Intermission: The Night Bus

It would be improper not to give the night bus adventure due credit and put it in a normal post. Hence, it is put in a special post by itself.

Many people who originally wanted to come on the trip were put off by the tales they heard about the night bus. So when we boarded the bus, we were dreading the worst possibilities. However, it was not bad, all things considered. The bus and beds were a lot cleaner than we expected and not as cramped as people told us it would be. It was a rather fun ride.

After we set off at 7.30, a man began smoking. Aunty Florence began spraying around with the eucalyptus spray and he quit it after a while, choking on the strong scent.

There were racks for us to place our shoes on. We put our shoes in plastic bags and the plastic bags on the racks.

There were top bunks and bottom bunks. All of us took bottom bunks. I got a window bed.

There was not much to do, so I sat on the bed playing my DS. The scenery outside was interesting but after some time it became repetitive.

The toilet stops were odd as there were no doors! It took a lot of courage for me to dash in and go.

At about 10 pm, I took a motion sickness pill as the mountain road would be windy. Then, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep. The bed was really comfortable.

I awoke at about 5 something am as the bus arrived outside the customs gate. We learnt that to enter the gate we had to wait until 7 am or so. Fortunately, some vans arrived at 6 am and we got our luggage and boarded the vans, headed for the village in Lu Chun.

Lu Chun Day 2

We visited　石林 today. 石林 is a city of stone, so to speak. It was once a place underwater, and the stone structures were weathered and eroded into various interesting shapes. The ride there took what seemed like an eternity, partially because 石林 was very far from our apartment and partly because 王师父 could not drive fast in the fog. But at long last, we arrived.

The tour had several interesting locations, like a very narrow passageway you have to squeeze through. Almost everybody had problems with it except Auntie Connie and me. There was a low hanging roof, which they believed that if a man goes through and has to duck his head, he is henpecked by his wife. There was a very odd passage where you had to bend and crawl through, which was a sign that you were humble. Some people from another tour group tried to go through by twisting and turning instead of bending and got hopelessly stuck.

We reached the highest point of 石林 after some time. The view was absolutely marvellous! However, Joseph fell on the way down and got a nasty shock and bruises. Fortunately, he was not badly hurt.

All too soon, we climbed down and headed for the next part: a tour by cart. We crammed into a cart a bit like those golf carts used to travel around the golf course. We toured the hills filled with stone structures as our cart drove down hill. We next visited a small part of 石林 that was more famous and took lots of photos. We also went to a tea-sampling cultural centre but I gave all my tea away as I dislike tea.

王师父 joined us for a delectable lunch in 石林. Dad and Aunty Florence went to select dishes. We had honeycomb pie, vegetables, meat and other mouth-watering dishes.

With our stomachs filled, we did a bit of looking around but nothing really interested me.

The journey back took forever! There was a massive traffic jam and we were held up for ages.

After a quick shower, we packed our things and met Aunty Nan downstairs. 王师父 drove us to the bus station. We deposited our luggage and ate a quick meal at Dicos. At 7.30, we boarded the night bus to Lu Chun.

Lu Chun Day 1

We met at the airport early in the morning at about 6.30 am. The flight took about 4 and a half hours so by the time we landed in Kun Ming it was half past 12. Aunty Nan, the missionary who lives with her family in her Lu Chun, met us at the airport. We got transport from two van drivers. One of them was a man named　王师父 who is a Christian. He is well known to the missionaries in the area and a cheerful man.

We arrived at a hostel of sorts. It was an empty apartment which people rented to live in. The apartment was huge and beautiful but not very expensive. After putting our bags down, we had lunch at a nearby noodle shop, at the same time exploring the area.

Aunty Nan took us to her friend's house, where she was staying while in Kun Ming.

We ate a sumptuous dinner at an Arabic restaurant called Sinbad. It was late by the time we returned to the apartment.

It took us ages to figure out the hot water system and what not. By the time we finished showering, it was late and I only had half an hour to read Syren.

Aunty Nan

The Sinbad restaurant

Off to Lu Chun!

This year, we went on another VWAP trip. However, unlike last year, there were less people and it was more relaxed. We went to Lu Chun, in China and also visited Kun Ming and Jian Shui. The people on this trip were: Me, Caleb, Jinxgirl, Jinxgirl's folks, Joseph, who went for last years VWAP, and his mum, and Auntie Connie, a kindergarten Sunday School teacher.

Jinxgirl shall relate this tale in my blog, which we now share.

Taipei Day 4 ( 19 October 2009)

The three of us played Runescape on the laptop after packing. It's a fun game. Jinxgirl's folks took forever to pack. We then went to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen was known as the Republic of China's National father as he led the revolution against the Munchurians.

We visited various rooms in the Memorial Hall with artefacts from that era as well as oral and verbal accounts of events that occurred in the course of the revolution.

After we had visited most of the rooms, we went for lunch at a buffet upstairs. It was simply scrumplicious! The three of us challenged Jinxgirl's dad to a riddle duel, telling each other riddles and trying to solve them. He didn't stand a chance against us.

After lunch, we visited a room filled with calligraphy and art works. The amazing art works were awe-inspiring. Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed. SIGH.

Before we knew it, we were headed for the airport. During the one hour journey there, the adults slept while the three of us tried to see who could count up to the largest triangle number. Jinxgirl obviously won, beating me by two numbers.

In the airport, we settled at Starbucks and played Runescape (what else?) An hour later, we entered the boarding gate. Boarding was delayed for about half an hour so Jinxgirl read The Magykal Papers with us reading over her shoulder.

When we finally got on, guess what? Take off was ALSO delayed! When we finally took off, we alternated between playing Jinxgirl's handphone and reading Sister's Keeper. Finally, Jinxgirl got a headache and said she wanted to sleep.

Landing was delayed too. The plane circled the airport for about fifteen minutes before it could land. At the baggage collection, surprise surprise! Our baggage took an ETERNITY to appear. Caleb fell asleep and we wheeled him out with the luggage. By the time we got to bed, it was 2 am.

Taipei Day 3 (18 October 2009)

We went for a half day guided tour today to Keelung and Yehliu. We visited a temple at the top of a windy hill, which nearly made Jinxgirl sick. It was full of Buddha statues and had a pretty nice scenery. We got to see a giant bell being rung and an old temple with narrow stairs, which made it as treacherous to climb as the longhouse steps in Sarawak were. The view from the porthole at the top was rather interesting.

Then, it was off to Keelung and Yehliu. We saw Keelung and its city on the way to Yehliu. Our tour guide explained that Keelung was actually "Ji Long", which is Chinese for chicken coop. This is because the surrounding mountains enclosed the city like a chicken coop. However, it would be odd to have a city named Ji Long so they changed the chinese words such that it sounds the same but looks different.

After a long drive, we finally arrived at Yehliu Park. The park was basically a boardwalk through the various beautiful and amazing rock formations. Caleb, Jinxgirl and I had a competition to see who had the most vivid imagination in thinking what the rockforms might be.

We got to go off the boardwalk and get a closeup view of the famous Queen's head. It was really life-like and realistic and Jinxgirl snapped several photos. This was no mean feat as she wanted photos without people standing next to it and everybody was crowding around it!

On the way back to the hotel, the tour bus stopped at a small bakery/sweet/pastry shop which was famed for its delicious pastries. We bought some for friends back home.

After the tour ended, we went to Guang Hua Shi Chang, which specialises in electronic goods. The three of us found it really boring.

After an eternity, we moved on to Sogo, which is like Takashimaya. We spent most of our time there sitting somewhere reading Jinxgirl's book together.

The Shi Da night market was decidedly more interesting. The colourful blend of food, products on sale and stores with different specialities added to the light and noisy atmosphere.

Finally, we retired to the hotel at 8 andd read till 11, when Jinxgirl's mum finally noticed what time it was and shooed us to bed.

Taipei Day 2 (17 October 2009)

We visited Taipei 101 today. After a short train journey and a 10 minutes walk, we arrived at the breathtaking skyscraper. Caleb got a hornache trying to see the top of the skyscraper.

First, we went to the Observatory. We took the lift from the 5th floor to the 89th floor. Amazingly, it took less than a minute! Jinxgirl's ears popped loudly in the lift. On the 89th floor, the view was amazing. We saw the entire city stretched out before us. Jinxgirl snapped away. There was a counter which rented remotes which gave a multimedia guide of what could be seen from the Observatory.

There was also a photo booth where Jinxgirl's folks pretended to be hanging on to the steeple of Taipei 101 while the three of us "fell off". It looked pretty funny.

We had lunch at a restaurant called IR China which served the most delicious food ever. Following that, we visited Dan Shui, a good 30 minutes ride away.

The view was definitely horrid and not the sparkling, pristine view we had expected. On the other hand, the street vendors were certainly a huge attraction. Jinxgirl bought some interesting gifts for her closer friends. The three of us also tried our luck attempting to win prizes from a game machine. No dice. Sigh.

We walked till our feet hurt and finally returned to the hotel, surviving on Instant Noodles and snacks as we read and played Neoquest, along with cool, fun games on Jinxgirl's new Sony Ericsson handphone, which she had gotten for her EOY results.



Stinky Tofu