busy airports, it took over 21 hours.

I arrived in Singapore 41 hours later from the start of my journey totally shattered. My back was aching, I hadn’t slept much, my legs were sore from the long hours of flight and I had been marinating in dried sweat for around 35 hours from the free mini-marathon compliments of Mexicana. It was a horrific journey. Around 25 hours into the journey I remember feeling incredibly frustrated, angry and desperate to take it out with on someone close by with my bare teeth and fists, but thankfully I was sane enough to realise that I was on the flight by the sheer goodwill of Singapore Airline, and things could really have been far worse. Anyway, now that I am home, and some 2 days later, my lost backpack appears to have arrived in Changi Airport. Thank goodness the bitter after taste is almost all gone now.

These are the bad bits. Once the pictures are out, I'll write about the good bits on Cuba, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

The moment of truth
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Life in Aussie

The moment of truth was finally revealed yesterday, or should I say, what was in theory the closest to what I'll ever be able to call 'a moment'. I suppose a definately 'yes' or 'no' on major decisions seldom appear in its purest form, more like 'yes, but only if...'.

Nonetheless, I should count my lucky stars and be happy aboutthe outcome. Finally I can go abouts pursuing my dream, or in fact, lead a stable life as opposed to one that is permanently on transition.

Last few days of silence
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: Life in Aussie

The moment of truth is about to come. Without realising it, I've waited nearly 2 years for some kind of recognition or status. I've tried nearly every avenue that I had concieved of, most of it hits dead end or merely diminished into nothingness. While I am terrified to know the truth, for it may be negative once more. But in a sense I crave for an answer so badly.

Already 18 months have passed since staying in this cold damn apartment. Even though only days more before I move out, I feel that I cannot take this solitute much longer. Each day is a battle with insanity. If I hadn't wait long enough, I don't want to wait anymore.

A Japanese Wedding
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Asian Travels

I have to admit, apart from the delight of seeing two very good friends and the thrill to participate in a Japanese wedding, I was not exactly excited about my weekend trip to Tokyo. From the little research that I did about the city, it sounded big, expensive and pretty daunting. However, in the short trip I made there, I was quickly seduced by its rich and colourful culture, fascinating people and of course, the abundance of fancy shops. I had a fabulous time indeed.

Like most Japanese ceremonies, the wedding was carried out in a quietly dignified manner. It was held in a hotel at downtown Tokyo, and the ceremony begun in a reception room where the bride and groom sat at the centre receiving their family on either side of the room. Typically only the relatives are invited, but since Yifen and I travelled for the wedding, we had the great honour of participating in this ritual. We were served plum tea, the ‘ceremony’ begun with the groom’s family members introducing themselves one by one formally to the family of the bride and a great deal of bowing was involved. This ritual was reversed, and Yifen, Jade and I were introduced as great friends of the bride from far distance. We then proceed to the photography room and took a large family portrait before continuing for lunch. The wedding lunch was fabulous. There was a march-in, a ring exchange ceremony and gorgeous Italian food (interesting huh! The bridal dress is from France, and the couple lives in Great Britain). Every guest had to give a short indicating their blessings to the newly wed. Mikiko performed for us on the piano, and she was spectacular. Before the ceremony draw to a close, the newly wed played again for us, though it was clear which one was the real pianist there.

In the evening we went to the party for friends. There were games and lots of good food, but Yifen, Jade and I who were stuffed during lunch just a couple of hours ago couldn’t really cramp anymore food in. Takashi had about 20+ friends, and Mikiko had 60+! The mix was pretty international. We even had an Austrian and Brazilian, and both of them spoke fluent Japanese!

The whole day went by like a blur. Lots of photo sessions, great food and wine, nice partying. The next morning we had breakfast together before sending Yifen and Jade off to Taiwan, then Mikiko and Takashi off to Dubai for their honeymoon.

I spent Sunday exploring various parts of Japan, including Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginza, all major shopping districts. It was fascinating! At a Japanese store, I saw this jacket with a print that I thought was hideous and wondered who in the right mind will buy it, until I saw a really hip-looking Japanese girl put it on and instantly the jacket looked fashionable. Later I strolled around the Sensoji temple, bought some Japanese ‘Zhao Fu’ (or attracting good fortune) porcelain cats, and ate the most expensive rice cracker I’ve ever came across. Finally in the evening I checked into my airport hotel which was tiny but despite it’s minimalism the ever-polite Japanese provided the room with slippers, pyjamas, green tea and toothbrush. Nice!

Siem Reap
Mood:  happy
Topic: Asian Travels

Pictures for my trip to Siem Reap

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ngchingyin/album?.dir=/7cfbscd&.src=ph&.tok=phZZTeFBfosmWjPR

Central America here I come
Mood:  energetic
Topic: Life in Aussie

Our plans for Central America is close to finalisation. Most of the hotels are booked up and the routes is mapped out. Now we need to get our Cuban visa sorted, my flight with Singapore Airlines cleared and off we go... 2 1/2 months more to go before 4 week long of blissful vacation!!

Back in Melbourne after spending 3 1/2 weeks in Singapore, China and a short weekend vacation in Siemp Reap visiting the famous Angkor Wat.. The trip was very productive, I had a number of furniture put into development process, and did up the showroom to a good standard once more. Everything is finally coming together, after over a years of hard work so I am glad. Nonetheless there is still a lot more to do before it is commerically ready. Some French customer had expressed serious interest in my design and had ordered a few pieces to be shipped over and launched in France. Hopefully that will get us some serious volume of orders for next year..!

Angkor Wat was fabulous. I had such a good time, not just admiring this ancient miracle, but also spending girly time with the girls.

Singapore was good to. I manage to spend some time in the retail showrooms and delivery truck and learnt some tricks here and there.

 And finally back in Melbourne where it is seriously warming up..! no more heaters and shivering nights.. now it's a balmy 24 degrees, though it looks like its gonig to be raining weekend... :-/

Travel Travel Travel!!
Mood:  vegas lucky
Topic: Life in Aussie
More travels at the end of this year, perhaps..! After having to nearly twist Ben's arms, I finally got some dates and commitment out of him. Now our chance of travelling together for a month lies in the hands of my dear beloved company director.. hopefully he will approve of my leave.

Yet another few months
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Life in Aussie
Between March and now, I've been up to China twice, both times via Singapore. On my second trip I've also visited Bangkok to source for some furniture suppliers. In between the two business trip, I managed to have a 2 week vacation in New Zealand and Fiji. It was really nice. I spent five days in the North Island of NZ, met some nice people, then about 10 days in Fiji exploring the islands off the coast of Nadi. In the vacation I got my diving license, and also met a lot of interesting people, both good and bad. Unfortunately, there was some urgent matters that came up at work that briefly disrupted my holidays, but all in all I had a fabulous time.

Another few months went
Mood:  spacey
Topic: Life in Aussie
Well, yet another few months had gone by without a single entry... well oh well.

Jan was interesting. I went from Melbourne to Singapore to Shanghai to London to Cologne to Mexico City, then back to Singapore and back to Melbourne. Round the world in 3 weeks. It was alright, most of my time seemed to spent getting over jet lags and wondering why the hell I'm doing this.

Nonetheless, I've been back in Melbourne from the trip nearly a month now. Have since planned my first holiday in nearly 16 months - going to New Zealand and Fiji in the 2nd half of April.

Hepburn Springs - Nice!
Mood:  chillin'
Ben and I went away for the weekend. It started off badly when we had an arguement about driving. He insists that I'm a bad driver, and I insisted on not driving until he takes that remark back.

Nonetheless the trip still went reasonable well. We went up to the Macedon Ranges, checked out the Memorial Cross. Next was the hanging rocks, which we spent a couple of hours climbing through those glorious volcanic remanents. In spirit of the movie 'Picnic at the hanging rocks', we had lunch on the park below the rocks.

Macedon had it's fair share of vineyards and wineries. We visited one Granite Hills, where we met an adorable black dog that enjoyed staring at the sewers. Bought a couple of bottles, then off to check out a number of towns in the regions, including Kynton (a rather nice Piper Street), and Daylesford, where we stayed the night.

The next day we went for a walk in the Hepburn National Park before a long soak in the pools. There was the main relaxation pool, but we also treated ourselves with the salt pool, sauna and a wierd massaging machine.

All in all a rather enjoyable day, though we ended the evening off with a parking fine. D'oh!

Viente Siete
Mood:  not sure
Topic: Life in Aussie
I turn 27 a few days ago. Oh dear - another year had gone by. I travelled very little this year, so far not a single new country to add to my list. Tragic. No matter, there's still 2 months worth of time to get going.

Had a interesting birthday celebration. Spent 2 days in French Island with Benjamin. There's nothing quite 'French' about the Island, really, excepted that the British while sailing around Australia a couple of centuries ago though that the island was part of the mainland - slackers! The French came closely behind them and circulated around the island and happily planted the Island - 'Island of French people' or something like that. Anyway, it gradually becomes 'French Island'.

It's a swampy untouched paradise - haven for mosquitos. I got bitten to death and now proven the point that I am indeed a mosquito magnet when tens of mossies swamp around me when there's clearly two other blokes right next to me!! If there's a mossie researcher out there reading this blog, please contact me. I bet my blood will make a terrific study for those blasted insects.

Had some friends over at night for some pizza. It's good really. I had fun. Wish I had family with me that'll make it perfect.