The Traveling Menagerie

Going to Philippines

2008-04-06T11:19:00.004+08:00

Just booked my air ticket to Philippines. I will mostly be staying with Andie, the PhD student from my department at her place in Quezon city. But I might be staying one night in Los Banos for R&R so I am looking for a nice place now.

My tentative itinerary for now:

29 May
10am Arrive at Manila Airport
- Either take taxi directly to UP Diliman to meet with the workshop people and go with them to Los Banos (the bus is leaving from UP around 2pm)
- Or if Andie can get somebody to drive, pick me up from Airport to UP Diliman?

30 May to 1 June
Los Banos workshop

1 June - 2 June
Will go and hike Mount Makiling and check out the hotsprings
Wish I have the money or time to go to Hidden Valley but I doubt it

3 June - 6 June
SEAGA, UP Diliman. I think I will sign up with the tour to Mount Pinatubo

7 June (Saturday)
Extra day in Philippines - maybe go somewhere

8 June (Sunday)
Fly back to Singapore in the morning 10am.

Possible Places in Los Banos
Doña Jovita Garden Resort
Km. 57 National Highway, Bagong Kalsada, Calamba City, Laguna, Philippines 4027

Makiling Highlands Resort
Mt. Makiling in Capt. Mamon Road, Pansol, Calamba, Laguna, Philippines

Monte Vista Hotsprings and Conference Resort
Mt. Makiling in Capt. Mamon Road, Pansol, Calamba, Laguna, Philippines

City Of Springs Hotel Resort
KM 58 Brgy. Lalakay, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
- Lakeside Room

Pook ni Maria Makiling
an eco-tourism site adjacent to the Jamboree Site, National Arts Center and U.P. Los Baños

Hidden Valley Spring Resort
Alaminos, Laguna, Philippines

http://www.flyphilippines.com.ph/laguna/

Resorts in Laguna

Day One in China

2007-05-19T03:27:00.000+08:00

Before I can even finish uploading the photos from Europe, my laptop crashed. Rest assured there is a backup with my sis in Germany but I don't think I'll be having my hands on them anytime soon.

At the same time, I was quickly absconded on another family trip, this time to Northeast China.

It seems that 2007 is the year of visiting communist countries, past and present. Indeed, characteristics of the cities are so similar!

The above photo is one of my favourite from the whole day but more are available on my flickr. I just spent 2 our processing them for a change and I finally feel like I've justified my DSLR. I really understand why my photographer friends spend their days and nights editing photos. It's day and night! As such, I am planning on taking RAW from now on because I have iphoto again. But sadly I only have 2GB card space and it's so taxing on my resources to store them. *sigh*

Enjoy the sights and my brilliant photography *Cough* on flickr! :)

Upcoming Travels: China

2007-05-11T23:26:00.000+08:00

Originally thought to be a trip to North Korea and the North-eastern parts of China, this has become almost wholly a 9 days tour to China. Disappointed or not, we will be touring the river that divides China and North Korea, and probably taking a peek of North Korea from the boat. Yes, disappointed is now my middle name.

Nevertheless, here is the itinerary for my upcoming travels.

18 May 2007
Depart Singapore for Shen Yang (沈阳) via Guangzhou (广州)

19 May 2007
Shen Yang (沈阳) and Da Lian (大连)
Sights and Sites: Largest Palace in NE China, the Qing Dynasty Shen Yang Palace (沈阳故宫), Tiger Park (老虎滩公园), North Bridge (北大桥), Esplanade Road (滨海路), "Ocean of Stars" Square (星海广场) and lots of shopping. *Snort*

20 May 2007
Da Lian (大连), Lue Shun (旅顺), Zhuang He (庄河), Dan Dong (丹东)
Sights and Sites: Naval Base at Lue Shun (旅顺), North Korea Border Town Dan Dong (丹东), Sightseeing by the banks of North Korea

21 May 2007
Dan Dong (丹东) and Ji An (集安)
Sights and Sites: More border town sights and boat trip down Ya Lue River (鸭绿江)

22 May 2007
Ji An (集安) and the western slope of Chang Bai Mountain (长白山西坡)
Sights and Sites: Visits to the Song Jiang River (松江河), Chang Bai Mountain (长白山), Bai Hua Forest (白桦林) and Mei Ren Pine Forest (美人松)

23 May 2007
Chang Bai Mountain (长白山) and Chang Chun (长春)
Sights and Sites: West slope of Chang Bai Mountain, "Forest City" Chang Chun (长春)

24 May 2007
Chang Chun (长春) and Ji Lin (吉林)
Sights and Sites: Palace where the 3rd coronation of the last Emperor of China, Pu Yi was held. Chang Chun Movie Studio and Ji Lin, producer of the 3 treasures of the northeast - ginseng,　mink fur and freshly grown deer horn. Honestly this is quite distasteful but what the heck, go and see see also good experience. Apparently the deers are not killed for their horn but breed for it and shaved off constantly and it regrows?! We'll see but I doubt we'll get to visit the farms

25 May 2007
Ji Lin (吉林) and Shen Yang (沈阳)
Sights and Sites: Song Hua Lake (松花湖), Century Square (世纪广场), Manchurian Cultural Village

26 May 2007
Fly back to Singapore

Encountering East Germany

2007-05-04T13:22:00.000+08:00

Date: Monday 30 April 2007
Destination: Prague, CZ - Dresden, DE

As we were supposed to be checked out and off on a train to Dresden in the afternoon, we decided to visit the island in the middle of the Elbe river. Of course this was not before we attempted to see the astronomical clock at the Old Town square sing but was disappointed sorely. Still we managed to see the different places in the square, check out the sculptures on the Charles Bridge and have breakfast before we proceeded on to explore the Kampa which is the island mentioned. The Kampa is really a nice little quaint place connected by bridges to the mainland. There were watermills and beautiful flowers. It would have been nice to explore the Elbe on boat but time and money prevented us from doing so.

So many famous names like Kafka and Mucha followed us around in Prague. They also appear to have a liking for cats and putting them together with dogs. Bleh. Despite wanting to buy some sexy erotic 3D postcards for duck and hairen, I decided against it and pinched my pocket instead. Sorry folks but I decided to put away the euro and maybe get the animals some souvenirs from China instead. Haha it’s cheaper and I’m poor.

We got the hotel to drive us to the express train station for our ride to Dresden, Germany. The view was just magnificent on the way to Dresden, through Schona along the Elbe. The view was lined with cliffs and rock outcrops jutting out from pine forests along the river.

We soon arrived at Dresden and had a short walk from the main Dresden Hautbahnhof (HBF) towards the villa street. Ours is the roof apartment in a 2 storeys old villa. It was according to my brotherinlaw, a true art nouveau archiecture with lots of organic designs and flower motifs. However it leaves us spoilt Singaporeans wondering why the Europeans never built lifts in their buildings. If only we knew there were more stairs in stored for us in Berlin!

That night, we took the tram and visited Kunstofpassage which is an eclectic little place with different themes decorating each courtyard and the buildings around it.

There is an American Indian wall painting theme, a rain pipe-musical theme and an animal theme where monkeys swing from walls and a buffalo sleeps in a pond. We had great Vietnamese food that night and left contented. Myself with a bowl of Vietnamese Bun while the rest had familiar pho tai.

We caught a tram to catch a view of the Bruehl Terrace which overlooks yet again the Elbe and also the palaces, museums and churches that line the river. It was a beautiful sight. Fatigue soon caught up with us and I crashed in my little bed below a slanted roof that reminded me very much of Harry Potter’s room except perhaps several times bigger.

Primordial Prune in Prague

2007-05-04T13:21:00.001+08:00

Date: Sunday 29 April 2007
Destination: Prague, Czech Republic

While we were trying to keep our eyes open in the dry air of the opera house last night, the parents were exploring the city and unfortunately they jumped the gun and visited the Prague Castle which we were planning to visit this very day!

Alas we had to go ahead on our own while they further explore the other side of the bridge. Prague is a very interesting and very navigable town. The Elbe divides the city into two. On one side of the bridge is the Old town, New town and the Jewish Quarter. On the other side of the many bridges spanning the Elbe River, there was the Mala Strana which means little quarter or lesser town just below the majesty of the Prague Castle high on the hill overlooking the little town.

Prague Castle is this amazing compound that includes the St Vittus Church, the St George Bascilica and many other more palaces and buildings. There are also many churches, monastery and other estates on the hill. All and all I must say we visited one too many churches and the only impression I was left with is that the roman catholics, or perhaps just the Czechs, are really gory people. Christ on the stake vividly depicted with wounds and skulls and skeletons everywhere. There is even a church of bones which luckily we never went. Erkie said she went hunting for it but it was closed when she visited. What a pity! Prague is also a significant pilgrimage venue for many roman catholics and this is probably due to many religious relics found in this city.

We ended the day with a delicious Czech dinner and back to the hotel for complimentary wine tasting and a soak in the pool and sauna. After which monkey promptly proceeded back to her room for more soaking in bathsalts which did nothing but turn me into a primordial prune.

Recounting Bohemia

2007-05-04T13:19:00.000+08:00

Date: Saturday 28 April 2007
Destination: Prague, Czech Republic

Arrived in Prague in the morning, first time to be on time with any train experience thus far. It arrived promptly past 7 in the morning and we trekked all the way with our luggage from the train station past the namesti, through the old town, across the charles bridge and up the little hill to where our hotel stands beside the American embassy. It is a pain in the ass as every single vehicle passing the street must be checked by the 2 guards stationed at the street. Luckily we were just people walking with gigantic backpacks that they never blinked an eye at. What kind of security is that?

The hotel is wonderfully luxurious. It used to be an orphanage and today instead of serving the needy, they serve the rich. Owned by an Italian, the hotel boast of a spa, swimming pool, sauna, steambath in its cellar. It’s all quite quaint. The rooms are wonderful and chocolates lay waiting on your bed every night when you return. I was lucky to have a room all to myself for a change. Hurray.

After a quick swim, we went for lunch at a hungary restaurant that left us wanting. Of course I also had an outburst with the sibling and ended up running back to my room wanting to fly out of the country immediately. Still, I put down my pride and decided to go resolve the problem before I throw away the highlight of my trip – a session of opera at the Prague State Opera House.

I must say that I was disappointed because I was dressed in a nice little black dress while there were people in the audience dressed in jeans! This is so unlike later opera houses we passed by in Dresden (Semper Opera House) and Berlin! People were dressed to the nines in tuxedos and gowns. Very disappointing indeed. Perhaps Madame Butterfly was not exactly the best opera piece for an asian person to enjoy since I spent much of the night cringing at the singer/actress doing the Thai “wai” when she is supposed to be doing the Japanese bow! *cringe* Still, first experience of the opera I really enjoyed the arrangement and watching the orchestra in the pit. We took tons of photos and walked home amidst the midnight revelers of Prague.

Apparently, Bohemia is the land of Party Drink and Clubbing just as much as it is revered for being the center of arts culture and literature at the turn of the century. Alas, back to the hotel it is for us and off to bed staring at the wooden ceiling despite a luxurious bath waiting for me. To hell with baths. Bed is more important.

My last 3 hours in Prague

2007-04-30T16:15:00.000+08:00

Prague - the capital of Czech Republic.

The ignorant monkey never knew that this is the land of the bohemians. People always like to associate bohemians and hippies in the same sentence but how come nobody ever told me Bohemia is really Czech? Finally I have unknowingly stumbled upon a pilgrimage to this land of arts music and culture.

Loreta of Prague - home of anal retentive upholders of no-photography rules, ostentatious religious relics and the famous legend of Casa de Santa Maria where angels supposedly moved the house of Virgin Mary to Loreta. Photo by Monkey

Apparently it's very catholicy as well. Only too many churches and one too many religious sites. But the good thing about this is that monks with nothing better to do than to study the world around us resulted in a fantastic monastary with a superb library collection dating back 400-500 years ago! It was so spectacular. I bought myself a copy of a map of europe as a "virgin" lol.

There is so much I can say but I think I shall leave it to another time since it's my last 3 hours in Prague and I have hardly packed. Enjoying the last minutes of this luxurious 5-star spa hotel that used to be an orphanage which we stayed at for the last 2 nights. Speaking of which, this just reminded me that i have yet to take any photo of my luxurious room! Oh well too late. It looks like a big mess now. Hardly a fair representation of this great room. Still, some things can't be documented, like the superb chocolate they give complimentary every day or the free wine tasting of czech reds and whites every evening.

Prague is indeed an out of this world experience. The prague state opera house and the night time revellers going about their drunken partying. The hordes of tourists during labour day weekend that I've never ever seen so many tourists in person at one destination ever in my life!

Still, another tale for another day. For now, I will go feast on my chocolates and grapes and relish this last moments before we head back to Dresden, Germany - the previous capital of the communist German Democratic Republic, otherwise generically known to us as "East Germany".

Thursday 26 April 2007

2007-04-29T13:05:00.000+08:00

The overnight sleeper train to Warsaw, Poland was delayed at Hanover, the “trade city of Germany” due to engine failure and was stranded there for 5 hours while we wonder foolishly if it was not moving in order for us to sleep.

Finally, the train moved out of Hanover at 4.30am and arrived at Warsaw at 1.30pm. I never got a chance to bath on the train as expected but I begin to wonder if train rides induce bowel movements in the monkey. Scenes along the way were filled with yellow fields of rapeseed flowers, brick cottages or tidy rows of pine plantations. The funniest moment was when we reached the border town of Frankfurt/oder between Germany and Poland. At first I was confused why we were pulling up at “Frankfurt” since it was nowhere near East Germany. Then I found out that there are many Frankfurts in Germany and one of them is the border own of Frankfurt near the Oder River where the boundary between Poland and Germany lies. At the Frankfurt Station, suddenly two uniformed officer came up the train. Thinking they were trying to check my tickets when I had none on me and was sitting in a carriage I don’t belong in, I quickly evacuated back to my room. However, it turned out they were immigrations officers from Germany trying to check our passport. After they stamped our passports with a choochoo symbol, polish officers came to gave us their stamp of entry. All in all, it was an interesting experience.

The central Warsaw train station was almost abandoned when we arrived but we begin to realize this was only applicable on our particular platform. The whole station was bustling and it reminded me of Malaysia’s KL bus terminal. It was filled with little shops selling everything we might find in little mama shops in Singapore. It especially reminds me of the shops on the bridge linking Clifford Pier with Change Alley!

We waited for a while at the train station to sort out logistic issues but encountered the cutest little girl doing the most repulsive thing ever – begging. Sigh. I guess this is remnant from the communist regime and now the capitalist system is making the poor poorer and the rich richer. Apparently, Warsaw is pricier than even Munich and is on par with Paris while the poor people are digging their own coal and making their own gasoline.

I think the people here speaks English more than in Germany and quite well too. It’s probably from the large amount of tourists they get. Everywhere in Old Town Warsaw, a UNESCO world heritage site, where we are staying for the night, tourists littered the streets and squares. It’s an old fort filled with immaculately post-war reconstructed buildings that are so charming that monkey has fallen in love at first sight. My sister compared it to Venice. There were so many musicians busking in the streets and we couldn’t help but admire how Poland and the Polish people excel tremendously in the arts and culture. We had dinner at an “authentic” polish restaurant in a cellar with painted walls and ceilings right out of the baroque period. It was so beautiful I could live in Old Town Warsaw forever. There were also locals but at the restaurants, every single customer had donned suits and ties while we were in tshirts jeans and sandals. Still, the waiters were wonderful and the food delectable. Our serving waiter even took a photo with us on his own accord! Brilliant!

Reality sets in when you walk out of the old fort walls of Old Town and into modern Warsaw. The contrast was stark and almost ugly. We walked along the half-canalized river that runs through the city and we couldn’t appreciate Old Town more.

For now, it’s rest for the monkey at our service apartment at the edge of Old Town, 3km away from the main downtown city area of Warsaw. Tomorrow, more exploring of Warsaw followed by a night train to Prague in Czech Republic. Hopefully there will be no more delays!

Alster Pictorial

2007-04-24T18:08:00.000+08:00

Feenteich - millionaires properties, most sought after in Hamburg

For a selection of photos from Alster and of Hamburg, see my Hamburg flickr set.

Where and What is the Alster?

Green Arrow marks our home and the Alster lake right there. Above photo taken at Feenteich.

The Alster is a 53 km long right tributary of the river Elbe in Northern Germany. It has its source near Henstedt-Ulzburg in the village of Kisdorferwohld in Schleswig-Holstein, approximately 25km north of Hamburg. The Alster flows roughly southwards and reaches the Elbe in Hamburg, which was founded on its shore. In the centre of Hamburg the Alster has been dammed since 1190, originally to power a watermill. In 1235 a further dam was built for a second mill, which changed the form of the river to be like a lake. The Alster forms two artificial lakes within the city limits of Hamburg, the larger called Außenalster (outer Alster) and the smaller Binnenalster (inner Alster). Today these lakes and the surrounding parks serve as an important recreational area in the heart of the city.
Source: Wikipedia

On our last day in Germany we will be doing a dusk boat tour of the Alster.

Around the Alster

2007-04-24T16:56:00.000+08:00

Jetlagged and exhausted from no rest on the overnight flight yesterday, it was almost as if we were running away from the rising sun.

We stay on hamburger street

We arrived at 9am after catching a KLM cityhopper at Amsterdam to Hamburg but it felt as if it were 4pm already. Straightaway after putting down our bags, we went for a long walk around the Alster Lake of Hamburg. Cherry blosooms lined the road. It was so beautiful but we were all so exhausted that after 2 hours, it was almost agony.

Cherry Blosooms everywhere

Still, we couldn't resist taking photos at every tree and it took us forever and finally decided to take a ferry across the lake instead. There were dogs everywhere and even dogs on the ferry. Dogs running free behind their owners. Dog meadows that stink like poo and poo everywhere on the street.

Buying ticket on the ferry across the Alster

After that we headed down to the old city and had lunch at an italian fish place that's been in business since 1895! The menu changes daily and yesterday lunch was salmon with a red sauce on fetuccini(?) with zuchini sauce. It was infinitely salty and we didn't enjoy it much so forgot all about taking photos. It was sad that we didn't get a good menu because on other days, it's heaven on earth. Hopefully I'll get to eat there again in my lifetime on a good menu day. And all that, for 5.50euro which we cannot even finish.

Tip for the future: Germans eat salt like water and food portions are so big that it's wise to order 2 plates for 4 persons.

Est since 1895

Romantic Dining amongst history, al fresco style

A single scoop ice cream!

One other thing, there are icecream or eis shops everywhere that we probably felt full from eating so much icecream! we had a waffle cone with 1-2 scoops before lunch and right after lunch! Normal germans have at least 2 scoops and we were an oddity asking for just one giant one.

Tulips at the botanical gardens

We walked over to the botanical gardens for more flower photos with our ice cream, resting at the bench, looking at the Alster(?) bird and catching up. I miss my sister, even though we do argue but hey we miss that too!

From there we were so tired and in need of a toilet that we began a toilet hunt. Toilets are not free here and it cost around .50euro for entry. So instead, we took a s-bahn, a train, to downtown and went to a shopping mall in search of toilets. It was very nice and we didn't pay because we pretended to be customers. lol Tricks to finding free toilets in Germany.

Electronic Bus Timing board

Taking the bus was an interesting experienced. They have electronic signboards with the time of arrival for buses but it's not very accurate. Bus and Trains operate on an honor system which means that nobody check if you have a ticket or not. But they do have surprise checks by plainclothes conductors that spring on you for a show of ticket. Luckily we have a 5 people group pass for 3 days.

Inside the Rathaus, or City Hall

We visited the city hall or Rathaus and it's sad that there are no tours till after April 29 so we have to come back on our own when my sis is in Kassel at the end of the trip. Took some photos and then dragged our exhausted selves to the U-bahn which is the MRT back home.

The S-Bahn

Rested, we took the U-bahn again to Ohlstedt where the in-laws live and had dinner with them in their new house. My brother-in-law's nephew is 4.5years old but looks 10 and I keep talking to him like he's 10 but he responds like he's 4 which confuses me. He's younger than my nephew but is 2 times taller. ARGH! So freaky. His sister is 9 and so sweet and pretty :)

Luckily my BIL drove us home and I knocked out the minute I got back.

Now I got to go bath and off for another day of adventure before night train to warsaw tomorrow. Too bad it' raining today but hopefully tomorrow's fine and we're take the harbour tour tomorrow!

Airport Blogging Ritual

2007-04-22T21:07:00.000+08:00

As usual, blogging from Changi Airport, this time at the computer terminal near the escalators going down to the arrival hall at Terminal 1. Bit of deja vu, I seem to have blogged from this very terminal before, a few years ago.

Unfortunately, this time, I am plagued with diarrhea, as are my parents. Oh well, hope all is fine before and when we reach Hamburg.

Travelling with family is always difficult but hopefully I don't blow my top this time. Dad seems to be ill as well. I am really praying that this goes smoothly.

So far, check in is alright, the kids were naughty as ever sending us off at the airport. Dinner of Kong Pa Bao is probably our last semblance of authentic asian cuisine before we dive into germanic diets.

The next time I blog I will be at my sister's house on hamburger street. :)

Tschus!

Achtung Deutschland!

2007-04-21T23:17:00.000+08:00

Read: Attention Germany!
Monkey will be descending on the Fatherland on Monday morning via the party town of Amsterdam.

The itinerary is as follows:

Monday 23 April 2007
Hamburg

Tuesday 24 April 2007
Flensburg/North Germany

Wednesday 25 April 2007
Sylt
Overnight Train to Warsaw, Poland

Thursday 26 April 2007
Warsaw

Friday 27 April 2007
Warsaw
Overnight Train to Prague

Saturday 28 April 2007
Arrive Prague

Sunday 29 April 2007
Prague

Monday 30 April 2007
Prague
Train to Dresden, Germany

Tuesday 1 May 2007
Dresden

Wednesday 2 May 2007
Dresden
Meissen
Berlin

Thursday 3 May 2007
Berlin

Friday 4 May 2007
Potsdam
Hamburg

Saturday 5 May 2007
Kassel
Alster Boat tour

Sunday 6 May 2007
Hamburg

Monday 7 May 2007
Singapore

Upcoming Travels

2007-04-14T16:36:00.000+08:00

22 April to 7 May
Germany, Poland, Czech Republic

19 May to 27 May*
Northeastern China and North Korea

May 2007**
Buying Trip at BKK

Unconfirmed but might need to go make some purchases for people. 50% off air tickets to Bangkok if travel date between 3-29 May. However this trip will not materialize if I cannot resell for around USD$20

9 July to 11 July*
Resort hideaway with W
Possibly Bintan***

Am desperately looking for anything with a private pool or jacuzzi with sea view pref. Any recommendations? Has to be cheaper than USD$300 per night. Travel must be cheaper than USD$100 per person.

* unconfirmed dates
** unconfirmed travel
*** unconfirmed destination

A bit of canine shopping

2007-03-14T14:02:00.000+08:00

The editor of Tom Yum magazine, the inflight magazine of a Thai budget airline (Nok Air), saw the above photo I took last June at Mae Sai, Northern Thailand, and contacted me to use the photo in their photo graffiti section.

This is how I described the photo:

"The photo is taken last year (5 June 2006) at a 7-Eleven in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai Province, Northern Thailand. The 7-Eleven is located right by the border between Mae Sai and Tachilek, Myanmar.

There is actually a sign on the door of the store that says "No dogs allowed" but I guess dogs can't read signs nor thai (or english for the matter). It happily sauntered in and took a grand tour of the store and was still there when I left. Personally I think it was pretty hilarious and quite cool actually because nobody was alarmed by the canine customer except for the tourists of course. The irony of the sign was what really got to me. I'm not sure these stray dogs can read signs. But to me, these are the little quirks that makes me love Thailand the most. You won't find it anywhere else!"

I don't get paid for the use but I do get a free copy of the "full-color glossy magazine printed in thailand which is geared towards tourists" mailed to my house when the issue comes out!

Is this perhaps how National Geographic photojournalists start out?

Airport Blogging Ritual

2007-02-20T13:32:00.000+08:00

At the terminal 2 free internet stations. Boarding in 5 minutes time.
Today has been a crazy eventful day even before I get on the plane to go to Sabah.

I tried looking for free wifi but there was none at the airport. Unbelievable. Wireless@sg doesn't extend to terminal 2 and the place with ethernet requires me to provide my own cable! WTF! I really need to send out the survey questions and interview questions for my thesis and now I have to wager on Kota Kinabalu having internet access.

Anyways I sustained a slight injury this morning and hopefully that will not affect me when I get to Sabah. Sigh.

What a way to start an adventure. See you guys in 7 days! And if you are lucky, KK comes with inet and I'll be online before you know it.

Maliau Itinerary

2007-02-20T01:16:00.000+08:00

20 Feb
Arrive at Kota Kinabalu, 4.40pm

21 Feb
Leave for Maliau Basin via Keningau
Arrive Maliau late afternoon

22 Feb
Field work at Maliau

23 Feb
Field work at Maliau

24 Feb
Field work at Maliau

25 Feb
Depart Maliau towards Tawau
Arrive KK in evening

26 Feb
Field work in Kota Kinabalu
Visit island off KK

27 Feb
Return flight to Singapore arrive 1.5hours before Dan's talk

Gearing up

2007-02-15T14:24:00.000+08:00

Bought new footwear at Feder Shoes, located at Peninsular Plaza #02-58 last Sunday.

I supposed had I know of Campers Corner at Capitol Building earlier, I would have ended up with a pair of Gore-tex shoes. Unfortunately I did not and spent $149 on a pair of waterproof mid-cut hiking boots instead. If nothing else, it's a nice purple and grey color combi.

Even still, the gore-tex shoes, like this pair, were similar in that the shoe is not totally waterproof. It's not river-wading friendly and would only work as far as keeping my feet dry in a rainstorm. However, if water goes above the line marked "waterproof", my feet would still get wet! Nothing is worse than a pair of wrinkly pruney stinky monkey feet.

After chatting with Calvin Tay*, the manager at Campers Corner, I was disappointed to find out that the MION amphibian shoes line has apparently been stopped this season! That shoe indeed would have been able to worked both as a bootie and also as hiking shoes.

If it's any consolation, Calvin convinced me to buy a pair of socks from campers corner which purportly keeps my feet wrinkle-free even if it were soaked in wet socks the whole day! Can't wait to put that to the test in Maliau.

*Got his full name from this article. Indeed, campers corner is a total gem and I had a lot of fun chatting with Calvin. More about my conversation with him later, probably to be posted on MMM. He shared with me so much about the latest in organic and upcycle merchandises. But most of all, he put my mind to ease about my trip to Maliau. In fact he got me plenty excited! He was actually one of the first people to see Maliau, more than 10 years ago! He was one of the legendary ones who helped to clear a helicopter pad for people to enter and helped with building up the base camps there. WOW! Got me very excited indeed. Looking forward to Maliau now!

Survivor Maliau

2007-02-10T02:45:00.000+08:00

Coming to your screens in 10 days.
SURVIVOR MALIAU
Sabah's Lost World

Outwit. Outplay. Outlast!

Map of Maliau

Unfortunately, although Sabah has mobile phone network, the heart of the forest is absolutely free of phone frequency and network. Internet is out of the question. I will not be blogging from site but just like Survivor, broadcast begins the minute the mandated stay is over. You will soon be able to see all the juicy, bitchy, gory behind-the-scenes drama.

As seen from space, this is the result of uplifting to a delta area

Unknown to humans for hundred thousands of years, the first exploration team that entered the Maliau Basin was a mere 20 years ago. The basin is enclosed by undulating clifts that surround the basin which prevented entry into the basin previously. Likewise, it would be as if I would be stepping back in time into this self contained unique ecosystem through the mouth of the reserve where the base camp is, just as the gate greeted the visitors in Jurassic Park.

There may not be dinosaurs but with a species count of at least 80 mammals like Sambar deers, wild oxens, 2 species of leafmonkeys and ubiquitous leeches lurking in this Lost World of Sabah, you can definitely expect the adventure of your life.

Will the rambling leafmonkey survive outside of her native habitat?
Find out on February 28 when I return!
Exclusively yours at the Traveling Menagerie.

More reads about Maliau Basin:
"Maliau Basin: Scouting Out Sabah’s Wildest Frontier", Wildasia.net
" 6-14 May 2006 Expedition to Sabah's Lost World", Yeoh Chee Weng

End of International Conference

2006-12-14T16:27:00.000+08:00

Tree planting session today!

Today saw the end of the international conference but we still have another 1.5 days left in this city. Slept at 6am this morning doing a video for the presentation at today's concluding keynote address.

Haven't had the opportunity to upload photos due to lack of internet access but hopefully soon.

Either way, check out the photos from the 5th day in my Haikou flickr set.

Photos from Day 4

2006-12-14T15:10:00.000+08:00

Meeting Attorney Tony Oposa from Philippines and many other famous names on Day 4! I also finally found Prof Wong and said hi. :)

Check out the photos from the 4th day in my Haikou flickr set.

Photos from Day 2

2006-12-12T13:58:00.000+08:00

A barbeque roadside stall where we got our supper last night. It's amzing the kind of thing we find on the menu - from mantou (buns) to brinjals! They barbeque the brinjal till they become soft inside, cut open in, mash it up, add sauce and serve!

Check out the photos from Day 2 on my Haikou Flickr Set.

Photos from Day 1

2006-12-12T11:11:00.000+08:00

Uncle selling jian bing on the street. Scolded me for taking photo of him. *sigh* Divas!

Check out the photos from Day 1 on my Haikou Flickr Set.

Sneaking in a post

2006-12-12T10:24:00.000+08:00

I am in the middle of attending a talk during the forum but unfortunately I have to be rude and multitask since this is the ONLY place since I have arrived in China that gave freely accessible wireless signals!

In short, I'M FINALLY ONLINE!

It feels good to be connected online.

Since we arrived, it's been busy busy busy, seeing, eating and meeting people.

It's been really hazy here and there's an incredible bridge called the Century Bridge which I have yet to be able to catch a good picture of. It's the biggest bridge in the province of Hainan.

The first night, we went to a xinjiang restaurant. We missed the dance by just a few minutes but it's amazing that I ate for the first time, mutton that has no smell! In fact it is really delicious and I'm totally hooked on the xinjiang mutton "satay"! I can see why my dad favours it too. heh. The taste is really strong at first but it is addictive.

We also visited the Hainan University and it has a beautiful lake in it, named after Su Dong Po (the poet and of "Dongpo meat" fame). I always thought that Su Dongpo was from Suzhou but apparently he is more famous in Hainan where he was relegated to when he was sent to exile here in this "frontier" island. We actually chatted up a girl in rollerblades selling books by the lake for her granddad. She's really pretty and cute.

I am brushing up my chinese and nowadays speak japanese just for fun. Although of course I am limited to the few vocabulary "dozo", "jiotomate", "arigato" and what not. *hotoni*? lol hai! Playing translator is fun but as usual, these forums just make my multilinguistic yearnings grow. I wish I learnt Korean already. I must say, they are very friendly people. We have lots of fun with the Japanese and Korean delegates.

What is most amazing at this forum is that all the youth delegates speak excellent English. Whether they are from Vietnam, Korean, Japan or China! It's so fun! So much easier to learn, communicate and get to know each other when communications is with ease. Of course the china folks think I speak really good Chinese. Muhahaha my ancestors will be proud of me. *grin*

Yesterday, on the 2nd night here, we had a very interesting dinner which is sort of a steamboat except things are cooked already and simply heated up like a hot pot in the middle of the table. Chicken served with fried rice with pickled vegetables. Wow! I love the rice. On the other hand, what is amazing is that the shop only use dishes that comes in prepacked conditions. We were shocked but apparently it's the latest in catering cleaning services! They return the used dishes to the company and buy new ones from the company after they sterilize the used ones and vaccum pack it. What is just as interesting is that the shop only has 2 things on the menu. Frog legs and Chicken. Oddest part is that both says 'chicken' because frogs = "field chicken" and it seems as if they only sell chicken.

Anyways, today we will be here at the congress for the whole day. First day attending a ceremony 'live' in a People's Assembly Hall in China. It's really exciting. It even came with the little headsets you see on TV.

Right now, Prof Chou from NUS is about to come give us a talk so I'm gonna finish off now. My grumbling stomach doesn't allow further coherent thought. Will post the photos next!

Airport Blogging Ritual

2006-12-10T05:09:00.000+08:00

It's 5.15am and here I am standing at an extremely crowded budget terminal airport. It's definitely more crowded than the last 2 times I have been here. Unbelievable that people would come here for such early flights but I see that Cebu Air has gotten themselves settled in here as well. I wonder if that is a factor for the crowd.

Still, the monkey was later than the rest in arriving at the airport since from experience, I know that the counter and boarding time would be pretty late. Well I did wake up just 2 hours before flight departs but when I arrive, we straight away jumped to an empty line and boarding time for the 6.10am flight, as expected, was 5.40am. Yes, 1 hour to burn at the waiting area. Got my lip balm and some hichew for the pressure later while the rest endulge in some breakfast.

A friend hypothesized that it's probably the destination that explains the holiday crowd. Oh well, either way, I feel uneasy when my luggage was whisked out of my back and unto the check-in belt. Sigh. A feeling of unease settles over me. There's nothing I can do now but pray that my unlocked bag sees itself safely to Haikou, China.

Yep, received lots of usual warning and precautions from my parents and even from soembody at work. Should be jolly :)

I have nice accomodating traveling companions and I will check back in China when I arrived. Hopefully there's internet access.

Bon voyage to me!

For the next 1 week

2006-12-09T12:09:00.000+08:00

I will be at Haikou, Hainan Island at the Southern seas of China from 10 Dec to 16 Dec for the PEMSEA East Asian Seas Youth Forum that coincides with the congress that happens simultaneously.

Did a bit of google search and was surprised that Haikou is literally just a small tip of the island, at the mouth of the Nandu river, the longest river in Hainan. Of course the name Haikou means the gateway to the sea.

Unbelievably, I still don't know where I will be staying on the island since accomodation is sponsored and arranged. But I do know that we will be spending much time in the People's assembly hall and possibly at the Hainan University where we get free breakfast. Yes, free breakfast at the university. Odd as that sounds but I am merely inferring from the fact that the itinerary says free breakfast as CIRD and that is the China Institute for Reform and Development, which is located at the Hainan University. Bizarre but I almost anticipate it. haha It would be nice to check out another university. Considering that I have now made a habit of collecting memorabilias from various universities around the world that I visit.

The only venue that I am sure we will be visiting is the congress venue which is the People's assembly hall. It was easy to identify it being by the coast and with a unique circular structure! Looks really modern. The exhibition hall is just right beside it and if I am not wrong, the exhibition panels by the youth participants will be over there. The Singapore contingent will be bringing several items of our own too!

Less than a day away from my departure and I haven't even pack yet! Think I better get crackin'. Will be updating more from China hopefully if I can manage to find internet access or even some free time! We will probably be working hard and playing hard. Not to worry, plenty of photos will return home with me as usual. Look forward to it!

---
Latest @ 9 Dec:
Just received email that I will be staying at CIRD afterall. Must be a hostel. On another matter, I am bunking with an Indonesian delegate! Ah hah! I can now put my malay to good use *grin* cakap melayu ya?

---
Update @ 10 Dec, 12:23AM:
Just found out that CIRD does stand for the institute for reform and development but the place where I will be staying at is not the same institution! The CIRD we will be put up at is a YMCA equivalent of a youth hostel in Haikou. By golly it's getting confusing. I guess I'll just have to wait till I arrive in order to know what the place really is! flight is in less than 6 hours. So exciting!

Travel Plans

2006-11-03T10:59:00.000+08:00

Just bought my air ticket to Haikou, Hainan in China.

SIN-HAIKOU
Departure Singapore 10-Dec-2006 0610 hrs
Arrival Haikou 1a0-Dec-2006 1005 hrs

HAIKOU-SIN
Depature Haikou 16-Dec-2006 1035 hrs
Arrival Singapore 16-Dec-2006 1425 hrs

Can't wait to check out the volcanic park and the mangroves and eco-villages in Haikou!

Bangkok in Pictures

2006-09-26T02:28:00.000+08:00

Some might disagree but I went to Bangkok during a very good time this September. It was in the heights of the military coup in Thailand I managed to snap some interesting photos such as the coup soldiers stationed at the Erawan Shrine. Sadly, I did not go anywhere near the tanks at the parliament.

Really the trip was more fun, food and shopping than anything else. I finally got to visit the Siam Bed Supperclub and had lots of fun. I even got myself a new hairdo at MBK!

See more Bangkok fun in pictures at my flickr set.

Going to bangkok

2006-09-23T22:30:00.000+08:00

Hello friends,

I am leaving for Bangkok in less than 24 hours. I know that it is generally safe in BKK but then I have been having a bad feeling. Something might go wrong. Maybe it's because my mom bought insurance for me and I just feel a bit worse.

If something goes wrong, then, at least I said my good byes.

Of course everything might be ok. Then I continue working through my miserable life.

Nias in Pictures

2006-08-01T01:54:00.000+08:00

View Nias in Pictures at my flickr set

They don't build 'em like they used to

2006-07-30T10:27:00.000+08:00

In my recent trip to Nias, an island off the west coast of Sumatra which was recently hit by a series of earthquake and of course the 2004 tsunami, we were told that some traditional architecture withstood the test of nature.

In fact, these architecture were so fantastic that it attest to the traditional indigenous knowledge of the people on the island. They were familiar with the concept of earthquake-proofing their homes.

Unfortunately, these homes are no longer built on the island due to the loss of knowledge and the lack of materials. I guess each house would require the depletion of a good piece of primary hardwood forest.

There are two designs, representative of architecture from different parts of the island. At this point in time I cannot remember which is from the south and which from the north.

One has a roundish design and one a squarish one. Personally I prefer the round one. Of course they are on stilts. And if you look closely at the round one, not only are they on thick trunk stilts, they are also crossed and double crossed at the bottom which make for very stable foundations.

None of these houses were reported to have collapsed during the multiple earthquakes over the last 2 years.

Unfortunately these houses are expensive to maintain and when we interviewed the homeowners, they reported that the houses were built in the times of their grandparents about 2-3 generations ago and now nobody knows how to do it and also do not know why the houses were built on stilts or in the manner that it is. In fact, the grandma from the square house said that his grandfather built the house himself. Now they just reguarly replace the the thatch roof and it's as much as they can do. Did I mention that I heard these homes were built without nails?

How long will these informed and intelligent, tried-and-tested-against-time architecture last on the surface of this earth? In Thailand, researchers are helping to preserve traditional architecture and building method by having the last of the men with the knowhow to teach them to scientists and academics who would then record them down and for the technique to remain for future generations. However, even in Penang, when I visited the building guild, the beautiful nail-less wooden sedans and intricate constructions built generations ago are now rotting away in a little room with none of the guild members able to reconstruct or replicate its grandeur.

Why do we often let these knowledge slip through our fingers and not realizing, or perhaps never realizing even after it's too late.

Taiwan in Pictures

2006-07-25T01:58:00.000+08:00

For more stinky tofu and mango ice, see Taiwan in pictures at my flickr.

Sadly I still have not been able to scan the photos that were taken by the disposable camera. Gah... I can't even remember where I last saw them!

Pilgrimage to Ximending

2006-07-24T12:47:00.000+08:00

4 years ago when I was planning to go to US for studies, I bought an airticket that requires me to have a layover in Taiwan for 6 hours. Then, I already decided I want to make my pilgrimage to Ximending - the Shibuya of Taipei, Taiwan.

However, as things turned out. I never made that trip. Still, I constantly hear references on TV and watch shots from the place on taiwanese programming on TV. I must admit, despite all appearances, Monkey is very ha-tai. That basically means that instead of being a jpop or kpop nut, I'm actually a tpop monkey. lol You can see why...

My house is at Ximending!

Unfortunately, as circumstances would have it, my companions for this trip were not very cheena and find no excitement whatsoever in this "shopping district". Well, I will have them know that it is more than just a shopping district. This is a mecca for youth culture thankyouverymuch!

Look! Even miaomiao comes with its own shrine here. (Postscript: I think this photo was taken beside Shilin MRT station instead of Ximending)

Enough talk from me, just look at the pictures!

Some of the highlights of the short one-hour whirlwind tour of ximending included some students doing hiphop dancing along the street. There were also some people doing breakdancing in front of a hiphop clothing store which I dare not take picture of. I'd look too much like a hick lol or perhaps not at all since isn't it asian culture to snap snap snap? lol

Of course Monkey couldn't resist taking photos with the cutiedolls and the Da Ding Dang (mama came up with that name lol). Message from mama: "tell erkie that you take picture with a da ding dang! lol"

It was just too bad that we didn't see any cosplay girls (and guys) in action! We did see one at Shilin market area and she had a witch/maid outfit with a frufru umbrella, sitting at the MRT station waiting for her friend. Was hoping to see more in Ximending. Oh well. But perhaps this could pass off as some costume-play.

It's interesting how the indigenous people of Taiwan has costumes similar to the Native Americans. And more interestingly, a visit to the indigenous people museum near Yangmingshan and a very indepth and interesting conversation with one of the museum staff who was also of a ethnic-native background informed monkey that the tribes in Taiwan are of a austronesian background and have closer links to the maoris than to the tribes of sino-tibetan origins. *phew* that was a long sentence. In fact, none of the tribes have concept of the sea so they could not have had migrated through seafaring. The only tribe with such a concept was the Yami people who were from Philippines and travelled by sea to Taiwan and they are the "newest" people in Taiwan, well apart from the Han Chinese who arrived just a few hundred years ago.

See more photos from taiwan at my flickr account.

Email blogging

2006-07-18T15:59:00.000+08:00

Here I am sitting the BRR headquarters in Nias, facing the sea, looking at colorful fishing boats parked offshore with lulling waves and sticky sweaty clothes on. What can be more perfect.

The internet connection is a tad slow but I discovered the joys of email blogging which makes the whole blogging process very much faster.

You can tell which ones are by email by the yahoo byline.

Oops, gotta go!

See the all-new, redesigned Yahoo.com. Check it out.

Pulau Nias

2006-07-18T15:55:00.000+08:00

Selamat Bagi!

From 17-20 July 2006, I will be at Pulau Nias, Indonesia, off the coast of Northwestern Sumatra helping out with a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) capacity training for local officials and the staff from Banda Restoration and Rehabilitation (BRR) in Nias. These are the people who essentially help to rebuild homes for the Niasan who lost their homes in the 2004 tsunami and the many subsequent earthquakes. In fact, there was just an earthquake last week.

It is to no surprise on my part when my mother called me yesterday with a worried tone in her voice asking me if I was alright because on the first day we arrived here in Nias, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 hit East Java, subsequently causing a tsunami. Of course there were some concern by some of our team that the tsunami would hit Nias which is nothing more than a small island. However, I rested well, assured by my basic geographical knowledge that any tsunami from the Pacific side of Indonesia would take quite a bit of effort to reach the Indian Ocean where we are.

The island is really rather fantastic. I took several videos and hopefully will one day share with everybody. Maybe even upload on Youtube or something. Its just beautiful here. Settlements line the road along the eastern coast of the island where we are. The main tourism of the area involves hardcore surfers. Thats how rugged and pure this place feels to me. I visited a local Christian Orphanage where our NGO liaison volunteers. It was quite the experience. Also we saw a US hospital ship pulled up near the shore and people were registering to get on board for treatment. I almost wish we could stay here longer.

Currently we are staying at a house maintained by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Surely if I dont ever get to work for UN, at least I can say Ive once in my life stayed in an UNDP accommodation. Yes, yes, I know its just cheap thrill.

Today we make the handing over ceremony of various work that we did with the remote sensing images and GIS datasets. I am also trying to learn as much Bahasa as I can. I knew I should have taken Bahasa last semester. Instead now I am just confusing my Thai, English, Mandarin, Spanish, Bahasa Melayu and Bahasa Indonesia! *lol* The good part is that some knowledge of Bahasa Melayu is coming back to me. Very very slowly though. Thanks to the lesson from itik a while back ago, visits to Frasers, ordering food from Malay stalls and just watching tons of Malay TV when I was a kid is really paying off. Haha!

While I am writing this in our living room right now, I would be posting this online from the headquarters of BRR that comes equipped with free wireless!

Stay tuned for more!

Do you Yahoo!?
Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.

Sailing off

2006-07-14T23:01:00.000+08:00

The MV explorer sailed away from the port of Singapore 10 minutes go.

I miss them already.

At Ubin

The good thing is that I have hope that I will see them again.

How do I know this?

This month, in fact, over the next 2 weeks, a friend from Indonesia and a friend from China whom I got to know in Germany BYEE and Philippines Ecominds respectively is coming to Singapore.

We will be meeting up and I will be showing them around.

See, there is hope yet!

In fact, I felt good just hearing from Sofia on MSN a minute ago. There is hope in this world yet for a viable monkey social life.

Landsickness

2006-07-12T14:31:00.000+08:00

im feeling woozy walking on land now that im no longer on the boat. its very disconcerting.

Going to Pulau Nias

2006-07-11T10:51:00.000+08:00

I just got word that I got the opportunity to go to Pulau Nias on a fully sponsored trip to train the local people in GIS from 17-20 July!!!

I am really excited. If I had promised anything during those dates, well I'm cancelling everything.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. How else would I get to go to Aceh, Indonesia?!

Wonder if I need visa...

So much to say...

2006-07-10T00:42:00.000+08:00

...so little time

A lot of things happen to me on this boat that i want to share. Every new experience is a blog-worthy experience.

But I don't have the minutes for it nor do I want to bore you with the details.

I just came down from the deck, enjoying the seabreeze and the full moon, with good company and good music from a laptop. I need to do more of this one thing called relaxing.

But then I couldn't deal with the lack of contact from W so I decided to come check on the computer for emails and still, no word. Feeling so bad because I missed a call from him when we left port and I'm feeling freaking depressed about it. Getting a headache just thinking about it.

So far no seasickness for me but lao sai probably from the food.

Indigenous duck, I think you would like to know that the classes are taught by people who knows less about asian ecology than me. Some have never been to this region. I was in my biogeoscience class and I felt so... puzzled half the time. Then I felt like I needed to comment and "correct" but not sure if it's the thing to do. It really isn't very polite. Oh well.

Anyways, yeah king penguins indigenous... gawd knows.

I'll stop using the classes for personal experience but to help them out instead. I have had more fun with the anthropology lecturer who knows and lived in SEA before rather than the ecology lecturer who hasn't.

Really I don't blame him. I didn't know anything about california when I went there. Surely didn't know it has the most diversity of grass in the world just in one small area of Cali!

Sailing to Singapore

2006-07-09T12:11:00.000+08:00

Internet connection has been bad the last few days and I was not able to log into blogger but then life at sea has begun.

Today I just went for the first 2 classes. It was weird seeing these knowledgable professors trying to talk about places they themselves are not too familiar about. so frustrating I keep needing to comment. sigh. i really shouldn't.

ok, minutes are aticking at USD0.40 per minute!

My kinda street.

Can't talk long but photos have been uploaded. Check them out!

I did my nails! :p

Taroko Gorge, Hualien, Taiwan

2006-07-06T14:04:00.000+08:00

Currently at a hotel internet place using the computer for SGD$0.50 per 5 minutes of "airtime".

Seriously, this is just lame. On the boat it is USD$0.40 per minute! *ARGH*

Anyways, currently I am at Taroko Gorge in Hualien which is in eastern part of Taiwan. But the worst part is that, my camera broke down, AGAIN, when we were still at Changi Airport when I was trying to take a group photo. It fizzed out again. Seriously, I am feeling so deprived in Taiwan with so many things to take photos of and NO CAMERA. C'mon, I don't know why I decided not to bring dad's camera.

I was going to then I found out that my camera works. Who would have figured it would fizzed out again! I didn't want to carry two cameras so I opted for mine.

Not a smart choice at all.

Anyways, today I got really depressed and I got a disposable camera for SGD$200. I feel broke. Life is miserable.

Last night we went to the night market at Keelung and had the most horrid dinner. Then I went with the american students to a bar and gawd... I am... disgusted. What's new. They're doing it everywhere.

Anyways, time's running out and I gotta go so... ciao.

PS: Made friends with some colombian students from Canada. That is a reprieve.

Bye Bye Monkey

2006-07-04T22:58:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow I will be leaving for Taiwan to board the Semester at Sea boat at Keelung, Taiwan.

I hear the boat will have wireless and I am bringing my laptop.

Regarding my itinerary in Taiwan, not too sure since I will be on the boat mostly. Am thinking of joining the following classes:

SEMS 106: Environmental Ethics and Human Rights
SEMS 101: Global Studies (mandatory)
SEMS 160: Special Topics: Biogeoscience
SEMS (# to be determined): Environmental Geology

Sounds interesting.

For my itinerary in Taiwan:

5 July: Arrive in Taiwan
6 July: Day trip to Taroko Gorge
7 July: Yangmingshan Park

Itinerary in Singapore:
Boat docking on 12 July, rushing to school for honors briefing at 10am then will be back to boat, bring people to Ubin on 13 and then perhaps I will be off to Eunice's home for dinner. wonder when i'll go home.

Moving on

2006-06-26T11:42:00.000+08:00

In a few hours I will be going to Chiangmai and tomorrow at 6pm will be leaving for singapore.

Coming home soon

2006-06-25T18:31:00.000+08:00

Flight on Tuesday, arrive around 10.59pm.

I can't wait to go home.

We went KTV and clubbing yesterday but I didn't drink a drop of alcohol. W, you don't know how much effort that took, or maybe you do because the effort came from convincing people to stop pouring me drinks. I missed 2 available bottles of 100 pipers. ARGH! Nevermind, monkey shall preservere.

So the photo above are the gasmaskies couply thing I bought for me and W. Red for W, pink for monkey. I subscribe to the red is for men, blue is for women argument but then I prefer pink personally. I'm in a pink rage.

More photos uploaded from yesterday's waterfall trip. The best photo was corrupted. Too bad.

Of waterfalls and injured feets

2006-06-24T21:57:00.000+08:00

Today was a fun day but for some reason i'm seriously exhausted, partly from the swimming against waterfall currents. I haven't done so much physical work for a long long time. Goes to show out of shape I am! I have no strength whatsoever to speak of.

At the same time, I kept getting cut by the many rocks at the bottom of the waterfall and my right feet is decorated with slashes. On the way back from dinner, I guess I was feeling so weak, I twisted my feet and at the same time managed to injure my left feet too! Now there is a cut on the left.

Funniest thing is, the cute receptionists at the hotel jio me to go clubbing with them. Today is the last chance. I turned them down yesterday, I can't turn them down again! So... yes, maybe. Now all we need is a vehicle and a driver. lol

I bought these really cutie coupley keychain thing with gasmasks yesterday for me and W. I also bought a present for all of you which means we must have a MMM! :) Maybe when I come back from Taiwan ya? :)

Photos will be uploaded tomorrow I suppose. Am too tired now. Need to buy birkenstocks in Chiangmai too. *Sniggers* Yes, fake ones but seems like monkey is succumbing to birkenstocks craze just to see how it feels. Yes, I am convinced the fake one is not all that far off. :P My trail has no traction whatsoever left which explains why I keep falling.

Love from Pukai

2006-06-23T12:06:00.000+08:00

New photos uploaded from the day trip to Baan Pu Kai, the village where I did my research 2 years ago. Here's my 2 favourite girls modelling for me their new clothes courtesy of my sis and Benji :) I brought half a luggage of clothes for the village this time round. About 8 kids got new clothes!

Sssnakes

2006-06-21T12:32:00.000+08:00

Since I have been holed up at CRU, I have since had 2 snakes sightings along the road to Sombat's office. Today was most incredible. It was a pale yellow cobra! It was incredible. Sorry man no camera and I was on a bike (phew!) thank god for that. Also the road also has many beautiful birds which make me wish I had the guide book to Birds of Thailand.

Anyways, on other matters, I had a long talk with Xiong (aathit) today about chinese schools in thailand, typing in chinese and more so, about farming and trade in Thailand. You know the dried longans we love to make drinks from which we always think is from China? Well you guessed wrong! The longans are actually from Thailand and then shipped to China and then to Singapore! And we still think it's freaking cheap. Does that make sense? Yes, the Thai can actually still make a profit!

So of course the environmentalist monkey asked why the heck do u have such extensive foodmiles when it is nearer to ship to Singapore. Till now I cannot believe the answer I heard which is so true and so logical but so frustrating. For the Thai farmers to ship directly to Singapore will cost them MORE than if they ship to China and then to Singapore. Through China, there is more profit to be made than if they ship to Singapore directly. First there is a 12% tax if they ship direct to Singapore and not to China. Shipping from CHina to Singapore has no such tax. Then for the ship to wait for HSA to examine the products. And also on the THai side they want to examine also. BUt apparently through China, there is only one such check and straight through to Singapore.

So damn the food miles. I don't think it makes any logical sense in this case to ship the nearer route as the producer. So guess what, let's examine the FTA and other kind of trade agreement Singapore have with these countries. Ho hO ho, Thailand stipulated that only rice and bananas gets exported tax free. The other stuff tax free are phones and other technological stuff. HAH! Who is signing these agreements? Mr T who owns the phone company? Ok this is all hypothetical from now on. So monkey speculates that the tax free stuff are just for the people who signs benefit. I mean there is nobody to protect in this case and Xiong agrees. What kinda FTA is this when it doesnt really benefit the SMEs? I won't really call him a small farmer afterall but definitely of the medium enterprise category.

On another matter, he was explaining his farming methods and it's definitely more environmentally friendly and make a lot more business sense than his thai counterparts. He was complaining how he doesnt understand Thais who plants thousand acres of a single crop. On an environmental stance, I can see all the disadvantages to the soil but business wise he explains that when that one crop is not fetching a good price, the farmer will lose a lot. On the other hand, he has up to 6 crops in substantial amounts that will ensure a healthy profit and also a healthy land. That is what I call local knowledge. He even manages to grow avocado and coffee in his estate! How? Through growing these plants in the undergrowth of longan trees which he has to abundance because they are the price-fetcher. The avocado are then sold to the government who exports them or use them for shampoo! Where do you think your avocado shampoo comes from?! lol The undergrowth also provide sufficient shade for these plants to grow in this hot climate of Thailand. I mean this make so much ecological sense! And the best part is he didnt learn it from some textbooks. this is pure local knowledge through years of trial and error and tried and tested through generations. It's just brilliant. Kudos.

I forget to explain that Xiong is a yunanese living in Thailand for the last 3 generation. They came with the KMT soldiers in the beginning of the 1900s. This is why I managed to find out so much because he spoke chinese! LOL probably the only time I can find out so much in Thailand is when somebody speaks my mother tongue. He is running chinese schools here and that's another story altogether. Yes, it's a brilliant story worth telling and I think I'll tell it another time.

Roving

2006-06-12T11:00:00.000+08:00

For the next few days (2 weeks to be exact), I will be roving about Northern Thailand. Yesterday we went to Chiangkhong and visited a small fishers village along the Mekong River at the Ing tributary called Baan Pak Ing which means village at the mouth of the Ing river.

Today I will be going to Thaton to see the "long-necked" Karen Paduang show village which a group is working on. Their research question is "where are the men". Very interesting topic.

I just finished up Marissa's birthday present and going to mail it out now.

New photos on Flickr.

hello from chiangrai

2006-05-31T21:46:00.000+08:00

After 2 years, I am sitting here at my favourite internet cafe and blogging, just as I was on another version of MMM - Morphology, Mekong and Me. I guess my fixation with MMMs has already begun back then!

It is such an experience to feel so familiar with a 'foreign' town. So many familiar sights and sounds. People and faces. We went to a chinese restaurant and I remember it from the time I went for dinner with Dr Carl and gang. The waitresses and owner looks really familiar! I actually recognized them.

Of course, unbelivable but true but the guy at the internet cafe is STILL THE SAME! Sigh. Such heartwrenching familiarity. grin.

I won't be able to blog once "hell week" begins when we go up to Mae Salong, Mae Sai and Chiang Kong. Oh but the last place has internet cafes as there are many backpackers there. I am hoping to visit Laos! :)

Ok, hell aside, I am masochistically relishing it.

It has been a very interesting day in more ways than one. I feel the need to reflect on it deeper.

Anyways, off to meet the Rajabaht folks tomorrow. Can't wait to see Narlae and Aoy again! And even ajarn sombat! heh :)

Well that's all from me for now I would think. Cheerios!

Visit to Chiangmai University

2006-05-29T18:35:00.000+08:00

You know how Singaporeans love to complain about wearing uniforms but did you know that in Thailand, all university students have to wear uniforms? In fact, all schools wear a same white top dark blue bottom outfit. The only difference is the little silver badge you pin over your heart. Of course for Chiangmai University, they get to wear this spiffy outfit for special occassions. And we complain about having to wear a tie on Mondays. Right.

In fact, even civil servants here have to wear the same spiffy brown uniform on specific days, like Mondays for example, or special ocassions.

As you can see, we had a visit to Chiangmai University today. Did you know they are the best university in Thailand? They think chula is the shit and chula thinks they're northern hicks. Oh well.

We will be leaving for Chiangrai on Wednesday and for other trivial moments, here's a green tea collon I found in the CMU bookshop!

Well Joe has her thing with Kit Kat but I couldn't find anything funky so here's the weirdest thing I found.

More photos on flickr.

Elephant in Bangkok

2006-05-20T10:58:00.000+08:00

When I arrived in Bangkok, I read in a guide book that elephants are banned in the city of bangkok by Thaksin in recent years. Apparently it creates traffic congestion in the already congested country.

However, I almost could not believe my eyes when I spotted this surreal sight of seeing an elephant in the redlight district of Bangkok just a few roads down from my hotel! It was unbelievable. For a moment, this city monkey thought it could have been a giant model of a monkey or perhaps even a mechanical elephant.

When I tried to take photos, the keeper came over and tried to sell me sugarcanes. I gave the guy a 20B and then gave the sugarcane back to him. On hindsight, I wish I fed it to the elephant because who knows if the keepers were starving him or not. But being a money tree for the keepers, hopefully they do not starve him.

Unbelievably, on going to the next redlight street, we saw another elephant! This time it was a female with no tusk. They were all rather juvenile elephants, judging by their size.

Anyways, just unbelievable. And in the redlight district no less! Probably because these were the joints catered for tourists and with the large amount of people at night, it was the best time to bring out the illegal street performers.

Of course there are softhearted monkeys like me that would rather die than to see these animals suffer. Sigh. Felt so helpless.

Mixed Signals

2006-05-17T08:46:00.000+08:00

Sustainable Thailand harbors Conspicuous Consumers!

Look past the police and you will see sharks fins hanging blatantly in the display window. (Click on image to Enlarge)

I do not know how to respond to such images when there are posters, publicity and propaganda touting a sustainable Thailand. I guess the practised reality is a clearer truth than a scripted one.

This was found on a bridge leading to the major shopping centres downtown.

Of course, contrastedly, the sharks fin shop was found at an area that was for wholesalers. Hide the ugly truth eh? Of course they are not going out of their way to hide it, it is just not in the main upclass shopping area but just beside. Not even very far away, only 10minutes walk through the busy international trading area. This Watergate Market area where Bangkok Sharks Fin is found is an area that is for international traders. People from all over the whole come here to purchase things wholesale to Europe, America, Asia and even Africa! There are shipping companies concentrated here, ready to ship out at minutes notice. So even if the Sharks Fin is not consumed there, this is the point where it becomes distributed worldwide, feeding into the consumption of Sharks Fin on a global level.

So what is sustainability? Is it from green buildings, better living environment, high standards of living, clean rivers, clean air or high rates of recycling?

Even if people do not consume sharks fin but are part of the global supply chain of feeding the consumption of sharks fin, they are still just as guilty even if their immediate environment is sustainable. Of course there are more examples of this than just mere sharks fins.

Thailand is trying to clean up its rivers which is so polluted I'm afriad I would have ingested parasites just by having its waters splash on my face during a boat trip. It reeks and its colour impossibly dirty. But most of the people in Thailand live in slums along these klongs. A colleague told me today that if he was the city planner of Bangkok, he would clear the whole place and build over. Of course that is not possible but then he is just trying to say how much of a mess the place is.

I'm sure it's not all bad, even if our onboard climatologist informed us that the air pollution in Bangkok is worse than Los Angeles and just a step behind Mexico City.

So they have horrendous water pollution and as we stand by the river we spotted blatant water leakages from the pipes spanning the river. Of course air quality and urban heat island phenomenon is outrageous. There are abandoned buildings all over Thailand. The traffic is ridiculous. Consumption of sharks fins, and possibly other illegal wildlife trade is not uncommon. Of course there are mostly Thai Chinese in Bangkok so nothing curious about the sharks fin bit. Restaurants in Bangkok sell Sharks Fins and Bird Nest ast there prime culinary items. So what is sustainable in Thailand?

I think I feel consoled that there are many NGOs very active in Thailand. On board with us is a Thai lady (well she's my age so that makes this monkey a lady too hah!) who works with the university in Chiangrai with the hill people. She told me she has many friends who were university classmates in Chiangrai who now work with NGOs in bangkok. Over dinner, I also met a girl who just graduated from the top law school here in Bangkok and has applied to go up north to work with the NGO in getting citizenships for displaced hill people. Of course there was robert, an american that gave us a talk in Singapore who works in the NGO here in Bangkok. So NGO is aplenty here as compared to in Singapore. People ARE working hard to improve the environment and quality of life in Bangkok.

This morning, there will be a talk from one such person who works with an NGO here helping sex workers to reduce AIDS in Thailand. Maybe then I will have more insights on how the battle here is faring.

See more photos from Day 3.

Bangkok Day 2

2006-05-16T09:04:00.000+08:00

More photos to be seen at my Flickr

Blogging from Bangkok

2006-05-14T19:28:00.000+08:00

The congregation awaiting despatch at our lil guest house in Bangkok

I have been in Bangkok for almost 7 hours and am absolutely lucky to have access to free wifi in my room at the guesthouse which we are staying at!

Indeed, I believe I would have much time on my hand this 10 days in Bangkok. Already we have been to the chatuchak market and tomorrow we will begin our intensive tour of Bangkok.

For photo updates, remember to check out my Flickr Account.

Semester at Sea

2006-05-04T16:55:00.000+08:00

Good news all, I received word today that I got selected to go for Semester at Sea where I will be flying to Taiwan, travelling to Keelung and then taking a cruise with some hundred other international (mostly angmoh) students down to Singapore! They have also asked me to coordinate transport for the 3 of us going to Taiwan. Originally was just one person but now they decided to sponsor 3 - probably too tough a decision! :) I was looking up the websites just now. It's quite exciting but also a tad scary to be in charge of people. I mean if I get lost so be it but now I'm responsible for the lives of 3 others in a place I've never been to. lol hope they're nice. One of them is from SDE in NUS! Seems like this is the year of Transport for me since I am also transport IC for field studies! whee heh :) Haha what a scary thought but maybe one day I will become a transport advocate lol. eeeeek lol :)

Thailand looms closer everyday and I'm so excited!

Greetings from Penang

2006-03-13T13:24:00.000+08:00

Today is already the last day in Penang. Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was da bomb! It was really awesome. The weather in Penang is horrid - so much hotter than Singapore which is absolutely unimaginable. W got seriously burnt and just slept the whole day away on Sunday due to severe exhaustion on Sunday after Pedalling around Ubin on Saturday. We went up Penang Hill in the evening and then collapsed in exhaustion. Tried very nice prawn noodles at Pitt Street opposite the Kuan Im Temple and W had murtabuk because tandoori chicken is apparently suspected of bird flu by the US. So basically if you eat chicken in Malaysia, the americans will quarantine you. That is just too stupid.

Today we had a fully guided tour around the mansion which was awesome. It's sad that there are no hard records of family histories and things just get lost in the passing of time. We are just now checking out and start bitching with the gay manager which is always a delight. Ended up having lunch with them which is cool. Possibly the best alternative to dragging our feet in the sun in the middle of the day.

I'm just really upset about not being able to get any homework done and will be such a dead monkey when I get back. *sigh* Kill me now but it's difficult to enjoy travelling and exploring when the mind keeps thinking about responsibilities back home.

For now, I shall try. Later maybe going to explore Chulia Street and Penang Street before taking a bus home tonight.

Going to Penang

2006-02-17T10:14:00.000+08:00

Crazy monkey has one day woke up and decided to go to Penang.
Couldn't sleep the whole night learning about Penang and planning the trip.

Originally thought I could fly there but it was too late to get a cheap ticket. Now the only way is to take a bus there which is cool with me.

The bus from SIN to Penang cost $38
The bus from Penang to SIN cost RM42
Travel time is 9 hours one way.
Source: Journey Malaysia
Total for 2 persons transport: $113*
*expecting a higher cost if I can buy both ways in Singapore.

Accomodation will be at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, a UNESCO Conservation Award Winner, that was the home to a very rich Hakka Businessman and Philantrophist.

Staying one night on Sunday will cost us 250RM.
Check out their website!

ITINERARY
Saturday
9pm Depart SIN

Sunday
6am Arrive Penang
7am Breakfast!
9am Penang Heritage Trail?* (RM50 each!)
12nn Check in Cheong Fatt Tze
- Penang Botanic Gardens, request by duck

Monday
9am Penang Heritage Trail?*
- Free walking trails
9pm Depart Penang

Tuesday
6am Arrive SIN

Monkey Temple, Nepal

2005-11-26T10:47:00.000+08:00

Back to creating art. See my DeviantArt account.

Description on Deviantart:

Swayambhunath Temple, Kathmandu, Nepal
The scene stole my breath away.
From one monkey to another, I envy their freedom.
This temple is also known as the Monkey Temple.
It is also one of the most famous temples in Nepal with the famous Buddhas Eye Stupa. Large number of monkeys live here. I'm sure they are on the level of sacred animals here.

Had to do a piece of art to appease my discontented soul.

Philippines in Pictures

2005-11-02T23:00:00.000+08:00

My group during one of the delegate fellowship session - "2 good to be true"... named by corny monkey because we were "group 2" then again group 1 called themselves the monkeys. *growl*

The philippines photos are up after much nagging by the monkey readers.

Ecominds in Philippines

Nepal

2005-10-02T20:59:00.000+08:00

Half the nepal photos that I deemed interesting and presentable to the world are now up on Flickr.

I must say that my parents are such better photographers than me *sigh*

Monkey's flickr account

Terminal Monkey

2005-09-28T23:05:00.000+08:00

This is monkey, coming to you LIVE from Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Yeah I'm such a cheapskate, can't let go of a single opportunity to partake in anything F R E E... even if I'm just moments from my own high speed internet from the comfort of my own living room, without the burden of my cabin luggage.

Alas, terminal 1 these days are just so... terminal 2-ish! When I arrived I swear I thought I was at T2. There's even all these security checks which we were beginning to think synnonymously with nepal's manual body searches.

Well fans, the monkey is home. See you soon for another round of DDD on Oct 1 and pray you got some gift from the mystic mountains of nepal courtesy of the nepali bandar-ni.

But yes of course, I picked up a few words of nepali. Couldn't resist ;)

PS: portable HDD broke down so now... the photos might have been... *wail* compromised. thought of all of you plenty... yep... erm especially when whining to everybody how there are no ducks in nepal. argh it was freaking distressing. So on the last day, we decided to feast on some ginger ducks instead. bleh it was tougher than rock. must be all the mountain climbing they did.

Some interesting tidbits

2005-09-22T23:05:00.000+08:00

Here are some things quaint about Nepal:

Small doors? The city of Kathmandu was built almost 2000 years ago!

- the doors in Nepalese houses, especially the old ones (think hundred of years), have very small and low doors. The guide explains that this is because they believe there are house spirits who reside within the house and when the door frame is so small and low, you'd always have to bow before you enter the house and this ensure you shows respect to the gods and spirits within! :)

Vote for tree? ALWAYS!

- Actually that's the symbol of a political party in Nepal *grin*

Monkey in Nepal

2005-09-22T22:33:00.000+08:00

Monkey went exploring in Nepal and found more of her kind being worshipped in a tibetan buddhist temple in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Ah well, I thought wrong. I thought I wouldn't be able to blog or even come online in the "ulu" land of the himalayas. But yes, I was wrong. The cybercafes litter the streets, more than Chiang Rai was for sure!

Then I thought, my parents would never let me go for it. In fact, mama says she'll leave me behind if i went for it. But the next day, papa says, hey there are like cybercafes going for SGD50cents an hour! Go for it! ... I've been at this for 22 minutes and I still have no idea what the going rate at this cybercafe is.

Well I'm going to try to upload more pictures before the end of the day. So remember to go to my flickr account.

I'm not having a great time here. The place is beautiful, I love everything about it cept for the company. Remind me NEVER to go on a trip with my parents and their ~~cronies~~ senior citizen friends. They talk louder than me when I shout. I'm having heart seizures (seriously) trying to be the middle person/translator for the tour guide and the demanding old folks.

Yes, a monkey with my temperament cannot deal with them. Yes I make a good tourguide, they all agree but I cannot be a good tour companion when I have to suffer their words. Thank god the tour guides don't know what they are saying.

Yes the tour guides are family by marriage and I really enjoy getting to know more about them. One of my cousin-in-law's brother in my age and it's fun hanging out with him.

Alright enough of this. I SWEAR I will definitely come back to nepal again, WITH suitable company. Definitely. sigh. I want to explore, I want to hike and trek. I want to... well I guess be like those backpackers but not on a budget. I want to live here for a while. I think I just love the lifestyle (not in the city) but then such as in the village in Chiang Rai... What I really want to do is get to know the people culture and lifestyle. Maybe a research is in order. Afterall, ecotourism is so prevalent here. Even the arrival declaration form has a long list of rules and regulations (akin to our "do not bring drugs to singapore") that states how people should treat the environment. Not to litter, not to enter the ranges without permit etc. Actually the locals don't climb the mountains because to them those are the gods and what are we doing defiling their sacred mountains? sigh. For the sense of conquest?

For some facts and points of reference, I arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday and stayed over a night. Next day we left for Pokhara where I am now. We were supposed to have left and gone to Jomsome today but then the weather was bad and the flight to the mountain village of jomsome was cancelled *sniff* :( Well instead we went for a city tour of Pokhara. Yesterday we boated around the lake. Today we went to see a river that plunges 100m into the ground and continues as a subterranean river. Later we visited a Tibetan Refugee camp and went to a village in the mountain, Sarangkot where we got a relatively good view of the Pokhara Valley and the Anupurna Mountain Range and the highest point in that range - the Fishtail peak. heh Too bad clouds were pretty bad. We got a glimpse though. The photo is really poor at that.

I got a postcard for erkie because she requested that would be the best present for her. Unfortunately, I really have no idea what to get for duck, joe and W. It's really tough. *sigh* I got a tshirt of the map of the anupurna range trekking route. lol that is so typical me. duck, im trying very hard to find mountain ducks here and short of buying the duck people rear, I haven't found any nice scultpures yet. Monkeys, plenty though. heh ;)

Well, tune in next time when I decide to splurge on internet again. *besos!*

Monkey off to Nepal

2005-09-19T23:55:00.000+08:00

All packed and ready to go

So off I go to the land of the Himalayas and Mount Everest, the meeting point of the Eurasian plate and the Indian subcontinent, where the collision of these two continental plate created one of the most massive mountain chains on our blue planet. Ah well, you can take a geographer away from geography but you can't take geography away from her.

Adieu dear friends! See you in 9 days!

Live from Taipei

2005-06-21T06:53:00.000+08:00

This is the joy and wonders of wireless internet - or at least the unsecure unprotected connections that allow for freeloaders like me to ride the wave of free internet access in a foreign land.

I am right now sitting beside the aircon vent *brrr* at the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, happily blogging with free wifi access. Unfortunately I do not think it's provided free like that at San Diego train station but another free tap.

Anyway the plane ride was alright. Watched a lot of movies -
1) Phantom of the Opera
2) Hitch
3) Dear Frankie
4) Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda

Plus I also played a lot of tai di! hehe as you can probably tell by now, I got one of China Airline's new airplanes! Lucky me! Plus I got a window seat. Too bad the guy beside me was well... "interesting", borderline difficult at times.

Unfortunately, the food is still just as bad. But luckily, this time, using erkie's suggestion, I got cup noodles on board to survive the ride! woohoo!

Ok, I don't know what else to say now but I will be home soon. The weather, the scenery... the very GREENness of it all is very strange to me, even though this is Taiwan. The time is 5am but it's daylight, kinda like US. But the trees here are a deep shade of green which is rather rare in california. It is also very dense while in the last 6 months, I have been so used to the sparseness of it all. sigh.

Ecological and biogeographical distribution differences can be rather disconcerting. Especially for somebody like me.

My skin is still very dry due to the flight but honestly it feels nice to sit beside the aircon vent - reminds me of the chilly winds of Santa Barbara. sigh. I miss it already.