balestier walkies in hanoi

our 5-day trip to hanoi was conceived not long after our first overseas trip to melbourne. it was not possible to have a longer trip because although the former teachers in the group have all retired, the former students are still working. other than the city tour on the second day and the halong bay trip on the third, we were very much on our own. part of the city tour included an hour long segment when we were taken on a very interesting cyclo ride around the old quarters of hanoi. our accommodation was at the fraser suites, one set up by singapore's fraser and neave.

judging from all the happy faces of our tour participants, you can be sure that there will be more follow-up trips. our next trip is either to guangzhou in china or kuching in sarawak. our visit to the temple of literature coincided with a visit by a group of vietnamese male and female undergraduates who were there to pray for success in their university exam. the young girls were very obliging when approached by the men in our group to take pictures with them in their ao dai.

the men were not the only ones happily snapping away; the ladies also wanted to be in the thick of the action. we all took photographs at the various tourist attractions - ho chi minh's mausoleum, ho chi minh's stilt house, one pillar pagoda, tran quoc pagoda, quan thanh taoist temple and even at the water puppet theatre. the unique water puppet performance was quite interesting.

typical of singaporeans, we sought out the best local food. when we arrived on 4 december, our first vietnamese meal was room service style. the general manager of fraser suites arranged for lunch to be served in our duplex. that night we had local cuisine at a high-end restaurant called the ly. the next day, we had a very satisfying lunch at another vietnamese restaurant called wild rice.

on our 'free day' we went to buy dvd and vcd at one of the shops near the hoam kiem lake in the old quarters of hanoi. we also strolled along 'hang gai' (street of silk) where the ladies bought lots of silk clothing and embroidered materials.

in hanoi, vietnam we were literally millionaires (in dong). a japanese meal we had cost us about 3 million dong. the smallest unit in the vietnamese currency is 500 dong. i do not think there is any vietnamese coin. in singapore, the best exchange rate we could get was $1 to 14 800 dong; in hanoi, we managed to get $1 to 16 300 dong.

from friends who have been to vietnam, we heard about dog meat (thit cho) being sold on the streets. however, although we visited two markets and explored the old quarters, we did not come across any stall or shop selling dog meat.

playing chinese chess seems to be a favourite pastime among the man folks of hanoi. one of our group members, a chinese chess aficionado, was so tempted to play a game with the locals by the roadside.

of course, we were on the lookout for snatch thieves and pick pockets after being warned by well-meaning friends who have visited vietnam or who have heard of incidences of such petty thefts. the ladies had to secure their handbags while riding in the cyclos and the men made sure their wallets were inconspicuous at all times.

benalla - one street town

in north east victoria

on tuesday, i visited two of the towns affected by the floods in the first week of september 2010. of the two, i much prefer benalla to shepparton. both are located in north eastern victoria. the two towns are 60km apart. the lake (above picture) of the rural city of benalla was created in 1973 by damming the broken river. during the recent flood, the water level in the lake reached up to the top of the supports.

a friend who accompanied us on the trip, a singapore-born permanent resident, described benalla as 'a one street town where you cannot get lost'. in spite of its smallness when compared to shepparton, the fifth largest city in the state of victoria, benalla has got more than you can imagine.

benalla, which has the status of a rural city, has plenty of colours. the sky is clear and blue and the sunset is fiery red. it also has the title of 'the rose city' but because the rose plants in the rose garden were not in bloom, i did not take any picture. even the sunrise is equally brilliant.

this strikingly modernist building is the benalla art gallery. it is located in the botanical gardens (is it not botanic gardens?), near the town's famous rose garden. it has a cafe that overlooks the lake. many visitors like to come here to sip coffee or wine or have lunch while enjoying the unique and beautiful setting.





ths ceramic mural also found by the side of the lake has been called 'the largest community artwork in australia". according to the tourist brochure 'the sculptural piece was inspired by the works of spanish architect antonio gaudi and was created by the local community with the assistance of some of australia's best potters'.

this unique archway leads to a carpark and an indian restaurant. you do not see many 'black hair' in benalla. looking through the telephone directory, i could not find a single chinese or asian name. however, there are two chinese restaurants in this town with a population of 9000. according to my daughter, if the food is popular with the locals (meaning, australians), then it means it will not suit the chinese.

it is a quiet town, good for a short stay. when i went on my morning walk at 6.30 a.m., there was hardly anyone on the road. the night before, after having had our dinner at a local hotel, we found the whole street deserted at 9.00 p.m.

the feature article in the life section of the straits times on 30 march makes me re-visit my photo album (of our switzerland tour) so as to share our experience. we actually visited three countries - switzerland, liechtenstein and italy. in the case of italy, it was just crossing from lugano in southern switzerland to tirano in italy. it is like crossing the causeway from singapore to johor bahru town.

ours was a 14-day tour - yes, a bit too long - and we travelled by train all the way, except for the return trip to lugano from tirano (in italy) when we were put on a postal coach. our starting point was zurich. this was our itinerary: zurich - st gallen -vaduz (in liechtenstein) -st moritz - tirano - lugano -lucerne - interlaken - montreux - zermatt/matternhorn - zurich.

we had no choice but to travel by train. driving would have posed a number of problems. first, you had to get used to driving on the right side, just like in the usa. the other problem was that the road signs and information signs were either in french or german. train is the better alternative.

we had to travel lighter than normal. each of us carried a slightly bigger than cabin-sized bag. as it was summer, we did not have to pack thick woollens, long johns, scarves and gloves. however, up in the mountains, it could get quite cold. the alps are covered with snow all year round.

from interlaken we took the cogwheel train to jungfraujoch, the highest train station in europe. of all the places in switzerland, zermatt left the deepest impression in me. i like zermatt, where you can see the majestic matterhorn, for its smoke-free environment - no petrol driven vehicles.

yes, if you do not enjoy being herded around in a conducted tour group, travelling by train on your own is a good way to see switzerland. you do not need two weeks; one week is enough for you to take in all the touristy places.

market experience in melbourne

unlike markets in singapore, those in melbourne or, for that matter, in australia are not conveniently open 7 days a week. even queen victoria market - the one known to most visitors to melbourne - is closed on wednesdays and thursdays. some markets are held weekly, some, monthly and there are the 3, 4 or 5 day-a week markets.

the once-a-month market at red hill in the mornington peninsula, which i visited, has the atmosphere of a food-cum-fun fair. although billed as a craft market, the number of food stalls clearly outnumber the number of craft stalls.



the casual and colourful atmosphere lend itself to attract people who come in their heritage cars and some who come with their canine friends, even though there is an explicit notice stating that dogs are not allowed. not all, however, come with the intention of buying something; some are there just to browse and to soak in the atmosphere.

besides food, clothing and household stuff, you can also get potted plants and colourful flowers from this market. the prices of these garden organisms are generally lower than those at the nurseries.

like a fair, you have people, in the form of acrobats, jugglers or musicians, providing almost free entertainment.

the interest, need and education of young children are also taken care of. apart from the usual farm animals and pets, there were also some unusual animals on display at the red hill market.



how can a market in australia be complete without some spirits or booze? as this is a community market, a lot of the local produce is on sale at the market. you can get products like strawberries and jams which come from the well-known sunnyrise strawberry farm nearby as well as wine from the wineries in that district like red hill and t'gallant.

differences between sydney & melbourne

i have been to sydney at least three times but i have lost count of the number of visits i have made to melbourne. it should be around twenty times. i have also driven from sydney to melbourne. oft i have heard friends and relatives making comparison between the two cities. in fact, there are two rival facebook groups, one claiming that 'sydney is better than melbourne' and the other counter-claiming that 'melbourne is better than sydney'.

when i was a student, i had wondered why sydney was not the capital of australia. now i know why. it was the rivalry between these two cities and because they could not agree, it resulted in the federal capital being sited at canberra.

i was surprised to learn that sydney has not always been the largest city. in fact, from 1865 to the early 20th century, melbourne was the largest city in australia. however, sydney has the distinction of being the oldest city.

today, sydney is the largest city in australia and the state capital of new south wales. it has a population of 4.4 million living in an area covering 12, 000 sq km. the icons associated with sydney include the sydney opera house, the harbour bridge and bondi beach. sydney is also the most expensive city in australia and it is ranked among the top 10 livable cities in the world.

i cannot think of any structure that you will immediately associate with melbourne. the best i can think of is the flinders station. melbourne is the second largest city in australia, with a population of almost 4 million. the land area is about 8806 sq km. it is the state capital of victoria. melbourne boasts of the largest tram network in the world. because of the trams, it is necessary for motorists to master the 'hook turn'.

when you compare beaches, melbourne is nowhere near sydney. sydney has the world famous bondi beach and some equally popular ones such as manly and congee. melbourne's beaches like st kilda, brighton and bells at torquay do not attract the kind of crowd that you see on sydney beaches.

according to people who have lived in both cities, the general perception is that people in melbourne are friendlier and the environment is more relaxed. melburnians are viewed as being more approachable. motorists in sydney tend to be in a greater hurry and so they can be intimidating.

then, may i ask, what is the pull factor of sydney. according to my younger daughter and her cousin, sydney has more 'life' than melbourne, even in the suburbs.

when it comes to food, melbourne wins hands down, according to ida and her cousin. however, i feel that some of these perceptions are somewhat subjective, coloured by our own experiences and biasedness. when it comes to food, some sydneysiders will strongly dispute this claim.

while sydney is considered the finance and media centre of australia, melbourne commands as the arts, cultural and sports centre.

personally, i prefer melbourne to sydney and it is not because my two daughters are here.

england/north wales tour 1997 (1)

outside our accommodation in london - 1a gosfield street, off oxford circus - for which we paid s$240 a night. we had travelled on mas to london, with a one-hour transit stop at subang in kuala lumpur. throughout the nearly 13-hour flight, we had to endure cigarette fumes in the smoking section. ironically, my friend victor samuel, a heavy smoker, who had taken an earlier flight, was nicotine-starved on his sia flight. in 1997, all flights on sia were already smoke-free.

victor and his wife helen were at heathrow terminal 3 to meet us. we rode on the tube from the airport to oxford circus. the 50-minute ride cost us about s$17.80. we had to change train at piccadilly. that night, we had dinner at a nearby chinese restaurant.





on day 2, we did a lot of walking in central london. from oxford circus, we walked down regent street towards piccadilly, passing carnaby street along the way. we so walked past the sign pointing to soho but we did not visit that area. the london palladium - where the musical 'oliver' was being staged - is about 800m from gosfield street.



we joined the pride of london sightseeing tour at piccadilly. for first-time visitors to london, this was the recommended way to see most of london's famous landmarks. the 20 stops that the open deck double-decker bus made included the west end, piccadilly circus, traflagar square, st james's place, hyde park corner, buckingham palace, westminster abbey, the houses of parliament, big ben, whitehall, downing street, horse guards, strand, fleet street, st paul's cathedral, the mansion house, london bridge, london dungeon, tower bridge, the tower of london and shakepeare's globe.





places which we made multiple visits to included leicester square, covent garden, trafalgar square and charing cross. we found leicester square the most exciting place to be in the evening, especially on a saturday.







which child could resist feeding the pigeons at trafalgar square? there were more pigeons in the later part of the morning and early afternoon. there seemed to be fewer pigeons in the evening, especially after seven. the pigeons were apparenty well-trained; they would take food from visitors/strangers but would not steal from the stall that sold the bird food at 30 pence a cup.





we were there not to admire nelson's column or to take pictures of the four impassive lions. all three times when we went to trafalgar square, it was to feed the pigeons.

bus commuters in melbourne and singapore

when i came back from my last australian trip in april this year, i decided to find out how different singapore bus commuters were from those i met on the buses in melbourne's suburbs. each time i boarded a bus here, i opted to sit near the front door so that i could study closely the behaviour and attitude of the passengers.

i was especially keen to observe the actions of those who would have missed the bus if the bus captain had not stopped to wait for them. this was not something difficult to catch because it seemed to be a common occurence. more often than not, it would be a young man or woman in a hurry.

i have yet to come across one of these passengers thanking the bus captain for having waited for him so that he would not have to wait for the next bus. people here seem to think that because they are paying passengers, bus drivers must stop for them no matter what; it is, therefore, their right to keep the whole bus waiting.

most times these passengers did not even make eye contact with the bus captain; not a word of thanks or a gesture acknowledging the bus driver's action. i also think that our bus drivers are not used to passengers thanking them, so they also do not expect such a gesture.

in australia, in the suburbs where i travelled, it was heart-warming to see how the commuters treated the bus driver. most of them, who tended to alight by the door nearest to the driver, would express their appreciation for the ride. is it because the australians have been taught and brought up differently? they respect a person regardless of his occupation? here, we accord more respect to those who work in certain professions?

i like to think that the situation is like this because we asians tend to be more reticient when it comes to expressing our feelings openly.

campervan tour of new zealand

this morning, i was at bukit timah nature reserve visitors' car-park when i saw this campervan parked in one of the corner lots. took some pictures of it and found out that it belonged to a french family on a world tour. it brought back memories of our first trip to new zealand and our own small adventure in a campervan. of course, our two-seater campervan, rented from newmans, could not be compared to this luxurious iveco fiat.

the campervan that we used was actually a converted toyota hi-ace. it had a pop-up roof so as to provide more head-room. this had to be kept when the vehicle was on the move. there was a wash basin, a cooker, a fridge, a heater and a range of cooking utensils. there was a foldable table and a bed that could sleep two adults. because of the tight space, i opted to sleep under the bed. there were also curtains all around it - on the inside, of course. the water-tank which we had to top up at camp-sites, was hidden.

just before night-fall, we would try and reach the campervan site. at some of these sites, such as the one at glentanner park, there was a kitchen-cum-lounge, where we cooked our dinner and ate it around a proper dining table. powered sites charged nz$7 for an adult and half the price for a child. although it was late spring/early summer during our first visit, it was quite cold so we needed the power to run the heater.

driving a campervan did not require any special skill; it was very much like driving a bigger and heavier car. nevertheless, one had to be careful when driving it into a covered area because of the greater height of the roof. one friend got his van stuck in a covered car-park. i had a slight problem handling it in dunedin because of the many steep roads.

hot air ballooning in cairns

i read about seenthisscenethat's two failed attempts at hot air ballooning and decided to write about our experience in cairns in 1999.

the australians are quite experienced when it comes to adventure stuff. we had to get up at about 4.15 a.m. the mini-bus took about 45 minutes to reach mareeba, the site for the ballooning. we did the ballooning over the atherton highlands and after that had champagne breakfast at the anthill restaurant.

tableland balloon flight cost aus$115 for an adult, with children getting 30% discount off the adult price, for a half hour flight. in addition, we had to pay aus$7 aviation fee on the day of travel. the total cost included a chicken and champagne breakfast.

the basket, which could easily carry 15 persons, including the pilot, was laid on its side while they funnelled the hot air into the balloon. when the parachute envelope ballooned out, the basket uprighted itself and we were helped into it.


there were three or four hot air balloons up in the sky at the tableland that morning. by the time the balloon was aloft, it was bright enough for us to take in the sights around and below us. it was a smooth ride and surprisingly, i forgot all my fear for height.

flights are usually carried out early in the morning when the air is still cool which makes maneuvering easier. as the day gets warmer and the warm air rises, controlling the balloon becomes a bit tricky and unpredictable. as it was, even in the morning, our balloon strayed slightly off its target and we landed near a cemetery.

when it finally landed, all of us, especially the men, had to pitched in to help anchor the balloon onto the ground while the pilot and his assistants worked at deflating the balloon and folding the huge piece of parachute material. it was quite a good work-out before we proceeded for our much awaited breakfast.

the ornate trishaws of melaka

i do not remember the trishaws being so elaborately and colourfully decorated in my previous trips to melaka. it is certainly eye-catching; you cannot miss them as you walk into the dutch square.

dolphin feeding at tangalooma

tangalooma, the wild dolphin resort, is on moreton island. it is similar to pulau redang, tthe island off the coast of terengganu, in a number of ways:

both are one-and-a-half hours by ferry from the mainland; in terms of distance, about 40km. clean, clear water (without doubt, redang's is clearer) and white sand. swimming, snorkelling and scuba diving (redang has richer marine life.) turtles are found in both places. both are designated marine parks. opportunities for nature walks/rambling. accommodation available (redang has a whole range and cheaper).

what are not available at redang: dolphin feeding and sand tobaganning.

they refer to them as wild dolphins but they were far from wild. they were bottlenose dolphins and the researchers there knew each of the by name. every evening, they would return to the same area to play and to be fed. tourists or visitors would pay for the food (fish) that they personally gave to the dolphins.

we each paid aus$17 for the ride down the sand dunes. the sand dunes were the height of a 6-storey building. ivy and ida did 2 runs each. i would have done 3 if i had not been overfilled by the sand. the sand got into all my openings (orifices) and also into my trousers' pockets.

on this trip, we also went to noosa at the sunshine coast, gold coast and the tamborine mountain. at the tamborine mountain, we stayed at the polish place. the owner of the polish place (shown here in the 3rd picture with lay bee, ivy and ida) proudly announced to us that our prime minister (then, he was dpm) had stayed at the polish place with his family. he had been there on a private visit.

nature came right to your doorstep at the polish place. the rainbow lorikeets - very colourful parrots - would come to the balcony to be fed.

at the polish place, we had dinner alfresco so that we could watch the sun setting over the western rim.

china in december 1994

we first visited china in 1994. as there were 17 0f us, we were one group by ourselves and had the services of an english-speaking tour guide. we spent about a week touring beijing and chengde.

it was the first time ida saw snow. for ivy, it was the second time, having seen it during our first visit to new zealand before ida was born.

i was inspired enough to write a poem which i titled:

"tiananmen"

the name evokes a sense of grandeur
not of beauty
nor of splendour
it pevades a sense of expanse and spaciousness

in my mind's eye i picture a stretching square
filled with a sea of bobbing hair
red flags swaying above the swarming mass
as the patriotic fervour charged the air

it would seem all the country was gather there
either for:
- a proclamation
- a demonstration
- or a rally call to the entire nation

i had to be there
to be at the square
the infamous square
to capture a morsel
of all the history that had been made there
as well as the future that it beholds...

i tried to imagine how i'd have been stirred
when mao perched at the top of the gate
uttered his godly words
then i tried to emphatise with those
embroiled in passion
misled by western notions

it was just like what i had seen in photos
huge portraits
hanging on the portals
gaint chinese characters bearing messages
extolling virtues, dispelling fears and dispair

this historic square
where history has been written
and rewritten with swords, guns and rifles
and lately with armoured vehicles
tiananmen square

i left my footprints there..
in the snow
on 22 dec 1994.

12-day tour of switzerland in 2002

we planned our own itinerary with some help from our tour agent who also helped us book the air tickets, train tickets and the accommodations.

day 1 - 6 jun s'pore - zurich via bangkok. flight (on thai airways) leaves bangkok at 12.03 a.m. on 7 jun.

day 2 - 7 jun arrive zurich at 0720hr local time. fast train from zurich to st gallen at the heart of eastern switzerland. in the afternoon, continue train travel from st gallen to vaduz, capital of liechtenstein.

day 3 - 8 jun train ride up the engadine valley to st moritz, the winter playground of the rich and famous.

day 4 - 9 jun st moritz. explore the lakes and take cable car to the top of the mountains. (cable car not in operation)

day 5 - 10 jun st moritz to lugano by the bernina express to tirano in italy. from tirano, take postal coach back to lugano.

day 6 - 11 jun lugano to lucerne. explore chapel bridge on foot. tue and sat are the best days to visit lucerne because of the market.

day 7 - 12 jun lucerne. walk to the 9 towers and the lion monument.

day 8 - 13 jun lucerne to interlaken. scenic ride across the brunig pass to interlaken. visit the ballenberg.

day 9 - 14 jun interlaken. cogwheel train excursion to grindelwald and jungfraujouh.

day 10 - 15 jun interlaken to zermatt. take the panoramic express to zermatt via montreux.

day 11 - 16 jun zermatt & gornergat. explore the hinter dorf area.

day 12 - 17 jun zermatt to zurich. take the glacier express to zurich via chur.

day 13 - 18 jun zurich. quays that line the banks of the limmat and lake zurich.

day 14 - 19 jun zurich to s'pore.

day 15 - 20 jun arrive s'pore at 1000hr.

what we learnt from our trip:

1 eggs are not cheap in switzerland. in s'pore, we pay 13 cents (2002 prices) for one egg; in switzerland, the cheapest is about 60 cents.

2 poultry is not cheap also. at ntuc, you can get a chicken for $2.90 (in 2002). it is $7.90 in switzerland.

3 the swiss are rather reserved. they do not smile much and you hardly hear laughter. it does not mean they are not helpful; you have to approach them and ask if you need help.

4 most swiss speak and understand english but they are reluctant to speak the language. they rather converse with you in german. those in the south, speak italian and those in the west, speak french.

5 they are a hard-working people. some offices are already serving people before 7.00 a.m. sunday is a working day for some of them. the buses run till past midnight and the trains run practically 24 hours.

6 their claim to warm hospitality is disputable. the hotels we stayed in did not go out of the way to please the customers.

7 for us, 14 days is a bit too long. a one-week tour would have been just right.

8 you do not have to pay for a swiss knife. you can earn one by helping to carry bags for ladies at the railway station. i got one from a grateful lady.