The Building Whisperer

Taught by Master Boon, daughter of Grandmaster Yap Cheng Hai

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StarTwo, 12 Nov 2007by MAJORIE CHIEW* All Photographs courtesy of Boon Yap

From north to south, east to west, Boon Yap has travelledto some of the most interesting places on Earth

MALAYSIAN-born scientist Yap Hwee Boon, in her 40s, hardly looks the outdoorsy type. But she zips off all over the world for adventure. Her travels have been taken her to South Africa, the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Ephesus in Turkey, The Gallapagos, Antarctica, Machu Picchu - the last hideaway of the Incas, Peruvian Andes, North American Rockies, Swiss and Italian Alps, Sarawak’s Mulu National Park (when it was first opened), Soloman Islands, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Fiji, the Philippines, ancient sites in China and Bhutan.Bhutan, the 40th country she has visited, is “the most beautiful country I have ever been to, and possibly the last remaining unspoilt inhabited place in the world”. She is “unconsciously seeking out remote places ahead of tourists before these places change”.A free spirit, Boon loves all activities of the great outdoors such as kayaking, rock- and mountain-climbing, skiing, scuba-diving, caving and hiking.Based in Melbourne, Boon, as she is affectionately called, has a business consultancy in strategic marketing and international business development for the biomedical industry throughout Asia Pacific. The only daughter of Malaysian feng shui grandmaster Yap Cheng Hai, she has been working abroad for about 30 years and also has a feng shui consultancy business.Early last month, she travelled to the remote Tibetan regions of China - Western Sichuan and Eastern Tibet.She was on a stint as a volunteer art conservator with KhamAid Foundation. She spent a week in remote Tibetan village in Western Sichuan with six other volunteers from around the world, working together with team of experienced Nepalese conservators trained by an Italian expert, to restore damaged Tibetan Buddhist wall frescoes in the village temple and the altar rooms in some established family homes.

Antarctica: These penguins seem to bewaiting for the ship to sail in.

After that, she embarked on a very specialised tour to check out the other potential sites and buildings worth restoring. She also planned to view previous art/architectural preservation projects of KhamAid.”We’ve been visiting some incredible Tibetan Buddhist monasteries - including the monastery of Pelpung, the second largest monastic hall outside Potala - and getting access to places that normal tourists wouldn’t have, thanks to our leader Pam Logan, the founder and head of KhamAid. These monasteries are set in the most spectacular mountains that are very difficult to access, even in this day,” she said.”We have to go through dirt roads, landslides, rivers and Chinese roadwork blockades to get there.”She has spent one-and-a-half years living and travelling throughout China.”I went to China to master my Mandarin in order to further pursue my passion in all things esoteric in ancient Chinese philosophical wisdom, such as divination, destiny reading and martial arts,” she said.

Boon Yap: ‘I travel withinmy means, and the greatesttravel does not have tocost much’

Late October, she was in Beijing and its surroundings with her father on a field trip to study the feng shui of the imperial mausoleums of the Qing emperors.She travels for three reasons: due to the nature of her work; to experience far-flung places and cultures; and to explore the last remaining wilderness.She was recently back in Kuala Lumpur on a short visit to her family.”Whenever I get the chance to hit the road, I would do it. Slowly through the years, I have lived my dreams,” said Boon who, as child, dreamed of travelling to faraway places.”My father advised me to work hard to earn a decent living first, and then go and enjoy life” said Boon, who believes in working hard and playing hard.She mused: “How often have you heard people say that when they had time, they didn’t have moeny and when they had money, they didn’t have time? So, I travel within my means, and the greatest travel does not have to cost much.”Boon dislikes tour groups and prefers travelling alone or with one or two close friends as there is a greater chance of becoming acquainted with locals and experiencing their way of life.At 13, she visited Thailand with her brother and family friends. But her first real trip was through Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand for two months, a trip she rewarded herself with after spending eight consecutive years on tertiary studies.She travels with an open heart and mind. Her senses are alerted to new sounds, smells, sights, tastes and touch. She tries to understand the history and culture of the place and its people, or just to soak in the energy of the wild places.

Spiritual haven: The Takstang Monastery in Bhutan isperched on the edge of a mountain slope

Boon has taken up photography for pleasure, as a way to record memories in a picturesque and meaningful way.Photographing animals in the wild is a special experience. “They are fearless of humans,” she recalled . For example, seal-lion cubs and penguins have come up so close that they left their nose prints and fishy breath on her lens - a testament that humans are not their natural enemies.”Yet we club them by the hundreds upon thousands for their fur, and march them into meat grinders for their meagre oil. The closest humans can ever get to feeling on the other side of the fence is when faced with a pride of lions on the hunt,” Boon said.Mingling with the localsOn her first trip to Bali 20 years ago, she stopped to ask a farmer for directions, and found herself listening to his very forlorn story - his wife had left him and thier two daughters, and he hadn’t enough to put them through school. Despite having very little to spare, he invited her to his home and shared what little food he had.He then displayed his craftwork to sell, apologising for the poor quality because he had just learn the craft. Boon enquired about the cost of schooling, and then bought the basket for AUS$25 so that his daughter could complete her secondary schooling. Two years later, Boon received a letter thanking her and relating how well his daughter had done in school and had secured a good job.In the high country of the Tibetan nomadic people and land of sky burials, she recollected: “We were confronted with the wildest looking men on horseback, daggers strapped to their sides, snow leopard furs on their backs for warmth, adorned with incredible turquoise and coral jewellery, and yak leather saddlebags. When they rode out of the forest and flashed toothy grins at us, we felt as if we were transported back hundreds of years!”

Heaven and earth: Magnificient view ofLangmusi (the Tibetan part of China)

Treachery at seaBoon had the greatest scare was when she nearly drowned off the treacherous waters of the “shipwreck coast” of The Great Ocean Road of Victoria, Australia, which is notorious for over 400 shipwrecks throughout its 200 years of recorded history.”My two scuba-diving buddies and I got into difficulties in an unexpected undertow on a clear sunny day with blue skies and a calm-looking sea. The infamous waves that surfers call ‘dumpers’ can whip off masks and snorkels, bash regulators around one’s mouths till is is impossible to hold on, and repeatedly drag virtually anything afloat 20 feet under.”We were caught in just such a surf. Panic is deadly in times like this. While under, I could see my buddy struggling to grab hold of his regulator just like I was. We kicked with all our might to get to the surface. He was fortunate, being on the edge of the surf, and managed to escape. But I was caught in the middle and heading towards a rock ledge. Somehow, I managed to gather my wits and inflated my buoyancy vest and went limp just as the surf was about to hurl me against a rock shelf. On another occasion, I had to keep my wits about me as I wen to the aid of my friend who got into trouble while snorkelling in the Galapagos islands.”Adventures in ChinaIn her travels to China last spring (April to August), she explored ancient historical places around Beijing. She considers springtime “the most beautiful time” to visit the Summer Palace and Yuan Ming Yuan. She visited tourist attractions such as Xi’an (to see the Qin tomb and terracotta warriors), Luoyang (the Shaolin Temple) and Longmen (Buddhist Grottoes).

Day of rejoicing: People flocking to select juicypeaches in a country town in China, resulting in congestionon the narrow road

She also set off to the little known province of Shanxi where she visited WuTaiShan, one of China’s famed five Buddhist mountains; Ping yao, a well preserved World Heritage site and original Ming dynasty city; Datong’s Yunggang Buddhist Grottoes with the most exquisite cave carvings of Bodhisatvas (another World Heritage site); and the Tang dynasty XuanKongSi, the Hanging Temple suspended on a cliff face at least 100m above ground level.Last July, she journeyed to remote Gansu, in “an amazing pilgrimage”, following the trail of ancient Fuxi, Daoists, Buddhists, and the eight legendary immortals.Then, she went to the Tibetan parts of China - Xiahe and Langmusi - which are home to magnificient towering monasteries, and where sky burials are still being performed on a regular basis.”Folks here are garbed in traditional costumes: the fearsome-looking men astride their horses with daggers at their side and the women colourfully adorned with massive baubles of turquoise and coral. Crimson and saffron robed monks and nuns mingle with the locals in their daily lives,” she said. She recalled her horse-trekking experience in the Sichuan mountains “with only the sound of our horses and mist festooned pine trees and clouded mountains for company”.In December last year, she went crystal hunting for genuine crystal rocks that could be collectors’ items but which she uses for feng shui purposes.”There were rubies, emeralds, sapphires and tourmaline in their raw rock forms, and the most beautiful yellow and sky-blue volcanic crystals. Mother Nature never fails to astounds me,” Boon said.Travelling was really tough on the mountain road though some of the more remote parts of Yunnan and Vietnam inhabited by ethnic minority groups.On invitation of a Lama friend, she went on a pigrimage following Buddha’s footstep; visiting Bodhgaya and meditating under the Bodhi tree on Wesak Day, then through Sikkim and into Bhutan to visit some centuries-old incredible monasteries, receive dharma lessons, and trek through rhododendron and pine forests in the Himalayas.For recreation, Boon has picked up martial arts again.”I learnt wushu from some great masters introduced by my father. Last August, I joined my taiji master, Men Hui Feng, to go to Tai Shan, Shandong, to practise tai ji quan on the Eastern peak .Tai Shan is the most sacred of the five daoist mountains. It is said that Tai Shan is a power site for the practice of tai ji quan, so to practise there is to connect with the qi of the sky and earth,” she says.Last November, her father roped her in to perform at the International Nan Shaolin Wushu Competition at Quanzhou, Fujian (home to one of the Shaolin temples), a style called Wuzhuquan which is a famous style of southern Shaolin.”He wanted me to show a special style that only our lineage has. That was the first time I ever participated at a wushu competition. I won a gold in the all-round women category, another gold (a grand prize in the form of a most exquisite DaMo carving bestowed for best in each country) for Malaysia and a silver for the prerequisite form of our wushu style called ’samjien’.”

Star Two, 12 November 2007

FOOD is usually a fascinating facet of travelling but sometimes, one would rather not gulp down bizarre foods.

Boon Yap ate live baby (isn’t so baby in actual fact) octopus in Kwangju, a South Korean seaside city on one of her bio-med consultancy rounds.

“My distributor earnestly thought he was giving me a real threat, a delicacy. As a tradition would have it, and without and forewarning, the waitress grabbed the writhing octopus off a bowl of water in the middle of the table with a pair of chopsticks, wrapped the tentacles around the sticks, dipped it into chilli sauce and stuffed it into my mouth before I knew what was happening,” she said.

“I felt it writhe, so I chewed as hard and fast as possible. It was a case of it or me, as it was trying to bite me from the inside! Trying my best not to throw up all over the Professor next to me, I grabbed the white hand-towel supplied and held it against my mouth to stifle everything back, and desperately gulped it all down! Never again!

“Then there were baby scorpions, bee larvae…”

Her list of memorable experiences includes sleeping under the stars on the Australian sleeping under the stars on the Australian Snowy Mountains, and on the 90 Mile Beach in Victoria state, cushioned by beach heath that served as her bed; listening to huge wombats munching; gazing into the Milky Way that straddles the breath of the Australian night sky like a string of diamonds; and, more recently, standing on the rooftop of Pelpung Monastery in the middle of the mountains of Sichuan.

And if you think that nature’s call is not a problem in the pristine nature, Boon tells you otherwise…

New friends: The people of Bhutan. Mingling with the locals is one of the highlights of travelling.

Her worst ever encounter was on a grassy lawn, backing onto a mountain beside a sacred lake to the Tibetan people.

She said : ” We were led there by a lama on his duty round where he made blessings beside the lake. In scenery like this, I thought it was safe… bad mistake… I learnt that the stench of toilets is mutually independent of scenic beauty but the number of flies is proportionate to the strength of the stench. It was so fol - sight and smell - that I had to wave off the flies so furiously that I felt I was taking off liek a helicopter with pelvic rotors.”

In some off-the-beaten track journey, one has to put up with the usual crammed stinky buses and trains while travelling in the most populous nations of China and India. But when the unexpected occurs, there should be quick recourses.

On one occasion, Boon’s expedition ship had to detour to a research station to arrange for a passenger to be airlifted out. On another occasion, she was delirious from septicaemia in the middle of the bush from a cut and had to head for a small town clinic for a penicilin injection and antibiotics.

Boon has encounted temperature and air pressure extremes. ” One moment, you’re admiring a beautiful summer’s day in the high country of south-east Australia abd suddenly a blizzard occurs. Or in the Antarctic seas, a hurricane would whip up within an hour,” she said.

Culture shock?

Well, she admitted that not much shocks her although local customs are fascinating. What she still funds unpleasant is the harshness of life that makes people nasty to one another.

“This I tend to encounter in large cities that are ‘out of balance’ or where the people grew up through times of war. I have also encountered cultures that are susprisingly forgiving, having been presecuted for a long time’ said Boon.

Her advice for women travelling alone is: “Dress and act sensibly, exude an air of confidence, don’t expose yourself to unnecessary riskd that you may not be able to handle, and learn some basic self-defence techniques!”