While We Were Sleeping

When we decided to hop on a 3D3N (65 hours+) train ride from Vladivostok to Irkutsk:

We wouldn’t know if:
- World War 3 broke out, because we can’t read the Russian newspapers available along the stations…even though we did see many Russian tanks being transported like ducks via cargo trains.
- Malaysia decides to cut off water supplies to Singapore
- Workers’ Party staged a coup again Parliament
- We smell nice (nice, is subjective)


But we would know that:
- PAP is almost certain to be still in power (thanks Francis for reminding us)
- It’s sensible to buy the cheaper plaskartny dorm-carriage tickets, because you get to see/talk to more people, such as this bunch of taekwondo students who made us feel much safer.
- Food from the train’s dining carriage is horrible. We didn’t try any, but the sour attitude we got from the babushka manning the kitchen was bad enough.


- Being parents must be a tiring lifelong occupation. Not to mention babysitting other people’s kids (see picture of Sharon hard at work)

- The smoked Omul Fish from Lake Baikal is largely boneless, best eaten when offered by other passengers. (these are acquaintances from China who’re busy logging the forests of Siberia…until environmental laws kick into place)

And according to our nice hostel manager, Nadya, Irkutsk is currently blazing along at -11 Deg which she remarked that it’s “hot”. I think Russians can be quite humorous.

Barely Into Russia

What would you do if you were a traveler journeying into an absolutely foreign land without any money, any means of guaranteed accommodation, running out of food and could barely speak Russian to save your skin? Probably just pray for the best.

Especially for our parents and relatives reading this blog, we’re glad to share that we’re definitely safe and sound, our technicalities sorted out. Though indeed this faintly reminds of the biblical patriarchs travelling into foreign lands promised by God. In both senses, we all know God will certainly provide and protect even as the future seemed unknown.

Our Vladivostok hotel bookings in past week frustrated us over the Net, and the hotels we called up could only respond to us in Russian. As circumstances go, we didn’t manage to suss out a money changer in Harbin in time, nor an ATM to withdraw Russian roubles on arrival. And so we give an approving nod to those who invented the credit card, and our Russian cabbie who accepted payment in RMB albeit at an inflated price.

Whilst Harbin in the past 2-3 days nearly froze us (Willy caught a cough virus), Vladivostok hums along warmly at around -8 Deg on average. At least until the mighty wind-chill factor kicked in. We also recall our little adventure of walking across the frozen surface of Harbin’s Songhua River whilst intently listening out of surface cracks. As the mighty creator of our world, we’re certain God has much in store for us in our journey ahead. But only if we trust Him to lead.

The Great Touts of China

We met the Great Touts (GT) while trying to get to the Great Wall Of China. And we call them great not really because of their hardsell tactics but because of their ruthlessness.

So apparently there’s this cheap public bus that goes directly to the Great Wall but the bus-stand’s empty when we arrived. Only one GT was hovering around so we asked him about the bus. GT1 said the bus isn’t coming anytime soon but he knows people who can arrange for minivan or taxi transport to the Great Wall. 1. Sounds like a familiar tout-story. 2. He’s not wearing a uniform 3. He keeps eyeing us from a distant when we walked away. OK 3 strikes down, sounds like a tout.

While we avoided him, GT1 chatted up another couple waiting for the same bus. We walked to a little office nearby and got successfully directed to the correct bus parked a short distance away. Then before we boarded, I (Willy) started walking over to inform the other couple of this bus. I was however physically restrained by another GT. This GT2 said his “ GT1 colleague’ is busy at work and I should not walk over. Shaz yelled at the couple to come over. GT2 then warned me that another colleague will hit me if I intervene. He indicated to another GT3 a short distance away who glared at me.

Instincts kicked in. I frowned and walked back to the bus. I felt both relieved yet defeated. Should I had stood up to this vicious cycle and would it be worth the effort? Would I actually be affecting the livelihood of these GTs that are keeping them financially afloat?

What ensued caused my stomach to groan. From our bus where we sat, we saw GT2 physically blocking and harassing another female passenger from boarding another bus. He literally pulled at her handbag and she looked visibly upset. It was a devil to watch. Yet nobody around batted an eyelid and some people were even laughing/joking about it. Given the GTs’ previous threats, we struggled with our inaction and the public climate of apathy. This marred our mood partly for the day but generated much introspection and discussion.

That said, we have also met friendly people in China, even including some of the hardsell vendors. But as the recent melamine incident had indicated, personal gain sometimes does cause individuals to cross lines. Sometimes, fatally.

Observations in China

Blogging indeed takes a backseat during our current shuttle-runs of changing locations/accomm. Though being ethnic Chinese roaming China as a foreigner, here're some observations thus far:

1. Like a parallel to Westerners mistaking Singapore as part of China, the local Chinese are surprised that Singapore contains ethnic Chinese and can actually speak Mandarin.


2. The PA-system of Guangzhou's subway announces in 3 languages - Mandarin, Cantonese, then English (likely according to priority).

3. Now I know what it means to breathe the air of a polluted city (picture of Guangzhou). On a good day, it borders on romance. On a bad one, you know your health insurance policy was not bought in vain.

4. While the sleeper class of China's train easily beats the KTMB (Msia) variant, it's still lamentable to witness how the space proportion of humans/luggage to breathable air in the unreserved seating class gets pretty bad. :(

5. Some experiences here remind me (Willy) of what my parents can only relate to me or what I can only watch on TV - rattling of firecrackers all over (esp during Lantern Festival in Guilin), people in crumbling courtyard homes clustering over lunch, cycling through villages just like those in pugilistic movie sets etc.

6. The touts (in Yangshou) are amazingly persistent and remarkably irritating. They'll sell you anything, even if you're in the same line with them buying something, or asking for directions (they'll insist on sending you there). Their strong-arm tactics in not taking a firm "NO!" for an answer even applies to the group of hunching grandmas hawking flowers & peanuts. But sometimes you do get overwhelmed with the "What's wrong with giving up some RMB when it contributes to their comparatively lower income?" moral dilemma that we relent. Otherwise, we've been quite happy contributing to those asking along the streets.

We Missed Our Flight!

Our tragedy occurred a few days back but deserves an entry because it’s high time the procrastinators in us learnt our lesson. Never assume planes will wait for you even after the last call, and always wear a watch (or stop blabbering and look out for the time).

AirAsia flight FD3632 from Bangkok to Guangzhou did not wait for us because we were 3 minutes late at the boarding gate (which closed exactly 10 mins before departure). You can feel a dark cloud descending upon your heart when you realize you’re at that moment experiencing an urban tale – missing your flight. And you know you’ve lost your right to negotiate because it’s nobody else’s fault but yours.

But still we badgered the airline staff manning the boarding gate for alternatives and they started haggling with counterparts over walkies. Some hope crept in when they tried arranging for another bus to shuttle us to the plane parked far far away, but somehow they ended up giving instructions for the ground crew to suck our luggage out of the aircraft (apparently a fairly straightforward task).

And so the dismayed couple soberly followed the airline staff to the Thai customs to have their exit stamp revoked. The husband was dispatched out through a series of doors and procedures to retrieve our orphaned luggage, while the wife shared her sob story with the AirAsia staff at the sales counter and successfully got discounted tickets for a similar flight the next day. And we were thankful that the financial damage was minimal and we ended up experiencing good hospitality from staff at a mission home we sought out that night. Perhaps all this was God’s little way of reminding us never to take things for granted…

Amazing Race Moments

Amazing Race moments(this is my first entry! – I have been slack and let my husband do all the work so far… Sharon)

We are not hardcore. We are actually comfort, order and efficiency loving Singaporeans at heart. The other day when we took a 5 hour busride to Vientiane. We decided on the ‘VIP’ option, and found out that it was one of those beautiful double decker bus (pink curtains and racy coat of paint) types. Unfortunately with no aircon, windows sealed shut, middle of the day.. a sort of claustraphobic’s nightmare. The only good option in these times is to fall asleep. Willy was saved by his 5000 Years Of Condensed Chinese History book and had a very enjoyable trip. The upside for me was that the toilet stop along the way was evidently in cahoots with the person who dismantled the aircon and put icecreams on sale for us. :)


Yesterday was a full day of travel (Vientiane to Bangkok) that was basically lagging by half an hour at every stop. Or, we started half an hour late so panicked at every junction from tuk tuk to bus station to tuk tuk to train. The day was sort of crowned by the fact that the bus didn’t go to the train station, in fact it sailed right past it in full view, and kept going to the middle of town bus station. The train was walking distance from the immigration at the Lao Thai border where we were queueing for ages, whereas the bus station was several miles. This is the point in the show where the contestants usually have a heated argument and sulk, but we did pretty well.


We only kicked ourselves for not asking directions then raced on tuk tuk into the sunset (the sunsets here are fabulous), where we got to the station about ten minutes before the train pulled out. Unfortunately they were out of sleeper class seats so we made the 12 hour journey into Bangkok on hard straight backed seats with the windows open and blasting cold air in. It was not too bad - we rewarded ourselves with a slightly nicer hotel with a really fancy hot shower. Too bad for Willy, he couldn’t find out how to use it and had a cold one instead hee hee