Coconut trees, pepper and kinship - Hainan, China

Just came back from Hainan (海南省). 

It was supposed to be a trip to bring my father and aunt to visit our 舅公 and 舅婆. Our last trip was 7 years ago with my father and mother.  It is amazing to see relatives whom had grown up or grown older after 7 years.

舅公 and 舅婆 is still going strong even though they were not as healthy as before.  Old people tend to get weaker as years go by. I am glad we visited them this year.  The younger relatives had all grown up and working, and we remain in contact with them after the trip through wechat.  Hopefully, next time, they will be the ones visiting us in Singapore.  😁

The 乡下 relatives are very 好客, treated us to sumptuous food when we visited them.  I still think Hainan has very nice vegetables, fresh and crunchy.  We ate goose, chicken, duck, pork, beef, seafood and lots of vegetables.  We tried all their chilli sauces and it is really hot hot hot.

We saw our shophouse build by my grandmother. The shopfront is still ok, but the interior is a big mess.  Even though it is sad, but it can't be help as we can't expect the 2 old folks to have the energy to scold the tenants for not tidying or to clean up the mess.  At least, it is being rented out, instead of rotting there.

We went to 三亚 before going to 琼海, 文市镇, 文多水村, where our 舅公 and 舅婆 stays. It was raining in 三亚 and typhoon was forecast. However, the typhoon passed by and we didn't get to experience it. 😥. Because of the rain, we didn't get to see much of 三亚, I hope to return one day where I can visit 天涯海角 and 海上观音.

We shopped a lot in 琼海, 加积镇, buying up dry-fit tees and 3/4 sports pants. We also bought lots of goodies back as souvenirs for colleagues and friends.

海南 is famous for their coconut trees (because it is an island surrounded by seas), seaside resorts and pepper.  A lot of their goodies are made from coconut. In my relatives' village, they grew pepper, 槟榔, rear pigs, chickens, duck and goose for sale.  To be frank, they are very self sufficient and have much more in terms of life than us Singaporean.  Whenever they need food, they just rear or grow the food, just like what my 舅公 and 舅婆 does.

It is a good trip, I hope to visit again soon.