Travelling man Roger Poh (he encouraged me to blog) has recently returned from the Middle Kingdom. So during the Chinese New Year period in January last month, while we in Singapore were snugly enjoying the quiet rain and forgiving sun, Roger was experiencing the harsh and piercing cold as he viewed the famous ice-sculptures at the Harbin Ice and Snow World (image 3). The visitors were mainlanders and he met one crazy guy "all wrapped up against the freezing cold." It was -20C and a once in a lifetime experience for him. Mine is not a travel blog but what enticed me to post his wanderings are his pictures of Shanghai where he met a senior busker with his precious trumpet (image 2) and a music group in action (screen grab 1). According to Roger, China's public parks are exciting places and often packed with locals. They love to demonstrate their musical talents and attract a lot of attention. He also tells me that buskers in China play 60s music from the west. That's something.
Roger, who is a backpacker travels light, very light and enjoys the sight, the sound and sensuality of the places he visits. Which reminds me of the song Travelling Light by Cliff Richard and these lines:
Got no bags and baggage to slow me down, I'm travelling so fast/My feet ain't the ground/Travelling light, travelling light/Well I just can't wait to be with my baby tonight... No comb and no toothbrush/I got nothing to haul...
And of course Rick Nelson's: I'm a travelin' man/I've made a lot of stops all over the world/And in every port I own the heart/Of at least one lovely girl/Oh my sweet Fraulien down in Berlin town/Makes my heart start to yearn/And my China doll down in old Hong Kong/Waits for my return...
She's probably waiting for your return to Shanghai Roger, whoever she is. Thanks for sharing.
Images: Roger Poh Collection.
Hi Andy. Thanks you for your blog on Roger Poh.
ReplyDeleteTravelling light for backpacking is a "no-baggage adventure" and personal experience.
It’s an experiment for an adventure of self-discovery on a trip of a lifetime. The treasure of nostalgic memories on the travel for a "thumbdrive of one's life" (As quoted by Miss Ann Wee in Gene Tan's Foreword in "Good Morning Yesterday - The Book" by Lam Chun See).
Hi James.
ReplyDeleteAppreciate your comment. Like me, I can never backpack ever!
Too rough and tough. A trip for me would be comfortable hotels, airconditioning and a car or bus (group travel) for sightseeing.
But I guess with such a travelling style one forgets everything after a year.
Thanks for visiting.
Harbin Ice Festival provides the visitors each year a whole new world of ice and snow.
ReplyDeleteThe 28th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will begin from January 5, 2012 and last for over one month.
The best collections of ice artworks are exhibited in five main places.
From Wikipedia:
ReplyDeleteThe term 'English pop' in Hong Kong does not mean pop music from England, but western style pop songs sung in the English language.
In the 1950s, popular music of Hong Kong was largely dominated by pop songs in the English language until the Cantopop's emergence in the mid-1970s.
Many well-known Cantopop singers of today, like Sam Hui and Alan Tam, began their early careers singing in English. Western culture at the time was specifically a mark of education and sophistication.
Inspired and influenced by imported popular music from the West such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Mathis and The Beatles,[3] Hong Kong artistes started to produce English language pop music in the 1960s.
Two articles have been taken from the Net to accentuate the dominant themes in Roger Poh's comments:
ReplyDelete1. About Harbin.
2. 'Western Pop' or 'English Pop' played by China buskers, especially the senior ones.