Sep 2014. Anshan Since I was a small boy in Singapore, I could never eat the kochi. I put one in mouth, I twist and turn it, lick and suck it and all that was coming out was my saliva and not the sunflower kernel. You need to hold the hull vertically between your upper... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan We are truly a melting pot of culture in Singapore and Malaysia. Whenever I followed my mum to the wet markets in Singapore in the 1970s, the market vendors measured the weight of things in catties. One catty is 604grams. And the catty is actually a Malay word for the traditional Chinese... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan I didn't grow up eating mushrooms in Singapore because this was not part of the typical Indian or the Malay cuisines and the Chinese food I had like chicken rice, hor fun, laksa, bee hoon, wanton noodles etc. all didn't use mushrooms. I started eating mushrooms regularly when I moved to China... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan This is in Anshan, Liaoning Province. But you can see it practically everywhere in China: makeshift market stalls by the roadside selling fresh produce and meat. Its dangerous for passersby to patronize these stalls as this poses a road safety issue, especially if there are children and elderly people around. Exhaust fumes... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan I have lived in Shanghai, Shenyang and Beijing for many years and have never come across such a confronting scene. I was in a weekend trip in a small city called Anshan near Shenyang in the Liaoning Province. I was exploring the local market place when I was horrified to see a... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan A black and white artwork at the Dongshan Hotel lobby in Anshan, depicting a countryside with giant industrial machineries looming in the background. Like an army of industrial monsters marching forward to invade farms and countrysides. I have lived in three different cities in China for ten years. It is true that... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan The world has certainly changed the last 20 years. This is a local bus in a small city called Anshan, couple of hours high-speed train ride away from where I was working and living, Shenyang. I was there for the long weekend. I looked around and there was just one guy in... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan When I travel alone, I stay cheap, I eat cheap and I do sightseeing cheap. So much so that some Chinese people might be surprised to see a foreigner doing so cheap. But I really didn't care. In fact I loved it. I just wanted to step out of my corporate work... Continue Reading →
Sep 2014. Anshan Maybe some foreigners wanted to travel cheap in China and then later complained about hotels in the international media and the government decided to restrict foreigners to the better hotels or if it is a security policy. I have no idea. But you cannot walk up to any hotel and book a... Continue Reading →