It has been a long long time since our last update! It’s a Sunday afternoon and we’re actually at home, so an opportune time to get caught up. Be warned this is a long entry!
We moved apartments in early January to another area of Singapore – near Buena Vista MRT (train) station and a 20 minute walk to the expat enclave of Holland Village. Brian and I were just talking today about how much happier we are now.
Today was a fairly typical Sunday at the new place. Julietta (our maid who comes once a week) arrives, we go to the gym, eat breakfast, sit by the pool and do a little work, go for a dip when you’re hot, say good-bye to Julietta, sit by the pool and plan a trip to Laos, have some lunch by the pool – and the now daily thunder storm at 4pm means we’re back in our clean apartment. It may seem like this life isn’t too exciting, but after a long tiring week it is heaven.
The storms each afternoon are short but quite intense now. We had a really dry January, so I guess it’s much needed. Yesterday afternoon Singapore’s “iconic” Merlion (part mermaid part lion statue) was hit by lightening – it now has a hole the size of a soccer ball. This is a very superstitious society, so we’re sure people are seeing it as a very bad omen for Singapore, especially considering these are recessionary times.
What has been going on? Well, we’ve spent time in Bhutan and Bali. I went to North America for work/fun.
And we’ve been spending time in Singapore.
Bhutan:
Incredible. Interesting. Authentic. Highly recommend it. We spent 2 ½ weeks in October traveling around western Bhutan, and loved every minute of it. Where is Bhutan? It’s a mountainous country nestled in between China/Tibet and India, with the western border in the Himalayas. The whole country consists of hills and valleys – the roads are nestled in the valleys twisting and turning.
You must be with a guide and you have to pay at least $200 USD per day per person – that covers mid range hotel, all meals, guide, driver/transport, entry to sites, hiking permits, etc. Some of our most memorable experiences included:
- Culture: We visited many dzongs which are part monastery part administrative headquarters for the district, all built in a similar style. We loved hiking up to the famous Tigers Nest monastery perched up on the side of a cliff. Inside you get blessed by the Buddhist monks and see their different treasures. All locals who enter the dzongs must wear traditional dress, as do government workers and school kids during the day, so it really does make you feel like you’re stepping back in time.
- Mountains: We spent an incredible 10 days hiking in the mountains. Tough going, very very cold, but worth it. We spent at least 5 nights camping at 4000 metres, and hiked 2 mountain passes – one at 5,000 metres. At some points I wonder if we’re slightly abnormal in how we define “fun” and “holiday”. We walk 7-8 hours on some fairly tough terrain, get headaches from the altitude, huddle in our sleeping bags in our non-walking time trying to keep warm. But the views!! The views were spectacular. We felt so lucky to be there. Each corner we turned offered something new.
- People: Bhutan is famous for it’s measurement of “gross national happiness”. The monarchy and government place more importance on this than GDP. So everyone wants to know “do the people look happy?” Yes, they really do. Not in a obvious kind of way, it’s more subtle. They are a gentle people, proud, shy, friendly. The children were lovely – we visited school children in a couple of remote places and they were very keen to get their pictures taken so they could look at the screen after. One bunch made Brian sing “mary had a little lamb” – they were an appreciative audience. Another group of older kids (late teens, early twenties) made both Brian and I sing karaoke in a bar in Thimphu. They survived it! One of our favorite days was camping beside a local community hall in the mountains where they had an archery tournament. Each time the men hit a target they would all sing and dance. At night they had a camp fire where they danced and sang. It all felt surreal for us being there – it was just Brian and I and a guy from Malta. One of those special moments you remember for the rest of your life.
- Animals: As you know we love taking pictures of animals. Hiking we were surrounded by big yaks and our horses/donkeys which were carrying our gear. On one hike we saw lots of cute marmots and blue sheep who we tormented while we tracked them with our cameras.
- Food: What’s travel without experiencing new food? The main dish is chilies and cheese. Two of my favorite things! I had heard that the Bhutanese liked extremely spicy food, but was a little disappointed because the locals made our food very mild. I guess they are used to older tourists who don’t like spice. So we surprised them by asking for extra chilies and piling them onto our food!
All in all it was a fantastic trip. And extra special since Brian and I hadn’t seen each other much in the two months prior due to his work travel schedule.
Bali
Our next holiday was in December. On Xmas Day we chatted with family using the web-cam, then went to our friends Carly and Anthony’s place for a big catered brunch. After much food and champagne we boarded a plane to Bali – just a quick 2 ½ hour flight from Singapore.
While last time we did the fancy resort thing in Bali, this time we stayed at cheaper accommodation (e.g. as low as $15 a night!). But we definitely weren’t suffering. We spent three nights amongst the rice paddy fields in Ubud which is in central Bali in the foothills. It’s an artistic town with tons of galleries and little temples. The Balinese are Hindus (mixed with a bit of animist) and are quite devout – everyone has either their own temple or at least access to the larger community temple.
We came across a few processions/celebrations – one where we were staying on the more remote east coast for a few days. When a baby reaches the age of 3 months the family all come together to celebrate for 3 days. On New Years Eve they were partying it up, playing loud music and singing, so we decided to go over. Well, by that point it was just a group of younger guys/boys drinking hard liquor and beer. No women in sight. But when they saw us they cheered and made us sit with them. After half an hour of sitting on the uncomfortable ground while trying to look demure wrapping my shawl around me I had to go home. It had been a long day of scuba diving (a wreck and wall) and traveling around the area on our motorbike in the pouring rain so we did have an excuse for passing out before midnight!
Bali is one of our favorite places in the region, which is unexpected since it is touristy. But it’s so easy to get away from the tourists. And the local people are extremely friendly, nice and honest. The Bali bombs had a big impact on the economy, so they’re really happy to see you there even if you’re not spending money directly with them.
So, the people, the beautiful scenery, the food, the culture, everything makes it just a great place to visit. We went twice last year and I’m sure we’ll go again at least once this year.
2009
As I mentioned earlier, the year began with moving apartments. The next weekend we went to our friend Christina’s for a champagne brunch.
I should digress actually and explain one of the Singapore expat experiences – champagne brunches. All the fine hotels in town put them on each weekend. We’ve gone to one at the Swissotel – it’s in their restaurant on the 70th floor with great views of the city. For four hours we drank as much champagne as we wanted, ate as much seafood, cheese and dessert that we could fit in our stomachs, and enjoyed our friends’ company. (We were with our good friends Stephanie and Lisa – Lisa unfortunately has moved back to Canada, and this was a farewell.)
Getting back to the story, Christina put on a brunch at her home where all 13 of us brought a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine, and while we dined on scrumptious food Christina had cooked we did blind taste tests of the champagne. While the champagne we brought did not fare that well (though I stand by the Shiraz bubbly – it’s unique!), most of us gave the Veuve Clicquot the top rating. Brian and I ended up drinking a bottle on February 13th – it was a Friday the 13th which is a special day for us! (And lucky for us there’s another Friday the 13th in March so that means another bottle of champagne ☺
In January I went off to North America for 2 ½ weeks of work and visiting, and Brian went to Indonesia for work. It was fantastic seeing family and a few friends when I was in Canada. The visit was too short, but I guess that’s how it is when you live so far from home.
People keep asking us what we do with our time in Singapore. Well, our weekends have been busy connecting with friends usually over a meal, doing errands, and getting some exercise. Brian is playing rugby on Saturdays – it’s a good group of guys which is great.
On Valentines Day we had breakfast with the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo. They had a 2 month old baby orangutan which was adorable.
In February we got to witness the Thaipusam festival in Singapore – a Hindu festival where guys go into a trance, pierce their bodies with skewers and walk a few kilometres between temples. Disturbing but interesting. Apparently they don’t allow this practice in India anymore. I wonder why?
We also had another dose of culture with Chinese New Year. Lion dancers put on a show in our condo complex – we watched from the balcony as they danced around the pool. The guy at the head actually jumped up onto the shoulders of the man behind him while standing on a narrow strip of land going out into the swimming pool! As the lion tossed out oranges local kids would jump into the pool with all their clothes on so they could reach the fruit first and get good luck (or just have fun!).
Tonight we had dinner with Mike, my sister-in-law Elaine’s brother, who was in Singapore on business. Jana and I stayed with Mike and his family here in Singapore almost 9 years ago when we were traveling in SE Asia and Mike’s family was living here. So now we got to play host! We went for dinner at a local hawkers which is an open air food court. Good, cheap food.
As I mentioned today we were planning our trip to Laos which we hope to do in May. We also have a long weekend in April, so potentially a trip to Darwin or Borneo will be in order. So little time and so many places to see!
I’m sorry for the lengthy entry, but it has been a while so there’s lots to talk about. We’ll try and write more often this year.
Happy new year, stay in touch and even better, come visit!
Anne & Brian
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, & Indonesia again and again and again
Life in Indonesia is a bit different at a Paper Mill site. This weekend I went to the 'big' city of Pekanbaru to poke around. Actually it was to get a good night sleep in a real bed that's clean and to get away from the smell. A paper and pulp mill is not a vacation spot!
Onto the fun things that have happened the past months - whoops, it's been 2 months plus since the last post. Maybe Anne can look at pictures and add what I've missed.
July was a month in Singapore mainly and it was good to get exercising a bit more. I bought a tennis racket and was playing quite regularly with my Brazilian colleague Bruno. We both hadn't played recently so our minor battles were primarily on who failed to break the others serve. It was a feat to hold serve as the rust was thick! In preparation for an inter-company competition with Malaysia office I was playing volleyball every week for a while until it unfortunately came to an end with the competition being delayed. It was fun to get on court for the exercise and to meet some colleagues from different departments.
Anne and I also started doing some long hikes to get in shape for our Bhutan trip coming up. We had some good ones going up and down Bukit Timah for 4 hours one day and along the Southern Ridge and some cool bridges to the West Coast another time. That was great while it lasted, however, a great lapse has occurred with all the travel for work and fun.
Anne's brother Steve came to visit us mid-August and that was fun. It's great he flew the extra distance to come visit and see what we're up to and what Singapore is all about. He continued on to Australia and New Zealand for a nice long trip - 5 weeks I think so I'm looking forward to hearing how it went and seeing pictures. It's a trip I'd love to do!
Unfortunately I had to miss the end of his trip to came to Indonesia for a project and have since returned twice in September. This will not be the last I'm here for sure as there's lots more to do! In between there was a project in Thailand. We stayed in Kanchanaburi where the Famous Bridge over River Kwai is. Saturday afternoon we had a couple hours to take a look at it and hit a museum to give us a bit of history. After we had a fantastic dinner on a floating restaurant under it. All the food in Thailand is good but you have to be careful with the chillies! You never know when one can 'attack' you. One meal my tongue actually felt like it was swelling up and tingling in my mouth from a rogue chilli. Some are nice, others are just plain mean ! :-)
We were lucky to have the Sunday off and we made the most of it doing lots of sightseeing! One stop brought us to a Dam where us engineers were interested in the hydroelectric stuff of course. Then we hiked through some nice jungle trails up to the 7 steps of Enlightenment at Erawan falls. It was about 3 km to the last pool and maybe 150 m elevation. Not tough but a little sweaty as it's quite hot, about 33C I think. I brought my swimsuit to cool off and swim with the fishes and see how many levels I could attain. I did manage a dip in every one but I can't say that I'm really more enlightened. I think I'll need a bit more work meditating and clearing my mind for that to happen. Don't know too much about Buddism but have dipped in curiously. There were fish in the river that actually eat you! They eat the dead skin off your feet and it feels really weird. As the water is very soft with limestone dissolved in it, it's bluey and looks silky. Because it's not clear, when you're standing in a pool the fish attack you without warning and it's shocking! For me anyway, something I couldn't fully get used to so going in and out was a bit of a challenge. especially when the footing wasn't so good. Imagine all these little nips pulling at your feet. I can't believe people actually like it! The cool water was good but I'd pass on the fish if that was at all possible.
Next stop was the Tiger Monastery. It was an experience that was a bit unexpected.
Didn't really know what to expect, but saw ads with a monk and a tiger so thought we could get up close. Scary as you really don't want to be playing with a tiger do you? In this case, the place was packed with people and about 10 tigers lying in a hot valley. There was a queue with tourists getting ready to get their picture taken with the tigers. I thought you would get one shot only but a minder brought you around about 5 tigers and took many photos of you petting them. The tigers seemed very tired and I'm not sure if they were sedated. It didn't seem like a fun existence but this they only had to do for 2 hours a day. It was quite sad and I'm not entirely comfortable supporting this tourist attraction. The other minders at least tried to keep them cool by keeping them wet. Well, it was the closest I've ever been to a Tiger. Cutest little tiger kitten was out and I was allowed to walk it for a bit. Super soft fur and very fun!
After the tigers came a bigger animal event, an elephant ride. The Thai use elephants for lots of things and we got to ride on top for a bit. The elephants seemed well taken care of by their mahouts (trainer/minder) and mainly relaxed eating. At least that's what the others were doing while we went off for our spin. It's not that comfortable in the sedan chair but on the neck is quite cool. Imagine riding an elephant! You don't want to fall off - it's a long way down and you'd land on your head! The mahout made us hats and took lots of pictures for us. Some good, some not - he tried and it was funny because sometimes he would light up with a thumbs up and that would mean he was successful. After getting the camera back we found out why not all pictures got a thumbs up, a lot were dark, good ones were bright - not sure what he was doing :-) we went on to see another part of the infamous death railway to Myanmar (Burma). It wasn't one of the canyons but it was in very beautiful countryside. Start up at the paper mill was the next day so back to the hotel and dinner before getting back to work on Monday.
I managed to go visit Anne in Vietnam from Bangkok. It was nice to see her as we've been apart for quite a while. I had only seen her one weekend the past 3 weeks! It was a great opportunity that Anne's work brought her back to Vietnam and I was close - well closer than Singapore - and could get to her in Hanoi. I didn't have time to explore Hanoi, will have to do that another time, as we went up to Halong Bay to stay aboard a boat for the Sat night. We woke up on Sat to pouring rain and drove the 4 hours to the boat hoping the weather would improve. Thankfully the rain ended just as we got to the dock. We ended up being the only people on the tour and had the whole boat to ourselves! And of course our guide, captain and 3 crew - A private cruise :-). The guys were nice and they took good care of us. We went out into the waters just North of Halong Bay and didn't see many other tourists. It was really relaxing and good to connect with Anne. We had a nice kayak and then swim on Sat afternoon. The current was very strong and we almost lost Anne when she jumped in! I had to swim very hard to get to the boat and we threw a line to Anne to pull her along side the boat to the ladder. Wow - it didn't seem strong when paddling. Having smartened up, I jumped up current of the boat and hung onto the anchor line to enjoy the nice cool water before drifting back to the safety of the boat. That night after another great seafood meal came the rice wine. Wow, potent stuff - it's actually like whisky! We went through the bottle and got quite the buzz going. Sensibly we stopped and let the guide go one for one with the captain. They didn't look so good the next day! Sunday morning came with overcast skies and our guide was worried about getting wet on the bike trip scheduled for the morning. Or maybe it was just his hang over :-) We wanted to go anyway and see the villages and beaches. It's what we were here for and a bit of rain wasn't going to stop us. The rain came 5 mins into the ride and it came hard. We borrowed rain jackets from the crew and it protected us somewhat but the rain was torrential so we got soaked through it anyhow. We enjoyed a walk in the rain on the beach and went to the next beach passing villages and waving to the locals who laughed at the silly sight of tourists riding in the pouring rain while they sensibly stayed at home. By the time we got to the second beach the rain had stopped and it was time for a swim. The water was quite cool but refreshing and relaxing so far away from everything. The ride back to the boat was nicer with the rain off and villagers were starting to stir and do what needed to be done. Back a the boat it was time to head back to port and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery under blue skies the whole way back. Going through those pictures will take some time! We made it to the airport with lots of time and enjoyed a little dinner before Anne headed home to Singapore and I went back to Bangkok.
After an early 7am flight to Singapore I had a 2 hour layover until my flight to Jakarta and then onward to Pekanbaru. 4 flights in less than 24 hours and I was back to the mill in Indonesia I was at earlier in August. A week of work in 3 days and I was off to Bali for Anne's birthday weekend! Woohoo!! Bali for the first time and not the last! We splurged and stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental where we were upgraded to a club room! Yippee, the best digs I've been in ever! Super nice resort with a nice beach. We relaxed on resort for Sat morning and went out exploring the afternoon. Off we went to do some shopping in Kuta, have a beer near the beach, and catch the classic Bali sunset Sat night while having a jug of Sangria. Ku De Ta is a beautiful restaurant on the water in Seminyak and our table was right next to the beach with a great view. After a spectacular sunset we moved to Sate Bali restaurant and had a scrumptious tasting type dinner. Back to the hotel and swim up bar. Had a cocktail in the pool (yes, a pool bar!) before retiring the the room. Wow, a tough day in Bali - NOT! Sunday we decided to relax and it was a wonderful change from 'normal' life. Another Bali sunset came and this time it was a massive seafood dinner on Jimbaran beach. Off to the airport for a late flight home. A great weekend and we must go back to do some more Cultural events in Ubud and scuba diving too.
Monday morning came quickly and again I was off to the airport, two more flights and back to the mill and the top of this post...
Phew. Long post and a late night. Maybe Anne can fill in some blanks, add new stuff, and put up some pictures. We're enjoying life over here and I'll try to get something up on the Singapore F1 race this weekend! I'm really looking forward to the noise, cars, atmosphere, speed, and photo opportunities!
Until next time,
Brian
PS - send on your latest to keep us up to date!
Onto the fun things that have happened the past months - whoops, it's been 2 months plus since the last post. Maybe Anne can look at pictures and add what I've missed.
July was a month in Singapore mainly and it was good to get exercising a bit more. I bought a tennis racket and was playing quite regularly with my Brazilian colleague Bruno. We both hadn't played recently so our minor battles were primarily on who failed to break the others serve. It was a feat to hold serve as the rust was thick! In preparation for an inter-company competition with Malaysia office I was playing volleyball every week for a while until it unfortunately came to an end with the competition being delayed. It was fun to get on court for the exercise and to meet some colleagues from different departments.
Anne and I also started doing some long hikes to get in shape for our Bhutan trip coming up. We had some good ones going up and down Bukit Timah for 4 hours one day and along the Southern Ridge and some cool bridges to the West Coast another time. That was great while it lasted, however, a great lapse has occurred with all the travel for work and fun.
Anne's brother Steve came to visit us mid-August and that was fun. It's great he flew the extra distance to come visit and see what we're up to and what Singapore is all about. He continued on to Australia and New Zealand for a nice long trip - 5 weeks I think so I'm looking forward to hearing how it went and seeing pictures. It's a trip I'd love to do!
Unfortunately I had to miss the end of his trip to came to Indonesia for a project and have since returned twice in September. This will not be the last I'm here for sure as there's lots more to do! In between there was a project in Thailand. We stayed in Kanchanaburi where the Famous Bridge over River Kwai is. Saturday afternoon we had a couple hours to take a look at it and hit a museum to give us a bit of history. After we had a fantastic dinner on a floating restaurant under it. All the food in Thailand is good but you have to be careful with the chillies! You never know when one can 'attack' you. One meal my tongue actually felt like it was swelling up and tingling in my mouth from a rogue chilli. Some are nice, others are just plain mean ! :-)
We were lucky to have the Sunday off and we made the most of it doing lots of sightseeing! One stop brought us to a Dam where us engineers were interested in the hydroelectric stuff of course. Then we hiked through some nice jungle trails up to the 7 steps of Enlightenment at Erawan falls. It was about 3 km to the last pool and maybe 150 m elevation. Not tough but a little sweaty as it's quite hot, about 33C I think. I brought my swimsuit to cool off and swim with the fishes and see how many levels I could attain. I did manage a dip in every one but I can't say that I'm really more enlightened. I think I'll need a bit more work meditating and clearing my mind for that to happen. Don't know too much about Buddism but have dipped in curiously. There were fish in the river that actually eat you! They eat the dead skin off your feet and it feels really weird. As the water is very soft with limestone dissolved in it, it's bluey and looks silky. Because it's not clear, when you're standing in a pool the fish attack you without warning and it's shocking! For me anyway, something I couldn't fully get used to so going in and out was a bit of a challenge. especially when the footing wasn't so good. Imagine all these little nips pulling at your feet. I can't believe people actually like it! The cool water was good but I'd pass on the fish if that was at all possible.
Next stop was the Tiger Monastery. It was an experience that was a bit unexpected.
Didn't really know what to expect, but saw ads with a monk and a tiger so thought we could get up close. Scary as you really don't want to be playing with a tiger do you? In this case, the place was packed with people and about 10 tigers lying in a hot valley. There was a queue with tourists getting ready to get their picture taken with the tigers. I thought you would get one shot only but a minder brought you around about 5 tigers and took many photos of you petting them. The tigers seemed very tired and I'm not sure if they were sedated. It didn't seem like a fun existence but this they only had to do for 2 hours a day. It was quite sad and I'm not entirely comfortable supporting this tourist attraction. The other minders at least tried to keep them cool by keeping them wet. Well, it was the closest I've ever been to a Tiger. Cutest little tiger kitten was out and I was allowed to walk it for a bit. Super soft fur and very fun!
After the tigers came a bigger animal event, an elephant ride. The Thai use elephants for lots of things and we got to ride on top for a bit. The elephants seemed well taken care of by their mahouts (trainer/minder) and mainly relaxed eating. At least that's what the others were doing while we went off for our spin. It's not that comfortable in the sedan chair but on the neck is quite cool. Imagine riding an elephant! You don't want to fall off - it's a long way down and you'd land on your head! The mahout made us hats and took lots of pictures for us. Some good, some not - he tried and it was funny because sometimes he would light up with a thumbs up and that would mean he was successful. After getting the camera back we found out why not all pictures got a thumbs up, a lot were dark, good ones were bright - not sure what he was doing :-) we went on to see another part of the infamous death railway to Myanmar (Burma). It wasn't one of the canyons but it was in very beautiful countryside. Start up at the paper mill was the next day so back to the hotel and dinner before getting back to work on Monday.
I managed to go visit Anne in Vietnam from Bangkok. It was nice to see her as we've been apart for quite a while. I had only seen her one weekend the past 3 weeks! It was a great opportunity that Anne's work brought her back to Vietnam and I was close - well closer than Singapore - and could get to her in Hanoi. I didn't have time to explore Hanoi, will have to do that another time, as we went up to Halong Bay to stay aboard a boat for the Sat night. We woke up on Sat to pouring rain and drove the 4 hours to the boat hoping the weather would improve. Thankfully the rain ended just as we got to the dock. We ended up being the only people on the tour and had the whole boat to ourselves! And of course our guide, captain and 3 crew - A private cruise :-). The guys were nice and they took good care of us. We went out into the waters just North of Halong Bay and didn't see many other tourists. It was really relaxing and good to connect with Anne. We had a nice kayak and then swim on Sat afternoon. The current was very strong and we almost lost Anne when she jumped in! I had to swim very hard to get to the boat and we threw a line to Anne to pull her along side the boat to the ladder. Wow - it didn't seem strong when paddling. Having smartened up, I jumped up current of the boat and hung onto the anchor line to enjoy the nice cool water before drifting back to the safety of the boat. That night after another great seafood meal came the rice wine. Wow, potent stuff - it's actually like whisky! We went through the bottle and got quite the buzz going. Sensibly we stopped and let the guide go one for one with the captain. They didn't look so good the next day! Sunday morning came with overcast skies and our guide was worried about getting wet on the bike trip scheduled for the morning. Or maybe it was just his hang over :-) We wanted to go anyway and see the villages and beaches. It's what we were here for and a bit of rain wasn't going to stop us. The rain came 5 mins into the ride and it came hard. We borrowed rain jackets from the crew and it protected us somewhat but the rain was torrential so we got soaked through it anyhow. We enjoyed a walk in the rain on the beach and went to the next beach passing villages and waving to the locals who laughed at the silly sight of tourists riding in the pouring rain while they sensibly stayed at home. By the time we got to the second beach the rain had stopped and it was time for a swim. The water was quite cool but refreshing and relaxing so far away from everything. The ride back to the boat was nicer with the rain off and villagers were starting to stir and do what needed to be done. Back a the boat it was time to head back to port and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery under blue skies the whole way back. Going through those pictures will take some time! We made it to the airport with lots of time and enjoyed a little dinner before Anne headed home to Singapore and I went back to Bangkok.
After an early 7am flight to Singapore I had a 2 hour layover until my flight to Jakarta and then onward to Pekanbaru. 4 flights in less than 24 hours and I was back to the mill in Indonesia I was at earlier in August. A week of work in 3 days and I was off to Bali for Anne's birthday weekend! Woohoo!! Bali for the first time and not the last! We splurged and stayed at the Hotel Intercontinental where we were upgraded to a club room! Yippee, the best digs I've been in ever! Super nice resort with a nice beach. We relaxed on resort for Sat morning and went out exploring the afternoon. Off we went to do some shopping in Kuta, have a beer near the beach, and catch the classic Bali sunset Sat night while having a jug of Sangria. Ku De Ta is a beautiful restaurant on the water in Seminyak and our table was right next to the beach with a great view. After a spectacular sunset we moved to Sate Bali restaurant and had a scrumptious tasting type dinner. Back to the hotel and swim up bar. Had a cocktail in the pool (yes, a pool bar!) before retiring the the room. Wow, a tough day in Bali - NOT! Sunday we decided to relax and it was a wonderful change from 'normal' life. Another Bali sunset came and this time it was a massive seafood dinner on Jimbaran beach. Off to the airport for a late flight home. A great weekend and we must go back to do some more Cultural events in Ubud and scuba diving too.
Monday morning came quickly and again I was off to the airport, two more flights and back to the mill and the top of this post...
Phew. Long post and a late night. Maybe Anne can fill in some blanks, add new stuff, and put up some pictures. We're enjoying life over here and I'll try to get something up on the Singapore F1 race this weekend! I'm really looking forward to the noise, cars, atmosphere, speed, and photo opportunities!
Until next time,
Brian
PS - send on your latest to keep us up to date!
Monday, July 7, 2008
July already
Time flies when you're having fun. New pics that Anne talked about in the last post are now online. It only took me a month...
Anne had a busy work trip to Vietnam in the past month and I haven't traveled in 3 weeks so it's been nice to chill at home. Unfortunately I twisted my ankle playing Touch rugby on Saturday afternoon and that slowed down our active Sunday plans to hike 1.5 hrs to brunch then another 1.5 hrs to tennis and a swim at my Brazilian colleagues condo. Some convenient amenities sure would be nice for lazy stay at home weekends. For guests too of course. On that topic...
Neil, Anne's brother, came in for a work visit and he took sleeping on our pull out couch very well. It's comfortable according to reviews and officially open for visitors . Steve, Anne's oldest brother, comes through next month so another friendly face from home will be good. Anyone else interested!?! Come on out! Just not in October, that's our Bhutan trip.
Our place isn't completely homey yet, but the aboriginal painting we got is a start. We were invited to an opening at a gallery that specializes in Australian Aboriginal art and that was it. Sold! One visit to gallery in the next week had us looking though tons of paintings from this one art center in the middle (literally) of Australia. An hour or so later with very patient, and sweaty, gallery owner Georgio and we left with our find to try it out at home. It was a piece we saw early and one kept coming back to. A couple weeks later, it's stretched on a simple frame on our wall. Now I have to go to the outback and see what it's really all about!
Sadly, we missed celebrating Canada Day, but I had a few drinks on American Independence Day (bro Gavin's birthday) though, and we're going out for Bastille Day drinks next week with a French couple.
Until next time,
Brian
http://picasaweb.google.com/briananderson15/Early2008InAsia
Anne had a busy work trip to Vietnam in the past month and I haven't traveled in 3 weeks so it's been nice to chill at home. Unfortunately I twisted my ankle playing Touch rugby on Saturday afternoon and that slowed down our active Sunday plans to hike 1.5 hrs to brunch then another 1.5 hrs to tennis and a swim at my Brazilian colleagues condo. Some convenient amenities sure would be nice for lazy stay at home weekends. For guests too of course. On that topic...
Neil, Anne's brother, came in for a work visit and he took sleeping on our pull out couch very well. It's comfortable according to reviews and officially open for visitors . Steve, Anne's oldest brother, comes through next month so another friendly face from home will be good. Anyone else interested!?! Come on out! Just not in October, that's our Bhutan trip.
Our place isn't completely homey yet, but the aboriginal painting we got is a start. We were invited to an opening at a gallery that specializes in Australian Aboriginal art and that was it. Sold! One visit to gallery in the next week had us looking though tons of paintings from this one art center in the middle (literally) of Australia. An hour or so later with very patient, and sweaty, gallery owner Georgio and we left with our find to try it out at home. It was a piece we saw early and one kept coming back to. A couple weeks later, it's stretched on a simple frame on our wall. Now I have to go to the outback and see what it's really all about!
Sadly, we missed celebrating Canada Day, but I had a few drinks on American Independence Day (bro Gavin's birthday) though, and we're going out for Bastille Day drinks next week with a French couple.
Until next time,
Brian
http://picasaweb.google.com/briananderson15/Early2008InAsia
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Asia living
Brian and I are now settled in Singapore. I started my job at Interbrand (global brand consultancy firm) in January, and Brian is at ABB. I can’t believe we have been in Asia for over 8 months now! Time is just flying by. (Perhaps it passes even quicker because there are no distinct seasons here. It’s summer, summer, and more summer with perhaps a tad bit more rain!)
Life here is interesting. We’re not typical expats on a plush package with pool, maid, etc. We’re living in a local building that’s quite basic, though our flat was renovated – it used to be a really small 3 bedroom apartment, but is now an open concept 1 bedroom place. We have 3 neighbours on our floor – a Chinese grandma who likes to sing and doesn’t speak English, an apartment full of women who work at the hospital down the road, and a group of guys – one is a Malaysian who is very nice, and brought us goodies at Chinese New Years. People are still surprised to see me in the elevators, and ask how long I’ve been here – we’re the only white people in the building, so we stick out!
Our neighbourhood is quite green, and there are also lots of old Chinese shop style homes. Quite beautiful. We went to a gallery around the corner which was having a showing of Aboriginal art from Oz – it’s in a restored shophouse, and has the traditional fish pond on the ground floor (usually the houses have an area in the middle that’s open to the sky, with a fish pond). The paintings were all around the ground floor, but it got quite crowded with everyone trying to edge around the pond. Unfortunately before we arrived a French lady got too enthralled with one of the paintings, and when she went for a closer look she had an unexpected swim! And not a fun swim, lots of scrapes and bruises resulted. You could tell the fish didn’t enjoy it either – they stuck to the far wall of the pond for the rest of the night. But the paintings were fantastic. We ended up buying one – our first proper piece of art! With a story attached, which makes it even more fun.
What else do we do for fun? Well, eating and shopping are the national pastimes in Singapore. We enjoy the former immensely, and do the latter only occasionally. Food favorites include mee goreng (fried noodle), satay, beef kway teow, chili crab, black pepper beef, etc. Food is cheap, great and not particularly healthy. Eating at home is more expensive and difficult (no oven, which is typical – just a small toaster oven). Locals generally eat in hawker centres (outdoor food courts, usually located at the base of the apartment complexes). We have a food center near us in the Malaysian railway station which is great – the railway station while in Singapore is legally on Malaysian land. Love eating satay there outside in the evenings (evenings are the best time of day here – fantastic temperature and breeze.)
Malaysia is just over the causeway, so an easy holiday destination. We took the train a few weeks ago to Taman Negara, a national park in the center of peninsular Malaysia with a huge, old rainforest. We went with our friend Heather from Toronto – she was in the neighbourhood after traveling around Asia for the last 5 months. It was really nice to spend time with someone from home! And she was a trooper taking an uncomfortable night train to the middle of nowhere, then spending the weekend hiking in the hot, very sweaty jungle! We didn’t get a glimpse of one of the 100 tigers that reside in the jungle, but we did see lots of small very cool creepy crawlies. The boat ride out of the jungle back to town was 2 hours of nice scenery – the last half hour of which I was cursing since I desperately had to find a bathroom! The boat driver didn’t understand English and was determined to get to town without stopping. Painful. Brian and I had a first class compartment for the overnight train ride back to Singapore which was lovely – had a shower on the train, and went straight to work upon arrival.
We’ve also done the beach thing in Malaysia. Over Chinese New Year we spent 4 wonderful nights on Sibu island. Lots of lazing on the beach, eating great meals, and a little bit of diving. The waves were crazy high since it was the end of the Monsoon. We also spent a weekend diving off of Pulau Island, where Brian was certified. We’re now planning to go diving in Bali in September – hopefully see the Mola Mola fish, the world’s largest known bony fish, reaching up to 11 feet.
Our big vacation this year will be in Bhutan, in October. We need to start training now – we’ll be doing a 9 day hike in the mountains. High altitude, and really tough. And very expensive, but will be totally worth it. We’ll get to see a festival, visit the dzongs (monasteries), and walk with the yaks in remote countryside. I loved Nepal, so can only imagine what Bhutan will be like. We’ll be doing the “popular” trekking route, which sees less than 25 groups a year, apparently. Not quite the trekking highway in Nepal. Hopefully everything will work out ok, e.g. no crazy weather, violence erupting, etc. So far we’ve been very very lucky – went to Africa before all hell went loose in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. And decided not to go to Myanmar as planned in May due to the heat – not knowing a massive cyclone would hit of course.
What else do we do for fun here? Go for walks – I go out with a few girlfriends to the parks in Singapore. Nice to enjoy the steamy greenery, and try and stay away from the darn monkeys (had a tug of war session with one of them when it tried to steal my water bottle). Brian is playing touch rugby. We’ve made some friends and go out for dinners, etc. And Brian and I hang out together, enjoying each others company. Though my dear husband is in Indonesia right now on business. He spent a week in Thailand, came home for one evening, and then left for Indonesia for 1 ½ weeks. I head to Vietnam in a couple of weeks for 1 ½ weeks for business, so not much time together right now.
But that is the great thing about working here really. We’re not just working in Singapore, we’re working across Asia. I’ve had meetings in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and soon Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. So much to learn, it’s exciting. And there are lots of job opportunities, if anyone wants to join us!
There are of course some things that irritate us about Singapore. While I truly appreciate the cleanliness and order, it is a very planned city. Spontaneity is not part of its DNA. But while there are many “rules”, people can be pretty inconsiderate. It’s a “me, me, me” culture, in many ways. Riding the MRT (subway) is sometimes a full contact sport. Brian has tried out his rugby moves a few times while getting off the subway – people don’t only not let you off, but they try and walk thru you so they can get on first and get a seat. And they’re shocked when you put a shoulder down and charge them My adrenalin gets pumping quite often. And people are slow slow walkers. Too busy in la la land, or texting. Drives me crazy! Service is notoriously bad. Go see any restaurant review online and most likely it’ll be people (locals and expats) complaining about how bad the service is. They have perfected the art of avoiding eye contact.
We celebrated our one year anniversary back in April. Wild to think how much has happened over the last year! And who knows what we’ll be doing next year. Well, most likely living in Singapore and at the same jobs. But there’ll be many adventures I’m sure. So much to explore! And hopefully we’ll have more visitors (hint, hint)…
I’ve put up some pictures on Facebook, and will get Brian to post on Picasso when he’s back in town. Please send us updates when you get a chance – we love to hear from everyone. Missing our friends and family.
Anne.
Life here is interesting. We’re not typical expats on a plush package with pool, maid, etc. We’re living in a local building that’s quite basic, though our flat was renovated – it used to be a really small 3 bedroom apartment, but is now an open concept 1 bedroom place. We have 3 neighbours on our floor – a Chinese grandma who likes to sing and doesn’t speak English, an apartment full of women who work at the hospital down the road, and a group of guys – one is a Malaysian who is very nice, and brought us goodies at Chinese New Years. People are still surprised to see me in the elevators, and ask how long I’ve been here – we’re the only white people in the building, so we stick out!
Our neighbourhood is quite green, and there are also lots of old Chinese shop style homes. Quite beautiful. We went to a gallery around the corner which was having a showing of Aboriginal art from Oz – it’s in a restored shophouse, and has the traditional fish pond on the ground floor (usually the houses have an area in the middle that’s open to the sky, with a fish pond). The paintings were all around the ground floor, but it got quite crowded with everyone trying to edge around the pond. Unfortunately before we arrived a French lady got too enthralled with one of the paintings, and when she went for a closer look she had an unexpected swim! And not a fun swim, lots of scrapes and bruises resulted. You could tell the fish didn’t enjoy it either – they stuck to the far wall of the pond for the rest of the night. But the paintings were fantastic. We ended up buying one – our first proper piece of art! With a story attached, which makes it even more fun.
What else do we do for fun? Well, eating and shopping are the national pastimes in Singapore. We enjoy the former immensely, and do the latter only occasionally. Food favorites include mee goreng (fried noodle), satay, beef kway teow, chili crab, black pepper beef, etc. Food is cheap, great and not particularly healthy. Eating at home is more expensive and difficult (no oven, which is typical – just a small toaster oven). Locals generally eat in hawker centres (outdoor food courts, usually located at the base of the apartment complexes). We have a food center near us in the Malaysian railway station which is great – the railway station while in Singapore is legally on Malaysian land. Love eating satay there outside in the evenings (evenings are the best time of day here – fantastic temperature and breeze.)
Malaysia is just over the causeway, so an easy holiday destination. We took the train a few weeks ago to Taman Negara, a national park in the center of peninsular Malaysia with a huge, old rainforest. We went with our friend Heather from Toronto – she was in the neighbourhood after traveling around Asia for the last 5 months. It was really nice to spend time with someone from home! And she was a trooper taking an uncomfortable night train to the middle of nowhere, then spending the weekend hiking in the hot, very sweaty jungle! We didn’t get a glimpse of one of the 100 tigers that reside in the jungle, but we did see lots of small very cool creepy crawlies. The boat ride out of the jungle back to town was 2 hours of nice scenery – the last half hour of which I was cursing since I desperately had to find a bathroom! The boat driver didn’t understand English and was determined to get to town without stopping. Painful. Brian and I had a first class compartment for the overnight train ride back to Singapore which was lovely – had a shower on the train, and went straight to work upon arrival.
We’ve also done the beach thing in Malaysia. Over Chinese New Year we spent 4 wonderful nights on Sibu island. Lots of lazing on the beach, eating great meals, and a little bit of diving. The waves were crazy high since it was the end of the Monsoon. We also spent a weekend diving off of Pulau Island, where Brian was certified. We’re now planning to go diving in Bali in September – hopefully see the Mola Mola fish, the world’s largest known bony fish, reaching up to 11 feet.
Our big vacation this year will be in Bhutan, in October. We need to start training now – we’ll be doing a 9 day hike in the mountains. High altitude, and really tough. And very expensive, but will be totally worth it. We’ll get to see a festival, visit the dzongs (monasteries), and walk with the yaks in remote countryside. I loved Nepal, so can only imagine what Bhutan will be like. We’ll be doing the “popular” trekking route, which sees less than 25 groups a year, apparently. Not quite the trekking highway in Nepal. Hopefully everything will work out ok, e.g. no crazy weather, violence erupting, etc. So far we’ve been very very lucky – went to Africa before all hell went loose in Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe. And decided not to go to Myanmar as planned in May due to the heat – not knowing a massive cyclone would hit of course.
What else do we do for fun here? Go for walks – I go out with a few girlfriends to the parks in Singapore. Nice to enjoy the steamy greenery, and try and stay away from the darn monkeys (had a tug of war session with one of them when it tried to steal my water bottle). Brian is playing touch rugby. We’ve made some friends and go out for dinners, etc. And Brian and I hang out together, enjoying each others company. Though my dear husband is in Indonesia right now on business. He spent a week in Thailand, came home for one evening, and then left for Indonesia for 1 ½ weeks. I head to Vietnam in a couple of weeks for 1 ½ weeks for business, so not much time together right now.
But that is the great thing about working here really. We’re not just working in Singapore, we’re working across Asia. I’ve had meetings in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and soon Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. So much to learn, it’s exciting. And there are lots of job opportunities, if anyone wants to join us!
There are of course some things that irritate us about Singapore. While I truly appreciate the cleanliness and order, it is a very planned city. Spontaneity is not part of its DNA. But while there are many “rules”, people can be pretty inconsiderate. It’s a “me, me, me” culture, in many ways. Riding the MRT (subway) is sometimes a full contact sport. Brian has tried out his rugby moves a few times while getting off the subway – people don’t only not let you off, but they try and walk thru you so they can get on first and get a seat. And they’re shocked when you put a shoulder down and charge them My adrenalin gets pumping quite often. And people are slow slow walkers. Too busy in la la land, or texting. Drives me crazy! Service is notoriously bad. Go see any restaurant review online and most likely it’ll be people (locals and expats) complaining about how bad the service is. They have perfected the art of avoiding eye contact.
We celebrated our one year anniversary back in April. Wild to think how much has happened over the last year! And who knows what we’ll be doing next year. Well, most likely living in Singapore and at the same jobs. But there’ll be many adventures I’m sure. So much to explore! And hopefully we’ll have more visitors (hint, hint)…
I’ve put up some pictures on Facebook, and will get Brian to post on Picasso when he’s back in town. Please send us updates when you get a chance – we love to hear from everyone. Missing our friends and family.
Anne.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Buddhas, Hawkers, and High Tech
Hello all. We are overdue for an update! I can’t believe we’ve been in Asia for over two months now. Crazy. We’ve spent most of the time in Singapore, but went to Hong Kong for two weeks. Will try and summarize the events – while I’m watching the Miss World pageant on tv :) (Already know that Miss China won. Think it was rigged, she is not an impressive speaker whatsoever.)
Singapore highlights:
- Meeting and getting to know the Singapore side of Brian’s family. Looking forward to spending Xmas Eve with the whole clan – Auntie Constance is having around 50 people over for a big potluck.
- Night safari – Yes, after a summer in Africa we still enjoyed the night safari here in Singapore. It was the weekend before Hallowe’en, so all the employees were dressed up. Thankfully they didn’t dress up the animals :) It is a really unique experience, going around the park (on a train or walking) at night time. They also had a show which was excellent – except when they pulled out a massive boa constrictor from under the floorboards right in front of us. Not impressed.
- Hawker stands – Outdoor food courts with super cheap, amazing food. The two of us can eat dinner for $5 Cdn! Love the satay, mee goreng, black pepper beef clay pot…
- Art museum – We try and get out to the museums and the concert hall to get some culture. The art museum was very nice, with a large exhibition of art from around Asia.
- Sentosa – Took a gondola over to Sentosa Island. Had a “good” view of the shipyard and construction zones. There’s an incredible amount of building going on here, including two massive “Integrated Resorts” – big casinos with hotels, conference centres, shopping and entertainment. But we just hung out on the beach, saw a cool laser show, and relaxed.
- High tech – Love the little things, like when you go into a parking garage they have signs that tell you how many spots are empty on each floor, and there’s a green or red light above each stall so you can see ahead where the free spots are. And everyone has a pre-loaded card on their dash that is automatically scanned to pay for parking, tolls, etc.
- China town, Little India, Arab Street. All the different cultures living together, all the different food, makes this a special place.
Hong Kong highlights:
- Seeing where Brian grew up – Brian lived in Hong Kong from age 7 to 13. We went to see his old house in Chung Hum Kok, and he reminisced of his days running around getting into trouble with Gavin. Saw his old school in Repulse Bay, the market in Stanley, and relaxed on the big Jumbo boat restaurant where we enjoyed a glass of wine in lounge chairs.
- Big Buddha – We took the ferry to Lantau island and visited the big budha (Tian Tan). The hike down was fabulous – down a path winding down the mountain, surrounded by trees, except for occasionally coming across monks tending their gardens, with Buddhist chants on a radio. Peaceful and beautiful.
- Shopping mecca – while Singapore has tons of malls, Hong Kong has quantity and quality. If only we had money!
- A city of contrasts – Incredibly tall modern buildings (the new Batman was causing a stir when we were there, filming him jumping off the tallest towers); grimy highrise apartments; streets full of Chinese herbal medicines, birdnests, and antiques; lovely Chinese restaurants where no English is spoken (thank goodness for pictures); peaceful Chinese temples filled with incense smoke; beautiful beaches; hiking trails in the mountains with stunning look outs; alley full of bars, loud music and drunk expats; and in the centre of it all the happening horse races.
We took the ferry to Macau for a night, where we treated ourselves at the new Venetian hotel. Loved Macau for the Portugese influence. You’d think you were in Europe sometimes, but then look around and see Chinese style buildings. Quite the contrast. We didn’t do any gambling at the Venetian, just a fancy Italian dinner “under the stars” while singers from Italy put on a show, and we had breakfast delivered in the morning to our room.
And of course throughout it all we’ve been busy, busy, busy with the job search. Interviews, networking, emailing. We’re getting there, but it is a frustrating process.
My brother Neil is coming to Singapore tomorrow evening and staying with us for a few nights – yeah! After he leaves we head to Malaysia to do some sightseeing in Melaka and Kuala Lumpur, get our tourist visas renewed, and I have an interview in KL. We will probably be in Singapore for Xmas, but leave for Cambodia on Christmas Day – spend a week there exploring.
We hope you’re all doing well. We miss you – especially at this time of year! Doesn’t quite feel like Christmas, despite the non-stop carols in the malls and decorations. But have to say, we’re enjoying our daily swims in our outdoor pool :-)
Lots of love,
Anne & Brian
Singapore highlights:
- Meeting and getting to know the Singapore side of Brian’s family. Looking forward to spending Xmas Eve with the whole clan – Auntie Constance is having around 50 people over for a big potluck.
- Night safari – Yes, after a summer in Africa we still enjoyed the night safari here in Singapore. It was the weekend before Hallowe’en, so all the employees were dressed up. Thankfully they didn’t dress up the animals :) It is a really unique experience, going around the park (on a train or walking) at night time. They also had a show which was excellent – except when they pulled out a massive boa constrictor from under the floorboards right in front of us. Not impressed.
- Hawker stands – Outdoor food courts with super cheap, amazing food. The two of us can eat dinner for $5 Cdn! Love the satay, mee goreng, black pepper beef clay pot…
- Art museum – We try and get out to the museums and the concert hall to get some culture. The art museum was very nice, with a large exhibition of art from around Asia.
- Sentosa – Took a gondola over to Sentosa Island. Had a “good” view of the shipyard and construction zones. There’s an incredible amount of building going on here, including two massive “Integrated Resorts” – big casinos with hotels, conference centres, shopping and entertainment. But we just hung out on the beach, saw a cool laser show, and relaxed.
- High tech – Love the little things, like when you go into a parking garage they have signs that tell you how many spots are empty on each floor, and there’s a green or red light above each stall so you can see ahead where the free spots are. And everyone has a pre-loaded card on their dash that is automatically scanned to pay for parking, tolls, etc.
- China town, Little India, Arab Street. All the different cultures living together, all the different food, makes this a special place.
Hong Kong highlights:
- Seeing where Brian grew up – Brian lived in Hong Kong from age 7 to 13. We went to see his old house in Chung Hum Kok, and he reminisced of his days running around getting into trouble with Gavin. Saw his old school in Repulse Bay, the market in Stanley, and relaxed on the big Jumbo boat restaurant where we enjoyed a glass of wine in lounge chairs.
- Big Buddha – We took the ferry to Lantau island and visited the big budha (Tian Tan). The hike down was fabulous – down a path winding down the mountain, surrounded by trees, except for occasionally coming across monks tending their gardens, with Buddhist chants on a radio. Peaceful and beautiful.
- Shopping mecca – while Singapore has tons of malls, Hong Kong has quantity and quality. If only we had money!
- A city of contrasts – Incredibly tall modern buildings (the new Batman was causing a stir when we were there, filming him jumping off the tallest towers); grimy highrise apartments; streets full of Chinese herbal medicines, birdnests, and antiques; lovely Chinese restaurants where no English is spoken (thank goodness for pictures); peaceful Chinese temples filled with incense smoke; beautiful beaches; hiking trails in the mountains with stunning look outs; alley full of bars, loud music and drunk expats; and in the centre of it all the happening horse races.
We took the ferry to Macau for a night, where we treated ourselves at the new Venetian hotel. Loved Macau for the Portugese influence. You’d think you were in Europe sometimes, but then look around and see Chinese style buildings. Quite the contrast. We didn’t do any gambling at the Venetian, just a fancy Italian dinner “under the stars” while singers from Italy put on a show, and we had breakfast delivered in the morning to our room.
And of course throughout it all we’ve been busy, busy, busy with the job search. Interviews, networking, emailing. We’re getting there, but it is a frustrating process.
My brother Neil is coming to Singapore tomorrow evening and staying with us for a few nights – yeah! After he leaves we head to Malaysia to do some sightseeing in Melaka and Kuala Lumpur, get our tourist visas renewed, and I have an interview in KL. We will probably be in Singapore for Xmas, but leave for Cambodia on Christmas Day – spend a week there exploring.
We hope you’re all doing well. We miss you – especially at this time of year! Doesn’t quite feel like Christmas, despite the non-stop carols in the malls and decorations. But have to say, we’re enjoying our daily swims in our outdoor pool :-)
Lots of love,
Anne & Brian
Monday, October 15, 2007
Pictures are posted!
Yes, enough of the complaining, we have finally posted pictures of our trip to Africa - all the good ones are on Picasa, and there's a selection of them on facebook.
On Picasa there are 4 different albums to peruse - Southern Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda/Rwanda. You can reach them all at http://picasaweb.google.com/briananderson15
Enjoy over a cup of coffee! Flattery and appreciation is accepted :)
Quick update:
We have been in Singapore for 2 weeks now, but feels like a lot longer. Brian's family has been amazing - finding us accomodation, setting us up with a phone (our mobile # is +65 9892 8700), introducing us to friends, trying to find us jobs, and just making us feel welcome. We went to a big Chinese Christian wedding this past weekend, which was great - experiencing the tea ceremony, an 8 course Chinese dinner, etc.
The job search is going ok. Working hard at it, networking like crazy. Brian has already had one job offer, and an opportunity for another position. But he's waiting to find something that's a better fit, and doesn't have him on the road 90% of the time.
We're heading to Hong Kong at the end of the month for a couple of weeks - job interviews/meetings and sight seeing. Perhaps even go to Disneyland in HK - never been to Disneyland before!
We're living in a beautiful condo right now, with a big pool and gym. Very spoiled. Trying to get used to the hot and humid weather - will take some time! Thankful there's air conditioning everywhere.
Singapore, we've discovered very quickly, is all about the food and shopping. It is clean, modern and growing rapidly. Next to no unemployment or homeless. Next to no cockroaches (very happy about that!). Very safe, efficient... All that you'd expect from Singapore. Looking forward to doing some more touristy stuff - here and in Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. Brian went to Jakarta for one night last week, but it was an interview so not much fun time.
Again, hope you enjoy the pictures.
Take care,
Anne.
On Picasa there are 4 different albums to peruse - Southern Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda/Rwanda. You can reach them all at http://picasaweb.google.com/briananderson15
Enjoy over a cup of coffee! Flattery and appreciation is accepted :)
Quick update:
We have been in Singapore for 2 weeks now, but feels like a lot longer. Brian's family has been amazing - finding us accomodation, setting us up with a phone (our mobile # is +65 9892 8700), introducing us to friends, trying to find us jobs, and just making us feel welcome. We went to a big Chinese Christian wedding this past weekend, which was great - experiencing the tea ceremony, an 8 course Chinese dinner, etc.
The job search is going ok. Working hard at it, networking like crazy. Brian has already had one job offer, and an opportunity for another position. But he's waiting to find something that's a better fit, and doesn't have him on the road 90% of the time.
We're heading to Hong Kong at the end of the month for a couple of weeks - job interviews/meetings and sight seeing. Perhaps even go to Disneyland in HK - never been to Disneyland before!
We're living in a beautiful condo right now, with a big pool and gym. Very spoiled. Trying to get used to the hot and humid weather - will take some time! Thankful there's air conditioning everywhere.
Singapore, we've discovered very quickly, is all about the food and shopping. It is clean, modern and growing rapidly. Next to no unemployment or homeless. Next to no cockroaches (very happy about that!). Very safe, efficient... All that you'd expect from Singapore. Looking forward to doing some more touristy stuff - here and in Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. Brian went to Jakarta for one night last week, but it was an interview so not much fun time.
Again, hope you enjoy the pictures.
Take care,
Anne.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
More bus rides, safaris, and adventures in East Africa
When I last wrote we were in Kigali, Rwanda. After I got off the computer we spent the next few hours walking around the city, trying to find a bar with satellite tv showing the Rugby World Cup, to no avail. Brian was disappointed and I was tired! Funny how we could find it in small towns in Rwanda, but not in the capital city.
The next day we had a long bus journey to Kampala, Uganda. After Kigali, Kampala was filthy, crowded and annoying, and we wanted out as quickly as possible. We eventually found a matatu (minibus) to Jinja - they were in the middle of working on the brake pads of the matatu, but we wanted to get out of the city so badly that we trusted their workmanship and got on when they were done. Right before we left another girl got on to the already packed bus, and crammed herself in between me and my neighbor. I without thinking moved to give her more room, and so spent the next 4 hours sharing my seat with her (since the other lady of course didn't move over). It was only supposed to be a 1-2 hour bus ride, but there was an accident on the road. Very, very, very uncomfortable. But because of my discomfort Brian was able to negotiate with the conductor and save us 2,000 shillings ($1.25). Yes, I took it for the team!
We spent two nights in Jinja, Uganda, so that we could see the very exciting Source of the Nile, at Lake Victoria. Being sarcastic. Not much to see, just one of those tourist things to check off. We then took boda bodas (motorbike taxis) to Bujagali falls, 10kms from Jinja, where we spent another couple of nights. The Nile River is very pretty, so it was a nice place to relax. Brian went white water rafting - I was cheap and a scaredy cat, so I sat by the pool all day instead. Will let Brian recount his adventures in the rapids in another blog.
While waiting for our bus back to Kenya we met a very nice preacher from Nigeria. He gave us his card and invited us to stay with him and his family in Lagos. Very nice!
In Kenya we spent a few nights at a very cheap hotel in Nakuru. Like saving the money, but it was incredibly noisy! Between the disco across the street which was in full gear until 2-3 am, and the mosque around the corner which started the chanting around 4am, not much sleep was happening - until the third night when we wore our ear plugs!
While we were there we went on safari in Lake Nakuru park. There are 2 million flamingos there, on the edge of the soda lake. Incredible! Other interesting sightings: lots of hyenas hunting the flamingos (no kills), and a few white and black rhinos. The black rhinos are extremely aggressive, so our driver tried to stay away from them. But they still started to run towards our jeep! Glad he had kept the engine running. We saw no cats, but saw the recent kill of a leopard - a dead gazelle with it's stomach and intestines hanging out. Yuck.
We had wanted to go up north to Lake Baringo for a couple of nights, but the rains were flooding the roads, and (probably luckily) the lodge there was full, no room for us. Over the last couple of weeks there has been a ton of flooding in Uganda, parts of Kenya, and Rwanda. (I forgot to mention in my last blog that when we left the town of Gisenyi in Rwanda we passed by villages under water, devastated by the flooding. We heard that 15 people in that region had been killed.)
So, we went instead to Lake Naivasha, which is right beside Hell's Gate park. We've been on a lot of safaris on this trip, but this was totally different. We rented bikes and road thru the park, with zebra, warthogs, giraffe, gazelle surrounding us. Thankfully we didn't bump into any buffalo or lions! The setting is also unique - it's a big gorge, with high cliff walls rising up. We went for a nice one hour hike down into a section of the gorge with a guide, where we could feel the hot water coming from deep underground. There are a couple of big geo thermal plants in the area which separate the steam from the hot water and convert the steam into electricity. Brian made us climb a huge hill so that he could see the plants and the big pipes which run around the countryside. He was pretty excited - I wasn't so thrilled with the ride, especially since my bike was horrible (the seat kept falling down as I rode) and I'm horribly out of shape. After the 30-35km ride and hike I collapsed at our lodge!
When we were at the gorge we bumped into a Japanese girl we had gone on safari with in Nakuru. She told us that after we dropped her off at the matatu stand, her matatu was in a bad accident. A car which had been hijacked by a gun toting idiot rammed head on with her minibus. She had scrapes/bruises on her forehead, and she said that her arms/legs had been scraped and covered in blood. She was very very lucky to escape with just that! A famous gospel singer was just killed in this area in a matatu crash. One of the guides at the gorge was also telling us about how he was in a crash where 14 people were killed (and he caught a cop stealing from the bodies). Insane.
After hearing all of these stories we decided to take a bigger bus into Nairobi! Instead of going downtown right away we went to Karen, a suburb, for a night first, and visited the Karen Blixen museum and the giraffe conservation center. The latter was amazing - you can feed the Rothschild giraffes there, they take the food out of your hand with their long tongues! We were very fortunate to get a ride to the conservation center with a Moroccan lady and her Kenyan and Congolese friends. We will definitely have to visit her in Morocco one day!
And now we're in Nairobi, we fly to Joburg tomorrow. Last night we went for dinner at Carnivore. Apparently it's twice been named one of the world's 50 best restaurants. Not sure how they did that. It's certainly an interesting experience - they have a massive barbeque where they cook all types of meat, including ostrich and crocodile. Guys come around with the meat pierced on a sword, and they slice it onto your plate continuously, until you admit defeat and take your flag down. Brian being competitive didn't want to take his flag down earlier than the other tables around us, so he kept eating. I wanted to save room for dessert, so I surrendered earlier on. The food was just ok - not world class - but still something you have to do as a tourist in Kenya.
And that's us all caught up. Next blog will be from Asia!
Anne.
The next day we had a long bus journey to Kampala, Uganda. After Kigali, Kampala was filthy, crowded and annoying, and we wanted out as quickly as possible. We eventually found a matatu (minibus) to Jinja - they were in the middle of working on the brake pads of the matatu, but we wanted to get out of the city so badly that we trusted their workmanship and got on when they were done. Right before we left another girl got on to the already packed bus, and crammed herself in between me and my neighbor. I without thinking moved to give her more room, and so spent the next 4 hours sharing my seat with her (since the other lady of course didn't move over). It was only supposed to be a 1-2 hour bus ride, but there was an accident on the road. Very, very, very uncomfortable. But because of my discomfort Brian was able to negotiate with the conductor and save us 2,000 shillings ($1.25). Yes, I took it for the team!
We spent two nights in Jinja, Uganda, so that we could see the very exciting Source of the Nile, at Lake Victoria. Being sarcastic. Not much to see, just one of those tourist things to check off. We then took boda bodas (motorbike taxis) to Bujagali falls, 10kms from Jinja, where we spent another couple of nights. The Nile River is very pretty, so it was a nice place to relax. Brian went white water rafting - I was cheap and a scaredy cat, so I sat by the pool all day instead. Will let Brian recount his adventures in the rapids in another blog.
While waiting for our bus back to Kenya we met a very nice preacher from Nigeria. He gave us his card and invited us to stay with him and his family in Lagos. Very nice!
In Kenya we spent a few nights at a very cheap hotel in Nakuru. Like saving the money, but it was incredibly noisy! Between the disco across the street which was in full gear until 2-3 am, and the mosque around the corner which started the chanting around 4am, not much sleep was happening - until the third night when we wore our ear plugs!
While we were there we went on safari in Lake Nakuru park. There are 2 million flamingos there, on the edge of the soda lake. Incredible! Other interesting sightings: lots of hyenas hunting the flamingos (no kills), and a few white and black rhinos. The black rhinos are extremely aggressive, so our driver tried to stay away from them. But they still started to run towards our jeep! Glad he had kept the engine running. We saw no cats, but saw the recent kill of a leopard - a dead gazelle with it's stomach and intestines hanging out. Yuck.
We had wanted to go up north to Lake Baringo for a couple of nights, but the rains were flooding the roads, and (probably luckily) the lodge there was full, no room for us. Over the last couple of weeks there has been a ton of flooding in Uganda, parts of Kenya, and Rwanda. (I forgot to mention in my last blog that when we left the town of Gisenyi in Rwanda we passed by villages under water, devastated by the flooding. We heard that 15 people in that region had been killed.)
So, we went instead to Lake Naivasha, which is right beside Hell's Gate park. We've been on a lot of safaris on this trip, but this was totally different. We rented bikes and road thru the park, with zebra, warthogs, giraffe, gazelle surrounding us. Thankfully we didn't bump into any buffalo or lions! The setting is also unique - it's a big gorge, with high cliff walls rising up. We went for a nice one hour hike down into a section of the gorge with a guide, where we could feel the hot water coming from deep underground. There are a couple of big geo thermal plants in the area which separate the steam from the hot water and convert the steam into electricity. Brian made us climb a huge hill so that he could see the plants and the big pipes which run around the countryside. He was pretty excited - I wasn't so thrilled with the ride, especially since my bike was horrible (the seat kept falling down as I rode) and I'm horribly out of shape. After the 30-35km ride and hike I collapsed at our lodge!
When we were at the gorge we bumped into a Japanese girl we had gone on safari with in Nakuru. She told us that after we dropped her off at the matatu stand, her matatu was in a bad accident. A car which had been hijacked by a gun toting idiot rammed head on with her minibus. She had scrapes/bruises on her forehead, and she said that her arms/legs had been scraped and covered in blood. She was very very lucky to escape with just that! A famous gospel singer was just killed in this area in a matatu crash. One of the guides at the gorge was also telling us about how he was in a crash where 14 people were killed (and he caught a cop stealing from the bodies). Insane.
After hearing all of these stories we decided to take a bigger bus into Nairobi! Instead of going downtown right away we went to Karen, a suburb, for a night first, and visited the Karen Blixen museum and the giraffe conservation center. The latter was amazing - you can feed the Rothschild giraffes there, they take the food out of your hand with their long tongues! We were very fortunate to get a ride to the conservation center with a Moroccan lady and her Kenyan and Congolese friends. We will definitely have to visit her in Morocco one day!
And now we're in Nairobi, we fly to Joburg tomorrow. Last night we went for dinner at Carnivore. Apparently it's twice been named one of the world's 50 best restaurants. Not sure how they did that. It's certainly an interesting experience - they have a massive barbeque where they cook all types of meat, including ostrich and crocodile. Guys come around with the meat pierced on a sword, and they slice it onto your plate continuously, until you admit defeat and take your flag down. Brian being competitive didn't want to take his flag down earlier than the other tables around us, so he kept eating. I wanted to save room for dessert, so I surrendered earlier on. The food was just ok - not world class - but still something you have to do as a tourist in Kenya.
And that's us all caught up. Next blog will be from Asia!
Anne.
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