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Ni hao, Beijing?
Post Date : 2017-02-13
Beijing, People's Republic of China
May 15 - 25, 2009
Shenzhen, People's Republic of China
May 25 - 27, 2009
After a long persuasion, my brother and I managed to convince our mother that if there is only one place to go as a Chinese born outside of China, it should be the capitol of the People's Republic of China. That only makes half of China because the other half sits in the island of Taiwan, officially as the "Republic of China" founded after the fall of the Ching Dynasty in 1911.
Our trip started in Beijing from May 15 to 25 in Beijing before we left for Shenzhen for a short two days trip till the 27th of May and the last leg of our stop was for two days from May 27 - 29 in Hong Kong.
Poor mom who has always been thoughtful of the rest ended up having to face "the look" from the group because the airline company didn't send mom's wheelchair together with our flight. What irritated me the most was the tour guide who took us to 8 destinations where we were held captive while the staffs persuaded us to buy things or to influence us into believing that some ointment can do the magic. The trip to the zoo to view the most valued celebrity of China: the pandas, was rushed that we barely have enough much time to pose with these lovely animals due to the deplorable guide rushing us off to a foot massage place where we once were held as captives. This trip took the cake and I decided that in future, no more tour guides as I'll personally take on the role. The difference in the standard of living was so obvious between Beijing and the outskirt cities that on our bus tour to a neighboring city, we witnessed personally how resourceful people can get when water is scarce: the toilet as shown in the picture has no flush but it recycles water from the moment we wash our hands in the basin. Beijing duck was delicious and just about everything was a great treat for our eyes, especially at the palace museum where mom witnessed the scale of the former palace of Ming and Ching emperors.
Due to her back, we were not able to venture far but we enjoyed every moment at the Great Wall of China. It has been a while since I see her turned her frown upside down into a smile and that is worth every dollar spent. Despite the inconvenience of being rushed in and out and having to wake up early to catch our bus rides, like they say in the commercial, it's "priceless" when I see mom smiles...
Nei Hou, Hong Kong?
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Hong Kong, China
May 27 - 29, 2009
Boarding the Cathay Pacific airline, we headed for Hong Kong immediately after leaving Beijing on May 25th and as soon as we touched down, we headed back into China's Shenzhen where we visited an oil painting village called Da Fen which is the home to hundreds of art galleries and oil painting companies. Literally, thousands of artists in this "art factory" mass produce original and imitation paintings for sale around the world.
The trip in Hong Kong was fun-filled with more relaxing people watching activities from the large window of our hotel in Tsim Sa Tsui. Since the location was ideal for shopping, it was something that I wouldn't miss out and I took the opportunity to get mom a pendant and a matching chain from Chow Tai Fook, much to her delight as she didn't expect it. It was a reunion for my brother but first time for mom and I to have met my dad's 2nd brother's daughter who showed us around such as the jade market. The dim sum brunch was delectable and the night scene on the ferry overlooking the islands of Hong Kong was simply breath-taking and memorable. Indeed, the city offers diverse contrasts and close proximity of stunning cityscapes and soaring mountains.
Guten tag
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Frankfurt, Germany
Jun. 12 - 16, 2009
The first leg of my 4-day trip from June 12 - 16, 2009, landed me in Deutschland Frankfurt, the seat of European Central Bank, the German Federal Bank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, as well as several large commercial banks. Due to the ongoing arbitration with a German company which didn't end till August of 2009, I hardheartedly toured the city. The city is Frankfurt and the hotel name is Memphis. There were artistic expressions everywhere, particularly in the historic buildings such as the train station called Hauptbahnhof with beautiful grill work and sculptures.
Noticing an artist with an incomplete painting of President Obama near the river, I hesitated about buying it due to my needs to travel light and when I returned the next day, the artist was gone. I was glad to have captured the painting in my digital camera, my inseparable travel partner.
At a shop in the six houses at the east side of the Romerberg, I held my shopping desires back to German-made watch but when it was a different story when I came across an LV store on Goethestrabe and Alte Rothofstrabe. I reasoned that with Euro 73 tax refund at the last airport on my way out of Europe, the pricey bag was worth the purchase. Charging it to my card, I'd deal with the financial pinch after my trip.
Ola, Lisboa
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Lisbon, Portugal
Jun. 16 - 19, 2009
From Frankfurt, the next city was Lisbon, Portugal. During this short trip from June 16 - 19, 2009, I was mesmerized by how artistically the city planners have decorated their historic city with motifs and themes that evoke a strong sense of cultural identity that is uniquely Portuguese. One thing particularly that caught my attention was the floor on the streets. While others may curse at the hand-chiseled mosaics used to pave the pedestrian floors causing mobility issues to the disabled, I find the design uniquely Portugese as it has been consistently used throughout the country.
Commercially, Portugal carries the highest grade of gold in Europe at 19.25 as opposed to European's 18K. The craftsmanship was irresistible and when I saw a pendant in the shape of a male anatomy, I knew that it'd be the most memorable memorabilia. The rest was history.
In glamorizing their colonial past, the Portuguese had also placed mosaics and artworks (such as one shown in the collage above) at public spaces such as a subway station called Parque with a giant of showing the location of Malacca, a former colony in the 16th century.
Communicating in English poses minor problems since but since I carefully chose to be in the city center with good access to all the touristy spots via convenient public transportation, most communication was tackled with maps and well-designed graphics that do the "talking" and "pointing."
Ola, Faro
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Faro, Portugal
Jun. 19 - 23, 2009
The trip to Algarve, Faro was to present my paper, "Food Defines Us: A Visual Discovery of Singapore's Gastronomical Culture" at the Computer Graphics and Visualization and Image Processing 2009 Conference from June 20 -22, 2009.Read about it here:http://www.yeoh.com/index2.php?section=academe . I befriended a PhD student called Lin-Yu Liao from the National Chia-Yi University in Taiwan. Professor Nadia Magnanat-Thalmann from MIRAlab at University of Geneva's presentation was captivating. Her online application allows one to try virtual garment.
Faro is a favorite tourist destination, especially with the British. Compared with Lisbon, most Portuguese I came across were able to communicate in simple English. Compared to the far-reaching influence of the English language, the Portuguese have had some successes in the conquest to assert their influence. The Portuguese word of butter, "mentega," is copied verbatim in Malay and "Gereja" in Malay was adapted from "lgreja" which means church in Portuguese. Thanks to Brazil, their language is one of the major languages spoken in the world.
Due to the small Chinese community that exist in Algarve, they were always curious about my origins and nationality. Streets in Algarve feature the same kind of marble tiles used in Lisbon. Distinctively, residential architecture feature chimneys that according to the tour guide was remnants of Moorish influence. With the advent of Moorish rule in the 8th century, the origins of these chimneys were later disguised as minarets after the Moors were defeated by the King Afonso III who was a Christian.
Next city: Amsterdam!
Amsterdam June 23 - 29, 2009
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Jun. 23 - 29, 2009
A colleague from my school had taken the same flight with me and while she had 5 hours to kill, I had to rush to take another flight from Lisbon to connect to Amsterdam which I visited from June 23 - 29, 2009. Amsterdam proved to be a memorable city right after I landed. Accidentally, I had left my cell phone behind in the plane and the lawyer was asking for more money on an ongoing arbitration case. This trip didn't start off on a good side.
But soon, everything eased off... Do as the locals did and so I did, renting a bicycle the following day of arrival to go about and it was quite a pleasant experience for the city of Amsterdam has awareness and facilities to promote this green form of transportation.
A liberal city, there was a Pink Point on the map where the Homomonument is located at. While finding my way there,along the canals, the little streets were littered with shops offering wonderful goods and gifts. Upon arrival at the monument, I was horribly surprised to see an open toilet for males placed next to the monument. What were they thinking about!
Another memorable moment was when I saw the news on TV on June 26 the death of Michael Jackson as well as one of Charlie's Angels, Farrah Fawcett. Cycling through the Utrechtsestraat street where the Waterlooplein flea market was, the radio station played songs of Michael Jackson and it was a sad moment...
Tintin, here I come!
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Brussels, Belgium
Jun. 29 - Jul. 3, 2009
The driving factor to visit Brussels, Belgium from June 29 - July 3, 2009 was because of a Tintin museum as well as the city being the birthplace of my favorite character, Tintin and his companion, Snowy by Belgium artist, graphic designer, Herge whose real name is Georges Remi. Not having a language of their down, Belgium has different regions that speak Dutch in the north, German on the east and French on the south and I was just glad that they still understand English.
Upon my arrival at the hotel in which the owner had hung a print of Tintin on the wall, I had started my research on how to get to the museum and the owner informed me that it is located at the university town of Louvain-la-Neuve. The Herge museum was designed by Pritzker prize winner, Christian de Portzamparc.
On June 30, I made the historical trip after paying an entrance fee of Euro 9.50. I should have waited because the King of Belgium visited the museum the following day and he even mingled with the public! If was OK because I was there to see Tintin, not the King but it was good that even the King was showing his support. After I returned to the city, I paid a visit to La Boutique Tintin on Rue de La Colline 13, 1000 Brussels where I had had the intention to pick up the adventures of Tintin on DVDs but the different region worried me so I settled for a resin figurine of Tintin climbing out of a porcelain vase in The Blue Lotus. It was a scene from page 55 but this piece of memory would set me 175 Euro back. I needed time to think about it: one day to be exact!
Bonjour Paris
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Paris, France
Jul 3 - 8, 2009
The Eiffel Tower and Mona Lisa. These two over-hyped things were two reasons why I visited Paris from July 3 - 8, 2009. Over-visited and over the top, these two manage to attract millions of people to Paris like moths to light. And I was one of them. The city has a lot to offer not just in terms of beautiful architecture amidst the rude and apathetic workers from all over Europe, but also incredible attention to details in their sense of design from their Gothic cathedrals, the 164-foot Arc de Triomphe commissioned by Emperor Napoleon I, to Centre Georges Pompidou which is considered to be the cultural pulse of the city. Due to its long history, Paris is also steep in its artistic and cultural traditions and they manage to merge the old and the new just like how the ying and yang, harmoniously combined to balance and validate each other's existence.
In reality, the Mona Lisa is really just a painted portrait and the Tower is an old and tall structure designed by Gustave Eiffel and erected (1887-9) in the Champs-de-Mars for the Paris Exhibition of 1889. The most famous landmark in Paris consists of an open-lattice framework supporting three tiered platforms. It is 300 meter (984 ft.) high. Once, it was the tallest structure in the world until 1930 when the Empire State Building was completed. Signing off on this trip for 2009, it is great to say that "I've been there and done that" but it was done in a beautiful, romantic and historic city.
Genki desu ka, Tokyo? (1 of 2)
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Tokyo, Japan
Aug. 4 - 10, 2009
Antiquated customs, idiosyncratic behaviors, wonderful designs, from over packaged packaging to illustrious buildings were what I expected when I visited the capitol of the rising sun called Tokyo from Aug 4 - 10, 2009. Figuring out the subway system was a daunting task and for the first 2, 3 days, I was either buying the wrong ticket, getting on the wrong platform or simply traveling in the wrong direction. Though that was part of the fun in discovering a place that has always mesmerized me, I wasted a lot of time in doing so. Many things that the Japanese had appropriated in the inevitable influence of Sinosphere became distinctively theirs such as the Chinese characters they called Kanji, the bowing customs, the kimono which till the pre-Ching dynasty in China was similar to the Japanese kimono. The Japanese capitol, Tokyo, written in Chinese is pronounced "Donjing." Till date, there's Beijing and Nanjing and in the past, Dongjing used to be the old name of Shenyang.
Tokyo is clean, modern and predictably over designed. I enjoyed a few things such as the bidet in the hotel room, a toilet in a tight space in a restaurant where one could wash his/her hand and the water was recycled to fill the tank below. There was a mirror made smooth from a polished stainless steel panel at one of the train stations and a smart divider which acts as a bench at the same time. There is clearly clever thinking behind everything put forth.
Even the people are "designed." In the Shinjuku area where I stayed, execs are dressed in black while youngsters in Shibuya are dolled up to look like dolls. In general, people are well-dressed although a few would definitely make a strong fashion statement.
Genki desu ka, Tokyo? (2 of 2)
Post Date : 2015-05-20
In a taxi when I first arrived, I noticed the year of the emperor's rule, the Heisei period and if China had retained the emperor, this tradition may have continued. I'm envious that due to an uninterrupted dynastic tradition and fierce protectionism, the Japanese manage to keep their values, history and as a result, a strong sense of identity. A case in point is their kimono which was proudly displayed by their youths. Chinese if they do, only wear butchered adaptations of "ma kua" or "cheong sam" which originally belonged to the Manchurians. Through centuries of adaptations, the Japanese are able to mold and shape their traditions to adapt to modern times. The Chinese are too non-collective and practical in comparison.
As a Hanfu lover, http://www.hanfu.info/ it saddens me to see a costume that once belonged to China is now being owned by the Japanese and the Koreans. Japan will continue to amaze me in ways that only a collective society can offer and it is its own league when it comes to politeness and etiquette. I remembered that a salesman in a clothing store almost had a heart attack when I stepped on the carpet in the changing room. I was supposed to remove my shoes. Wakaranai!
In this land of Hello Kitty and subcultures, I was also glad to see a thriving LGBT neighborhood in the Shinjuku-nichome area but I noticed that unless one speaks Japanese, most clubs tend to shun and disregard Gaijins, although I was mistaken for a Japanese a few times, at least until I opened my mouth to speak in English...
Other travels in 2009
Post Date : 2015-05-20
Hong Kong, China
Oct. 15 - 20, 2009 for a short trip to accompany Jimmy Choy to Hong Kong.
Bangkok, Thailand
Sep. 26 - 30, 2009 for a short trip to accompany Jimmy Choy to Thailand.
Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia
Jul. 10 - 19, 2009
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Mar. 10 - 11, 2009 for an emergency meeting with lawyer Alex Kok for how to face an arbitration with a textile giant from Germany who wanted to wrestle my brother's website away from us.
Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia
Mar. 3 - 5, 2009 for Ancestral Tomb Cleaning's Day.
Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia
Jan. 23 - 30, 2009 for Chinese New Year.
Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia
Dec. 12, 2008 - Jan. 5, 2009 for holiday.
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