December 25, 2007

舊地重遊

You may have experienced this. You asked a friend, "Want to go Japan". Your friend said, "Went before already" - meaning he didn't want to go. But he has also been to Taiwan a few times already and still wants to go again.

Probably the actual reason was that he didn't like Japan or didn't want to go there again yet.

I like to revisit old places. There is another type of joy and expectation together with some feeling of familiarity and nostalgia. Some places I have been to at least twice - Ipoh, Genting, Penang, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou.

But HK has become rather expensive. Hotel rates have shot up steeply mainly due to the influx of tourists from China. At periods that coincide with China's holidays, hotel rates can go up 100%. Food prices are also on the high side. Transport is also not cheap. With the same amount of money, you can spend twice as long in China.

Some places I have been to once but would not mind going again - Taiwan, Japan, Beijing, Australia's Gold Coast and Sydney. I have fond memories of them.

And got new places I would like to visit, London and Nanjing for instance.

When I was young, I read stories about gypsies travelling in caravans and staying from place to place. I like their nomadic carefree lifestyle.

3 comments:

Victor said...

I have never been to Japan but I heard that it is quite expensive. For me, whether I will re-visit a place depends on several factors, some of which are:

1. Affordability or value-for-money;

2. Having attractions worth visiting or re-visiting; and

3. Whether the rest of my family has visited before.

My recent Taiwan trip was my 3rd, although the 1st 2 trips were made more than a quarter of a century ago. But I re-visited it again because my family members have not been there and I also wanted to see for myself how much the country has changed after so long. Indeed there were many changes.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Japan is expensive. It was expensive when I went I think more than 15 years ago.

I would like to see Taiwan again. My previous trip covered Taipei, Guoxiong and Hualian.

Lam Chun See said...

I like Japan. Very clean and safe. I been twice. Total duration would be close to 5 months.

I have been to Hong Kong twice, but would believe, I have not seen Hong Kong in the true sense of the word. Each time it is with a biz delegation. First night, the local host bring us for dinner. Next day, its all meetings and conference which I have to play a role. Even had to tumpang some of the tai tais (delegates' wives) to buy my favourite almond biscuit.