pierreo.com – Join me on my journey

pierreo May 11th, 2010

After the North, we flew to Vientiane, the new capital of Laos. We arrived relatively late and so there was no time to do anything, except have a few beers while watching the sunset over the Mekhong river. And not much of a sunset, again because of the smoke and ash in the air. After I took this picture, the sun disappeared behind a black veil, as if behind a mountain, but I know there are no mountains there…

We visited what is thought to be the oldest remaining temple in Vientiane the next morning. The layout Wat Si Saket is not quite the same as what we generally saw further North, which was more similar to Thai temples. Here there is a central hall surrounded by a square ‘cloister-type’ building. In this temple, both the main hall, on the right of the picture, and the “cloisters” on the left of the picture are full of Buddha statues.

The Buddhas here all look identical, but they are not. The face, the hair, the hands and sometimes the clothing are slightly different for each statue. See if you can spot the differences.

There are also Buddha statues in each of the small niches on the wall … thousands of them.  The main hall is beautifully decorated

The shutters on the windows are designed to inspire

Across the street was the presidential palace, not where he sleeps, but where he works. It is mostly bureaucrats who work there, we were told. Next to the palace, is another, newer temple called Haw Pha Keao, and in the more traditional layout, with several buildings in a large open area. It was commissioned by the king specifically to house the Emerald Buddha now housed in the temple of the Royal Palace in Bangkok!

Continue Reading »

• Travel
• Comments(0)

pierreo May 8th, 2010

I interrupt the telling of my trip to Laos to share pictures of Bangkok.  I have been there several times including this trip as I spent two days in Bangkok before going to Laos.  Some of the pictures in this post were taken on previous trips to Bangkok.

On this trip, I started with a place I had seen, passing on the river, but never visited.  We had to take the monorail, than a river taxi, and finally find our way across small alleyways to the Royal Barges Museum – not really a museum as these barges are regularly used for parades on the river.

Some are quite old but the majority have been built or restored recently.  The intricacy of the design and carvings is amazing

Would you not be intimidated by this coming at you?  Take a look between his legs – yes, there is a cannon there!

Continue Reading »

• Retrospective , Travel
• Comments(0)

pierreo May 5th, 2010

The whole city of Luang Prabang is listed as a World Heritage cultural site.  It does not take long in the city to understand why.  Out first full day there started very early, even before sunrise.  Yet once we arrived on the main street Th Sisavangvong, there is already a lot of activity.  Before sunrise, monks from the local monasteries parade through town begging for food and it has become a custom for tourists as well as locals to participate in this ritual.

Enterprising shop owner set up  stalls where one can purchase the rice that will be donated to the monks.

This area is set up for a large tour group of Thai tourists.  The tourists arrive at the last minute – I am glad we are here early as the preparations are just as fascinating as the event itself.

Monks from each monastery arrive in single file as the light of day is slowly increasing.

What a better picture that a row of monks in bright orange robes in front of some of the local architecture which are the fame of the city.

After a short stay in the area where a lot of tourists come, we moved to another areawhere  generally only locals come.  The monks loop around and pass through here on their way back to the monasteries.  People have set up their own ‘donation’ area along the other main street inthe center of town, Bat Wat Nong.  The whole family (three generations of it) is involved in this daily event. Continue Reading »

• Travel
• Comments(2)

pierreo May 2nd, 2010

If you are interested, there is practical information about this trip at the end of this post.

Our first sight of Laos was from across the Mekhong in Chiang Khong after a two hour bus ride from Chiang Rai where we spent the night.

On the Laos side of the river, the town is called Huay Xai.  We immediately discover that the ‘burning’ season is at full swing as the smog is quite thick (Photoshop was not able to recover much, I am afraid).  This is a very busy crossing for people and for goods coming from China. 

The landing spot for the ferries is not very impressive – it has had to be improvised as the river is much lower than usual.

The Ferry Terminal, where we completed the transaction to exit Thailand is a long way up the hill once we get to the river.

The passenger ferries are not very fancy – fortunately, the crossing does not take very long.

I cannot say that our first glimpse of Huay Xai is very impressive – and we would not spend more time there than strictly required to go through emigration and get a little cash – the line to exchange money was actually longer than that to clear emigration as that needed more paperwork.  I should have gone to the ATM up the street – that was a lot quicker.

Continue Reading »

• Travel
• Comments(2)

pierreo May 1st, 2010

I am in the last leg of a trip affected by the eruption of that volcano with the unpronounceable (and unrememberable) name in Iceland (I refuse to even try to remember how to spell it).
The more people I talk to, the higher the number of people I know who were affected by it – not always in a bad way.
My trip was delayed by a week, and thus shortened by a week. That made everything a lot more hectic, both while waiting to leave in Brussels and once I got to Houston.  I ended up ‘attending’ the scheduled meetings on the phone even though they occurred in the evening in Brussels.
On the positive side, David was stranded in Frankfurt by the same “no fly” ban that had me stranded and decided to join me in Brussels, so we were able to reconnect after not seeing each other for 8 years. I also met Jenn, who stopped for a night on her way back to York.  David is an excellent cook and when he was tired of writing his dissertation, he would prepare a really nice evening meal for us, so that I had home cooked dinners for a week.  David, you are welcome anytime!
My sister was stuck in Houston, without a way back, without a husband, who could fly to Canada, and without a hotel room. Fortunately, all this happened on the day that I was supposed to arrive in Houston, so one “O” became another “O” and she took advantage of my reservation – she was impressed by the service, and the room - I am a ‘gold’ member of the hotel and get preferential treatment. I believe Michel described her room as the “Presidential Suite” – I ended up in the same room, and agree that it was very nice.
Several colleagues of mine were also stuck in Houston after a big conference in Galveston. They trickled in two by two as seats were available. However, the first to arrive indicated that there was a lot of reluctance on the part of passengers to get on the very first plane to fly from Houston to Amsterdam. The 40-seater plane, business only, was only 30% full, if that much. Apparently, news coverage in the US focused on the fact that European countries had only reluctantly agreed to restart flights under the insistence of airlines even though they (the countries) were not convinced it was safe to fly. I think that would make me hesitate to be the first too.
Two friends were stuck in Singapore. They are probably the ones who started the volcano spewing all that ash just so that they could spend a little extra time there. What a place to be stuck for an extra week!
There were indirect effects too. One cousin had to host the two daughters of their friends for a few extra nights as the parents were detained in Paris. Three nights turned into 8 or 9, and young children can be difficult about that.
Things are now getting back to normal, until the next time that “mother nature” feels the need to remind us who is really in charge here!

• Travel
• Comments(1)

pierreo April 4th, 2010

After Laos (I will cover that trip later), I spent 10 days in Singapore.  I realized as I was there that this is the first time that I am visiting Singapore – all my other stays were either on business, or because I was living there.  For the first time, I was a tourist, and I acted like one…

On the Saturday, I was lucky to be able to attend the EM Dragon Boat Carnival, an annual affair that has been growing each event.  There were over 80 teams entered this year.

From the start

To the finish

All teams worked really hard to do the best they could.

For me, this was an opportunity to see a lot of my friends and I spent most of the time walking around from one team to another reminiscing…  The weather was not very good that day.  As a matter of fact, it rained most of the time.  I decided to leave after the inter-site race, which was fortunately scheduled early this year.  Chemical won again, proving that last year was no fluke!

On the Sunday, things were more serious for me.  The main reason for this whole trip was the Aviva ½ Ironman to be held once again on the East Coast.  For Richard and I, this would be our fourth participation – Dave had done the last two with us and therefore he will be doing his third.  I left the hotel very early (around 5 AM) as I was awake anyway. 

Continue Reading »

• Culture , Food , Sports , Travel
• Comments(2)

pierreo March 9th, 2010

If you catch this post in progress, I suggest  that you go to the end first, as I will add each entry at the top in reversed chronological order.

25 March

I am now in Singapore have have kept myself busy, very busy so far…

On Saturday, I went to the EM Dragon Boat Festival, and saw a few friends (I am probably going to forget some one, but here goes…) – Albert, Andy, Ben, Beng Jit, Bob, Boon Yong, Christy, Corey, Desmond, Dawn, Ed, Fong Loo, Freddy, Gan, Georges, Jonathan, Josh, Kiem, Li Fang, Norli, Pam, Patrick, Peter, Siew Chong, Sinoto, Su Li, Thet, Tinu, Vincent, Xu Huan and more.  It was fun to catch up with all of them, but since it was raining most of the day, I did not stay ’till the end, just long enough to see that the “One Team” (Chemicals + SPT) was able to repeat the wonderful victory of last year, even without my help!

On Sunday, it was Triathlon time! I left the hotel around 5AM and met Richard for “Body Marking” before 6.  The race started at 7:10 AM but our wave, all the relay, teams did not start ’till 7:40.  We were the last to leave. I really struggled for the first lap, but felt better on the second lap and actually did my best time ever for the 1.9 km distance.  Richard and Dave did very well too and so we beat last year’s time by a few minutes.

Monday, I walked down Orchard Road (all the way) just to see how much had changed.  I also walked around the Marina Area and marvelled at the new casino Resort which is nearing completion (wait for the pictures coming soon!).

Tuesday, I had lunch with former colleagues and a drink (or two) with Sam.

Wednesday I went to the Zoo and enjoyed it soo much that I spent 5 hours there.  In the evening was the big party.  I really enjoyed it and the food, at Banana Leaf Apolo, was great as usual.

Thursday, I had a lunch date with Mary and closed my checking account, which gave me money to spend.

Much more planned for the days to come, so you will have to stay tuned for the real detailed posts when they come…

19 March

I have arrived at the end of my trip through Laos.  I am still in Vientiane, but leaving today for Singapore.

It has been a wonderful experience.  Since I last updated this, we spent a day visiting Vientiane and then left for the South, to Pakse and the Bolaven Plateau.  The EcoLodge had a superb view of one of the many waterfalls that leave the plateau.  We also trekked to some of them while there.

We ended the trip in the 4000 island region of the Mehkong, at the Laos-Cambodian border.  As the guide indicates, Laos is a generally cool and relaxed place, but it is here that they make it into an art…

I am now going to have to look through close to 1500 photos to pick a few to share with you in the coming weeks.  I hope that they came out OK as most of the time, there has been a severe haze due to brush fires.

13 March

We have arrived in Vientiane after a very short flight from Phonsavan.  We visited the Plain of Jars and the “Lucky Buddha”.

What I discovered, and maybe should have rememberd, is that this part of Laos was heavily bombarded by the US Air Force between 1963and 1974.  It is said that more bombs were dropped in Laos than in Germany and Japan combined during WWII.  There are still thousands of unexploded bombs every where in that area, and several organisations are painstakingly clearing the ground, 1 m2 at the time.

The “Jars” in the plain are huge limestone jars dating from 2000-3000 years ago (no one is sure).  No one is sure of their purpose either.  They make for an interesting sight amongst the bomb craters.

The “Lucky Buddha” is lucky because the building he was housed in was completely destroyed and yet it survived almost intact.

After two days in Vientiane we move South to the border of Cambodia.  This will be more nature that history – I do hope that the level of smog in the air will drop.  Even in Vientiane, last night, the sun disappeared about 15 minutes before sunset, hidden by a thick layer of smoke from all the fires that are set to clear the land for farming.

11 March

We have arrived today in Phonsavan, the city at the center of the Plain of Jars.  It took us 7 hours today to cover the 250 km from Luang Prabang to here.

I really enjoyed Luang Prabang, where we spent one full day and two nights.  One day is not enough to get a full view of this wonderful city.  I could have easily stayed an extra day, but now, I have a good excuse to come back.

It is a small city with a developing tourism industry, but it is not yet over-run by ‘us’.  There are great temples, the Royal Palace, occupied until 1975, is definitely worth the visit; but it is really the town itself, and the relaxed atmosphere that reigns everywhere that made me feel so good.  We had quite a few good meals too and I bought a photograph that I really like.

Tomorrow, we tour the Plain of Jars before flying to Vientiane where we will also stay two nights.

9 March

Just want to keep you informed of my trip through Laos while I am still there.

I just arrived in Luang Prabang after spending two days on a slow boat down the Mehkong river.  We came through Thailand and crossed the Mehkong River into Laos near Chang Rai.

Very relaxing two days with not much to do other than look at the scenery and watch the river banks flow by.  The Mehkong is very low right now so in a lot of places, the boat has to be careful not too hit rocks right under the water level, but we managed safely.

We made a stop in a small village which was very interesting; we aso stopped at caves full of Buddha images.  Tomorrow we visit Luang Prabang, which used to be the old capital of Laos.. Should be very interesting.

I will let you know how things develop the next time I find access to internet…

• Travel
• Comments(1)

pierreo February 20th, 2010

I could go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  I have been to New Orleans many times since 1975, but never for Mardi Gras.  I could go to “Il Carnevale” in Venice.  I have been there too, in 2000, but not around Carnival.  And, of course, I could go to Rio! I did in 2005, but missed the carnival by about 6 months.  The main reason why I do not do these things is because I am cheap, I fail to plan long enough in advance, and I really do not like very large crowds.

I like to go to smaller, more intimate celebrations – like the time I celebrate Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge.  I like it when there is a lot of interactions between the participants and the crowd, and that is why I have always liked the Carnaval of Malmedy.  I went there regularly in my youth, but probably had not made it in more than 30 years.  I decided that I had to go this year.

The weather on Sunday was not the best.  It started snowing as soon as I left Brussels but fortunately the roads were not too slippery.  They were not slippery, that is, until I arrived in Eupen – that is where the road starts to go up to the Haute Fagnes – a Natural Reserve know in English by its German name of Eifel (a lot of is was situated in Germany before WWI and this was re-taken by Germany during WWII – there was very harsh fighting in this area in 1944 and especially in the Battle of the Bulge).  With all the snow, I expected spectacular scenery and since I had a few hours before the parade started, I decided to make a short stop to what is probably my favourite nature spot in Belgium.  I was not disappointed!

Near the road, there were people leaving on cross country skis

I had a quick chat with one of the local ‘rangers’ – probably a volunteer who is available on week-ends, just in case.  She confirmed that the region has not seen such beautiful snow in many years.  I decided to go away from the skiers on some of the footpaths in order to get away from the crowd – I did not have to worry, there was not much of a crowd.  It was snowing lightly while I was there, but had been snowing harder during the week.  The trees were laden with fresh snow.

The moor – this area is actually a marsh – was untouched by human tracks – most of the reserve is closed as walkers could damage the delicate ecosystem (as I was told…).  Visibility was not that good as snow kept falling and was actually getting heavier.

The clouds were so low that in places the trees faded into the clouds

Continue Reading »

• Culture , Travel
• Comments(1)

pierreo February 13th, 2010

I had a very interesting two weeks!

If you have read the “Who” Page of this blog, you will know that I try, every month, to do something special – my way of preventing from falling into too much of a routine, and making sure that I enjoy life to the fullest.  I am not going to have any problems fulfilling this requirement this month!

Actually, I started in late January with a visit to the BRAFA – the 55th Brussels Antiques and Fine Arts Fair.  This is very ‘posh’ and proper – all the pieces shown are for sale, but I could not afford most of them (and really would not want a lot in my apartment!) but it is like a visit to a museum.  I did not expect to find anything that I would be tempted to buy, and I was not proven wrong.  However, it was still an interesting visit, made more so by the location.

BRAFA is held in the old industrial estate of Tour et Taxi, nothing to do with either a tower or taxi cabs but used to belong to the German enterprise of “Turm und Tassi”, and this is the literal translation of the two German words.  They are located along the canal on the North of Brussels and I am not sure what they used to do in there.  For much of my youth, what little of it I spent in Brussels, these were derelict, abandoned buildings.  They were renovated 10-15 years ago and now host a number of events.  It was the first time I was able to go inside.

My cultural tour continued on 1st February with a very unusual concert: “Jerusalem” by Jordi Saval.  The concert essentially retraced the history of Jerusalem from antiquity to modern time through the music of the people who occupied it over the years.  I really enjoyed it even though it was “difficult” music – difficult on the public in so much as it required a lot of our attention in order to really enjoy the experience.  I often listen to music while I am doing something else (I am listening to “The Phantom of the Opera” right now) but I could not do anything while this was playing.  There are songs and recitations in several languages, and the words are just as important as the music.  During the concert, there were super-scripts (in two languages of course – this is Brussels) to allow us to follow the meaning; if you listen to it at home, you would have to follow the text from the libretto.  Here is the cover art in case you are interested in buying – my recommendation: go see the show if you have a chance!

Continue Reading »

• Culture
• Comments(0)

pierreo January 30th, 2010

In the middle of January, I spent a weekend on the Southern coast of Holland, in a small town called Domburg.  Here is a view of the town on a very bright Sunday morning (It rained a lot on Saturday, so no pictures then)

The view on the other side of the beach is very nice too

Because of the rising sun, the view towards East, the Schelde estuary and Belgium is eerily shadowy

We went hicking in the Natural Reserve called Oranjezon.  There were not many people around, as the temperature was still rather cold.  But we did run into a group of hairy mules grazing in between the dunes

Continue Reading »

• Travel
• Comments(2)