My Little Princess and Prince

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

14 Sep 2026 - CSIT Scholarship Award at Flower Field Hall @ Gardens by the Bay

To be updated.....

4 Sep 2026 - The Haze is Back!

To be updated.....

Sunday, August 30, 2026

28 Aug 2026 - SHA Day 8: Flight Back Home

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28 Aug 2026 - SHA Day 8: Hotel Breakfast and HSR Journey back to Shanghai

Our hotel stays at Qingmu International Hotel came with daily breakfast, which I had yet to write about. It consisted of the usual continental style as well as the Asian selection.

There was also a cooking station where we could order popular local dishes such as Duck Blood and Vermicelli Soup (鸭血粉丝汤) as well as Tangbao / Steamed Soup Buns (汤包) or Wonton (馄饨).

We checked out right after breakfast to catch a High-Speed Rail from Nanjingnan station to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station.

The HSR journey was about 1.5 hours and from Shanghai Hongqiao Station, we took the metro all the way to Pudong International Airport Terminal where we caught our return flight home.

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27 Aug 2026 - NKG Day 7: Nanjing Ming Palace Ruins Park (明故宫遗址公园)

In the evening, we took the metro to Nanjing Ming Palace Ruins Park (明故宫遗址公园), a tranquil, tree-lined public park located in the Qinhuai and Xuanwu Districts of Nanjing, preserving the surviving footprints of what was once the greatest imperial palace of the early Ming Dynasty

Built between 1366 and 1392 by Zhu Yuanzhang (the Hongwu Emperor), this grand compound served as the absolute heart of Chinese political power for 54 years before the capital was officially transferred to Beijing. Its historical significance cannot be overstated whereby the layout and scale of this palace served as the exact blueprint and inspiration for Beijing's famous Forbidden City.

While Beijing's copycat version survived intact, the original Nanjing Ming Palace suffered centuries of devastation. It was eventually burned and dismantled entirely during the Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th century.

Right across Zhongshan East Road is another section of the park called Wuchaomen Park (午朝门公园).

This is the entry threshold of the inner palace. Here, we could stand before the imposing, weathered brick remnants of the Meridian Gate (Wumen). Throughout the park, there were original 600-year-old stone gargoyles, old-growth trees, and five intact inner jade belt bridges crossing the historic palace moat.

The park started to light up after sunset.

The Meridian Gate (Wumen / 午门), located inside Wuchaomen Park (午朝门公园), stood as the most impressive and structurally intact monument of the original Nanjing Ming Palace. Completed in 1367, it served as the formal southern gateway to the imperial palace city. Looking at the front of the gate, we saw three main arched passageways. However, the structure secretly hides two additional side doorways (掖门), which totals five hidden corridors.

After exploring the park for about an hour, we returned to our hotel on our last night of this trip. Just before that, we bought quite a bit of titbits from a store right next to the hotel.

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27 Aug 2026 - NKG Day 7: Foding Tower (佛顶塔)

Foding Tower (佛顶塔), also referred to as the Usnisa Pagoda, stood proudly as the most iconic vertical landmark of the Niushoushan Cultural Tourism Zone. Erected on the western peak of Ox Head Mountain, this architectural masterpiece stood exactly 88 metres tall and covered a gross floor area of 5,065 square meters. It served as a striking visual anchor that directly balanced the futuristic, sweeping curves of the adjacent Foding Palace.

Unlike the avant-garde, space-age design of the Foding Palace, Foding Tower looked backward to the golden age of Chinese Buddhist culture, built strictly in the classic Tang dynasty style. It is a traditional four-sided, nine-story square pavilion structure. Tang architecture is defined by its bold, simple, and stately proportions, opting for grand strength over the highly intricate, delicate carvings of later eras.

Jerlene and I decided to take up the challenge of scaling to the topmost level of the tower. We were extremely exhausted by the time we climbed to the 8th and 9th floors. Suspended at the center of the eighth level was a colossal, solid bronze-cast Foding Vajra Bell. The external body of the bell was intricately hand-engraved with the entire text of the Diamond Sutra. For locals, this floor acted as the primary ringing platform for the city's annual Chinese New Year blessing rituals.

The 9th Floor, which is the crowning apex of the pagoda, holds the majestic Tathagata Hall. At its absolute center is an exquisitely crafted seated statue of Vairocana Buddha. Both 8th and 9th floors do not have exterior terraces.

After a short rest, we descended to the 7th floor where we could walk out to the grand exterior terrace to have a spectacular, 360-degree panoramic views that beautifully knits together Nanjing's rolling mountain geography and its jaw-dropping religious architecture. The surrounding valleys unfolded into endless waves of lush green bamboo forests and deep pine groves that changed drastically with the seasons.

Standing on the modern Foding Tower, we could look straight across the valley to see the Hongjue Temple Pagoda (弘觉寺塔) standing silently on the eastern peak. Seeing the ancient, weathered brick of the 40-meter Tang/Ming-era pagoda on one side and the polished, gleaming 88-meter modern tower on our side brought the historical "Twin Peaks" vision of Niushoushan to life.

The most striking view from the tower was looking down at the adjacent Foding Palace. From this height, we could appreciate the true scale of the palace’s massive golden mesh dome (the Cassock) and the smaller scalloped dome (the Hair Bun). The architecture transformed into a giant, living mandala etched seamlessly into the mountain landscape.