In November last year, i asked the kids if they would want any present for Christmas and was surprised they rejected the offer! Being the kindhearted uncle, i suggested bringing them for a cycling trip to Pulau Ubin, together with my dad.
Jovyn doesn't know how to ride a proper bicycle and i rented one with three wheels and as Jerald isn't confident riding on his own; i got a double bicycle. I thought it would be quite a straightforward trip since i have been to Pulau Ubin numerous times but i am so wrong.
Halfway towards Chek Jawa, Jovyn literally gave up cycling and asked if there's an air-conditioned place around. Air-conditioning in such a rustic area?! She scowled and no amount of nagging, scolding and threatening could force her to ride the bike!
Not only did she resist riding her own bike; Jovyn insisted on taking the double bike so that we can push her along! Can you imagine that i paid so much money just so all the guys on the trip could push bikes for almost 4.5 kilometers.
While the guys were doing the hard labour, Jovyn just kept on her tirade of complaining: "Are we done? It's so hot! I am so tired!". She only perked up (and stopped her complaints) with the entry of the wild monkeys.
I wasn't intending to blog about this but my friends reminded me that it's a good thing to share my experience so that Jovyn would read about it when she's older!
We finally got to the main town in Ubin after close to 3 hours; mainly spent on pushing the bicycles! You can see from my dad's expression that he was super pissed with Jovyn as it's a waste of money to rent the bicycles without effectively using them.
Guess i wouldn't be suggesting any outdoor activities in the future. Despite my efforts to get them to enjoy the outdoors (and maybe lose some weight), i think it's best to stick to places with air-conditioning. p.s. to be fair, Jerald is actually more acceptable.
The morning started on a rather scary note after we got onto the highway towards Guizhou's possibly most famous attraction; check out the video, specifically after the 7-second mark! Visibility was so bad; i was dead worried that i would die in Guizhou.
Survived we did and at about 11.30 am, we arrived at the entrance of this AAAAA-China-classified scenic area. It's tempting to see the pots of steaming hot sweet corns, peanuts and sweet potatoes for sale!
This scenic area is divided into three parts and named after its most notable natural treasure, Huangguoshu Waterfall (黄果树大瀑布). There's in fact another waterfall on the upstream which is lesser known even though in terms of width; it's wider than the famous one.
Doupoutang Waterfall (陡坡塘瀑布) - 21 meters in height and 105 meters in width, it's said to "roar loudly whenever there's a flood". Hence, it is also known as the roaring waterfall.
Relaxed atmosphere as we strolled from entrance to the waterfall. Saw that bridge in the background; you can actually walk across and make your way down to the huangguoshu waterfall. It would take longer of course and for us on a tour; it's faster to take their internal shuttle.
Wait, lunch shall take precedence first! And i had this can of beer which was the tastiest i had throughout this trip; can't really explain using my limited vocabulary but it sure was flavourful.
Restaurant where we had our lunch (and beer) was at a hotel in the scenic area as the local government had clamped down on standalone restaurants within the designated scenic area due to the massive jams in the past. Hence, we had to make full use of our legs to walk; distance was rather long but at least there's no slope or bumps.
From a distance, i had spotted the natural wonder that appeared in the opening segment of childhood's favourite drama serial; the waterfall that Sun Wukong called its home in the Journey to the West!
It's a big hit in Singapore and my grandparents would tape down each episode so that the restless grandchildren, without the modern distractions like phone and computer, can have something to do.
Dad was in his late 20's then, when the drama was broadcast in Singapore, and he was as addicted to the show as us kids. And for someone who loves to visit China for its scenery; he has been looking forward to this breathtaking item on the itinerary for a long time and he wasn't disappointed!
Exact spot from the scene in the drama! Maybe i should photoshop in a mini version of Sun Wukong; as if he was flying into the waterfall. By the way, if you have watched the show, or even read the novel, you would be aware of this water curtain cave (水帘洞) that's behind the waterfall?
It's not fiction; there's really a cave behind the waterfall and you can in fact walk right through it! Take a closer look at the picture and you would see a line of visitors in the higher-middle of the waterfall.
More photos! Obviously we wanted to check out the cave; we had paid for the tour package, spent hours on the plane, days in Guizhou and there's no way we would miss it just because there is a risk of getting soaked!
Done with the cave; wet and dark inside and it's surprisingly not huge. It's more a 134-meter pathway that cuts across from the back of the waterfall. The above photo was the queue lining up to enter the cave; it's not that crowded as the season we went isn't really the peak for tourism.
A happy dad after fulfilling his dream to visit the beautiful Huangguoshu Waterfall and check out the water curtain cave. Oh i almost forget; the waterfall is 77.8 meters tall and 101-meter wide and its name came from the yellow fruit trees that dotted the area.
Me preparing to take a time-lapse as we had ample time to spend. I am glad i took it as i lost my DSLR the next day. Without all these photo pictures and videos, it would be quite sad if i couldn't document this wonderful journey i had made to China.
Check out the compiled video here which included the slow motion videos for the Huangguoshu Waterfall, the time lapsed one i took of the waterfall and another time-lapse video of this super long escalator ride.
There's a bonsai garden right at the end of the escalator with over 3,000 over bonsai plants. For us, we were smitten with the flowering sakuras!
Last stop for this scenic area was tianxing bridge area; sadly, i didn't take any picture using my phone except for the one above which was at the end of our journey. To be honest, the tianxing bridge area was boring although two things stood out; the tree that looks like a lady and Chinese characters that were carved onto a cliff.
Setting sun! Our travel mates couldn't resist and bought steam sweet potatoes to share with us! Our batch was nice and cost only RMB 5.00 for 500 grams.
Our herbal dinner (said to be healthy and nutritional) was lousy and my dad and i sneaked out to the nearby food street after checking in to our hotel. As tourists, we didn't know about the food street but i happened to eavesdrop the conversation the tour guide had with our tour leader!
Coincidentally, we bumped into them and other travel mates! It made sense for us to dine together and this was the best ever meal i had in my trip to Guizhou! The hot pan is like a better version of the mala that's quite popular in Singapore nowadays and we added stinky tofu and even beef cuts!
In addition, we ordered skewers of chicken skin, ice blended deserts (the delish cucumber and glutinuous rice flavour) and other portion of stinky tofu from another stall (which was honestly the worst i had in my whole life)! Total damage for the hot pan; RMB 95 which was only about S$20.
When it comes to Changi Village hawker center, the de-facto signature food is nasi lemak and this can be seen from the many stalls selling it! While i was aware of the above, i couldn't remember which was the original stall as there were changes to the layout after the major renovation a few years ago.
Hence, i will usually just depend on my eyes to check out the nasi lemak stalls; a queue is a good gauge but i was there early in the morning when the crowd was thin and visually, the food from the above stall appealed better to me; Mizzy Corner Nasi Lemak.
There were six basic sets with prices ranging from S$3.50 to S$5.00 but if you have a ravenous appetite, top-ups were available with options like beef rendang etc. For me, i am easily satisfied with just the basics in Set A; chicken wing, egg and ikan bilis.
The healthier thing in this plate of unhealthy food (according to some), is the use of the long grain rice. It wasn't bad although it wasn't that richly infused with coconut milk. Chicken wing was a tad salty and there's wasn't the addictive turmeric taste i enjoy from Malay style chicken wings.
Sambal was good to me as i always prefer sweet chili with a punch of aftertaste spiciness; noted this is highly contentious as the standard for chilli can go to extreme standards for Singapore residents. No comment on the ikan bilis as it's part of the set and not something i would order if it's ala-carte.
I am always on a diet crusade but there are always obstacles that derail my plan! My recent obsession is with char siew; the strips of caramelised roasted meat, often with charred bits, that appeal to me more than chicken rice!
Remember the Yu Pan dry noodle that i blogged earlier this month? Housed within the same coffee shop is another stall that often puts me in a dilemma as i had a hard time deciding if i should have noodle or get a serving of their delicious looking char siew; that stall is Shun Li Lai Traditional Roasted Delight (顺利来传统烧腊).
Char siew rice it shall be this time! p.s. especially since i needed to clock in an entry for this blog. At S$3.30 a plate, the portion was sufficient even though i could never say no to more pieces of char siew.
As you could probably see from the above, the meat was the lean type which i would usually reject for a lack of flavourful marination. However, the char siew hits the right note when it comes to taste and that's amazing when the sauce wasn't the overly sweet kind that sometimes masked the meat's blandness.
My only grouch - i should have requested for the fattier strips! It's disappointing that i could only find two pieces with significant fat content. Well, let's hope the boss wouldn't reject my totally reasonable request; leave the lean parts to those health-conscious individuals!
It didn't feel too long ago when Jovyn was just an infant and it's amazing how time flies as we age, especially towards the middle-age. To a kid, an incident three years ago would be a long enough period although to an adult, it might still be considered a relatively recent occurrence.
Nevertheless, to celebrate a kid's birthday is important as they might not be so keen in such family celebrations when they reach their teens and have their peers who are able to relate to them better. I think it's inevitable since most of us have gone through the rebellious teenage years.
I am only hoping that Jovyn wouldn't force me to remove her many pictures from my blog.
Birthday girl sticking her own candles on the cake; adults like us would be happy to just go with one or three candles but for the kid, it must be the real representation of their age!
My sister taught her the pose so that she appeared slimmer in the picture; guess the mom is aware how to work her magic when it comes to photo-taking. Uncle me isn't as creative.
The dress you see on her belonged to my younger sister even though it's quite a good fit for Jovyn. Kids being kids; she managed to dirty the dress while she was digging into a slice of her own birthday cake!
Let the singing begin! We were actually done with just one birthday song; however, the candles went out due to the air-conditioning and a second song was needed to relight the candles.
Praying for her birthday wish!
Giving me a good, shy, demure smile as she cut the cake.
She even attempted to slice the cake for her guests; being amateur when it comes to cake-cutting, her slice was huge and it's appalling for the adults who are trying to cut on sinful, sugar-laden food!
The coco exotic cake from Four Leaves was delicious and i enjoyed the crunchy hazelnut base very much. Nowadays, i am too lazy to bake birthday cakes and since i am not very good with it; it's easier for us to buy from professional bakeries too.
