XINGANG (BEIJING), CHINA
Our day began with a bus tour to a hotel in Beijing, where we partook of a typical chinese meal.
From there we proceeded out of town to The Great Wall of China.
Mum took a picture of me, standing in this ancient wall.
This is a picture of Mum, standing near the model of the Great Wall.
On the way back we passed the dam, which was completely frozen over with the snow. So much so, that people were actually ice-fishing on the dam, while further away they were skating.
Apart from the Great Wall, what stood out most was the tremendous building and engineering feat that the chinese people have made to build motorways and myriad fly-overs to expedite the transport of goods.
ZHUJIAJIAO, SHANGHAI, CHINA
The first stop on our tour was the town of Shanghai, where we visited a factory where they produced silk doonas, before having lunch, then proceeding to the charming town of Zhujiajiao.
In the town we saw this gingko tree, something we do not have in Australia.
We visited an ancient apothecary, with its walls of drawers to hold the powders and roots. This is a view of the lovely woodwork throughout the building.
We also visited this temple, with its wish tree,
and the beautiful lamp in the shape of a lotus.
After proceeding through the narrow streets, we took a ride on the local gondola, the reason the town is known as the Venice of the East.
The river is criss-crossed with bridges at short intervals.
HONG KONG
Our ship returned to Hong Kong for another short visit, arriving near dinner time. After dinner Mum and I went back to the shoe shop to purchase more shoes.
We were both having trouble with our legs, so decided to take one of the tours the next day. Our tour took us to Stanley Markets, then to a show room where they made beautiful pearl, gold, and silver jewellery. From there we proceeded to the little side street markets. We were both taken with the buildings in this area. Because there is so little land available, the majority of the buildings are high rise, though they take much care to make them unique, unlike our buildings at home.
Our tour returned us to the ship in time for the evening meal. However, before boarding the ship again, we spotted this beautiful light display, which seemed to a representation of children, boats, and dragons!
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
This was the first new place for us on our trip. Neither of us had visited Japan before, although Mum and Dad had booked a trip here before Dad had his heart attack. Yokohama is the port for all visits to Tokyo. We decided not to visit Tokyo, but instead to visit the Hakone National Park and Mt Fuji.
Our day started out well with snow…lol. We had been unable to pack two seasons clothes due to the flight requirements, but fortunately, had packed long johns to wear under our slacks. Our jackets were only lightweight, so we really felt the cold.
The service stations were unbelievable! Would you believe, heated seats? We were so grateful. We never did get to see Mt Fuji, but what a trip! We do not have snow in our part of the world, indeed, there is little snow in the whole of Australia.
HIROSHIMA, JAPAN
Our ship was anchored in the harbour, close to this memorial to the Hiroshima bomb, and visible in all directions.
From there we were taken by bus to the railway station, where we boarded the bullet train
for a visit to Kintai Bridge, an ancient engineering marvel.
After a japanese lunch at this marvellous hotel
we finished off our tour with a visit to Peace Memorial Park, with The Dome, relic of the atomic bomb.
PUSAN, SOUTH KOREA
We were a bit worried when we heard that there was fire exchanged between North and South Korea, but finely figured that if there was danger the ship would abort our visit! It proved to be an interesting visit.
Snow was falling during our stop at the Busan Shopping Centre.
We were greated by a hostess in traditional costume.
Outside of the shop.
Here we had chosen the cultural performance, having seen the performers at Expo ’88 in Brisbane. Our visit coincided with the worst snow they had had in 60 years. Other tours were cancelled, and some of them joined with our tour. Fortunately the theatre was big enough.
NAH TRANG, VIETNAM
Nah Trang was our second port of call, and a place we had been to before. We noticed many changes since our last visit. Our tour took in the former winter palace, and a visit to a Silk Embroidery factory, where they did the most minute work, using single embroidery thread to make pictures, and to make silken screens.
The main streets had changed, with more modern buildings, but once you got away from the waterfront, the buildings were as they had been before.
A visit to a local church found these rickshaw drivers, and a couple of our fellow passengers took up the opportunity.
Then it was on to the markets, where I purchased a pair of leather sandals to assist my aching feet!
HONG KONG
Hong Kong is a favourite place of ours, and this was my third visit. We were both tired and footsore, so did not go out for the evening except for a quick visit to the shoe shop a friendly passenger told us about, where I purchased a pair of silver lambskin shoes, which turned out to be so comfortable that I went back and got more of them on our return to Hong Kong.
This was a structure set up outside the hotel we used on our last stay, which were to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
Our first port of call was Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. We had been to Vietnam before, but never to this location, so found the changes in the lifestyle since our last visit most interesting. As our bus travelled into the city we saw this entertainment park, set up for the local people.
Our first stop was a temple, where they worshiped these colourful icons. One of the practices was the release of birds to fulfil their wishes. Outside was a vendor selling the birds, which were on the sidewalk in cages.
Second stop was the Museum, with a show of "water puppets",
and inside the museum was this beautiful hand-carved screen.
Outside the car park was full of motorcycles, the main way of transportation for the general populus. On our previous visit, these had been much smaller.
Now the larger motorcycles had whole families travelling on them, seating up to 5 people! Our guide told us that they were able to have a licence at age 16, and there were virtually no road rules!
We enjoyed a meal at a local hotel, where we were entertained by the fan dancers.
After that, it was off to another hotel to enjoy the views of the city from the rooftop garden, before returning to our ship.
ASIA
Our trip started off not so well. We left at the end of January, flying to Singapore. That’s when we had problems. Mum had injured her leg and it was not going well. Putting off the trip was not an option, so I bought her a special walking stick – in actual fact a four legged double frame which folded out into a seat, so that she would be able to rest when needed. The flight was not a great experience as Mum had cramps in her leg. Singapore Airlines were marvellous, moving us to another seat where she was able to stretch her leg out.
However, our hotel was good, nice comfortable beds, hot water available, cleaned daily, coffee supplied. No restaurant, but the street had many options available, and it was on the bus route – only a few steps away. Taxis were very cheap, and except for our travels to and from the airport, under $10 Singapura.
Linley, a friend met on the internet, was a resident of Singapore, and she was kind enough to take us out and about on two occasions, to the Raffles Hotel, and to Yum Cha at one of the local restaurants. We had a great time shopping, visiting Chinatown which was all dressed up for the Chinese New Year (the year of the rabbit)
The Singapore Botanical Gardens with their beautiful orchids.
We saw the newly constructed Casino with its three curved buildings, topped with a boat shaped garden and pool, and marvelled at the new constructions going up.
All the buildings seem to compete for the most unique shapes, colours and patterns.
After 6 nights in Singapore, we boarded our cruise ship, M.V. Artemis to continue our adventures in Asia.
Tweaking the Budget
Things started off well with the food. We have spent very little on actual food, and have managed to reduce our takeaways down to practically nothing. However, there have been a few expenses not allowed for.
Week One saw us spending money on postage and getting a bigger bill for the chemist than anticipated. We also needed to spend some money at the hardware store for small things like screws and seeds. Overall we only went over our budget by $10.60
Week Two also turned out to be expensive, with food coming in just slightly over budget, but that did include stocking up on cat food. Main expense was alterations for clothing I bought for the upcoming trip. As I haven’t sewn in a lot of years, I did not feel that I had enough experience to do the alterations in a professional enough manner. Budget blew out by $69.40, otherwise it would have come in under budget.
I went back and re-tweaked the budget to reflect a more reasonable expectation of what we could achieve. Looking at coming expenses, I am sure that the new budget will be achievable.
Am currently spending time helping Mum to make some new clothes for the coming cruise. They have 8 formal nights and 8 semi-formal nights, as well as 17 casual nights. At 88 years of age, Mum does not have a lot of these sort of clothes. So far, with my daughter’s assistance, we look like getting everything ready in time.
Our visa has arrived for China, our tickets are all printed out, just the transport to and from the airport left to arrange. Mum and I are so looking forward to this trip. Our trip of a lifetime!
Starting Right in 2011.
Now that our trip to New Zealand was behind us, and with our big trip to Asia coming up soon, it was time to re-assess priorities. The solar energy was now up and running, we were making inroads on the water bill, as well as changing to another internet/phone plan to reduce costs. The Simple Savings site had a new challenge for the year – no spend/low spend. We talked it over and decided to give it a go!
The Plan.
Reduce unnecessary packaging.
Grow our own vegetables from seeds instead of plants.
Do minor repairs ourselves, utilising Bunnings free classes where applicable.
Join a free walking group, run by the Heart Foundation.
Use pensioner access for the local Council run pool.
Borrow books/magazines from the library instead of purchasing new. Use voucher given for buying used books.
Use up the stock in the pantry and freezer.
Make home-made gifts where possible.
Sew my own clothes from materials stock piled.
Reduce car trips by combining tasks.
Make a list of free, or low-cost outings we could do.
Do regular $21 Challenges (using food already in house and substituting for items NOT buying from shop).
Use assets (wish cards, vouchers, pre-paid credit card gifted) to defray unexpected costs.
Only use the Credit card to pay essential bills.
Use Bpay where possible instead of credit card.
Use cash or assets to purchase groceries.
Make freezer meals instead of buying takeaway, or have tinned, packaged meals in pantry.
Use the Clothes Dryer only in emergencies.
