Shui Guo Hu # 1 Primary School, Wuhan

Top photo:
I wanted to capture the external profile of the school from across the road. Lessons had already begun within.


Centre photo:
The school has an indoor swimming pool next to it. Swimming lessons are carried out by former Chinese Olympic swimmers. The pool is also open to paying members of the public.

Bottom photo:

At this major road junction, I decided to ask D2 and Melissa to stop and pose for a " background" shot. Turning right will lead to the school.

Notice a man on the pedestrian crossing. He does not assume he has right of way and therefore boldly walk forward. In most places in China vehicles will continue moving even at such marked crossing. They may slow down slightly but never come to a complete halt. It would be hazardous and foolhardy for anyone to expect otherwise. China has left hand driven vehicles. So, one needs to look left ,look right and left again.....correct? WRONG! You need to look EVERYWHERE! Crossing a busy road with heavy traffic can turn out to be a major and daunting task!

More than 2 decades ago, an ex-colleague of mine while holidaying in Beijing with his wife, was killed in a roadside accident.

Apparently, he was knocked down by a vehicle while he was trying to snap a picture of his wife across the road. He was an avid photographer and was taking much too long to do so and so forgot about the dangers and of "being aware at all times of your surroundings".

A Warm School Welcome...27-5-08

At 8 am, D2 and I met with J,M and D at the hotel lobby. We turned right at the hotel front on the main road. Coming to a major junction, we turned right again and in less than 5 minutes walk Principal Zheng's school appeared across the
road. We used a specially constructed underpass to get into the school. I noticed something very remarkable here. They had pupils adorned with scarves near the exit who greet their teachers and also us with some positive praises and thanks. Unique! Excellent!

The entire school of about nearly 3000 kids were assembled at the basketball courts. This was a daily thing. Then annoucements were made by the VPs, P or other staff.

I moved further away with my camera to capture the scene. Then over the PA system I heard the VP and HOD informing the assembly to welcome 2 special guests in their midst....D2 and me. The pupils in this school attend lessons dressed in their own clothes and footwear. As I walked among the kids, I heard my name being called,..." Mr Yip! Mr Yip!". Surprised, I turned around and saw many familiar faces among the 25 GSPS kids. These Primary 5 kids had 2 weeks of ukulele lessons taught by me just a week before the trip.

They were very happy to see me and their Principal right there!
Top Photo:

The VP Mdm Liu, carrying an umbrella. L to R.....Jessica, D2, Mr Ye, Melissa and Dennis

A busy Morning in Wuhan....Shui Guo Hu Street

We got up at 6.30 am and by 7.15 am had breakfast in the hotel with J, M and D. The breakfast spread was generally ok but no warm drinks were available...not tea and no coffee either. As this was our very 1st morning in Wuhan we decided to take a stroll by going across our hotel to the Shui Guo Hu Commercial Walking Street. The weather was fine and already there were people exercising in the boulevard. This street was a pleasant and safe place to take a family or the elderly out for shopping, fun or meals. No vehicle traffic allowed here. On either side were shops and eateries. We went into KFC for a warm drink. There was also a big department store much like our NTUC Fairprice or Sheng Siong. Further down , was a police station. Clothes, shoes, liquor, salons and some other shops complete the setting.

We like the gentle feel of this place and over the next few days took more time to explore its surroundings.

D2 went into the supermart to have a look around and bought a couple of things.

I had a good look at some shoe shops

but they were not opened as yet.

Welcome Dinner - Wuhan

We were taken straight to the restaurant from the airport. There, Mr Zheng and his staff graciously escorted us to a private dining room where we sat down together with the GSPS trio of J, M and D.

The food that was laid out was very attractive and most appealing. Out came a bottle of wine and that began our 1st round of the famous Chinese toast " Kan-pei! ". There were many that night. The dishes came fast and furiously and almost all were decked with green or red hot chillies. Even the soup did not escape the "hotness".
Our host graciously asked if we were ok with spicy food. I replied that we eat a lot of food with some chillies back home but definitely not as much as they do here. The food was literally swimming in chillies...and they were really hot!

There were several interesting vegetable dishes that we tasted for the very 1st time...such as the root of the lotus plant [ Bottom picture - centre dish ]. Never realised they can be cooked and eaten. The taste? My verdict? Not to be missed !

This wasn't the only surprise we had.

Midway through dinner I motioned to speak...in good S'pore English and a rather brave smattering of whatever Mandarin I could muster [ always a terrific ice-breaker amidst much laughter, which I didn't mind]. I stood up and brought forward the ukulele and presented it to Principal Zheng as our welcoming gift. All present, excluding us, have not seen nor heard a ukulele "live" before this. So, Zheng and his staff urged me to play and then to sing some songs with it. I started with some traditional Hawaiian tunes and some of our local songs..then they asked for more!

P Zheng was a former guitarist in a band and understood as I explained the instrument and some key chords to him. Mr Fu, his HOD, also has some music background and tried the uke out. All liked it or rather the sound it produces very much.

The dinner and our easy camaradie set the best tone for this visit.

Guangzhou and Wuhan - 26th May 2008

Our flight to Guangzhou took off from Changi Airport Terminal 1 on China Southern Airline flight CZ 352 at 8 am , 26 May 08. We arrived at Guangzhou at 11.50 am local time which is same as SG time. Our connecting flight to Wuhan was at 3.40 pm so we had time to kill. Walking around the huge and stupendous airport would make anybody tired easily. We spotted a restaurant/cafe ...The Old Tree cafe and plonked ourselves there for a much-needed rest and some lunch. The photo showed us at our table and the box contained a new ukulele which we intended to present to the Principal of the school we were to visit in Wuhan. We were punctual at boarding time in the fully loaded plane....3.40 pm. But due to some unknown reasons [ not made known to passengers] the plane did not move at all and remained on the tarmac for 1 hour and 20 minutes. The interior was getting very stuffy and difficult to breathe. Both of us have never experienced such a situation before in all our travels. But the people with us, almost all returning Wuhan locals, NEVER complained, did not show any signs of impatience or irritation. It was a major REVEALATION for us. We were mightily impressed. When the plane finally took off at 5.05 pm, we heaved a sigh of relief for awaiting us at the local Wuhan airport was Principal Zheng and some of his staff....they too were kept waiting by this delay. We touched down at 6.35pm and were warmly received by P Zheng, his HOD Mr Fu and Jessica our own GSPS teacher. Introductions were made and we were driven straight to a Restaurant for Dinner with Mr Zheng's other key staff members and the GSPS team

of Dennis and Melissa as well.

Photo: Mr Fu, Principal Zheng, Julie and D2

CHINA...Wuhan,Hubei Province May-June 08

Recently, my dear wife D2 had been away on official work-related trips to Suzhou, China and then immediately after that to Scotland for a fortnight. On her return home, with just one day of rest, she was to pack her bag for a trip to Wuhan, China. Rather than see her making her way to the heart of China alone, I decided to accompany her.

In many ways, this was to be one of our most memorable trips overseas. There will be lots of things I shall be blogging about, with lots and lots of photos. The story will be complete with much insight into recent events such as the Sichuan earthquake and History of the places and region we visited. People we met, friends we made, what we saw and experienced, food we tasted and the friendship and hospitality of those we met ...all these and more will be covered in upcoming blogs. Don't miss them!

Photo showed us at the famous 3 Gorges on the Yangtze River.

We were on a 3 day 4 star cruise on the mighty river.

Mt Ophir 1974...The True Encounter with Princess Gunung Ledang

Hi folks,
Since my last post, I have been very busy with so many things.
Babysitting my grandkids, teaching more than 300 kids how to play the ukulele, exploring
the ancient cities of the Three Kingdom period and even earlier, the modern capital of Hubei
Province ...Wuhan, and other cities...well, the activities go on.
Just as me and D2 returned, we were again off to Malacca for a four day retreat.
So, ok...back to the story of Mt Ophir and what really happened in 1974. That expedition was special in more ways than one.
Firstly, the group of friends who suggested that trip were all young, working adults, all men.
None had any mountaineering experience. Basically, they were all greenhorns about the outdoors. But they wanted very much to climb their 1st mountain. As a group of close friends I could not refuse their plea for me to lead them there. But I did have my doubts about their fitness level and other things, though all were in reasonably good health. By 1974, Mt Ophir was
already attracting quite a few expeditions every school holiday period. Many were from Singapore and Malaysia as well.
So, in anticipation of a more crowded climb during the holiday period, I proposed that we climb during the CHINESE NEW YEAR holiday, knowing full well that no one will be mad enough to do any climbing at that time. Then we can have the whole route and mountain to ourselves. Everyone agreed with my suggestion and so it was set.
We made physical preparations for the climb, went on some training treks to MacRitchie, Mandai and Bt Timah Hill., and some HDB blocks for stair-climbing.
I have never missed celebrating CNY with my family, relatives and friends. This would be a first for me as well as for the others. It was a small party consisting of just 5 of us. There was WP Sim our car driver, A Loo, Chin HK, C Lim and your truly.
Before the trip, all of us met at my home for packing and checking of provisions and other stuff. On the day of the journey we drove all the way to Tangkak Park / Reservoir office and informed the staff on duty about our climb. They were truly surprised!
After a short discussion with us mainly to ascertain that at least one of us was familiar with Gunung Ledang ( Mt Ophir ) and all its do's and don'ts.....we bade them farewell and were on our way....to a truly never to be forgotten experience in a lifetime.
" NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN ? "..... Absolutely!!! How come? Why? What happened?
A number of things that can never be explained occured during the actual climb and also post-trip. BUT.....the most INCREDIBLE AND MOST ASTOUNDING THING WAS....HOW I MET THE LEGENDARY PRINCESS OF GUNUNG LEDANG, FACE TO FACE, just a short distance before the very summit of Mt Ophir.
We were on a very narrow path, with crooked trees and plants around us, I was leading the party and was just about to go round a right bend outcrop of rock when ....out of the blue...I came face to face with another human coming down my way. At first glance, it was a lady...a graceful-looking old woman of about 80+ years old, Malay-looking, carrying a basket in her hand. Inside the basket, I remember seeing some fragrant flowers and eggs. Her hair was tucked nicely and white. She was dressed in traditional Malay dress. I imagined she must have been a very pretty lady in her youth.
She stopped as she saw me. I halted dead in my tracks, facing her., not knowing, not realising at that point in time who she was, what she was and what was she doing there nearly 4,000 over feet up in the cold of G ledang near the summit.
Then she started to speak to me !
And I replied.....we spoke in Malay.
What she asked me and told me and what and how I replied to her and much, much more..... 100% TRUE, unbelievable stuff.....will be revealed in coming posts.
Anyone reading this thinking it is fiction can have this assurance from me....IT REALLY HAPPENED ! On my deathbed, if you ask me to swear on any holy book that this took place..I would, even if it is with my last breath. I cannot deny it as it actually happened.

ps: I have some photos of the trip but they must be in my storeroom somewhere.
Once I can locate them....I'll put them up.

For the continuation of this story, go to the same titled post on 21 Sept 2008, Blog Archives.