singapore gaga

a warm, whimsical and altogether wondrous musical odyssey through the mrt stations, underpasses, and the nooks and crannies of singapore. the premise is a simple one: to explore singapore through any and all kinds of music. in john cage's 4'33", which is performed by margaret leng tan at a void deck in the movie, the piano is silent but it does not mean that there is no music. the point is to listen intently to the background noise we take for granted and find the music inherent within. tan pin pin listens well and is generous in sharing with us what she has heard.

the movie flits easily from the high culture of avant garde music to the populist culture of school music lessons to the one-dollar ditty of the woman selling tissue packets. it shows us worlds we might not normally be privy to: a madrasah's sports day, the ferrying of migrant workers.

the result, in 55 compact minutes, is a fascinating mosaic of singapore in which a genuine empathy and compassion for the overlooked and the ignored comes shining through.

Kings of Convenience

Was bummed out when the Kings of Convenience gig at the Esplanade was sold out three weeks in advance. At D's suggestion, decided to try my luck for returns at the box office today. Ecstatic to find out that a couple of tickets had been released at the last moment and I was able to get two seats.

I had expected a mellow, mellifluous and melodic evening, and the KoC delivered this in spades. They began with Until You Understand from their 2000 Play Live in a Room EP, followed by Love Is No Big Truth and Cayman Islands off Riot on an Empty Street. They also performed Misread and Gold in the Air of Summer from 'Riot,' while Quiet is the New Loud was represented by a slightly speeded-up variation of Toxic Girl, I Don’t Know What I Can Save You From, and Winning a Battle, Losing the War, which segued into The Girl from Back Then. They also performed a new song, which was as anguished as KoC have ever been, with a plaintive repetition of 'I can never belong to you.' The most exquisite moment came with the thrilling intimacy of listening to Homesick in the darkened hall, 'two soft voices blended in perfection' indeed. The absence of Failure and Weight Of My Words hardly even put a dent in my enjoyment.

And they proved to have a few tricks up their sleeves as well. Audience participation was encouraged on a couple of songs - to whistle the viola part on Stay Out Of Trouble, to snap our fingers, to hum along, and most exhilaratingly, to dance. Eirik was soft-spoken and the quieter of the two, and yet it was perfectly apt to hear him proclaim "Rock n Roll Singapore!" during the set-closing I'd Rather Dance With You, a measure of the surprising turn the concert had taken. Erlend was unexpectedly funny and cheeky, inviting folks to take advantage of second row seats for which sponsors had failed to show. The versatile DJ Oye, who had spun a set the night before, also gamely danced a gangly dance. There was even a Norwegian birthday song for the lone guy, Rico, who admitted it was his birthday in response to the band's open query, backed by the small but enthusiastic contingent of Norwegian fans.

It was obvious that they loved performing in Singapore and the feelgood vibe was infectious. They were two guys with guitars, tapping their feet and singing their songs and it was an inspiring sight. They revelled in the fact that two guys from Bergen, Norway was playing before a crowd of 1600 in Singapore and admitted that if anyone had suggested such a scenario a couple of years back, only the optimists would have believed. Erlend chipped in to say that their mothers' response would have been 'Hmm.'

The encore was Little Kids and, D had to point this out, A-Ha's Manhattan Skyline. KoC then endearingly took photos of each other with the audience in the background. And thus ended a very lovely evening for Eirik and Erlend and us.

jiuzhaigou/huanglong

the accident happened at about 9.00am. the ipod had time-stamped REM's 'bad day' (hah!) at 8.56am and it was about two-thirds through all saints' 'never ever,' which clocks in at 6min25s.

“Never ever”
we swerve off the road.
“have I felt so low”
the car is spinning…
“When you gonna”
and spinning…
“take me out of”
and spinning…
“this black hole”
and judders to a stop.
i take off my earphones.

the car had slammed into a barrier of bushes with its wheels wedged between loose rock. there hadn’t been time to panic and we were just lucky no one was hurt. we couldn’t even blame the driver, who was driving very slowly (too slow, i had thought) and had even chain-linked the front tires.
things to ruminate on standing by the side of the road waiting for a replacement vehicle to arrive – 80s pop songs which transcended the era’s cheesiness to emerge as classics.

missed our 10am flight out of jiuzhaigou, which, annoyingly enough, took off on time. as the other two flights were fully booked, had to wait until everyone else had checked in for the next flight. which we got seats for, which was then delayed, and was the last flight out of jiuzhaigou that day.

plans to have a good sichuan meal in chengdu were dashed. but the food at the airport was pretty good, in particular the mapo tofu, a drier, more robust version of the dish that one normally finds. even the basic tomato egg soup tasted good. guess the flavours were enhanced by the fact that we were out of jiuzhai’s chilly airport, and were safe and sound on lower ice-free ground.

jiuzhaigou/huanglong

since jzg was covered in a day, decided to go to huanglong for the day. wu shifu's quote was 550rmb, while ma shifu's was 300rmb. it sounded too good to be true, which it was. guess it was his thick sichuan accent that led to the miscommunication. first thing he asked when he saw us was where our bags were. when he realised that we were planning to return to jiuzhai paradise, kept harping on the fact that we should have stayed in chuanzhusi, which was much closer to the airport. ok, so maybe he was right, but i wasn't about to concede that. so what if i like being ensconced in paradise? after the cab trundled reluctantly for a while, we struck a deal. told ma that we should compromise at 400rmb, which he tacitly accepted by picking up speed.
enroute to huanglong, we stopped at a scenic lookout for a glimpse of xuebaoding, which topped out at 5580m. was more excited to see a thick sea of clouds (yunhai) which ma claimed was the thickest he'd ever seen as well. we had to dip below the yunhai to reach huanglong, but as the sun rose, the clouds dissipated.
c had remarked that there didn't seem to be any vehicles on the road (which was helpfully bisected by chunks of ice down the middle), not even tour buses. reached huanglong at 9.30 am to find it completely deserted, the ticket booth closed, the visitors centre shut. !!??@#$ was about to enter the park gratis when a minivan came by and casually coughed up a couple of park workers. so we got our tickets after all, 60rmb (off-peak, 200rmb otherwise.) we even ended up with a guide of sorts, a park worker who walked ahead of us, waited when we fell behind and answered our queries. learnt that the mountain was actually closed from 15 nov to 15 mar. which explained a lot. but he added that they would not turn anyone away if they had come all the way to huanglong in the winter months. began to wonder at some point if he would ask for money, but he didn’t. felt small and mean when saying thanks and waving goodbye when leaving the park.
which turned out to be a very pleasant experience. we were wandering in a winter wonderland, with all manner of frosted trees and plants, with the lightly-sugared conifers looking good enough to eat from a distance. in contrast to jiuzhaigou, most of the water remained frozen, including a waterfall or two. but narnia was thawing and the highest pool we reached, multi-coloured pool (wucaichi), was filled with limpid water. except for 2 other tourists, we had the park to ourselves. lunch comprised of desiccated granola bars and biscuits at a pavilion; our guide refused to take anything.

given my first night's experience and ma's scare-mongering, had ended up buying two cans of oxygen for 100rmb, just in case. (they were sold at 20rmb a can at the airport.) ended up not using them on huanglong, though after the trip and the twisty-winding 2hr journey back to jiuzhai paradise, the headache rolled in again. happily, shooting up with oxygen (c's tank appeared to be filled with nitrous oxide instead) and downing a panadol worked.
after a nap, had an early dinner at about 5.30pm. no problems this time as the tour group masses weren't scheduled to be fed yet. 140rmb for hotplate black pepper yak, which was tender, vegetables, soup (bland), and dandan noodles in clear soup. the abysmal food situation in paradise was definitely a drawback. presumably it was less dire during tourist season with more restaurants open, but venturing out of paradise for meals would be both inconvenient and costly given that cabs were the primary means of transport.

jiuzhaigou/huanglong

up at 6.30 am. didn't sleep well. decided the altitude was responsible. mercifully, the headache did not reappear and my appetite was back. breakfast (included) was a full buffet spread but since i couldn't stomach a full chinese meal at 7 in the morning, appetite or no, ended up with sausages, an egg, bread and tepid coffeewater.
no cabs waiting outside so asked the hotel for help and wu shifu was duly produced. 120rmb to and from the entrance to jzg. seemed to be a fixed price structure in place, albeit one that was fixed high. the fact that it was off-peak season meant no real options either. wu told us later that his wife worked at the hotel and that he was staying there as well. promised us lowest possible rates and even rooms in peak season if we contacted him.
paid 160rmb for the entrance ticket, which could be used for a second day if your mug is scanned onto the ticket at the point of purchase. this was only valid during the off-peak season (16 nov to 31 mar), as was the discounted ticket price (310rmb otherwise).
happily, jzg lived up to its reputation and was beautiful, with its clear crystalline pools of blue and aquamarine and gorgeous waterfalls of impressive breadth. and still, everyone kept saying it would be even more spectacular in spring, and especially in the fall, when the riot of colours are in full bloom. but the thought of crowds in multiples of what we encountered was not an enticing one.

there was a structured route within the park and one hopped off and on the minivans at the designated vistas, though it was entirely possible to walk as well. still, the days of staying overnight in the park area in the tibetan villages (or zhai) were long gone.
lunch was 25rmb at the main rest stop-cum-indoor shopping bazaar. decided no point forking out extra for the 40rmb VIP buffet. 25rmb meant no meat. well, there were purportedly meat dishes but they vanished quickly and refills were not forthcoming, while the soup tasted of no natural flavour known to man.
was out of the park by about 3, somewhat to the surprise of our driver.
no more hotpot given its long-lasting lingering smell so the only other option was to order dishes at the main chinese restaurant. traipsed up to the second floor only to be asked to order on the first floor as they were tied up with tour groups; patience tried when first floor tried to shunt us back to second. eventually accommodated in yet another cavernous dining area. helped that there was an irate couple behind us who wanted to order dishes as well. 84rmb for salted fish brinjal claypot, which came swimming in oil though it did go well with rice, and veggies in soup, which was too salty.

jiuzhaigou/huanglong

a journey of a thousand li begins... through the jerkways additional gates, ie the terminal for flights within chengdu. there was time for lunch before the connecting flight to jiuzhai, 39rmb for bear palm tofu (exotic name for a simple dish; no bears involved) and yuxiang rousi (fish sauce pork strips).
arrived at jiuzhaigou to find that the bus option to jiuzhai paradise was out as the people manning the counter had “left for the day.” this was 2 in the afternoon. ended up taking a cab for 200rmb. the listed price was 180rmb, the 20rmb top-up was due to icy roads.
enroute to the hotel, ma shifu whipped out a disc and the front right flap rotated downwards to reveal a screen. he was pushing huanglong for some reason but we weren't sure if we had enough time to go but i nodded along, hoping he would keep his attention on the road instead.
it snowed twice during the car journey. once for a brief spell, the other time growing steadily heavier with hail getting into the mix.
the journey to jiuzhai paradise took abt an hour. entered into a freezing atrium where the reception was located, dotted by the occasional brazier. c proclaimed it vegasy. perhaps the tibetan stone buildings, the ponds crisscrossed with wooden walkways and replete with swans and ducks and egrets would have been right at home on the strip. unusually for me, had decided to splurge on accommodations and be pampered at a five-star resort. a rave from e, who had just been, certainly helped. at any rate, 690rmb a night for a standard room seemed reasonable. since it was the lull season, we were bumped up to a mountain-view room, which featured tibetan motifs mixed with lampshades with beaded fringes and a mock fireplace. the overall effect was actually quite pleasant instead of bewildering as unfortunate mix-n-matches were. the mountain view was bracing and the mock fireplace alcove with a thoughtful configuration of a sofa and a lounge chair was perfect for reading/watching tv/snacking/napping.
realised the paintings in the sprawling 1200 room hotel could all have been by the same artist. with 3 in each room and a couple lining the hallways, sometimes even in pairs, that must have worked out to a really sweet deal. the paintings themselves featured a yellow and green background marked with random chinese ink brushstrokes. inoffensive enough for a few thousand pieces to congregate in one location i guess.
was alas affected by the altitude - had a headache, mild nausea and zero appetite come dinner time. good thing the panadol helped. listened to some music before going to sleep and found an unexpected beat - the pounding of blood in my head.

at first listen, Death Cab for Cutie's 'marching bands of manhattan' wasn't particularly distinctive. there was a definite pop-sheen to it, perhaps courtesy of the major-label debut, but the chorus seemed a little too direct, banal even. the simplicity of the lyrics however, turns out to be perfectly mirrored in the music. each repetition of 'it slowly rises, your love is gonna drown' is accompanied by a greater swell of music until the final 'drown' is choked off. the music stops; you're completely submerged.

also check out DCfC's Ben Gibbard's side project, Postal Service. more specifically, their perfect single 'such great heights.'

current song that i can't get out of my head, beyonce's 'check on it.' don't really care what she's singing and as it turns out, the lyrics are suitably generic. it's all about the rhythm, the beat, the music, and the boobs and ass video.

it's the music i notice first. good lyrics wrapped in lousy music would be better off as poetry. but there's also the start that u sometimes get when u realise that the words aren't quite up to the music (eg, james blunt's 'you're beautiful.' not.) it can be more fun figuring out what u think Kings of Leon are singing about (try 'the bucket') than the actual lyrics themselves. the perfect marriage of music and lyrics is rare, and all the more satisfying for it. travis' driftwood in which the circular structure of the song brings to mind the swirling eddies of the river is one such song for me.

hangzhou

hitting major attractions today. first stop, lingyin temple, temple of secluded inspiration, built in AD 326, which would mean the info on the back of the ticket is wrong. and which was already thronging with tourists, devotees and peddlers at 8.30 in the morning. "During the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) celebrations, about 70,000 people per day come to the temple to worship." good to know. temples are not generally my thing, think I overdosed on the ones in and around beijing, but lingyinsi does have its attractions: the "traditional depiction of guanyin and the 500 arhats at vulture peak" with its detailed rendition of heaven, earth and sea, as well as a 20-m high statue of Sikamoni, the 'second largest indoor one.' (more info at www.orientalarchitecture.com/hangzhou/LINGYIN.htm)
took 35 rmb to get into the attraction area and another 30 rmb to get into the temple grounds. the area also features the flying-from-afar-peak, with sculpted figures from the 10th to 14th centuries. both the peak and the temple had escaped largely unscathed from the cultural revolution due to the intervention of premier zhou enlai. the peak was also home to ‘a slit of sky’ which can only be viewed from one particular spot (helpfully marked by a daub of paint) in a cave. more like ‘a speck of sky’ though it certainly wasn’t helped by the overcast sky. soon got disgruntled by the crowds at the temple of inspired seclusion. it was even more crowded when I left, with the road to the temple backed up for a ways.


took Y2 (one of the tourist bus routes) to the ‘broken bridge’ for 3 rmb. timed it for an early lunch at louwailou, a dining institution dating back to 1848 located on an islet (though linked to the bank) in West Lake. ordered the hangzhou specialties: west lake carp in sweet and sour sauce (38 rmb), longjing shrimp (98 rmb), fish soup (13.5 rmb) and a glass of longjing tea (3 rmb). the carp’s vinegary sauce grew rather monotonous, though it was true that the grass carp did not taste of mud. which meant that they were usually full of muddy crap? failed to detect any delicate longjing fragrance in the shrimp, though it could have been masked by the vinegar I was dunking it in. a couple who came in at abt the same time I did grew irate waiting for their soup, which arrived as I was getting my check. left the lunchtime melee to find an irritable line of hungry folk waiting.
paid 45 rmb for a boat ride to two of west lake’s islets: huxinting (mid lake pavilion) and sanyueyintan (3 pools reflecting the moon). the vistas were invariably disappointing and i soon tired of yet another ‘fantastic scene.’ the Chinese signs are decidedly less grating, if no less lofty in their descriptions.
decided not to go up leifeng tower, though of all the monuments and attractions, this was the one with the greatest immediacy since it was where Lady White Snake of legend was imprisoned. still, the 40 rmb entry was a put-off. besides, the best views of the tower were not from the tower itself, a fact that was grasped by many. perhaps realizing that getting people to climb up a newly-constructed structure would be an uphill battle, the leifeng tower featured a superior marketing campaign complete with glossy posters on the ‘mystery’ of the tower.
headed back to the hostel to pick up my bag before leaving for the airport. the thing about staying in a youth hostel is that whenever you ask for advice, you get the cheap option. query about what time to leave for the airport meandered into calculating the time to get to the bus stop and then the journey time for the shuttle itself. had to somewhat sheepishly tell them I was just planning to catch a cab. the attempt to bargain with the cabbie down to 70 rmb failed, so it was meter on, which came to 82 rmb in the end. the out-of-the-way location of the airport in xiaoshan had apparently brought down one mayor as it was the result of bribery.
tried the airport express in beijing for the first time. 16 rmb and it reached dongzhimen in under 30 min. sweet.

hangzhou

breakfast of red bean paste buns (3 rmb) and freshly brewed coffee (15 rmb). and spectacle of a bratty girl who deserved a kick in the pants for mouthing off to her parents. but her rudest remark earned not the slightest rebuke. if you let your kids ride roughshod over you, maybe you deserve what you get.



decided to go to wuzhen, a water town with ming-qing era buildings extant. missed the tour bus at 8 am (65 rmb roundtrip) so had to make my way to hangzhou east bus station instead. next bus to wuzhen was full, advised to make my way to tongxiang (20 rmb) instead. was quite impressed with the hangzhou bus station. there was actually a system, and one that was actually stuck to. tickets are scanned before one boards the bus and, as learnt from a harried ticket scanner, the bus couldn’t leave till all tickets sold had been scanned and all the seats accounted for. bus was new, clean and comfy; they even provided bottles of mineral water. easy listening French pop came on, though that ended and was replaced by a chatty radio broadcast. journey took an hour and then caught a shuttle bus (4.30 rmb), which took another 20 minutes. once we reached wuzhen, bought the return ticket to hangzhou first, 22 rmb, 4.20 pm bus. continued to shadow this group who had also come to wuzhen via tongxiang and bought the same return ticket to hangzhou. the group was headed by this somewhat obnoxious guy, who did however, seem to know what he was doing. so ended up at cuixianguan for lunch. came to 44 rmb, which was not cheap considering the state of the restaurant. but the food was surprisingly good, tau pok stuffed with vegetables, hongshao chicken pieces which were tender and pleasantly chewy.
60 rmb to get into wuzhen (http://www.wuzhen.com.cn/) and hello tourist hordes!
reminiscent of lijiang old town, but decidedly less blatantly commercial. effort to preserve traditional crafts by hawking them as souvenirs – blue-dyed cloth, alcohol, snacks and candies. tried wumeigao which was a muffin-like confection but with a red bean paste filling. maybe should have eaten lunch within wuzhen. the ticket also gave one access to specific parts of the old town that had been preserved, including pawn shop, distillery, cloth-dyer, shadow-puppet show, dioramas of social customs.
the overcast sky eventually spewed a very fine drizzle.
went to yan’an road for dinner. wanted to check out zhiweiguan, or the magnificently-named 'flavour savouring tower.' had the oddly-named but appetizing cat’s ears, yummy dumplings in soup and the xiaolongbao, which were dried out and disappointing. polished off with red bean soup. grand total of 19.5 rmb. this was all on the first floor of the tower, which was a food court for the masses. perfect for single travelers since one could try various foods in one place. tough finding a seat though. one could enjoy sit down service on the higher levels, presumably at a premium.
hangzhou strikes one as a place where one could eat and shop well. some familiar Beijing establishments such as tiandiyijia (high-end classy restaurant) and babyface (club) were here as well. there was even a high-end shopping enclave (guess it’s not a mall) where giorgio armani, hermes et al rubbed shoulders. certainly important elements in the bid to receive the sobriquet of china’s most liveable city. (hangzhou was ranked sixth.)
though as a cabbie complained, the cost of living was even higher than beijing’s. damned tourists.

hangzhou

an 8 am flight is not one of my favourite things. made less so by the dreaded phrase ‘delayed due to fog.’ to add insult to injury, even the flight for fogsville dalian took off. and now for something completely unexpected, kudos to the service industry. air china actually provided breakfast while we waited: steamed buns (with and without red bean paste filling), hard-boiled egg, pickled veg, gruel. (hands-down best service ever in china award however goes to xueliang optometrist who provides services such as replacing the nose-pads of spectacles, for free! even though I didn’t make the glasses there! and offering tea while i waited!)
eventually took off at 10.30 am, which was of course, the time of my original flight on hainan airlines which was later postponed to 3 pm, hence the switch to the air china flight.
bought map of hangzhou for 5 rmb at the airport with the guy insisting at first that the tattered copy I was holding was a new one. let the games begin.
first cab I got into, driver said ‘it’s an expensive cab’ and asked for 160 rmb. having gotten a yardstick figure of 100 rmb fr a friend who was just here, hopped right out. the next cab had the meter going. fare came to 83 rmb, and the cabbie asked for 100 rmb. sure, since it was the second day of the new year.
took a while to find the hostel (http://www.jiangnanyi.com/) as it was tucked into the side of a hillslope. had reserved a single with an attached bathroom for 180 rmb. (prices are up fr 150 rmb normally.) place is located on the west side of the lake, but not on the bank. it’s also the less developed side, so it’s quieter but less convenient for food, shopping etc. the room was fine, though youth hostels in china=thin mattresses. would also have preferred heating in the bathroom, but at least no problems with the hot water. the staff were friendly enough, if a little harried at breakfast time given that it was fully booked. a tick in the plus column if u like animals. there were at least 3 cats and 2 dogs which had the run of the place, including a puppyish puppy, all excitable and energetic and lying down every so often, exhausted by its own enthusiasm. (the other youth hostel is located right on the east bank and within walking distance of grub and malls on yan’an road.)


decided to walk down to the lakeside after dumping the bag in the room. first major sight was ‘viewing fish at flower pond.’ west lake has, 10 or 18 or 20, such setpieces, often evocative of a season (malting (sic) snow at broken bridge, autumn moon over the clam (sic) lake) or specific time of day (three pools mirroring the moon, leifeng pagoda in evening glow). in other words, none are at their best in heavy fog. but this being the Chinese new year break, tourist groups abound, a multitudinous wave of humanity determined to enjoy the peace and quiet of west lake. or not. still, there were pockets of stumbled-upon solitude and unexpected beauty. the ma yifu memorial hall, located in the jiang villa, was largely deserted, the tour groups having made a beeline for the stressed-out and overfed red carp.
traversed the 2.8 km su causeway on foot. bought a steamed wine-dark corncob for 5 rmb. looked better than it tasted.
didn’t want dinner at a tourist trap, so walked down beishan road for a bit as the official (and free) hangzhou guide had a few places helpfully listed on that street. (www.gotohz.com is a good place to check out some basic facts regarding hangzhou. the printed English copy is a lot more detailed than what’s available in English online though.) went into the first one, caiyun xuan, that looked as if locals might dine there. ordering for one is a pain. ended up with dongpo pork, which thankfully came in single serving portions of 8 rmb. the amount of fat in one serving though would have busted any RDA requirement. still, it was melt-in-your-mouth fat which went splendidly with the tender morsels of meat. also, some mishmash dish of chicken, luncheon meat and pig’s stomach (28 rmb) which was soupy and passable, as well as a large bowl of pian’erchuan (8 rmb, noodles in soup with pork slices and veggies). considering the prices, 8 rmb for a glass of chrysanthemum tea was steep.
too tired to navigate the public transport system, so took a cab back. to find the lobby of the hostel packed with diners. huh.

harbin

4-7/1/06
finally made it to harbin in winter. it felt like a trip that i should make, in part because of the proximity to beijing, in part to see the spectacular spectacle of the ice and snow carvings. kept it putting it off though since the thought of being somewhere colder than jilin wasn't too appealing. so yes, harbin was cold; ice routinely formed on the inside of our minibus' windows. even swathed and swaddled in layers of clothing and 'winter proof' outerwear, one could only take so much of the chilly outdoors at one go. the trick to avoiding frostbite was to wear thin gloves that one could operate the camera with as opposed to wearing thick gloves that one had to remove at regular intervals for deadly exposure to the air.

overheard in the lift lobby: what do u call a group of diplomats? a gaggle? a school? a flock?
a murder maybe? a web perhaps, since everyone was outfitted in the matching spyder ski suits provided by the organizers. it looked like an amateur skiers' convention every time we gathered. and judging from the caps, an unusually high proportion of whom were pacers' fans.

on the first night, we went to the 32nd ice lantern exhibition at zhaolin park, site of the 1st (and subsequent?) exhibitions. was actually a little disappointed since i was expecting monumental edifices of ice and snow but this was only of a slightly larger scale than ice carvings i had seen in jilin.
the 18th snow carving exhibition the next morning was much more impressive. (these events were all part of the 22nd ice and snow festival.) followed by a visit to the siberian tigers park. tigers roaming free? that's nice. why weren't we in reinforced vehicles? wouldn't the tigers associate vehicles with food since they were fed from vehicles? oh cool, that's a tiger close by. here, kitty kitty. ok, that's too close.

took the post-lunch break to go to church sofia. church was gorgeous, all red brick and green-domed. the 25 rmb to go inside was kind of a ripoff though. there was a photographic exhibition and models of a few major buildings in harbin, but the interior was in rather bad shape. still, nice that they had cleared the buildings surrounding the church as they were apparently pressing in upon the structure.


the official opening ceremony of the festival was in the afternoon. the proclamation was followed rather incongruously by an entire program of dance presented by a russian troupe. no complaints since it was entertaining. the women displayed vegas-style razzle-dazzle while the men showcased acrobatic athleticism. guess it tied in with the whole russia-in-china year thing and the russian theme of the various exhibitions.
the banquet which followed took place in a hall saturated with baijiu fumes. good thing drinking it was not mandatory since one imbibed quite a bit just from breathing.
the highlight of the festival was the grand ice and snow world. unfortunately, we only had about 45 min there so it was a mad rush, twisting my neck to watch the fireworks while pressing on from spectacle to spectacle, and wondering about the supporting strength of ice whilst wedged in the midst of a crowd climbing up icy stairs.

skipped the buffet lunch at the hotel to walk down central pedestrian street instead. the cobbled street, wrought-iron streetlamps and russian buildings gave the area a very european feel. as long as one squinted and ignored the chinese signboards and the surrounding building blocks.

had lunch at huamei, in business since 1925. should have tried getting a table on the second floor since that was done up in russian fine dining style. the borscht (3 rmb a bowl) was a little spicy (is it supposed to be?) and the steak (24 rmb) was tender and peppery, though it came in strips. perhaps best to think of it as chinese-style russian food. meal for 2 came to 78 rmb, including 3 rmb for 2 licks of butter and 2 rmb for a large dollop of jam.
sought out russian food again for dinner. tried portman's, which seemed to be popular with the locals but turned out to be rather disappointing. was a sucker for anything prefixed by russian on the menu so tried red caviar (salty, 38 rmb), chicken leg salad (reminiscent of a waldorf salad because of the apple slices, 17 rmb), pork pancakes (12 rmb), cream of corn (blah, 10 rmb), and kebab sticks (deep-fried rather than grilled pork, beef, fish and potato, 24 rmb). the only dish of note was the pork which was tender and came piping hot. decided to go to this other restaurant, Russia, for dessert. should have gone for dinner instead. it was a cosy place with under 10 tables and lined with Russian bric-a-brac (what is Russian for bric-a-brac?) around the edges of the room. just as importantly, it had a menu that looked inviting. ran into a media friend who was covering the festival and learnt that the place was famous for its sausages. alas, dessert did not seem to be its strong point, though russian tea (ie. tea with jam) was a pleasant novelty.
optional trip to xiangfang grand world of lanterns in the evening. hmm, guess the organizers weren't too enthused abt it either.

the land of ice and snow lends itself irresistibly to puns about warm reception and warm hospitality. the first word that comes to my mind though, is hardy. one simply had to be. guess it was the same hardiness that saw through the period of cut-off water supply due to a toxic spill in the songhua river. and the second would be enterprising. what do u do when nature blesses u with a surfeit of ice and snow? u hold a festival.

last day. breakfast at caravan café (www.caravancafe.com). had checked out the menu before and happily ordered a latte (18) and a banana nut cake (10). liked the art pieces decorating the place and asked the price: 500 and 1200. seemed expensive compared to panjiayuan prices. also bought 10 cloth bookmarks (80). also coasters, key chains etc made by women for women, an NGO.
decided to hunt for oil paintings at 东巴扎 to no avail. store owner from whom A purchased lots offered to take us to another place which sold paintings. his brother would man the store in his absence. he paid for the cab fare (it’s a 5rmb radius within kashgar city). deserted shopping centre indeed with oil paintings available but not what we were looking for.
had also contacted abdul (who ran the tour agency) who said that there was a painter at seman and that he was a very good friend. so it was back to seman, which had surprisingly huge grounds and where the 3-star hotel block was tucked away. first impression had been that seman was in very bad shape.
the painter was not there but the wife turned up with a portable IV drip in tow. alas, the prices she quoted were ridiculous: 1500 for a small painting and 5000 for a larger one depicting the old city’s walkways.
made our way back to caravan café, where ron (from canada) got hold of the artist for us. this bearded man with wild hair and a fierce glint in his eye came over and we followed him to his small shop but didn’t find anything else we liked there. eventually bought the 2 pieces i had seen in the café that morning.
lunch was vegetarian pizza, tuna and cheese sandwich and iced blossom tea. tasted better than it looked.
rushed to the airport only to find that the time on our tickets was wrong. the flight was at 17:15, not 15:40. so ctrip did give us the right tickets in the first place!
it’s been a good trip with really only one low point, tianchi. otherwise, we’d met interesting and friendly people and the weather pretty much held, raining at night and on our last day in kashgar (had originally planned to go to the desert today.)
touched down at Beijing after midnight. thronged by touts upon clearing the baggage area. let the hassling and hustling begin.

coffee in the hotel lobby. wondering why cappuccino (5) was cheaper than coffee (8). turned out to be of the instant variety, as opposed to crystals for the coffee. charged separately for a glass of milk (5)
market day! set off at 10 am (8 local time), which was a luxury for us. went to 东巴扎 (east bazaar) first, where the laconic arken quipped 除了爸爸妈妈，什么都卖! (with the exception of fathers and mothers, everything is sold here!) umir, the trainee guide from the first day, accompanied us as well. he’s 24 and had just graduated with a physics degree and waiting to be assigned a job. in his youthful folly (12), he tattooed himself on his forearms his birthday and the word for ‘happiness.’
bought lots: a carpet (red) for 170, a patterned cap (20) and 无花果 (30 for 1kg). when we returned to a stall to pick patterns for A’s tablecloth/sofa throwovers, saw a blue carpet of same design at the carpet stall. asked to switch carpets but the seller refused. said that in a batch of 30, only 1 was blue. asked for 70 extra and finally relented at 60 after arken came over and pumped his hand. seller’s face was not particularly pleasant or welcoming but had not seen many small carpets for sale.
as we were about to leave the market, saw these lumps of what frankly looked like dried manure. turned out to be a resin(?) for hair treatment. told A to buy some since she had actually washed her hair at wucaiwan. from there, it went to saffron, which smelled heavenly, then to cordyceps (‘nicest, most complete ones i’d seen’ said A) and she even picked up a small piece of jade and some sea coral.
meanwhile, the neighbouring dried fruits seller made his move, offering us pistachios, wuhuaguo, apricots. the fresh pistachios were going for 120/kg and wuhuaguo 30/kg.
at the bird market, there were ducks, chickens, chicks, pigeons, budgerigars in cages, in sacks, in hands, being bought, sold, haggled over. the scene was repeated at the goat/cow market except that the animals were being led around the food stores selling, i wager, the freshest kebabs, tripe soup etc. had slices of melon at 5 jiao a slice but nothing particularly sweet. then headed out to the dawakul section of the desert. had lunch just before reaching there. cheapest one yet at 15 for 5 bowls of noodles (4 legmen, 1 somen).
transport to talimankan desert arranged for 500. kinda pricey and disappointing. the desert (30 per head for entry) was really a beach resort with families swimming and bellies on display. it came complete with boat rides, buggies, beach volleyball etc. picked camel ride for 40 an hour (exceeded time, paid 50 a head).
on the way back, stopped at wopu district, which is supposedly famous for its melons. arken bought 4 and gave us one (2.5 per melon, think of the profit on melon slices!). also ate one on the spot which turned out to be disappointing.
arken subsequently stopped by a plot of farmland, determined to seek out sweeter melons. the farmer popped up and we walked through his melon patch while they looked for a ripe one, rapping speculatively on a few. finally satisfied with one, which was cut off the vine. we ate in the field, spraying the seeds onto the ground. this, at last, was fruity bliss. arken bought a few for his family.
on reaching the hotel, arken deigned to show us his handphone which read 我爱老婆乖乖! (i love my wife, obedient boy) arken was just full of surprises once he got more comfortable with us. he was definitely more traditional, carrying a knife on his belt and saying essalamu eleikum when he answered the phone. ali and the others simply went 唯. but not all was sweetness and light among the uighurs, umir told a halting and half-understood tale of a dreaded few who enslaved other uighurs and made them work for no pay or food(!?).

tipped umir (who got off at id-kah mosque to buy shoes) and arken 50 each. arken said that he would come by the next day to send us to the airport if he could.
went to check out the night market at id kah mosque (7-9 local time). the fountains were on and kids were happily playing in the water.
nothing to buy so headed off to dinner at enjoy tea house: skewers, 大杂烩 (internal organs), 汤饭 (rice in a minty soup with meatballs) and more of that lovely tea. 110 total. unfortunately, the yoghurt ice-cream had run out by the time we finished dinner. complimented the boss on his tea, who proceeded to show us the ingredients for it (earl grey, saffron, cardamom, and lots of rock sugar).

visited a tajik home and had the privilege of spending a couple of hours(!) there. fed a steady stream of food: yoghurt (very sour), naan with warm cheese (delicious), warm milk, chai, then vegetarian手抓饭and more freshly baked naan. the family reared goats and even offered to slaughter a rabbit for us, which we politely declined. we were offered spoons but they ate with their hands.
[A had a bad reaction to the yoghurt. personally had no adverse reactions to any food during the trip. no matter how cheap it was, noodles were always freshly prepared. it was a world away from one in which baby milk and eggs were faked and mushrooms bleached for profit.]
the house was built in 1965, with an opening over the central living/sleeping space. the inside walls were decorated with colourful carpets and served to act as insulation. there was also a large stack of blankets for the 8 people in the house (plus guests). there was the head of the household (sabir mehmet?), whom arken had known for 7-8 years, his wife, his son’s family (wife, daughter donna and 4-month old baby) and an 18-year old daughter. the baby was in a hammock which was swung vigorously by grandma. donna was absolutely adorable, though very shy at first, running to her uncle(?) at every opportunity. like the uighurs, the tajiks married early, around 20-21 for the men and 18-19 for the women. the village we were in had a population of over 30,000 and marriages took place across villages as well.
living off the land meant that they age quickly and the difference between the 21-year old uncle and the weathered 25-year old son was striking. they refused to believe that A was over 40 (‘older than the house!’) and claimed her passport to be fake.
we’d been really lucky in meeting people and it seemed that the tajiks were a warm, friendly and welcoming people with strong ties to the land and their fellow uighur brethren. the women folk dressed in bright colours and vibrant patterns, though red seemed to be a favourite.
before leaving, A gave the family her sarong and a recently purchased pashmina scarf. i gave the old man the Tylenol i had on me. he told us he had been having gastric pain but did not have medicine for it. donna we fed (bribed) with a muesli bar and a packet of raisins from the flight. the family refused to take any payment from us.
on the way back, arken stopped to say goodbye to the kirghiz woman. he told us that he makes this trip five to six times a month.
our final stop before reaching kashgar was the tomb of mahmud al-kashgari (12 each), an 11th century linguist and uighur patriot. inclusive of the ticket price was a brief explanation at the casket of the poet. the dome-shaped motif was the cradle, from which we were born and to which we returned. babies slept on top of it and the dead were buried beneath it. prayers were offered while we were there. a mellifluous calm descended. supposed that it was free for uighurs since it seemed to be a picnic spot with entire families with 5, 6 children in tow on the grounds.
after using the ‘toilet,’ (worst one on the trip, temporary sheeting while a permanent structure was being built), found our way back to the entrance by another track, which emerged right beside the gated entrance.
dinner back at intizar where we got the 小老板 to get us seats. he asked this Chinese man with a little girl to sit at a larger table with other customers. the man later walked off. we felt kinda bad but小老板waved it off. dinner came to 40 for 5 skewers, 家常面and大盘鸡.
another day caked with dust. arken’s car (taxi actually, in bright green) had sand and dust in every cranny, it got noticeably more difficult to wind the windows.

karakoram highway: karakuri lake, tashkurgan.
upal was about an hour away from the city and the last-chance stop for food and supplies. breakfast for 4 came to 22 for 3 bowls of rice/noodles.
came upon a checkpoint where our particulars were taken down by a man in uniform. at karakuri lake, we avoided the official collection point (50 a head). took in the snow-capped peaks, water of shades of blue and green, goats grazing on the grass at a leisurely pace. this beat tianchi hands down. best of all, the tourists were all at the designated area. also happy that it was cold enough to use the jacket i had lugged along.
invited into kirghiz woman’s yurt and served chai and naan. the chai was supposed to help alleviate altitude sickness but i never got used to the taste. the woman’s 6 year old boy was with her and it was a sight to watch him ride a full-sized bicycle. the yurt was temporary accommodation and they moved 3-4 times a year. L bought a pillow case (red stitch-work on black cloth) for 50 from her. arken gave her some of the melons and food that he had brought from the city.
not long after, arken stopped to help a fellow uighur driver having car trouble. turned out to be a 2 hour wait.
reached tashkurgan and arken brought us to traffic hotel, which was next to the bus station. doubles with attached bathroom for 120 or bed in dingy-looking 4-person room for 10. the choice was clear.
stone city site (with archaeological remains dating back to the Tang dynasty) was near to the hotel. provided dramatic views of the surrounding grass plains and mountains. the gorgeous play of light and shadows on the landscape was transfixing. L and i stayed for a while in the evening sun as the cold and desolate wind lashed around us.
dinner was huimen and meat skewers, came to 25 for 4.
at last, a hot shower with adequate water. most excellent. slight headache from the altitude (3200 feet) but slept well.

served手抓饭(!) on the morning flight. took the shuttle from the airport to chini bagh hotel (triple for 180) at 5 a head. upon reaching, the driver kindly informed us that a taxi ride to the airport from the hotel should cost no more than 10. hmm, was a little disappointed that kashgar seemed to be more like a chinese city than was expected.
first order of business was to get to the travel agent at seman hotel. first place we tried was uighur but the 12 year old boy (later found out he was 16) had limited English and didn’t seem too sure about the money figures either. not too reassuring. skipped the chinese-run agency to check out the other uighur agency. the guy in charge was ali, who spoke excellent English, was knowledgeable about routes and costs and affable and humourous to boot. (uighur tour and travel centre, abdultour@yahoo.com, UTTC_ks@yahoo.com) offered 1200 for the trip to tashkurgan, 1 600km round trip. (other place offered 1200, not inclusive of gas.) having settled on tashkurgan, also took the day trip option split over the 4th and 7th. car (200) and guide for 450 total.
lunched at intizar (total 50). tried the yoghurt, 囊炒肉, noodles.
first stop was apa hoja tomb, gorgeous building with a colourful tiled exterior. explanation of funeral rites by ali. id kah mosque was next, then off to the side streets, filled with craftsmen plying their trade – in caps, in musical instruments, in golden boxes, in cradles. then the kashgar museum, which had an air of neglect about it.
old city followed. there was an outfit collecting 30 a person but this didn’t go back to the community. ali took us there bypassing the collectors (‘run if you see them’). we went into the house of a family who made hats for sale and later ended up at a wedding – ali’s friend’s son. (the friend was arken, a driver for the agency, but not the same arken who was to be our driver.) there were musicians, there was dancing, there was food and fruits, there were children, clamouring to have their photos taken, laughing and squealing with delight at seeing their own images on the lcd screens.
dinner at enjoy tea restaurant (90), another of ali’s recommendation. the cornucopia of fake fruits and dim multicoloured lighting did not bode well but the food and tea were surprisingly good. and it’s true, the further out west, the more tender the meat skewers. also had 大盘鸡, 日本豆腐, pastries.
back at chini bagh, more bathroom misadventures with cold water running out at one point. night lessons in tajik culture from ali at their chini bagh office – the headgear of the women is called the crown; how they greeted each other, danced; that the eagle was their symbol.

tian shifu led us on an agate hunting trip. but everything, or nothing, looked like agate in its au naturel state, whatever that was. went on the oil field roads on the way back. paved roads are such a blessing. lunched at restaurant (though nothing about the place would have suggested such a word) catering to nearby workers. 手抓饭 at 8 a plate. return route via fukang, which was a decidedly less bumpy journey than the previous day’s. reached urumqi after 6pm. checked out the largest night market 五一星光夜市 but didn’t eat or buy anything.

tianchi, wucaiwan

jeep for 800+450 (gas).
scamville or tianchi
tianchi scam – ticket required for driver, and vehicles not allowed in unless arrangements are made to eat at a restaurant in the tianchi lake area. zuo shifu was sussing the guy out: just lunch? no other charges? ‘no, no, just lunch.’ in retrospect, maybe the fact that we were in a jeep broadcasted ‘fleece me! fleece me!’ the guy and his body odour hopped on and got us past the first parking lot. stopped at 2nd parking lot (where cable car stops, and you have to take the trolley to venture further up.) all the bloody ‘guards’ are in on this, communicating license plate numbers on their walkie-talkies. guessing level 2 guard not happy with his cut. this required someone higher up the hierarchy to make a personal appearance: a petite lady in white oversized sunglasses. having finally made it through, decided to have lunch first and finish with our obligation. ‘come this way, dining room, yurt, it’s all the same, yurt’s cooler,’ said the spider to the fly. severely inflated prices, with many dishes clearing 100. ordered手抓肉 (80), 2手抓饭 (30), vegetables (35). bill came to 455. charged 30 for chai, 80 for the snacks on the table (‘how much are the snacks? ‘dunno.’) and a whopping 200 for the yurt. we refused to pay for the last 2 items, counted out 175, and told the woman who took our order to take it or leave it. we left the money on the table and went out. protracted session in the lot between slimy sleazeball and our driver, who was not happy with the hidden charges either. A finally gave the guy another 50 and then we left.
soured by the bad experience, the sight of hordes of tourists around tianchi did nothing to improve our mood.
after half an hour of half-hearted photo-taking, sleazeball popped up again. now claiming that there was no money in the yurt and threatened to call the police. so we told him to go ahead, he subsequently turned up with a bunch of公安 (security guards), who were in on the scam in the first place! luckily for us, someone in charge from the tianchi management turned up to arbitrate. (hard to tell at first since he was in plain clothes.) we didn’t want to return to the scene of the scam but he promised us the matter would be settled in 10 minutes. once there, there was a parade of the 2 servers who claimed to have seen no money. upshot was guy-in-charge said ok, we’ll halve the amount and then consider the matter settled. we forked out 90 and finally left the place at about 3 pm.
the plan had been to meet up with another jeep carrying a couple to五彩湾as well. bought a家食瓜 (10) and ate half the melon while waiting for the other jeep. a miscommunication over the rendezvous point meant another half an hour was wasted. eventually met up at dahuangshan, and thus began the long and bumpy journey to reach五彩湾before sunset. the road leading there was currently under construction so much of the journey was off-road, on dirt/gravel tracks, with bouts of dust-eating. after a while, our vehicle started throwing tantrums and the engine kept dying on us. good thing there was the other jeep so we squeezed in with the couple. for the second time in 2 days, A was reckoned to be mom to L and me. 同母异父we joked!
tian shifu was a more experienced driver and he would be the couple’s driver for the next 10 days. the couple was from shanghai; she a secondary school astronomy teacher and he a serious photography buff. they’d been planning this for a while and were doing both the northern (北疆) and southern (南疆) routes in 20 days. most amazingly, she was doing it even though she gets carsick!?
made it in time for sunset, only to find two mini-buses of tourists from hong kong. they endured the journey in those?? also surprised to find 2 chaps staying out here just to collect the 20 rmb entry per person (16 if no receipt needed).
in the event, we were the only ones camping there, though from the amount of broken beer bottle glass around, many have certainly done so.
wucaiwan was a gorgeous geological site with stripes of various hues running across the hills. and the best part given that it was a tourist attraction in china? the absolute silence whenever the wind dropped.
it was hotter than expected, even at night. it was unbearably stifling in the tent and i decided to sleep with my head sticking out. until i saw a raccoon-sized animal streak across the groundsheet. back into the stifling tent it was. didn’t get much sleep that night.

huoyanshan, tuyugo, gaochang ancient city, putougao

rented car for the day: 200+90 (toll fees)+142 (gas)+50 (tips). arranged thru xiaoshen; driver was gao shifu.
set off at 9, finally something at a decent hour. 1st stop was火焰山, aka friggin flaming mountain, (entry 20), notable chiefly for the heat and the world’s largest thermometer.
next stop was tuyugo, which our driver admitted he had not been. love the doors with the colourful motifs and the gorgeous tiled mosques. spotted a watermelon seller and bought one for 2.40. a little girl cut up the rinds to feed to the goats. she didn’t understand Chinese, not all the uighurs do. urumqi is still predominantly han Chinese.
chief attraction in tuyugo was the old uighur residential quarters, mosque (mecca of the east), graves and thousand buddha cave (older than the mogao caves, but very badly preserved). place was mercifully peaceful and quiet, then again, it was the hottest part of the day. photo exhibition of chappie who lived there for 2 years and recorded the sights and customs of the place, including bride-roasting (she’s wrapped in a rug and then tossed over a fire). bliss was ice cold drinks at the end of the walkabout.
stopped at roadside stall for烤包子 (baked buns stuffed with fatty mutton and onions at 0.5 each) and naan (1).
to prove that it was possible, 高昌was even hotter. a fierce heat that stings the skin and stuns the senses. sat on donkey drawn cart while feet blazed away. 1500 years of history, crusades, Buddhist temple, whatnot, everything lost in the haze of the heat.
some shopping after in the adjoining lot for the women.
last stop was葡萄沟since we had to do some grape-related activity. the entire area in吐鲁番turfan is now monopolized by a corporation. access to the village is controlled and separate theme parks have been built.
bought some off-the-vine grapes for 10. no chemicals promised the farmer.
moved on to the putaogou amusement park. friendly uighur chap gave us a quick tour of the grape museum and sold us fresh grape juice at 10 a cup. he’d graduated from environmental studies and this was his first job. groused about pollution of the area and china’s inefficient use of resources. worked from 10am to 8pm (or 8 to 6 Xinjiang time) for a 600rmb salary. told us our grapes were sprayed with chemicals.
decided not to buy the raisins which were at any rate, last year’s stock.
gao shifu had been affable and patient the entire day, even suggesting squeezing in another attraction. but the brochure for the well looked tacky.
according to gao, urumqi has really taken off over the past 10 years. feels like a prosperous city with a certain 气派 and vibrancy. got back to hostel at 10 plus just when it’s getting dark.ate at restaurant next to hostel. 爆炒山鸡, 2 veggies and 10 skewers of mutton from the restaurant further down. now this was tender.

dunhuang, urumqi

left hotel at 6.30 am for breakfast of beef noodles, a lanzhou/gansu specialty. we were enthralled by description of noodles as thin as human hair but were disappointed by the thicker, if still delicious, noodles.
the thing about yumen guan and yang guan was the getting there. at points, there wasn’t even a road but stakes outlining a path on the gravel. and the desert stretched away on both sides and u think, god, it’s beautiful. and please don’t let the vehicle break down here.
as the minivan zipped along, the shadow hovering craft on the desert ground glided along effortlessly.
the soundtrack to our travels is an eclectic mixed tape that runs the gamut from 70s pop to more current mandopop, with a dose of patriotic songs for good measure. the true oddity is a heavily-accented version of a cantopop hit (candy lo’s 好心分手) in mandarin? some local dialect? with bizarro lyrics. but it was only hilarious the first time round.
30 for entry into yumen gate. all that’s left is the weathered remains of the building for processing visas. a further 5 rmb a head to engage a guide to listen to the history of the place. given the wind erosion, it’s amazing that anything survives, same with the fortified earthworks of the han dynasty great wall.
yang guan was next, 40 for tix. quite impressive that they’ve built up this whole compound in the middle of nowhere. pity it feels like a movie set then. u could even get your olden day visa for a fee, complete with issuing official and a send-off party of dancing girls. or so the photos suggested. in reality, the ‘official’ was some guy who looked as if he had just rolled out of bed and the send-off party comprised 1 single girl, who was at least in costume.
the sole surviving structure was a ways off and lethargy and the fact that it was noon almost made me miss it. good thing L was determined to press on.
while the fire tower was underwhelming up close, one did get to glimpse the wide expanse of land from that vantage point. pretty sure no one traveled for fun back then.
lunch was at a 农家菜 place nearby. pleasant setting under the grape vines, which provided much welcome shade. plucked a few grapes but they were a little sour. certainly took their time preparing the food and it wasn’t cheap either – chicken in sauce, egg with tomato and 干扁扁豆 (ganbian biandou), noodles – came to 120+ for 5. the 扁豆 was great though, it tasted sweet and went well with the peppercorns.
back into the city with some time to kill before our flight at 7.40 pm. went to a café for ice-cream (4) and plum juice (6).
reached urumqi at about 9pm. cab fare to the youth hostel was about 50. triple with attached bath for 190 a night. place was only 3 months old and run by certified cool people who were friendly and helpful. 小沈 (xiaoshen, syb-2000@sohu.com, www.yhaxinjiang.com) owned the place and he’s certainly done his share of traveling. listening to him swap adventure tales made our ‘off-the-beaten-path’ plans sound well-trodden.
went to 友好夜市 (youhao yeshi), the 2nd largest night market in the city, for dinner. turned out to be a 45-min walk as opposed to a promised/imagined 10. row of food stalls lining the sidewalk with seating behind them and people packed tightly together on stools. we had claypot chicken (10), fried noodles (5) and of course, mutton skewers (10 for 10), and a yoghurt drink (3) to which you added sugar and sesame. tried not to think about the food we were stepping on.
room was new, hence clean, but no fan and temperamental hot/cold water. glad we’re setting off at 9 the next day, can finally get more sleep.

dunhuang

dunhuang and xinjiang have always been such evocative names - the former once regal and majestic and the latter an intoxicating mix of images: the old silk road, the boundless desert, bountiful fruits, colourful carpets, a whole other culture at the westernmost end of china.
we were received at the airport by a young chap and greeted at our arrival at the hotel with the still smoking husk of a short-circuited car. the triple (255) in a 2 star hotel was clean enough, though the bathroom was unaccountably dark and the hot/cold water controls were mislabelled.
found out that the young chap was the son of the sales manager of the hotel (bossDH2008@126.com). (no lift, no key either, of the holler-for-an-attendant variety.) he was studying tourism in lanzhou and came back home to help during the hols.
settled on a package for 500 rmb for the next 1.5 days to go to the mogao caves, mingshashan, yueyaquan, yumen gate and yang gate.
but first things first, lunch. went to a food court type place where we tried 浆水面 (3.5), cold noodles in a vinegary soup and introduced to 杏皮水 (apricot skin drink), the perfect antidote to the summer heat. 肉夹莫roujiamo (4 each) was freshly made and tasty.
ubiquitous: stuffed camels in all shades and sizes.
first stop was mogao caves, home of famed frescoes and sculptures, remarkably preserved and dating back to the 5th/6th centuries AD. the sheer detail and vividness of the colours was impressive, even in the 10 open-to-the-public caves we saw (100 rmb for a 2 hr tour.). (a few more restricted caves are accessible at the right price.) as the guide trained her torchlight in practiced swoops about the darkened caves, we caught glimpses of 飞天 (flying apsaras), buddhas, generals, sutras, and entire storylines. it was pointed out that the elegance and grace of the original sculptures eclipsed the pale repairs.
the viewing experience though left much to be desired. the place was packed with herds of about 20 people and shepherded from cave to cave by the site’s guides. given there was no strict route, u sometimes ended up with 2 groups in 1 cave with our guide trying to make herself heard and then rush on to the next cave before it got too crowded. kudos to our guide for fiercely bearing down on those who tried to sneak in a photograph or two. the closed in caves amplified chatter and made it hard to hear the guide at times. further irritated by presence of an annoying mother/father/child combo who were guilty of ugly behaviour, brattiness and bad fashion sense.
the site museum had some artefacts along with full-scale reproductions of a few caves. at least here there was peace and quiet, though there was no guide. still prefer the yungang grottoes, where the emphasis was on sculptures rather than frescoes.
back to hotel after that to escape from the scorching heat and searing light. we set off for yueyaquan/mingshashan at 6. any earlier and the sand would have been too hot to handle. yyq is an oasis in the desert, but it’s looking less impressive these days with the water level down to a measly 1m. oft-repeated fact: dunhuang gets 400-600mm of precipitation in a year; 2468mm lost to evaporation. the sand dunes made for a dramatic backdrop for the buildings though.
took off our shoes to trek uphill but quickly learnt that it takes more effort than u think. there was certainly a sense of achievement when i made it, crossing over from the slope in shadow to the ridge which straddled light and shade. there were lots of activities going on: camel rides, archery, sand dune sledding (didn’t get any momentum on my attempt), aerogliding. and the water truck spraying to the tune of ‘santa claus is coming to town.’ left at about sundown at 9.30 pm.
dinner with xiao hu and shen shifu. tried 驴肉黄面, donkey meat yellow noodles. the meat went well with a chilli sauce mixed with garlic and vinegar and the noodle were reminiscent of spaghetti. drank the plain and floury water in which the noodles were cooked in. the meal for 5 came to 73.
noodles are the key staple here and shen said that if they did not feel like cooking, they would buy half-processed noodles home as opposed to making them from scratch. shen farms cotton, with the cottonseed oil for their own consumption. had seen the neat rectangular plots ringed by stalks of corn coming in from the airport. he has 20 mu and harvests once a year, with an annual income of 40,000 rmb. (this can’t be right. maybe 4000 rmb?)

baiquanshan (hundred stream hill) in huairou county, aka the compensation trip

8 of the 11 on the previous outing made it back for more. checked out the website beforehand at baiquanshan.com actually, dontbelievethehype.com would have directed you to the same webpage. my expectations were reasonably modest after the prior jolly experience. at the very least, it would be a couple of hours of hiking out of beijing.
which is what we got, in spades. at first, it seemed to be a little different from the usual hiking trail that one finds in the outskirts of Beijing. a little more challenging as opposed to say, fragrant hill. but some things never change. there were helpful signs describing the rock formations, always a fun distraction. the chinese tourists were once again respectful, "hmm, it does kind of look like a turtle gazing at the moon." we improvised, "hmm, turtle gazing at the moon, while secretly relieving itself." "hey, this photo of the 'eagle' looks like the 'after' panel of a slimming ad."
the yuks and the sights dried up after a while as our guide took us on an unmarked trail towards the waterfall. it was uphill and rock/boulder strewn, which was somewhat less leisurely than we bargained for. we should have heeded the signs, or more accurately, non-signs. the meagre water features that we glimpsed along the way should have set off alarm bells. but we pressed on, secure in our naivete that our guide knew what he was doing. when he finally informed us, after doing a little forward scouting, that the waterfall had dried up, my first thought was !!$$#%%@ duped! hoodwinked! bamboozled!!
the crows mocked us every undignified step of the way down.
we were ravenous by the time we made it to the foot of the hill. what lunch lacked for in quality, they tried to make it up in quantity. the 8 of us were served over 15 dishes: cold cuts of beef and duck, peanuts, wild veg, century eggs, fish, potatos in sauce, shuizhu pork, gongbao chicken, bacon and peppers, regular veg, potato strips, tofu, pumpkin pancakes, fried rice and hot water masquerading as soup.

will have to think very carefully when the next fun trip to the outskirts comes along.

longji, hongxi

set off at 7 for the longji terraced plantations. 11 of us in a jinbei minivan. the driver was a bit of a speedfreak, good thing he was limited by the van. this was pretty much the bunch of people who had booked their vacations through ctrip.com, including the guy who puked on the plane and the chinese guy with green eyes.
longji was a 2 hour hike which covered 2 viewing spots. the best time to visit is when the terraces are filled with water, which was of course, not at the present moment. reminded of the terraced plantations in ubud. though not sure if ubud could claim to being over 600 years old. and for those who preferred not to walk, palanquins(!) were an option.
lunch was very good: glutinous rice with nuts and mushrooms cooked slowly in bamboo tubes, steamed country chicken in a delicious broth, lup cheong with bamboo shoots and wild veggies. also tried the rice wine, which was more tart and alcoholic compared to the yunnan version.

there was too much time to kill before our flight at 8.45 pm. our driver enthusiastically recommended this rubber dinghy water adventure at 180 rmb a pop. coming right after lunch, no one was interested. the alternative of hongxi (red stream) was proposed instead. it was 45 rmb for the entrance fee and it turned out to be a pleasant and cooling walk alongside rapids with a magnificent waterfall to boot. it was all the more enjoyable for being totally unexpected and unplanned. it didn't seem to be a major stop for tourists in general so we had the place largely to ourselves.

despite the long-held aversion to travelling during the golden weeks, the trip was not as bad as i'd imagined in terms of crowds. tour groups were far more noticeable in guilin as they traipsed from one "must-see" to another but yangshuo was largely free of them. it seemed that guilin catered more to domestic tourists while yangshuo was geared towards the westerner backpacker crowd. sure xijie was crowded but it was also nice to have a bustling street to wander along with gelato stalls and cool dark cafes to pop into for a respite from the heat.
time to start thinking about the next trip.

yangshuo

we set off at 7 plus to rent bikes. 20 rmb a day with a 100 rmb deposit per bike. half my money's getting tied up in deposits! (including for the rooms at didu.) it apparently costs 5 rmb a day in the off-peak season. breakfast at meiyou cafe and then off to moon hill. route was easy enough and scenery along the way was pleasant. the verdant landscape bounteous with karst peaks, undulating agreeably in every direction, and reflected in the padi fields and the streams and rivers. even cycling, there were persistent locals paddling alongside, promoting various holiday activities. the hike up the hill was not too bad. one determined peddler hiked along. reached the top to find a group of french tourists enjoying the view, and fending off an entourage of peddlers.
felt good to have a head-start on the other tourists (american, british, french, german, hk and fr guangdong) who were starting to stream in when we returned to the foot of the hill. tried looking for the backroads for that true rural experience, but it was too far, too hot and my butt was too sore. it was back to yangshuo town proper (according to the signboard) for our cheapest meal yet: guilin noodles at 2 rmb a bowl. it was sold by weight, and you ladled your own soup and added your own garnishing (chilli, pickled vegetables and radish).

decided not to bike back from the end point of the bamboo raft trip, which we booked from uncle sam's travel at 150 rmb per raft (for 2 pax). people there were pleasant and seemed honest as well. had told us that there was no need to hire a guide to get to moon hill.
took a local bus (4 rmb) to jinlong bridge, the start point of the yulong river bamboo raft punt. [check out www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen3/f14.html for a panoramic view of yulong river.] quite happy to do this in the afternoon since most people did this in the morning. had the river pretty much to ourselves save for the odd raft or two, once with a man raking up seaweed from the river. the sun wasn't a problem as the rafts were thoughtfully affixed with umbrella shades. it was a leisurely 2-hour drift, with gorgeous views of the hills reflected in the water. could also see cyclists and villages along the way. have to be prepared to get a little wet though. ended up on motorbikes in order to get back to xijie. bilked for 10 rmb a bike and we were dropped off quite a ways from xijie. though it did mean we had the chance to walk past the fruit market.

made it back in time for our 6pm rendezvous with the roast chicken (40 rmb) that we ordered the day before. it was pretty good but have to admit that the gimmick of limiting supply was a good one. also had pizza, fries and chocolate cake from cafe china. it started pouring halfway through dinner. had to get back to the hotel by 7 to catch the transport for the impressions of liu sanjie show.
warning: rant ahead.
because of the rain, the decision to go ahead with the show wasn't made till very late and we left the hotel at 7.50.
the entire thing was a bloody mess. first off, because of counterfeiting problems, we had to wait for a tour guide to exchange our receipts for actual tickets at a booth. said booth was surrounded by frustrated agents talking loudly and gesticulating wildly. once i got my ticket, had to make my way to the entrance, conveniently located 15 minutes away via a barely lit pedestrian path, save for the occasional flash of lightning. it was also chock-a-block with vehicles which meant that one had to walk off the path and in the mud. by the time i actually reached the venue, it was 8.30 and the show had already been playing for 20 minutes. laid the raincoat provided on the wet seat, hoisted the umbrella overhead and grimly prepared to watch the show. think at one point there was a scuffle in the vip seats and shouting ensued. chose not to focus and pretended that it was part of the show. or maybe it was part of the show. who could tell over the rain?? traffic situation after the show was another mess. with a second performance, there were vehicles both leaving and moving towards the venue. except that at one point, the road was only wide enough for one vehicle to pass. was ripped off 10 rmb for a ride in a mini-van back to xijie with a few other disgruntled out-of-towners.
the show itself was impressive as sheer spectacle. the setting of the looming hills, the immense water stage, the huge cast and the clever use of lighting was surprisingly effective. though whenever the spotlights came on, one was distracted by how heavy the rain the was. some of the effect was rather incongruous though. when the women removed their robes and danced in their skintight skintone suits, the show took an unexpected turn into the burlesque. when the performers emerged from the pitch dark with their silvery glittering costumes, the first though that popped into my head was "pirates of the caribbean." then as the line grew longer and longer, it turned into a line of ghosts, kings and ancestors.

lijiang, yangshuo

took a while to find our boat at the pier, sorry, luxury cruise liner. apparently, we were the only cheapskates with the 10 rmb lunchbox option. this was duly emphasised by the waitress who showed us a menu. our refusal to order food at inflated prices didn't endear us to her. "it's just rice with an egg and vegetables you know." "and no, the bottled mineral water isn't for your kind."
the journey was pleasant enough. got terribly sunburnt from spending most of it on the upper viewing deck. best tracks that came up on the ipod: radiohead's everything in its right place, pet shop boys' liberation, beta band's dr baker.

took 4 hours to reach yangshuo. didu (imperial city hotel) was located at the end of xijie (west street) that was conveniently close to the pier. xijie itself was reminiscent of lijiang (yunnan). the tourist hordes are here, and they're here to stay. except that it's packed into one street here: cafes, bars, rooms, restaurants with western food, artists painting your likeness on t-shirts, t-shirts with catchy and/or rude phrases, ethnic clothing, contemporary clothing and scarves and bags, tablecloths, a silversmith, foodstuff, silk blankets, tour agents, foreign language (ie english) schools, men selling flutes playing folk songs, carving on grains of rice, yak bones and egg shells, paintings, naxi knickknacks.
dinner was at peng dajie's for the local specialty: fish cooked in beer. sauce was hearty and yummy. also shuidoufu niang and a mountain of kangkong. a very reasonable 110 rmb for the meal. this was just a street away from xijie but number of laowai eating there: zero.
back to the hotel by 7.30 pm for the cormorant fishing viewing experience. [we were charged 50 rmb a head; it's double that if you don't look chinese.] the birds were attached to the boat by string and would constantly dive for fish. once in a while, the fisherman would lift a bird out of the water with a paddle and reach into its throat for the catch. also noteworthy for the huge swarm of mozzies buzzing around the naked light on the fishing boat. we watched from an adjacent vessel, feeding the mozzies which fed the fish which fed the birds which fed the fishermen. ah, the circle of life.
back to xijie after about 30 minutes. more packed than ever. glimpses of fireworks in the night sky.

guilin

despite best efforts at "free and independent" travel, still end up relying on agents for all kinds of ticketing and arrangements. on the transfer from the airport to the hotel, a guide briefed us on the dire ticket situation, pretty much for any and every activity. jolted by mild panic, we ended up booking the lijiang (river) cruise tickets as well as the day trip to longji on 6/5 with her. [the 2 lijiang cruise ticket options were: i) 430 rmb for foreign tourist treatment, including transport to the port and ii) 370 rmb for cruise plus yangshuo half-day tour. good thing this chinese couple wanted option (ii) without the tour. which turned out to be available, "but only because we're a large reputable agency," for 250 rmb and 30 rmb handling, ie rip-off, fee.]

the golden elephant hotel was conveniently located near a bus stop and a stretch of restaurants as well as opposite eponymous attraction, elephant hill. first things first, lunch: steamed catfish, baiguo duck soup, wild vegetables and guilin noodles. they certainly like their food fresh here. both the fish as well as the duck that was to travel down our gullets were handpicked and weighed. quite a few of the restaurants had these animals out front: ducks, chickens, fish, snakes, turtles, rabbits and bamboo rats. meal was rather pricey at 240 rmb for 3. i blame the duck.

the tourist attractions were a disappointment. best things about the seven star limestone cave was the 20 degree temperature. so who first came up with the descriptions for the limestone formations anyway? this has now passed into orthodoxy, the practised patter of the guides. surely there must be heretical texts out there: beneath the bounteous banyan, the dominatrix stands, ready to flick the whip on the cowering slave before her.
decided to skip elephant hill. if the entire attraction can be summed up in 2 words...
headed to fubo hill, which was ridiculously packed for a dubious attraction.
the free tourist bus 58 attracts the locals as well but isn't all that frequent. regular buses ply the same routes for 1 rmb a pop.

back to that same stretch of restaurants for dinner. curiously enough, it was the same shrink-wrapped crockery that we encountered at lunch. a crockery monopoly?? we had fish head tofu soup, tofu skin and cabbage stems, yam with fatty meat, and some snail-like creature. none of which required on-the-spot, before-our-eyes slaughtering, so it cost only about half what we paid for lunch. walked about after dinner but there was nothing particularly interesting. lots of neon lights, including a flashy flashing one for the hospital.

shanhaiguan and meng jiangnv temple (qinhuangdao, hebei)

the uncomfortably cold night was followed by a breakfast buffet (extra of course) that consisted largely of cold unappetising dishes.
our local guide was a bubbly girl jia fang, or party A in a legal document as she cheerfully informed us. we learnt from her the Big Fat Hairy Deal fact that qinhuangdao is only one of two cities named after royalty, the other being st petersburg. it was transformed from a sleepy fishing village when qinshihuang ventured here to perform some rites or other. as we travelled through the city, there was little to attract the eye, except for this: the "age of burning lives" bar. so that's what we all were, mere fodder for this age, so why not down some alcohol and burn brighter and faster?
shanhaihuan, where the great wall meets the sea, was the main attraction for the day. the specific spot is named laolongtou (old dragon head). shanhaiguan was a veritable fortress, with walls within walls and filled with traps for potential attackers. it also houses the "tianxiadiyiguan" (first pass under heaven) calligraphy, or rather the 5 versions of it. the effect though, was more akin to that of a fun-fair that's gone to seed. the game booths had stuffed toy prizes that looked as though they would rather be someplace else. the section of the reconstructed wall where one could walk upon was lined with souvenir stalls stocked with site-specific memorabilia and russian bric-a-brac. baboushka dolls anyone? the other attraction, in the loosest sense of the word, was the meng jiangnv temple. it was admirable how an entire attraction could be spun around meng's tragic tale, but even haw par villa offered more kicks. hellish dioramas beat scenes from a virtuous love story every time. given that the temple merited the top AAAA national rating, what i would dearly love to see is a single A-rated tourist attraction. how about a C-rated one? perhaps this would apply to sites with nary an attraction but lots of souvenir stalls and game booths. wait a minute.
the highlight of the day was a seafood meal we had all been looking forward to: fish, cockles, crabs, and pipixia, some variety of shrimp which was in season.
headed back to beijing after shanhaiguan, with a final change of vehicles since van no. 3 did not meet the exhaust standards and could not enter within the third ring road area. xiaosha from the travel agency and her boss were there at the handover. more profuse apologies. after picking up the expenses for the ropeway (130 rmb a head) and the meals on sunday (30/4, 20 rmb a head), we were offered (group of 11) a free trip to an attraction in the outskirts of Beijing.

panshan (tianjin)

it began badly.
an hour plus after leaving beijing, smoke started to emerge from the hood of the van. we pulled over on the side of the highway and waited for a replacement vehicle to arrive. and waited. and waited. 3.5h passed before it came. the souring mood was not helped by the vehicle which arrived - cramped and stained, and as it turned out, slow and driven by thugs.
we reached our first stop panshan (mount pan) in time for lunch. qianlong claimed that had he known about panshan, he would not have gone south of the yangtze river. guess the experience is different if you're looking at scenery from royal comfort; no wonder emperors always picked the least accessible spots to gush about. most of the original architecture was destroyed during the war with the japanese and the madness that was the cultural revolution did the rest.
the sights were what they were - calligraphy of leaders inscribed on the rock walls, man-made set-pieces for photo-taking, temples with the acrid tang of smoky incense. we made it to the peak around sunset, thanks to the tireless urging of our guide. due to the unexpected delay, we were moving against the flow of human traffic for much of the way up and were pretty much the last group on the peak. the serenity and the sunset were a welcome bonus. as we made our way down from the top, the workers who lived there were already settling down for their evening meal. we reached the second stage of the ropeway at about 8 and found that it had stopped running. the prospect of stumbling down the mountainside in the dark was not attractive, but would have capped the day off splendidly. alas, after some time, they managed to rustle up the duty personnel and reactivated the ropeway for our group to travel to the foot of the mountain.
to find our luggage taken hostage. some payment problem which had yet to be settled with the thugs who drove van no. 2, so they refused to open the door. nothing to do but stand in the dark, hungry and tired, and think warm and delicious murderous thoughts. it took about 30 minutes before a phonecall by our guide to someone further up the authority chain did the trick. van no. 3's driver turned out to be a qinhuangdao old hand and more importantly, not a thug.
by the time we reached qinhuangdao and sat down to order in a restaurant, it was past midnight. the first round of order of 11 bowls of noodles fell through when we were informed that there were no more noodles. nor dumplings. nor eggs!? they had seafood though. so we left, hungry and tired and pissed-off. good thing for 24h porridge places where we finally managed to eat.
the hotel (ocean hotel), located next to a picturesque commercial container port, was large but worn, with an air of neglect palpable in the lobby. disappointment seeped in like dankness into the lobby sofas. the room contained dubious sheets, a stained tub and a shower curtain that was really a living breathing creature.

for s

you will forget
(as babies are wont to)
the day we spent in play
of picking things up and throwing them
(how quick you were to learn!
to your nanny's subsequent dismay)
of the walk in the woods
and the leaves and twigs
i picked for you
again and again
of how you ambled over
to lay your head on my shoulder
but you were merely
wiping your mouth
on my new shirt sleeve
you wily rascal!
laughing delightedly as you ambled
away

nyc, philly, boston, providence
5-19/11/04

nyc
shows
bug: didn't know much abt the play before watching it but it did, as NYT's ben brantley promised, make one itch. (wasn't expecting the onstage nudity either.) it starts with a meeting between a woman living in a motel and a younger drifter(?). she's got issues with an ex-abusive husband who won't leave her alone and the heartbreak of losing her child in a mall years ago; he's something of a mystery. then the descent into madness and paranoia begins, slowly but inexorably. and teasingly. part of the fun is that you're never quite sure if you believe in what's happening and you're constantly looking to her reaction as a cue, whether she believes in what he's saying. until the finale, which makes you wonder if you should be trusting her all this while and how did the hell did we get here from where we started?

700 sundays: billy crystal's autobiographical one-man show. pleasant evening listening to the funnyman tell stories from his childhood mixed in with short clips and slides. warm and fuzzy feelings surging everywhere. but it was nice that he didn't have a traumatic childhood and that the tapestry of a happy life can be entertaining. must have missed quite a few of the jewish references though.

democracy: michael frayn's latest play set in a period of germany that i know very little about (which is not to say that i know much abt any period of german history). while the historical context is fascinating, the focus of the show is on brandt and his trusted assistant, in reality an east german spy. the irony being that the east germans wanted willy to remain in power and bring about reconciliation but instead brought about his downfall. brandt remains an enigmatic figure and you never really get a sense of what's driving him. and while the term 'democracy' is tossed about, with bits about the difficulty of reconciling the irreconcilable and that its not a democracy its 60 million of them, it's not really about heeding the wishes of the masses, it's all about politicking. certain lines of unflattering dialog re willy brandt's election had an unexpected resonance given the recent re-election of bush. very nicely staged so that half the time, the audience is peering up at brandt, like the adoring masses guillaume is constantly referring to. also perfectly poised for that one dramatic moment late in the second half.

guantanamo: outrage, an absolute outrage. damning indictment of american arrogance. the most disturbing example of US unilateralism. it's hard to think of this as "a play" or "entertainment," it's powerful testimony that should just be heard. the staging was simply to present the testimonies in an overlapping fashion, with different voices weaving in and out, all demanding to be heard. there were caged cells to the left and right of the stage and beds in the middle, with chairs interspersed among the beds for the actors/witnesses. the prisoners were onstage, in the cells and on the beds, before the audience entered and remained as the audience left. they're not going anywhere.
the next day, i'm off shopping and being entertained again. maybe modern life is rubbish, the juxtaposition of the profound and the profane, the tragic and the comic, the important and the trivial, everything has equal weight.

nine parts of desire: heather raffo in a one-woman show playing nine different (mostly Iraqi) characters including the artist in exile, the woman in the marketplace, the American girl watching the war unfold on TV, the woman in the bomb shelter, and a more mythical timeless old woman. what emerges is not just about the horrors of saddam and the war, but also what it means to be an Iraqi woman. the universal themes of love and hope and fears are given a very specific context here.

pacific overtures: forced opening up of japan in the 1850s, american imperialism in all but name. staging was admirably restrained. this was no longer an (essentially) all-male cast from the original broadway production, though male actors still played the key female roles. a little rough around the edges given it's still in previews but hey, sondheim's sondheim. this is not one of his more accessible scores but the genius and wit of his words are a reliable pleasure. even though i know the score, this was the first time i had seen an actual production. thought that "someone in a tree" didn't work out well. the staging was clumsy and it came across quite laboured.
they had a chinese (or kanji) translation of pacific overtures but that meant Pacific (as in Ocean) Overtures (as in pieces of music). taken in context, the phrase actually means "peaceful gestures." Sondheim no doubt picked Pacific Overtures for its different meanings (see "Company") but such shading just goes out the window in a translation.
best wordless (but not soundless) performance: actress playing the shogun's wife (in "chrysanthemum tea").

the producers: well-staged, but kept thinking that nathan lane would have been perfect in this. and that matthew broderick and lane probably had better chemistry together. (broderick and lane are slated for a broadway remake of the odd couple next year.) an equal-opportunity offender with no stereotype left unskewered, though horny old ladies are probably not a common target. wore a bit thin though, which made it seem too long, especially towards the end.

wonderful town: brooke shields was good, gamely taking on a comic character who's unable to get a date(!). but it's hard to watch a musical from the 1950s and think, were things ever this innocent or was escapism at its height then?

matthew sweet concert: found myself standing behind twitchy-gal who elicited quite a few "what's-goin-on?" raised eyebrows with her dancing style. after safely manoeuvring past her and her flailing limbs, found myself behind, damnit, twitchy guy! otherwise, it was quite a pleasant evening. his set list included girlfriend, i've been waiting, sick of myself and time capsule. no where u get love, devil with the green eyes etc. quite a bit of material from the new disc living thins and his previous japan-only release kimi ga suki. his new stuff was fine, but he's definitely moved on from the immediate poppiness of girlfriend. still, it's always fun to go to a live gig, the songs always sound so much more muscular (must have something to do with the sound system blaring away at ground-thumping volume). also nice to see sweet jamming with velvet crush, clearly relaxed and enjoying himself.
opening act christatic(?) did a passable imitation of synth-pop a la the cure circa friday i'm in love. lead singer was pretty spot-on vocally for robert smith. they even had a track called tuesday i'm alive(?).

museums
cooper hewitt national design museum: anni albers' admirable philosophy that a good designer should disappear into the work. ha! tell that to karl lagerfeld, whose (relatively) cheap designs for h&m sparked off a buying frenzy for those who can't afford chanel. ok, i browsed, but didn't find anything i liked. on another note, the museum shop is filled with lovely and expensive things, but managed to escape unscathed.
more enamoured of josef albers' pieces with the strong use of colours and repeated patterns.
the "design (does not equal) art" exhibition was also interesting, exploring the forced(?) demarcation between art and design and questions of usefulness/functionality/intent.

guggenheim had the fascinating aztec empire exhibition on. gorgeous craftsmanship, utterly alien culture that seems hard and cruel with its demand for blood sacrifice and yet capable of producing a sculpture of a dog begging, as if in play. half the time though, trying to keep ahead of the flocks of school kids swooping from key exhibit to key exhibit (ie blocking my view).

food
managed to check out a few places on p's list of recommendations.
city bakery: hot chocolate was good as was the berry tart, but the homemade marshmallows were exquisite.
gam mee ok: rice and noodles in soup, perfect for a rainy afternoon. made me wonder how much salt usu goes into one's soup...
honmura an: the cold uni soba was yummy, but marred by clumpy noodles. think the noodles in hot soup might have been a better choice.
also ate at:
sushi samba (87 7th avenue, near 'bug') - funky jap-Brazilian place with fun cocktails (sambatini) and decent sushi, with prices to match.
shabu tatsu (10th, btw 1st and 2nd) - excellent claypot eel rice and shabu shabu.
isabella's (359 columbus avenue, corner of 77th) - packed for weekend brunch, good food at reasonable prices.
the cottage (33 irving place) - had a $16 prixe-fixe menu, which one would normally balk at for non-gourmet chinese food but they have cleverly paired each of the two courses with a glass of wine. get a headstart on getting buzzed before heading for a concert at irving plaza.
time out had some good recommendations for mid-town, important for that meal before a show:
la bonne soupe (55th btw 5th and 6th) - the mushroom barley soup with bits of lamb was yummy. set comes with enough stuff to make a light meal.
h.k. (hell's kitchen, at 39th and 9th) - again, yummy mushroom soup, consomme this time. trout was nicely grilled, but just too much of it and too lightly seasoned for so much of it.
made it to one prixe-fixe lunch at aureole (61st btw park and madison). excellent deal for a 3-course meal but not blown away like i was expecting to be. highlight was pear tart.

shopping
spent oodles despite not going to woodbury commons. hit filene's basement in boston and assorted stores. surprisingly, a trip to the old navy store (33rd btw 6th and 7th) turned out to be most fruitful. sheer size of the place plus the discounts on relatively low prices meant that the price was right. maybe should stop thinking of old navy as the ugly stepsister of gap and banana republic.
best place for basics: american apparel, though you pay a premium for the sweatshop-free, made in downtown LA clothing.
greatest disappointment: urban outfitters, have the clothes gotten worse or have they always been this ugly?

and no, it wasn't all about watching shows, shopping and eating. spent a sunday at the n's entertaining s and ok, being fed very well (barbecued lamb for lunch, seafood pasta for dinner). most excellent. also met up with jc classmate e and jap classmate m both currently studying in new york.

philly
brasserie perrier: opened by le bec fin's chef. had the french onion soup and the salmon, which was cooked just nice. unfortunately, the food was on the salty side.
genji: moved to center city (sansom, btw 17th and 18th). had sushi and the green tea ice cream, but found it disappointing. even though it's moved downtown, the feel of the place remained decidedly un-posh, largely to do with the waiter, who seemed to have wandered over from chinatown.
bumped into an IR prof while getting coffee and met with another by appointment. the latter of course, my classics prof, rather than say, econ or IR. strange going back to penn and not being a student but a visitor in transit. miss the exhilaration of undergrad life, but that experience can't really be replicated can it? well, what can one do but eat a greek lady hoagie again.

boston
shopping, ethiopian food and the freedom trail in half a day.

providence: couldn't believe that the shops closed at 6 pm on sunday. didn't they know that's precisely when out-of-towners on a one-day stopover might want to shop? (actually, think the shops closed at 6 in philly as well. maybe just never went shopping b4 on sunday evenings.) and no fire-on-on-the-water either. winter's not a good excuse. the brown campus was quite pretty if, like the little of providence that i saw, just as quiet.

so i'm back and the first thing that strikes me on reaching home is that hey, they've gotten new uniforms. so my place feels more like a hotel than before with all these familiar faces in their bellhop uniforms.