Thursday, January 29, 2009

My Kampung


I love my kampung. It's a very small kampung located near Kuala Lipis, Pahang called Bukit Betong. It's so small and shrouded in trees, that people can have a hard time looking for it, and that makes it even more charming, sort of like fairy tale villages of the fairy folks.

A small route leads into my kampung from the main road. Everywhere you look, huge trees of many years surround the area and the few remaining houses. At some point we will reach a bridge of many years. Probably built around the British times with red bricks that you hardly can find nowadays, the bridge is part of the railroad which leads towards my kampung house.


Through a small dusty yellow road, my house is located at the very end. It's a very big papan (wood-plank) double-storey house which is also the kampung's grocery store. Right beside the house is a store house which, in the old days, is where they store the rubber collected from a rubber plantation somewhere outside the kampung, owned by my grandfather. When I was very small, I used to hate going near the store because it stinks to high heaven there. Rubber tends to give out stinky cat dung smell.


Being the only kedai runcit (grocery store) in the area, our house sells a lot of everything. Food, tidbits, rice, rope, underwear (haha), umbrellas, nails, bolts and screws, medicine behind a huge glass cupboard, the kind of shop you would only see in history books and very old kampungs. The racks are very old, made of wood and painted over, and the sweets and candies in plastic tubes with red-colored lids. The cookies are in a big metal box, and the rice in their plastic bags all stacked neatly on top of each other according to their brand. My uncle even uses an abacus and old-style scales.






I remembered the shop being huge, the racks being high and the rice bags a perfect place to climb up and sit upon to either watch the people flow (there were a lot more people back then) or talk to a bird my 2nd uncle on my father's side caught. That bird could speak, "Apa mau tauke?", "Niao guo, niao guo, niao niao niao niao~" (which I was told, is the Hakka dialect for the bird species), and a variety of bird calls.

Nowadays the shop seemed smaller, the racks shorter than me and the rice bags fewer than before. The people flow were a lot less too since most people have moved away. The bird died too.

When we were still kids, we used to open the plasticware as we like and took as much candy as we like. And the ice-cream too! My mother used to tell me not to take too much, as my uncle still need to run his shop too. We are a huge family with a lot of kids, and if everyone took just one ice-cream...

This area, I heard, was where they used to serve people drinks. Like those kopitiams. My grandpa and uncles are so multi-faceted businessmen haha.


This area is the washing basin. The drinks are prepared here. What interests me is the basin. A totally flat basin haha. Turn on the tap too big and you could get yourself wet.


This is where there used to be a mommy dog and a daddy dog. I didn't dare get close to the daddy dog, but the mommy dog is very docile. One time she had over 10 puppies! I couldn't count the exact numbers because they were squirming and shoving in a little box, trying to secure a nipple for themselves. So I picked them out one by one out of the box, and left them crawling on the cold concrete floor (yes, I admit it was cruel of me, but being a kid, how would I know back then). They yipped for their mommy, and after about 5 or 6 of them crawling about, the mommy dog finally couldn't stand it and jumped out of the box, carrying her little ones one by one back into the box, as I continued taking them out one by one. In the end, I gave up. I could only conclude it was more than 10 puppies.


This is where the bathroom is. We used to have to boil water to take a bath here. And there was a small drain from the bathroom leading to the outside of the house too. Funny thing is, when I was still a kid, I used to come here to pee instead of the proper toilet at the back, at which reason I will show later. Just imagine my pee pee flowing through the house drain, in open air.


Oh look, the kitchen! With old-fashioned stoves! With firewood! But nowadays we use gas. Faster and cleaner. I used to hate having meals here. I prefer to eat outside at the grocery store. And another reason for no liking here is...


The toilet/ chicken barn is just near the kitchen. That's right. I hate the toilet here too, which is why I pee in the bathroom as opposed to the proper toilet here. Been here once. Imagine doing your business while the smell of chickens and their poo mixed with yours come attacking your every senses. And the non-stop clucking of the chickens! It's enough to give you a headache. Though I had a quite fun time here once. Tried to catch some chicks but mama hen got them all under her wings and puffed herself up against me. Beware the hen peck of death!


Now though, the chickens were removed to the front of the house outside, because they say snakes will come at night time and killed some of the chickens. Which left a cleaner toilet, and made my mom scared of going there ^^


This is the 2nd storey of my house. It used to house a lot of my family members as they watch chinese new year movies on the small, old television here at night time. I, on the other hand, prefer to romp around the grocery store by myself. I was kind of an awkward little kid, and still am, prefering to spend time with myself. There are a lot of small rooms on the 2nd floor. My bedroom had 2 mattresses, a desk and a mirror on the wall. The lighting was a blue bulb in the middle of the room, which throws an eerie light as we turn it on as a night lamp.


There is a huge river just beside my house. To reach it, we have to go down a slope first. It was fun back then because the women of the family would, at meal times, all gather on this huge raft made of bamboo and wash the vegetables and the chicken innards here. The river was fast flowing, so they wouldn't let us swim in it. Not that I want to. It was murky yellow. But my dad learnt to swim here. I guess it was slower in the old times.


I saw old photos of the river flooding up to the 2nd floor of my house. Imagine that! It would be like 3 floors high of murky water washing over the tiny village.

Just in front of my house is an uphill slope to where the tracks are. The train still goes through my village in the afternoon. Recently I went back and noticed it came at 2pm sharp, 3pm sharp, and a few minutes before 4pm. The tracks go over the river through this cool-looking bridge. My dad says this is another historical architecture that is rarely seen elsewhere too. I remember going on to the bridge as a kid, which an older cousin leading the way, but I don't remember crossing the river. It's a very wide river.




There used to be goats and chickens running free around the village. Not anymore. My uncle still keeps dogs though. Adorable creatures that shake their tails whenever I come near.

Somewhere up the road, is a house where an old lady used to live when I was a kid. We went over to her house which is overgrown with weeds higher than me to catch red dragonflies. One of my cousin tied a dragonfly by the tail with a weed, but later I think its tail broke because of it.

We used to have firecrackers on Chinese New Year. Villagers of other races love to watch the firecrackers too. The older cousins would get to light the long firecrackers hanging outside the house. We smaller kids were taken a safe distance away to stand and watch, with fingers in our ears. It was fun watching the firecrackers go pop, especially the last one which tends to be the loudest. After it was over, the ground would be completely covered with red paper and the awful smell would linger for some time.

It was a fun place to be, but only for 1 or 2 days because I'm a city person. I guess everyone else thinks so too, because we don't balik kampung (go back to our village) anymore. Everyone except my 2nd uncle and his wife has moved out to the big city.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

中国游记 - 杭州和南京

不可思议!这篇离上一篇游记足足有半年!我太夸张了!

写到两个星期的旅程的第四天。一早9:00 am,出发到西湖又一著名景点—长桥。长桥并不长,还短得很,不到五分钟就能从桥头走至桥尾。据说桥原先1000米长,但由于湖水淤塞,湖面变小,桥也就变短了。这里是梁山伯与祝英台十八里相送的位置。梁祝是由于你送我到桥头,我送你回到桥尾,总共送了十八次,久久不肯分离,才将总路程拉至十八里。情意深长,也是长桥名字的来源之一。

长桥不长亦是杭州三怪之一;其余二怪是断桥不断,孤山不孤。现今长桥附近开辟了一个公园,是游客和当地人热爱参观的地点之一。其实现在的长桥看起来非常新,其实是因为长桥也是经过重建的。

这个有幸遗留下的长桥区块也称双投桥。史载南宋淳熙年间,钱塘书生王宣教和少女陶师儿欲自由恋爱,为陶母所阻。八月中秋之夜,双双投入桥下而死。后人为纪念这对忠贞不渝的恋人,将此桥称为双投桥。因此,长桥是著名的情人桥呵!


早上10:30,抵达杭州宝树堂。宝树堂在中国是老字号,还曾是清代御医。中国冒牌中医师到处行骗已经是普通得不能再普通的事了,造成中医几千年来的美名在外国人甚至是华人的眼中,成了一个骗局。为了维护中医的声誉,中国政府特命宝树堂公开接待外来游客,向他们介绍华人真正了不起的医学知识。

杭州环境真的是非常好,因此这里建设了许多的疗养院。途中我们就经过了好多的退伍军人的疗养院。中国的福利不错的,呵呵。当然,导游也不是傻的。他们带得我们到来,目的就是要我们购买它的产品啊。不过宝树堂和同仁堂等都是非常著名的药堂,因此大家都不手软,能买的就买!为了游说大家购买他们的白药膏(专治各类皮肤疾病、烫伤及伤口),经理还不惜用自己的手背贴上一个烧得通红的铁炉,再快速的擦上药膏。他烫伤的那瞬间,大家都看到铁炉冒烟了,经理痛得直蹦跳。团友还真可爱,心疼地告诉他不用示范了,我买就是了。可怜一个经理还得翻起衣袖卖艺!不过,过一下他将手给大家看,还真的没事,只是还红红的,但一个水泡也没有。他一再提醒,前提是要非常快将药膏敷上,否则擦多少也没效。

12:00 午饭。有乌龙茶鸡、金针花、酸辣鱼等。

1:00 开车往南京,5:00 才抵达。我们先到了中山陵去参观。中山陵是中华民国国父孙中山的陵墓。这里很大很大,而且很多很多的绿树。我用图片带大家走一趟。

这叫博爱坊,是孙中山手书的“博爱”两个字。看到远处的陵墓吗?还有好长的路走呢。


一路上都有大树陪伴。


终于爬过一小部分的阶梯后,来到陵门处。门额上是孙中山的手迹“天下为公”。看看那屋瓦,是用青色的琉璃瓦做成的,青色指苍天,因此青色琉璃瓦有“天下为公”的意思。


这是碑亭,里面有一块约9米高的碑石,“刻着由当时国民政府主席、行政院长、国民党内四大书法家之一谭延闿(另三位是于右任、胡汉民和吴稚晖 ) 手书的“中华民国十八年六月一日 中国国民党葬总理孙先生于此”(孙中山当年以袁世凯保证清帝退位为条件,答应荐袁以自代,辞去临时大总统,由袁世凯就任中华民国首任大总统,所以是以国民党总理的名义下葬)的鎏金大字。字为颜体。1928年葬事筹备处认为先生思想和业绩非文字所能要概括,故决定不用碑文。” (百度百科)



国民党党徽!相信在中国其他地方很难找到这个党徽了。


看吧!我8年前来过这里已经被吓傻了。现在我还是要登上最高层!共有392阶,每一阶代表了100万人(当时的人口)。


到顶了!这里是祭堂,有3道拱门,门额上刻着“民族,民权,民生”,代表着孙中山提出的三民主义。门楣上刻有孙中山手书“天地正气”四个字。


堂中有孙中山大理石坐像,高4.6米,是由世界名雕刻家保罗•朗特斯基在法国巴黎用意大利白色大 理石雕刻的。“像座东西四周有反映中山先生革命事迹的浮雕。祭堂的东西护壁大理石刻着中山先生手书的遗著《建国大纲》全文,穹顶上绘有巨幅国民党党徽。”(百度百科) (本人拍照拍漏了 = =)


在石像后面是一道大门,里边有个孙中山汉白玉卧像灵柩。孙中山遗体就安葬在此卧像之下5米之处。游客只能俯瞰卧像,不能及手触摸。

从顶处往下看,台阶都不见了,只剩下平台。这是设计师精心的设计,代表孙中山提倡的“人人平等”。共有8个台阶。远处就是南京市。天气好时还可以看到秦淮河。这座山叫紫金山,据说有很多古墓都在这里,还没被人发现,例如元朝皇帝朱元璋的陵墓,传说位于此地。为什么大家选择在这里盖陵墓?因为这里风水称为“龙脉”,前有罩,后有靠,后代子孙能享福。


阶梯半路有一对奉安纪念铜鼎,是1929年民国上海特别市政府敬献的大型仿古铜器物。高1.5米,直径1.3米。鼎壁有“奉安大典”篆字。这西边的大鼎身上有2个大洞,是1937年12月侵华日军攻击南京时,想把陵墓给轰炸,但是炮弹不够远程,结果只能在鼎身穿2个洞,陵墓没事。一个洞你应该看到啦,那个亮点就是了,第二个洞在鼎身底部,照片有点难看到。


6:30 到一家南京出名的豪华餐厅吃晚餐。这餐厅非常大,装潢非常奢侈,共4层楼,到处都是南京人最喜欢的玉雕。厕所竟然非常舒适,有漂亮的沙发供人休息,每一间厕所还有电视看 = = 导游说,还真的曾经有游客留恋于厕所,忘了上巴士!好吃的东西又南京名产盐水鸭(就是浸过盐水的冷鸭子,本人酷爱吃)、菜汤等。

8:00 check-in了豪华酒店之后(很多老外爱住这里),一出来转角就是有名的夫子庙夜市了。以前我对这里夜市很感兴趣,因为很像本地的pasar malam, 卖的是很多的便宜的货物,可以在这里扫手信。但是8年后的今天,夫子庙夜市完全不一样了。多了很多的商店,很多还是连锁店,到处都有的牌子,而且不便宜 = =。 气氛全没了!这里灯光很亮。再走到秦淮河的对面就是至圣先师孔子的庙(全中国有不少的孔庙),很夜了,而且入场费不便宜,所以我们两次都没有进去参观。秦淮河还可以乘船游河。人潮直到深夜都不散,虽然我很有精力,但是父母阿姨累垮了,所以10:00 左右就回酒店了。


夫子庙


秦淮河

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Christmas Tree 2008

As of last year, I will try to take photos of Christmas trees in every department store I can find! This was taken over a period of a month or so. Our last trip didn't quite work out as by lunch time we were already exhausted :p

Midvalley:
Quite an elaborate display. But I have a feeling that last year's was better. They threw in elves and a real Santa Claus! This year's was just some trees and some decorations.


Low Yat:
This was taken outside of the Low Yat building.

And this was inside Low Yat.


Sungai Wang:
Weird display. Never quite liked Sungai Wang's display before.


Times Square:
This is big. With lots of bulbs and even Santa's sleigh on it!


Lot 10:
No center display. Just trees here and there.


Starhill:
I heard last year they used real snow! I didn't get to see it though, and this year's display were not yet set up at the time I visited it. Only some trees as preparation.


Pavilion:
The famous cake-inspired Christmas tree. I thought last year's was more beautiful. This just looks sad.

Tang's center display took up the space that last year's beautiful Pavilion tree once stood. There's a small tree made entirely out of paper curls in a very obscure corner here. Great innovative.

Pavilion's other smaller trees. Personally I like these better than the gigantic one outside.


The Curve:
Didn't see last year's display. But I'm impressed by this year's.

Elves bigger than me!


Busy, busy elves.

I don't think those are real bushes.


Reindeers made of twigs outside the shopping mall.


Ikano:
I love this tree! It's so different! I think it was made of plastic boards. A fresh design.


Sunway Pyramid:


KLCC:
I missed last year, thinking it looked the same every year. A moulding giant tree. But this year they finally decided to spruce it up! Thanks to Teng for the pictures.

Mr Gingerbread man says hi.


Alpha Angle Jaya Jusco:
A small but nicely decorated tree, nonetheless.