Gong Xi Fai Cai!

Or Happy New Lunar Year (Chinese new Year). It's now officially the Year of the Rat. Which happens to be me (I am a water rat). Apparently these are some of my traits:

Rat (Yang, 1st Trine, Fixed Element Water): Forthright, disciplined, systematic, meticulous, charismatic, hardworking, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable, shrewd. Can be manipulative, cruel, dictatorial, rigid, selfish, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, scheming, sturdy.

You can find out even more about me at Wikipedia, including the fact that I am supposed to like
Pork, peas, and cabbage (as a rat).

Maybe the luck is rubbing off. I won some tickets to go and see Sweeny Todd in a competition in Time Out here. Now I have never won any competitions in my life before moving to Singapore. Here, I have won 3 since arriving in about 1 year. Can you imagine actually winning something in Time Out London - the chances are miniscule. But here - well - playing the odds, not bad at all...

Let's hope the luck persists, I have my finals for my MBA trimester starting Monday. This trimester has been especially arduous and the courses difficult. So fingers crossed for some rat luck...

Diving in the Maldives

Well, we just got back from the Maldives and of course straight back into study. I wanted to do some sort of reflection piece about the first trimester but really all I can say is that it was so intense that it seems really hard to believe that I have to do it all over again. 3 more times. From all the effort put in, it seems like I should be finished with the course rather than just realistically starting.


Anyway, the Maldives. I managed to get my textbooks out with me, in fact my hand luggage was around 14.5kg with the books and laptop, but luckily no-one weighed it. If you think my entire dive kit and clothes weighed in at 28kg, you can see I was lucky there.

Due to flight schedules we had to spend a day and half in Male', the capital of the Maldives. 80,000 people live here on an island 2 sq km (a quarter of the population on the Maldives). It's only 2m above sea level and in fact the Maldives should be a destination everyone should visit, because thanks to global warming it may not be around for ever. It is rumoured that the president has cut a deal with Australia in exchange for the exclusive fishing rights to the territory should the population need to be re-housed.

Male' itself is very strict Muslim (as are all the Maldives) and is a 'dry' (free of alcohol) island, as well as not allowing the import of booze, pork, religious articles etc. It seems to be a very strange hypocrisy going on as on the resorts you are allowed to wear inappropriate clothing, drink alcohol and eat pork. Then you realise that various people in the government own or part own many of the resorts. Essentially they keep the people in one state through religion and find ways of justifying the dichotomy to themselves to enhance their wealth.

In fact, one thing I didn't know about the Maldives, and I think a lot of visitors don't get to hear about either, is the shocking abuse of human rights that is going on in the country. There is a very interesting website which is well worth reading at http://www.friendsofmaldives.org/fom-about-achievements.htm which gives you an idea of how the president is running the country and it isn't too far off the lines of Myanmar (Burma). There is a campaign (now dormant) to encourage you not to go to the resorts that feeds the governmental party members pockets (and there are a lot of them) and I strongly encourage you to contact the organisation prior to booking any trips to the Maldives to avoid feeding the regimes private interests.

Anyway, I can recommend a trip to Male' to take a look and see what Maldivians look like when they're not bringing you drinks on the beach and how they live their life. It doesn't take too long to look around, we visited the Grand Friday Mosque, the Sultans Gardens, the fish market (Maldivians catch tuna with a rod a line so qualify as being pretty sustainable - hoorah) and we also visited the tetrapod wall which Beatrice was very keen to go and see - I think that she thought it would be some kind of tortoise or something. Pictures from Male' are here.

Anyway, we were really there for the diving, so after a day and a night, we took a seaplane to join the boat. Now, I didn't even know that seaplanes were in involved with this holiday but
I grew up with 'Baileys Bird' and 'Tales of the Ragged Tiger', so you can imagine how excited I was and the experience didn't disappoint. In fact I might have paid extra had I known that seaplanes were involved. The pilot was wearing shorts and in fact, no shoes at all to fly the plane (they clearly like to play up to the image). Landings and takeoffs were very bit as exciting as you might imagine.

I was also very impressed by the boat Beatrice had chosen (though I had suspicions it would be nice as I had dived on a sister boat 'Cyclone' in the Red Sea'). 36m long, with lots of space and a nice standard of fit, even a jacuzzi on the top sun deck (though no-one actually used it the whole week). Some pictures of the boat here (as well as anything else non underwater related). Apologies for the surplus of sunsets, I uploaded them by accident...

I should probably mention that I upgraded my compact camera from the hateful Casio Z-1000 back to the Canon Ixus (the new 860) and also bought the underwater housing. All I can say is it a thing of beauty and joy and should you be looking for a compact camera right now I don't think you could have a better choice.

I find the diving hard to describe. On the one hand we were always (bar one dive) the only boat there, mostly because the boat was visiting uncharted dive sites they had discovered. On the other hand I wasn't blown away by the underwater scenery - the sites are coral thilas or protuberances jutting up from the sea bed. I assume the lack of 'wow' factor is after diving in the South China Sea, especially Sipidan, everything seems a bit mundane - just spoiled I think...

Anyway - there are no lack of photos for all that, so it looks like we did see quite a lot of things (I apologise for (a) the volume - non divers may want to look away now, and (b) to the divers, the fact I haven't had time to colour correct a few of them). Beatrice is busy editing a video of the trip, she was very taken with the underwater videographers on board, so you may get to see sharks and manta that we did see, but the visibility was very poor and so I only took video of those encounters.

One encounter of note was during the night dive, when Joe, one of the dive guides, offered a beer related bounty for any pictures of the Maldivian Sponge Snail. Amazingly, on a dark reef I managed to find not one, but two of them, and apparently mating at that. Joe was very pleased (and so was I in beer related terms). They look a bit like the tetrapods, so maybe that's what Beatrice was hoping for in Male'.

Anyway, apologies for the scrappy report, I just wanted to get it up quickly before the course really started to bite again and another post got left unfinished, so at least you can remember we're still here (somewhere in the world) and see a bit of what we've been up to.

MBA Progress so far

Just to prove (in some way) that I have been doing something with my time rather than blogging, my exam results are in for the last Trimester, 2 A+'s and 2 A-'s. Just have to do that 3 more times...

A nice peaceful break.

As part of relaxing in between trimesters and getting some downtime from the stress of my MBA, Beatrice and myself have been booking (and paying for) some holidays. We are especially looking forward to the trip to Myanmar that we paid for a couple of months ago.

If the country moves towards democracy then it seems pretty unlikely it will be advisable to travel there. On the plus side that's a good thing for Myanmar. On the other hand, if the government stamps out the sedition, it's pretty likely that the holiday can go ahead as planned. Which is good for my vacation plans.

Sigh. Support the Day of Action for a Free Burma.

Still, at least we have another holiday booked in a few weeks post exams. A nice quiet break in Male, in the Maldives. Nothing much happening there...just the odd tourist targeted bombing.

It's still gotta be better than studying Financial Management.

Aix-En-Provence

Salut!

J'ai finalement fini les photographies de ma visite a Provence! Je les ai divisés en différents albums, parce qu'il y avait beaucoup...

Aix-en-Provence est un jolie ville. Je suis resté dans un bel appartement avec la tante du Beatrice. Nous avons rendu visite à un cardiologue à Marseille. Ma classe a également visité Marseilles.

Nous avons travaillé dur, mais nous avons eu le temps pour des bières.

Le 14 juillet je suis allé plonger avec la famille de Beatrice et également aux Marseilles pour observer les feux d'artifice.

Le jour après, je suis monté le Mt St Victoire. C'était mon activité de favori en Provence. J'ai visité Arles et Sainte Marie sur la Plage aussi.

Et naturellement, j'ai appris à parler Français!

My first triathlon

Hello!

Just a quick note to let you know that I completed my first
triathlon last Saturday at the OSIM Singapore International Triathlon
2007 in East Coast Park. I did the entry category of "mini" and
finished 8th out of 120 ladies with a time of 44 min, 4 min away from
the winner :-) The swim bit was a real fight as those ladies were
pushing and grabbing....nice. I liked it so much that I have now
registered for the next category up, the "sprint" at the Triladies on
Sept 23rd! Now let's get training.

Love, Beatrice

Goodbye life

So some of you may be aware that I am about to become a full time student again. As of tomorrow I will be starting my MBA at Nanyang Business School (click here for Flashearth). I had the orientation week last week which gave me an idea of what was to come and what is to come is a lot of very hard work.

Consequently, I am wondering exactly how much of my life will remain for blogging, taking photos, seeing people who aren't on my course etc etc. The answer I think is 'not much'. Still, I hope to keep you up to date, though the format and what have you may change to utterly boring.

On the plus side, the people on my course seem to be a pretty decent bunch, and it is certainly going to be interesting as they come from 31 different countries. I am the only Brit (though there is a guy from Ireland) which I think helped my application. I also think that I may be the oldest person on the full time course. Now that is shocking (in so many ways). I managed to get myself voted onto the Student committee as well (without actually asking for this honour of extra work), so it appears that for the time being at least, they respect me :-)

Finally, it's odd to be back in Singapore. Getting up early to get to school (I have to get up at 6am to make it for 8.30am starts) I was amused to see a long queue had formed for the free newspaper at the MRT (tube) station. Nothing unusual in this in Singapore. What was funny was that people had BOUGHT newspapers to read WHILE they waited. Now why not just buy the paper and read THAT on the MRT instead..? Only in Singapore.

Number 3 in an Occasional Series of Catchphrases

Something like a phenomenon...

Will it blend..?

Following the untimely demise of my old blender due to some French impatience, I was 'persuaded' to acquire a new blender. To be fair, ever since buying the new model my fruit consumption in the form of smoothies has gone so high that I am beginning to feel somewhat like an orang-utan, but I expect it's good for me.

Anyway, I treated myself to the most powerful one in Singapore, but that is nothing compared to the amazing Blendtec blenders. You can see an example of their awesome power here but there are many fun videos to check out. Just choose your favourite. For the record I did enquire to the company about getting one in Singapore, but they rocked in at $400 plus shipping and VAT so that plan was sadly out.

Sacred Monsters

We watched 'Sacred Monsters' as part of the Singapore Arts Festival last night and I have to say that I have never seen anyone dance like Sylvie Guillem. If you ever get the chance to see the show or her dance I thoroughly recommend it. Her schedule leads me to believe that the show originated in Sadlers Wells so it seems unlikely but she's London based so you never know.

Why so amazing? Well she's famous for her 180 degree leg lifts, but it was the sheer poise and grace of each movement and the transitions between them that captivated me. It's going to be hard watching any dance and not making a comparison.

The show is also quite funny at times and has the bonus of 5 musicians on stage providing an excellent Asian fusion soundtrack, where the dance both plays with and off the music. We were also treated to a rare Q&A afterwards by the performers. Checking out Sylvie's website, it is also quite clear that she is quite bonkers.

A full review here of the show and a short piece from Time magazine here. I found there are lots of videos of her dancing on Youtube, one modern piece which showcases her ballet talents as well and explains why she stands out in the modern dance oeuvre is here.

As a double bonus on the way home we also found a very cool bar buried in the far edges of Chinatown amongst the bridal shops and KTV bars. You could almost have been in Shoreditch, except all the Asians would have been Japanese, not Chinese, but it proves there are flourishing underground movements in Singapore and you don't have to go the 'entertainment hubs'. Beers were also the cheapest I have found yet :-)

Eurotrip

I have created a Google Calendar called 'Eurotrip' for our forthcoming return to Europe. I'm still getting the hang of Google Apps, but you should be able to view it by clicking the button in the left hand navigation, or you can access a static version by clicking here.

In theory you can use it to work out where we are and book time with us etc. but that sounds a but too much like being at work :-) Make use of it as you will...

Daddy, what did you do in the war..?

In stark contrast to the previous two days to save some money we headed into the backpacker district and booked ourselves onto a $4 tour to the Cu Chi tunnels. Wikipedia has a great article on the tunnels that explains all about them and their role in the war against the French and later the Southern coalition.



The tour starts with a video which I expected to be something along the lines of the Wikipedia information. Instead, what you are presented with is quite frankly a propaganda video from the North Vietnamese which could have been made during the conflict. It takes a hard line tone 'evil American soldiers here to kill the innocent farmers' and also talks about killing the Americans via traps and what have you. It was amazing that given the countries opening up to tourism, and the relative neutrality of the War Remnants museum that this was still being shown. I would say that 30% of the tourists actually walked out during the showing, I assume the Americans. Still, if you win the war you get to write your own history right?

We then went onto the tunnels area proper. We were shown an actual size tunnel, and allowed to get into it, but (thankfully) due to the whistle stop, pile ‘em high, sell ‘em cheap nature of the tour weren't allowed to go through it for times sake. As one guy remarked 'I didn't spend $4 to watch a bunch of people in a hole' but not being one for spaces where I can't turn round in, I was glad.

Its a hard call to make as to how people feel about the war and the 'liberation' as it is referred to when you consider that the people in the south lost the conflict. I really would have liked to ask the people we met what they were doing at that time but I think it's the one question you just can't ask. Sadly a group of Dutch(?) did just that of our guide who clearly would have been fighting age at the time. No matter what your role, the memories that this is going to bring up must be horrific. Our guide, clearly unhappy with the question said that he hadn't fought (which may or may not be true) but was conscripted as an interpreter. Even if that's true, my guess is that he would have been present at interrogations and the Americans were prone to dealing out proxy justice to suspected VC.

When you tour the tunnels you have the opportunity to buy and fire live ammunition on a firing range. When the guide asked who wanted to do this most of the tour group muttered and dispersed to the gift shop and interestingly, the only group who actually wanted to do this were exclusively young, American and male. How could they possibly miss the self parody of PAYING to go to Vietnam to fire guns in the jungle? The youngest had a look of sheer joy on his face from the moment he was handed his rounds and throughout the experience. I preferred the attitude of one of the younger girls in the group who had decided to make a blown out tank barrel into a makeshift slide.

And so to the tunnels. Well, we went into the tunnels and I made it all the way (90m) to the end which I was very proud of myself for. Beatrice elected to leave after the first 30m and I can see why. Even enlarged for tourist frames they were hot, cramped and hard to move through. In places they were totally dark and you can imagine what it might have been like to be living or fighting in them. Just. At the end of the day the hardships that both sides endured were evident and I'm glad that Vietnam has finally put it's years of conflict behind it. As you can tell from the number of pictures I took and the amount I wrote from a short visit it's a truly beautiful country and I hope to go back to see more of it. Go and see it now before their desire to become 'modern' changes it everything.

Not like popping down to Tescos

I think I alluded to the many rivers that make up the Mekong delta (well it's a delta durrr), but what amazed me was the sheer way in which the river has been harnessed by the people of the area. Whether through necessity (it's in the way so we may as well make use of it) or practicality (it's in the way so we may as well make use of it) it's a working waterway, of that I have no doubt. We actually saw the components of a new powerstation being transported on large barges down the river. Quicker than the M25 at any rate. I expect that if you had gone back in time in London you would have found a similar story with the Thames, and I also expect the Thames would have looked a similar colour and been equally full of rubbish. We were told (and witnessed) that apart from drinking and cooking, anything else involving water comes from and goes into the river. Many houses back onto the river and I kind of imagine that the dustpan is just outside the door. It's apparently sustainable now but realistically as Vietnam expands economically for how long? I couldn't get tired of taking boats around the river which we did on several occasions (even with the bikes) and looking at the haphazard buildings, many of them no more than shacks made of coconut matting and wood, perched on stilts at the waters edge. Shacks they may have been, but you could see a forest of TV aerials everywhere you looked.

We got up early on day two of our cycling trip for a visit to Cai Rang floating market. It's not so much a scene from Waterworld, more a collection of boats who use the waterways to bring produce from the farms and then congregate to sell it on. There were two kinds of buyers, the people who lived on the waterways themselves and the wholesalers, who then take the produce to the land where it is sold onto the land bound folks. I don't know what the mark up is though! Each boat generally sold one type of good and to indicate what they sell they have a sample attached to the top of a long pole so people can see it. Other boats motored around like a Pret a Manger on water, making sandwiches and drinks for the hungry traders.

After the market, we took a detour up a side channel and stopped off at one of the farms, which was run by a tiny, perma grin Vietnamese version of Yoda. He didn't stop cackling the whole time he was giving us a tour of the farm. The farm itself looked more like a jungle, but then I guess that's the way things grow here. One thing is for sure, the reason the delta is so populated is because of the fertility of the soil. Although several generations of the farmer’s family were buried in the garden, personally speaking I would have half been expecting them to be springing back to life once they'd been planted. Now I grew up in a farming region and I'm no stranger to markets, but it stuck me that I didn't really know where a lot of the 'exotic fruits' come from, by which I mean what they grow on. I can honestly say that I have never seen a pineapple bush before - I always assumed they would be from a tree. It's quite an odd sight.

Beatrice happened to mention that she loved mangoes and although we were due some fruits as part of the tour, a comparison to the couple next to us showed that the mango comment had netted us the best, juiciest, yellowiest, most succulent mangoes ever in the world, straight from the tree. And as an added bonus we also got some tea, and some wine. Ah yes the wine. If you click on the picture and take a look in the bottle, you might be able to see the snake in there. And the spider. Oh, and the crowning glory, the dead bird. Beatrice didn't finish her wine, shame on her...maybe it was because she had met some of the snakes live cousins earlier that the farmer had collected. Maybe... If anyone is wondering why the second to last picture in the photo album for the entry is of a washroom mirror, this is actually to prove that in public toilets you get a unique service, that of a communal comb. In some cases, you also get the free use of a communal toothbrush and toothpaste. Takes away the taste of snake wine nicely. Mmmm, minty...

So long and thanks for all the fish...

(Click article to enlarge)

So anyone who has ever eaten out with me will know my attitude towards commercial fishing and the devastating effects it is having on fish stocks, and the gloomy probability that in our lifetime, certain fish species are likely to be eaten to extinction.

There is an interesting 'new' twist too, as referenced by Pierre Gagnaire of 3 Michelin star restaurant Balzac in Paris, that the super rich will soon have to put up with tasteless fish (as all the tasty wild ones will have gone) and chefs will have to (shock horror) adapt their cooking techniques to cover up the tastes.

No mention at all of perhaps eating less fish, or even at least using suppliers who source sustainably? Nice one Pierre.

It's an opportune time to bring up the subject, as the Marine Conservation Society have just updated their website to give you the fullest picture of the situation and a lot of detail about the best species to eat and those to avoid for the present. It's at http://www.fishonline.org/.

If you think that you might not want to have this conversation with your kids:

- 'Mummy, Daddy, what was a tuna? We were talking about them at school today'

- 'Ah we ate them all a decade or so ago, sorry about that kids, never mind, plenty more where they came from'

- 'So what's a dodo then..?'

and you only have 2 minutes to spare, then download the handy 'cut out n keep' pocket guide at http://www.fishonline.org/information/MCSPocket_Good_Fish_Guide.pdf

Cycling in the Mekong

In order to experience a different pace of life and to see more of the country Beatrice and myself had booked a 2 day cycling tour with Sinhbalo Adventures. First things first - I would recommend them whole heartedly. They got us our hotels all weekend, at a discount and even got us upgraded on our return to HCMC to a suite. Everything about Ngee (the guide) and Fon (the driver) was excellent; we had a lot of fun and as the sole tourers got great personal attention.

We took National Highway 1 out of HCMC, and bearing in mind that it was a national holiday it was unbelievably busy. Most people were commuting on scooters but there were plenty of cars as well. At one point we hit the most amazing traffic jam at a busy crossroads. One or two cars had jumped the lights and got stuck, then a few more though 'I'll have a bit of that' and before you could say 'hang on there chaps, let's have a bit of order' there was absolute carnage as everyone ignored the red lights and made a dash for it, paralysing the N1. Even the scooters couldn't make it through as they filled up the gaps like water in sand. It took the combined efforts of several citizens leaping out of their vehicles and taking control to restore a semblance of order, although each time they got one person to reverse, 3 more would make a break for the gap created to the intense rage of the guy directing the traffic.

The tailback lasted about 10km and as we passed it we were passed by a motorcycle gang on their way to somewhere in convoy. I blazed away with the camera and some of them gave me the thumbs up, others ignored me studiously. The last guy in line turned out to be a traffic cop, and I expected to get a telling off, but he was grinning and showing off, I half expected him to pull a wheelie...

There were numerous roadside stands en route and I noticed people pulling over at dense groves of trees. It took a couple of goes to realise what they were - basically if you own a stand of roadside trees, then it appears you create a hammock grove! Each tree had brightly coloured hammocks strung between them and a bar at the back with waitress service to your hammock. It's a great idea and I think the idea should be open for franchise.

On the way Beatrice noticed that a lot of the new houses had been constructed with absolutely no windows in at all at the sides, or often the back, just featureless walls. The houses had a large window at the front but that was it. I'm stumped for an explanation. The houses are already constructed so closely together you couldn't build another property in the space so it can't be for that reason. I don't think Vietnam has a window tax. And there was no consistency to the orientation so it can't be to avoid the sunshine. Answer in the comments box please.

Roads aside, we were there for the countryside. The Mekong delta is amazing, we flew over it on the way into HCMC just after sunrise and the light reflected from the waterways like giant glistening slug trails on moss - take a look for yourself at the wonderful Flashearth. The map is centred on Can Tho where we stayed overnight. What you can pick out is the myriad of tiny rivers and streams and channels that make up the delta and it was amongst these that we were cycling. They were pretty full while we were there as we were 'lucky' enough to be there for a full on rainstorm.

My waterproof walking shoes proved to be fantastic, until they filled with water running down my legs and of course then refused to drain. Another idea waiting to be patented there - one way valves on shoes. In the end we pulled into the first shop/ hut we could find - by amazing coincidence it was a bike repair shop. The woman leapt out of her hammock, convinced that she was about to retire on the proceeds of fixing 3 mountain bikes but was sadly disappointed to find out we were just avoiding the worst of the rain. She still let us stay though and hopped back in her hammock.

Cycling is probably the best way to see this part of the world. Although a lot of tourists make it out of HCMC, they all come on coaches and get transported around on big boats. What better way to get with the locals than to travel like most of them do? Admittedly we stood out somewhat as we were (a) brightly lycra clad and (b) travelling at twice the pace of all the other bicycles but what amazed me the most was that as we went past kids would come running out of the house, shouting 'hello, hello' at us. And it wasn't just the kids. We stopped in a small (read 4 houses) village to take a few pictures of some ducks and the whole village came out to see what was going on - all 3 generations of them stood round staring at us. We were a bonafide novelty.

You'll notice a couple more pictures of us cycling ( photo album is here) and may wonder 'how did he do that'? Well on day 2 I left my camera in the bus on the seat. As I was cycling along I was amazed to see a guy with a Nikon D80 at the side of the road taking pictures of us. 'Cool, I thought, we ARE a proper tourist attraction'. Then I realised that he was standing by a white minibus and then I realised that he looked very familiar. Yep, the driver had decided to liven up his day by driving ahead of us and then getting into position to take some shots as we passed him.

We stayed overnight in Can Tho, but getting there proved more problematic as we had to take a ferry to cross one of the river channels. The queue for the ferry was enormous and it looked like the hot shower that we'd been looking forward to was a long way off yet. In the end Ngee came up with a brilliant idea - we'd take what we needed to get cleaned up and dry, hike through the traffic to the ferry and get a Xe Loi (old motorcycle rickshaw) to the hotel, which is exactly what we did. On the ferry Beatrice made friends with an old lady, when she put down a leaflet for her on the wet bench so that she could sit down, which, once the barriers had been removed inspired a group of people to start asking questions of her, including 'are you going to invest in my country?'.

Can Tho was in full swing for the Independence day eve celebrations that night with a concert in the streets right next to a giant silver statue of 'Uncle Ho' although everyone had turned up on their scooters and rather than parking them, just watched from their scooters, like a giant drive in gig. Or was it a gig in front of a traffic jam? It was hard to tell.

We actually managed to be in Vietnam on Independence Day, which we were expecting to be a huge celebration, or perhaps to find everything closed but the reality in the Mekong at least was much more 'business as usual'. Whether a function of the south regarding 'Independence' as colonisation, or just being too damn busy to take a day off work here is 2 minutes and 19 seconds of Independence Day in Vietnam.