Walking with the Admiral, Part One

Every morning, before dawn, I like to walk around the statue of an old Chinese Admiral.

What's he on about, you might be mumbling to yourselves. First he goes on about bananas and Robin Hoods, haircuts and idiotic driving, now it's Chinese Admirals! Throw him a few coins and he might shut up!

But no. Let me explain, and please, no more coins!

I am referring to my morning exercise, something which has become increasingly necessary as my stomach has steadily expanded over the years, and my once athletic frame has started to turn to jelly.

Swimming is no good (I'll tell you about that in a later post), and I don't find exercise bikes particularly thrilling. So, I drag myself out of bed every morning before six, pull on my walking shoes and go for a walk in the Park in the Dark (after getting dressed obviously!)

My chosen place of exercise is the Taman Sahabat (Friendship Park) recently built close to my place with financial assistance from the People's Republic of China government. And because it's half paid for by the Chinese, it really does look like it's been transported directly from the Middle Kingdom.

What was once a drab, rather basic family park has been turned into a place of oriental wonder. When you enter the park from the direction of my house, you pass under a magnificent Chinese Imperial gateway complete with dragons and intricate decorations in red, gold and many other colours. I promise to put some photos on my next post, as soon as I learn how to do it, OK?

In the middle of the park is a lake full to the banks with goldfish and carp, which the Chinese favour because they are associated with wealth and prosperity. During the daytime, dozens of kids crowd round the edges of the lake feeding bits of bread to the fish, which are so numerous the water seems to boil with them!

On one end of the lake, behind the heavenly gate, is a gorgeous pavilion which doubles during the day as a restaurant and mini-museum and sells Chinese tea and various tea-making accessories.

At the other end of the lake stands the Chinese Admiral I talked about earlier. The huge statue represents Admiral Cheng Ho (or Zheng He), who in the 1400s was NEARLY responsible for China conquering the world. Cheng Ho's fleet of immense treasure ships roamed the world's oceans, trading with everyone they came across and, some say, even discovering America and Australia long before the Europeans did.

However, the plug was pulled on the whole operation when the emperor, under the influence of his mandarins, decided to recall the treasure fleets and set fire to them along with most of the records of their journeys. After that, China entered its own dark ages....

But luckily, the great Admiral still stands proud, in the Friendship Park near my house. His statue is truly heroic - Cheng Ho was reputed to be about seven feet tall and his statue reflects that with a height of more than twenty feet. His statue looks out toward the planes approaching Kuching Airport, sword at his side, his arm pointed ever forwards.

The statue is set onto a base shaped just like an ancient galleon on the lake, beyond which are several small gazebos and display plaques showing historical data about Malaysia's different states, and the history of the Chinese diaspora to Malaysia. The walking path runs right around the lake, the statue and back again to the pavilion.

It really is a peaceful place to visit, situated somewhat incongruously right in the middle of a residential area. For me, it's a place of quiet and healthiness, where I can struggle and puff and waddle along, trying to burn off some of my considerable fat! There's no James Bonding, no Banana Man, and it doesn't matter if I've had my hair cut or not!!

Tell you more in my next post!