在柬埔寨的几天，我看到了太多的贫穷，太多的苦难。也许苦难这个词太过沉重，毕竟生性友善的柬埔寨人总是以一脸善意纯朴憨厚的小待人。走在金边的街头，我总是不禁对于长年生活在这种环境里的人们产生好多同情---阴暗狭小的小吃店，散发着各种味道的垃圾桶，不断在人脸上横冲直撞的苍蝇，众多光着屁股打着赤脚在暴土扬尘的路边嬉戏的孩童，还有用就可乐瓶子装着出售的汽油，小贩用脏兮兮的双手和无数只苍蝇一起准备小吃，七八岁的小孩子提着和自己身形不成比例的水桶或货篮，围着游客用既生硬有老练的英文喊着“1 dollar”…

 这些便是我对柬埔寨最深刻的印象了。这里的时时处处都让我想到中国，或许十年前二十年强，我们的生活也曾如此，或许在今天的偏远山区，我们同胞的生活还不如这里富足。然而虽然我对这般的生活难以接受，这里的人们依旧是用满脸纯朴憨厚的笑来面对与自己共同分享食物的碗里的苍蝇。

 对于这样贫穷的生活，我没有半点的嫌弃或鄙夷，只有无尽的同情和感慨。

 那天上午去参观S-21，著名的红色高棉当年用来囚禁折磨犯人的监狱。从小接受了太多共产主义红色教育的我们，直到日本侵略者或是国民党反动派曾经犯下过的更不人道的罪行，红色高棉的刑讯手段也不过如此了。虽然看到那些照片仍旧触目依然，更让我心头一震的是一位意大利游客在留言簿上写下的话：“I know China government was supporting Khmer Rouge, I don’t know if there is any Chinese visitors here, and if there is any, what would they feel about what their government did.” 我倒不想为当年的中国政府伸冤鸣不平，不过他的话还是在我的心里引起了不小的波澜。

 这个世界上大概少有没有犯过错误的政府。想到我们父辈经历的动荡的十年，我的心里也总是无限感慨。我庆幸自己出生在和平年代，亲眼目睹着改革开放之后中国一天天的巨变。九百六十万的土地上仍有许多缺憾，十三亿的人口也仍然有许多地方让人不满。然而我在中国至少可以看到许多希望，看着自己国人的生活一天天在变好。

 也许我在柬埔寨的时间太短，还看不出这个国家的发展。可仅从我目睹的东西来看，这里让我感到悲哀。这里有几千年吴哥的文明，金边的皇宫也和城墙外的世界形成了太鲜明的对比。虽然吴哥的震撼我还没有亲身感受，不过在金边皇宫的一下午，还是让我充分领略了高棉人民的才气。虽然这里未必有紫禁城的豪气，可这热带花园中的金碧辉煌，才是我对“金边”这两个字的最初印象。可以想到缔造如此文明的人民现今的生活状况，我的感慨更多了。

 一个国家的发展还是要靠政府。一个腐败的政府不可能让一个国家国富民安，无论这里的人民如何的智慧勤劳勇敢。柬埔寨政府里从上到下名正言顺的腐败，各方面看起来都是一片混乱，想来实在让人觉得悲哀。

 在离开那个圣殿，离开这个国家之前，我还是虔诚的对着金灿灿的佛像拜了一拜，祝福全世界的人民都能幸福安康。

23^rd Nov Singapore – Phnom Penh

My flight from Singapore touched down in Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia at about 8:00pm. There wasn’t much problem with the Visa-On-Arrival, settled with US$20 and five minutes. But it took me slightly longer time compare to other travelers at the VOA counter and then the immigration counter, guess might because of the People’s Republic of China written on the passport cover again.

 

A few taxi touts bothered me after I came out from the arrival hall. But I think they are still easier to be ignored than the ones in China. A motorbike was waiting for me while I bargained with the taxi touts, and he offered $2, I just got on the bike without much hesitation.

 

It was basically an uneventful journey to my guesthouse, only that the non-English speaking motor driver didn’t know his way around very well and had to stop a few times to ask other tuk tuk or motor drivers for the direction. I showed him my itinerary with a list of guest houses and pointed to the 1^st one as the one I wanted to go. And he took me to the 2^nd on my list. I could have settled for that one as well, but still insisted to go to the one I wanted. I could see he was trying pretty hard by asking around, and I even felt a bit apologetic for doing so much work for just $2.

 

Checked in DV8, a guesthouse near the river front with a bar at downstairs. I suspected the whole row of waitress at the small bar were actually prostitutes. I was shocked when they all turned and staring at me as I stepped into the bar. I was not in the mood and shape of going anywhere else, went straight to my room and watched CCTV1 in my room. It’s amazing that many Cambodia guesthouses have TV channels from all over the world, CCTV from China, French TV5, some German and Russian channels, needless to mention the worldwide BBC, CNN or ESPN.

 

Cost:

$20      Visa

$2        Motorbike

$5        Guesthouse

--------------------------

$27      Total

 

24^th Nov Phnom Penh – Sihanoukville

Since the place I stayed was not far from the central market (Phsar Thmey), I decided to walk there. That took me only about 10 minutes. But I turned to a wrong street as the coach station was on the Charles De Gaulle Street. I ended up walked all the way back to somewhere near the river again, without finding the Coach station. As it was exhausting and hot to walk with a big backpack under the sun, I had to compromise and got a motorbike. Only then I realized the coach station was only 50m away from where I turned…

 

The bus trip took about 4-5 hours from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, with one resting stop on the way.

All the motorbike touts were trying to convince me to go Ochheuteal Beach in the south, but I insisted to go for Victory Beach in the north, where it used to be a backpacker’s area.

 

I rented a bike after checked in guesthouse, and started my bicycle tour to the small town. Felt really cool when I am going down slope, but I felt really stupid for not renting a motor bike for just 1 or 2 dollars more when I’m exhausting all my strength trying to paddle upslope, while the 11 year old kids were hovering pass by me with motor bikes.

 

I then spent some time on Ochheuteal Beach (aka Serendipity Beach) with Jo and Nick, the friends I met on the bus earlier. And I realized this place is indeed much better and more happening then the Victory Beach, so I decided to move over the next day.

 

Cost:

2000riel ($0.5)             Motorbike to bus station

$3.75                           Bus ticket

$1                                Motorbike to Victory Beach

$1                                Bicycle rental

$3                                Guesthouse

500 riel             postcard

$3.5 (about)                 food, fruits, water and snacks 

-------------------------------------------------------------

$13                              Total

 

25^th Nov Sihanoukville

After a morning walk along the Victory Beach and surrounding area, I checked out and took a motorbike to GST guesthouse near the Ochheuteal Beach.

 

I then spent the rest of my day on the beach, being bothered with aunties selling all kinds of food, kids selling souvenirs and fruits, handicapped selling books and postcards and ladies offering massages. The lobster is indeed nice, doesn’t look very hygienic though. But as a matter of fact, nothing in Cambodia look hygienic.

 

Cost:

3500r   Motorbike from Victory Beach to Ochheuteal Beach

$5        Guesthouse

2000r   stamps

$3.5     booked bus ticket back to Phnom Penh

$11.5   food, fruits, beer

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

$21.25 total

 

26^th Nov Sihaunoukville—Phnom Penh

I booked the 8:15am bus back to Phnom Penh the day before. The whole journey was smooth and uneventful.

I walked to another guesthouse nearer to the central market in Phnom Penh and settled down, started my walking tour around the capital city of Cambodia.

 

The markets were dark and stinky, with flies flying around with the exposed meat and fishes. Basically was just walking around the city, from central market to independence monument, pass by the royal palace and went up to Wat Phnom in the north, without any real sightseeing.

 

Cost:

3000r               Motorbike from GST guesthouse to Sihanoukville downtown.

$5                    guesthouse in Phnom Penh

500r                 postcard

$3.6                 food, fruits

------------------------------------

$9.65               total

 

27^th Nov Phnom Penh

I walked to the S-21 prison in the morning, a place used to imprison and torture people by the Khmer Rouge. It was really a depressing place and I decided not to go for the killing field any more.

 

Then I took a motorbike to the Royal Palace, spent my whole afternoon there.

 

Walked some more around the city, had a Khmer dinner near the river front with $4.75.

 

Cost:

$5        Guesthouse

$2        S-21 prison

$3        Royal Palace

$2        hair cut

$1        motorbike from S-21 to Royal Palace

2200r   stamps

$7.5     food

-----------------------------------------------

$20.75 total

 

28^th Nov Phnom Penh – Bangkok

The motorbike driver agreed with $1.5 to airport before we left the guesthouse, but he only gave me 12000 riel back as I only had $5 note. But I didn’t really bother as $2 for such a distance is quite fair, I guess.

 

The Cambodia airport tax, ahhhh…the most expensive around the world…

 

The one hour flight brought me to a whole different world, from one of the most poverty country to a busy metropolitan, a food paradise.

 

I took the airport express shuttle from the new Suvarnabhumi airport to Khao San Road, where lots of backpackers are concentrated. I walked to the Wat Phra Kaew with the famous Emerald Buddha, Grand Palace, and the Wat Pho, thus completed the most major 2 tourist spots in my first afternoon in Bangkok.

 

At sunset, I took a tuktuk with a few Taiwanese aunties to the railway station and took a walk in the Chinatown area, followed by a bus back to Khao San road.

 

Cost:

US$2               motorbike to PP airport

US$25             airport tax

1000Baht         Thai visa

150B                airport shuttle

140B                guesthouse in Bangkok

250B                Wat Phra Kaew + Grand Palace

50B                  Wat Pho

8B                    bus from Chinatown to Khao San

xxB                  food, food and foooooooooood

 

29^th Nov Bangkok

This was a long day, in terms of time and distance.

 

I first walked up north in the city to the Dusit district, spent almost the whole day in the Dusit park, visiting all the museums and the Vimanmek mansion there. That was really an amazing place, which is included in the 250B ticket to the grand palace. I only planned a few hours there but still couldn’t get enough after the whole day. The only little “accident” was that I should have been able to save 20B by putting my bags and camera in a free locker at any other museums instead of the one at Vimanmek mansion. Felt kind of cheated by the staff there..

 

After the closure of the park, I walked to the river and took a boat from Sangh all the way to the central pier. 16 stops in between, about 40 minutes journey. A wonderful experience it was.

 

I wanted to take a sky train from the central pier to the national stadium, but as it was the after office peak hour, I decided to walk a bit in the silom & patpong district. Did some shopping in that area and walked all the way till Sala Daeng. The skytrain took me from there to Siam, a big modern shopping mall with a huge exhibition hall on top of the Siam Paragon.

 

As I was taking a rest on the top floor among many people, I asked for my way back to Khao San from a mister. He showed me the way and we started to carry out friendly chats, asking things like where I am from and where I’ve been to. And he was telling me the people here are going for a concert by Sherbet, an Australian rock band, a big shot in the 70s-80s. Few minutes later, someone came to him and handed him 2 concert tickets and said something in Thai. He then introduced me and said to me they have an extra ticket, ask me if I would like to go for the concert as well. I say why not, and 3 minutes later, I found myself in the front row of the huge exhibition hall. And later I found out my ticket worth 2000Baht. It was really a great concert, I enjoyed very much.

 

Cost:

140B                Guesthouse

20B                  locker

5B                    postcard

12B                  stamp

13B                  boat

15B                  sky train

xxB                  shopping, food and foooooooooooood

 

30^th Nov Bangkok—Singapore

As my last day of the trip, I had almost drained all my energy from the previous days of walking. I only walked from Khao San Road to the democracy monument, early in the morning, then to Golden mount and then passed by the city pillar shrine and sanam luang, spent sometime in the amulet market and back to Khao San at about 12pm.

 

I then did some more shopping for food and stuff near the Khao San area, ate as much as possibly could, and took but 56 at 2pm to the airport. I expected some waiting time for the bus, some traffic jams on the way, which would total up to about 2 hours for the journey to the airport. However, the whole journey was extremely smooth and made me to the airport before 3pm. It might be better off for me any way, as I now had exhausted my energy and Thai baht.

 

There was a 500B airport tax to be paid, and only in Thai baht cash. All I had at that time was 200 Thai Baht, 6USD, 2 SGD and 12000 Cambodia riels. As I calculated, I would have enough money for the airport tax if I change everything into thai baht. But the bank teller told me they have no exchange rate with riel, thus could only change the USD and SGD for me. I knew it wouldn’t be enough for me, but she told me it would be 326B all together. So I happily signed on the receipt and took the 326B away. Only then I saw it was written as 6USD and 5SGD on the receipt. The bank teller just gave me 3SGD.

 

With that, I finished my Cambodia + Bangkok trip, returned back to Singapore safely at 11:00pm.

 

Cost:

35B      Bus 56 to airport

500B    Thai airport tax

xxB      shopping, food and foooooooood

 

Before coming to the city of angel, Bangkok to me was only a place for shopping and eating, and probably some more temples and lady boys. But after about 3 days in this much-larger-than-I-expected metropolitan, I realized it is not only a city but much more.

Dirty and dis-organized it might seem to be in certain ways, this place always resembles HongKong to me in many aspects, with a city-size market, segregation of the old and new town, and more importantly, the rich culture and endless vibrancy emitted from every corner of the city.

I’m not sure if it was because of my soaking in the backwardness of Cambodia in the past 5 days, the noise and pollution of big city, the heavy human and vehicle traffic along the streets actually turned me very high. Maybe I normally tend to prefer the quietness in a close-to-nature surrounding, I had never consider myself as a city person. But when I walk down the streets filled up with all kinds of stalls: food, clothes, artifacts, boutiques; hearing the roaring of the engines of different forms of vehicles: cars, buses, trains, motobikes and tuktuks, I feel all my senses are fully utilized and it just seems that there is never a boring moment.

Bangkok is not just a place for the cheap stuff. I usually associate such places with low class, and that was also why I didn’t had much good impression about this place before I came. But what I’ve seen for the past 2 days has entirely proved me wrong.

A royal city it is—numerous grand and golden shiny sites bring up the elegance.

A busy metropolitan it is, the white collared office people rushing into MRTs, skytrains and boats light up the city lights and live up the city lives.

A well-blended mix it is, the old and modern, the oriental and western, the quiet and noisy, the busy and relax, even the most contrastable dualism—men and women…you can find a good mix of everything here.

Maybe it was the food, maybe it was the people, or the music in the streets. This place urges me to say a lot of things about this city. Probably it’s better to adopt a more systematic way to elaborate why I fell so much for this city of angel.

Food

First, let’s start up with food in Thailand.

It is far much more than just tom yam and green curry as what I saw in Thai restaurants. I only had one proper Thai meal as breakfast in the 3 days. The rest of my stomach was all captivated by all kinds of snacks sold in the streets. Sorry for not being able to share the names, as I can name neither one of them. I felt so bad that I just didn’t have much space in my glutton stomach, or just not enough time in this food paradise. I can guarantee that I never repeat any food in the 3 days, and there are a lot more yet to be tested. The test results are also amazing—none of them had disappointed me, not even a bit.

And considering the price, it costs close to nothing by the western or Singapore standard. (Although I have to say China might win over this in some places) It is no wonder I seldom see any McDonalds or KFC in this big city, whereas 4 7-11 can be seen within 100m along the same street. With the same price as a cheapest McDonalds set meal, one can easily get full for the whole day, with much wider and wiser choices, healthier, more tasteful and more original.

Shopping

I usually hate shopping. Walking in shopping malls alone without any specific target of purchase in mind can be a disaster for me. I seldom buy anything on my own, for my own as well, apart from things to be eaten. But in Bangkok, I couldn’t resist the low price as well and bought myself some clothes. I bet if I could have a female company and some more baht, I will need another backpack for the other things I wanted to buy.

My point of view maybe biased. But from what I observe, the Thais prefer shopping in the markets more than the big air-coned shopping malls, even though the malls look equally nice and elegant as Paragon in Singapore.

The bargaining process can be enjoyable as well if you are in the right mood, and that’s my new discovery in Bangkok. Set a budget for the things you want, ask the vendor for the price, and then cut the quoted price to a quarter or lower. I start to understand the sense of satisfaction derived from obtaining what you want at a price lower than your budget. And the thing, say a pretty nice shirt, may cost just a normal school canteen meal in Singapore.

Buddha

The image of Buddha is not only seen in the hundreds of wats of various size in every corner of the city, it is more in every Thai people’s heart. It is an image most sacred, most unblasphemable, and an image with the highest status, even higher than the second-most respectable figure of the king.

The wats in Bangkok is like the basilicas in Roma, they are huge, they are nice and they are everywhere. I didn’t have much time for the wat tours, but out of the few that I have been to, the astonishment was not any less than that given by the St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican. The architect, the crafting and the pagodas... In here, I could feel I’m physically closer to the Buddha and the inner peace in me.

But the Buddhism in Thailand is far more than just merely visiting the wats. People believe in Buddha and they show their highest respect to them. There are places reserved only for monks in public places instead of for women and the handicapped like everywhere else. People will always pray reverently in front of the Buddha figures, even when they are just walking pass by. I was amazed to see the staff working on the boat actually pray with his hands and eyes closed when the boat pass by every major temple along the river. I’m sure his prays can be heard and answered considering how many times how many times he will pass by them everyday.

Royal

Like many other kingdoms I’ve been to, the Kings are virtually everywhere—on the money notes in your wallet, on the postcards in souvenir shops, and on every streets and buildings. The same goes for Bangkok, only that I feel the influence of the Thai King is more invasive then anyone else.

Might be because of the Asian value, the King is larger than everything. (well, except for the Buddha in Thailand). The Royal Thai buildings are just grand. This even applies to those in other places of the world, like Thai embassies, Thai Air representatives…you always see golden pillars, palace-like buildings, dignified and overwhelming. Here in Bangkok, you see more.

Sometimes, I feel it’s hard to distinguish a Royal building from a Buddhist one. To me, they have similar style, equally nice and impressive. Like the famous Wat Phra Kaeo, where the Emerald Buddha is consecrated, is together with the Grand Palace. Sadly the experience was not that sacred to me due to large groups of Chinese tourists hovering around. But that place is nevertheless breathtakingly grand.

I personally prefer the Dusit Park where the Vimanmek Mansion, Abhisek Dusit Throne Hall and many other royal buildings are located. This huge park, built after Rama V’s European tour, is a combination of Thai and European style, with soft music playing on the big grass plaza, little canal flowing through, and elegant European architectures. It feels great in here, relaxed and amused. I only planned about 3 hours here, since it’s admission is included in the Grand Palace ticket, I thought it was only some extra out of place sites. But I ended up spending the whole day wondering in this big park, subduing to the power of His Majesty.

People

I devote the last section to the friendly, disciplined and patriotic Thai people.

The Thais are well known with their hospitality smiles. The smile is different from the rustic and simple-hearted smile given by the Khmers, the Thai smiles are more warm and gentle, even to strangers in the streets. Especially when you close your palms and greet a Thai with Sawasdee Krup, the other party will usually stop whatever they are doing, standup and greet you back with great sincerity. I did that a few times, and later even feel a bit embarrassed to do so as sometimes it takes them so much trouble to greet me back.

I was shocked when I was waiting for the skytrain in Siam Station, one of the busiest modern shopping districts in Bangkok. While there are huge crowd waiting for the train as one can expect in any of the large cities in the world, the Bangkokers automatically form many queues of single or double file on the platform, following the signs on the ground, leaving clear gaps in between queues for passengers to get off the trains. I’m used to see people scattering randomly near the train gates in Singapore MRT stations, but I’ve never seen such clearly formed queues in any other cities.

My respect also goes for the Thais with their patriotism. I went for a concert by an Australian rock band in Bangkok, and before the concert started, the whole thousands of audience suddenly all stood up solemnly with a piece of music started. I followed suit reflexively without knowing what was happening. Few seconds later I realized it was the national anthem. And I also remembered someone telling me that the Thais will also stop whatever they are doing in the public when the national anthem is played when the national flag is raised and lowered everyday. I was really surprised to see how respectful and serious the people were during the national anthem, and their immediate automatic action of standing up without any prior notice.

Another shocking phenomenon was given by a yellow polo T-shirt. I could easily see almost half of the population at any place wearing the “same same but different” T-shirt. At first I thought it was some organization or club shirt, but later I realized if an organization with such diversified members and such population, it could only be as large as a nation. Yes, the Thais, old or young, man or woman, many are wearing the same T-shirt with the national symbol on their chest pocket, at their heart. I’ve seen national T-shirts sold in many countries as souvenirs to foreign visitors, but I’ve never seen any with such popularity with the locals.

Maybe it could be just a cheap, comfortable and casual piece of clothing for the people, but the golden color everywhere, together with the Royal and Buddhism buildings, delicious food and pleasant shopping experience form up my first impression about this city of angel.

It is truly a city that one shouldn’t miss out and definitely a place to be missed after you leave there.

Bangkok, I’ll be back…   

I can't hold back my eagerness and anxiousness much longer. After about 10 minutes packing process, now I am ready to leave this clean and tidy island again, for a place far more wild, exciting and messy---Cambodia, a place said to have a combination of good, bad and ugly.  

 

It is examination period in NUS, yes. Just finish my first paper this morning, two days before the starting of official exam period, and my next paper is more than two weeks later, on the last day of the exam period. For this over two weeks, I don't want to stuck and rot in my room, trying to do something constructive and fail to accomplish such everyday. I may as well spend my time in a more creative and adventurous way, so here I am, holding on my flight ticket to Phnom Penh, waiting to see the virgin tropical beach on the south coast of Cambodia, and make a detour to Bangkok before coming back for my second paper.

 

One thing I love most about travelling is the time alone, away from your familiar surroundings, and expecting all sorts of unexpectable surprises, for good or bad, hilarious or sad. I pack up all these experiences into my memories, for it to be treasured more when I look back. A trip is different from a holiday. It's a chance for adventure into places beyond imagination, and an experience of the life as an alien. A trip is not for enjoyment, with luxurious hotel rooms and fine dining restaurants, it's not about taking a picture of all the tourism spots, and keep it as a capital of future showing-off. It's more about smelling the place, tasting the people and get lost in the unique culture of where ever you are.

 

Now the pouring storm has just cleaned up the Singapore sky to clear blue again. It's about time for me to embark on this new adventure. I bet it will be a good one.

 

See you again when I return. Enjoy your exams and all!

 

Au revoir et Bon voyage pour moi!

 

 

3. 无锡小笼，猫女王详细的跟我介绍着无锡菜和上海菜的差别，具体的我也记不住，只是记得无锡小笼要比上海小笼大得多，里边的汁好甜。

4. 一块钱一个的海棠糕（大概是这个名字吧）。这个东西实在好吃，虽然拿在手上烫手吃在嘴里烫嘴，我还是一个劲的嚷着好吃好吃好吃。具体的味道也记不太清楚了，基本上就是一个烧饼，外边一层好像是红糖，里边还有豆沙或猪油馅。我倒觉得馅没什么意思，就是外边的饼皮，实在好吃。只是当时已经吃得太饱，其实很想再多吃几个的。

5. 糖藕

大概看起来更像红烧肘子。据说也是上海很有名的小吃。在藕的洞洞里面塞满了糯米，然后蒸，然后淋上糖汁。当时实在吃不下，只好打包带回家做宵夜吃了。味道和口感都很不错，只是有些太甜了。

6. 一杯赤豆羹

7. 卤质的鸭舌鸭心等若干。猫女王爱鸡爱鸭，我们俩坐下了吃了一大盘卤质的东西，具体是什么我都记不住了。

离开了七宝老街我们又回到了现代社会，她又带着我吃了鲜得来的排骨年糕。

当时就一直想着这排骨我好像吃过，后来终于想起来在新加坡吃过的台湾士林小吃里似乎有类似的东西。听着排骨年糕的名字我还一直好奇，心想着年糕里面放排骨也是挺新鲜的，一看才知道原来是一块排骨加一块年糕。这年糕和我们的年糕也不同，一个薄薄的糯米饼，不粘反倒很筋道。

随后我们又到了马路对面的一间很有名的店（只知道很有名因为猫女王一直提着他的名字，我却给忘了。）白斩鸡是这家店的招牌。因为禽流感，店里的生意受了不小的影响，我们却还是义无反顾的叫了一大堆东西，结果两个人都吃不了。





我又以流水账的形式记录了一遍我在上海吃过的美食，自己的记忆实在有限，在这里顺便号召接待人员们帮着我一起回忆，一起追忆那时的快乐，那天的美味。

简单总结一下吃的这部分印象吧。

我觉得上海小吃给人的感觉就是很细致。数量不多，分量不大可是做得很讲究。更值得一提的是上海小吃的品牌意识，甭管是什么，都有个牌子。要吃这个东西，就一定要这个牌子。随便列举几个：南翔小笼包，大白兔奶糖，沈大成糕点，鲜得来排骨年糕，甚至还有千里香的臭豆腐，还有前些年的冠生园，还有一直享誉全国的上海一食品……我觉得这些品牌都很有特色，也是上海小吃能做大做好的原因之一。正是因为这些品牌，让人一说上海小吃就能想到他们，叫起来也觉得上口，自然也容易被人记住。

相比之下，东北似乎没有所谓的小吃，要吃就是大盆大腕大锅饭，小鸡炖蘑菇猪肉炖粉条也都是农村里烧柴火的大锅做出来的地道，也没什么品牌，说不上哪里做得好。就像东北人大大咧咧的性格一样，吃的东西也是一通大大咧咧的乱炖七八炖，不像上海江南那一带的做得小碟小碗的那样有滋有味。并不是说哪里的更好，只是觉得从吃的风格大概也能看出一方水土养一方人吧。



住

在上海的几天一直住在慧娴的家里。他们几个新加坡来上海NOC的同学，在武夷路上租了一间条件很不错的公寓。

仅仅这么几天，我对上海的住大概的确没有什么发言权，只是知道上海住房贵。

虽然关于居住没什么话说，我倒是对上海的建筑颇有兴趣。

夜里走在外滩，看着黄浦江西岸霓虹灯点缀下的老式建筑，隔江而望的耸入云霄的东方明珠和金贸大厦，传统与前卫，古典与现代交辉，相映成趣，我觉得的确很有味道。相对来说我更喜欢外滩那些古典西式建筑，如今这些老建筑都被世界各大银行所占据，特别是在灯光的映照下更显现出一副生机。

 

上海的大多数地方都已经被完全的modernized，以前的那些里弄现在大概也都不多见了。倒是在南京路步行街上我无意中看到一个鸿仁里，走进去随便看看，觉得里弄里的生活似乎看起来也很艰难。就像北京的胡同四合院一样，这些曾经颇具特色的民宅，已经退出了他的历史舞台，慢慢的走进博物馆了。








行

对于上海的行，我还是颇有微词的。这也是我对上海这样一个大都市很不满意的一个地方。

先说说我此番上海之行的第一站—上海虹桥机场。虽说新的浦东机场在很大程度上取代了虹桥机场，可作为这样一个曾经风光过的大机场，现在的虹桥实在让我很失望。从一下飞机进入机场，就感觉这里明显缺乏管理，连灯光都显得很昏暗，一副觉没睡醒的样子。机场里边的很多设施也都不那么齐全，卫生间里也很不卫生，给人感觉就是一个已经被人遗弃了的地方。再也就是仗着虹桥机场离市区近，机场大巴晚上八点半就下班了，比市内的公交车收车还早。像我们这些晚上十点多才降落的，活该，谁让你飞机飞得慢，打的去吧您啊！在这一点上，实在是没有体现出现在全球所提倡的人文关怀。飞机降落得晚也不是我的错，凭啥我就只能打的啊？好在慧娴家离虹桥机场也不太远，我要是真去到浦东新区，坐一趟出租车的钱说不定我都能买张火车票到北京了。

再说说地铁。我现在觉得城市里的地铁是个好东西，方便快捷不说，一看地铁线路图，基本上这个城市的关键位置和区域就能知道个大概了。

上海的地铁据我所知主要有三条线，一号线和二号线在人民广场中转，两条线画了一个叉。三号线则画了一个圈。可恨的是每天进出人民广场的人总如潮水一般汹涌，而一二号线的中转也在这里，于是每天几乎无论什么时候在这个地铁站总是人满为患。每天要在这里换地铁的人也不可计数，而每个人都要无可奈何的走过一条长长的通道才能从一号线换到二号线或是二号线换到一号线。随着汹涌的人流在这个通道里走，总是让我想到我在北京火车站出站的情形。还有，我原本以为一二三号线都可以相通，这样至少三号线还能为一二号线在人民广场中转的乘客分分流，结果谁知道要换乘三号线还要出来地铁站走出好远好远再买票在进站才能乘三号线，使得这条线和一二号完全独立。这一点让我实在无法理解，也让我那次平白多花了四块钱。

我还是觉得上海的地铁有点贵。平日里一个人上班上学来回花上十多块钱坐地铁和公交车似乎是很平常的一件事情。而且据说政府还在抱怨地铁赔钱。光凭着提高车票价钱想要收回这么高的投资成本当然很困难，我不晓得上海人的精明哪里去了，地铁车厢里几乎没有什么平面广告，倒是在车厢里到处扔广告宣传单的人一个接一个，害得搞卫生的阿姨们一直的扫也扫不干净。

还有交通卡，我觉得交通卡除了方便，也应该能帮着乘客们省点钱吧。本来想买一张交通卡用着，我也就不用一直揣着一大堆零钱了。可没想到一张卡押金要三十块，要退还只能到什么什么路的公交公司。用卡和用钱一个价钱，我也犯不上再特意去参观一下上海公交公司了。据说好像是每月要用交通卡超过了几十块钱才给大九折，算下来一个月也就剩下几毛钱，实在是抠门。

还有那个当年被宣传得沸沸扬扬而如今却一直收不回成本的磁悬浮列车。速度是真快，可只是从浦东到龙阳路，要到龙阳路还是要跟着成千上万的人一起挤地铁。于是磁悬浮也因此作为lack of project planning 的负面教材被选入了我们project management 的课本。

还有浦东机场里边，也是有很多在我看来不怎么人性化的地方，比如上下电梯的不方便啊，Check in 柜台的分配不均啊，很多具体的东西在这里就不多讲了。



第一次到上海这五天，关于衣食住行我也就留下了这么点印象。印不好瞎印，其中有好有坏有褒有贬。

整体来说上海并没有我想象中的，或是人们介绍中的那么好。我只能说这还是一个发展中国家中比较发达的城市。在城市建设和规划中似乎还是很能反映出中国很多城市里所存在的问题，和其他一些大城市（譬如香港，新加坡）比起来似乎还有些差距。

在路边看到的一些事还有平时和一些上海人打交道的过程中，我还是觉得上海人有些太过计较，一点小钱也要算得仔仔细细，一件小事就能吵起来没完没了。我也知道不应该这么的以偏概全generalize, 只是这么一个印象，大概也是因为我一个东北男人太过粗犷，还是希望不会得罪上海的朋友们。

不过在上海的几天，还是让我觉得很舒服。每次回到中国，我都会觉得自己身上很有劲儿，整个感觉很向上，很有激情和斗志。我想大概也就是弥散在全中国的这样的气氛才能让中国近几年飞速的发展。而作为处在发展前沿的上海，这种气氛自然更加的浓厚。在这里，我觉得自己很有活力，很有斗志，很激昂。

还有一直以来，上海都给我一种特别小资的感觉。也许是如今文学影视作品里的过度渲染，我一直印象中的小资就是那种在外滩外企工作的单身白领，下了班开着自己的小车去新天地玩一玩，和朋友喝点酒聊聊天，平时有事儿没事儿的去美术馆转转，周末了去听听音乐会，过着很滋润很潇洒的小资生活。到了上海，倒是的的确确感受到了很多很小资的地方。而且这里的小资，让我觉得很自然，不是那种可以做出来的，就是溶在生活里的那么一种情怀，难以言表。

基本上我的上海第一印象也差不多就这些了。我倒还是很希望将来有一天能在这个让我很有斗志的地方工作。听说上海的变化很快，我也希望下一次我再到上海能在给我另外一个更美好的印象。我知道，下一次也不会太遥远。

说实话，要不是因为鸟夫人将迪士尼视为此番香港之行最主要的目的地，我个人可能对这个充满卡通奇幻的世界没什么兴趣。像我这样一个心理年龄43岁的老男人，Disney对我来说有些代沟。虽然某些时候某些事情也会让我暂时变得年轻几岁，我没想到香港的迪士尼乐园竟让我经历了一番如此美好难忘神奇梦幻的奇幻之旅。

Somehow, I feel like using English again.

When it comes to describing Disneyland, any of my mastered languages lost its power. I do not want to ruin the magical experience of my readers with my poor expressions, and thus I am not going into details of all the rides and shows that Disneyland had offered like what I did for Ocean Park. All I want to say is that the place is really a WONDERLAND, and it’s not only beyond my describing ability, it’s also beyond anyone’s imagination.

Hong Kong Disneyland is not only about rides like all other theme parks. Frankly, most of the rides there are a bit kiddy for matured adults like me. But it’s the whole atmosphere that makes EVERYBODY, even the old people who has to walk with a walking-stick, feel happy and young at heart.

这奇幻历程从踏上前往Disney的地铁就开始了。一进入这趟迪士尼专列的车厢，我一下子就感觉到了脱离了尘嚣，进入了一片神奇的世界。车厢里处处都能感受到Disney，车窗的形状，车厢内的装饰，甚至连扶手，一切的一切，都在告诉着这趟车的乘客，前方的目的地是一片与众不同的地方。







踏出车厢，这个与众不同的车站再次让人眼前一亮。





Although it’s not exactly Disney, the station somehow reminds me of Harry Potter. The decoration, the music, even the air…just feel so…MAGIC.





通过这道门，走过迪士尼迎宾大道，我们离这奇幻世界便更近了一步。

正当我和鸟夫人准备排队买票入场的时候，一位台湾的导游走过来跟我们说，她的三位客人没有来，多出三张票想要卖出去。票价原价HK$295，她卖给我们250。看她的样子不想骗人的，而且说好了我们进去之后才给她钱，这双赢的好事儿我们也欣然接受，两个人俩250，省下了90块钱还可以好好吃顿中午饭。

香港的Disneyland 据说是世界上最小的，游戏项目也是最少的。不过很多人说一天的时间不够用，在我看来这倒是很需要一个很好的strategic planning. 路线设计的好，时间分配得好的话，时间还是足够用的。

整个公园分成四个主要部分，AdventureLand(探险世界), Tomorrow Land（明日世界）, Fantasy Land（幻想世界）, 还有刚刚入场时经过的Main Street USA（美国小镇大街）。

这四个部分每一个都有自己的特色和主题。Main Street USA基本上都是些商店，各式各样的Disney玩具，用品，装饰，糖果… 这些小店一家连着一家，每一家却都风格迥异。虽然货架上的商品价格都不菲，可室内的装饰，温馨的灯光，还有各种憨态可掬的Disney明星们的形象，虽然眼花缭乱，可还是很让人产生购买的欲望和冲动。











这是在一家卖水晶和玻璃之类饰品的店里看到的一座小城堡，价格是HK$292500.00，在长春似乎足可以买一套很不错的三室两厅的公寓了。

另外的三块land就都是游乐项目了。Tomorrow Land是以科幻未来为主题，里边的工作人员包括打扫卫生的auntie 也都打扮得像是个太空人。





Adventure Land是人猿泰山还有狮子王的家。很有置身野外，身处亚马逊热带雨林的感觉。





走过处在公园中心位置的睡公主城堡(Sleeping Beauty Castle)就来到了充满幻想，到处洋溢着梦幻浪漫气氛的Fantasy Land。





正如我前边提到过的，香港迪士尼乐园里的游戏项目并不是很多很刺激，可是这里的整体环境和气氛，真的能使人一到这个地方就能跟着米老鼠唐老鸭一起快乐起来，一起重新回到童年，甚至身不由己的跑起来，跳起来。

每个部分都有自己的主题音乐，都是那些让人耳熟能详，曾经带来无数欢乐和感动得的Disney音乐，声音不大不小，总是能让人的心情畅快起来。

街上随处可见卖小吃的小亭子，也都打扮得十分卡通。就算什么都不买，看看也觉得可爱。





街头还经常有各种各样的表演，一个小乐队一边走一边演奏着欢快的音乐，几个穿这大褂带着礼帽的西方绅士站在路边唱着圣诞歌，白胡子的老魔法师给小朋友讲故事变魔术……







每天下午三点，这里还都会有一个parade, 各种卡通人物坐着花车唱着歌，向游人们呈现着另一台动感十足的live show.









这洋溢在空气里的快乐的音乐，弥漫在空气中的甜腻腻的爆米花味道，真的让人置身于此，想不开心都难。无论你是什么时候来到这里，总能感觉到自己似乎回到了童年，回到了那时的六一儿童节。

我本以为来这里的大多都是些小孩子，可出乎我意料的是很多白发的老人也都双双对对的来这里寻找童年。在Fantasy Land里有一个Fantasy Garden，很多我们很熟悉的卡通形象都会在那里等着和游人们照相。我和鸟夫人也走过去凑热闹。在我们的前边，有一对老夫妻，看起来大概有六七十岁的样子吧。排队的人很多，老太太有些不耐烦，她的老伴却执著的很，表示一定要和可爱的Minnie 合影。那感觉就像是一个十几岁的孩子马上就要见到自己的偶像一样。看着他们俩和Minnie拍照时脸上洋溢着的开心的笑，我真的觉得他们很可爱，想必也是Disney让他们的心理更年轻了吧。

虽然说香港的迪士尼游戏项目不多，不过来到这里，你还是总会觉得自己的眼睛不够多，要看的东西总是看不完。为了争取时间，我和鸟夫人几乎一直都是在一路小跑，像赶场子一样从一个活动飞奔到另一个。我也觉得自己在这里年轻了许多，手拉着手穿行在众多游人当中，感觉又回到了童年。

对于游戏项目，我只想说说Tomorrow land里的Space Mountain（飞跃太空山）。Space Mountain其实是一个室内过山车，不过这里边真的是暗得伸手不见五指，对于前边是上是下，想哪个方向转弯根本无法预知，更增添了不少刺激性。而且随着车子的高速行驶，还能看到穹顶上的满天繁星，真有一种在太空历险的感觉。这也是我和鸟夫人来到迪士尼的第一项活动，一出来就让我们觉得很是振奋。

我要极力推荐的是几项表演活动。包括Fantasy Land 里的Mickey’s PhilarMagic（米奇幻想曲）, “The Golden Mickey”（“米奇金奖音乐剧”） 还有Adventure Land 里的“Festival of the Lion King”（“狮子王庆典”）。

Mickey’s PhilarMagic 是一个4D影院。观众们带着3D眼镜，看着米老鼠和唐老鸭还有众多其他卡通形象立体的精彩滑稽动画，配着熟悉的乐曲，还时常有水珠喷到脸上。性质和长影世纪城的4D影院很像，不过可看性要强得多。更让我没想到的是，唐老鸭来到美女与野兽的城堡的时候，正赶上那里丰盛的晚宴，通过立体眼镜我们不仅看到一盘盘的美味飘到自己眼前，更能闻到甜美的蛋糕和烤鸭的味道。

看完了The Golden Mickey好长一段时间，我所能说的就只有---Amazing, unbelievably amazing. Well, it’s truly amazing. After all, it’s just a musical, and it’s the most magical musical I’ve ever watched. It’s a musical with both animation and real actors, and the change of scenes, the sets, the lights, the music…. Everything, it’s just fabulous. 演员们的表演也都十分专业非常精彩，吊着钢丝的仙女在空中飞来飞去，强壮的Tarzon在舞台上在藤条上坐着各种高难度的动作。随着灯光音响的变化，舞台上的气氛也时而恢宏豪迈时而浪漫温馨，时而滑稽幽默时而真切动人。我的语言实在太贫乏，无论怎么样我也描写不出当时看完整场演出时的感动。也许是因为自己对戏剧有着特殊的感情，在我看来，这样一场半小时的演出，就足以值回至少入场费一半的票价。





在这里不得不提一个那一整天唯一一个让我有些不快的小插曲，顺便介绍一个叫做Fast Pass的东西。为了缩短游客们排队的时间，在某些景点，游客可以用自己的入场票免费获得Fast Pass, which is sort of a reservation。这样游客可以在Fast Pass上所指定的时间里回到该景点，join the shorter Fast Pass queue and thus save up some queuing time. 不过Fast Pass在同一时间之可以用一次。比如我和鸟夫人，早上11点多就拿到了The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh（小熊维尼的历险之旅）的Fast pass，可是被安排到17:10-18:10回来这里。这也就意味着在17:10之前，我们都不能再得到其他景点的Fast Pass. 这一个当不当正不正的时间给我们的形成造成了很大的障碍，而且因为很多表演项目都有具体开场时间，我们不得不在某一时间之前入场。譬如The festival of the Lion King，有一场是六点钟开始，我们便计划5:10去小熊维尼的历险，因为只有3分半钟，而且我们有Fast Pass，应该可以在六点之前赶到Adventure Land 去奔赴The festival of the Lion King。结果没想到，这个小熊维尼竟然如此受欢迎，排队的人好多好多好多，即使我们拿了Fast Pass，我们还是在队伍里等了将近一个小时，才坐进了一个蜂蜜罐，开始小熊维尼的历险。而这个时候，狮子王已经开始了他的庆典。

For making me miss the festival of the Lion King, I cursed and hoped the MANY ADVENTURE of Winnie the Pooh would not disappoint me. However, it really turned out to be the MOST disappointing rides in the entire Disney Land。具体的无聊不多细讲，只是建议，本游戏只适合8岁以下儿童。

从这个无聊的adventure 出来，我只好恨恨的重新安排行程。最后一场的Festival of the Lion King是七点，最后一场的Golden Mickey在七点半，我们就想看完了Festival of the Lion King再飞奔回 the Golden Mickey，再看一次这场精彩绝伦的演出。

因为已经到了本天的最后一场，于是虽然还有很长时间才开场，我和鸟夫人还是早早的站到了队伍里，生怕再次错过狮子王最后一次的庆典。这时的天已经完全黑了，那天又正赶上香港降温，我和鸟夫人偎依着互相在那寒夜里取暖抵挡着冷风，置身于Adventure Land的丛林里，看着满天星斗，倒也很温馨浪漫。一整天都在到处跑，除了那个小熊维尼其他景点的排队时间倒也都不是很长。这个排队等待的时间倒正好给我们安静下来，休息一下，顺便仔细回味着这么美好的一天。

Festival of the Lion King没有让我失望。一个圆形的剧场，一群出色的演员现场表演，再次上演了一出真人版的狮子王。这又是一出音乐剧，没有动画，却更多了很多真实亲切感。舞台的设计，演员的服装化妆，还有灯光音响，现场的精彩演唱，我觉得这半个小时，又值回了我入场票的另外一半票价。表演实在太真切太精彩了，随着熟悉的狮子王的音乐，我的心跳似乎和音乐的节奏一样快，自己一直不由自主地随着音乐摇摆，想鼓掌，想欢呼，却怕打扰了台上演员们的表演。实在太棒了，太棒了。在圆形的舞台上演出本来就有难度，可他们的编舞，他们的舞台的旋转….实在是太棒了。






从狮子王的庆典出来，我的心情还是久久难以平静。拉着鸟夫人的手一路向the Golden Mickey的最后一场演出奔去。我们跑得很快，可是最后还是慢了一些。我们在Standby queue 里祈祷着已经进去的观众里会有人在开场之前出来，结果没有，我们也没能有机会再看一次这么精彩的音乐剧表演。于是我再次恨恨的咒骂着小熊维尼，耽误了我们那么多的时间，让我们错过了好几场精彩演出。

剩下的半个小时也没什么别的东西可以给我们做，就等着8点钟的焰火了。

8点整，全场的灯光都被调暗，更显得夜色中的睡公主城堡分外的梦幻。在这城堡上，我们也再次看到香港最擅长的声光电，用各色的彩灯配着音乐打在城堡上，展现着无穷尽的变化。突然，几束焰火在夜空中绽放，惹来全场的一阵欢呼。焰火持续了大概十几分钟，一直配合着打在城堡上的彩灯和音乐，真的是一个十分完整的视觉听觉享受。这也真的是我平生以来所见过的最漂亮最完美的焰火，无论是国庆节，新年还是任何的什么节日，都远远比不上迪士尼，因为在迪士尼，每一天都是节日。

遗憾的是我的相机档次太低，我的摄影水平太差，没法捕捉到那烟花在五彩缤纷的城堡上绽放时那瞬间的壮丽。我能做的只是鼓励我的读者们，有机会去Disney看看吧，那里决不会让你失望的。

怀着很不舍的心情，我们离开了迪士尼，结束了我们难忘的奇幻之旅。