Day 3 - Oct 17, 2006: Visit to the Shaolin Temple

After a day of competition, we prepared ourselves for the visit to the Shaolin Temple at Shong Shan, located at Dengfeng. Again, we had to get up early because the bus leaves at 0730. Dengfeng is about 2 hours drive away. We're expected to return by 1530 because there will be some events tonight. The 2 gals are competing.

I was told that about 120 buses convoyed that day and with an average of 40 people per bus, that means 4800 athletes, officials, guides, organisers and the interpreters had made the trip. It's gonna be a jam-packed mountain up there. During the trip, when we're still in the city of Zhengzhou, I realised that bicycles and motorcycles outnumbered cars, buses and other bigger vehicle. And 99% of the motorcyclist doesn't wear any helmets. During the whole trip, all I could hear is bus drivers honking at other cars, cyclist, pedestrians etc on the incoming buses. If you think Malaysian drivers are mad on the road, I would say that these people are crazy. Cars were actually seen overtaking the bus without looking at the rear. Fortunately the bus drivers were VERY alert the whole time, unlike sleepy Malaysian bus drivers.

But during the whole time, what impresses me most is that the buses has the right of way throughout the journey. At every junction you'll see some policemen/policewomen. And at every junction you'll see cars lining up, waiting for the buses to pass through. Man, I've never felt so priviledged in my life. We were like VIPs that morning. I would loved to show you some photos but the buses were driven so fast that I couldn't get any clear photo. None turn out nicely.

At the foot of the mountain is the town/city called Dengfeng where many of wushu schools were setup. And every school we drove pass gave some form of performance outside the school. If compared to the events 2 years ago, this time is much more simple and quiet. It was so grand 2 years ago that the roads were flooded with performances, banners and decorations. Because there wasn't that many performance on our way, the bus sort of sped through. These were the best photos I captured. The rest sucks.














Outside the entrance into the Monastery. Just look at the crowd below.














China Central TV (CCTV) made a live coverage of the visit that morning. Reporters and cameras were seen everywhere and a helicopter were circling the area over and over making
the coverage.

The moment we entered the area, we saw numerous performances by the Shaolin students of all ages. Just enjoy the photos.



















Up to this point, we're still outside the temple. If you walk, it takes about 10-15 minutes from the main entrance to reach the temple entrance. Just imagine how big the area is. Just imagine how many students they have there. I'm not sure whether were they gathered from the schools nearby or are they actually students in the Shaolin temple itself. Either way, it's huge, both the place and number of people.

Below: The actual entrance into the Shaolin temple. Being a temple, you'd expect to see shrines, statues of buddha and HIS students etc. Some of these photos turned out blur because there was too many people banging into you. It's difficult to get a nice still shot, especially when the guide kept asking you to hurry up. It's been a day of rushing.














Below: Inside the Shaolin temple.














Below: This is the famous hall where the monks used to train stamping the floor until the floor forms a sunken patch. It's much clearer if you see it in person. We were not allowed into the hall. We're only allowed to see by the doors.
For those who's got 'mata sepet', see the highlighted spots below. You'll notice the area sunked in.
Up to this point, I took no more photos of the area because my camera were already depleted of its battery. We then adjourned to one of the Master's room for tea.

Below: The master who took the photo with us.
He's only 5 months older than I am. He's not a monk but a student who's been practising Shaolin Kung Fu since childhood. When he's outside the temple, he's just an ordinary guy like us.

During the whole time at the temple, a few of us was very eager to leave immediately because we wanted to buy some weapons sold at the shops by the entrance. The rest who were there on leisure just kept taking their own sweet time walking and talking while we who wanted to get the weapons and items feared that we may not have enough time to choose or pick our stuff. Our bus were to leave at 1400 and it was already like 1245.

Still, we had to join them out of respect. And as we were having tea, we were sort of "saved" by one SMS I received from Alex and I used that as an excuse to get us out. Hehehe... if it wasn't of the message, I may not be do daring to open my mouth. No, I did not lie, it was really something related, it was not made up. Ended up, everyone who wanted to buy the weapons or wanted more sightseeing left. Only a few remained in the room.

Anyway, it's another long walk back to the entrance and the whole time I was worried of the gals. Needing to compete that same night, they need to rest their legs so we controlled our pace. At the shops, it was quite a disappointment. We did not get the things we wanted. All the weapons sold were meant for souveniours and gifts. None were proper for competition except for one or two but is of no use to us.

We ended up buying other things instead. And the whole time, we were rushed throughout because the bus were leaving soon. We didn't even get to bargain much which made us buying some items in a more expensive price. Imagine having already bought something only to realised it's sold half the price (yes, it's HALF the price) next door. That's a big difference though the item I bought was really something cheap and I only found out when I was leaving that area.

Finally the bus left at 1430, 30 minutes behind schedule which also meant that we'll reach the hotel 30 minutes later than expected which would then have given us 30 minutes less time to rest for tonight.

Again, on the way back, we had the right of way. The bus was very quiet because everyone's tired and it's now a good time to take an afternoon nap if you could sleep in the bus of course.

After dinner (dinner was served at 1730, as it has always been), we were back at the competition arena. The funny thing about me was that I kept getting the time here wrong. The sun rises very early. By 0700, it's already very bright and sunny. The sun also sets very early. By 1900, the sky so dark I kept thinking it's already 2100.

So while the gals were warming up while waiting for their event, I snapped around. My job now is only to take care of the 2 since my events had finished and I was supposed to be a free man to enjoy myself... so I'd wish. I was more concerned of them that I can't seem to enjoy myself that much. Didn't even get to know people from other countries.

Anyway, it was kind of dark and I'm not good at controlling the flashes. Nevertheless, the
photos:

This gal was so happened doing her stretching in front of where I was sitting. No, it's not what you think. There was no particular reason that I snapped her photo. And I think she's from Taiwan.

These 3 are either from Myanmar or Cambodia. They were practising somersaulting and cup-wheels. It happened so fast I can't seem to capture them nicely.

These 3 are from Ukraine and they were practising a 3 person pre-arranged dual. I got fedup that I could not capture a nice photo of their fight, so I got them to do a pose for me while they were resting. Many thanks to them.

Ah... finally the events done. The 2 gals were competing in the same event. The results, Tiffany got 4th but got gold. YQ was 5th but silver. She got equal score with 3 other gals and was only 0.02 points lower than Tiff's score of 8.68. It's been a wonderful and lucky night for Tiff. YQ was pretty unlucky this time.

The photo of a gold medalist. She couldn't stop smiling after she knew she's getting gold but somehow could not smile for the camera... haiz... but anyhow, well done to our sweet darling here...














The rest of the photos taken during the award ceremony.














The photo of the silver medalist.
This gal had a black face the whole night. It soon turned from a happy bright night for Tiff and I into a dull quiet night because of her. I'd even lost all the mood to snap her photo since she's been avoiding my camera the whole night.

Anyway, another good news was that I got another silver for my second event. I did not see the results myself but Xi Lei (one of the interpreter) saw my result and quickly informed me of it. I could not believe my ears when I heard that. I thought she was joking.

So it's now 2 silver for 2 events for me. Somehow this has broken a trend I long had. I've never gotten a silver medal before. In all the individual events that I've competed in, it's either a gold or a bronze or no medals at all but never a silver. Not only the trend was broken by 1 silver, it was 2. I guess in a way, my collection of the colours are complete though a gold would have been very much better for me. I just did not do well enough.

So things have gotten pretty well today. We have a gold medal to cheer for Malaysia, another silver in the bag and the news of my 2nd silver. I think everyone slept well that night. But I'm sure Tiff had a tough night, especially when her roommate is YQ.