More Insights to the Leica Q

Since I was first acquainted with my grandfather and dad's vintage Hasselblad 1000F and 500 C/M, a camera follows me around everywhere in a bag on most days. But I don't need it to fit nicely in my pocket. The compacts aren't fun enough.

The process of understanding a new camera is a joy (not an addiction), and knowing what kind of photos I'm inclined to shoot usually decides the main lens I use on a daily basis. Of course I do have other lens for various purposes, but as far as buying glass goes, I'm a conservative consumer. Honestly, all I need is two sets of lens on a body, that's all. Not a pro photographer. Don't need that sort of ammunition. Obviously I don't take photos for the sole reason of blogging. But neither do I share them online nor with the friends. No such thing as a travel album in facebook or elsewhere. Don't even bother with the ever-annoying Instagram. I stash them in uhh... hard disks, for my own viewing pleasure.

Went for a half-day introductory Leica Q photography workshop with Mathias Heng to hear his rich experiences, and to understand more about this newest addition to the uhh family. No better than have the professionals share their opinions. The first portion of the workshop was a yawn. The second part was very welcomed. It comprised of a quick stroll outdoors to get some shots and check out exposure, then back to the room to look at Mathias' framing and composition of shots in various cities and situations. That was what I was hoping to see at the workshop that had to have its content be pitched at a general audience.

I lugged this baby all around Zhongdian and Lijiang as a really useful full frame fixed lens point and shoot. It's such a delight discovering its quirks and functions for every situation. But yes, I'm well aware of the limitations and merits of a Leica. I have two of them, and now a third. They're intended to be used at different occasions. I love shooting stills and in manual, but sometimes, a quick-focus auto works better. I've come to realize that zoom or image stabilization isn't required in any of my cameras. I don't shoot that way. It took years, but this Leica Q has finally caught up with the rest of the available technology in cameras. However, it isn't as snazzy as say... possibly the newer yet-to-be-released model of the 2013 Sony RX1. What can I say? I used various models of Lumia on Windows OS mobile for years.

I love photography, but I'm not enthusiastic about joining hobby groups and heading out on shooting trips. I want to hear pro tips, but only from friends or photographers whose work and attitude I greatly admire. I'm not keen to like...talk in depth about it with acquaintances or fellow workshop participants. Okay, I'm not friendly lah. Yeah I stalk the forums though. It's the same attitude I have since schooldays. If I could opt out of group projects, I will. Solitude is generally preferred. Anyway, the whole point is to 'get out and shoot'. That, I always do.

Shot in manual mode on the Q.
But clarity isn't the best in this file—super downsized the pixels for the blog.

The Serpent of Venice

I must have been in a strange mood. Picked up Christopher Moore's 'The Serpent of Venice' at the library. It was literary satire put together from Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Othello- the Moor of Venice', and Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado'. (Reviews here, here, here, and here.)

In the author's hands, these three plays became an absurd raunchy story set in Venice in 1299, a time secveral hundred years eqrlier than the source texts. It was hilarious. What fun! The plot had me in stitches with each twist and mishap. Christopher Moore stated,

The point of this, I suppose, is that I don't intend The Serpent of Venice to be a story about discrimination, although discrimination is manifest among the characters. For me, it's a story about hypocrisy and greed, courage and grief, anger and revenge. But most important, I wanted it to be a story that shows how cool it would be to have your own dragon, which I have wanted since I was five.

The author brought in Pocket the Fool from his earlier work and made him the protagonist. Then "there's always a bloody ghost" flitting around. The line came up in every other chapter. In this case, it is often the ghost of Pocket's beloved Cordelia. Well, there is a reptilian serpent slithering through the Venetian canals and waterways that has pledged allegiance to Pocket and his many quests for revenge. Those tangled him up in the city folks' murky plots, and in Shylock's daughter Jessica eventually running away with him twice. Yeah, instead of Lorenzo.

Bassanio opened the door. "There's a monkey at the door with Gratiano's hat." 

"A monkey?" 

"He says his name is Jeff." 

"He says that?" Antonio liked monkeys. He almost looked. "The monkey says that?" 

"Well, no, there's a collar around his neck, and on it there's a brass tag, and it says 'Jeff.' Oh look, there's a letter in his hat. Not the monkey's hat. Gratiano's hat." 

"What's the letter say?" 

"What's the letter say?" Bassanio asked the monkey. 

"No Bassanio, read the letter, don't ask the monkey." 

"Oh, right. He probably only reads Hebrew." 

Antonio pulled the blanket off his head and said, "What in the name of Saint fucking Mark are you talking about?"

The monkey screeched and bounded off down the stairs.  

Bassanio closed the door and turned slowly to his friend, the letter in hand. "I didn't want to tell you, since they failed so miserably ... but I hired the thieving Hebrew monkeys of La Giudecca to fix the caskets to win Portia in marriage. See here, the menorah pressed into the sealing wax, that is their sign. Funny he didn't have on a yellow Jew hat, but a little black harlequin's hat. Perhaps it's a Jewish holiday."

What a fun mash-up! The first few chapters of the story are based on 'The Cask of Amontillado'. For many reasons, I never liked The Merchant of Venice or Othello. Christopher Moore's version, I like. The writer had some fun with the language and narrative, playing with literary convention, ensuring that reading the book becomes a jovial matter. Also in the 'Afterword', the author mentioned his exasperation with Shakespeare's naming of the characters,

Further, it was annoying reality that Shakespeare named two of Antonio's associates Salarino and Salanio. A modern novelist would never do this., as the eye confuses the two similar names almost by habit. (They teach that on the first day in author school.) And in The Merchant of Venice, the two serve exactly the same function and appear to share a personality. One transcription of the play I found even added a third, Solanio, because it just wasn't confusing enough, I suppose. Thus I tried to kill off one of the Sals as soon as possible. It should be notd, however, that Shakespeare wrote the plays to be performed and not read., and each of the Sals would have been distinguished by the actor who played him, so having like-sounding names wouldn't have presented as much of a problem in the theater.

Little Island Brewing Company

All thanks to L's suggestion to get together at Little Island Brewing Company, we got to check out a new joint and catch up with the friends. On an evening with an okay PSI, the east didn't even stink of charred wood like how the south smelt. Wahh. Buoyed by a nice sea breeze with planes coming in really close to land at the airport.

Non air-conditioned, the spacious joint has set up huge fans that could cool the place enough on an average night, not on those gigantic hot summer nights. Dunno how it goes at lunch and in the afternoons. Wear erm... very little? After all you're in Changi Village... There's a laid-back vibe to the area, and a vague sense of being on holiday. More or less a fully self-service joint, it would be great if the tables could clear their used utensils too. The beers run on a stored-value card system. Tap it at the taps and get your choice of drink. Works great for us.

Think of it as a beer joint, with okay food, and you'll be fine. Don't term it as a restaurant. It's pub-grub, but pretty decent wings, meats and grill. It's got enough variety on the menu. The kitchen smokes its own meats over jarrah and apple wood. There were pork knuckles and pork belly. We skipped that. The table enjoyed the 15-hour smoked Cape Grim beef brisket with truffle balsamic sauce. The fish and chips weren't as good as we hoped. I really liked that roasted cauliflower with spring onions and roasted Japanese pumpkin with chilli and cacciatori sausage. Nachos weren't necessary, but randomly fun. Hurhurhur.

I confess that little attention was paid to the beer. Vaguely saw the taps labelled Beavertown and Adnams, Tuatara and Stoke with the offerings of blonde, pale ale, IPA, pilsner, coffee stout, the sorts. Sheppy's cider was good too. The microbrewery's beer rooms just started chugging. Another two months or so and we could try its beer which promise to be a line-up of malts and hops.

Surprisingly, I didn't even bother with beer. Was busy chatting and listening to the conversations. Also, I gave it up for the soft drinks. They were ridiculously tasty. Didn't know they were 'home-brewed' till later. Nice! Spiced vanilla cola and ginger beer. The apple spritzer was made with Granny Smith apples. Definitely dunked a truckload of sugar into the system. But hey, sugar for sugar. Spritzers replaced beer. Same same.

Gone to the Dark Side

Till now, the Windows mobile app store doesn't have GoogleMaps. I use HERE, which works all right. Generally I don't need it in Singapore. When I opened it two weeks ago to check a location of a building, upon starting navigation, it told me to download an app to begin. Wtf. An app within an app? It led me to Waze. Sighhh. At least Waze is useful.

Then I got really pissed when Skype on Windows mobile refused to let the new emoticons move like how they're supposed to. ARRRRGH. There're a million other peeves, like how I don't have any local taxi apps in the Windows store. At least I have Uber, of which I use loads and it crashes all the time. In a nutshell, even though I don't care about pretty layouts, I do care about apps being user-friendly. From 2012 till now, fewer and fewer developers bother about Windows mobile apps. When the Microsoft Outlook and Skype apps work better on the iPad and the iPod Touch instead of Windows mobile, there's a huge problem. As much as I wanted to maintain the 'last frontier' against all things Apple and continue to use a Windows phone, I can't because it has turned truly lousy.

In a fit of pure rage nine days ago, I bought the new iPhone 6s on the pre-orders and slated it for the fastest delivery. Proceeded to iCloud my whole life, organized the iPad, Macbook and iPod Touch to sync with the incoming new phone, and changed out the SIM from a micro to a nano. Integration was almost complete. What's more, I'm thrilled to bits with SingTel's newly announced SIM-only phone plans. They're exactly what I've wanted for years! A ton of data, minimal call-time and frankly, I don't give a crap about SMS. Finally the telco's turned reasonable. Haven't done the 're-contract' nonsense for years.

Bye bye Lumia 1020. You've been awesome. You still are. Except your software sucks and Microsoft can't decide what to do with its loss-making mobile acquisition. Not even Windows 10 will change my mind. Microsoft, are you listening?

The iPhone 6s arrived at my doorstep on launch day before noon. My first-ever Apple phone. My defection is complete. Hello.

ส้มตำอร่อยที่ร้านอาหารน้ำเงี้ยวเมืองเชียงราย

Said awesome spicy som tam at Nam Ngew Chiangrai.

I'm very fond of heading to Golden Mile Complex for a fix of Thai food and spices. In fact, I've found one of the best som tam around at Nam Ngew Chiangrai (น้ำ เงี้ยว  เมืองเชียงราย). There're many good som tam at the little stalls in the building, but this one is a particular favorite. Or at least the woman who makes it is always there when I hop in. By 'best', I totally mean super-pungent and super-spicy. So good to use the long beans and large pieces of cabbage to mop up the gravy.

Nam Ngew Chiangrai (น้ำ เงี้ยว  เมืองเชียงราย) is a tiny little shop with just three tables. It's located right on the second floor at the side where the huge staircase leads to the mini foodcourt, at the entrance to the supermarket. Next to the little set-up that doles out fried balls of tapioca, sweet potato and banana.

The name of the shop simply means 'noodle soup or curry from Chiangrai'. Nam ngew/nam ngiew (น้ำเงี้ยว) refers to noodles in a clear broth or curry which is the staple of the ethnic minorities in Mae Hong Son, and upwards towards Myanmar and also southwest Yunnan. Familiar right? I love how the noodles come with plenty of raw beansprouts and shredded cabbage at the side. I don't mind the noodles, but often I'm not in the mood for pork or beef. Would need the friends around so that I could shift the meat into their bowls. The shop's got a little grill going on for ummm....sausages and mystery meats. Kinda fun, though I'm here strictly for som tam!

The stall doesn't do 'Thai boat noodles' (kuay teow ruea ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ), which are those with the thicker dark brown gravy, and often contains uhh coagulated pig or cow's blood. (Dunno if Singapore still allows animal blood to be sold like that.) Nam Ngew Chiangrai does the clear type of broth and noodles with beef or pork. It's not the best, but it will do for a light lunch. If you like lard, each bowl's got plenty. Between the lard and salt, I can't tell how much MSG each bowl of soup contains. :P

Nam Ngew Chiangrai (น้ำ เงี้ยว  เมืองเชียงราย)
5001 Beach Road,
Golden Mile Complex #02-64
Singapore 199588

Quentin's

I was astonished to learn that the man hadn't been to Quentin's Eurasian Restaurant. WHUT. How is that possible?! Had to rectify that. Now that Damian D'Silva's Immigrants Gastrobar has closed, there're even fewer choices of sampling Eurasian dishes at restaurants. Besides ours and the friends' grandparents' kitchens, Quentin's serves the better commercial versions of Eurasian curries.

Luckily there were three of us that evening. It's not possible to eat at Quentin's if it's just the two persons with tiny stomachs. I haven't visited Quentin's for a long time. Good to know that the keluak curry chicken tasted just as good as I remembered. The kitchen didn't stinge on the buah keluak and packed them full and bitter. Mmmm. There was also curry Debal with oxtail, corned beef fried rice, chap chye (of which I much prefer it over the Peranakan version), and squid in black ink. The dishes were all wonderful. Beautiful ratio of spices. Asked for an additional plate of sambal belachan too. The earlier intent for a light dinner didn't translate into reality.

I cleverly avoided most of the meat, and stuck to eating a fair bit of rice with truckloads of curries. With a final order of chendol and a complimentary red velvet cake, dinner for three came up to a ridiculous amount of food. UGH. No regrets. Rolled out of the restaurant all stuffed. Seizing the first clear night of under-90-low-PSI and PM2.5, and ignoring my newly-colored hair, I went for 20 quick laps in the pool. Had no wish to suffer indigestion again. 

Past Lives in the Present

I hesitated about reading Susan Barker's 'The Incarnations' because her 'Sayonara Bar' and 'The Orientalist and the Ghost' were quite forgettable. Not my kind of genre and provided rather stilted clichéd narratives.

A quick glance at the summary of 'The Incarnations' piqued my interest. Geographically similar, but the plot didn't seem like the author's earlier stories. This book was published last July, but the e-book was strangely not available till this year on 18 August. Downloaded it as a pre-order till it popped up in the Kindle. Hurrah for VPN. (Reviews here, here, here, and here.)

Kinda fun to read about past lives and incarnations while in Zhongdian/Shangri-La where reincarnations are believed. The story's protagonist Wang Jun is in his early 30s, a taxi driver who lives in Beijing with his wife Yida and nine-year-old daughter Echo. Naturally, he had a painful childhood with wayward parents. He seemingly outgrew them and stocially bore the predictable rut of an ill and disabled father and his stepmother. His boring and mundane, if not peaceful life was disrupted by letters falling into his lap detailing his past five lives in a thousand years and oft-complicated relationships and sexuality. The letter-writer claimed to be his 'soulmate'. Like literally. Eioowwww. More like eternal stalker.

The narrative style is a little...strange. Oddly stilted. Like how a word jumps out at me when least expected. For example, in Wang's comment about his long-suffering step-mother Lin Hong who stayed married to his stroke-debilitated father Wang Hu for nineteen years. That word at the end, "fen". It's more Chinese than English- “分”. 'Fen' means 'cent' or 'penny'. 意思是“毫无分文”。Literally without a cent.

She had no say over how much he smoked and drank, or how many whores he fucked and mistresses he financially supported. “I’ll have my lawyer prepare the divorce papers” was Wang Hu’s response to her complaints of marital neglect. He’d made her sign a prenuptial agreement and, should they split, Lin Hong would be left without a fen.

The letters take us through past lives of his 'soulmate'. The events read like a drama serial's run-through of history of China's dynasties and contemporary history, a not-so-subtle comment on Communism, wealth, corruption and privilege. Watch enough Chinese/HongKong/Taiwanese drama serials on reincarnation and soaps, and you'll know how the past lives flow in this narration. To that, it was unsurprising that at the end, through the letters, we learn that Wang Jun's birth mother Li Shuxiang/Yi Moon didn't die, and she was the stalker-soulmate. The story ends with the sudden death of Wang Jun, and the stalker-soulmate transferring her/its attention to Wang Jun's daughter, Echo, who called her 'Watcher'.

Perhaps it's meant to creep the hell out of readers. But it felt more like a statement or comment on how lives are interwoven, and how the belief of past lives affecting one's present relationships (with family members, enemies and friends). 为佛教的轮回— 来世再续今生缘、前因后果、前世债今生还等等。Tales of an unending cycle of debts and vengeance through time and the wheel of karma. The idea of pre-destined relationships and destiny.

"I know you too, Echo," the Watcher says. "I know you better than you know yourself. Recently, I have been dreaming of you." 

Echo is silent. She dreams of the Watcher too. She dreams of the Watcher stalking her through the streets and lurking outside the door of 404. She dreams of the Watcher standing in the corner of her bedroom at night. And now the Watcher has stepped out of her dreams and into waking life, looming over Echo, smelling of old age and homelessness. Though her eyes are shrouded in wrinkles, they are sharp as knives, dissecting Echo with their gaze. 

"The dreams show me who you were in the past," the Watcher says. "Once you were a sorceress, and then a Mongol warrior with a battle-axe-scarred face. Once you were Emperor and ruler of all under heaven, and then a Red Guard called Long March."
Echo shudders. The Watcher is mentally ill, she realizes. Though her eyes are shrewd and intelligent, her mind is deranged. 

"And now in this life," the Watcher says, "you are my grandchild." 

Though the madwoman is lying, Echo recoils at the thought of being her granddaughter.

Passersby

It had been a strange three days of tissue-sellers shoving packs at our noses at meal-times, along the streets and even at midnight supper at Simpang Bedok. At any one meal, at least four sellers would approach our table. Most left after we politely declined.

One was persistent. After I declined with a smile, astonishingly, she literally chased after me. (Haizzz, shouldn't have smiled.) She waved laminated news articles (from where else, mainstream papers lah) in my face, gave a long lecture, and said that the government asked the people to support the poor and the elderly. She added that this year was SG50 and people must help her more, etc. I was slightly stunned.

At the same time, I wasn't pleased to be threatened or guilted into buying tissue packs. I've never bought them from any seller unless I needed it, and wasn't about to start. Experience has taught me that whenever I offer to help them out with subsidies and additional welfare, they either scold me or leave. In that short few minutes, I had to decide what to do with this tenacity that would have been born out of tragedy or an unfortunate twist of fate.

I blinked, and with as gentle a tone as the voice could muster, repeated a firm "I'm sorry, no." And rapidly retreated.

《台湾梦首部曲: 西夏旅馆 • 蝴蝶书》

Amidst all the furore and debates arising from our #GE2015, I must be quite crazy to sit through Wei Ying-chuan's three-hour avant-garde 'Taiwan Dreams Episode 1: Dream Hotel'. 台湾剧场导演- 魏瑛娟的《台湾梦首部曲: 西夏旅馆 • 蝴蝶书》This play is a response to, and loosely based on contemporary acclaimed Taiwanese author Luo Yi-chun's novel 'Xixia Hotel'. Since I couldn't make any dates of much-raved-about 'Hotel' by Ivan Heng, Glen Goei, Alfian S'aat and Marcia Vanderstraaten, I caught this Taiwanese production.

《西夏旅馆 • 蝴蝶书》是魏瑛娟导演对于台湾知名的现代作家-骆以军的长篇巨作《西夏旅馆》的艺术对话。小说描述了1949年外省移民来到台湾的故事，以及他们的第二代对于台湾历史的凝视思考。

Wei Yin-chuan wanted to give the novel a feminine voice, splitting the play into halves of yang (阳) and yin (阴). The play followed protagonist hermaphrodite Tu-Nick on an adventure to seek his/her parents and learn their stories. The first half followed his search of his father's lineage and the second half followed his mother's people. Tu-Nick met talking animals named after historical dead Chinese leaders. There was a bit about the total annihilation of the Western Xia dynasty (西夏) in the 11th century by the Mongols. Known as the Tangut Empire (党项), they're also called the Minyak. This is the same period in time as Northern and Southern Song dynasty, Liao and Jin (Jurchens). The play moved on to the civil war of 1940s that forever divided China and Taiwan, and finally to modern day year 2000 when Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party caused a public outcry in its attempt to re-name places and asserting the Minan dialect. There was a fictional language of butterfly script too (蝴蝶字). Also mentioned was Taiwanese students' '318 Sunflower Movement' in 2014.

Should you choose to read more into the political commentary running through the play, there would certainly be food for thought. Themes of democracy ran strong, parallel to freedom of expression, self and individual rights. I didn't want to think about these head-splitting issues just yet. Bit overwhelmed by the various commentaries on the recently concluded #GE2015. Everybody's saying something. I hope the machinery and the elected continue to do what they're supposed to do, both majority and non-majority parties.

这次来新加坡演出，她并没有刻意加入新加坡元素，但她认为，华人社会，在面对大中国经济霸权的时候，一样会产生“中国焦虑”，这又是另一层对照了。魏瑛娟说，蒙古消灭了西夏王朝，西夏人逃逸，最终从历史上消失，国民党逃亡台湾也有其可比性。她说，只要设想有一天解放军进入台北，人们肯定会产生焦虑，“但其实不必等到军队进驻台北，现在台湾的经济背后已经由中资操控。” 

谈到近来台湾的学生运动，学生被捕被控，她说：“政治机器为什么害怕人民有独立思考能力？因为他们没有自信。”她认为推动公民意识应由年轻一代开始，对抗国家机器、社会体制的巨兽。推动公民意识，并不是要为非蓝即绿的政党背书，而是唤醒公民认识到国家是自己的。 

- an interview with the playwright by Zaobao

Fables and little stories peppered the play. The videos and photographs projected onto the wall formed the backdrop and scene sets taking the audience through the vast deserts of ancient China to Taiwan's bustling streets today. I understood this play was shortened from the original length of six hours. WAH. What a complicated search of self-identity. Totally enjoyable. 

Globe To Globe :: Hamlet

At the insistence of the friends, I allowed myself to be dragged out to watch this new traveling (two-year tour to every country in the world) version of Shakespeare's Globe's 'Hamlet' directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Bill Buckhurst.

From the start, the audience is alerted to the fact that this is, in fact, a show, that life itself is a show. This a much shorter production than Globe's usual plays at 2.5 hours. Capitol Theatre felt like an odd venue for the show. Acoustics weren't flattering. The actors weren't miked-up; their voices got lost often in the space. Otherwise, it was such a good production with minimum but effective stage props.

We know the story of 'Hamlet'. Some of us love it and others, like me, are still feeling tortured by it. Even as I appreciate the finer points of the play, I still cringe from memories of having had to regurgitate essays for it. Clearly, I don't quite fancy certain literature from that era, and not fully loving Shakespeare. This production is also not the only one I've seen. So what do I do at a play that's familiar? Check out the actors, except I've little to comment about their acting skills.

The cast is young, friendly and approachable. Totally perfect for a touring production. This is more than midway through their tour which is slated to end next April. The 10 talented and versatile actors (who each play up to three roles) have done so many shows that they're smooth, practiced and share great chemistry. Different actors played Hamlet. I'm not particularly bothered who played him. It rotated between Ladi Emeruwa and Naeem Hayat, and also in this staging, Matt Romain. My show lead was Ladi Emeruwa. He was excellent. I'm not bothered about who portrayed Hamlet 'right'. Each have got their own style, different voices, tones and built. Those lent an interesting dimension to the interpretation of rage and inner turmoil.

Playing Monopoly Deal

Very nice to be able to catch Missy before her short one-week school holidays ended. Went out for a bit of cycling on a day when the haze didn't seem too bad. Cycling didn't require that much energy. It was lovely to be out in the open.

The haze didn't irritate us too much early in the morning. But it got uncomfortable outdoors after a bit. The heat and humidity weren't killers; the haze compounded it. (Yah, checked against PM2.5 readings.) Called it a day after 45 minutes and headed indoors. Luckily we did because the winds changed direction and blew in the haze heavy and smoky.

Missy is totally hooked on Monopoly Deal, courtesy of her parents. The cards are portable and Missy was super excited to introduce this game to me. Cool. Never even heard of the game till now. So we played many many rounds of it over drinks then lunch. Hahaha.

It was a completely different gameplay from the usual Monopoly we know. Fairly sure this game will be played rather differently with adults, with four being the optimal number for quick finishes. In these rounds with Missy and Y, I wasn't playing to win lah, more of letting Missy see how we could strategize and how she didn't have to be nice and not make us pay rent. Hahaha. In this game, money is the least useful to us, even when seeking rent is part of it.

Forgiveness and Redemption

Wasn't sure about the first few chapters of 'May We Be Forgiven' by A.M. Homes. Sounded like the type of complicated family relationship stories I don't like. It seemed kinda heavy for vacation reading. Oh well, it was a rainy afternoon in Lijiang and I didn't feel like getting muddy.

There's a family murder and an unbelievable number of colossal human blunders and errors that are attractive. The author is known for her genre of suburban goth. (Reviews here, here, and here)

Protagonist Professor of 'Nixonology' Harold 'Harry' Silver had an affair with his television executive brother George's wife, Jane. George found out, killed his wife and was put in mental institutions. Harry's wife divorced him. He then took over the running and administration of George's house, dog, cat, children Nate and Ashley and all their teenage angst. There were boarding school duties, a bar mitzvah in South Africa in the end taking on more responsibilities than when he first started out. Read like episodes in a kooky television series.

I meet with Hiram P. Moody, to discuss the cash flow—he seems to think it's not a problem. "Families are like little countries," he says. "It's an ecosystem, an ebb and flow. Between the money coming in for rent for Cy and Madeline's house, their Social Security checks, and income from investments—they're fine. With regard to Ashley and Ricardo, you function like a human cash machine, but between Jane's life-insurance coverage, George's severance from the network, their previous investments, and the settlement from Ashley's school—you're more than fortunate." 

I try to live within my means; they're limited, but I have the benefit of George's full wardrobe, and when my insurance runs out, I pick up a freelancers' health policy, and beyond that my wants and needs are few. 

I keep track of all the money in dedicated notebooks—one for each child, one for Cy and Madeline, and another for the household and one for myself—carefully noting each expense and from what source it was paid. Not only does it give me something to do, it protects me from a nagging fear of being accused of mismanagement.

It's less a commentary about suburban lifestyle of emptiness than an ironic comment on familial relationships. More than once, there're references to novelist John Cheever who writes short stories of American suburbia and the duality of human nature, By the time it came to Thanksgiving a year later, those present at the table were a motley crew of humans he randomly adopted. It's like a whole new family he has built from the ruins of the year past. It was quite a ride.

In the living room, the television is on—the movie Mighty Joe Young is playing, and I ask Nate to turn it off, and he does. I am surveying the situation, comforted that I can actually feel pleased. In fact, I notice that I feel nothing except benevolence—free-floating good will. 

It is Thanksgiving and I do not fear the other shoe falling; actually, I am not even wearing shoes. There is a distinct absence of tension, of worry that something might explode, erupt, or otherwise go wrong. I note the absence of worry and the sense that in the past that absence of anxiety would have caused me to panic, but now it is something I simply notice and then let go—carrying on.

Rosh Hashanah 2015

I like tart pomegranates and crunchy apples with a drop of honey. 

Re-read the stories of 'The Silent Shofar and the Smith's Assistant' and 'Six Hundred Dinars Minus Six'. So many thoughts. Many reflections for the season.

Happy holidays.

General Election 2015

You're cute this Sep 11,
Google Doodle SG.

Headed to the polls to cast my vote. I'm thrilled at being able to vote for the first time. (Presidential Elections don't count.) There hasn't been a contested election in my GRC since I became an eligible voter. It's also the first General Election in 50 years where every seat is contested.

That thrill quickly gave way to major sian-ness because the contesting party in my GRC wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. I still had to faithfully do my homework to rationalize my decision on September 11th. Yeah, good on you for standing. That's courage and conviction for the rest of us who have no guts, inclination or determination to do so. BUT HOR, can don't make it so juvenile or not? Seriously. The system is already unfair to contesting parties. The entire strange GRC system, the confusing ever-changing electoral boundaries; nine short days of campaigning, lack of televised debates between candidates from all parties, degeneration into name-calling and accusations, etc, have made the entire process seem like an exercise in lip service. Except votes are real and it is a democratic process.

And all these Facebook updates sagely advising 'friends' and all to "VOTE WISELY", I wanted to throttle someone. The last time an acquaintance told me that by way of a parting shot when our conversation had no bearing on politics and #GE2015, and held an odd tone, I replied with "YUP. I'm voting for WISELY, the new party." STOP TELLING ME THAT. It's the most damn patronizing phrase ever wtf.

I'd love to see a coalition government. In this day and age, it's inconceivable that a single-party dominant government can hold the entire country's mandate. I don't want a system like America's or England's. Neither do I want to be anywhere like China or ermmm...North Korea. So balls to the non-incumbent candidate who rudely suggested that on national television. Am cautious about the Nordic model because of the double-edged sword that comes with generous welfare policies. Dunno what my countrymen think. We'll see. Singapore is capable of forging a government we want. Otherwise, where would 50 years of excellent education have led us then? Every little percent counts in an election, I suppose. The results aren't a surprise. For better or worse, the people have spoken, loudly.

Is this an outcome Singapore wants? I suppose. Sui generis. 83 seats to incumbent and majority party; 6 seats to The Workers' Party by a narrow margin; a 69.86% mandate to the incumbent. But there're a few more elections yet for me to witness, and hopefully vote in. Every year from now for the next decade will decide the direction we're headed, and how the nation and we, as a people will commemorate SG100 in 2065.

Voting took all of 10 minutes.

告一个段落:: 云南之旅

Thr map details routes of the 'Ancient Tea Horse Road' (茶马古道).

With this trip, it completes my visits to most places in Yunnan province. I've spent a lot of time in the tea-producing regions of the south- in Xishuangbanna, Pu'er, Lincang and Wenshan, as well as Baoshan, Honghe and Dehong. Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La remain my favorite areas and it's lovely I get to see it thoroughly thrice. Yup. It's northwestern Yunnan. Something about an area's northwest that I swivel towards. Heeeee.

To me, it's easy traveling around Yunnan. It's quite different from the China usually portrayed in social media. It doesn't seem as rude or devious. We've been treated really well, and not just by hosts who know us. The region's charming and kinda clean. Well, try keeping streets and corners of towns this vast clean the way we know it. Shangri-La/Zhongdian, as a county-level city in Yunnan is twice the size of Singapore. Lijiang as a prefecture-level city is four times the size of Singapore. Of course October 1949 changed Yunnan and all of China so much. Two generations have grown up since then, and they have reset the path to become the China we know today.

Living in a city like Singapore keeps me restless, and a tad stiffled. I need nature, space and the green constantly to re-ignite that spark and zest for life. Grateful for the privilege to do that regularly. I've thoroughly enjoyed this trip. All that space and time for reflection. It truly fed my soul.

Thankful for traveling companions who're long-time friends, people who could dance in the rain, tahan both heat and cold in different conditions, get down on the knees, roll in the mud, and laugh about it. These are people I love and am proud to call friends. Am blessed that they don't mind my company too.

Goodbye Yunnan. I hope it won't take too long before we meet again.

人情 :: 礼物

Before we left Lijiang, had a fair bit of re-packing to do. Sure, our suitcases were way lighter and we 'threw out' many items brought along. Accumulated treasured memories both in the cameras and in my mind. Plenty to cherish. Left Yunnan with an unexpected pile of presents warmly gifted by lovely new acquaintances.

Precious items selected with care. Tibetan keychain with yak-hair and beads, hand-woven yak-wool shawls, and silver hand-made Naxi bangles. They know I'm not fond of bright colors and patterns and all that. So these particularly muted color combinations have been selected with that in mind. Love that little skull on the Tibetan keychain. Since I'm not a necklace or earrings person, the bangles suit me. They sound fun when stacked up against one another.

Was there some sort of bond? Yes. Permanent? I doubt it. We share very little in common, and I'm just a passing human in their lives who doesn't matter in their life choices. But these gifts are a way to remember the good times, the kindness shown to us, shared songs and laughter.

Reach back for the joy and the sorrow Put them away in your mind The mem'ries are time that you borrow To spend when you get to tomorrow 
Here comes the saddest part (comes the saddest part) The seasons are passing one by one So gather moments while you may Collect the dreams you dream today Remember, will you remember The times of your life 

~ 'Times of Your Life' sung by Paul Anka in 1975; melody by Roger Nichols and lyrics by Bill Lane

刀郎的《西海情歌》

I've always thought Chinese songs to be melodramatic and super emo; they can make you more depressed than you already are. On one of those long drives, the driver blasted this song non-stop. By the fourth refrain, I could regurgitate the lyrics. The girlfriend likes the melody and lyrics, and hums it constantly. Now it's stuck in my head, dammit. I can tinkle this out on the piano already. Grrrrr.

I instantly knew why and how the song is apt in a way...for her. Also, I've got the perfect photo to complement it. While trekking in Shangri-La's snow mountains, a flock of birds suddenly flew off. Luckily the camera was in hand with the lens cover off, ready to shoot. HURRAH. Took a few shots. Birds, snow mountains, this song. Could so imagine it.

《西海情歌》词/曲：刀郎 

自你离开以后, 从此就丢了温柔.
等待在这雪山路漫长, 听寒风呼啸依旧.
一眼望不到边, 风似刀割我的脸.
等不到西海天际蔚蓝, 无言着苍茫的高原.
还记得你答应过我不会让我把你找不见, 可你跟随那南归的候鸟飞得那么远.
爱象风筝断了线, 拉不住你许下的诺言.
我在苦苦等待雪山之巅温暖的春天, 等待高原冰雪融化之后归来的孤雁.
爱再难以续情缘, 回不到我们的从前. 

(Youtube MV link)

丽江文海村和玉龙村

Up, up and up!

Can't hang around Lijiang town much. It's depressing to see rows and rows of silly shops selling the same-old-same-old tourist trinkets. Determined to find the quieter spots in the area that would redeem Lijiang of its slightly comical touristy vibes. I imperiously demanded to go out for walks and easy bike rides. Got them. Through the ridiculously picturesque villages around and up Guanyin Gorge (观音峡— 悠悠茶马滇藏情，是丽江观音峡的写照，可谓是茶马古道滇藏线上第一个险关要塞).

Decided to visit the Naxi villages. Thank goodness for a cloudy day without rain. Took a hike to Wenhai Village (文海村), went up up and up, picked our way across rocks, mud, cow, yak, goat and a ridiculous amount of horse manure and dunno-what poop, and crossed hills over to the Naxi minority Yuhu Village (玉湖村) nestled at the foot of the Jade Dragon Mountains (玉龙山). It was meant to be a quick two-hour hike, but we took three hours because we stopped along the way to chase cows and yaks and dipped fingers into gurgling streams. :P

玉龙卧雪秋寒早，为访幽境踏栈行。古木原林猿声急，沱雨冷风游兴浓。 

《丽江玉龙雪山探幽》作者：曾国辉

We explored Yuhu Village (玉湖村) and its fields. The villagers were friendly and seemed used to tourists taking random photos of their homes. There were many tourists who chose to cycle to the village as well to spend a day there. So this is where Austrian-American botanist/anthropologist/explorer Joseph Rock lived for years before he had to leave China in October 1949 along with fellow resident Russian-born explorer Peter Goullart. Joseph Rock lived in Lijiang for 26 years or so from 1922 to 1949, learning the Naxi language and publishing his research and finds. making a home base in Yuhu Village. His home is open to visitors for...I forgot...about ¥20 per person.

One could ride horses up across the trail we took. Did a double-take when we came across a few people in like...corporate-wear on horseback led by long-suffering guides. Like in crisp white shirt and pleated pants. But I didn't quite like the horses the minders offered. In fact, the stables at the area around Lashi Lake (拉市海, similar to Zhongdian's Napa Lake, but less impressive) were the same. They kinda stank. The horses didn't look well taken care of as compared to those in Zhongdian. These in Lijiang had matted coats and held sad looks in their eyes. I wasn't about to condone that. Well, not aloud anyway. So I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and sauntered over to the other side of the mountain where there were many more fields of greens and rapeseed.

Down, down and down to Yuhu Village.

丽江 :: 散步

The exciting stuff to be seen are rarely in the Old Towns. Well, it depends on what one terms as exciting. I see a lot of spitting, tons of horse manure and touristy horse carts choking up the narrow cobblestone streets.

Raised eyebrows at how the locals and domestic tourists navigate the slippery cobblestones in high-heels and platform sneakers. Tourists like us clad in sneakers are still hobbling around precariously. I'm not interested in tea, shawls, combs, or those signature Lijiang flower biscuits (丽江鲜花饼). Zilch. Not really in the habit of buying meaningless souvenirs for friends.  

Plenty of humans thronging the shops to buy dunno-what. The tourists here are way better dressed and obviously liking the small-town vibe but city-like offerings in terms of souvenirs to buy home and cafes to chill out at. They even wear those plastic sprouts atop their heads. It's not just a trend in Beijing. Every tourist spot has stalls selling them in Zhongdian and Lijiang. Apparently it's from some cosplay/animated 'Pleasant Goat and The Big Bad Wolf' 《喜羊羊与灰太狼》 that has been censored for being too violent as a children's show. Errrmm....okaay.

Am on my feet loads. Why bother sleeping in when the villages wake up early and there's so much to see and crisp cool fresh air to soak in. Lijiang is much warmer than Zhongdian, but at 18°C to 22°C, it's still lovely. Since the girlfriend is a breakfast person, I follow suit, i.e. wake up and sit down at the breakfast table. But I ate only a quarter of her portions. My stomach isn't awake. Even if I'm not sure of when the next meal is, hunger rarely sets in till late afternoon. Not doing anything much in Lijiang that burns up the calories.

A number of villages around the Old Town and Shuhe actually bothered to pave cobblestones around the area and through the fields, obviously to enable an easier walk for tourists. I'm certainly not complaining because the scenery is still gorgeous. Lijiang is ringed by mountains and that itself presents the perfect backdrop to many photos taken on any sort of gadget. Almost right out of a postcard. 

These are not 'fake fields' for tourists to take photos and walk through. These villages are obviously prosperous and their folks would like easier walking paths too. People work on the lands. They're out there farming, with maize and vegetables and bright cheerful rapeseed flowers waving in the breeze. Gave me a chance to capture humans on the camera instead of panoramic scenes. But for the close-ups, gotta ask for permission first lah. Otherwise sure kena scolded.

Quiet mornings. Much to be thankful for.

夏日艳阳去丽江，高原景色不寻常。白云朵朵树上挂，溪流汩汩山涧淌。梯田层叠似明镜，林间时隐现牛羊。又是一年农忙时，仿佛已闻稻花香。  

《去丽江》作者：蓝色港湾

Writing Postcards

On a dreary day in Shuhe (束河), the all-day drizzle turned heavy; it was time to look for shelter for an hour or so. Found a not-too-crowded cafe that does decent coffee, sells postcards, and even posting them out for customers. Yay. Didn't even need to hunt down a post office. Whether the postcards would reach their eventual destinations, would be another matter altogether. But mind-boggled that this can operate as a mini-business. There were many of such cafes around town, offering different postcards and stuff for customers.

Wrote a bunch of postcards in Zhongdian. But didn't have time to go to the post office to get stamps. Didn't bother troubling anyone else to help me out either. I would do all these errands in Lijiang. Sat down to write random lines to friends. Yeah, there's whatsapp, wechat, email and all that. But I still like to read notes off hardcopy paper, and in China, you're lucky if whatsapp and email (except Gmail) work promptly.

Without the social media platforms I'm familiar with, this can literally be another world. I've since stopped caring about Singapore's #GE2015, who-said-what and all the mud-slinging.

Kind annoyed that I have to vote, rather than settling for the walkover like how it has been for the past 50 years. Gotta at least to exercise brain cells to plough through all opinions and comments before casting an educated vote. UGH. I'd rather be editing photos and dreaming about mountains and horses. Glad that election news, Facebook and all that aren't quite accessible here. Whewww.

Anyway, The Great Firewall seems to have become more powerful this year. It's getting more difficult to scale over. Switching servers can't seem to resolve the lack of VPN access on some days. It's generally a given if you can't even latch on to an external server. None of us is carrying a BlackBerry or signed up with home telcos' data-roam services. So can't compare ease of access. Pointedly ignored all news outside of Yunnan and Beijing, and set my homepage to Xinhua (新华网) and search engine to Baidu (百度).

丽江 :: 走山路

Walks are always welcomed. They take us to see new sights, sounds and smells. Sometimes we meander through the easy paths at the villages. For those, walk fast. Don't stop at any gates or doors. Most households own a dog. The dogs are ferocious. OH. YUNNAN DOESN'T EAT DOGS OKAY. In most of Shangri-La, Lijiang, and Dali, dogs are pets and guard-dogs. I see gorgeous cross breeds, tiny chihuahuas and terriers, and lovely malamutes, huskies and german shepherds.

We have dry rations in the backpacks. In case we get lost or some silly crap in the locals' backyard. A sugar boost is also needed during these hours. But food like hard-boiled eggs and maize are a great idea if you could be bothered to cook it first. They keep well for the whole day in these temperatures. Even if they turn cold, they're still crunchy. Love those eggs and super-sweet maize. It's fun snacking on them. Biodegradable too. We pack our own garbage down the mountains. Right now, these mountains are still pristine, the trails mainly used by villagers. But as the area gets more tourists, they might not care so much and the few pieces of plastic junk will pile up to become 'garbage heaps'.

No walk is ever a good one unless we get all muddy. Wooohooo. Often we climb up the hills and into the mountains, often swinging by shrubs and rocks, and jumping across ledges. If you look at where you land and time the jumps, it's much easier than sinking into mud, animal poop and sharp rocks.

Our clothes are all trekking gear. Dri-fit sort. Thin but provides insulation. Perfect for us when we pack a month's worth of stuff into a backpack and a cabin-sized suitcase. We wash clothes in the nights and they dry by the morning. Mud, no problem. It cakes and falls off when dried. We don't even bother cleaning our shoes except stomp on the ground to shake off excess mud. It'll either fall off on the next walk or accumulate even more. Hahahaha.

Love hanging out beyond Lijiang's Old Towns. Those are really grating. The surrounding villages provide a respite, each possessing distinct characters. If no one is hosting us, we always manage to lunch at a random local eatery before continuing the trek to the next village across a few hilltops. The scenery that opens up at each turn is always worth all the effort. So much green, so much land. The vastness of all that space is mind-boggling.

Creature Comforts in Lijiang at The Bivou

Didn't need a mega five-star resort or that S$600-a-night boutique luxury. I'm still missing mountains and would gladly do a no-shower no-proper-flush-toilet stay anytime back there in the cool mist and green. Glad we chose the small cosy The Bivou (佖屋) for our stop in Lijiang. Housed within the old houses and fully refurbished, it offers an oasis away from the bustle of Shuhe (束河).

We took a tiny garden room that was really comfortable. Except maybe for that weird awkward misaligned sliding door/cabinet to the shower. Hot water, heaters, electricity (that does stop once in a bit, but less often than Zhongdian), plenty of sockets that didn't require adaptors for our three-pin plugs, etc. Well, it's run by Singaporeans, so there's a sort of efficiency that's comforting. Things do work, perhaps not according to one's expectations, but chugging along to what the town can do.

Delicious local-style mushroom soup.

There's a full shelf of books in the dining room that offers more insights by various writers into Lijiang and Yunnan's history. Very nice to sit down for an hour to read through what they have. It was inspiring enough for me to thumb through cookbooks on the region's cuisines, photography journals and notes on the Ancient Tea Horse Road (茶马古道).

The Bivou tries to reach out to travelers and tailors trails and treks that are slightly different from the rest of the operators offer. They work with the surrounding villages, and the guides seem to have been well briefed and trained. All my emails have been answered promptly, in English. With that hint of Singaporean phrasing. Hehehehe. Honestly, I find it a tad torturous to have to conduct every conversation in Mandarin. It isn't my thought-language.

Many nights, we retreat to the silence of Bivou for dinner instead of dealing with the crowds outside. Mainly we're tired after long treks. After a hot shower and all, it's 7pm and we're too lazy to head out again except to the hotel's dining room. Sprawling out there with a beer is great. Hehehe. The a-yis cook us delicious food and consciously use less on oil and salt because we requested for that. One evening, the stir-fried greens presented themselves as baby bokchoi (小白菜). Was so tickled because it felt so 'at home'.

The daily breakfast spread is small and lovely. With none of the cold-metal trays of big-chain hotel buffets, but all the warmth of bread baskets and little plates.

Granola, muesli, yoghurt, freshly squeezed orange juice, cold and hot milk, and loaves of homebaked bread. Mains are rotated daily. It could be Spanish omelette, scrambled eggs, sausages or even noodles. Love the coffee. Good strong thick black coffee from local beans. Mmmm.

Stomach space has shrunk even more on this trip. Shed the city fats and am seriously trim. As it is, I don't eat very much, and am not bothered about breakfast, especially not if it's a really early wake-up call. However, on days when we head out for a walk and not planning to get lunch till later, I nibble on the toast and honey. Just in case I really don't get another meal till like 4pm. On other days, I grudgingly do congee. Half a bowl would do nicely. The hotel puts out a pot of congee every day with simple condiments for the guests. Grinned at the tray of bottles and roasted peanuts. The condiments are very Cantonese. Preserved stuff. No nutrition but I like for the high salt content. Kekekeke.

去白沙村吃饭

Decided to walk over for lunch at neighboring Baisha Village (白沙村) instead of paying horrendous prices for unsatisfying and not-great food in Old Town (古城) and Shuhe (束河). We started from Shuhe. The normally one-hour walk took two hours because we stopped and did jump shots and silly things like that. The route there was tranquil and lovely enough to grab a few photos.

Baisha Village is compact and small and not yet as stupidly commercialized. Definitely a welcome change; I'll grudgingly describe it as 'charming'. Stared at its famous Buddhist murals and frescoes depicting the town's history and development of religion. But I didn't want to see temples with Chinese architecture. I live in Southeast Asia, and Singapore at that. So we didn't bother about seeing anymore places of worship after looking at Fuguo Temple (白沙村福国寺).

Randomly watched a program on CCTV about Suzhou embroidery (苏绣) last night, and was given an explanation on what stitches and stuff to look out for in factory-made and hand-sewn works, especially when the threads used are of the same quality. So it was at least interesting to step into The Baisha Naxi Embroidery Institute (白沙锦绣艺术院) to admire its works.

Found a super local eatery right at the edge of town and plonked ourselves there for lunch. Woot. ¥10 (~ SGD 2.18) for a bowl of noodles or fried rice was most acceptable. Way better than the kertok ¥45 and above (~ SGD 9.84) a plate in the Old Town or Shuhe. Those aren't even like the food's served in a proper clean lovely smoke-free restaurant with shiny cutlery and utensils that aren't stained, chipped or covered with a thin layer of grease (because they don't use detergent to wash the stacks of dirty dishes and cutlery). I'm talking about staple Naxi fried rice in a small portion for one person leh, not like it's the strangely-popular western food of spaghetti bolognese or a burger or something, which are usually priced higher than local fare.

We sat outdoors on the little stools because indoors were totally smoked out by cigarettes. UGH. Outside was a much more pleasant experience. Ordered random noodles (肉碎米线) and Naxi fried rice (纳西炒饭). They held preserved vegetables and pickles. Also came with a side dish of pickled chilli. YUMMY. Something about those sour-salty pickles made the dishes most delicious.

束河后山

“边陲古城气势雄，遍布名胜醉春风。遥望玉龙琼山峻，俯视墨潭泉液通。万朵茶花一半山，千翠绿树十三峰。佛洞烟霞锁翠微，金沙虎跳腾碧空。” 

《滇西游记》

As it is, this rainy season, it's already not-so-high tourist season compared to April/May/June and September/October. But it is the domestic school holidays in this month, so people are still traveling. The crowds in Lijiang are too frazzling. Can't deal with them. I miss the quiet of Zhongdian. Decided to hit the trails where there aren't many humans out and about. Went up the back hills of Shuhe (束河). The thing is, these trails are literally in someone's backyard. City folks won't have that luxury of 'just heading out for a walk'. I'm seizing every moment to get out amongst nature. A two-hour walk is short. Three hours would be just nice.

These trails have almost zero animal poop on them. Didn't see many animals either. Birds, yes. These trails are too close to the Old Towns. It's either too frequently used by humans or too much construction going on. When we were up there, lots of tractor marks all across digging sides out of the mountains to build dunno-what. We're lucky to see this now. Years later, they'll probably build more resorts up here.

Saw many graves and paused to read the headstones. These were Han Chinese graves and not done in the ornate way that Southeast Asian Chinese do. (Think our Bukit Brown Cemetery) It was bright and sunny when we climbed up. An hour in, it began raining. But as the way mountains are, the rain stops after twenty minutes or so. Then the trails are safe to walk again. Of course the slight danger is in slipping on the mud and loose stones. Clearly, before this trip, we've sorted out insurance and the sorts.

Didn't take that many photos of humans. Each one of myself is in an unglamorous squat on some rock. Grrrrr. My friends lah! Dunno why they keep catching me in those moments.

Wandered up to a rocky area with red ribbons tied around the tree branches. Assumed it meant 'ascent'. But OOPS. Too late. It might have meant 'danger'. We walked straight onto a narrow ledge where it's tough to put two feet side by side. Precipice. Death down left. Bloody hell. Like that trip at Mount Hua (华山，华阴市，西安).  At least we were prepared then.

This time, we had only four carabiners, no quickdraws and no climbing ropes. Because we thought this was going to be an EASY WALK. Hugged the stones as we navigated the bends. No one could circle past those unless you've lived in these mountains all your life, or if you're a goat. Treaded gingerly, then gave up. Had to backtrack to seek out a more stable route. Some muddy paths led to dead ends. Basket. Did I mention I have this fear of heights that I keep trying conquer?

That was suitably scary. Plus the rain started again and didn't abate. The intensity increased till we had to pull out raincovers for the backpacks. Found the paths we took and re-traced it downhill. It was 4.30pm. Didn't want to be caught searching for paths by sundown. These hills weren't our familiar backyard. We had supplies and food but those weren't enough preparedness. With no climbing equipment on a trail like this, it was time to head back. 

真的是去丽江买鞋子吗？

Work is over! Taking a break now. Asked M why we couldn't stay in Zhongdian/Shangri-La to play and needed to trot over to Lijiang (丽江). She said she wanted to buy shoes. I was like...WHUT. Couldn't believe she dared to tell me that during trip-planning months earlier. Imagine how far back my eyes rolled, and I actually humored her.

Yup. Our sole purpose in hopping over to the annoying-touristy Lijiang was for M to buy shoes at one of those street stalls. BUY SHOES. Win liao lor. Like we don't have shoes in Singapore where a million malls exist. KILL ME NOW.

Nope. After checking out shops for two days, she didn't buy a single pair of shoes. The fashion trends have shifted since she last bought shoes in the designs and color combinations she likes. In the end, she bought shawls. The plain-colored cotton ones that are easy on the eye and useful in Singapore's humid heat.

I honestly can't tell the difference between Lijiang Old Town and Vietnam's Huế or Hội An. Okay I'm being sarcastic. Architecture in Lijiang is very influenced by Han Chinese traditions rather than Tibetan culture. I suppose it's like how the minority tribes sourced for a compromise between cultures and pragmatic concerns and have evolved building design over the centuries. There's the UNESCO Old Town of Lijiang (丽江古城) where you pay ¥80 (~ SGD 17.68) EACH TIME you enter. I understand it's for preservation purposes. BUT. EACH TIME??! Jeeez. Vietnam's Hội An Ancient Town currently charges a fair VND120,000 (~ SGD 7.39) for a day or two, I think; Huế Imperial City levies a VND150,000 (~ SGD 9.24) entry fee. Plenty of bars and beer joints in Old Town (古城). Rather frazzling. Didn't like it years back, still don't like it now.

Dali (大理) isn't so bad yet but it's getting there. Their culture and traditions is a mix of Bai and Han. The city levies weird ticket charges at monasteries, chair lifts and even on mountain trails surrounding their Old Town. Lijiang's Old Town and Shuhe (束河) strangely felt like Hội An and Huế. There's the new-old town they created out of Shuhe's old village houses. It's not the 'original-designated-original Old Town' but hey, the buildings are same-old-same-old. Shuhe holds fewer drinking joints and seems to be going for a cafe-feel. Is it politically correct to say this.... it feels like those little cafes in Kaoshiung, Hsinchu, Hualien or Chiayi .... Just three years ago, Shuhe is made up of only three streets. Now it has expanded. A cappuccino at a random cafe is more expensive than Singapore at ¥35 (~SGD 7.60), and quite crap at that.