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!

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

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.