Land of Idyllic Beauty

The "land of idyllic beauty" is a perfect phrase to describe the life in New Zealand. The journey between Christchurch and Queenstown takes approximately 500 kilometers, and there are several vineyards along the way. The area is surrounded by many trees, a large number of well-developed parks and exquisite residential gardens.

Our destination, Queenstown, has an estimated resident population of 20,000. The beauty of this landscape draws thousands of visitors each day, with over one hundred thousand visitors during summer and winter months. This makes it one of New Zealand’s most visited tourist spots and a well-developed town.

The most well known place in Queenstown is Lake Wakatipu. Renowned for its scenic beauty, Lake Wakatipu is being surrounded by mountains, and is a popular venue for adventure tourism. In recent years, Lake Wakatipu’s hotels have become a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. Among them, there are some hotels owned by Singaporeans. It is a pity that I could not share with you how gorgeous the scenery is, because no camera can capture it fully. However, the purpose of this trip is not for sightseeing. I was there to provide some feng shui advice to my friend who invested in a resort home by the lakes. Such a resort house with lake view in New Zealand only costs two to three million Singapore dollars, while the same house in Singapore will cost ten to twenty million Singapore dollars.

At Queenstown, we took a scenic flight onboard an 8-seater aircraft to enjoy a scenic view of the lake. As we circled and hovered above the glaciers, overlooking the lake beneath, we noticed the magnificent blue sky and beautiful clear water.

The mountains resemble conical formations and are most likely sculpted by the heavy snow and strong wind throughout the years. In the aspect of feng shui studies, it is not a favourable landform because of the steep peaks and flat mountain plains. Previously, I saw such a landform in China’s Changbai Mountain. The only difference lies in the absence of a crater lake due to the year-round presence of strong winds.

After a 45 minutes’ flight, we reached Milford Sound, a fjord in the southwest of New Zealand’s south island. After cruising along the fjord for over an hour, we came across magnificent scenery of the Danxia landform. The Danxia landform is usually spotted only at inland China region. Nonetheless, the unusual appearance of the Danxia landform at this adjoining lake and river is indeed magnificent!

Occasionally, tourists can admire dolphins, sea lions and the play of the wind with the numerous waterfalls. The falls never reach the bottom of Milford Sound, drifting away in the wind.

It says on the advertisement that this is a place that you cannot afford to miss! Will you visit this place again?

I would like to! This is an enjoyable destination whereby one can linger on without any thoughts and learning, and it is definitely a destination worth visiting again! Nevertheless, I will leave it to fate to decide if I will be back again!

Reflections

My impression of China improved after I visited the Shanghai Expo, as the Chinese had put in much effort into the planning and management of this event and it is indeed quite impressive. Be it for entertainment, or amenities such as food and restrooms, one can find all of these easily. Also, there are buses to ferry passengers around different pavilions and service ambassadors are available at all times to provide quality service.

Nonetheless, it is rare to attain perfection and I felt that the expo is too big with overwhelming crowds. One often needs to join a very long queue to enter the different pavilions. I spent six hours and was only able to visit a few of the pavilions. It is inevitable that I have some regrets for not having explored the entire expo site.

Shortly after my changed impression of China, I was astonished when we visited the Shanghai Pearl Tower. There were no problems with the queues but upon reaching the retail stalls and eateries, problems arose and I felt as if I was transported back to China during the 1980s. Service was scarce and we were pretty much left to our own devices.

I was at one of the stalls trying to get the attention of the salesperson. After calling out for three to four times, someone finally brought the item that I requested for. I merely asked a few questions when the salesperson retorted and asked if I have the intention to purchase. I made the purchase on the spot, as it was a small item that costs only 100 Yuan.

Upon reaching the restaurant, I was barred at the front door, as I could not find the tour guide. The doorkeeper asked me several questions that were even more direct than a security guard. However, once the tour guide appears, the attitude of the doorkeeper changed immediately and even welcomed me into the restaurant heartily. Although, it was supposed to be an international buffet, there were no tea, coffee or even water! Additional charges for drinks apply and we have to pay if we need to use their cups! Such retail methods are really astounding and it was an eye-opening experience!

I have been traveling to China since 1980s for leisure trips and I am always happy to see China progressing throughout the years. Usually, I travel to destinations that are off the beaten tracks with lesser crowds. However, my encounters while travelling in a group tour on this trip gave me much food for thought. I cannot help but to ponder: does mass tourists really deserve such treatment?

It goes to show that a city cannot rely solely on its exterior; it also requires good service that can provide satisfaction. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce adequate training to raise the local service standards. The development and progress of the city does not come easily and it is essential not to fail due to this minor aspect.

After evaluating others, I look back and figured that Singapore has much room for improvements in the aspect of service as well. Hope everybody can work together to achieve better service standards and progress ahead!

Aswan

Between Cairo and the Nile River, there is an ancient yet modern city named Aswan. In the olden days, it used to be a trading area and this practice has continued to current days. Aswan is still an important trading center for Egypt and other African countries. It is one and half-hours away from Cairo by flight but if one were to take the train, it would take more than ten hours. On this day, we woke up early to catch our flight at 6am.

We reached Aswan around 8am and our guide brought us to visit the Aswan High Dam. A major project that took eleven years to complete, this large dam accounts for 80% of the electricity consumption in Egypt. One cannot help but to agree that the Nile River has its modern days’ talents as well. After this, we visited the ancient red granite quarry whereby we learned of how the quarry operates in the past and I was deeply touched by the hard work and difficulties that the quarry workers faced. On a different note, I was pleasantly surprised to come across three books relating to Egypt in Chinese language in a small shop nearby and I happily purchased them.

Next, we enjoyed lunch onboard a cruise ship. Hundred of ships that vary in different sizes are berthed here. Amenities onboard each ship contains hundreds of cabins, a restaurant and café. There are even swimming pools onboard some of the larger cruises and it resembles a floating five stars hotel! We will be staying onboard the cruise for three days and that includes a New Year countdown party to welcome 2010.

To be honest, I was most looking forward to this part of the trip but I was greatly disappointed once we went onboard. The cabin assigned to us was near the engine room and I am sure that the engine sounds will keep me awake at night. Thus, we insistently requested for the person-in-charge to change a cabin for us. Upon several requests, we finally got our wishes and were assigned to a lower level cabin, near to the employees’ resting room. There was no beautiful scenery here but it was very quiet.

Late afternoon, we drifted along the Nile River in a small boat for 40 minutes and it was a pleasant experience, as we get up close and personal with the seagulls. Upon returning to the cruise, I sat on the deck to start blogging while taking pictures of soaring seagulls and the beautiful sunset!

Sailing along the serene Nile River with its beautiful scenery, I indulged in a beautiful night.