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Japan 2008 – Takayama and Koya San

Posted on 11 May, 200810 May, 2010 by pierreo

After the visit to the fish market, we left Tokyo for Takayama, located in the mountains North of Nagoya. For this trip, everybody had to have a 14-day JR Pass, allowing us to ride on almost any train, at anytime for the duration of our trip. So we took the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Nagoya, and than a local train to Gero. We had to stay there as there is a festival in Takayama and all hotels are fully booked.

We had hope that the cherry blossoms would be still in full bloom here, but again, we are just too late. We are higher up, but further South from Tokyo. However, the town does offer some picturesque views. However, our main goal is Takayama, another 1/2 hour on the train.

The old part of town has been protected and winds around a small river.

You can ride around town the ‘old fashion way’ …

As before, food is an important part of our trip. In the hotel, we are ready for our traditional dinner – Hiro and I have also decided to wear the traditional Yukata – casual wear for inside the house.

The second day, we get to experience the Takayama Festival. It is centered around a series of floats which were initially built centuries ago

They each have a mechanical puppet who does the most intricate dance

I saw two separate performances amongst a sea of people, which is why the view was not always perfect …

When the puppet needs a change of props, “magic Hands” appear from below, carefully disguised …

There are also parades

I was fascinated by one young girl, in the middle of this photo. She was beating her drum with rare energy, as if it had seriously wronged her – and she never smiled once! Since she was part of a band with mostly flute player, I surmised that she really wanted to play the flute and was mad at the band leader for forcing her to play this ‘dum drum’!

But what fascinated me the most, were the kids who rode the floats. This girl had exactly the same haircut as the puppet.

There were others, just thrilled by the big crowds

At the end of the day, though, it was time to put the floats back in their hangars – not an easy feat since they do not have a motor and all is done by ‘people power’.

We left Takayama the next day, after a visit to two sake distilleries, and a little bit of education on the finer side of this traditional Japanese drink.

This was our longest travel day, not in distance, but in just about every other way. We took a train from Gero to Takayama, another from Takayama to Nagoya and than a Shinkansen to Osaka. Two short subway rides got us to another station still in Osaka. We were in the middle of rush hour and in one subway, we were packed tighter than sardines – not easy considering that most of us were carrying two bags (I had two backpacks – a big one on my back and a smaller one between my legs). We did not have to go far, so it was an interesting experience – but I am glad I do not have to do that every day. We took two more trains, a funicular and finally a bus to get to Koya San – South of Osaka, surrounded by 7 holy mountains. The two is full of temples as it is one of the most important ‘teaching’ center of buddhism in Japan. We actually stayed in one of these monasteries and were awakened at 6:30 AM to participate in two of the morning ceremonies that the monks have to do (no pictures allowed – sad to say). Here is the entrance to our ‘hotel’

The town is very picturesque

but not the reason why many pilgrims come here all year long

The largest cemetery in Japan is located here caled Okuno-In. It has been active for hundreds of years and contains tens of thousands of grave-sites all built inside a beautiful forest.

You even had the obligatory black raven …

Every space, no matter how small, is used as a shrine or memorial

In the afternoon, we visited the most important temple in town: Kongobu-Ji. It is home to one of the best and largest rock garden in Japan. The rocks represent the head and back of a dragon sticking above the clouds (gravel). This picture does not do justice to the real thing …

By now, you must be asking: what does this have to do with food? We has another feast at the end of our stay in Koya San, served by the training monks …

Next stop – Osaka, after a bus, the funicular and several trains of course…

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Culture, Food, Travel

Japan 2008 – Tokyo

Posted on 4 May, 200824 May, 2010 by pierreo

I just spent two wonderful weeks in Japan, visiting some places I knew, but others I did not. This was an Intrepid Travel tour, with a food theme. I love Japan, and I love Japanese Food, so this was a trip made for me. It gave me a good opportunity to dig into the Japanese culture even more than I had done on previous trips.

We started in Tokyo, where I had been before, but without ever exploring the city.

First sight was somewhat of a disappointment. I had heard that cherry blossoms were at their peak in the Tokyo area, and yet when I went to look for them, this is what I found

Closer inspection confirmed my fears

I understood later that the Thursday before my arrival, there was a very significant rain storm in Tokyo which stripped the blossoms from the trees … something for me to look forward to the next time I go to Japan.

Near our Ryokan (we only staid in Japanese style hotels), was the Asakuza Shrine and I was lucky enough to see a wedding couple about to tie the knot. She seems happy enough, but I am not sure he believes this is the happiest day of his life.

Evening comes very early in Japan as sunset is before 6 pm at this time of year (for some reason that I still do not understand, the standard time is Tokyo is set so that the sun is at its zenith at 11AM, so sunrise was about 5AM and sunset around 6PM!). Even through the clouds, the sun tries to provide a reasonable sunset.

This was a food lovers tour, and therefore a lot of the activities revolved around food. On the second day, we had a soba noodle making lesson.

Continue reading “Japan 2008 – Tokyo” →

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Culture, General, Sports

First Week-end in March

Posted on 4 March, 200810 May, 2010 by pierreo

I do apologise for the long silence. I guess I was busy getting ready for this week-end.

It started Friday evening (I agree, technically still February and not part of the week-end, but you will forgive me this literary liberty). That is when I attended the third class of a photography course I have been taking. This is mainly intended to let you take better pictures by knowing what to look for when taking pictures while travelling. It is intended for all levels of ability and the ‘instructor’ mainly taught by showing pictures that he has taken over the years and tells us why they are good, or not so good.

For the second session, he had asked us to provide three of our best pictures we had taken over the years. He would look at them and critique them in the class, telling us how we can improve them. I used these:

He liked the sunset in Freemantle, but indicated that he thought a better shot would have been one with a single light house and the sun right behind it. Using ‘Photoshop’, he re-created this picture I had also taken that evening.

My second pictures was this one:

He liked this star shot. Also indicated that this is something that cannot be done with a digital camera – indeed, my camera does not have a ‘B’ options. Maybe there is some use to keeping a film camera…

The third was just OK – he thought I should have cropped it closer to the face of the child.

Saturday morning was the Singapore Biathlon 2008. My starting time this year was 7:30 AM, an hour earlier than last year. Based on my training, which was very intensive, I really thought I had a chance to be around 1h20, about 8 minutes better than 2007. As usual, I am nervous and find it hard to sleep the night before, so I get up early and leave for the East Coast Park where the race is held. I arrive there at 6:15 AM, in plenty of time to register, get the numbers marked on my legs and arms, and than wait for the start.

Just like last year, the start of the swim was awful. I was trying to stay away from other people but could not. I was kicked, slapped, assaulted from behind and both sides and ultimately hit in the face to the point where I almost lost my goggles. I got out of the crowd and started to swim, and my breathing was so rushed that I could not even keep my normal rhythm. I tried to swim breast stroke, but even that was too much. I thought for a moment about quitting, but than got on my back and relaxed for about 30 seconds, probably no more than that.

It was enough to get me started. I slowly made progress in free-style and started to recover. By the halfway mark, I started feeling stronger, and I needed to as I also discovered that the current was strong, and against us on the way back to the start point. I pushed harder and started passing people – nobody was passing me. When I got back to the beach, my stopwatch showed me the bad news: 36 minutes, at least 8 more minutes than my swim time in 2007. All hopes of beating my time was already gone. I have no ideas where I stand against the ‘opposition’ – so I run to the transition area and get ready for the run.

I feel good! First three km in 16 minutes, first 5 km in 26 minutes – thast is about the timing I was hoping to keep. But than, for no reason, I slow down – I do the next 2 km in 12 minutes – too slow. So I accelerate and actually manage to finish the last 3 km in 16 minutes. My total run time was I think under 54 minutes, 4 quicker than last year. I finished at about 1h33, 5 minutes slower than last year.

My only hope, is that the swim was indeed harder and longer than last year – I cannot believe that my poor start (I had a poor start last year too) made me waste 8 minutes.

The results are out and while it looks like the swim was indeed tougher, I did not do better than last year. In 2007 I was 62nd out of 180 participants. This year I am 72nd out of 230 participants – about the same percentile.

I went home to take a shower and get ready for the rest of my week-end. I was not done yet.

On Saturday evening, we had one of two field trips for the photography class. It started at 5:30PM at the Merlion. The weather was against us – very cloudy and therefore flat light. We were first told to take an artistic shot anywhere in the area as long as the Merlion, or a part of it is visible. Here is one shot I took – it surprised me that with everything that is going on and all the subjects that she could be shooting, this lady is taking a picture of herself…

Next assignment – depth of field. Need to have the plaque, and the Merlion and the background all in focus. Easy with a point-and-shoot, but you have to know how with an SLR.

Third, assignment, take a single shot of the Stamford Hotel – pay articular attention to framing and composition.

I had actually taking this picture while we were waiting for the rest of the group to come and before he had give us the assignment because I found that the plants and lightposts and hotel made some interesting lines.

We finished the evening on the roof terrace of the Esplanade Theaters. I like this shot of the recently opened Singapore Flyer recently opened. It is only in a long exposure shot that you can actually see that it is moving – this one is not quite long enough…

On Sunday morning, we had the second field trip. This time 8:15 AM at Stamford Landing – the place where… I might as well let the picture tell the story

More assignments, more artsy shots. I just had to take this one of the Fullerton Hotel with a Belgian flag in front.

I wonder who is the VIP who justified this – it certainly was not me!

I like this one of Sir Thomas Stamfod Raffles looking down at and posing for a group of tourists…

Or this artsy shot of buildings

By Friday, I have to select 5 shots to submit for critiquing. I have not yet decided…

Any suggestions, please let me know – thanks in advance

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Culture

Yen Nee’s Wedding

Posted on 9 February, 200810 May, 2010 by pierreo

Last week, I attended Yen Nee’s wedding dinner at a local hotel. All Papillon was invited and we occupied two full tables.

I am not sure if other guests are glad that we attended – the bride and groom certainly seemed to enjoy our ‘entertainment’.

This is not the first Chinese wedding I have attended, but it was very much different from all the others. I never knew how much fun one can have with two eggs and two grapes. But I am getting ahead of myself.

For the entrance of the bride and groom, we had a series of ‘explosive’ confetti cannons – unfortunately, for you and me, I do not have any pictures – but the floor of the hotel ballroom looked quite different after our salvo (8 separate confetti shooters along the aisle). Throughout the dinner, we had many cheers for the new couple. Here is the full group of us

One big happy family. At the end of the dinner, it is customary for the bride and groom to go from table to table to greet guests. We were the last tables to be so honoured and we had a few surprises in store.

First the bride has to take two eggs, introduce them at the bottom of each pant leg of the groom and has to make them travel all the way to be extracted from his collar . Here is what is looks like:

At first it is rather easy…

but you have to be careful

The eggs did not break and so we were ready for the second exercise: the groom has to eat two grapes hanging from the neck of the bride

blindfolded, of course, and the grapes are kept moving …

We had an excellent time – I just fear that we may not be invited again to another celebration. It is clear that the hotel will ask for a supplement if we are involved again!

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Culture, General

The Blood Drive

Posted on 21 September, 200710 May, 2010 by pierreo

For many years now, I have not been able to donate blood. I did so for many years while I was living in the US and than, opportunities just did not happen.

When I first moved to Singapore, I was pleased when EM organised a blood drive soon after the start-up of the plant in 2001. I was very disappointed when I was told that my blood was not accepted because I just happened to live in the UK during the late 1980’s ‘Mad Cow’ scare. That ban still exists and therefore I cannot donate blood in Singapore.

This year, I decided to do something about it – and had one of the most humbling and sobering experiences of my whole life…

Every year, EM organises a blood drive not only in its own offices, but also in public areas around Singapore. Last Saturday 15 September, this was happening near the Singapura Shopping Center right on Orchard Road. Since I cannot donate, and many of my friends were involved in the effort, I decided to volunteer to help out.

I showed up right after our Dragon Boat practice. After receiving the obligatory blood-red t-shirt, and my friend ‘Calvin the Camel’ to attract attention, I was directed to the area between the shopping center and the MRT (subway) station to ‘convince’ people they should part with one pint of their precious blood.

I grab 10 blood-red balloons, a bag-full of packets of napkins and I head for the very crowded sidewalk. How tough can this be? There are hundreds of people out there every minute and I should be able to talk a few of them into this generous donation.

At first, I am not sure how to approach people and quickly find out that most people do not really want to be approached by me either… From meters away, they cross to the other side of the sidewalk just to avoid me. Others do all they can not to make eye contact. When I try to give a balloon to the small kids, they get pulled away from me by parents afraid that I will then ask for money. When I try to hand adults a packet of napkins, they shrug and move on. I have never been ignored and avoided by so many people in my life.

A few people listen, and walk away saying that they will think about it. I met many people who also happen to ‘work for the Red Cross’ and even more who just happened to have a blood drive in the school/company/neighborhood next week and therefore could not donate today. Five people were leaving Singapore that very same night.

After a couple of hours of standing outside, and mixed success, I decided to go see how some of my friends were doing inside. Su Li, Yen Nee and Cassy were lucky to get to work the MRT station where it is air-conditioned.

I cool off for a while, and its back to the sidewalk for more solicitations.

There are, or course, the successes. I was able to convince 8-10 people to part with a whole pint of their precious blood. A whole family of three agreed to donate. Sometimes, I had to disappoint people telling them they were not eligible, even though they were willing. A group of tourists from the Philippines were willing, and I only found out at the last minute that they were tourists, and therefore not eligible. There were many people who were too young, or who did not have their ID.

One gentleman was very gracious and explained to me that he had been donating blood for many years. However, this year, he turned 60 and therefore he is no longer eligible. Just before he stepped away, he turned around to look at me and said ‘Thanks for what you are doing’. As I looked at him puzzled, he added ‘Not many foreigners would do what you are doing.’ That alone compensated for all people who ignored and avoided me.

At 5:30PM the word went out that we were done and registration was closed. In one day, we collected 247 donations. Over the full week, EM collected 1117 donations for the Singapore Blood Bank. Quite a success which required the help of a lot of people. After we had cleaned up and packed all the equipment that something like that requires, we took a few group pictures to remember the day.

As you can see, a lot of people and many friends that you should recognize from previous posts.

Saturday was an eye opening experience for me as, for the first time, I was on the receiving end of how I have been treating people trying to get my attention, and money,and various other donation, for many years. I have ignored them as much as I have been ignored. I avoided them as much as I was avoided. Occasionally, I would give them a little attention, with no intention that it should go any further – just as they now did to me.

I am certain that the next time I encounter young people, or old people or anybody trying to collect money for charity I will look at them in a totally new light, and be much more willing to listen, support, and donate, when I can. A sobering experience, but a very positive one overall.

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Culture, Sports

The ZOO at night, un-Singaporean shopping, The Bay Run and Yen Nee’s Wedding Photos

Posted on 29 August, 200710 May, 2010 by pierreo

On Friday, it was Freddy’s birthday. Ben and Jon needed to inspect the set-ups at the zoo for Saturday’s Family Day. We therefore decided that we would cycle there. Freddy, Ben an I left from Ben’s apartment and were met by Jon soon after we arrived at the Zoo – only a 13 km ride, but some traffic and two long hills.

The Zoo was closed, but we had special permission to go in. Ironic that my first visit here is this way. I have been to the Night Safari (and really like it) but never the Zoo itself. I did not get to see any animals, other than the dark silhouette of two baboons. However, I was able to realize that the setting is very nice, and that there seem to be no cages between the visitors and the animals. We were driven around in an electric buggy by two security guards, who made sure we stayed out of trouble.

After the inspection, Yen Nee and Marilynn joined us with a special birthday cake for Freddy.

They also had durian – my friends were surprised when I did not hesitate to have a piece. I am glad that I can still surprise them some times.

Here is a photo of the whole group who was there:

Yen Nee (more about her later), Pierre, Freddy, Ben, Marilyn and Jonathan.

On Saturday, I needed to do some shopping. I have never been a good shopper. Usually, it is “go-in-get-what-u-need-and-get-out”. This goes totally against the ‘national sport’ here in Singapore – shopping centers, and there are many of those, are usually packed on Saturdays and Sundays, and not really empty the rest of the time with people doing a lot more looking than they are buying. None the less, I bought a pair of dress trousers, a new weather station and the latest Harry Potter’s book all in less than one hour, including the bus rides to and from Orchard Road.

On Sunday was the annual SAFRA Shears Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon, also this year called the “Bay Run” as the end was on the new floating stage in Marina Bay. I was signed up for the 12km run, as I did not feel ready yet for a ½ marathon. This is a popular run and there were thousands of people at the start at 7AM. Ben and Jonathan were doing the ½ marathon and had left at 5:30AM. The start was delayed 15 minutes as the VIP (one of the local members of Parliament) was not there to give the start… I will never get used to the local’s flexibility with time.

Here is a picture of the start. You can try to find me somewher close to the stage. I am wearing a red shirt and a bow-tie.

Very soon after the start, the route gets on to the East Coast Parkway (ECP) and crosses the bridge for which the race is named. When you drive over this bridge in a car, it does not feel like much, and in less than one minute, it is all over. When running, it is a whole different story! I do not like climbs when I am running. And this is a major climb. The bridge has more than 25 m of clearance underneath; the climb seems to go on forever. Reaching the top, I was totally spent, and still had more than 8 km to go. The downhill portion allowed me to recover a little, but not as much as I was hoping. The rest of the race was a struggle. Immediately after the exit from ECP on Fort Road, we rejoined the route of the ½ marathon, and the crowd on the street increased significantly, with a lot of people just walking. Only 3 km to go and I am not going to give up. The finish is through the new stadium at the marina (I took some nice Fireworks shots from there last week) and onto the new stage. Done! The time is not very good, about 10 minutes slower than I was hoping, but I did it (the results are out and I am 85th out of 229 Men Veterans – you can read all about the race on www.safra.sg). The exit is back through the stadium, unfortunately, where the crowd and the heat makes it almost unbearable! My shoes are “sqwishing” at every step from the accumulation of sweat from my legs! Even though the temperature was not very high, the humidity was, which made this a tough run. No photos, yet, but I will try to add some later when they are available.

Last week, there were fireworks here. The stage is just huge as you can see here:

The stands can sit up to 27000 spectators! Here is one of the pictures I took last year, from Shears Bridge

and one from this year – sitting down

It is unfortunate that the smoke from the fireworks hides significantly the skyline of Singapore.

My day was not finished yet!

At 10AM, I joined the rest of Papillion for a Photo Shoot. Yen Nee had asked us if she could take some of her wedding photos with the team on a Dragon Boat – we enthusiastically agreed and immediately embarked on a massive planning effort. Vincent negotiated with his friends at the SDBA to get us a brand new boat, with a golden drum; Ben looked for the best locations and tried desperately to find a date when most of us could make it. And today is the day.

We need to launch the boat ourselves and than row all the way to the Oasis Bridge, where there are steps that can be negotiated with a wedding dress. For the special occasion, I am actually wearing my black bow-tie with our normal rowing uniform (I wore the bow-tie for the run as well, and got some very interesting looks from other runners – I am hoping that there will be some good photos too). As we arrive by water, the bride and groom were coming by land. For a little over one hour, we rowed in circles with the wedding couple at the front, in the middle and at the back of the boat; with Yen Nee amongst the boys and her husband with the girls and many other combinations. Other dragon boat teams practicing around us were clapping and sending their best wishes as well. We are now famous. A local photographer happened to be there and posted two photos on STOMP (http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/viewPost5084.aspx)

Here is one of them, in case you do not want to go hunting…

After the shoot, and after a well deserved shower, as usual when we get together, we went to eat. Thanks to Samuel, we re-discovered the excellent fish noodle shop we used to go to. For a while, they had moved and we did not know where to. Now we can safely go back to the Old Airport Road

new HawkerCenter and have excellent white fish noodle soup with milk, and a beer of course.

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Culture, Food, Sports, Travel

Jurong Island Race, Tokyo, Lau Pa Sat, BBQ, Casinos and a Typhoon

Posted on 19 August, 200710 May, 2010 by pierreo

There are so many possible titles for this post but all would say too much. You’ll have to read to the end to see what this is all about.

The Jurong Island Dragon Boat Race has been ‘owned’ by ExxonMobil (EM) in the last few years, ever since Georges (the then Chemical Plant Manager) extended a challenge to all of us in 2003 after no EM teams even got into the finals. Our top men’s team “EM Ace” and our ladies’ team “The Tiger Lilies” have each won their respective competition three years in a row (2004 to 2006) and last year we had four Gold and one Bronze medal. However, our competition is constantly improving, and there are several new teams this year, always an unknown quantity.

We knew we were in for a long day after the second heat of the 2007 competition on Saturday 4 August. EM Ace finished third in their heat and only the top two in each heat qualified for the final. They would not get a 4^th consecutive victory.

Fortunately Sea Blades (often, and unfairly, referred to as the ‘other’ men’s team) did qualify for the final in the open competition, Roaring 40s qualified in the veterans, the Lilies were directly into the ladies finals (as only three teams were entered) and Papillon qualified with the 4^th best time overall for the mixed final after finishing a close second in our heat.

Our ‘Old Men” won their final, by 0.05 seconds; the Lilies did even better, winning by a mere 0.01 second. Sea Blades was a very close third in the Open.

Papillion is ready and eager in preparation for the final of the mixed competition (front to back, right than left rower – Desmond, Jonathan, Su Li, Christy, Dawn (hidden), Yen Nee, Samuel (hiding), Ken, Ben, Myself and Patrick in the back). We actually won it by 0.03 seconds, but we were disqualified because we ended the race in the wrong lane, actually locking paddles with the second place team in the lane next to ours. It was a decision we could not dispute even if our ‘mistake’ probably did not influence the ultimate outcome of the race.

Last year, we had the best time of the heats and fell apart, due to our own lack of race experience, in the finals. This year, we did OK in the heat and much better in the final, leading all the way from an excellent start, and still did not get our ‘toy’ – the gold medal.

I really think now that we are jinxed!

We know that we gave it our all and we were first across the finish line. Nobody can take that away from us. Two EM teams were very disappointed by the results that day. It was very heartening,though, to see how all the other EM teams rallied around them in the true spirit of teamwork. You can see from the attached photo that we have a very large Dragon Boat family at ExxonMobil. They all helped a lot in making us feel better after what was very much a disappointment.

No time to celebrate, or commiserate, as that same evening at 11:30 PM I am off to Tokyo for a training class. I sleep the “sleep of the just” in the plane, undisturbed by the events of Saturday, and really tired from all the efforts and excitement; when I finally wake up, we are only ½ hour out of Tokyo. I am surprised to discover that the temperature is in the high 30’s and the humidity in the 90’s. Not the ideal weather to ‘explore’ a city; and not what I remembered from previous visits (until I realize, of course, that the other visits were in December and January!). I walk around the Ginza and Imperial Palace areas for the afternoon before meeting others for dinner at the hotel. In the middle of this very modern city, I run into young (20-year old) women wearing very traditional kimonos and wooden shoes yet talking on or texting with their very modern 3-G telephones.

That evening, we go to a ‘shabu-shabu’ restaurant right down the street. No one really speaks much English in there and there is no English menu, but we still manage to get a lot of excellent food, and really cheap for Japan and especially Tokyo. Next day training and another excellent dinner. Tuesday, back to Singapore. Typical business trip. I saw a lot of airplanes, airports, busses, taxis, subways, hotels and offices and very little of Tokyo itself.

Tuesday evening, I had dinner at Lau Pa Sat with friends. Ben and I arrived early and even though we were clearly together, the taunts seemed to treat us separately, pulling me in one direction and him in another, as if they could not believe that we would actually have dinner together. We finally got a table for eight and had immediate offers of satay and all sorts of other foods. The ‘Tiger Girls’ we there too with jugs and mugs – not those jugs for those of you with a dirty mind! – I am not sure you could call them ‘girls’ any more as they had probably been doing this work for quite a few years…

On Wednesday, I discovered that Singapore can still surprise me. I found a legal gambling hall! Papillon was having its annual BBQ at the Costa Sands Resort. I arrived early so I started to wonder around the place. A door caught my attention as there was ‘Jackpot” written over it; I reallt expected to walk into a ‘casino-themed’ restaurant. I walked instead into a room with 2 dozen slot machines and nobody asked me anything or tried to stop me, and the world did not end, and the police did not come out from behind one-way mirrors calling “Everybody put your hands up – this is a Sting Operation”. I had seen ‘game rooms’ very discreetly hidden in some private clubs, but I had no idea they existed this openly available to the general public. We had satay, bacon and mushroom skewer thingies (the new Papillon signature dish if we can find a better name for it), hot dogs, pork chops, otah, chicken wings, mee goreng, and much more. We had chocolate cake and champagne when Freddy and Christy finally joined us. We watched the videos of our last races – it is the first time that I am actually seeing myself rowing – and saw that we did very well in the CCG (bronze medal) and in the JI Race. We talked ‘till early in the morning while others played Mah-Jong (I am still not sure if they play with the correct rules here!). I had to go home early (I got there at 4AM) because I had an early flight to Hong Kong that same Thursday morning.

I finally figured out how to go directly from Hong Kong Airport to Macau. But it cost me a brand new tube of toothpaste! My first time in Hong Kong, I went there first and than to Macau. On the last day, I took the ferry back to Hong Kong and immediately the train to the airport (a 4 hour trip!). On the second trip to Hong Kong, I decided to start with Macau. Coming out of Immigration and Customs, I asked how to go directly to Macau, and was told that there is a way, but you have to do so before Immigration. I had to take a train followed by a ferry for another 4 hour trip. This time, I was determined not to miss it again. Just to make sure, I decided that I would only have carry-on luggage, one small back-pack, so I had ultimate flexibility. I found the desk for the ferry to

Macau and got a ticket for the 3:30 sailing. However, I had to re-enter security after I got my ticket, and there, they confiscated my brand new tube of toothpaste because it was, allegedly, over the maximum allowable volume of 100ml! Singapore did not seem to mind, but Hong Kong said NO!

Macau is a very interesting mixture of modern and traditional. Upon arrival at the ferry terminal, the announcement is made in Chinese (I suspect Mandarin rather than Cantonese) then English, Japanese and finally Portuguese. 10 years later and it is still the second language here in Macau. Even new signs, erected since the end of colonial rule, still include Portuguese. Most restaurants have a sign which says “Estabelecimento de Comidas” followed generally by a typical Chinese name such as ‘Tin Fock Lai’.I

am staying at the new Wynn Macau Casino Resort.

Macau has changed a lot since the last time I was here for Chinese New Year in 2004 (a potential future post?) and yet some things have not changed. I went into the historical district for dinner and found a little restaurant where I had excellent food for little money. They had one menu which was translated into English but I really had to have imagination to attempt to understand what the actual food would be. They have “fired fish brain with chilly” and “beef tenderness”; since they had fried in other places, I was puzzled by ‘fired’ which was repeated for many dishes; I am still not sure what ‘tenderness’ was all about – I know that mores are a little looser in Macau but I doubt if that had anything to do with it – I do not think that they were offering sexy massage with dinner; you only get that with a hair cut!

The weather is not very good as Hong Kong and Macau are under the influence of the trailing edge of the latest typhoon. Wind is not strong but there is a constant threat of rain and there is a complete cover of low clouds. The light is grey and would remind my of my native country of the temperature had not remained around 30 C. It should get better later as the remnants of the storm are moving away from here.

The biggest change is the construction of mega-casino resorts such as Wynn’s where I am staying. In 2004 the Casino market has been opened to competition and several of the major Las Vegas companies are establishing a presence here.

You can see about the weather on this shot from my camera-phone. The three-coloured tower on the left is a new resort being built (from the lion statue at the front, I suspect it may be MGM) and in the middle of the picture is the Wynn’s Resort where I am staying. You can also see several sets of tower cranes for new buildings. Further along the same view, Sands is finishing their resort and Venetian is also under construction on reclaimed land South of Macau – they are building a resort larger than the one in Las Vegas. In the last year, Macau has surpassed Las Vegas as the largest gambling city in the world in terms of money played! And they are building here twice as fast as they are in LasVegas.

However, Uncle Ho, former holder of the gambling monopoly in Macau, is not giving up without a serious fight. His main casino was always the ‘Lisboa’ but he had gambling halls in most other major hotels. He is building an incredible tower (it may look like it should belong to Playboy instead when it is finished – look for the bunny ears coming up…) with a huge Casino underneath. The Casino is already open even though the tower is not yet completed – you do not need a hotel here in order to attract visitors to the casino. Hidden under the tree, to the left of the massive building, you can almost see the entrance to the old casino, which used to be by far the largest in Macau – just to be sure you do not miss it, here is a blow-up of that same area. It also gives you a better idea at the actual size of the new tower.

I tried my luck in several casinos and made it without losing too much money, actually a lot less than I was ready to loose, mostly due to two big wins which made up for all the small losses.

I headed for Hong Kong on Saturday (lucky for me I did not try to do it Friday as all the ferries were cancelled due to bad weather) and just walked around to reacquaint myself with the city. The weather continues to be bad and therefore I am not really tempted to go anywhere far. However, the views of Hong Kong Harbour, with low grey clouds, can create dramatic images such as this one.

The large building in the middle disappearing in the clouds is the tallest in Hong Kong and there are twenty more floors that are currently. I doubt that they can see the sun above the clouds even on the top stories…

On Sunday, 12 August, I was heading back to Singapore, 8 days after the beginning of this post.

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Culture, Retrospective, Travel

Phuket – Thailand

Posted on 15 July, 200710 May, 2010 by pierreo

I do not have something exciting to share with you every week. However, there are many events that have occurred in the past which I never got a chance to share. I will therefore regularly go back and re-visit, as much for my benefit as yours, some memorable events of the past.

In April 2003, I went to Phuket from where I would depart on my first live-aboard dive trip. 5 days in the Similan Islands. I arrived on Saturday and was not due on the ship until Sunday evening. I had one and a half day to kill and so I rented a moped to be able to move around the island a bit and go to places I had not visited before. All went well on Saturday afternoon. I was able to visit a good restaurant I like that is hard to get to without transportation – White Lotus, owned and operated by a Vietnamese woman who is very friendly.

On Sunday, I decided to explore the southern coast. I left the hotel relatively early and as I go around the first bend on the main street, a couple of kids toss a glass-full of water at me… I am not sure what happened, but with the heat it actually feels good, and I do not think about it further. As I go through the first village south of Patong Beach, I get ‘attacked’ by a few teens with water pistols. There is definitely something going on as I see groups of people setting up large barrels of water along the road. I am still in the dark as to what is about to happen.

As time passes more and more people are along the road and are throwing water at everything that moves. Soon, I start to see pick-up trucks with large barrels of water in the back trying to soak the people along the side of the street. A giant water battle is building. And I am totally unarmed! However, it is rather hot, I am only wearing shorts and t-shirt and I do not mind being a little wet.

As I head back to Patong, I get a new experience: some people actually put ice in their water barrels and therefore I get the occasional really cold shower. There are also some people trowing talcum powder, and even coloured talcum powder.

I am soon soaking wet, with blotches of green, orange, purple and red all over my clothes. And it is almost lunch time. With some embarrassment, I walk into a local restaurant, wondering the kind of reception I will get given my current state. However, I guess it must be expected on this day and I have no trouble getting a table and decent food.

After lunch, I continued to explore and continued to get soaked. The more the day progressed, the more people were out celebrating, dancing, cruising etc.. while continuing to trow water at each other. In Patong, the main street was one big party. Many of the local bars had setup speakers outside and were playing loud music while patrons were dancing on tables and soaking passers-by. On the street, people were dancing on motorcycles and in the back of pick-up trucks while soaking the patrons of the bars. And, as before, I seemed to be stuck in the middle and getting soaked from both sides … but really enjoying every minute of it.

When I got back to the hotel to check out, I was totally wet and dripping all over the floor.

I discovered later that this is a tradition at Thai New Year in Phuket. This happens every year and is beginning to attract more and more tourists. This was my third “New Year” celebration this year, after the “Christian New Year”, “Chinese New Year” and now “Thai New Year”.

A great experience – I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time for it.

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Culture, Food, Sports

Not your average Tuesday evening

Posted on 27 June, 200710 May, 2010 by pierreo

This happened yesterday evening.

My usual routine on a Tuesday is to join my Dragon Boat team at a local gym (located near the Singapore National Stadium) after work.

We start our workout under the watchful eye of Patrick at 6:30 PM – give or take 10 minutes depending on who is there on time and who is not. We do 5 full laps of the runing track, on the outside lane, for a total of 2.4 km as a warm up (we are supposed to finish in less than 15 minutes, so it is not ‘just’ a warm up).

After that we do 3 complete circuits of 5 to 7 different weight exercises. Since the exercises follow each other continuously, this is somewhat aerobic as well as taxing the muscle endurance. As we have progressed since we started in March, we have also increased the weights that we handle.

We usually finish around 8:30 PM and than have dinner together at a local Food Center.

Here is a picture of the ‘happy’ team taken several weeks ago before the practice (we do not look that good afterwards):

From left to right: Freddy, Benjamin, Patrick, myself, Christy and Samuel.

However, as I said, this was not my usual Tuesday evening.

When we arrived at the stadium, there was a crowd obviously organising something really big in the middle of the stadium and on the running track. We all rejoyced as it was obvious we could not run. However, Patrick was not defeated and took us on a team easy run in the neighborhood around the stadium. We jogged for 15 minutes before getting back to the gym.

He had a surprise for us in the gym as well: lighter weights! We knew than there would be a price to pay. And there was. Only 2 circuits, only 5 exercise, but still 25 repetitions the first circuit and 30 reps the second – and the exercises are to be done in pairs, back to back, and against the clock. Ben and I are first to go, and he is slightly quicker than me for all but the last exercise. I catchup with him towards the end, but not quite enough. He takes a little less than 4m30 seconds and I am right around 4m45 seconds. Two by two the rest of the team complete the same series: Jonathan and Desmond, Freddy and Samuel, Ken, Christy and Eddie.

We finish the practice with a full race simulation: six minutes of hand clapping to insure that we are all on the same timing.

There were more surprises to come.

As usual, we all left for the temporary Hawker Stand on Old Airport Road. I was almost looking forard to the Harbin Beer that I was bound to drink even though I prefer a cold Tiger. The lady who serves beer and drinks is very nice and has convinced us that she makes no money with Tiger and only earns a little when she sells Harbin Beer (from China) – so I usually relent! When we arrive, the place is deserted and 1/2 the food stands are already demolished. I guess when they say temporary, they really mean it. It turns out that this is the week when they move back to their permanent place.

Not to be denied a good meal, Patrick proposes that we go to the restaurant that his parents own. It is not too far. The directions I am given are to take a right, than left. At the light go right and the restaurant is on the left, with a yellow sign near Lor 34. The name is Lai Fat.

I drive, go right than left than right at the light. No yellow sign! I find Lor 34 and try to park. No parking spaces! Since there are 10 cars already illegally parked, I do something I never do … park illegally too! As I am walking back towards the main street, I run into Partick who shows me where the restaurant is. The sign is blue, with yellow letters, and the name in english is shown as Lai Huat. I find out later that the Hokien version of Lai Huat (Mandarin) is Lai Fat and had I only been able to read the chinese characters, there would have been no doubts in my mind that I was at the right place.

Patrick ordered for us and we had an excellent meal. Lighlty fried fish with excellent chilly sauce, steamed checken with herbs, seafood hor fun, strir fried kaylan and another vegetable for which I can never remember the name.

And I had a Tiger Beer! Excellent evening!

As we were finishing up, some shouted something I did not understand and 1/2 the people in the restaurant immediately starting running out. As all the poeple at my table were doing the same, I figured that I should follow suit. Maybe this is where the term ‘Chinese Fire Drill’ comes from, so I was wondering where the fire was. Nothing so severe; just the police had shown up, and we needed to move the cars.

It was probably the right time to go home anyway, so after settling the bill, we all headed our separate ways.

Another great experience in Singapore!

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