Off the tourist track in Western Java

Chinese New Year gave rise to a four day weekend last week, we originally planned on staying in Singapore but rather late in the day changed our minds. Our options as to where to go were fairly limited as many flights and hotels were fully booked or too expensive but strangely flights to Jakarta were not only available but inexpensive!  It's not a popular 'holiday' destination and the recent bomb attack may have put lots of people off-so we booked our flights and found a hotel on the west coast

It took 3 hours to drive the 100kms from Jakata Airport to Anyer beach as for the first hour we were stuck in the infamous Jakarta traffic. It was a little worrying as we neared our destination when we passed through an enormous industrial estate with huge steel and chemical works. By the time we arrived at the hotel it was dark but when we woke the next morning we were pleased to see that the hotel was not only new, clean and lovely but...

we had the most amazing view of the volcanic island of Krakatoa

We had hoped to take a boat trip to see Krakatoa but it was still monsoon season and the weather was  unpredictable with sudden thunder storms causing very rough seas so we had to content ourselves with just gazing at it in the distance 

Krakatoa erupted in spectacular fashion in the 1880's causing huge tsunami's killing more than 36,000 people and in the process blew itself apart so that only 1 third of the original volcano remains. It has had minor eruptions since then with the most recent one being in 2014. I was secretly hoping that Krakatoa might have a little eruption whilst we were there, it would have been amazing to have seen a trickle of lava flowing out!

As well as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes occasionally occur in this part of the world and there was an information leaflet in our room as to what to do if one happened, our bed even had a small carpeted area marking out the 'triangle of life'! 

However all was calm throughout our stay and we had plenty of time to relax, swim, read books and enjoy the views- which from the roof top bar were particularly good not only of Krakatoa but Sumatra as well

particularly when the sun set

The area that we stayed in is a popular weekend destination for Jakartan's and is largely muslim. The women were all modestly dressed with their bodies, arms and legs fully covered and headscarves on-even when swimming in the sea or hotel pool. I was very glad I had brought a swimsuit with me not just a bikini! 

 The next morning we asked if the hotel could arrange for a taxi to take us out to explore the area but were told that no taxis in the village so we headed out for a walk instead. There was a small stall selling coconuts, durian fruit and some bunches of bean looking vegetables that I hadn't come across before. The stall holders didn't speak english but I've since found out they were Petai or Stink beans, so called apparently as they have a strong smell which lingers in the mouth and body plus causes 'wind'!

Further on we came across some kids playing 

and cockerels fighting

That evening the hotel hosted a Chinese New Year's Eve buffet and the restaurant was decorated with red lanterns and dragons

 the kitchen was behind a glass window and it you could see the chefs prepare all the delicious food

they spent a long time preparing the brilliantly crafted centre piece which obviously had as it's theme "Year of the Monkey"

 That evening we watched another beautiful sunset this time from the beach

 We took another walk the next day and headed inland, first coming across a sort of 'road toll' where motorists are encouraged to give a donation for the building of a new mosque 

 soon we came across rice paddies and watched 

 as this lady planted young plants into the gaps

 and this lady was scattering fertiliser onto the crop

 We were the only non asians about and many of the locals seemed curious and stared at us, a few asked where we were going and laughed good naturally when we said 'just walking'.

As we retraced our route past the rice paddies two young women approached us and rather shyly indicated if we would like to come to their home for a drink, we of course accepted and were introduced to their father, brother and a young girl (we never quite worked out if she was their younger sister or one of their daughter's). We only had about 4 or 5 words of Indonesian and the women only had a little more english so there wasn't much conversation but there was lots of miming, laughing and giggling as we sipped our very hot and sugary black coffee. We understood that one of the women was a teacher, the other a tax officer but we didn't find out what the men did. They were so kind and very keen to take several photos of us all together 

They showed their tanks full of fish, presumably they sell the fish locally for eating

That night we had one last lovely sunset and view of Krakatoa

The next day it was time to leave but not before trying the Indonesian speciality of satay, this time sticks of chicken with satay sauce and a very spicy chilli sauce

 This weekend we had visited a different part of Java than we had seen on our previous visit to Yogyakarta and Borobudur. Not too many Westerner's visit Anyer possibly as there really isn't much to do there but it was perfect for a few days relaxing and we found it interesting to see and we met some friendly local people

Waiting at the airport for our flight back to Singapore we had plenty of time to browse the shops ( having allowed extra time for the taxi ride back to Jakarta in case we got stuck in traffic we of course arrived in very quick time), there was a shop with lovely Indonesian handicrafts, I particularly liked these wooden masks 

but instead bought a dragon...

 which opens up into a game board. I recognised the game as mancala and used to play it as a child. Doing a bit of research when I got home the game is called congklat in Indonesia and here is considered a 'girl's game'. 

Since arriving in Singapore I have been collecting the bright red seeds from the saga tree when ever I see them, just because they are so pretty, now I have a good use for them - they can be the playing pieces for this game.

Training for Mount Kinabalu

Those that know me well know that I love mountains and open spaces so coming to live in Singapore with it's highest hill being a rather titchy 163m (540ft) would be a bit of a challenge for me. However I like a good challenge, particularly ones that involve mountains, fabulous views and walking and of course it didn't take long to find out that the Mount Kinabalu on the island of Borneo is not very far away and a very 'do-able' challenge.

Mount Kinabalu is 4095m (13,500 ft),although it is frequently referred to as South East Asia's highest mountain, it is actually only the 5th highest, with Hkakabo Razi in Myanmar at 5881m being the highest. Mt K is a 'trekkers' mountain, therefore no serious mountain climbing skills are required just a degree of fitness and determination-so I'm told.

Anyway soon after arriving in Singapore I decided that I would attempt to climb Mount Kinabalu at some point and started asking around to see if others would like to join me, my friend AR, being a fellow lover of hill walking and mountains readily accepted and a few months ago we booked our trip.

All very exciting but then the next challenge arose-how to get fit for a mountain climb when you live in an almost pancake flat country that has only a few short off road trails? I decided to adopt similar fitness training that I had used whilst getting fit for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2012, that is to do lots of power walking i.e. walk as fast as possible for 1-3 hours. 

We live very close to the Green Corridor-the disused rail way line which passes close by to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve where the highest point in Singapore can be found-Bukit Timah Hill. So a few times recently I've walked from our condo, along the Green Corridor and up the hill then back again, a round trip of 17km (10.5miles). It's a hot and sweaty walk but that should be good training as the first day on Mt K will be a hot and sweaty walk!

 This is about the only place in Singapore where I feel justified in wearing proper walking boots!

 One of the old bridges and some of the railway track has been left

 Occasional encounters with monitor lizards, snakes, moor hens and birds add interest to the route  

 Encounters with monkeys are not so enjoyable although seeing them from a distance is always fun

In spite of my dislike of gyms and indoor exercise I have also started using the gym in our condo, going on the cross trainer and intermittently putting it on the steepest gradient. I haven't become any keener on gyms but hope this will stand me in good stead.

But I was worried that I was not getting enough 'climbing' practice so a few weeks ago introduced stair climbing to my fitness regime. This entails climbing up and down the stairs in the emergency stairwell and for almost the first time I have been grateful to live in a condo that has 37floors, an ideal training ground. I started with 1 complete set and have built up to 3 sets -so that is walking up to 37th floor and down to the bottom three times, in total 111 floors! It is exceedingly dull as well as inducing very achey calf muscles and of course I never gain any true height so have no opportunity to acclimatise to high altitude. A local and super-fit friend who has twice completed the "vertical marathon" advised me to vary my steps therefore I now do 5 floors at a run (slowly), 5 floors at a walk, 5 floors with 2 steps per tread then 5 floors of wide treads per step. So far only I've only met 1 person whilst doing my stair training which is just as well as I must look slightly odd as I puff my way up!

 I hope that all this training will be enough to help me get to the top of Mount Kinabalu, I will find out soon as this time next week AR and I head off to Kota Kinabalu to start our adventure

Shanghai

I was lucky to have my second trip to Shanghai two weeks ago as Papa T had business there. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and Papa T suggested we take the Maglev train into the city, the Shanghai Maglev line is the first commercially operated high speed magnetic levitation line in the world 

Both the station and incoming train were unbelievably clean and shiny

and the train journey was very quick with a top speed of over 300km/h (186mph in old money)

once dropping off our bags we went out to explore, nearby was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower

 It was a beautiful winter's day with clear skies, (unusual for Shanghai) but with the temperature at -6 and a brisk wind it actually felt like -13 and we soon felt frozen!  

We headed inside the tower to warm up and visit the well regarded history museum in the basement, you first see a very ornate wedding sedan chair

I really loved the nearly life size model of an 'old Shanghai street

We then took the lift up the 468m (1,500ft ) high tower to the second observation sphere 

where we had a stunning view of Shanghai at dusk

and braving the severe cold stepped out onto the glass floor of the Aerial Sightseeing Corridor which runs around the sphere at 269m,  looking down the ground seemed a long way down

By now thoroughly chilled to the bone (a sensation that we had not felt for quite some while) we returned to the hotel to warm up, unfortunately the hotel lobby, restaurant and bar area were all only a little warmer than outside so we kept our coats on as we ate and hurried up to our warm room.

The next day was just as cold but now with more clothing and two pairs of socks on I took the metro  to People's Park and had a brisk walk around

and as it was just too cold to do outside 'stuff' visited the Shanghai Museum. The museum's architecture is said to resemble an ancient bronze 'ding'- a three legged cooking vessel

I know very, little about Chinese art, furniture, calligraphy, ceramics, seals or jade but found the museum fascinating with separate gallery devoted to each subject and spent half a day learning a little about each. My favourite piece was this Tang dynasty horse

The following day it was again cold but fine and bright and I decided to head out of the city to the Sheshan National Forest Park. My guide book suggested this was a fairly easy trip by metro and local bus but I found it a little bit of a challenge. Getting the metro was easy but finding the right local bus  was a bit harder as no-one spoke english and I could not make out the Chinese characters. I got on a bus but it terminated at a theme park, before my destination, I could see the hill I was heading to in the distance so started to walk towards it. There were no houses or shops along the empty road but by good fortune after 20 minutes or so I came across a sign to a hotel where they spoke some english and called a taxi to take me to the Forest Park.

The Forest Park was not quite as 'forested' as I had thought but it was very pleasant walking in the sunshine up the hill, through the trees and bamboos 

then coming across a tall pagoda

and a pretty little rest area

then at the top there's the Shanghai Astronomical Museum with great views of the Shanghai suburbs

and the catholic Basilica of Notre Dame. All of it's stained glass windows had been destroyed in the Cultural Revolution but these are gradually been replaced-sadly no photographs were allowed to be taken inside.

Walking back down the hill I took a different path and found a Buddhist temple

I find it fascinating that there should be a Catholic Basilaica and a Buddhist temple on the same small hill!

 I then had the challenge of getting back to the city. There was no sign of any taxis but at the nearby bus stop I was relieved to see that the bus timetable had 1 stop written in English-'Sheshan Metro". I smiled at the man waiting at the bus stop and through miming and pointing at the bus timetable he understood me and waved down the next bus, he spoke to the stern looking bus conductress and indicated I should get on. I did and paid my fare-1 yuan-approx 10 UK pence. 

I was hoping I would recognise where we were going and the metro station stop but it all seemed unfamiliar. After a while the still very stern looking conductress put her red flag out of the bus window and when the bus stopped, she said something to me and shooed my off. I did as I was told but couldn't see the station, so followed the other 2 people who had got off the bus, luckily it turned out they were also going to the metro station and I was soon on my way back to the city.

Two thoughts struck me, 1- how difficult it must be travelling independently around rural China unless you can speak Chinese and read characters and 2-my father was right when he said the vast majority of people are kind and willing to help a lost traveller.

Back in the city centre I decided to get lost again but this time in the French Concession area with it's warren of tiny traditional alleyways of Tiang Zi Fang. Most of the little houses are now boutiques, galleries and cafes.

And only a short distance away the complex of Xintiandi which has rebuilt many of the buildings in the old Shikumen or stone-gate house style. 

I visited the small open house museum furnished with traditional and period furnishings

I could imagine how packed this pretty area must be in the height of summer with it's courtyard bars and restaurants, now practically deserted due to the cold weather

That evening we were taken for a delicious meal at a Yunnan Restaurant-Lost Heaven followed by a freezing walk along the Bund. The view at night across to Pudong, the Oriental Pearl Tower and the other beautifully illuminated skyscrapers is stunning

With a quick stop to admire and pat the Shanghai Bull, Papa T declined to stroke the bull's genitalia which I've since heard is rumoured to bring good luck, hope that doesn't mean we have bad luck this year!

The next day the weather had changed, it was now +6 but very wet. I chose to visit two temples that I had not seen on my last trip to Shanghai; first the Jing'an Buddhist Temple with it's traditional style roof looking incongruous against the ultra modern buildings surrounding it.

This statue of Guanyin has been carved out of 1000year old camphor tree

During the Cultural Revolution the temple was stripped of it's religious statues and turned into a plastics factory, it burned to the ground in 1972. For the last decade restoration has been ongoing and whilst I was there a crane was lifting a huge, wrapped statue into the main hall

Carrying on in the pouring rain I next visited the Jade Buddha Temple, Shanghai's most sacred shrine and an active Buddhist monastery 

I've noticed that many temples have peaceful courtyards with bonsai trees, interesting stones and sculptures

On the way to the Jade Buddha hall there was this intricate carving which had coins placed or balanced in the grooves- I guess for good fortune or wealth. Maybe it's the same as throwing a coin into a fountain for luck.

Unfortunately photographing the Jade Buddha statue is banned, so I can't show it to you but I can say  it is very impressive at nearly 2 meters high and looks very serene 

The rest of the temple is equally beautiful with huge statues and carvings

The last day the weather was particularly wet and my view of the Pudong side from the Bund was shrouded by fog, at least I think it was fog not smog

After a thoroughly wet walk I popped into a shopping mall to dry off a bit and was amazed to see this  winding escalator, I've never seen one like this before 

Over the last few weeks, in fact as soon as Christmas had passed, Singapore has been putting up red lanterns and decorations everywhere and Lunar New Year markets have suddenly appeared. I was looking forward to being in China and seeing how they prepared for the Chinese New Year but so far in Shanghai had seen little evidence of the forthcoming celebration. I asked a few locals and they seemed pretty unexcited about the whole thing, unlike the Singaporeans who seem to talk of nothing else for weeks.

Finally on my last afternoon I found some CNY decorations, at the Yu Yuan gardens and bazaar area. Huge figurines on floating stages depicting Chinese folk tales

and at last a monkey, as it this next year is the Year of the Fire Monkey

I felt pretty hungry and sought out Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, which had been recommended to me, the pork dumplings I ordered were absolutely delicious

It was now the end of our trip, for our last evening we were taken to a very swanky bar on the 92nd floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre, apparently the world's highest bar and restaurant. It was a fabulous bar but sadly we were so high up we were literally in the clouds and could not see a thing, a jolly good reason for making a return trip some time I think!