A scenic view of Fishguard, Wales Photo: Courtesy of Sindy Chan

The Fishguard Tapestry in Fishguard's Town Hall Library Photo: Courtesy of Sindy Chan

Our train journey from England to Wales began with a gastronomic experience. At London's Paddington Station, we entered First Great Western Trains first class lounge to have a cup of coffee but discovered that a light lunch was being served in the lounge ( 12:00 pm to 2:oo pm). The light lunch buffet had shrimp, curry chicken and ham sandwiches, in addition to crisps, biscuits, fruit and hot and cold drinks.

Aboard the train's first class compartment, fruit, snacks and drinks were served again, so we had no fear of going hungry.

At Cardiff Central Station, we met Geraint of ARRIVA Trains in Wales to collect our All Wales Explorer Pass. Geraint has a very traditional Welsh family name "Morgan." He is a big fan of rugby who visits Hong Kong every year in March to watch "The Hong Kong Sevens" rugby tournament.

Geraint introduced us to the lesser-known ARRIVA Explorer Pass for tourists which allows four days of unlimited train rides and eight days of unlimited bus travel within an eight day period.

Historian Kenneth Morgan described Wales on the eve of the World War I as a "relatively placid, self-confident and successful nation." I think this description still applies to Wales today.

On the island

I enjoyed a simple meal with free WiFi at "Prince of Wales," a JD Wetherspoon pub & restaurant in the city of Cardiff's most historic building. I had come across the pub & restaurant franchise in Glasgow, Scotland, but my time in Wales was the first time I had the chance to try it. I equally enjoyed the cheap and tasty French fries with salt and vinegar "to-go" in "open or close" packs. I was amazed at how the 24-hour fast food outlets were manned by security personnel, and how only take-away service was available after 11.00 pm. These all added together to give me my initial impression of Wales.

Wales is part of the United Kingdom and an island of Great Britain. Bordered by England to the east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to the west, Wales has quite a long coastline of over 1,200 kilometers. It is also largely mountainous with Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) its highest peak.

We made a brief stop at Cardiff then headed straight to Fishguard on the west coast of Wales for the Aberjazz and Knitting Festival.

 Fishguard in Welsh is "Abergwaun," meaning "Mouth of the River Gwaun." Another explanation for the town name Fishguard is "fishing enclosure." The quaint town is a trove of history, jazz music, arts and crafts, and seafood.

We checked in at Cartref Hotel on High Street. I was immediately impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit of the little town when I meet the house lady.

Kristina was full of energy. As travelers from afar, I felt they took care of us better than other guests. Kristina had a set of information leaflets ready for us, plus a Pembrokeshire chocolate bar.

We arrived on Friday night, just in time for the opening of The Fishguard Aberjazz and Knitting Festival at the Peppers Aberjazz Club and Restaurant. Kristina had thoughtfully booked us a table for dinner and the show. All I need to do was ask for David.

In its 10th year, the Aberjazz Festival is a big event in the small town which draws thousands of jazz and art lovers, dedicated visitors to Fishguard for a weekend in August.

Arriving at the restaurant, I asked for David and we are shown to our table by a young lady. The pre-show atmosphere inside the restaurant was exciting. When time came, a young gentleman came forward to introduce the artists from India who would be performing that night. The young gentleman was David Pepper and soon after he kick-started the event with a piano recital.

"Oh, David is also the bartender," I said to my husband.

David is the eldest son of the family that owns the restaurant. He is waiter, bartender, restaurant manager for the Aberjazz Club and organizer for the annual Aberjazz Festival.

Walking the town

On Saturday morning, Fishguard was decorated with knitted arts and crafts. A different art theme is chosen for the Aberjazz Festival every year.

Hundreds of knitted hearts were hanging along the walls and gates of the 19th-century parish church St. Mary's on High Street where visitors were free to take home a favorite knitted item. I read the church's little poster about "meeting the seven mice" and chose a big heart featuring two mice on it.

According to the poster the church has seven mice living there that the staff never try scare away as they are considered to be part of the church.

We later mailed the finely knitted heart and the beautiful story to a friend of ours in Croatia.

Across the street, we went to the Town Hall Library to see the fabulous Fishguard Tapestry, a replicated Bayeux Tapestry created in 1997 for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Fishguard, commonly known as the last invasion of Britain, when a force of 1,400 French soldiers landed near Fishguard but surrendered two days later.

Welsh heroine Jemima Nicholas, armed with only a pitchfork, single-handedly rounding up 12 French soldiers while they were drunk was vividly presented on the tapestry. Jemima Nicholas died at the age of 82 and the parish church of St. Mary's contains her grave and a plaque dedicated to her patriotism.

Looking at the little town of Fishguard it was hard to believe that it was the scene of such an important part of British history.

While many visitors to the town have the impression that a half-day tour is more than enough time to see everything in such a small town, we actually experienced a rich three-day program in Fishguard and the vicinity, partly due to the Aberjazz Festival.

Making use of our ARRIVA Pass, we took a tourist bus to nearby St. David's Cathedral. Built upon the site of 6th century St. David's monastery, St. David's Cathedral has been a site of pilgrimage and worship for 1,500 years.

The Cathedral is truly a hidden gem for the town of St. David's and the county of Pembrokeshire, as visitors can easily spend half a day exploring the stunning architecture and its many details.

We had a seafood dinner at Bleddyn Rowlands' Plaice Restaurant. Rowlands is very creative in making colorful seafood dishes with plenty of mixed fresh fruits. I had a sumptuous crab dish while my husband had brill. Both dishes were delicious and visually appealing.

Across the street from the Plaice Restaurant, the Royal Oak Pub has the same table where the French signed the surrender agreement in 1797 after the Battle of Fishguard. In a corner of the pub, I found the famous table sitting quietly just as it must have two hundred years ago.

High Street was quiet except for several youngsters sitting and chatting on the Town Hall's footsteps. They may have been wondering where these two strangers from the Orient had come from.

We walked by without worry as we already knew the quaint town of Fishguard was safe and peaceful since we had seen a pretty policewoman patrolling on a bike earlier in the afternoon.

Bidding farewell

The day before we left Fishguard, Geraint sent an e-mail to remind us our ARRIVA Pass included kayaking with Mike Mayberry, another Fishguard entrepreneur.

We chose not to go and I told Geraint that maybe we would go next time. The truth is, I'm not very good at water sports and the thought of kayaking gave me chills.

As I posted our photos of Fishguard on social media, I saw Mike Mayberry in a Fishguard social group and told him that we had almost met him.

"You still could, " Mike replied cheerfully.

Speaking of social media, Kristina  told me about her own experiences with a review of her hotel on a travel site which adversely affected her hotel bookings.

"I then decided to put in serious money to have six bathrooms and four bedrooms renovated last year, and this year will see other work done," she told me.

"The review is both my curse and my blessing," she added smiling.

She didn't go into detail about the review, but I admired her progressive reaction to the review and her proactive entrepreneurship. From what I had seen of the hotel it was cozy and clean.

As we prepared to leave we also bid farewell to "Tir A Mor," a camera and photo-processing shop owned by veteran photographer Robert Evans. When we first arrived, Robert and his son Richard had been very kind in loaning us a camera battery charger free of charge to replace our malfunctioning charger - a sentiment that demonstrates the difference between small towns and big cities. Sadly, I later learned the 15-year old shop had closed down.

If you enjoy people as well as scenery and activities when traveling abroad, Fishguard and Wales are the ideal destinations for you. Even my English friend agreed that Wales is a very friendly and beautiful place.