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Home > Lifestyle > Reflect > Story
Dec 12, 2010
Eat, shop, massage
That's vacation bliss for me. But what happens when H prefers to - sigh - sightsee?
By Sumiko Tan
-- ST ILLUSTRATION: ADAM LEE
The Big Buddha beckoned, gleaming in the sun, perched atop Lantau Island's Ngong Ping Mountain.
H was itching to go visit it, I know, but I put my foot down.
Another edifice lay before us - a temple to consumerism, of which I am a staunch devotee.
Go check out a statue? Not today. But visit Citygate, a massive factory outlet mall? Yes, yes, yes.
We were in Hong Kong last week and had taken the train to Tung Chung in Lantau Island.
The area is home to two major tourist attractions.
One is the Big Buddha, until recently the tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha in the world. It's an impressive structure (34m tall and weighing 250 tonnes, according to what I read on the Internet while doing this column).
The other is Citygate, a VivoCity-like mall packed with more than 70 factory outlets of nice brands such as Anteprima, Cerruti 1881, Kate Spade and Escada. There's even a huge Club 21 outlet with rack upon rack of discounted ck Calvin Klein and DKNY clothes.
Stepping into Citygate from the train station, I felt I had entered consumer heaven. I took a deep breath of the mall air. My heart quickened. I couldn't walk fast enough. So many shops, so little time. Do I start from the top or the bottom?
Hurry, I told H, let's not waste any time. We've got to shop.
He smiled, weakly.
We had done nothing but shop the day before. We were at another factory outlet for six straight hours. I had spent three hours in one store alone while he waited. (He'd brought a book along.)
He knew he was in for another day of waiting. He also knew there was no way I'd agree to visit the Big Buddha.
He could set off to visit the monument by himself, but I needed him around to try on shirts and pants (I shop not only for myself, of course, but for him too.)
I'm discovering that when it comes to holidays, we seek different things.
All I want to do when I go on vacation is to stay in a nice hotel, eat a lot, shop a lot and fit in as many massages as I can.
Before I go on a trip, I check out the blogs of the foodies in the city I'm visiting and print out lists of local restaurants to try. It's the same with shopping places. And if the city is famous for massages too, bliss.
Sightseeing, on the other hand, bores me silly. Visit a mountain, museum or temple? Check out how the 'locals' live? Take road trips to explore the countryside? Yawn. I'll pass. If you've seen one temple, you've seen them all.
But his idea of a holiday is to arm himself with a Lonely Planet guide, rent a car, hit the road and visit as many places of interest as he can.
Shopping is 'incidental' and limited to a few souvenirs here and there. Food is an afterthought. He'll eat whatever is there. He finds massages ticklish and is not fussy about hotels. It's the experience of soaking in a new culture that counts, he says.
I didn't quite realise how different we were until we went on our honeymoon to Bali.
I had booked us a villa in a resort where I'd plan for us to just relax, eat and get lots of massages (there wasn't much shopping in the area, unfortunately).
Before we left, he kept saying we should 'rent a car and explore Bali'. I looked at him in amazement. I wasn't about to spend my honeymoon driving around on unknown and no doubt dangerous roads. I had no inclination to check out Balinese villages or water buffaloes or whatever.
So, for one week, our days revolved around reading, eating, going to the gym and getting massages.
I did compromise once, though. We ventured out of the hotel and after a quick shopping fix at a ceramics factory (I really needed that), I relented and we visited a temple perched on a cliff. There, as the sun set, we watched a kecak and fire cultural dance.
It lasted one hour. My interest flagged after the first 10 minutes. But he seemed to be enjoying himself, so I did my wifely duty and tried not to fidget. I stoically sat through the whole thing without complaint.
Our next trip was a weekend stay in Penang. I was excited because I'd read a food blog detailing all the delicious food there, and armed myself with a list of a dozen eateries to try.
He, on the other hand, wanted to visit sights like Penang Hill and some snake temple.
I got my way. We spent most of our time hunting down the eateries, although I did, again, compromise.
We spent one morning on a tour of the historic Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Georgetown and got a lecture on its Peranakan architecture from a rather camp tour guide.
You enjoyed that, didn't you, H asked.
I grimaced.
I've had a phobia of museums ever since I went on a work assignment to the Netherlands in the 1990s and had to visit more than 20 museums in five days. Museums are not my preferred destination.
Then it was our Hong Kong trip. We both hadn't been there for decades and were looking forward to it - me to the shopping and food, of course, and he to checking out Victoria Peak, taking the Star Ferry and other sights.
Again, we did what I wanted, and he was great about it. He didn't complain one bit and sat for hours reading while I shopped.
He didn't mind, he said. I don't think I've ever seen you so excited before, he added, about my shopping.
What we do - or don't do - on weekends is another indication of how different our interests are.
He talks yearningly of going sailing, driving up to Malaysia and camping. I want to do the same things I did when I was single - yoga, movie, shop.
But I suppose marriage is about compromise, and I had better start doing my fair share of it. Even the most patient of men can get fed up.
Besides, it might not be such a bad thing to expose myself to new things.
But, H said, marriage is not all that much about compromise.
When you love somebody, you're just happy that your loved one is happy, he added.
What a noble thing to say, I replied. From now on, our holidays will always revolve around shopping then.
But I know not to push it.
Next holiday, you plan okay, I said. I'll go along with what you say.
We're planning to go to Britain in April to see his daughter.
From the hints I've been getting, he's thinking long walks in the countryside and camping. (Oh dear - no nice hotels, no shopping, no massages, and British food to boot?)
But, I tell myself, I must let him have his way sometimes.
Still, I can't help thinking: might it be possible for us to squeeze in a weekend in Bangkok before April? Just a short trip?
Glorious food, shopping at Chatuchak, heavenly Thai massages? Who can resist?
[email protected]
Home > Lifestyle > Reflect > Story
Dec 12, 2010
Eat, shop, massage
That's vacation bliss for me. But what happens when H prefers to - sigh - sightsee?
By Sumiko Tan
-- ST ILLUSTRATION: ADAM LEE
The Big Buddha beckoned, gleaming in the sun, perched atop Lantau Island's Ngong Ping Mountain.
H was itching to go visit it, I know, but I put my foot down.
Another edifice lay before us - a temple to consumerism, of which I am a staunch devotee.
Go check out a statue? Not today. But visit Citygate, a massive factory outlet mall? Yes, yes, yes.
We were in Hong Kong last week and had taken the train to Tung Chung in Lantau Island.
The area is home to two major tourist attractions.
One is the Big Buddha, until recently the tallest outdoor bronze seated Buddha in the world. It's an impressive structure (34m tall and weighing 250 tonnes, according to what I read on the Internet while doing this column).
The other is Citygate, a VivoCity-like mall packed with more than 70 factory outlets of nice brands such as Anteprima, Cerruti 1881, Kate Spade and Escada. There's even a huge Club 21 outlet with rack upon rack of discounted ck Calvin Klein and DKNY clothes.
Stepping into Citygate from the train station, I felt I had entered consumer heaven. I took a deep breath of the mall air. My heart quickened. I couldn't walk fast enough. So many shops, so little time. Do I start from the top or the bottom?
Hurry, I told H, let's not waste any time. We've got to shop.
He smiled, weakly.
We had done nothing but shop the day before. We were at another factory outlet for six straight hours. I had spent three hours in one store alone while he waited. (He'd brought a book along.)
He knew he was in for another day of waiting. He also knew there was no way I'd agree to visit the Big Buddha.
He could set off to visit the monument by himself, but I needed him around to try on shirts and pants (I shop not only for myself, of course, but for him too.)
I'm discovering that when it comes to holidays, we seek different things.
All I want to do when I go on vacation is to stay in a nice hotel, eat a lot, shop a lot and fit in as many massages as I can.
Before I go on a trip, I check out the blogs of the foodies in the city I'm visiting and print out lists of local restaurants to try. It's the same with shopping places. And if the city is famous for massages too, bliss.
Sightseeing, on the other hand, bores me silly. Visit a mountain, museum or temple? Check out how the 'locals' live? Take road trips to explore the countryside? Yawn. I'll pass. If you've seen one temple, you've seen them all.
But his idea of a holiday is to arm himself with a Lonely Planet guide, rent a car, hit the road and visit as many places of interest as he can.
Shopping is 'incidental' and limited to a few souvenirs here and there. Food is an afterthought. He'll eat whatever is there. He finds massages ticklish and is not fussy about hotels. It's the experience of soaking in a new culture that counts, he says.
I didn't quite realise how different we were until we went on our honeymoon to Bali.
I had booked us a villa in a resort where I'd plan for us to just relax, eat and get lots of massages (there wasn't much shopping in the area, unfortunately).
Before we left, he kept saying we should 'rent a car and explore Bali'. I looked at him in amazement. I wasn't about to spend my honeymoon driving around on unknown and no doubt dangerous roads. I had no inclination to check out Balinese villages or water buffaloes or whatever.
So, for one week, our days revolved around reading, eating, going to the gym and getting massages.
I did compromise once, though. We ventured out of the hotel and after a quick shopping fix at a ceramics factory (I really needed that), I relented and we visited a temple perched on a cliff. There, as the sun set, we watched a kecak and fire cultural dance.
It lasted one hour. My interest flagged after the first 10 minutes. But he seemed to be enjoying himself, so I did my wifely duty and tried not to fidget. I stoically sat through the whole thing without complaint.
Our next trip was a weekend stay in Penang. I was excited because I'd read a food blog detailing all the delicious food there, and armed myself with a list of a dozen eateries to try.
He, on the other hand, wanted to visit sights like Penang Hill and some snake temple.
I got my way. We spent most of our time hunting down the eateries, although I did, again, compromise.
We spent one morning on a tour of the historic Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Georgetown and got a lecture on its Peranakan architecture from a rather camp tour guide.
You enjoyed that, didn't you, H asked.
I grimaced.
I've had a phobia of museums ever since I went on a work assignment to the Netherlands in the 1990s and had to visit more than 20 museums in five days. Museums are not my preferred destination.
Then it was our Hong Kong trip. We both hadn't been there for decades and were looking forward to it - me to the shopping and food, of course, and he to checking out Victoria Peak, taking the Star Ferry and other sights.
Again, we did what I wanted, and he was great about it. He didn't complain one bit and sat for hours reading while I shopped.
He didn't mind, he said. I don't think I've ever seen you so excited before, he added, about my shopping.
What we do - or don't do - on weekends is another indication of how different our interests are.
He talks yearningly of going sailing, driving up to Malaysia and camping. I want to do the same things I did when I was single - yoga, movie, shop.
But I suppose marriage is about compromise, and I had better start doing my fair share of it. Even the most patient of men can get fed up.
Besides, it might not be such a bad thing to expose myself to new things.
But, H said, marriage is not all that much about compromise.
When you love somebody, you're just happy that your loved one is happy, he added.
What a noble thing to say, I replied. From now on, our holidays will always revolve around shopping then.
But I know not to push it.
Next holiday, you plan okay, I said. I'll go along with what you say.
We're planning to go to Britain in April to see his daughter.
From the hints I've been getting, he's thinking long walks in the countryside and camping. (Oh dear - no nice hotels, no shopping, no massages, and British food to boot?)
But, I tell myself, I must let him have his way sometimes.
Still, I can't help thinking: might it be possible for us to squeeze in a weekend in Bangkok before April? Just a short trip?
Glorious food, shopping at Chatuchak, heavenly Thai massages? Who can resist?
[email protected]
