Trip to Ancestor's Hometown - Hainan, China (Day 1 - 2)

This CNY is different as i spend the 4th - 10th day of Chinese New Year back at my ancestor's hometown/village. The last time when i was there, it was abt 23 years back, with a much bigger group including relatives from Hong Kong. If u ask me if i could still remember, yes i do (not everything of course).

At that time, there wasn't any direct flights and we had to fly to Hong Kong to catch an overnight boat ride to Hainan. The boat-ride was horrible. We were sleeping in double-decker beds and most of us were feeling very unwell due to the bad sea conditions.

Day 1 (26 Jan)
Only had 3 hours of sleep before heading to my auntie's place in Changi @ 3.45am in the wee hours. I enjoyed the drive to Changi alone. Nice music on the radio. The roads were clear with the exception of afew cabs on the roads.

Was surprised to see my cousin Kin at the airport. Only realised later that he just bought his airticket @ midnight via the internet. That makes the whole entourage to 11 of us.

Reached Haikou @ 10am and was met by Jiang (my cousin in china) and 2 relatives whom i have not met or seen before. I was surprised that the driver is actually a christian coz. he was playing christian hymns in the car.

We stopped by a little town for lunch before heading to Jiaji (or kachek in hainanese) in Qionghai, which is abt a hour or two away from Haikou. For the first time, we tried the local speciality which is the wenchang chicken and the duck. Our verdict, mom can cook better and the chicken that we have in Singapore is tastier.

After checking into the hotel, we set off to the village - Nankang which is abt an hour ride away. It was a really bumpy ride. We joked that whoever is pregnant will definedly get a miscarriage after that. We understood from a relative that if we took the boat ride, we will reach the village in just half-an-hour. Anyway, we still took the mini-van coz. we wasn't sure if grandma was able to handle the boat-ride.

We had a warm welcome from relatives at the village. Some were familiar faces while others were totally strangers.



The first thing which my uncle told me was ... "wow! this is really not what he had expected". Most of us from the Singapore entourage had one thing in common. We were looking forward to fireworks and firecrackers later. It will be fun. Here's Uncle Phoon posing with the box of fire-crackers.



For grandpa's mansion or bungalow house, i understood that it was built in the 1950s. His first wife used to stay there with her adopted daughter and afew relatives. Now that she has passed on almost exactly one year ago, only afew relatives are staying there right now. Who exactly ... hmm ... i am not too sure.

To me, the house looks like ruins of port arthur unfortunatedly. It's very dirty and unkept. Felt like buying paint to give it a 'make-over'. Don't believe it ... let me show you around.

The exterior of the house




View from the roof-top


Level 1


One of the rooms on level 1


The nicest and most livable room on the second floor


The big empty area which the chef used to cook for the feast tomm.


The kitchen


When we arrived, the chefs were already busy preparing for dinner. We being Singaporeans went to the so called 'kitchen area' to see how they prepare the food. Well .... not so hygenic after all. They were smoking as they cook.





The fun part was still the fireworks and fire-crackers.



We went back to town at night for supper. It was a fruitful day. Very meaningful. Grandpa would be very happy (if he is still alive) to know that we came back. He would have been very proud of it. That's my gong gong.

Day 2 (22 Jan)
We met at 7.30am @ the lobby and headed to Chang Long resturant for dim sum breakfast. Had to fill our stomach coz. we ain't sure if the food at the village is going to suit our taste-buds.

Grandma had 2 relatives who came by to the resturant to visit her. Mom said it's someone from grandma's own village - wenchang which we are not going to.



It was also 'the day' where we are going to throw a 30-table feast for the whole village. Something which i still don't understand why there is a need to. Like i always say, some things have not changed. It was the same tradition 23 years ago. And it's still the same today. It's just like going back to be santa claus ... giving away red packets and throwing a feast. My gosh. It's like throwing a wedding luncheon or dinner. Everyone came.

I wonder how they knew abt it. In the past, i remember they brought hainanese kueh in basket loads. Now it's more modern. Everyone brings cartons of small mandarin oranges since it's CNY. One thing which i'm impressed is that they uses disposable utensils.

This time round, we took the boat to the village. The destination, just to the end of the bridge which is not completed yet.



Grandma has problems going up and down the boat. But still, somehow, she managed with everyone's help.







Our village is just by the sea-side. My grandpa's house will really be sea-view if some of the trees were cut off coz. it's just next to the sea-side. We had a good time taking pictures in the village.



To us, it was kind of an eco-tourism tour which i enjoyed. There were chicken and goose, although not so many as compared to the past.







The villagers came up and spoke to me. My gosh ... somehow ... they all know my dad. It was a time to rekindle family ties. Wow ... never knew i had so many relatives.

My cousin, Darren, bro and me were just waking around the village by ourselves and suddenly, we bump into alot of kids. They sure know how to pose. I wonder whose kids are they. Dad said they are probably relatives.



And i love the unique hair-style of these 2 kids. Very stylish indeed!





The chefs busy preparing for the 30 table hosted luncheon for the whole village.



And here it is, the 12 course feast for the whole village. The villagers and relatives ate and enjoyed themselves.



While we stood around to watch



And hung around our favourite spot (outside the house) to chill out. That's when i realised that i actually have a cousin who's resding in New York. Also realised that i have 2 very pretty relatives who are learning chinese dance. The elder sister posed for us. The younger sis was shy.







And while waiting around, we took a photo with my niece & nephew (Jiang's daughter and son - in blue & orange). My niece is 16 years old while nephew is 20 yrs.



Also went to visit my mom's auntie house at the lower village. It's just a 10 mins. ride away.



Mom said her auntie insisted that we visit her home because grandma (mom's mother) contributed alot of money to the sister to do up the house. The house, well ... it was really clean and nice. I like the toilet best coz. it's the cleanest in the whole village (Singapore standard). Had to take pictures to show po po.



We left the village in the evening and bid farewell to relatives. I wonder when will be the next time i come back.



We did some sightseeing by boat before alighting at the Bo-Ao, home to the famous Bo'Ao Forum for Asia.



The place is nice. When we reached the hotel in the town of Jiaji, i was shocked that there were 2 relatives waiting for us at the hotel. I wonder how they knew our whereabouts. It's scary. The relative asked if i could remember her because she came to Singapore before and visted my home. Unfortunatedly not. Bad memory ... although her name does ring a bell to me.



At nite, Jiang brought afew of us to see the latest ktvs and discos. I am surpirsed that their bouncers actually wear army uniform.