I stand up on the pedals and use all of my weight to push them down, struggling to start and make it up the small hill. The rear tyre alternates between gripping and slipping. the slippery red mud track is not making it any easier. Bang! Sproing! Suddenly the pedals are free-wheeling and don't drive the wheel any more and I just manage to stop myself from crunching into the bar. Damn, the rear gear derallier has completely come off the axle. It looks tricky to fix without tools...

Vang Vieng

The three hour bus ride north from Vientiane to Vang Vieng doesn't feel like it takes too long, I'm a little sleepy due to the heat and noise of the old bus but the countryside slipping by is  too good to miss; Villages, jungle, shacks, rice paddies, shacks, rice paddies, jungle and people going about their everyday lives. I resist sleep to keep looking out the window.
We pull into Vang Vieng and de-bus, there are two touts trying to encourage the punters to their guest houses. In Lao fashion, they aren't trying too hard - they are friendly and not at all pushy. Nice.

Friends in Every Bar

Vang Vieng is a funny place. I stroll around the town - an over the top collection of restaurants (largely serving the same menus), guesthouses, bars and a few tour companies and internet cafes sprinked about. The Lonely Planet entry for Vang Vieng says to be prepared for endless reruns of Friends in the TV Bars. I thought they were joking. Nearly all of the bars have large TV's and all, execpt one, are playing Friends! (The other bar is playing the Simpsons) Each bar has about a dozen people lying down, watching the TV. I stroll around becoming more disheartened with Vang Vieng town, it has been over commercialised and ruined - it could be any backpacker haven in Asia, the unique local character of Vang Vieng town looks to have been erased.
Vang Vieng town looks to be party central after sundown. There are so many bars, some with hammocks! The Bamboo guesthouse has bungalows right beside the Bamboo bar! I guess if you stay there you aren't there to sleep. Also, given that the bars surrounding the Bamboo play loud music till about 5:00 am you definitely wouldn't sleep there!
It's not all doom and gloom though; The good thing is that the local area around Vang Vieng is breathtakingly beautiful with rice paddies, the Nam Som river and limestone kharsts looking to be largely untouched by the influx of backpackers. There are plenty of opportunities to hike and explore.

Sweet Home Vang Vieng - Maylyn Guesthouse

My base for the next few days is the Maylyn Guesthouse. It is on the other side of the river to Vang Vieng town and is very quiet, has a garden full of butterflies and friendly staff. I'm staying in a bungalow (A small hut on stilts) with bed, a fan, a mosquito net and an attached bathroom! It's clean and in a fantastic setting, I couldn't ask for more here in Vang Vieng. They also hire mountain bikes and motors bikes which opens the options for exploring too.

Dinner at Maylyn is a delicious chicken curry, washed down with a Beer Lao. While eating I talk to Joe, who turns out to be the owner of the guesthouse and we are joined by Martine(Belgian) and Anika(Dutch) who have been talking together in Dutch but switch to English to join the conversation. Martine is leaving for Luang Prabang tomorrow but Anika is here for another couple of days and keen to go mountain biking tomorrow and look at some caves and pools.

Bikes, Caves and A Blue Pool

Breakfast is a banana pancake and a cup of tea at the guesthouse. Our bikes arrive and we set off, armed with not much more than just our camera gear. Barely 100 metres from our starting point, we stop to take photos of local villagers working in the rice paddies. I learn very quickly that Anika likes to stop and take photos of everything, like me, which means that we stop a lot and that it isn't a problem for either of us. A good combination. We chat and photograph and cycle along the bumpy unpaved road; It's quiet but we see some other traffic - scooters, motor bikes, people walking.
It seems that around every corner is a sign pointing towards a "Buddha cave" and a pool for swimming. We cycle past several until we see one advertising a Blue Pool as well as a cave, mistaking it for the  Blue Lagoon we take the turn off, arriving shortly at the ticket hut, located at the base of a small hill. We pay our 5,000 Kip each and head up the hill on our bikes.
I stand up on the pedals and use all of my weight to push them down, struggling to start and make it up the small hill. The rear tyre alternates between gripping and slipping; the slippery red mud track is not making it any easier. Bang! Sproing! Suddlenly the pedals are freewheeling and don't drive the wheel any more and I just manage to stop myself from crunching into the bar. Damn! The rear gear derallier has completely come off the axle.
It looks tricky to fix without tools but I do my best to untangle and route the chain, refit the  derallier and tighten the axle nut with my fingers. Now I will have to take it very easy until I can find a spanner to tighten the axle nut properly. I push the bike up the hill to meet Anika and gingerly pedal along the level ground, expecting the derallier to fail at any time.
We get to the base of a Kharst and follow a young, mute Hmong guide up a steep path up into a cave - have a bit of a look around inside, it's hard to see much with my small torch, then back down to the blue pool below. The water is cool and very refreshing, we try and swim against the current and splash around for about half an hour.

We continue riding up the road and find a repair shop where the mechanic is happy to tighten my axle nut, so I can pedal properly again. I cycle on, a little more confidently. It's rice planting time and the paddies have teams of people planting out young rice seedlings, up to their knees in mud. It looks like very hard work but they are joking and talking together while they work. More photos.
As we look over the fence at one team pulling up tice seedlings, they wave at us to come in and try for ourselves. We Pull up some rice, much more slowly than the others (falang are slow and hopeless - they laugh at us!) and listen to their banter - they make a long, hard day seem shorter for themselves by joking and chatting while they work. One guys periodically shrieks and runs and dives to catch frogs hopping around - I guess they will be in the pot for dinner tonight. After  a few photos, it's time to move on again. We cycle and photograph until we run out of afternoon and then cycle back to Maylyn to shower, relax and enjoy a Beer Lao and another good meal. I have the Laab and sticky rice, the portions are large and delicious. Excellent quality and value for money.  

Relaxing? What is that?

I don't have any plans this morning, so I sit in the restaurant at Maylyn, drinking tea and get chatting to Joe again, he shows me around the gardens and grounds and I spend the morning chatting and relaxing until a group cruise through to head out tubing. I grab my togs and stroll up to town as well.
I don't have anyone to tube with but get talking to two girls, Marlous and Patty, in the ride out to the start point. They are Dutch and taking a long holiday after graduating. The start point for tubing is a car park and a couple of large bars beside the river. The nearest bar is absolutely heaving with people and a massive party is going on. What a great start! We decide to skip the first bar and hit the river. There are plenty of bars on the river, catering to thirsty tubers. Each bar seems to have some attraction, most have incredibly high, shaky looking swings into the river, one has a flying fox and one has a mud-pit.
We alternate between floating down the river teasing Patty, who seems to always have the slowest tube and sitting in bars, drinking buckets of Lao vodka, redbull and coke. It is hellishly good fun and not at all like tubing down the Pohangina river at home! By the end, we're getting cold and it's raining on and off, so we make our way down to the end point and return our tubes. We meet up for dinner later, but we're all a bit tired out from a day tubing and boozing to stay out too late. Hopefully we'll catch up in Luang Prabang.

Exploring By Car

The next morning while eating breakfast at Maylyn, Anika's friends, Rik and Rio (with their son
Ebel) invite me to join them all going for a scenic drive back along the same road Anika and I  cycled. Rik, Rio and Ebel live and work in Vientiane and first visited Vang Vieng 15 years ago when it was a very different place. We stop regularly to take photos and stop in a Hmong village to follow a path to climb to the top of one of the kharsts (a kharst is a limeston out. We are led to the top by two local guides, aged around 10 years old, and when we finally get to the top we find a sala (a shelter comprising of a platform and a roof, without walls) so we take more photos of the stunning view of rice paddies, kharsts and even the pool we swam in yesterday, before turning around and heading back down the steep, slippery path.

Rik, Rio and Ebel have to drive back to Vientiane soon, so after a few more photo stops, a swim for Rik and Ebel in the river and a fine lunch at a Scandinavian bakery we say our goodbyes and wander back to Maylyn looking in all of the small shops on the way back.

Organic Mulberry Farm

Anika has read that the Organic Mulberry Farm(OMF) serves dinner so we decide, over a Beer Lao, to catch a tuk tuk 4km out of Vang Vieng to give it a try. We arrive at 8:00 pm, which turns out to be a little later than usual - the kitchen has almost shut - so we order while talking to a Kiwi couple Gretchen and Costa. The food arrives and is really delicious, all made from produce from the OMF. With a lot of "ooh's" and "mmm's" we work out way through the meals, washed down with a glass of mulberry wine - very much like a tart port. Our conversation flows really well and at about 10:00 we realise there is only one staff member left, so we catch a tuk tuk back to town and have a good laugh walking back to Maylyn in the heavy rain, sharing Anika's umbrella.

Onward to Luang Prabang

If anyone is planning to visit Vang Vieng and is looking to relax somewhere nice and quiet (away from the party zone in town, I wholeheartedly recommend staying at the Maylyn guesthouse. The rooms are excellent value, quiet and clean; the restaurant serves excellent food (in large portions) and Joe, who has been living in Vang Vieng for nine years has a wealth of knowledge of the local area and is well worth talking to - buy one of his excellent maps and go and explore.
Sadly, it's time to move on and as Anika is checking out on the same day, we decide to minu-bus to Luang Prabang together. It looks to be a 5 to 9 hour trip (depending on who you ask and probably the weather, road condition and state of repair of the bus) over windy mountain roads.

Till next time.  

Take care,
Dale/BoriS

"60% Buddhist, 40% animist and spirit cults"
- quote from www.Biking-Laos.com.

 

 

I stumble out of the bar with the monsoon rain instantly turning into puffs of steam as it hits my chilli-rich, laab-fired, super-heated body. The  2 beer Laos' I gulped down with the laab has the effect of warping time and space on the jog back to the hotel. Where am I? Read on to find out.

Day 1 - Arrival - Bangkok - Vientiane

Rubbing my eyes, I get out of bed and zombie-walk into the shower; Three hours sleep wasn't enough but I only have a small window from my arrival in Bangkok until my domestic flight to Udon Thani in north eastern Thailand. I check out of the expensive hotel and go through the normal procedures - taxi to the airport, check my baggage, board the aeroplane and after an hour, I'm in a full minivan heading to the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge border crossing.

Getting a Laos visa takes about 15 minutes (surprisingly easy) and going through immigration is easy. The taxi to Vientiane costs 300 Thai Baht, around NZ$15, and takes about 40 minutes to get me to the Hotel Laos.
Food is very affordable: BBQ chicken(ping gai) with serving of Sticky rice and some Makphet ("Mac-pet", a mixture of crushed green chillies and vegies) came to 8,000Kip (around NZ$1-30) Wow!

Back to the hotel for a Nana nap. The heat is a bit oppressive to my non-acclimatised body - around 29 DegC and with the humidity around 75%.I stumble and fall into my hotel room; I'm thoroughly soaked with sweat, have a full stomach - with my mouth on fire and I'm as tired as hell. What's not to like about Vientiane?

After my afternoon snooze, I go for as stroll around to get the lie of the land.
Vientiane reminds me, most of all, of Chiang Mai in Thailand; Vientiane has a small town feel, even though it is reasonably large. Everyone I bump into seems to be very laid back and there is definitely no "hard sell" for anything. Very relaxing.

Again, I head back to the Hotel Lao for a shower, a rest and a change of clothes and then back out to find something for tea. I walk down to the riverside area (the river, being the Mekong river) and grab a legendary Beer Lao, the local brew. Beer Lao is available everywhere for around US$1 (or 8,000 to 10,000 Kip for an 860ml bottle) and it slides down quickly because I'm watching a spectacular lighting storm on the opposite side of the river, in Thailand. There is no doubt that that storm is heading this way, it's just a matter of minutes - I gulp down the last drops of my beer as I see all the stallholders frantically packing up their portable restaurants.

I scarper to a nearby restaurant/bar, the Ban Lao, and order a serving of Laab Gai, a minced chicken salad (only cooked these days due to modern, western squeamishness) and ask for it to be spicy. The manager smiles - I think she is used to falang (foreigners) only ordering mild laab. The laab arrives with some sticky rice and boy is it HOT! It is delicious with basil, mint, chillies mixed through the minced chicken and a splash of fish sauce and lime, but it is making me work hard to eat it! I gulp down another beer Lao in record time to provide some cooling. Phew! I notice a local tour guide on the next table eating laab as well and I don't feel so bad because she's panting and wiping sweat from her face with a serviette. It is hot - even for the locals!

I stumble out of the bar with the monsoon rain instantly turning into puffs of steam as it hits my chilli-rich, laab-fired, super-heated body. The  2 beer Laos' I gulped down with the laab has the effect of warping time and space on the splashy jog to the hotel.

Day 2 - Vientiane

I have a good lie in until 7:15, before heading down for breakfast, a bread roll and fruit with a cup of tea - I want to let my cauterised internals recover a little before I start exploring again. Today I'm going to Xieng Khuan (a Buddha park), Pha That Luang, the "most important national monument in Laos" according to Lonely Planet, and Patuxai a Laos-alike of the Arc de Triomphe.

While walking down the street, looking for a Tuk tuk, I get hailed by one! There is a standard price for each of the tourist sights and I can go to the three I want for 195,000 Kip (or around US$24) that doesn't seem too expensive when Xieng Khuan is 24km south of Vientiane, along the Mekong river, while the other two are in Vientiane.

Xiang Vieng

Xiang Vieng is a Buddha Park - literally a park populated with dozens of statues of Buddha and Hindu Gods. It is said that genius and madness are not too far apart and Xiang Vieng is a certainly a candidate. The statues and sculptures are packed into a small space and become overwhelming and give me the impression of an obsessive compulsive personality at work. Well worth and hour strolling around - one of the sculptures is large enough to climb inside (through and open mouth), up 3 levels of stairs to clamber on top of it.

 

Pha That Luang

Is very important to the Laos people as is is both a symbol of Laos sovereignty and is also a Buddhist symobol (and temple). After a good look around, I buy a couple of soft drinks - one for me and one for Ton, my Tuk tuk driver.

 

Patuxai

"At the northeastern end of LaneXang Ave.
It is the Patuxay or Victory Gate of Vientiane,
Built in 1962 (B.E 2505), but never complete due to the country's turbulent history. From a closer distance it appears less impressive, like a monster of concrete."
A sign on the inside of the Patuxai:

 

Onwards

Tonight after a meal of Pad Thai (Thai fried noodles) I realise that I really have top plan this trip - I'm going to miss some of the things I want to see if I don't start moving. I'll have another day here in Vientiane to relax and recharge a little then I plan to visit (hopefully in this order) the following towns:

• Vang Vieng - back packer haven and river tubing, rock climbing and limestone karst scenic area.
• Luang Prabang - World heritage historic city, exotic temples, hopefully time for a cooking class.
• Paske - in the southern province of Champasak, I hope to hire a motorbike for a few days to explore and maybe spot some elephants.
• Champasak - vist the nearby Wat Phu a Khmer temple copmplex similar to Angkor Wat in Cambodia (but smaller)
• Bangkok - aahhh the city of contrasting extremes. 

Take care,

Dale/Boris

Wellington - NZ Beerfest February 28th 2009

The Lowdown

www.beerfestival.co.nz
Waitangi Park 12:00 PM till 9:00 PM
$25- Per ticket
Drinks $5/glass

Team FireChief Reporting for Duty

Team FireChief are ready: Me, Finchy, Fish, Vee and Chris are primed and ready for a fantastic day trying some new beers and hanging out together. We're decked out in garish Island shirts and wearing plastic kids-sized firemans helmets – we are definitely here for a good time.

We front up to the gate and barely have to wait before having our bags checked (oddly, Vee gets her water bottle confiscated and then returned to her) and then tickets checked and vouchers for free Monteiths beer are issued. This is a good sign, there are wall to wall staff ready to get people in the gate with as little fuss and delay as possible - good work!

So Many Beers -  Bring 'Em On!

Bennetts Fine Beers and Ales

We are encouraged by the founder, Maurice Bennett, who almost takes us hostage as we walk past the Bennetts stand. He is extremely passionate about his beers.
Maurice gives us a full run down on the beers, along with recommendations. It sounds like we can't go wrong, so my first beer of the day is a Bennetts Wellington Lager. It is an excellent drop, light, crisp, tasty and an excellent start to what promises to be a legendary day.

Tuatara Brewery

Our next stop is the Tuatara Brewery stand. Vee and Chris are keen advocates of Tuatara beers – Vee the Ardennes, a Belgian style beer and Chris the Hefe, a cloudy wheat beer. Both are nice, but I love zesty Belgian beers, so I go for the excellent Ardennes.
I'm getting pretty hungry; pouring back beers on an empty stomach isn’t a recipe for longevity, so I make a note to find lunch. Soon.

Smoking Room

There is a large marquee, with comfy seats etc in the middle of the central grass area, handy for comfortable shelter from the rain today and much appreciated as by the punters packing it out. It is actually the one of two marquees housing tiny cigarette stands. The stands are small and unobtrusive, only noticeable because the young ladies staffing them are dressed in bright red outfits.

Baltika

Fish has already had a Baltika and is keen for us to give them a try. Baltika is a Russian brewery and they have an impressive array of beers to try. We mosey over to the Baltika stand, admire the pretty Baltika girls on duty and order our beers. I go for the Porter; what a brilliant beer! I have never heard of Baltika, but they certainly brew good beer. Note to self – visit Russia some time, bring a maddening thirst!

Harrington's Brewery

Harrington's Brewery are next on the list for us. Ahhh, what memories - we've all stumbled from Harrington's in Christchurch in our dim and distant past(s), so their beers are a real trip down memory lane – especially their Ngahere Gold! The boys go for the Ngahere, but I'm getting a taste for Porters after Baltika, so I put my hand up for a Wobby Boot porter. I am not disappointed, it's a particularly tasty beer – a pleasure to enjoy - again, Harrington's deliver the goods!

 

Lunch – At Last!

I am so hungry, I have to get food. It's a dilemma – curry that will probably be mild or ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Curry. Ribs it is! Hell Pizza deliver the goods for the ribs, sticky, messy and deliciously fitting for a day drinking beer.  They don't last long and look as if a school of piranhas have been by after I've finished. Right, the next beer has to be from Croucher Brewing Co – we've walked past their stand and talked to the girls there a couple of times and their beer has got to be worth a shot.

Croucher Brewing Co.

We front up at Croucher Brewing, keep talking to the lovely girls and order a couple of beers, I go for their pilsner – I need some refreshing after the sticky ribs. The pilsner does the trick all right. We are starting to get some attention, due to the colourful shirts and firemans helmets. One poor girl asks us if we're really firemen. Of course we lie – this is a beerfest after all.

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

The rain is just getting heavier, the beer is helping but it isn’t hiding the fact that everyone is standing in ankle deep water in their chosen marquees – apart from those swimmers crossing from one side to the other in search of more fine beer.
Funnily enough, as the water and mud levels rise, the blood alcohol levels rise in proportion and everyone actually gets friendlier! Apart from being near Fish and Finchy, I haven't seen any sign of trouble – we are all here having a hell of a good time with like-minded souls. Absolutely awesome! We join the crazies and cross over to the wet side.

Jagermeister - The Decline Begins

We hang out in the Jagermeister tent for a long time, long enough for something like four Jagermeister-RedBulls each. There is a steady procession of pretty ladies trying Jager and trying to throw hoops onto deer antlers to win a prize. Bless 'em. This is where for us we crank the fun up a notch – the booze is starting to have an effect now. Everybody is having a great day, despite the weather.

The Music

The rain eases off for a bit so we venture out for some fresh air and to watch a couple of the bands play. I have no idea who the first few bands are, the only one that stood out was Charlie ASH – they're pretty good and have a unique sound.

We are all standing in puddles and or mud, watching the band and the "dancers". In some circles they would be called dancers – not in this case! The swampy ground makes conventional dancing impossible, these guys and girls are swamp-moshing (a brand new phrase – you'll hearing it more often now!); a combination of dancing, diving, splashing, flopping, sliding, recovering and avoiding being tackled and thrown into the morass.

We haven't drunk enough to consider the swamp-moshing fun yet. Maybe we haven’t been drinking enough! Time for Team FireChief to get a few refills!

The Antics – It wasn't Us!

While strolling casually past the Tuatara stand, we notice a keg has been carelessly left outside the marquee – right in the walkway in front. Fish tries to lift it for a photo opportunity – Crikey – it's full!

He and a bystander (with a combination of determination, desperation and absolutely no coordination)  manage to push the ball valve in and fill a glass or two with Tuatara's fine pilsner.

Next thing a surprisingly angry bloke with a big chip on his shoulder comes out from behind the counter and starts squealing and pointing at Fish, threatening all sorts of dire consequences for interfering with their keg.

He's a loud-mouth and is treated with all the respect that Fish several dozen bystanders can muster. None. I hope he isn’t in Tuatara's PR department! They make fantastic beer, but this guy is in the wrong party.

 

The Long Cool Finish – Carlsberg

We retire to the Jagermeister tent for one last Jager-Redbull before wading across the pond that was grass earlier in the day, and park ourselves at the Carlsberg stand. It's dry, though flooded and friendly. I have no idea how many Carlsbergs we drink, several, but it is just easier than wading and braving the ongoing downpour to go anywhere else. We stay at the Carlsberg tent until the end of the beerfest at around 9 PM. As they close the bar staff throw me a small tent! Yay! A freebie! Thanks Carlsberg!

What Planet Are They On?

I head out to the portaloos and on the way back, with Fish, I take a picture of one of the smokers tents.The woman running the tent – working for one of the major cigarette companies, starts shouting.

Hey, I've been drinking all day, who cares? I keep walking/stumbling, getting about 200 metres away before being asked to return to the smokers tent by a confused security guard – he has no idea what the fuss is about either, he is a nice guy doing his job.
The smokers' tent attendant starts shouting and ranting at me. Little does she know, I've been married before and her mind tricks are powerless against me. My resistance is further enhanced by me also having a belly full of beer. Even the security guy is rolling his eyes.

Apparently in New Zealand, much like in Khmer Rouge era Cambodia, it is a serious breach of copyright to take photos of cigarette stands in a public event. Goodness me.

I let her go on for a while then delete the photo in front of her. I feel pity for her poor partner - assuming she has one; he's probably handcuffed in a cellar somewhere, praying for a quick death.

The Aftermath

We manage one final beer at the Carlsberg tent and head out onto the streets. As I mentioned earlier, there seems to be no trouble happening anywhere, that must be some record for any event in Wellington!

We finish our night with a couple of rounds of extra drinks around the pubs and a traditional post-boozing-kebab on Courtnay Place.

The Wrap-up in the Sober Light of Day

I will definitely be returning to the NZ Beer Festival in 2010. The event was well-run, reasonably affordable, the facilities were amazing. When I say facilities, I mean toilets; there were so many toilets that there was never a queue! I have never been to any event where you didn't have to queue for the toilets! Sure they were portaloos but they were clean and available.

 

The sheer variety and number of beers available was astounding! What a fantastic selection to try and enjoy. My favourites were: Baltik, Harringtons, Carlsberg and Croucher. That may sound judgmental, but to be honest, I enjoyed every beer that I tried.

The staff throughout were generally very good with the couple of exceptions, I experienced above and I heard a few grizzles about heavy handed female security staff, but I they were the exception, not the rule.

I take my hat off to the organizers of the Wellington Beerfest, they have outdone themselves and thank you for putting in the effort to make this years Beerfest the true day of champions, in spite of the miserable weather. Congratulations Guys, You Rock!

What the ?

"Does it sound like I'm joking? The &%$@ing aircraft has crashed!" Matt shouts down the phone.I am dragged back to the immediacy of the situation; I grab Carole and one of the Technicians: "The aircraft has crashed and we are going on to the runway right now!'It takes us a record two minutes to get two miles back into the airport, through security, onto the runway and up to the wreckage of our Piper Seneca II. Matt is standing by the aircraft, camera in hand, looking amazingly composed given that the aircraft crashed and slid down the runway with him in it! He and the pilot are both OK, with no injuries whatsoever. It is a miracle, really.

How did we get here? Where is here? How about we rewind a few days back to the start of this story...

Amman

Arrival

After a long flight from New Zealand, via Dubai, we arrive at Queen Alia airport in Amman, Jordan only to have our gear held up by customs.

Again.

No problem, this always seems to happen, no matter how we prepare, things will work themselves out.
I'm feeling pretty good after over 24 hours flying because we had a free stopover in Dubai to get a night's sleep – if you fly Emirates, and have a stopover of more than eight hours in Dubai, they will put you up their transit hotel for the night. Excellent.

A Comfortable Hotel

I've booked us in at the Comfort Hotel and Suites, again. The Comfort Hotel is a really good hotel, in the mid-price range, in a really good location – the suburb of Sweifieh. The cost is reasonable and the staff are great.

Eating for Beginners

Dinner is always tricky there are so many easy choices:

• Shawarma – "meat or chicken"
• Falafel
• Roast Chicken, bread, mayonnaise, chips and pickles

We settle on half a roast chicken each. It is delicious, as per usual and we just vacuum it up, sitting at a table, right beside the footpath.

 

It's actually a little chilly in Amman, it's winter here and Amman is built on several mountains. We're told that there hasn't been any rain for over a year and often it rains and snows though winter. Brrrr, I don’t like the sound of snow, cold is bad enough.

Back to Wor

We head in to the airport the next day to recover our equipment from customs and to start preparing for our work; it is always so much fun catching up with friends from our previous jobs here. We have a real rapport with most of the Technicians and Engineers at the airport, for example, 'Amer, Abu Moustafa, Ghalib and Amena looked after us well when I was here a year ago with Carole and again, a couple of months ago when I was here with Matt. We have some laughs catching up again.

The Pitfalls of Speaking English

We met a man who Abu Moustafa said had told everybody that he could speak English very well. When I was speaking to him, it was in Arabic, with Abu Moustafa translating the tricky bits. Abu Moustafa was teasing him about not speaking English and he said:
"I have two problems when speaking English:
 1. When they speak, I don't understand;
 2. When I try to speak English, I can't find the words to say, but apart from that I am very clever speaking English"
Needless to say we all just about wet ourselves laughing so much.

The Pitfalls of Speaking Arabic

I find that with several trips to the Middle East in quick succession, my spoken Arabic is improving quite rapidly; I'm also finding that I really need to hit the books and get my grammar up to speed.
I am very proud of myself though, I have found, with non-English speaking taxi drivers that I have been able to keep up a 20 minute conversation in Arabic. I take their laughing as a complement! I managed to discuss the situation in Gaza with one driver; It was lucky that I had spent time in Iraq, years ago, assisting the teams monitoring the weapons of mass destruction, that I knew the Arabic word for rocket, for example. --A handy word that you really don't use too often. It's "sarookh" if you are wondering.

While we're on the subject of language; I talk to Abu Moustafa about the origins of various words. I find a beauty: The old magic word, Alakazam!
It turns out that Al Akzam means "dwarf" and Al Kazam is the plural, "dwarves", what a hilarious magic word! – I make a mental note to use this magic word more often for my own amusement. I can see it now; the wizard fixes the frog in his steely gaze, makes some arcane gestures and without the slightest giggle or smirk, utters the sacred magic words: "The Dwarves".

Dead Sea Scrolls

It's Friday, the Muslim weekend, so with no work on, Matt and I grab our cameras and head to Jebel Qala'a - the Citadel Mountain, in Amman. We spend a relaxed couple of hours wandering around the ruined citadel before entering the nearby museum. I've been here before, so I know exactly what I want to see: The Dead Sea Scrolls.  It is amazing that these are on display with so little fanfare and that if you can read ancient Hebrew then you could read one of the scrolls on display. The state of preservation is amazing. The scrolls are copies of biblical books, some of which are included in modern bibles in various forms and are written on leather, papyrus and one is on copper sheet. I just can't believe that such famous artefacts have so little security and so little attention.

 

Luck of the Irish

Last time I stayed at the Comfort Hotel, I noticed there was a bar underneath it, but it was closed for repairs. Dubliners Bar is now open for business, I grab Matt and Carole and we sneak downstairs and into the bar. Wow! We are immediately in a different world! We might as well be home (– as home as a bar can be, really), the bar is full of smoke and boozing people, some local, some expats. We grab a seat, some drinks and order Cesar salads and Buffalo chicken wings. Beer, wings and salad turn out to be our regular order throughout our stay. Awesome! Beer, spicy chicken and salad, we feel like we're at home, though the cigarette smoke is a bit off-putting.

A Step in My Spring

We've been working really hard and get a day off. Our friends arrive to take us to Hammamat Ma'in – Ma'in Hot Springs. We all pile into one car and head off, stopping only to buy roast chickens, bread, falafel sandwiches and soft drinks. The road from the city of Madaba (famous for Christian churches and Byzantine mosaics) takes us into the barren, middle of nowhere and then descends 264 metres below sea level (!!) into a wadi (valley), where the geothermal hot springs have been diverted to become waterfalls! Holy Trousers! Can you believe it!

There are several options open to us:

• The Roman baths, consisting of separate mens and womens pools, adjacent to the public changing rooms,
• The "family" waterfall,
• The public waterfall, and,
• The hot, but non-geothermal, swimming pool.

We decide that our best option is the family waterfall. The "family" part of the name means that women can use this pool/waterfall without too much leering etc, whereas the public waterfall may not be too the sort of place women would want to be.

The family waterfall is pretty spectacular, if you want, you can try to imagine super-hot water cascading 20 metres over a rugged cliff, into a pool, where it is still something like 50-odd degrees C. Alternatively, you can look at the pictures ?. There is also a cave at the foot of the cliff, above the pool, where some of the superheated water is gushing out of a crack in the rock - the small cave is used as a very small sauna. Not really my cup of tea.

 

I find a spot under the cascade where the hot water hammers onto my back and scalp and have a very relaxing, extended "zen" moment. It is like a very firm, hot, massage – sort of like having a small Thai masseuse jumping up and down on my shoulders and neck wearing heels. Aaaaaahhhhh. I can just feel my cares and concerns drift away as I relax into pure contentment for about 20 minutes. Until I get hungry and venture out of the waterfall to hunt down a portion of the roast chicken and soft drink.

Aqaba

The Slow Boat to Aqaba

OK, so we drove down in a car, but it was slow. It seemed to take forever to drive the 360 – odd kilometres from Amman to Aqaba, after a days work. Luckily, I had stashed a few beers in my bag, so Matt and I could at least pour back a few (nearly) cold ones while Abu Moustafa drove.

We check into the Golden Tulip Hotel - a nice, upper mid-range hotel – hot water clean sheets, mini-bar, private bathrooms, all the mod con's. It's also in the centre of Aqaba which makes it convenient for finding good places for breakfast and tea.

Aqaba is a nice place to be a foreigner:

• The climate in winter is similar to that of New Zealand in the summer,
• It is a very small city, so there's not too much traffic,
• The Red Sea is right here, so there are plenty of activities such as diving and snorkelling,
• Other Red sea towns are so close – Sharm As Sheikh(Egypt), Eilat(Israel), Saudi Arabia is only 15 km down the coast!
• Aqaba is a port and as such, it has a special tax free status...
  Translated: "Beer is cheap at JD1.000 (US$1.40 or NZ$2.75) and there are well stocked bottle shops everywhere"
  

Work Just Works

There is something magical about Aqaba when we start working at the airport. We catch up with old friends, from last flight check here and manage to get passes arranged, negotiate use of the airspace and get flying with ease and more importantly, speed. It a sign of a good day; In a record day of flying in uninterrupted airspace, we manage to get a days work done with no delays and we get to go home early - while it's still light!

 

Matt, Carole and I head back to the hotel and shower and change and head out onto the streets to explore downtown Aqaba in daylight. It's a funny town, it's nice, but seems desperately in need of tourists. Aqaba feels as if it's the place people pass through, enroute to somewhere else, rather than stop at. I can see why, though: The corniche, a walkway above the shore, should be a fantastic place to walk, but it is grubby and has drifts of rubbish blown into piles, as well as chainlink fences with plastic bags snagged in the wires. The interesting thing is that there are a lot of vegetable gardens right beside the corniche; Small plots of salad vegetables, radishes and carrots. There are several cafes right on the shore (waves are breaking though some of them as we walk past) serving coffee, tea and the ubiquitous "argilehs" or "Hubbly Bubbly" pipes with their fruit/tobacco scented smoke.

What The ? (The Prequel)

The local technicians make the final adjustments to the VOR (VHF Ominidirectional Ranging system) and we have finished our checks – all done in record time, again dues to the lack of air traffic in the area. I watch our aircraft fly over on approach to land - we're about 1 nautical mile off the end of the runway – we're in line with the runway, but can't quite see it.
I give Matt a call on the cell phone, to see if he needs us to pick him up – no answer. Odd, but sometimes we can be busy after a flight. I give it a minute and call again:
Me: "Did you land?"
Matt: "No, we crashed"
Me: "Yeah, right!"
"Does it sound like I'm joking? The &%$@ing aircraft has crashed!" Matt shouts down the phone.
Me: "We are coming down R.F.N!"

We are on that runway in record time, dreading what we're going to see. Are they hurt? Is this going to end our mission? Is our equipment damaged? Will our equipment be held up in the investigation, delaying our work?

Luckily Matt and our Pilot are completely fine, if not badly shaken up. The relief washes over me. The aircraft is a different matter: It is sitting in the middle of the runway – nose ground into the asphalt, tail sticking up in the air and propellers looking like something out of a World War II movie – curved backwards by the repeated impacts with the runway. Wow! It is such a relief that they are fine.
Matt and I walk up the runway, following the scrapes; It's easy to see that the aircraft had landed, right at the touch down point and then the nose gear collapsed and the propellers managed to rotate 5 times before being stopped and then the nose impacted with several hundred metres of sliding on the nose before the aircraft came to a stop. To our pilot's credit, he had managed to steer the aircraft during the slide (!) and kept the aircraft right in the middle of the runway.

 

Once clear of the runway, I dig around in one of my bags and hand Matt a still-cold beer. He certainly deserves one!

NOTE: The investigation finds the cause of the crash to be due to the mechanical failure of a critical spring in the nose landing gear.

The Dead Sea Highway

We decide to head back to Amman to start the job of setting up a replacement aircraft and working through all of the requirements for certification. The quickest way north, for us, is to hire a 7 seat, people mover taxi and hit the road. The road the driver chooses is the Dead Sea highway, one of the three highways heading to Amman (The other two are the Desert and the Kings Highways). I plug into my mp3 player and effectively turn the trip into a surreal, extended music video. The trip takes more than four hours, but the mostly barren landscape is spectacular; from rocky plains to rugged, broken mountains and canyons, small sandy dunes, kilometres of roadside tomato gardens and finally the glittering Dead Sea.

Approaching the Dead Sea from the southern end, we drive past the Lot's cave – Lot being the Old Testament man who escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah with his family when they were destroyed. We can't see the cave from the road, but we can see the pillar of salt that is said to be the remains of his (nameless) wife, who against God's instructions, looked back at the destruction of the two cities and was turned into a pillar of salt. Note: I am resisting the urge to make some sort of sexist comment at this point.

Making Tracks Home

The setup of the replacement aircraft and completion of our flying in Amman flows well and seems to fly by and only too soon, it's time to go home. I have enjoyed my time in Jordan again. It is one of the easiest places to get around in the Middle East, it may be a little more expensive than neighbouring countries but Jordan has a real charm to its people and even though I have spent quite a lot of time here, I keep adding to my list of new sights and towns I want to visit next time. Thank you to all my friends in Jordan; you are fantastic ambassadors for your amazing country.

Take care,

Dale/BoriS

Wellington Anniversary Weekend
Sat 17 Jan to Mon 19 Jan 2009

An Early Start

I leave home early, my car loaded with camera, lenses, swimming gear, sunblock, insect repellent, water, snacks and raincoat. I don't really know what to expect - I'm heading to the Kimberley Reserve near Levin to check out the annual Organic River Festival. It is advertised as:

"... a vibrant and upbeat celebration of music, healthy food and wine, creativity and the community, a celebration of good Kiwi life."

That said, I really have no idea what to expect. Hopefully good music, a few beers, a swim in the river and some good food. The weather is fantastic, sunny and clear, with a light breeze. All the signs are right for a great day.

The parking is very well organised, different lanes for different options, multiple ticket collectors and everybody ready for masses of festival goers. The price is great, $NZ$20- for a one day ticket although you can camp on-site and stay for the full three days. I choose to park as close as possible to the festival for an extra NZ$5-, that way I can get to my raincoat/swimming gear easily throughout the day, if need be.

A Familiar face - Bev

As I stroll slowly into the gates, at the first stall, I spot Bev, from Kereru Natural Products, a friend I haven't seen for several years. We catch up for a while, then I wander deeper into the festival towards the food and drink area.

Wake me up - I Need Some Mojo

Feeling a little tired from my early start I really need a good coffee. I'm expecting to pay an exorbitant amount for coffee, usually food at festival attendees are treated as walking wallets. I grab a flat-white coffee from the Mojo stand. At this time of the morning, it's the nectar of the gods - soft, milky and delicious - and hits the spot perfectly. Even better, the price is what I would expect to pay outside the festival! I'm further impressed by the great service from the staff too. This turns out to be the first of many flat-whites today. Time to check out the music I can hear coming from the nearby main stage.

Hillbillies make good music

There are two guys on stage, Skelm, I think. I knew there would be something like this! A guitar and bass combo, they have bare feet and are wearing shorts, black singlets topped off with huge beards. Their music is pretty cool and they already have captured a small crowd. Disturbing look, but the punters love it.

Getting Worried Now - Beer and Krishnas

What do we all (broad generalisation) like to do while enjoying the fresh air on a hot summers day? That's right, pour back a couple of cold beers (one at time, please). With beer in mind, I carry out a quick survey of the food and drink establishments to find the cheapest, drinkable beer. Hmmm, I'm getting worried - there is only one stall selling beer and two stalls selling wine or mead. That really limits my choice  but at least it isn't too expensive.

Hare Krishnas; Where have they all come from? There seem to be about three different groups or tribes of Krishnas. The local hardware must have sold a ton of orange paint! I thought the whole Krishna thing had died out in the late 70's, but here we go again, young people (god, I feel old saying that) wearing baggy pants or saris, sporting the orange stripe down the forehead, chanting "Hare, hare hare, Krishna, krishna krishna,"...etc and generally looking too peaceful for their own good. There are  three Krishna food stalls, all vegetarian (no worries there), but all independently selling exactly the same six dishes. That's not a good sign for any foodies becoming Krishna converts! Get some variety guys!

Blacksmith On-site

One of the stalls (really an awning attached to his house-bus) is a real blacksmith. Intrigued, I stand by his forge, watching him heat up steel rod, to red-hot and beat and bend it into various hooks and implement, for sale. An interesting guy to talk to, he lives in the house-bus year-round and makes his living blacksmithing - really living his dream of a relaxed, reasonably self-sufficient lifestyle.

Heading toward the river, I got talking to a pretty girl who turned out to be a slightly undercover Hare Krishna (no orange paint, baggy pants or sari), subtly trying to get me to attend a sing-a-long, I grabbed a delicious lemon tart from her cafe, escaped and stood in the river to cool off - it was already warming up at 10 am - and took photos of keen people jumping into the river from high up the bank.

Jonathan Harding

Cruising back toward the main performance area after cooling down a bit I, hear some really cool guitar playing, so I mosey up to the main stage to see Jonathan Harding playing. He is a very cruisy one man, one guitar act. I sneak backstage after his performance and meet him - a very nice guy, and offer to send some photos of his performance.

 

Curbside Cabaret

There are a couple of smaller stages tucked away in the bushes between the main festival area and the river; One stage that I stop by throughout the day is the Curbside Cabaret. A Variety of acts play short sets through the day - seemingly with a very loose schedule or possibly no schedule. The performances I see range from solo cello to stoner rock.

Quartet Kids

First act I see is comprised of four kids, to my eye, younger than eight years old, ukelele/vocals, drum(singular), Bongos, backing vocals. They play some oooooold classics pretty well -- Jambalaya (on The Bayou) by Gerry and the Pacemakers, for example.

Stilt walkers

Stilt walkers roam the festival area from time to time - their stilts make them about 3.5 metres tall and they are dressed in various costumes. One couple are dressed as husband and wife, in brightly-coloured, comic book, Victorian costumes. They end up making very slow progress as they get stopped for photos every few metres. They don't look at all unstable, I bet they put in a lot of practice!

Black Eyed Susie

Black Eyed Susie take the stage and  rip ito their set, they are an Irish/blues/rock band with a social conscience and sounded pretty cool, they put of a good show and even have some kids from the audience come on stage to assist with vocals! Plenty of variety from BES and a good sound too.

Devil Sticks

Devil sticks are are comprised of two, 500mm straight sticks, each wrapped with a spiral of black rubber, and a similar single stick, also wrapped with rubber but with a rubber pom-pom on each end.
Devil sticks are a sure-fire sign of an "alternative' event to me. The proponent of the devil sticks holds the two plain sticks, one in each hand and uses them to pick up, twirl and toss the third stick. It proponent usually uses some body movement - spins, etc to further add drama to the "performance". What that amounts to is a what looks like a spectacular display of the third stick behaving as if it has a life of it's own and as the performer usually keeps a deadpan face, it looks deceptively easy. Believe me, it's not.

Masef

After another Mojo coffee I heard a sound that, for me, seemed to sum up the atmosphere of the whole day so far; It was funky, reggae, rocky, bluesy, soulful and most of all ... COOL. I'm talking about a kiwi band called Masef.
Masef looked as if they were having more fun than anyone else at the Organic River Festival while they were playing, I took around a hundred photos of them playing. They are a 5 piece band - (Guitar/Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Saxophone and Drums) and as tight as a facelift. I was so impressed that the day after the festival, I went online and ordered their new CD, Masef are a band that deserve to be BIG! If they can convince a jaded heavy metaller like me that funky reggae is damn cool then surely they deserve all the success in the world. I can't wait to see them play again. As I said, I have ordered their CD online on the strength of their performance, check them out!

Needless to say, after Masef finished playing, I sneaked backstage again to meet them and have a quick chat to Gaz (bass) and Joe (Guitar, vocals) and I'm impressed at how cool and down to earth they are. Top guys and easily the best new New Zealand band I have heard in years.

Curbside Cabaret Part 2

Still reeling from Masef, I fortified myself with a beer and headed for the river again to cool off a little and to see if there were any bands playing in the Curbside Cafe again. What I saw was, again, pretty cool; two guys with guitar and bass only, playing awesome renditions of Foo Fighters, Rage Against The Machine and some retro sounding stoner rock. These guys were amazing! I couldn't believe that two guys could come out of nowhere and just play like messiahs in a shack on the edge of a festival! Apparently about 50 people agreed with me and we sat and watched until they finished.

Nightshift

While taking photos of Masef, I had bumped into Nick, who was videotaping the festival and performers; As it turned out, he was also playing in a band on another tiny stage beside the river - Nightshift. Nightshift continued the cruisy groove of the day, into the evening, playing classic rock covers, Pink Floyd etc. Nick has a fantastic voice and the boys played well, easily giving the crowd their money's worth.

Rubber Band

Following Nightshift were the Rubber Band, another local band, playing classic hard rock covers. They had big boots to fill following Nick and the boys, but they had an ace-in-the-hole -- a rabid fan planted in the front of the crowd. Their "fan" was a blonde, heavily-deadlocked, black-dressed, mainly unconscious, human-wreckage of the days festivities. He stumbled to the front before Nick played and slumped (not sat) cross legged in the front of the audience, took a big gulp or two from the remains of the bottle glued into his hand and promptly flaked out until the Rubber Band was announced, then he suddenly regained conciousness, but not control and started yodelling "Yeahhh! the Rubber Baa-aaaa-aaand!" until consciousness slipped away again. This "performance" was repeated several times through the Rubber Band's performance. Ten points for style!

My Golden Soul

Nearly everybody I talk to during the day is talking about a band called My Golden Soul. not everyone knows the name of the band but they knew that the band to see is playing at 8:30pm. My Golden Soul are definitely worth seeing - they are huge without playing a note - they have eleven members and take up all the space on the stage. MGS crank it up from the start and have the crowd grooving big-time!

Overall Impression

The Organic River Festival is a laid back, gathering of overlapping groups of people, able to enjoy a dazzling variety of good food, fantastic music, the chance to investigate massage and alternative therapies and sample and buy small business products.
The day started off slowly and the energy increased markedly as it got dark and as the music got louder. I saw no signs of any trouble but instead saw a lot of relaxed people of all ages (it is a child friendly event) enjoying a nicely understated day assisted by good food and a fantastic choice of music.

I met some interesting people, made some good friends and listened to some excellent music. This is the best value enetertainment for a whole day that I can imagine, especially at only $25- for entry and parking. Next time, I would like to stay for the whole three days and absorb more of the party atmosphere and be able to drink more than just a couple of beers.

To Singapore

Note: November 2008 - delayed posting, due to the holiday season

After Najaf we leave Fujairah and have a one and a half day stopover in Singapore! Yippee! Good food, great beer (Tiger) and plenty opportunities to explore and take photos.

We clear customs and immigration and book rooms at the Holiday in on Cuppage street - just off Orchard road. Apart from sleep, I really need to find a laundry - I am nearly out of clean clothes and really need to catch a few Z's to recover from the flight.

Washy Washy Laundry - Cuppage Plaza

After a snooze, Richard takes me to the best deal laundry he knows, "Washy washy" in Cuppage Plaza. They know him well - every trip through Singapore he gets his laundry done there. The cost? SD$10- for a huge load of washing and ready, clean and folded after 3 hours! Wow! My laundry has been thrown over the counter before they finish saying the price.

Bugis St
Fish foot spa - Grace, Dr fish

I always laugh when I visit Bugis Street, I was told that in the bad old days, Bugis St was sin city central - boozing, dodgy women etc. These days it's a bustling street market with stall and shops selling everything from Tee-shirts,CD's, designer clothing, fruit juice and kids watches. Bugis st is always a good place for a browse, this time I stumbled across the "Fish Spa".

The Fish Spa in Bugis st market is run by the manager, Grace, and in a nutshell, you remove your shoes and socks, wash your feet then imerse them in a specially built tank where several hundred, thumb-sized, "doctor fish" nibble dead skin from your feet and lower legs. The reasons being that it is both a beauty(?) and therapeutic treatment. In larger establishments the tanks are large enough to lie down in (you have to wear swimming gear). I can't quite get my head around lying down in a tank of hungry, nibbling fish.

For the affordable sum of SD$15- for a 30 minute treatment, I was convinced to approach the tank. It was a more than a little unnerving to see the fish racing towards my feet as I gingerly lowered them into the water, swarming around to start nibbling. I had expected it to be a little painful or uncomfortable, but instead, found the sensation to be ticklish and found the only discomfort was trying to resist the urge to giggle like a loon and rip my feet out of the water to safety. I end up talking to Grace for the 30 minutes and learn a little about the fish (they cost $5 each and originally come from Turkey/Iraq; they do need to be fed food as well as feet; they are sensitive to chemicals and soaps - hence the foot washing first; they are quite delicate and are easily killed if the client is not careful) and the therapeutic values (soft skin, stimulation of the skin and encouragement of blood flow to the feet) - there is a lady with her feet in another tank who has the treatment every week - it looks as if she has psoriasis or eczema and she swears by the fish. The 30 minutes flies by with the conversation flowing. My feet did feel tingly and the skin was very soft afterwards. Would I do it again? Yes indeedy - a relatively inexpensive and giggly experience. Don't read books about piranha fish before having the spa.

Sim Lim Square

No trip to Singapore is complete without a visit to Sim Lim Square a computer nerd's shopping paradise. There is just about any computer, camera or electronic gadget available here, the prices vary from good to expensive, depending on your bargaining skills. I end up buying more batteries for my camera and have trouble not buying an extra lens. Enough said, I think.

Bobby's in Cuppage Terrace

Between the Holiday Inn and the Orchard Row MRT(subway) station, Richard and I are continually passing through Cuppage Terrace, a collection of restaurants and outdoor restaurant bars. Singapore is reasonably hot and given that beer is available, we stop at "Bobby's - Taproom - Grill - Ribs" and pour back a few ice-cold Tiger beers, while chatting to the barman. The beer isn't too expensive, for Singapore, the setting is both convenient and relaxing. A great way to chill out and let those tired legs and parched throats recover. Having recovered, we now need food. I would crawl over broken glass for satay at this stage, so Richard recommends heading to the Newton Circus food centre.

 

Newton Circus - Satay, King prawns, Tiger beer

The food centre is just over the road from the Newton MRT station. It doesn't look like much from the outside but inside it is a hungry boy's view of heaven. It is a large oval shaped are with food hawker stalls around the outside and plenty of tables in the middle. It's a little touristy and a bit more expensive than your average hawker stall, but it's convenient and they sell beer here...
We walk a circuit of the stalls to see what's on offer. There is plenty of variety: satays of every description, oyster omelette, carrot cake (a fried creation, not a sweet cake, like at home!), giant tiger prawns, grilled chicken wings, noodles, BBQ stingray, murtabak, Hokkien mee(noodles). We buy several large bottles of Tiger at SD$6- each, a bargain for Singapore, and settle into a large plate of chicken and beef satays. Excellent stuff.

We are approached by and older guy, behaving in an over-the-top furtive manner. It turns out he is selling copy watches and sunglasses. He has them hidden under his shirt and has a great routine to flash them and then try and sell them. Apparently he has been doing this for years. He must do well, he is so hard case. He even carries a mirror so you can see how cool you look wearing the sunglasses! Richard buys a pair of Ray Bans for a couple of dollars.
We eat, drink and laugh until the jet-lag catches up with us and then back to the hotel via the MRT again.

 

Funan Centre

The Funan centre is a new computer/camera/home electronics shopping centre - an upmarket Sim Lim Square, really. It's easy to browse, there is no pressure from the shop owners and it is orderly. It really feels as if something is missing, compared to Sim Lim Square, but the food court on the top floor does make up for the lack of character. I can't resist and literally tear through roti chennai (Malay chicken curry with a piece of roti bread), delicious. After a fantastic Roti Chennai, I feel like a real Singapore coffee to wake up a bit and so I head out of the Funan centre to an underground food court nearby. They make the coffee in front of me, another fantastic food show. It is just right: strong as hell, white and sweet from the condensed milk. Delicious.

Laksa - Orchard Rd Mall

With about an hour to go before leaving for the airport, I cruise around the hotel, looking for someone interesting to talk to and end up having a yarn with the lady running the hotel convenience store. As usual, we end up talking about the fantastic food in Singapore, "Do you like laksa?" she asks.

Minutes later I am following her instructions to the best laksa (a light curry soup with noodles) close to the hotel. "Go to the Orchard Road Mall and go to level B2, you will find the laksa place". She's right, the only laksa place on level B2 is called "EAT". I ask about the laksa. They only do seafood laksa, but because I'm not too keen on seafood, they replace the seafood with pork for me.

The laksa is delicious! Even tough the seafood has been removed, it is still fishy-tasting because the base of the dish is a seafood stock. Still, it is absolutely delicious and tastes exactly like the laksa that I had eaten at home at Chris and Veronica's house in New Zealand, a few weeks before! I eat the laksa like a man possessed - chopsticks and spoon flying - time is running out before we have to go to the airport.

Singapore, for me, is like eating a leisurely yum cha. A large meal, eaten in many small portions over an extended period of time. I know unless I deliberately go to Singapore for a holiday, I will have to explore it a small piece at a time as and when I manage to pass through.

Anyway, take care and be good,

Dale / BoriS