A Date With Kai Kai (凯凯) & Jia Jia (嘉嘉)

The pièce de résistance of our trip up north to the Singapore River Safari was this lovely date with  Kai Kai (凯凯) & Jia Jia (嘉嘉).

Both Neeti and I had this unspoken but overwhelming urge to see a panda once in our lifetime and we were heartbroken when we missed an opportunity to see this gentle and magnificent being when we were on our Chinese sojourn in 2013. But, Lady Luck has smiled on us, on this trip...

 Giant pandas were once found in various regions of China and across South East Asia -  Vietnam and Myanmar. Today, they can only be found in the remote forests and mountainous regions of China's Yangtze Basin. Due to deforestation, giant panda numbers have dwindled, there are only about 1600 of them today, and they have become more elusive

Before we made our way into the Giant Panda gallery, we passed through the chambers of the Red Panda...

The Red Panda is closely related to the weasel, raccoon and skunk families but is unrelated to the Giant Panda...

Found all through the Himalayas into the mountains of Yunan and Sichuan, the red panda is incidentally the state animal of Sikkim, in North East India...

The red panda was perched on a branch and was enjoying his siesta, oblivious of the crowds waiting to catch a glimpse...

And finally, we head to meet Kai Kai and Jia Jia...

The panda exhibit is a 1,500 square metre domed roof enclosure. A temperature of 18 to 22°C is maintained in the enclosure to simulate the cool temperatures of the pandas' natural habitat. Humidity is also maintained at 50-60%

Giant pandas have been a part of Chinese folklore for centuries...

The Chinese adored this gentle giant, regarding them as a symbol of peace. Considered symbols of might and bravery, the early Chinese emperors kept them to ward off evil spirits and natural disasters and warriors were often compared to giant pandas...

It was said that when two armies met in a battle, and if one army displayed a flag with the markings of the giant panda, "zhou yu", the battle would be halted as according to the ancient principles of war, the panda was the symbol of peace and friendship...

Tibetan folklore tells an interesting story on how the giant pandas got their unique colors. 

A long time ago, all giant pandas were white. One day, a prowling leopard attacked a panda cub. A shepherdess tried saving the cub, but she was killed by the leopard. 

In mourning, the pandas wore customary black armbands at her funeral. As they wept, they wiped their eyes with their armbands, covered their ears to block off the sounds of crying and hugged one another. The armbands blackened their fur and that’s how they became black and white!

Kai Kai and Jia Jia will each need to consume about 20kg of bamboo every day!

Kai Kai and Jia Jia belong to China. They were gifted by China to Singapore to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sino-Singapore relations in 2010. Technically, it is a 10-year loan of the pair.

A 6-month nationwide contest was held after the announcement in 2010 to name this pair of pandas. With nearly a thousand names to choose from, the panel of judges from Singapore and China eventually picked "Kai Kai" (凯凯) - 'victorious' for the male panda and "Jia Jia" (嘉嘉) - 'beautiful' and 'fine' for the female panda. 

Incidentally, the word "Jia" also shares the same phonetic pronunciation as the Chinese character '加', part of Singapore's Chinese name (新加坡).

So, on September 5, 2012, Kai Kai and Jia Jia made their journey from their home at the Ya'an Bifengxia Panda Base in Chengdu, Sichuan... They took a Singapore Airlines Cargo Boeing 747-400 freighter from Chengdu to Singapore, a distance of 3700 kilometres.... The freighter aircraft bore the registration - 9V-SFP (P for Pandas!).

On board, Kai Kai and Jia Jia were treated as VIPs (Very Important Pandas!), cabin temperature was maintained between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius, ‘inflight meals’ of bamboo, fruit and water were provided and a team of five keepers and vets from both China and Singapore were also on board.

That's called travelling first class, panda style!

Kai Kai merrily lazed around eating bamboo...

And after a while, he tried to get on to a bamboo platform...

A smiling Kai Kai...

Kai Kai was so adorable...

Jia Jia, the female panda was a bit shy...

Jia Jia kept pacing around her enclosure, resting in parts...

Jia Jia was oblivious of the excited crowds watching her...

 Our memories of our date with the gentle and adorable Kai Kai and Jia Jia will always be there for us to cherish,  in this short video...

One Year On....

It was exactly a year back, this day we travelled to China.

It did feel quite odd when people whom told of our vacation found the choice of China a bit funny. People travel to Europe, to the Gulf, to the South East, but why China, was the common refrain. We used to hear people advise us on food - we were advised to carry MTR packets. The usual stereotypes were at work - language problems, odd food - snake and insects and what not, and, yes, lots of bicycles..... 

But we are glad we got an opportunity to visit China and meet our family there. This was an incredible opportunity to dispel whatever stereotypes we had in our minds. The experiences we had in China were incredible and amazing. It was interesting to see, first hand, the transition that the billion-plus people are in the throes of.

While in Beijing and Shanghai we blended in, into the crowd, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of an incredible blend of tradition and ultra-modernity, we were spellbound by the natural wonders at Zhangjiajie. Here we were the first Yindus that a few locals had seen.

Contrary to the suggestions we got, the trip was a culinary delight. We enjoyed and devoured local fare, downed endless green teas and our MTR packets remained unconsumed. Neeti too enjoyed local fare and that was a  real surprise for me too! Surely, our addiction to oolong, green and white tea began after this sojourn.

The people we met on our travel there were no different from us Indians - fun-loving and forward-looking. They seemed to be close-knit, moved around in family groups, were boisterous and enjoyed eating out! 

Indeed Chinese women have incredible and flawless skin, something that I kept appreciating throughout the trip, much to Neeti's chagrin! And their kids, little babies were a massive overdose of cuteness! What I found a bit amusing was that the baby dresses had "strategically" located holes for cleaning their bums after they were done with their potty!

And Ni-Hao and Xie-Xie made an entry into our everyday vocabulary and that made a near amusing incident when we thanked the immigration officer with a Xie-Xie on our return into Mumbai, and she was bewildered!

The sounds of Kevin Kendle that we heard on our way there and later on our way back will always ring in my mind when I think of the trip.

It is indeed a sum total of all such experiences that shape one's life! And I would look forward to visiting China again (what we had seen was barely a tip of the iceberg), along with lots of other amazing places that are on my bucket-list! As someone very wisely said: "Take vacations, go as many places as you. You can always make money, you can't always make memories!"

Reliving The Exotic Taste of The Orient!!!

They say one's experiences define one's personality, one's outlook to the world. For me, travel is one such defining experience.

Neeti and my trip to China was one such defining experience for me. That experience made us try the "untried", and for me that definitely meant food....

One of the places that was more like a Mecca for me in the heart of Beijing was the Guo Shu Hao supermarket in Chaoyang District, from where we had picked up a colourful, succulent, rather strange looking fruit resembling a fat cacti - the Dragonfruit....

The mildly sweet flesh of the fruit, with crunchy seeds was rather appealing...

Later during our trip we headed to Zhangjiajie, in the heartland of the Middle Kingdom, Hunan province, we again enjoyed this unique fruit there....

Just when we thought our tryst with this exotic fruit had ended, Lady Luck smiled on us. We found this fruit available here, in Mumbai....

Our happiness knew no bounds.... we promptly bought it, even though it was a tad pricey. I was quite eager to relive the taste we had enjoyed in China, nearly a year back. The urge to enjoy the exotic taste again made the price literally insignificant.

So, finally this evening, we cut up the succulent and fresh Dragonfruit and enjoyed each bite! The melange of sweet-crunch took us back to the memorable trip we made....!

Xie xie!

Up In The Air .... Part 14

Continuing with the previous series of Up In The Air photos, taken on board CX 365 earlier in May 2013, here are a few more of the approach into Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong!

The islands that lie in the flight path are enchantingly green! I just can't my eyes off the photos of these magnificent isles in the South China Sea!

Enjoy!

The earlier editions of Up In The Air can be accessed here on this hyperlink - Up In The Air series!