Goodbye Kuching

This is what I had for brunch today - Kam Pua Noodle (干盘面). Something that I had since childhood time (which is not available over here in Penang) before I bid farewell to the Land of Hornbill. It looks like Wantan Mee but the taste and texture of the noodle is different. I still remember during my secondary school days, the noodles was sold at RM 1.30 per plate in Sarikei. Now the price is already RM 2.80 in Kuching. Talking about those good old days when everything is still cheap and affordable :P

Yeah, I'm leaving Kuching today. This is just a short balik kampung trip but quite an enjoyable one too. Especially I managed to meet up with quite a number of my secondary school friends/classmates and two of them I haven't meet for 16 years. Seems like most of my Sarikei friends and classmates/schoolmates have either migrated or are now working in Kuching. ;)

A night in Turpan

Roast Lamb is a known delicacy in XinJiang province. Tonight our tour group had the whole roast lamb for dinner.. The photo above showing our whole roasted lamb (together with it's head) before ending up subsequently inside our tummy. Didn't take photo of the dishes as too busy makan-ing :)

It was a long day in Turpan. After dinner it was time to check in the hotel. It's already 9:35 pm at night but the sky was still bright, which was good as we had more time for sightseeing. For your info, the photo in the earlier Flaming Mountain post was taken around 7:30 pm at night but the sun was still shinning brightly.

Yeah, this is our hotel entrance gate. Kinda unique huh? Of course I took photos of the gate door and the knob too but I decided not to post it up this time.. If not Jason will become worried again with my obsession. By the way, did u notice the donkey cart opposite the road?This is a nearer view of the donkey cart if u didn't notice or see it properly in the previous picture. The donkey cart serves like a taxi in Turpan. You can take it to tour around the town :)
More donkey carts on the road.. This particular donkey cart carried greens and vegetables.

We see mainly motorbikes, bicycles and donkey carts on the road. Picture showing one old wise Muslim man riding bicycle on the road (I saja saja call him wise man).

Another wise old Muslim man on the road. This scene somehow reminds me of Kelantan. And he looks like Nik Aziz from afar. Hehehehe

And yeah, this is the hotel that we stayed for the night. Since it was already 10 pm and we had a long day in Turpan, it's time to go back to the hotel and Zzzzz... And the following day we will have a long journey to Hami, the melon town.

Imin Minaret (Sugong Pagoda)

Let's continue with the series in Turpan, XinJiang Province again... And I'm still stuck at Day 3 out of the 10 days tour.. o.O
Sugong Pagoda (苏公塔) also known as Imin Minaret was completed in 1778. It is the largest ancient tower in XinJiang Province. It is also the only Islamic old tower among the hundreds famous towers in China.
The magnificent Imin Minaret or Sugong Pagoda. The tower is 44 metre in height with a base of 10 metre in diameter.
The pagoda body assumes the shape of a cylinder with a column in the center of the tower and 72 flights of stairs. The pagoda was built with bricks and woods and displays features of Uyghur architecture.

Let's have a closer view how the bricks were arranged. There is an observation room on the tower roof. There are windows on four sides of the tower roof for a complete view of Turpan town.
This is just a saja-saja photo.. Since i like to snap here and there. Nothing significance :P

The door and the door knob again.. My obsession :P

A stone tablet at the entrance of the tower with Uygur and Chinese writing at the bottom. I still cannot figure out what is the drawing on the stone tablet :P

Wooden roof and the ornamental windows..

Praying ground with red carpets. This is a mosque mah :)

Cross sign, which reminds me of hospital. Hehehe, but of course this building has nothing to do with health related service lah :P

And Misti, this Uyghur young chap has smooth skin without any wrinkles.. Unlike the donkey cart uncle and 100+ years old grandpa in the previous two posts . ;)

And.. several raisin stalls outside the Sugong Pagoda with ith different names and colours. There's even raisins for different gender :P

Meow...

Purrrr...
Guess what?
Meow again :)

Grape Valley

Yeah, we are still in Turpan. Turpan produces the sweetest grapes and the best raisins in China. And believe it or not, the grape valley is located not far away from Flaming Mountain. And this place is kinda cool in comparison with Flaming Mountain, the hottest place on earth. :P
The walkway to Grape Valley is beautifully shaded by overhanging grape trellises. Too bad the grapes are not in season yet.. Have to wait till July or August loh to taste the seedless sweet white grapes. *Bawl* :(

Grape Valley

Besides the grapes vineyards, there are also other fruit trees, and not forgetting Afanti former residence and Uygur despots residence.
The door of Afanti former residence. Dunno why lah.. I confess I am obsessed with doors and door knobs.. I love to take snapshots of door and door knobs. Can hear the "krakkkkkk....." sound when opening the door :P

The simple furniture and porcelain bowl are kinda cute.

The 100+ years old Muslim Uygur uncle. o.O at the snowy white beard.

The Uygur despots residence. Mmm.. Seeing this remind you of anything?

Mulberry tree with colourful mulberries. We plucked and ate the ripe mulberry there and then.. Syiok habis. First time eating fresh mulberries leh :) Wait, where are the silk worms???

And not to miss out plucking and eating the fresh apricots too. Sedap lah.

Of coz lah. Free stuff are good stuff. LOL

This is the place where raisins are produced, with the help from mother nature. Presenting the Drying Room. The fresh grapes are dried inside the air drying room with the hot and dry airflow for about 2 weeks. Yeah, they are not sun-dried. The walls are built in such a way to provide the best airflow. The raisins here are free from preservatives.
And the huge sweet raisins are available everywhere, since those are Turpan's specialty products :)

GaoChang Ancient City

The ruins of the Ancient City of GaoChang (高昌古城) is located nearby HuoYanSan or Flaming Mountain about 46 km southeast of Turpan. The ancient city of Gaochang and Jiaohe, are two of the well preserved ruins of the ancient cities in China.

Donkey Cart

Our donkey cart "driver" :D

On the dusty road... Go Donkey Go :)

The ancient city of Gaochang was built as a garrison town in the 1st century B.C. As one of the key points along the Silk Road, the ancient city of Gaochang was also a sanctuary of world religious culture. Xuanzhang, the Buddhist monk in the Tang Dynasty stopped here in the past on his way to India.

The GaoChang city was damaged and burnt down during the war around the 14th century.

After 2,000 years, the ancient city still displays its past greatness and glory. Even though the walls are incomplete with ruins, the magnificent outline still remains.

Some of our tour group members riding on different donkey carts.
Enjoying the ruins of the GaoChang ancient city on the donkey cart.

Another donkey cart trying to overtake us. This donkey very cekap wan. Take a look at his hind legs. I meant the way the donkey runs :D

The local Muslim chubby boy selling keychain.

The infamous toilets.. Although extremely smelly, this is still a "proper" toilet with doors in comparison to the "natural" open air toilet on the road :P

The city, covering an area of 2 million square meters, is composed of 3 sections ~ an outer city, an inner city and a palace city.

And we have reached the inner city of the ancient GaoChang. The ruins and remains here give us a glimpse of the grandeur and prosperity of the ancient city in the past.

In the middle of the city lies the round castle..

Looking up... Mmmm.... Once upon a time...

How nice if there's time machine... (Ok, I'm trying to imagine how's the city like in the past :P)

Sha la la la.. (Of coz they didn't sing sha lalala leh..). If Ah Ben is here, he will start io ka chng.

As we are good citizen, we didn't leave any unnecessary marks or prints on the ancient wall except leaving behind our foot prints on the ground and sweet memories... :P

Frankly speaking, I'm thirsty lah as u can imagine how hot it was. I wanna drink COLD BEER :P

Kereta 3 Roda

Guess what's my impression the first time I saw those 3-wheeled vehicles in China? None other than.. the infamous and mean MR BEAN. Hahaha, cos prior to watching Mr Bean series, I have never see another 3-wheeled car till I visit Beijing in 2002. I get so excited the first time I saw such a car in real life. LOL
And I saw these 3-wheeled vehicles quite frequently in XinJiang and GanSu province. Everytime I see those cars, it will definitely bring a smile to my face. Cos.. they are cute mah.

See? I didn't bluff you. So many of those kereta-tiga-roda on the road :)

And... there's even 3-wheeled mini lorry. Geng Mou? China BOLEH !!

Flaming Mountain

Those who read the classical chinese novel, "Journey to the West" (西游记) will know about The Flaming Mountain @ Huoyansan (火焰山). If you are a Chinese and dunno or never heard of the famous novel Journey to the West, then you really deserved to be piak-ed. The novel is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk XuanZhang's pilgrimage to India during the Tang dynasty in order to obtain the Buddhist religious texts (sutras) together with his 3 disciples, namely Sun WuKong, Zhu BaJie and Sha WuJing. Although the character Monkey King (孙悟空) is a fiction, but XuanZhang (唐僧/玄奘/三藏法师), the Tang Dynasty Buddhist monk in the story is a real character and the pilgrimage to India did happen.

During noon time, the sun rays are reflected off the red rocks, as though the hillsides are engulfed by tongues of fire. Flaming Mountain is largely made up of bare rock without a single blade of grass but I saw a "sesat" donkey over there.

Btw I really catch no ball what is the donkey doing there. Don't tell me the donkey survive by eating rocks or sands????? OMS.. Poor Donkey. No wonder he is so skinny :(

Flaming mountain is the hottest place in China and temperature sometimes reaches 48 degree centigrade. During summer the temperature can reaches up to 70 degree centigrade. How to survive woh? So hot can die. I really salute the Buddhist monk, XuanZhang :)

And yeah, this is the weapon of the Sun WuKong, the Monkey King character in Journey to the West ;)

Karez Irrigation System (Turpan)

Our first stop for the day in Turpan, China was the Karez Irrigation System. Turpan's Karez Irrigation System is among the three ancient major irrigation projects with the other two being Ling Canal in GuangXi and Dujiangyan Irrigation Project in Sichuan Province (I visited Dujiangyan (都江堰) in early 2006 during my visit to SiChuan Province and Jiuzhaigou).
Err? What is the Gigantic Lamp doing here? Have I mistakenly entered the City of Aladdin?

A visit to The Karez Museum. The greens in the photo are grape trees.

Walking pass the trellised walkway, which is ladened with grapes.

Grapes, grapes and grapes. But now is not the grape season yet. Two more months to go..

Illustration of surface construction of Karez Irrigation System. The Karez Irrigation System, with history of 2000+ years, is made up of a horizontal series of vertically dug wells that are linked by underground water canals to collect water from the watershed surface runoff from the base of the Tian Shan Mountains and the nearby the Flaming Mountains. The canals channel the water to the surface, taking advantage of the current provided by the gravity of the downward slope of the Turpan Depression. The canals are mostly underground to reduce water evaporation.
More info regarding Karez Irrigation System. Click on the picture (for a bigger view) only if you are really interested.. :P

Saja-saja ambik gambar ni.. Just for fun :P

The Moo Moo is cute mah, that's why I snap the photo :P

The vertically dug well that are linked to the connecting underground water canals.

The underground water canal. And I'm shocked when I reached the basement or underground, cos it is extremely cool underneath, just like the natural air conditioner. And it's so hot up there in the ground surface. What a relief..

The Karez Well. And yeah, the chinese and jawi writing again ;)

Wanna play hide and seek here? But better Keep Fingers Crossed KFC that you won't See Ghost if u really wanna play hide and seek. :P

Out of curiosity, I touched the water and it's cold. But of course I didn't taste it lah.. I'm not that adventurous :)

The water from the underground canals provide a stable water resource all year round as the weather is hot and dry in Turpan, and it seldom rains. Mmm... What's up next? ;)

15.6.2008

10 years ago, on this day.. I reported duty to the Sarawak Health Department and started working on the same day in the Orthopaedic Department in Sarawak General Hospital. Time flies and 10 years had passed since then. And today marks my 10th working anniversary :)

During my recent tour to Silk Road China, when some of my tour group members found out that I'm working in the hospital, few of them asked "Are u still doing your housemanship?" or "You just graduated not long ago?" etc... When I told them I have worked for 10 years already, they are surprised cos they think I looked much younger than my age. I really look so young meh? Hahahha... And there are people out there in the street who thought I'm still a college student. :P

Like what Yenjai told me few days back, might be next I can get discount price when buying economy rice by telling them that I'm a student. (Well, certain eating places in KL give discount for students). I think I should get a "fake student card" so that I can get discounts and special price when buying things or going for buffet etc. Hahahhaa..

Xinjiang Cultural Performance

I thought of omitting this part of the tour earlier on but now I decided to post it. This took place on the second night in Urumqi. We had buffet dinner of local delicacies while watching the XinJiang Ethnics Cultural Show at Mukam Banqueting Theatre, next to the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi. The entrance ticket for the show was RMB 160 (inclusive of buffet dinner).
Since the show hadn't started, it's time to feast our tummy with the local delicacies. I couldn't help but to stare at the gigantic noodle arranged in spiral shape which resembles you-know-what lah. And the name of the dishes are written only in Chinese language. If you can't understand chinese language, then sorry lah. Just guess what u took loh.
Some interesting food stuff i had, featuring Fried Milk, Spicy slices of Pig Stomach and slices of Fish Skin.. Yeah, u didn't read wrongly. It's fish skin :)

The local waiter serving Roasted Lamb. And yeah, he speaks Chinese :)

*A Big YAWN* ~ Luckily yawning is not contagious in this context... The food in this corner tak sedap lah.. They put vinegar inside the noodle geh? Eeeeeeeeeee.......
And the show started.. I had the itineraries of the performance in Chinese language and I'm just too lazy to type the whole thing out here nor translating it.. :P

A useful gadget for clapping hands when one is busy eating :)

Still hungry and I continued eating again while watching the show.. having the local homemade yoghurt.
This one I'm sure u know what dance lah.. It's the Indian Dance. Err.. How come Indian dance in China? :P
I will stop here since I malas to post so many photos liao, else u all will go Zzzzz too. And yeah, today is Friday the 13th and it's almost over liao.. in 10 minutes time :P

On the way to Turpan

It's time to bid farewell to Urumqi. The followings were shots taken on the way to Turpan. It was a long and tiring ride on the bumpy road.

Goodbye to the greens.. Entering the rock and sandy area soon.. Say hi to the cow herds :)

Say Hi to the Camels too. I will get to ride on a real Camel soon :)

Entering the Power Station area... Did u notice that the signboard is only written in Chinese language and Jawi? No English words leh...

The biggest Wind Power Station in China

Introducing the gigantic "fan" aka Wind Power Generator :)

Keng leh? I dunno how many of these are available on the road. Thousands? Or Millions?

Now we enter the salt factory region... Ever wonder how's the salt being produced? And the signboard is also written only in Chinese language and jawi :P

Say Hi to the sheeps. Anyone notice the whitish area in the background? Those are crystallised salt at the salt lake surface, which is available abundantly in this area.

More crystallised salt on the way

I kinda like this picture.. The white patch of crystallised salt in between the rock mountains and the greens.

Cemeteries...

Rocks and Sands.. It's time to doze off in the bus... Since there's still a long journey ahead..

Finally we reached the HOT and DRY Turpan (吐魯番).

Btw, most of the shots here were taken using my compact digicam from the moving bus as it was hard to take candid shots using viewfinder with DSLR on the super bumpy road.

International Grand Bazaar, Urumqi

A visit to the International Grand Bazaar at the Ethnic Culture Street in Urumqi, XinJiang Province, China :)

Manyak Panjang mia Building... I didn't go up lah cos I was too busy and pre occupied with walking and loitering in the compound, trying out the local delicacies and not forgetting taking photos..

Something that resembles Durian Liulian? Yeah, I saw durian being sold on the street, but didn't ask the price since I'm not buying..

LB's favourite food ~ KFC. Since I tarak suka and don't fancy KFC, hence I didn't bother to go inside the shop :P

Apricots.. and we bought some. Can't remember the price. It is either RMB 3 or RMB 5 per kati.

This is the interesting stuff. Guess what's that big chunk of white stuff? You won't believe me. It's local ICE CREAM !! Walau eh.. And it was left just like that in the open air. RMB 3 per cup.

And this is my favourite Pomegranade drink. RMB 5 or RMB 10 per glass? Lupa liao. Good stuff loh :) And Moz told me that his girl friend use Pomegranate to scrub her skin :P

Yeah, most of the local folks here are Muslim :)

Some of the fruit stuff we bought back that night.. Cherries, Dunno-what-fruit which is sourish in nature and Apricots :P
But this is not my first time eating fresh cherries, since I bought some in Tesco some time back ;)

TianChi (Heavenly Lake)

Our first stop for the day in Urumqi for the Silk Road Tour in XinJiang Province is TianChi (天池) or Heavenly Lake, formerly known as YaoChi. I won't write long and will let the picture do the talking. Since a picture worths a thousand words :)

Taking the cable car ride up. Up up up....

Scenic view of pine trees taken from the cable car.

Finally we reached our destination. The breathtaking Heavenly Lake in Tianshan Mountain, which lies 1980 meters above sea level.

YES !! The snow-capped peaks. Geeee, I don't have to visit Fuji Mountain in Japan for the snow capped mountain liao ;)

And we also took a short tour in the Heavenly Lake ~ half an hour ferry ride.

Pavillion on the mountain

Another shot of the blue sky, crystal clear blue water and the snow capped mountain from the ferry.

It's time to bid farewell to this scenic lake and mountain, which was listed as UNESCO world heritage site in 1990.

Have Mercy on the Green Grass :)

Haha, I cannot resist but to take another shot before I cabut :P

Silk Road Tour (1)

The tour to Silk Road was tiring, but nevertheless it's fun. It started with the 4 hours flight from Penang to Guangzhou, followed by another 5.5 hours domestic flight from Guangzhou to Urumqi. U can imagine my tiredness on arrival to Urumqi. And it was almost 9 pm at night by the time we reached Urumqi. And the sky was still bright as it only get dark around 10 pm at night, and brighten around 5 sumthing in the morning. Which is good, as we had more time for sight seeing.. How nice if the sky in Malaysia only gets dark at 9 or 10 pm?
Urumqi (乌鲁木齐) is the capital city of the Xinjiang Province, located northwest of China. It is the northern route of Silk Road. The subsequent 10 days of the tour, we traveled from Urumqi to Turpan, then to Hami, followed by DunHuang, then to JiaYuGuan, followed by Jiuquan, then Zhangye, later WuWei, followed by Lanzhou. And from Lanzhou we took the domestic flight to Xi'An. Following that we took the transit flight to Guangzhou before flying back to Penang.

I will upload some of the photos tomorrow since I'm tired and sleepy. And by the way, up to date, I have only go through less than half of the total 8000+ photos taken :P

Tunggu Balik Rumah

I'm now in KLIA, awaiting for my flight back home to Penang. Was in KL for few hours. So sleepy.. Almost fell asleep inside the cab just now.

And I just found out today I can even check in for my flight from KLIA to Penang in Penang. Hence I check in for my flight from Penang to KLIA and also from KLIA to Penang at the same time. (I don't have any check in luggage lah of course) :P

Happy Birthday Angeles

From Angel to Angeles and now Rainbow Angeles,
I really treasure and cherish your friendship...
Glad knowing such a wonderful person via blogsphere,
Although I have only get to know u for 2 years plus,
but it seems like knowing u for ages already ;)
I still remember the first time we met up on 6/8/06 @ LCCT..
and the rest are histories ;)

Muacks & Hugs & Kisses...
to a beautiful gal with a sincere, kind and gentle heart

Happy Birthday Angeles

♫ ♪ 生日快乐 ♫ ♪

**Ooops, super paiseh..
Cos I still haven't send out your birthday card yet..
Too tired mah..
Sleep early yesterday night and forgotten to send the card...
Must find a hole to hide liao....
I will send the card tomorrow morning..
If not I will piak myself :P

I'm Back

Finally I'm back home in Penang. Went for 10 days Silk Road Tour in China. It's tiring but fun, especially riding on a camel in the dessert, riding horse in a countryside farm and not forgetting riding the donkey cart. Just reached home early morning today, reached home around 1 am and started working today. I still feel so sleepy and tired....

Will reply to the comments in the previous post later, and thanks for the sms sent by some of u when I was away :)