Sayang Gallery

8am, 6th may 2008, took a bus from sungai nibong penang to KL Sentral. Took a shuttle bus to LCCT (this airport looks more like a typical Malaysian bus station than an airport! make sure you hop on the "air asia" official bus, the private bus touts are a big nuisance )

Met Gerald Gibbs of Flextronics, Suzhou

Arrived in Hangzhou China late evening. Took a cab to Motel 168 in the city. Advice: Take a shuttle bus next time, much cheaper and safer. I discovered later that the taxi took a longer route to reach my hotel !)

Took a CRH (China Railway High-speed) train to Shanghai read more about CRH.. CRH service is impressive, clean and efficient. fu wu yuan dressed like cong zhong xiao jia. However the ticketing counters at railway station no doubt needs lots of improvement. BTW you can purchase tickets at authorised travel agent outlets, ticket can be issued instantly, quite amazing !

Stayed 2 nights, 1 night at Ming Town YHA, No.55 Jiangyin Rd, Huangpu District, next to Ren Min park Shanghai

Note: China has YHA all over, most are clean, rustic and nice. Visit their web site.. read more about YHA China..

Took a CRH to Bengbu, Anhui, enroute to Jinan

Note: Buying ticket over the counter in Shanghai's Main railway station can be quite intimidating. First, the queue is usually long and there are heaps and heaps of people jostling and scurrying as if they are catching the last train! And when you see signs like "Speak English Counter", don't be fooled, you will end up speaking mandarin anyway. And there is Xuzhou and 2 Suzhous, and so you better know where you're going and pronounce it correctly; they all sound the same in English !!

Stayed a night at Bengbu (pronoounced as Bong Pu) Railway hotel

Next day at Bengbu railway station, I had problem buying a ticket to Jinan. There was no more ticket direct from Bengbu to Jinan but the creative ticket counter girl sold me 2 tickets, one from Bengbu to Xuzhou and from Taishan to Jinan, no ticket between Xuzhou to Taishan !! I asked the security guard and he told me to talk to the fu wu yuan to "bu piao !" when I am in the train.. phew ! In fact I ended sitting in the canteen coach for half of the journey !

Met Tan Kok Gan, KC Tan's brother, stayed in the same hotel for 2 nights. Kok Gan took me round Jinan

Took a CRH to Qingdao, stayed in a old colonial type YHA. Quite errie, reminds me of my Derbyshire days in England! Old wooden and winding srairways, rustic fire place...

In Qingdao took a taxi to the famous historical Laoshang. Qingdao is a mix of old colonial houses in tree lines streets and modern Shanghai like skyscrapers. Things can be quite expensive. And I noticed there was a big population of South Koreans

Met Fuliang, had dinner and freshly brewed Qingdao beer

Had coffee in China with Fuliang, in nice old cafe up in the hill overlooking Qingdao

Put up another night, in a classic hotel. Was cold that night, mercury dipped to 8. Next day heard of the big earthquake in Sichuan!

My original plan was to take a train to Yantai and then up north to Dalian, Shangyang, Tianshin, Xhengzhou, Xian, Wuhan, Shangrao, Yong Chun and Xiamen. But the earthquake has broken my spirit, I took a short cut back to Shanghai

Took a 10-hour direct CRH to Shanghai

Stayed in Blue mountain YHA. Convenient, just next to underground station, but room is ordinary, unless badly pressed for a place to put up, I would shun this place. Note the rates in Shanghai is higher than else where in CHina. You have to pay RMB 200 and above for a room with attached toilets

Took CRH to Shangrao, Jiangxi, passed thru Yiwu, the frequented-by-malaysian "industrial town"

Stayed a night in Shangrao, a thriving and pleasant city

Took a bus to the popular tourist Wuyi Shan in Fujian. Wuyi Shan is a bit like Guilin except not as pretty, I would personally not recommend this place. Lots of touts !

Took a night train to Quanzhou

From Quanzhou I took a bus to Yong Chun (Long winded way, instead I could have taken a bus to Sanming and then another bus to Yong Chun)

Stayed in usual comfortable Qiao Lian hotel, met Chin Seng, paid him RMB 2000 for Dad

Left for Xiamen, met Yuu Tang and Wu Yun mei. Had dinner with them. Stayed a night before flying to Singapore via Tiger air

In Singapore stayed in Tropical motel, China town (took MRT to Outram, head for Pearl Shopping Center, which is a minute walk, cross main road and you will find lots of nice old colonial hotels)

Homeward bound...Took a 170 yellow bus to JB at Queen Street bus station (take MRT to Bugis, 2-3 mins walk to the bus station)

Note: Yellow bus will drop you off at Spore immigration. After stamping your passport, you can get back on to the bus. Alight again at the Malaysian immigration and you can back up again or walk to JB town. But to take a bus to Senai airport, go to Golden Lounge, it's within walking distance from Immigration. (JB is screwed but Senai airport is quite impressive. take your meal at Levendar, recommended)