南非之旅 - 10月9日

9 October 2010

We set off to Oudtshoorn from Knysna this morning.  We passed by a Dolphin point along the way which there were supposed to have dolphins in this season.  Though we did not see any dolphins, it was a scenic seaside with strong waves and wind and it was definitely worth stopping.

今早出发，经过了Dolphin Point。这个季节应该是有海豚在海里的，但是我们一直都没看到。海边的风很强，海浪也很大，海风把睡意都吹醒了，是一个值得停下来的景点。

Views at Dolphin Point

Cango caves were our next destination.  It was limestone cave with quite a number of chambers.  The guide of the cave introduces us on the how the caves were found and the first chamber was actually used as a stage for orchestra many years ago.  Interestingly, the caves offer 2 routes to explore the caves.  One is the standard route which we took and the other one is the adventurous route which I wished I could do but not catered to us.  The standard route is a simple route which leads us to 4 chambers of the caves.  Each cave is an eye opener with magnificent formations of limestone formed in the caves.  Our guide in the cave described a little on the adventurous route in Cango caves which seemed to be quite challenging as the route is a little narrow and small which is not suitable for the bigger sized.

Cango caves 是我们下一个目的地。Cango caves 是一个石灰洞，有好几个洞穴。洞穴的导游介绍洞穴是怎样被发现的，也说第一个洞穴曾被用位交响月取的舞台。有趣的是，洞穴有两条路线让游客选择。第一条是标准路线，另一条则是冒险路线。我是非常想试一试冒险路线的，可惜的是旅游团没有为任何人准备这条路线。标准路线一共有4个洞穴，每个洞穴都摆出漂亮的石灰编队。在临走前，导游说冒险路线是蛮有挑战的，由于路途有点低而且狭窄，体格大一点的人不适合穿过这路线。

Cango caves

We went to the ostrich farm next where we had our lunch and our ostrich tour.  The ostrich tour was divided into 3 sections.  The first section, we understand more about ostriches, their eggs, their breeding process and the house of the owner of the farm (which I do not know why it is introduced but it is a national monument now).  The second section is on sitting and riding on ostriches which are very interesting as the ostriches that we sat on are not very tame and friendly to humans.  Riding on an ostrich is not easy as they run too fast which I find it hard to stablise myself while riding on the ostrich’s back.  If there was no one supporting me while I rode on the ostrich, I would have fallen to the ground and broke my neck probably.  Those who ride on the back of ostriches were given a certificate for the participation.  The last part of the tour is to watch 2 ostrich jockeys competing against each other on ostrich riding.  It was an interesting sight to look at and I did think that the whole tour is both an informative and an interesting one.

之后是到了鸵鸟牧场去。我们在那里吃个午餐后，就开始了我们的鸵鸟之旅。鸵鸟旅程分为三个阶段，第一阶段让我们深度的了解鸵鸟，鸵鸟蛋，它们的配种过程和鸵鸟场主人的家（不知为何主人的家也被介绍，但现在被列为国家保护建筑物。第二阶段是骑坐鸵鸟的阶段，而这阶段在整个鸵鸟介绍旅程中是最有趣的。骑在鸵鸟的背上是不容易的，因为它们的速度太快了，加上我们所骑的鸵鸟不是很友善，温顺，这使难度大大提高。如果没有人在后面支撑着，我肯定跌个四脚朝天。骑上鸵鸟的队友们，都分发了一张参与证书作为奖励。最后的阶段则是看两位鸵鸟骑士们赛驼鸟，较量一番，是蛮有趣的。我觉得整个参观旅程又有趣，又能增添知识，真不错。

Mansion of the Owner of Ostrich Farm

A male and female ostrich

Ostrich eggs under my feet

Ostrich ride

Our last stop for the day is Cango Wildlife Ranch which introduced us many endangered species of animals.  The ranch has a cat section which kept different big cats in different cages.  They include cheetahs, tigers and lions.  They also allow us to touch and take photographs with cheetahs but as we looked at the cheetahs, they looked like they had been sedated.  It was because there were tourists who hug and patted them as if they were mere kittens and the cheetahs were not provoked at all.  Anyway I had enough of cheetahs on the first day of my tour so I had decided to give the cheetahs a miss.

我们当天的最后一站是Cango Wildlife Ranch，介绍了非常多面对濒临绝种的动物。动物园里也有一个猫类动物的部分，收集的动物有狮子，老虎和猎豹。他们也有触摸猎豹的活动，但是那些猎豹看起来像是被打了镇静剂似的。不管游客怎么把猎豹当猫咪一般的触摸一番，它们还是一点动静都没有。由于我在第一天已经触摸了猎豹，这次我还是决定把钱省给起来了。

Cango Wildlife Ranch

Animals in the Ranch, how many can you recognise? (This question is especially posed to Ming Feng since he likes animals so much)

南非之旅 - 10月7日，8日

7 October 2010

As we still had some time after breakfast, I decided to take a stroll at the seaside.  Though the sun was shinning brightly outside, the wind was blowing very strongly.  As I was admiring the scenery, I would need to stand firm on the ground so as not to be blown away by the wind.  The scenery was superb and if I had the money, I wish I could build a house there, so that I could admire the ocean and enjoy the sea breeze everyday.  As it was the whale season (July to October), there were many whales around the water regions.  When we were supposed to leave the hotel, the guide was kind enough to let us stay around a little longer to catch glimpses of the whales.

由于吃完早餐之后还有一点时间，就在海边散步。虽然当天的太阳非常的晒，风却吹得很的强。一路欣赏风景的时候，还得站稳脚步，以免被风吹走。风景是非常的漂亮，如果有钱的话，真想在那里盖间房子，那样每天都可以吹海风，欣赏海景。由于实鲸鱼季节（7到9月份），有许多的鲸鱼在海里。在离开酒店之前，导游很大方得让我呆久一点，多瞧瞧鲸鱼的风采。

Beautiful scenery of South Africa

The most beautiful house in the area

Whale in Indian Ocean

After that we left for a 3 hour journey towards Garden Route Game Lodge.  The drive to the game lodge is a scenic one.  Plains, plantations and farmlands were beside us and further down we could see mountain ranges as we cruised down the road and it gave me a vast feeling of freedom.  Traffic was smooth with few cars on the highway which is rarely seen in Singapore.

欣赏完风景之后，我们就上车，作了3个小时的车往Garden Route Game Lodge 去。车程的景色非常美丽。平原，农田和农场在高速公路旁都看得到。再望远处看，我还能看到山脉，让我越得有一个辽阔的自由感。路上的车子很少，交通非常的顺畅，是很难在新加坡所见到的。

Scenery along the road

Ostriches on the march

We reached the game lodge and we ate our lunch at the game lodge.  After that we checked into our cottage and our cottage was not similar to any other hotels that I had stayed at all.  Though it is not luxurious, it is definitely the most unique and unforgettable one throughout the whole trip.  After some waiting (after watching the whole netball match between England and New Zealand of the Commonwealth games), we finally proceed to our game ride.  We jumped onto an open-styled jeep and set out for our game ride.  We saw many animals in the game lodge and though there were not many actions from the animals, the chilling wind and the nice weather made the ride very comfortable.

我们到了野生动物园，就在那里吃个午餐。之后我们就到了我们设定茅屋里休息（当晚的住宿）。茅屋并不像其他的酒店这么的奢华，但是非常的特别，是让我在整个旅程最难忘的住宿。等了一会儿（看完整个英国对垒纽西兰的头球赛），我们终于可以狩猎去了。我们乘着没车顶的吉普车，开始了旅程。途中，我们遇到了很多动物，虽然动物没什么大的动作或表演，爽快的天气和凉风把我都吹得精神了。

Exterior of our cabins

Interior of our cabins

Bird outside my cabin

Toilet with nice deco at the game lodge

White rhino urinating

Rhino mother and son

Elephant urinating

Young elephants

Game lodge guide and Rhino shit (no smell, I guarantee)

Old lion and a young lioness (hardest to take because we were furthest away from them)

Father giraffe and its kid

My proudest picture taken in South Africa, Springbuck and sunset

A pair of adult Ostriches with its children

Buffalo

Best taken photo from my sister's camera, in my opinion

After dinner (at the game lodge again), we walked back to our cabins and we were able to see numerous stars on the sky.  It is impossible to see so many stars in the sky of Singapore.  There were more stars than in the sky of Kenting, Taiwan which we were supposed to gaze stars during our night walk and we were elated to see these stars in the sky.

晚餐后（依然是在野生动物园吃），我们走回去茅屋时，我们能够看到天上有非常多的星星。在新加坡，是无法看到这么多星星的。比起台湾的垦町的夜游，我们在南非看到的星星比在垦町看的还多，真是开心。

Real chimney with fire

8 October 2010

In the morning, we woke up for another game ride.  The morning was a lot cooler and windier than yesterday’s ride.  We had already visited most of the animals yesterday and the main lead for the ride was the cheetahs and a few additional animals.  However we stopped at one of the sites and had our morning tea in the wilderness.  It was quite enjoyable and we took a group photo during the tea session.  It started to rain soon after our tea and we hurried back to the base cabins in the jeeps.  Lucky for us, the game lodge provides ponchos and we were not really wet when we reached the cabins.

一早起床，我们又去狩猎多一次。今早的天气比昨天的凉也比昨天大风。我们已经把多数的动物给参观一番了，今早的行动，主角就是猎豹，然后再看了多几种动物，也就差不多大功告成了。我们在动物园里的某角落，停了下来，在那里饮早茶，真是别有一番风味。那里的风景也是不错的，欣赏的当儿，当然也不忘拍照，在那里拍了张全体照。在饮茶后不久，就开始下雨了。幸好，动物园有提供雨衣，我们才不会再回程的时候淋湿了身体。

Jeep and its travellers

Fearsome looking cheetah

Some birds and 'bird nests'

Elands

Picnic at the Game Lodge

Group photo during the picnic

More animals in the safari like the zebras

For the rest of the itinerary for the day includes a visit to the aloe ferox, Old Post Office Tree (which I have no idea where it is), Diaz Museum (a maritime museum) and a lagoon cruise.  Aloe ferox is a type of aloe vera and there is a whole range of products (health supplements, skin products, shampoo etc) that can be purchased.  Diaz Museum is a small museum that tells us about the trade routes of South Africa in the past.  The museum is quite boring though I like the paintings and ship figurines in the museum.  The lagoon cruise ride was 1 and ½ hour long but it has little commentary which I was unsure what significance it had that it was included into the itinerary. 

当天的行程，就剩下参观芦荟工厂，旧的邮局，Diaz Museum（海事博物馆）和上泻湖邮轮。在芦荟工厂里，游客可以买到一些营养食品和护肤用品，我们当然也是买得不亦乐乎。Diaz Museum 是一个很小的博物馆，告诉南非以前的贸易路线。虽然博物馆是有点闷，但是我是非常喜欢博物馆内的油画和模型的。泻湖邮轮长达一个半小时，但是评述很少，把邮轮列上旅程的意义，我是有点搞不懂。

Maritime Musueum

Spice Trade route and the ship models

Do not disturb the giant tortoise

Birthday celebration of my sister during lunch

Lagoon cruise

南非之旅 - 10月5日，6日

It's been a long time since the last time I update my blog as I am very busy with work these days.  However I went to South Africa I still managed to make some time for holidays this month and decided to write it down to share with others.

因为工作的关系，已经有好一段时间没写 Xanga 了。不过，我还是在这个月抽空到了南非旅行，所以决定了卸下来与朋友分享。

5 October 2010

The day to embark on my South Africa trip finally came.  This time, 6 adventurers (my mother, my 2 sisters, Pamela, Aunty Rosy and me) had participated in this trip.  We reached the airport at around 11pm, waiting to board the plane to Cape Town.  It was a long wait as our plane was supposed to only depart at 2am in the morning.  However, as pampered travelers, we were given vouchers by the travel agency to enter a lounge area for refreshments to help us ease the pain while waiting for the plane.

终于要上飞机到南非旅行去了。这次有6位冒险者（包括了母亲，两位姐姐，来玉，Rosy 阿姨，和我）一起到南非旅行去。到机场，差不多是晚上11点钟，很期待上飞机到开普顿区。但是飞机起飞的时间是早上2点，得等非常的久。好在旅行社想得周到，给了我们休息室的入场卷，在里面吃吃喝喝的，等待的时间也过得比较快。

猫头鹰 (Owls)

The fur of cheetah is not as soft as expected.  It is actually quite hard and we were instructed that we can only stroke the side and back of the cheetah.  We cannot stroke the tail, head or any sensitive parts of the cheetah.  We even have a position to follow when stroking the cheetah just in case the cheetah decides to roll back and we can take a step or 2 back quickly.

猎豹的猫其实也不是很柔软，其实有一点的硬。触碰猎豹的规则其实业蛮多的，例如：只能触碰猎豹的背后和侧身，头部，尾巴或其他敏感部位是不允许的。触碰猎豹时，也得摆出对的姿势，以防猎豹忽然倒转，我们可以很快的站起来，退后一两步。

与猎豹和照 - 撒尿在我裤子那只 (Photo with Cheetah - The one which peed on my jeans)

After we were finished with the cheetah, the cheetah decided not to stay still anymore and walk around its cage. Therefore other visitors had to move on to another cheetah instead.  I was standing outside the cheetah’s cage and suddenly the guide asked me to move back.  Before I could react, the cheetah peed and the urine sprayed onto my jeans.  The guide joked that I would have good luck for the rest of the year and told me not to worry as a cheetah’s piss is odourless but nevertheless I decided to change my jeans on that day even if there was no odour on my jeans.

当我们触碰之后，猎豹真的忽然不想躺在地上了，在笼子里走来走去。其他的游客得换另一只猎豹触碰。我就站在笼外，忽然就听到牧场工作人员叫我退后。我还没法反应，猎豹就洒了泡尿，而鸟也就喷到我的裤子上。工作人员恭喜我，说我会好匀整年，也说猎豹的尿是无嗅味的，叫我放心。话虽如此，但是我还是决定更换裤子。

The place had an area for horse riding and an area for viewing eagles and owls.  It is a pity that we did not have enough time for these as we proceed to the restaurant for our lunch which was walking distance from the outreach.  At the restaurant, waiters and waitresses brought food out to a common area where we could help ourselves with the food.  After the sumptuous lunch, we had wine tasting session at the same location as well.  It seemed to be a convenient place as we did 2 items in the itinerary in a location.

那场地也可以用来骑马，观赏老鹰和猫头鹰，可惜时间不够，我们就得离开走去餐馆吃午餐。在餐馆，服务生把食物端出来，放在一个大桌子。不一会儿，桌上都摆满了食物，让我们任拿。吃完午餐，我们也在那里，上了一堂品酒课程，这地方似乎非常方便，一下下就搞定行程的两项。

一桌的食物 (A table of food)

Wine tasting session was pretty informative as they taught us how to appreciate wine by looking, smelling and tasting.  We tried 3 types of wine, including bubbly, white and red wine.  To me, I like sweeter and smoother wine and these were my only criteria for great wine.

品酒课程的知识很丰富，交了我们怎样用视觉，嗅觉以及味觉，欣赏酒。我们在那里品尝了香槟，白和红酒。对我而言，只要是较甜和喝起来较顺的酒，就是好酒。

品酒处 (Wine Tasting area)

好大的酒瓶 (A large wine bottle)

品酒讲师 (Lecturer on wine appreciation)

Next we went to a strawberry farm which was actually out of the itinerary.  I liked the scarecrows the farmers put at the strawberry plantation as it looked cute with decorations put on them.  After that we were driven back to our hotel.  As we were heading back to hotel, we admire the vast Indian Ocean and mountain ranges which are just at the sides of the road.

我们也去了草莓场，其实是在行程以外的地方。我非常喜欢，那里摆放的稻草人，因为它们被农夫们布置得非常可爱。之后，我们坐着车子会酒店。回酒店的路上，我们也欣赏路边辽阔的印度洋和山区。

稻草人 (Scarecrows)

与稻草猴拍照 - 尽管笑吧，伟良 (Photo with scare-monkey - laugh if you want, Nix)

车外的风景 (Scenery outside the coach bus)

Our hotel, Windsor Hotel faced the Indian Ocean and during our free time, we took a leisure walk along the Ocean exploring a bit of the town.  Dinner came soon but 2 of our adventurous (the 2 elderly ones) had no appetite as they were too tired after the plane ride.  Fortunately for them, the itinerary ends for the day and they could rest finally.

我们的酒店，Windsor酒店是朝着印度洋的。有时间的时候，我们会在酒店外散步，吹吹海风。很快的，晚餐时间到了，但比较年老的两位探险家，因漫长的飞机旅程没味口吃晚餐。幸亏的事，行程已结束，他们可以好好的休息了。

在军营里的两周

After 2 torturous weeks in the army camp, I finally came out of it.  It was the 5^th in camp training for the unit and it is by so far the toughest training I had went through.  I cannot imagine the tough training I have to go through for the next in camps as they will definitely be tougher than this one.  However I always believed that I should finish all my in camps (10 altogether) before I get too old for them as I will feel pathetic for myself for having to train at an old age.

Training aside, I had also received 2 cakes from Nix recently.  1 is a pandan cake while the other is a chocolate cake.  As he wanted to perfect the cake, he baked the cake again with slightly different ingredients.  It was definitely an improved version of the previous pandan cake.  The cake this time, it did smell and taste similar to the pandan cake that was sold outside.  The cake was softer and the texture of the cake is smoother.  The cake was also moister than the 1^st cake which is to my liking.

Rating: 7.5

As for the chocolate cake, it was a little too sweet all because of the icing that he put on the top layer of the cake.  The texture and the taste are both quite good and the chocolate he used is very rich.  Without the icing, the sweetness of the cake should reduce greatly.  Perhaps it is due to the refrigeration, the cake is a little hard but overall, the cake taste fine.

Rating: 7.0

在军营接受了两周地狱般的训练后，我终于自由了。这是队部的第5个军训，也是目前为止最辛苦的一次。我无法想象我接下来得接受的训练，因为它们一定是一个比一个辛苦。可是我深信我应该趁年轻时，服完我的军训（总共10次），不然等到我上了年纪后，还需要回军营训练，我都会替我自己感到可悲。

不谈军训的事了，伟良最近也烘了两个蛋糕给我。一个是斑兰蛋糕，另一个则是巧克力蛋糕。由于他要把斑兰蛋糕做的完美些，他再次挑战斑兰蛋糕，但这次所用的材料是稍微不同的。这次的蛋糕进步了很多，色，香，味，都做得有相当蛋糕店的水准。蛋糕吃起来比较软，口感也比较滑和湿润。吃的感觉确实不错。

分数：7.5

巧克力蛋糕则是有点太甜了，是因为蛋糕顶层放了icing 的关系。口感和味道都不错，用的巧克力也非常的浓。没有icing 的话，蛋糕的甜度应该会大大下降。可能是因为把蛋糕放在冰箱的关系，蛋糕有一点点硬，但总得来说是不错的蛋糕。

分数：7.0

May Zin's pandan cake

After taking the pandan cake recipe from Nix and handed it to May Zin, May Zin made the cake twice.  Unfortunately, I did not manage to try her first cake as I was recalled by the nation for reservist for almost a week.

The second time she tried baking the cake, I was lucky enough to have a taste of it.  Her pandan cake is slightly moist and the cake is very soft.  The taste is also just right, with the right proportion of sweetness and essence put into the cake.  As my colleagues liked drier chiffon cakes, they liked the previous cake is better than this one.  However I believed that I would like the latter one better.

Rating: 7.5

从伟良那里拿了斑兰蛋糕的食谱，我就把它叫到了May Zin 的手上。May Zin 也因此做了斑兰蛋糕两次。很不幸的事，第一次的试验，我是没有尝到因为我被国家叫回服兵役。

幸运的是，第二次的斑兰蛋糕是吃到了。蛋糕的口感有一点湿湿的，也非常的软，甜度和香味也恰到好处。其他的同事喜欢叫干的薄纱蛋糕，于是他们是比较喜欢之前的蛋糕。但是我相信我会比较喜欢这一个蛋糕。

分数：7.5