Day 30 030606 Happy Birthday To Me!

CCG left the hostel very early in the morning before everyone woke up. He was going to walk all the way from Sims to 杜甫草堂. I was the 2nd person to wake up. The girl at the counter gave me a small piece of paper, filled with pictures and instructions on how to get to the Panda Base. I had to take Bus No.1 to a bus terminal near 照觉寺. Then I had to cross over to another nearby bus station to take a feeder bus.

It was my first time taking bus in Chengdu and it was something I feared. I had witnessed a few times people rushing up the bus without any order. If the windows were big enough, I guess they probably would climb in through them. It wasn’t too bad for me this time probably because it was quite early in the morning. There was an assistant on the bus who would collect $ from me.

I went up to the upper deck and took a sit near the stairs. A while later, a long hair 妹妹 came and sat beside me. But I was looking out of the window all the time because I wanted to be sure where I was. After about an hour, I reached the terminal but was a bit disoriented. The map given by the Sims girl wasn’t exactly accurate either.

As they say, 路在嘴上. After asking someone for direction, I found the bus depot to take the feeder bus. There was no bell to press on the bus and there were only 2 ways to get off: 1. shout to the driver. 2. wait till the 大姐 on the bus to ask if anyone wants to get off at some particular points. However, she was shouting in 川话 which I still couldn’t fully understand. I was afraid that I might miss the stop and end up in some ulu place.

Luckily, the Panda Base (熊猫基地) was a touristy place and hence quite a number of passengers got off at the same time as well. Moreover, there was a large panda statue there which couldn’t be missed. I am always excited when visiting zoo and I have never seen a real panda in my life before. Although it was drizzling, I was still feeling rather upbeat.


But very soon disappointment began to set in. The only time I got to see a moving panda was when watching a documentary in a little theatre. All the live pandas in the fenced-up areas were sleeping on the trees! Maybe I came at the wrong time. Maybe pandas are nocturnal creatures. Or perhaps they just behave like that. In any case, it was most boring zoo visit I ever had.

The red pandas (小熊猫) were slightly more active. They are raccoon-looking creatures that are much smaller than ordinary pandas. To take a picture with a panda or a red panda cost around 800rmb and you have to wear protective suit and boots. No way was I going to spend this kind of $ especially after knowing that this place is such a let down. I was told that the panda zoo in 卧龙 had more to offer.

I left the place around lunchtime and took the bus back to照觉寺. There was a flea market just outside the temple selling all sorts of stuffs from books and cassette tapes to clothes and religious-related items. One of the stalls was playing 刘德华’s 谢谢你的爱. It has been ages since I last heard this song.

On the way back to the bus terminal, I bought a sausage and some fermented beancurds from a roadside stall. I simply love these so called 臭豆腐 ever since I ate some in Taiwan some years ago. This kind of roadside stall has a hygiene level of zero but I trust my stomach. She had a frying pan mounted on her trishaw which contained black and dirty oil. She would fry the beancurds for a couple of minutes and put it on a board (which was also black). Then she would add chilli powder and mixed around. The pungent smell was really overpowering. Smells like foot-rot.

I wanted to enjoy the beancurds while waiting for the bus at the terminal. However, it came faster than I thought and so I had to board it. I felt embarrassed eating fermented beancurds on the bus and would probably be scolded if I were back in Singapore. It was another hour of ride back to Sims. I decided to have a hair cut at the neighbourhood salon.

I went to the biggest salon I could find nearby and asked for a 吹剪洗 combo. The service was the best I had so far. The 洗头妹 was a Sichuan girl called 晶晶 or something like that. I had a 25 min hair-wash service plus head massage and she was very chatty, especially the moment she knew I was from Singapore. Our conversation revolved around my opinions on Sichuan and I told her a few things about Singapore as well. I always like to promote Singapore to foreigners because even though many have heard of the name of our country, their knowledge of our country is only limited to modern, small and clean. And maybe Michael Fay for the Americans.

It was very enjoyable to have my hair washed and the 30rmb I paid was absolutely worth it. The hairstylist was a guy who was just as conversational. After the haircut, I returned to Sims and CCG told me he found the entire collection of 金庸 novel. The pocket size version. So he brought me to that bookshop but it was closed after 4pm! Very suei because that day was our last day in Chengdu. We decided to try our luck at another bookshop but none of the novel was on display shelf. It was just not popular to read 金庸 novel anymore.

As a last resort, I asked the assistant there and was surprised that they actually had the stocks! They kept them in a cupboard and were only available upon request. So in the end, I had to carry 2 boxes of books back to Sims.

By the time we were back at Sims, JH and Kenneth were back and we decided to go pubbing since it was our last night as well as my birthday. JH and Kenneth even bought me an Adidas shirt as present (感动). We took a cab to an Irish Bar (Shamrock) but we were too early for the performance which would start only at 10pm. The steak we had was quite good but rather expensive though still considered cheap compared to Singapore.

After the meal, we ordered some drinks and I found out that Hoegarden was called 福佳白 in Chinese. A group of Angmohs performers came and I realized they weren’t Irish! They were Americans and at the start of their performance, they played an American Christian song. It was damn off. I’ve been to really traditional Irish pub in France and the Celtic music was fantastic then. Banjo, flute, guitar. Well, that was because I was in Brittany then that place had strong ties with Celtic culture. This one in Chengdu was too Americanized!

We couldn’t stand the music anymore and decided to move off to another place. According to JH and Kenneth, there was a place where all the havoc places were. It was near 紫荆戏院. When we reached there, there was just half a street of clubs and bars. JH was quite disappointed but I was actually quite impressed to find these in China. We didn’t want to go into the clubs because we were a bit under-dressed and CCG and Kenneth do not club at all. So we decided to go to Paulaner for a drink.

I must say this Paulaner was much better than the one at Millennium Walk in Singapore in terms of service and entertainment. When we were there, a lady came to serve us and took our orders. Knowing that we were from SG, she even asked a translator to assist us in reading the menu. But that was rather unnecessary. The translator said that if next time we come, we can call him half an hour earlier so that he can cool the beer for us.


The lady poured the beer for us and tried to empty the bottle into a single glass. She had to fill it right to the brim and it really tested her skills. She was also having fun and joking with us at the same time. There was a stage performance with English and Chinese songs because there were quite a number of foreigners around. 2 hot babes dressed in red then came on stage with a sexy violin performance.


After that, the bar top was set on fire and the bartender stood on the bar top and performed acrobatic mixing of liquors. Each of us was giving firecrackers (those stick that sparkles) to play around with. The translator then came and asked for my birthday which coincidentally was on that day! So he asked the singer to dedicate a birthday song to me before we left. It was a very enjoyable and memorable birthday night.

Back at Sims, it was already 1am and the main gate was locked. We had to press a little doorbell and a while later, my favourite girl came and opened the door for us. The moment we walked past her, she knew we had been drinking. We quickly bathed and slept as we were really tired.

Day 31 040606 Home Away from Home

The very first day when we arrived at Sims, I liked the place immediately because of the relaxing environment as well as the international crowd. Not forgetting the forever polite and friendly staffs. We had always wanted to eat the 22rmb breakfast at Sims, the most expensive food they served. So far, I had seen only 老外 eating that. In the end, it turned out to be very disappointing. The 22rmb breakfast was just bacon sandwich and salad.


Since our flight back to Singapore was in the evening, we still had time to shop around for 土产. We went to the Carrefour nearest to our lodgings and started to comb the shelves for food like 牛肉干, 豆腐干, 鸭肉干, biscuits, etc. By this time I had roughly 100rmb left and decided to spend everything.


After we had done shopping, we went to a small tea section just outside Carrefour because CCG wanted to buy some back home. The 2 shop assistants who served us were cute young Sichuan 妹妹, who upon hearing that we are from Singapore, chat with us even more. One of them asked me what do I think about Sichuan girls and I said 不错，都蛮美的, and she giggled shyly. But then when she added 四川出美女, I couldn’t help but laughed. Come on, I thought it is 苏州出美女? Anyway, I really like the girls there (never mind if Ken they all beg to differ) so it doesn’t matter if she’s right or wrong.

We went back to Sims and frantically packing our stuffs because we need to vacate the room by 12 noon. But we had too much barang barangs to pack! So I went downstairs and asked my favourite female staff if we could delay till 1pm. She said ok. All of us had with us now much more luggage than we first came. For me, the biggest problem was my tons of books.

Finally, we finished packing and had to wait for another 2 hrs before leaving for the airport. As usual, we had asked Sims to arrange a bread bus for us. The last 2 hrs of our stay was spent relaxing at the benches in Sims. I am so glad that I brought a DV because this sort of once-in-a-lifetime long vacation needs to be permanently recorded. Memories would fade over time. However, even though I might forget what exactly happened during the trip many years down the road, the feeling that I was had for this place would last for a much longer time.

Although we did nothing during that 2 hrs, just lazing around, it passed real fast and finally it was time to go. We bid goodbye to the staffs and headed to the airport. I wasn’t sure about the other guys, but I certainly had some attached feeling for this place and its people. Even 川话 seemed so intimate to me now. The same feeling I have whenever I hear people speaking French. This place is so 亲切, it is like a home away from home.

1 month in Tibet and Sichuan seemed to be a short time but for me, it isn’t because I had experienced a lot of things here, which I can never experience again elsewhere. I don’t when I will be back but I certainly will miss this place. 扎西德勒.

Day 29 020606 武侯祠

The 4 of us took a cab to武侯祠 (WHC) early in the morning and decided to have our breakfast there. It was a gloomy morning, with slightly overcast sky. Halfway through the breakfast, Kenneth needed to go and shit and went to a public toilet which we discovered nearby. I was really surprised that the toilet was well kept and clean. More surprisingly, it was free!

Only CCG and I went to WHC. Kenneth and JH planned to explore the city on their own. I had always wanted to visit WHC because many years ago, while I was studying Chinese Literature in RVHS, I came across this poem dedicated to 诸葛亮. I can only remember the first line now: “丞相祠堂柏柏森森”. If I am not wrong, this poem is by 杜甫. Moreover, I have deep respect for the military adviser during the 三国 era. To be able to pay my respects in his temple would be a great honor for me.

Inside WHC, was a maze-like garden with various kinds of flora and in one section, it was full of bonsai. There were other heroes of the 三国 era who were also idolized in the temple. Famous of them all was 关羽, also known as 武财神.

I was a little disappointed because I thought the place had more things to offer than just statues and information boards. There was one thing that caught my eyes though. In a building, there were about 100 paintings on the walls which told the entire story of 三国演义, from the very beginning of Swearing into Brotherhood to the Establishment of Jin Dynasty. After visiting every building, we left the place. We spent less than 2 hours in total. I bought a set of clay figurines depicting about 80 characters in the novel三国演义.

Outside WHC, there was a street selling all sorts of snacks. I bought 1 竹叶牛肉 and 1 鸡蛋牛肉饼. The 1st snack was beef balls wrapped in bamboo leaves. The beef balls were very tightly packed but once you bite into one, the meat disintegrates. The 2nd snack was even better. A big piece of crispy pancake fried with eggs and beef. Never mind the oiliness.

We walked all the way towards 春熙街. Along the way, we past by a shop selling tea. As recommended by ZK, one of the famous teas in Sichuan is a kind of green tea called 竹叶青. I bought a packet belonging to the 3rd grade (4 grades in total) category, also known as 静心. Now I am drinking this black roasted tea and it gives off a fragrance like melon seeds.

We had lunch at KFC in 春熙街 and began to talk about JH and Ken. Wonder where they are now? After some shopping (but no buying), we went back to the bookshop near Sims and I bought quite a number of Chinese classics there. I guessed these books would last me for at least a year.

Back in Sims, we rested in the bunk and then went to watch 川剧 at 芙蓉国萃. We got the first ninth row for only half price thanks to arrangement by Sims. The tickets were cheaper because Sims bought them in bulk and in the end, we were grouped together with a bunch of Angmohs and 2 Taiwanese brothers. We chatted with the Taiwanese (Nelson and Eddie) and learnt that they were planning to go Tibet as well. However, because of their nationality, they needed a longer time to get the permit approved.


The show was very entertaining, much more than I expected. The first show was 三英战吕布 and it was that kind of traditional Chinese drama. But it wasn’t boring at all. There were some stunts and acting. The 2nd show was an acrobatic act by pretty young lady. She performed 扯铃 and turned a table and a vase with her toes. Very nimble toes.


Next up were 2 girls dancing with their puppets. The puppets were very real-life, and danced gracefully to the music as well. A comedy followed that. It was quite hilarious even though it was acted in 川话. The compere for that night was a Sichuan lady who spoke English at a speed of 1000 words per sec.


Then came the most boring part of the show. An Erhu performance which was also a good time for toilet break. Finally it was the show that we all had been waiting for 四川变脸. 5 artists including a female came onto the stage. Before this, I already seen the changing of mask performance on TV but nothing beats the real thing. In a split second, the performer changed his mask by hitting his face with a fan or by turning his head. One performer even did it by just blinking! He even came down and shook hand with the audience and while doing that, changed his mask repeatedly.


The show ended in 1.5 hrs and we really enjoyed ourselves, discussing about the show on the way back. When Kenneth and JH came back, we exchanged our happenings of the day. Theirs seem more exciting. They had an acquaintance with some manager or what in a coffee house. That guy told them about some clubbing places in Chengdu.


For tomorrow’s plan, we would be split up again. Kenneth and JH would once again go shopping while CCG would visit 杜甫草堂. As for me, I will be going to the outskirt of Chengdu, to visit the Panda Base there.

Day 24 280506 Orchard Road of Chengdu

Among the 4 of us, CCG and I are the early birds. I must say that I sleep much better here than back in Singapore. No worries, care-free, no distractions. The two of us checked with the receptionist at the hostel on any nearby eateries with good breakfast. After getting the directions, we set off for our hunt for breakfast.

Along the way, we were speculating whether JH will join us for the 九寨沟, or Nine Village Valley (9VV) tour. On our last day in Tibet, JH was already sick of this trip. He even said that if we really want to take ZK’s jeep offer, he will fly back Chengdu alone. Now, he felt that 9VV tour is not worth going and most probably will not join us. Reason being? My guess is: One, he misses his gf. Two, he is really not feeling well. Three, he doesn’t like this company he is hanging out with. Four, maybe about job-hunting once back to SG. Five, he is not feeling well. Whatever the reason, I hoped he do join us for the tour. Maybe he wants to break away from the group and mix with other travelers. I have the same intention also, but since this is our graduation tour, I thought maybe we should stick together.

Anyway, JH said he would give us an answer by today. We returned to the Sims Cozy House after breakfast (which was so-so only) and found the other 2 lazybums had just woke up. While waiting for them to wash up, CCG and I chatted with the girl at the counter.

Once the 2 of them were ready, we set off again to explore the city. With the free map provided by Sims, we decided to walk towards town center instead of taking the bus. The bus was always packed and we feared that we might be pick-pocketed. But I will definitely try taking the bus one day. Along the way we passed by a large sportswear retail shop selling brands like Nike, Adidas, etc. The designs were only average but the prices were cheaper.

CCG guessed that these clothes might be factory defects and indeed, some of the polo Ts have frayed threads at the sleeves. I chose a Nike berms which I think I cannot fit now. Think I am turning into male version of Kim Sae Soon.

We arrived at the Orchard Road of Chengdu around noon and I immediately like the place. This place is called 春熙街, and is lined up with shopping malls and packed with young people. There was a long overhead bridge across the main road which was connected to 4 big shopping complexes at the 4 corners.

We decided to settle our lunch first before shopping and already had a place in mind – thanks to ZK. I think that’s his only contribution to us. He once mentioned that there is a restaurant in ChunXi Jie that sells all kinds of Sichuan delicacies. The restaurant worked in a slightly different way. First we had to go to the counter, which had no queues at all, just a pool of people shouting their orders. Once we had our orders placed and paid up, we would get a receipt. We then had to pass the receipt to any waiter/waitress standing around and get ourselves a table. There were over 10 stalls preparing all the different kinds of delicacies and the waiter, with our receipts will go to the respective stalls to collect the food.

What we had ordered was a combo set consisting of 14 kinds of delicacies. We really overestimated our appetites because 14 dishes was too much for one person. Some of them were tasty while others were simply inedible. Some of the dishes include, 抄手, 水饺, 凉粉, etc. just to name a few.

After a full but not exactly delicious lunch, we began our shopping spree. Well, can’t really use this term on guys although the clothes here are cheap. In fact, CCG isn’t really interested in shopping. Ken is too preoccupied with the 9VV trip. Moreover, the clothes here wasn’t that fashionable either. While walking along the 步行街, there was a mini choo-choo train offering rides to shoppers, like that kind that can be found in parks or zoos.

I went into a shop similar to Baleno-style and tried on a T shirt. I realized the sales assistants practiced a peculiar custom. When I took a shirt to try, he would write some number on the tag. My guess was that he indicated his employee no. on the shirt so that he can claim commissions after I made purchase. Or, it was a way to record the stock status.

Anyway, I took this shirt to try and while inside the fitting room, I was rather satisfied with the design and the size. The T-shirt looks like one of those I bought at Topman. Just before leaving the room, I took a look at the words on the T-shirt. “Fashion” was spelt as “Fashaion”. No way am I going to wear this kind of shirt.

I came out of the fitting room and returned the shirt to the nearest salesgirl. She asked why I rejected the shirt and I just told her it didn’t really suit me. She insisted that I give her a good reason. I told her that there was a misspelled word and while she was figuring out the mistake, I quickly left the shop.

We went back Sims and discussed with the people there on 9VV trip. Mr. Sim came and dissuaded us from taking tour package there, even though he himself liaised with agencies for his guests for such package. He said that most of the people who went with tour group complained about poor tour guide service and pestering them to buy in souvenir shops. He told us to go on our own.

With everything settled, and JH had also agreed to go along, we had no more worries and relaxed at the lounge in Sims.

Day 28 010606 Dinner by the River

We had to endure yet another 10 hours of ride back to Chengdu but this time round we had much spacious coach with good air-conditioning and no 姐姐 to stop me from enjoying the air-con. But smoking bastards still exist on the coach. Why can’t they just extinct like dinosaurs did? Well, guess they are as persistent as cockroaches.

The journey was slightly longer as initially the driver made occasional stops in villages to pick more passengers up. Clearly he wanted to fill up the capacity and at the same time earn some extra $. While on the bus, I received an SMS from ZP back in SG inviting me to a drinking party. It was a long time since I met up with the guys from Hall 2 and I wanted to see how’s everyone doing, esp. Benny. I had a chance later on when I was back in SG, and glad that everyone’s doing fine though I threw up badly that day.

We had tidbits for lunch and JH was feeling nauseous and tried to throw up but in vain. CCG had to spare him his depleting motion sickness pill. Finally, we were back at Chengdu and again the feeling of returning home was overwhelming.

There was a river, or rather a canal near our hostel along which there were a number of restaurants. We chose one that was open spaced which sold a number of exotic dishes. A waitress led us all the way in and presumably to a table we thought. But soon we sort of lost sight of her and were standing in the middle of large compound with tables full of customers. We stood there for a while, confused and lost. Then we decided to leave the place and try another restaurant. Anyway, we didn’t want to try any weird dishes like rabbit head etc.

We went to another restaurant by the canal and had quite a sumptuous dinner. But the flies above us were very irritating and they really got on Kenneth’s nerves. Other than that, it was a relax dinner with traditional Sichuan dishes and cold beer (蓝剑 brand).

We returned to the hostel and had fruit salad for supper and discussed about the plan for tomorrow. Seemed like we going to split into 2 groups. CCG and I would visit 武侯祠, while JH and Kenneth go explore the city.

Day 27 310506 九寨沟 Part III

We entered the Valley again in the morning, taking the early bus to the farthest end where the Long Lake and the 5 Color Pool were. We were a little worried that we couldn’t meet Kenneth as his handphone line was terminated. We just hoped that he would make it on time at the designated meeting pointing.

Being one of the few early birds in the Valley, we had exclusive view of the scenery. Beside the Long Lake, there was a tree with leaves on its left and none on its right. It was called 独臂老人. It was really boring here and so we took the bus to the other prong to meet Kenneth.

The other tip was at higher altitude and the bus had to keep turning up the winding road. When we reached the end, CCG was walking very slowly behind. All of a sudden, he turned and Merlioned into the drain! I didn’t even notice him feeling unwell or what. He just kept quiet and suddenly kept puking. It was really a great amount of vomit he threw up.

We rested at a pavilion nearby to let CCG catch his breath while I eat my 八宝粥. It was past noon then and Kenneth was no where in sight. We then moved on to the primitive rainforest but there was nothing there except large number of trees that shot right up into the sky.

We finally gave up waiting for Kenneth and decided to walk the right prong towards the intersection point. We assumed that he would make it back to the hotel later, unless he was caught for taking the bus without the ticket. Much of the afternoon was spent trekking and the only person still enthusiastic enough to take picture was CCG. He said he wanted to use up all the memory. Naturally, JH and I were in almost all of his photos.

We returned to the hotel in the evening but Kenneth was still missing. Maybe he was robbed by the monks in the monastery. While we were watching TV, Kenneth suddenly appeared at the door of our room. Glad that he was back in one piece.

One of the things that we sought to accomplish in this trip is to have 烤全羊 for dinner and we found such stalls near our hotel. 1 full sheep cost 400rmb and we definitely couldn’t finish. In the end, we asked for 4 jin of meat, and sat inside a Tibetan tent. We had to wait for about an hour and so in the meantime, we ordered some sticks of barbequed food.

When the dish of mutton was served, it was one pile of ball or cube-shaped meat. We tried a few pieces and it was spicy and tasty. But very soon we were so sick of it that if we were to eat anymore we might just threw up. Without finishing the food, we left and went shopping along 边边街. Tomorrow we will be going back to Chengdu and it will be another torturous 10 hrs ride. So we bought some tidbits to eat along the way.

Day 26 300506 九寨沟 Part II

9 Village Valley is Y-shaped valley with lakes and waterfalls. At the intersection point is the world’s longest waterfall, 诺日朗瀑布 (NuoRiLang). Although the place is called 9 Village, only 3 are accessible to public. The other 6 are hidden in the forests. Our plan was to walk one prong today and another tomorrow.

The entrance of 9VV was packed with tourists and there were some daily performances of Tibetan dances and songs. We bought the tickets which had our group picture on it. This was to facilitate 2nd entry to the valley tomorrow. Kenneth didn’t buy the eco-bus ticket as he felt it was too expensive. Although the rest of us bought the bus ticket, we decided to walk today and take the bus tomorrow. After training in Tibet, we thought we were invincible.

Walking along the side track in the forest reminded us of our climb in Mt EMei. We stopped occasionally at the lakes to take pictures and at first it was all beautiful and scenic. The lakes had unique names like Sleeping Dragon Lake, Double Dragons Lake, Tiger Lake, etc. But soon we were sick of all the water and just wanted to move on as fast as possible to the NuoRiLang Waterfall.

Throughout the trek, JH was in a grumpy mood as he wanted to stay behind in Chengdu alone shopping or interacting with other foreigners. Seemed like we dragged him into this. To be frank, I wanted to stay behind alone also; just break away from the party for one or two days. The fellowship of the ring had been broken. I wonder if we were the 4 hobbits who left Shire, who would be what character. I guess Kenneth would be Frodo as he was the only one interested in this trip. CCG who was always with him could be Sam. But JH and I don’t fit into Pipin nor Merry. I guess LOTR story doesn’t suit us at all.

What about Journey to the West? After all, the old version was shot here in 9VV many years ago. JH could possibly be WuKong since he is the fittest. CCG could be Monk Sa since he is the quietest. I could be Pigsy though I am not that fat nor lecherous. But can Kenneth be Monk Tang? Well think Journey to the West is not applicable either.

Anyway, I tried to enjoy as much as possible the trip observing everything around me in great detail instead of just blindly walking. JH and I discovered a red tree beside a lake and thought it looked mythical. What was unique about the lakes was that the mineral made the water looked blue or green. And the water was extremely clear such that the trees and mountains surrounding it had their reflections on the surface.


9VV has different views for the 4 seasons and it was said to be a fairyland in autumn when there is a mixture of green, orange, red and yellow together with the bluish-green water. At that time, I thought people were being exaggerating when they said that but after watching the latest Chinese version of 神雕侠侣 (my idol 刘亦菲!), I truly believe what they said.


We reached a big village called 树正寨 around noon and had our lunch at an eatery. Kenneth went to ask the monastery for accommodation and got himself a bed for tonight for a very low price. At this point of time, there was no way I would be joining him because I wouldn’t want to stay in a place where I couldn’t have a hot bath. No more such torture.


We had agreed that by evening, the 3 of us would return to the hotel while Kenneth stayed back inside the Valley. Tomorrow we would rendezvous at one of the prongs of the Y-shape valley at noon. Then we would all leave together. I suggested to Kenneth that we keep his $ (of 1000rmb) for him since he was staying alone, it was better he brought minimum cash.

Finally we reached the NuoRiLang Waterfall which was indeed majestic as the entire length spanned over quite a distance. This was the only reward I got out of this trip. As usual, this place was packed with tourists and it was rather difficult to get a full picture of the waterfall without them blocking.

We decided to take the bus to the end of the left prong of the valley. There was nothing along the way as the lakes there were seasonal. Since it wasn’t the rainy season then, all the lakes there were waterless. Kenneth had no bus ticket but the driver didn’t check us at all and so he got a free ride. There was a female guide on every bus and I thought all of them looked rather sweet with the Tibetan costumes. But they weren’t professional guides and looked more like machine dolls reciting the information which they had learned by rote earlier. In fact, I caught one of them memorizing on the bus!

The tip of the left prong had 2 lakes, 1 is called the Long Lake while another is called Five Color Pool. The S-shaped Long Lake looked like a sea, with the other end disappearing into the horizon. The Five Color Pool on the contrary, was indeed just a pool as the name suggested but there weren’t 5 colors. We were told that the pool is best viewed early in the morning when the sun just comes out. The 5 colors would be evident when the sun rays get reflected by the water.

We had decided that tomorrow the 3 of us would take the earliest bus in the morning back to this 5 Color Pool. Then we would meet Kenneth at the tip of the right prong at noon. With nothing much to see, we left the 9VV and parted with Kenneth at ShuZheng Village.

Outside the valley, we settled at Dicos for dinner. This was the 3rd time I had dinner in Dicos, a lousy fast food restaurant that tried to emulate KFC. On the way back to hotel, we passed by some stalls selling local delicacies and I wanted to buy some 山楂 seeds. I had never eaten the original raw seeds. I told the hawker clearly I wanted half jin 斤 which cost 8rmb. In the end he gave me 1 full jin and asked for 16rmb. I told him I wanted only half but he insisted that was not what I said. Seeing that I was about to walk away, he gave in and gave me only half jin worth of seeds. When can I get fully immune to these Chinese cheaters? I wonder what he gave me really weighed half jin or not.

Day 25 290506 九寨沟 Part I

Once again, the Sims personnel had arranged a Bread Bus to take us to the coach station early in the morning. This九寨沟 we were about to visit is a famous touristy place which has been deemed as a must-go place for all those coming to Sichuan. But for us, it was just a place to pass time. We didn’t have much interest in anymore scenic view. I had a fair share of mountains and rivers in Tibet already. The only person who was still enthusiastic about the 9VV was Kenneth. After all, he was the professional photographer (wanna-be?) in the team.

We had already bought the ticket for the coach on the day before, but still due to overwhelming response, we could only get a middle-class coach, which was really small and uncomfortable. The ride from Chengdu to 9VV is estimated to be 9 – 10hrs, with occasional breaks in between. It was sure to be a boring ride and there were only 2 things to do on the coach: observe the behaviour of other passengers and sleep.

There was a couple in 情侣装, acting intimately but both with CMI looks. Another young ah-beng and ah-lian couple was sitting in front of me. The guy had a fiery red hair style-do but was very tender towards his partner. Another couple, a middle-aged man and a 姐姐 (a term I always use on women slightly older than me) was the mirror image of the previous couple mentioned. The lady was attentive to the man’s need in all aspect (fwah, sounds a bit dirty), which led to a little conflict between them and us later. This姐姐 caught my eyes not because of her looks (though she had a mole above her lips. Think I had developed a fetish on that) but her gentleness.

Behind the supposedly air-conditioned coach were 1 or 2 bastards smoking. I read a newspaper articles recently on the Chinese government urging its citizens to behave gracefully when overseas: no spitting, no shouting, and no cutting queues. This is to prepare the Chinese society to look presentable when the Olympics commences in Beijing in 2008. I think the government is being hopelessly naïve. This goal of becoming a gracious society can never be achieved in 2 years. People still spit in restaurants, still smoke in air-con places and still talk like hooligans everywhere I went. Maybe another 200 years things would get better.


We stopped at a village at noon for lunch. A sloppy restaurant selling economic rice (for a higher than normal price) with the food in a tray. It reminded us of an inmate’s life while we collected the food. I swore I would buy lots of tidbits for the return trip as I am not going to eat this kind of food again. The 姐姐 I mentioned was caring towards her hubby throughout the trip, so much so that she requested several times to the driver to switch off the air-con. This was because the husband complained about a funny smell from the air-conditioner.


The air-con was turned off throughout the trip and only switched on occasionally. It was really stuffy for me but I thought I might be able to endure till the end. Surprisingly, none of the other passengers really minded. JH, who couldn’t tolerate anymore, requested the driver to turn on the air-con. That 姐姐 immediately asked him to turn it off. That was when JH tried to reason with her. If her husband felt cold, he could put on more clothes. If he couldn’t stand the smell he could open the window beside him. Why should the whole bus of passengers compromise because of his request?

In the end, she gave in and I felt sorry for her. Not because she lost to JH, but because she had such a wimp as husband. Her husband just kept quiet throughout, letting her do the defending. Maybe he was suffering from some illness. Ha, guess I watch too much of Japanese drama recently.

Finally the coach reached its destination, the 9VV coach station which was located beside 交通宾馆. JH had the intention to walk around and look for cheap hostel to stay. But for CCG and me, we just wanted to stay there as we were both exhausted. It was quite a grand hotel with reasonable price. Since Kenneth was neutral in this issue, it was 2 against 1 and thus we stayed there.

After dinner, we walked along the 边边街 where there were some shops selling unique Tibetan items like hats, knifes, scarves, etc. There are Tibetans in this part of Sichuan also. We passed by a hotel which was holding an event outside, along the river. Hotel guests were invited to dance around a bonfire with Tibetan music playing in the background. It was pretty cold at night due to the high altitude and dancing around the fire seemed rather interesting and appropriate.

We returned to the hotel and watched TV and also to discuss about plans for tomorrow. We would enter 9VV tomorrow and Kenneth had the intention to stay inside 9VV alone for a day. The other 3 of us wanted to stay outside in this hotel. He already had a place in mind and he would look at the living condition there tomorrow and then decide.

Day 23 270506 Back to 城都

Thanks to the kind and hospitable lady boss of the hotel, we got a cab waiting at 8am outside the hotel to pick us up to the airport. What I really like about this lady boss is that although she charged us at a discounted rate, her hospitality towards us wasn’t discounted. In fact, she helped to arrange for our flights, get a reliable driver to pick us up at a reasonable rate. That should be the way to do business, I think.

It was an hour ride to the airport and I stayed awake throughout, taking one last look at the mountains and rivers surrounding us. I guess I wouldn’t be back here again in many years to come. The light rain added on to the melancholic atmosphere.

We had abundant time when we reached the airport, which to my surprise was organized and tidy. Much better than the Charles-de-Gaulle Airport in Paris. I found the travel guide book on Tibet 情缘西藏 at one of the gift shops, which JH bought the day before. I regretted not buying it then and so was glad to find it here. It is a different kind of travel guide – more life in it and written like a diary by a backpacker.

I also bought a box containing traditional herbs of Tibet – 西藏三宝: 冬虫草，红花 and I can’t remember the last one. Come to think of it, where are these herbs now? I remembered passing to my mum after I returned to SG. In fact I passed to her a lot of food, but they seemed to have disappeared.

While waiting at the boarding area, there was an announcement saying that the flight would be delayed for 2 hours because of technical fault. They had catered another plane to fly us back to Chengdu. In the meantime, we could use our tickets to exchange for free mineral water and a bowl of noodle. Well, not too bad except that the noodle was again spicy kind.

I saw 2 老外 obviously confused and lost and so decided to explain to them the situation. I understand exactly how they feel because I had countless such experience when I was in France; be it at the airport, train stations, etc. The 2 hours delay wasn’t that difficult to pass; with the noodle and my books.

The flight from Lhasa to Chengdu was about 2hrs and it was showing my idol Andy Lau’s movie: 童梦奇缘. I have already watched it before but don’t mind watching again since it is a rather touching film.

Finally we reached Chengdu airport and looked for a cab to take us back to Sims. Some unscrupulous coach agency tried to con us into taking their coach, saying that no taxi would take us because of our large luggage. Bloody hell. We took a cab from the airport on Day One of our trip. Think we stupid meh?

It was like coming back home. We even directed the taxi driver how to get to Sims Cozy Guesthouse. From our accented Chinese, the taxi driver mistook us as Hongkongers and tried to speak with us with Cantonese accented Chinese. “Li Ho ah, Yao qu la li ah…” Sorry lor, our Mandarin might not be perfect but we don’t sound like that. Act smart, that cab driver.

It was a nice feeling to be greeted by the staffs in Sims (my Chuan Mei-meis…) when we arrived. “你们回来啦！” Glad that they still remember us. We even got back the 4-bed room (room no. 15) that we used to have. After unpacking our stuffs and taking a short rest, we went out to walk around the neighbourhood for dinner.

We stumbled upon this high-class steamboat restaurant where a lot of working class people were enjoying their dinners. Though we wore only berms and slippers, we decided to give this place a try. We ordered some delicacies and asked for their 招牌, The Fish Head Steamboat.

The food wasn’t that fantastic. There wasn’t much meat in the fish head though the soup was sweet. We looked around the restaurant and it was quite crowded, with working-class people as well as family. That was when we notice the slogan of the restaurant: 好友如同一杯酒, Good Friend is like a Cup of Wine. But to our horror, there was serious English error! Friend was spelt as Firend! And it was repeated everywhere in that restaurant. We were laughing out loud about this joke. At least this restaurant is funny.

When it was time to pay the bill, we thought it would cost a bomb. But it turned out to be only 128rmb! Though still the most expensive meal so far, but it is only S$25! Thereafter, we became yaya and decided not to care too much about eating. Just order as much as we want next time.

We went back to the Sims and met 2 Singaporeans staying beside our room. It was so easy to distinguish SGs. JH was bathing and then he heard this conversation: “oei, pass me the shampoo leh. Wah Lew, the water suddenly hot suddenly cold one. Why huh?” haha.

When they returned to their room, we introduced ourselves and found out that they were planning to go to Tibet also. So we went downstairs to the cosy Japanese hut for supper and gave them advice in the meantime. They would be going with 2 other angmohs, a Brazilian and a Mexican I think.

Interaction with foreigners was what we lacked in this trip. But still, traveling with buddies isn’t that bad either. At least any disputes or arguments are easily solved and wouldn’t bear grudges with one another.