Christine Jalleh

When my husband told me that we were headed for a hot springs park, I thought the early winter had got the better of him. Who would strip down to their swimsuits in 10-12 degrees Celcius temperatures?

As it turns out, a hot springs park is perfect for the winter because the husband, the toddler and I were refreshed, rejuvenated and raring for a return!

The Riyuegu Hot Springs Park and Resort boasts about 150 hot springs pools, team adventure rope course facilities and a spa.

Did he mention the word “spa”? That certainly got my attention.

Riyuegu is made up of three Chinese characters, meaning “sun” (ri), “moon” (yue) and “valley” (gu) respectively. In its entirety, “Riyuegu” refers to a valley with beautiful things in the world.

Having visited hot springs in Malaysia and Thailand, I was prepared for an au naturel environment of craggy rocks and slippery stones.

Instead, Riyuegu is a modern facility equipped with 5-star facilities and staff.

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Happy New Year! I hope that you’ve had a bright start to 2010

I know I had a *really* busy time wrapping up a much-delayed communications and translations project while working on a few articles.

The fun part about being a freelance writer is that you never know who’ll meet and what your next story is going to be!

One of the articles is an interview with Francesca Kiing (read her inspiring story “Beading Glory” published in StarMag), a creative, energetic and friendly entrepreneur I met at a wedding dinner.

Other articles I was working on included:

• a travel piece on the quaint city of Xiamen (published in Air Macau’s inflight magazine), which also has a Chinese version;
• a feature article on water quality issues around the world;
• a beauty feature on common hair problems and natural / organic solutions for them and
• the alarming decline of wild animals in Kenya

Another fascinating topic I was working on is the practice of trap-neuter-and-release for stray dogs and cats in Malaysia. And getting to know some truly self-less folks known as “independent pet rescuers”.

As much as I’d love to share these articles with you, some of them are only available upon subscription or in hardcopy format.

What’s in store for 2010? The crystal ball reflects 1-2 consultancy projects in the works and some travel…

How about you? Have you listed your New Year resolutions?

Here’s to a healthy and happy start for everyone

Original article in The Star’s “Travel and Adventure” column (28 March 2009).

Wuyishan is south-east China’s most scenic wonder.

“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”

This quote by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu perfectly sums up a recent trip of mine to Mt Wuyi or Wuyishan in Fujian province.

Visitors scaling Mt Wuyi.

Travelling by train, van and boat together with my husband’s Chinese colleagues, we had such an unforgettable adventure.

Departing from Xiamen, we took the late evening train and arrived in Wuyishan on the south-eastern coast of China the next morning. At the train station, I was struck by the sheer number of travellers (multiply the crowd at KL Sentral by five) and how comfortable the Chinese were eating, drinking, sleeping, squatting or breastfeeding there.

Our motley crew of a grandmother, two men, four women, two young children and a toddler were unprepared for the crowds and the jostling. About two hundred of us were caught in a small corridor when incoming passengers pushed their way (or us) through.

Packed like sardines for 15 minutes, with sweat streaming down our faces and people shouting all around, we felt like singing Born Free when we burst into the open space of the waiting area!

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