Polly in Singapore

Full moon over the Merlion.

Polly and Karim enjoying the food delights in Singapore. Tonight was Satay night. Nice

The Best Picture of the Evening.

Photo By Daniel Wong
The whole evening was a load of fun, from beginning to end. Thanks in no small measure to our brilliant MC, Zaibun.

 

and co MC Thomas .

Grateful thanks to them both and Daniel for doing an excellent job taking the photographs, Simon and Sock Hoon for the video.

Champagne Fountain.

Photo By Daniel Wong
Pouring the Champagne for the Yam Seng cheer, the wedding toast.

Wedding cup

Video by Sock Hoon
The Mongolia wedding cup was given to us by the project team in Ulaanbaatar. Selenge, Khishgee, Ariunaa, Nyamaa, Bysaa, Amaraa. Thomas is translating into Mandarin an explanation of what was about to happen, remembering out Mongolian friends.

Married

Solemnisation

Video by Sock Hoon
Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Mr. Chandra Mohan S/O K Nair, JP, PBM and witnesses Sandie and Harry. We were a bit caught out by the Mandarin translation!!!

Wedding Walk In.

Video by Sock Hoon
Our walk in to the wedding ceremony at the Raffles Town Club on July 9th 2008

Nottingham, England

The River Trent looking towards the city. The Trentbridge Cricket Ground is on the right, just past the bridge.

Tetbury, Gloustershire, England

A very different town. Tetbury is close by High Grove, Prince Charle's pad.


The Snooty Fox Hotel. Oh and the market. Very oldie worldie.

Darwen, Lancashire, England.

The Circus at the centre of Darwen, my home town.

And view up the road to Bolton. On the right the small white building used to be a Chinese restaruant. I wonder if that is where Hiew used to work???


Darwen library.

And the entrance hall. The place is exactly as I remember from 40 odd years ago!!!

Borneo Steam

This restored steamer was built in Leeds, UK, in 1913.

The railway in Sabah is pretty short and at the moment is undergoing a complete refurbish. So no tracks. All dug up. I really hope this lovely old timer can run again soon. Meanwhile she is confined to the KK museum yard.

Sea Sun Set

What can you say? Absolutely unbelievably beautiful.

Mount Kinabalu from KK

Back on the coast at sunset, the mountain looked as if it was erupting. Mount Kinabalu has never been volcanic but is growing at a rate of 5mm each year. A huge granite mass is being pushed up by pressure under the earths mantle.. The granite is so hard it resists the constant weathering.


Same view on full zoom


and about 20 mins later. We were so lucky to get such a clear day.

Mount Kinabalu

The mountain. A tad over 4000 mtrs. From the Park's Reception area you can take a guided trek to the top. The deal is, on the first day you get to half way, have an early night and on the second morning set off at 2:00am, in the dark , to get to the top for sunrise. I understand the sunrise is worth the effort.

but from down here the mountain is no less impressive.
changing as it does every couple of minutes.
This photo was taken are dusk with a pink cloud floating past the bald granite mass.

Kinabalu National Park

The National Park has a large reception area set aside for eateries, accommodation and museums etc. We stayed in a rather nice lodge. The night was cold enough for us to light the log fire!!! And we were only at about 1700 mtrs.


Three Singaporeans dressed for an evening in the tropics.....we are on Borneo Island!!!
The restaurant at the bottom of the hill is very nicely furnished.

Inside and out.

Slowing down and relaxing is real easy in this place.

Poring Hot Springs

Poring is close to the National Park and the mountains. Mount Kilabalu has never been volcanic but there are hot springs associated with the mountain range. Very popular with Sabahians and visitors alike. Come have a free hot bath!!!
Other delights are this canopy walk. Two warnings. One, it is a very steep 350m climb up the side of the valley to get to the start of the high level walk.
And two, although the blurb says that 70% of the natural action is up in the canopy, you are so focused on overcoming your height phobia, you completely miss it!!! I would not have been distracted even if a monkey had thrown a banana at me. The walk way is so narrow. Very scary!!!

On the ground is this smelly flower, the Rafflesia. It is the flower of an underground, parasitic plant, or is it fungus. A bud develops above ground to the size of a cabbage over a 9 to 12 month period. When the time is right the flower opens up for only 5 to 7 days and then dies back. Smells of rotting meat to attract flies. Thing is, it can be a big as a meter across. This one was only about 50 cm across.

Tun Mustapha Tower

This extraordinary 30 storey glass tower was constructed over thirty years ago. It is the tallest building on Borneo island. The construction is very unusual in that the floors are suspended by steel cables from the top of the central core pillar and I think, half way down. This has a strange effect when you are standing in the building. You get a what I can only describe as a "wobbling" sensation through your feet. Very odd!!!

There is a revolving restaurant at level 18 with this view towards the newer government building constructed to house the original occupants of the tower. I don't blame them for moving out!!! The funny feeling in your feet is very distracting!!!

House on the Rock

Gek, Sock Hoon and me spent week with Yvonne and Hiew at their lovely house on the rock in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah..

Hiew designed the house himself and he is a fan of palms. A very impressive front door!!!!

Guangzhou Old Trolley Bus

Found in Yeuxiu park, what looks like a 1950’s articulated trolley bus!!

In need of a bit of TLC, but essentially complete
Guangzhou still has an extensive trolley bus net running through out the city

This circular plate that allows the body to articulate has four seats fixed to it. Must be a fun ride on those.

Guangzhou to Kunming

Stone Forest


We travelled by train from Kunming to Guangzhou. A journey taking exactly 24 hours. We left Kunming on the dot and arrived in Guangzhou on the dot. Impressive. The sleeping arrangements are 6 to an open cubic. Lights off 10pm, wake up music on at 7 am. The carriage attended clocked that I looked ancient and I was given a Chinese knot emblem over my cot to signify the fact!!! Well, she said I was to be recognised as a special customer and wrote my details up in a ledger. Smart.





Kunming at 2000 mtrs is 500 mtrs higher than Ulaanbaatar. The train journey east to Guangzhou on the coast passes through the stone forest, a huge area of weird upright limestone structures. Sorry, shots from the train were not easy. Missed a whole load to impressive deep cut valleys etc. Bummer. Oh well, next time.

Yeu Xiu park

Walking through the main entrance you are confronted with this mass of impossibly brightly coloured flowers.









After winter in Mongolia, a massive contrast.


Subtropical green from

artic white.

Guangzhou - Goat City

Guangzhou was given its prosperity by 5 fairies who arrived on 5 goats. The fairies gift of 5 corn plants to the people living here led to the boom times you can find here today. I am only repeating what it said in the museum!!!! Honest.

Guangzhou

Unfortunately our day in Guangzhou was very misty. The city straddles the Pearl River and has lots of water ways. But with only one day, we didn’t have time to do the place photographic justice. All the four Chinese cities we have visited are high rise metropolises. The taxis system in all four cities are best I have ever used. All metered and you get a receipt without having to ask. Some even have GPS navigation fitted!!! A new index of a countries stage of development could be the taxi discipline!!! My view of China has changed considerably. Urban China at least has arrived as a 21st century economic power. Some European countries need to wake up and smell the coffee.