Jan 24
John is having all the fun and as usual I am left to stay in the room and only have the cleaning staff to admire me.
It was another incredible day. John had the morning to himself and so he spent it uploading videos for his faithful readers. Yes, that's you!
He was ready at 1:30 to go on a tour of the Heartlands and Changi Village. With the complete unconsciousness of the totally pro-government guide, John found out about the nasty underbelly of Singapore. The bus first stopped at Changi Prison Museum. It is adjacent to the present day Changi prison. On the way, the guide said all the wonderful ways the government has organized everyone's life here. As we passed by the biggest prison grounds John has ever seen, he told the story of the man who is to be executed on Thursday. A poor Bangla Deshi man here on a work permit was found guilty of murder. The guide said this meant that there were no special favours to anyone even if you come from a foreign country. Of course, it did not apply to the Romanian diplomat who, on Jan 7 this year, killed three people on two different sidewalks when he was driving drunk and went back to his own country.
Anyway, they entered the museum and it was horrific. It was the story of the Japanese invasion and occupation of Singapore from 1941 to 1945. All the Japanese atrocities were documented, some with actual torture pictures. John found it hard to hold the tears back. There is no doubt that serious war crimes were committed against all the people, White, Malay, Indian and Chinese. The Australian troops figured greatly in the suffering. John could not get over the irony that the descendants of those who suffered are committing their own cruel crime by executing someone just minutes away from this site.
The tour continued and the guide extolled life in Singapore. If you earn around what John makes you are forced by economics to buy your apartment from the government. And you are only allowed to buy one. If you can afford luxury then you can have pretty well have whatever you want and there are houses as well as luxury condos. The government housing all looks pretty well the same, much as one would have expected to see in Communist Russia. Not only that, but each building has a quota of Chinese, Malays, Indians, and Eurasians according to the racial profile of the overall population. That was good said the guide because it prevemnted people from making their own ethnic areas.
The guide then stopped the bus and took the group into a housing development. They saw the food courts that the regular people use and it isn't the downtown cafe scene. It was one in which John would have felt unconfortable eating anything. Because of the racial mix there has to be a restaurant for each of the four recognized races. Every restaurant has to display the mark they get from the government inspectors. A is the best and you can get by with a B. But after two C's you automatically get a D and have to close for two weeks.
Next, it was out to the common area in the middle of about five large apartment blocks, where there was a playground for the kids, a wet market with fruits and vegetables, as well as indestructible open air exercise machines. There is a subway station nearby with feeder bus routes, and a sports area. The guide said how good this was.
John noted that no one had air conditioning, the washing was hanging on poles sticking out from the windows, and that few people looked as happy as the guide. In fact, the guide pointed out an indoor supermarket on site with A/C and said this was for the pampered people. He also told the group that there is NO social support. If you don't work... you die... in prison. And people are required by law to support their parents after they have retired. They also have to contribute 20% of their salary to a savings scheme that they can draw money from, when they turn 55. "So", John said to himself, "now we know who pays for Singapore's prosperity and how they do it." This was definitely a side to Singapore that most tourists and perhaps many expats never even know about.
John decided he would call this way of life Communistic Capitalism.
The next stop was at the main mosque for Singapore and as they arrived they could hear the call to prayers. The guide explained how Muslims have to clean themselves before entering the mosque and how men and women are separated for prayers. Then they had some time to explore the traditional (though no longer)Muslim area. A guy selling Sony cameras decided John should buy a lense filter for his camera. John declined and the guy did what he could to sell John something else and when that didn't work he tried to scare him into buying the filter, saying that in the heat mould would grow on the lense. John laughed at that one. When was the last time you saw moud growing on glass? The guy wouldn't even go away when John said he couldn't take it back because of government regulations (not true of course) but faced with John's total implacability (polite "No thank you" to every suggestion) to his pressure he gave up in disgust.
They got back about 5:30 and John was scheduled to go on the night tour at 6:30. He walked around looking for a snack. He found a nice patio area in back of a swanky mall after a 15 minute walk. There were many restaurants and John looked at their menus and decided on a beer place and a dessert place. He looked at his watch and noted that he had to be finished by 6:15 to get back at 6:30. So, he bought a Tiger beer, the local beer. Since he was the only one in the bar at that hour, the waitress talked to him the whole time. It was very pleasant. She said to go to Bangkok rather than shop in Singapore. Just don't eat the food she said. Then John went back to the other place and ordered choclate cake a la mode. It was 5:55. At 6:10 it hadn't arrived. The waitress said that it had to be cooked and it would only take another three minutes. When it had not come in that time, John got up and left. Even if it had come, he would have had two minutes to eat it.
The night tour was great. It included dinner at a Chinese restaurant on the Marina Quay. It is a place with hundreds of restaurants lining the river walls (all rivers are contained by walls). John was seated with a stunningly beautiful, cultured young couple from Mozambique and three irrepressible guys from Iraq who could barely speak English. There was also a family from Russia at another table with the parents and three grown children. John said they were the UN. But the Iraqis said there wasn't anyone from South America. God, they were hilarious.
They wanted to know what everyone did and when John said he was a professor they were truly impressed and HAD to have their photos taken with him - about 60 times! It must have been their first time out of Iraq and they were happy. The guide, an attractive young Chinese woman, was always losing them because they were in front of this fountain or beside that plant, taking each other's pictures and calling for John to go over and get his photo taken with them.
The meal was a traditional Chinese one and John enjoyed it. But the Iraqi guys said they would have liked more meat.
The woman from Mozambique was an economist. Her husband looked chiselled. The Iraqi guys kept asking him if he was an athlete. After being pressed, he said he had a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. The Iraqi guys said they were athletes and their game was chess.
Next, it was onto a bum boat for a night cruise down the river. It was so beautiful. The air was like silk on John's skin. The Iraqi guys started to sing and clap. The Russian women laughed and clapped along too but the husband just glowered. He was no fun at all.
Next, they went to the Bugis (BOO -GISS) village, a night mall place that is like Chinatown overflowing with people. John bought himself a passion fruit juice and drank it down. The guide said to watch your wallet.
Their last stop was the famous Raffles Hotel, where they first created the famed Singapore Sling drink. The hotel is named after Singapore's founder Sir Somethingorother Raffles and is over a hundred odd years old. They went around the hotel's open areas and saw the famed Long Bar where you can eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor - the only place in Singapore where you can litter. It is a really ritzy place. The presidential suite goes for $7,000 a night. Michael Jackson always stayed there when he was in Singapore.
As the tour was ending, John said goodbye to the group. He shook hands with the couple and the Iraqi guys. The Russian guy said Welcome to Russia. John said Welcome to Canada. And he left the group and went up to the bar and ordered a Singapore Sling for $28.25!
It was too sweet and so, after finishing every precious drop, John ordered a rye and coke and guess what they had it. Canadian Club rye. He drank it, knowing this was a real drink.
After eating his share of peanuts and gazing at the painting of the Shanghai Lady behind the bar, John left, hailed a taxi and went back to the hotel. It was past 10:30 and John has to be up sharp in the morning as he is off to the city of Malacca in Malaysia.
TRB
Sunday, January 24, 2010
The Flyer and Sentosa
Jan 23
John told me that he had another activity and exploration-filled day in Singapore. He started off early, leaving the hotel at 8am, for a ride on the Singapore Flyer. This answer to London's famous Eye sits near the ocean on Singapore's southern coast. They say it is, at 165 metres, some 13 metres taller than London's and is the tallest observation wheel in the world. Like many structures in Singapore it was positioned with the help of Chinese feng shui and operates with the same principles in mind.
Since it was early there were few people about and John only had to share the gondola with a couple from South Africa who work in Saudi Arabia. And since she was afraid of heights and sat carefully in the very middle, John and her husband were free to roam around the entire gondola to take whatever pictures or videos the wanted.
It was a spectacular day, so unlike the cloudy one before. John took lots of video from the Flyer and hopes that you enjoy the views as much as he did taking them. You can see Singapore's downtown, its opera house that looks likea two turtles with ragged shells and the original colonial buildings built by the British. You can also see that there remains a construction boom. Right now, amongst many other projects, they are building a new casino - the first for Singapore - and convention centre. It will include a whole new botanical gardens. Like everything Singaporean it will be operationalized better than anywhere else. It is almost as if they see what has been done elsewhere and say how can we do the same thing only better?
Next it was off for a cruise on the Cheng Ho, an old style Chinese sailing ship. They cruised along Singapore's west coast and past Sentosa Island that John was going to see later the same day. John talked with a number of couples - the South Africans, and another interesting couple, he from Switzerland and she from Finland. They had travelled extensively and they said that, apart from the road signs, you cannot tell Ontario apart from Finland. He had been in aircraft maintenance so he and John talked planes quite a bit.
John stayed outside to get the views of the coastline and was up close with the hundreds of ocean going freighters who were waiting their turn at Singapore's docks. He also saw more oil tankers than he could have imagined. Singapore is a hib for oil shipments to China, Australia, and Asia in general. It has a number of huge refineries. However, the day was getting warmer and more humid.
After a leisurely narrated cruise they stopped at Kusu Island for 45 minutes. Kusu is Chinese for Turtle and he saw many turtles and tortoises there as the place is a sanctuary as well as being a place holy to Taoists and Muslims. Many people make a pilgrimage to the island at special times of the year. However, there was nothing to eat or drink on the small island so John was happy to get back on board and buy a can of Sprite for $3. He sat and talked to a couple from England on the cruise back.
He went back to the hotel for a bit of a break and uploaded videos to the blog before heading out once again - this time to Sentosa Island. Sentosa is Singapore's family fun island with hotels, beaches, theme parks, rides, and shows and the name means tranquility in Malay. After getting there, John was amazed by the sheer numbers of humanity. You could not walk without bumping into people. The local people seemed well equipped to handle this but if you used Western manners you just didn't get to go where you wanted much of the time and people piled up behind you. In the end, John just had to push ahead but felt he did not really understand the proper way to go about moving because, as he brushed by people, they seemed to startle a little.
John lined up for 30 minutes to take a ride on the Tiger Sky Tower - a round revolving disk filled with people that goes up slowly to give beautiful views of the island and Singapore itself. He took more video here, too. crammed though he was. This was not a highlight of the trip!
However, after that, John went in to see 'Images of Singapore' that definitely WAS a highlight, though he did not take video in it. It was a three part presentation of the history of Singapore. It started with a wonderful five minute film of four men, one Malay, one Chinese, one Indian and one Western (Eurasian actually). They represented the four winds that brought people to Singapore (north from Malaya, east from China, south from India and west from Europe). They talked about the four values on which Singapore is based - family, community, peace, and harmony. John was touched.
The next part, the Singapore Adventure, was a walk through museum with dioramas of life on the island since the earliest times as well as multimedia displays of old photographs and movies. It was chronological and very well done... enough writing for those interested but not too much for those who just wanted to experience history. John was very impressed by the good behaviour of the children, unlike his experiences earlier in the trip. They were exhuberent and having a wonderful time but were not out of control.
The experience finished with Singapore Celebrates, a multimedia showcase about Singapore today. It is obvious that the people of Singapore love their 'city state' country and it was nice to see their pride.
By then it was time to go to the Songs of the Sea, a spectacular live action, laser, fountain, flame, music, computer graphics and pyrotechnic show held on the beach in front of an amphitheatre that can hold 2,500 people. It is the world’s only permanent show set in the sea. It is a fairytail story about a young man named Lee, wh by singing was giving the fire, the sea, and a beautiful maiden back their powers. It was truly impressive! John has asked me to upload a video he made.
Anyway, I am tired just thinking of the busy day that John has had.
TRB
John told me that he had another activity and exploration-filled day in Singapore. He started off early, leaving the hotel at 8am, for a ride on the Singapore Flyer. This answer to London's famous Eye sits near the ocean on Singapore's southern coast. They say it is, at 165 metres, some 13 metres taller than London's and is the tallest observation wheel in the world. Like many structures in Singapore it was positioned with the help of Chinese feng shui and operates with the same principles in mind.
Since it was early there were few people about and John only had to share the gondola with a couple from South Africa who work in Saudi Arabia. And since she was afraid of heights and sat carefully in the very middle, John and her husband were free to roam around the entire gondola to take whatever pictures or videos the wanted.
It was a spectacular day, so unlike the cloudy one before. John took lots of video from the Flyer and hopes that you enjoy the views as much as he did taking them. You can see Singapore's downtown, its opera house that looks likea two turtles with ragged shells and the original colonial buildings built by the British. You can also see that there remains a construction boom. Right now, amongst many other projects, they are building a new casino - the first for Singapore - and convention centre. It will include a whole new botanical gardens. Like everything Singaporean it will be operationalized better than anywhere else. It is almost as if they see what has been done elsewhere and say how can we do the same thing only better?
Next it was off for a cruise on the Cheng Ho, an old style Chinese sailing ship. They cruised along Singapore's west coast and past Sentosa Island that John was going to see later the same day. John talked with a number of couples - the South Africans, and another interesting couple, he from Switzerland and she from Finland. They had travelled extensively and they said that, apart from the road signs, you cannot tell Ontario apart from Finland. He had been in aircraft maintenance so he and John talked planes quite a bit.
John stayed outside to get the views of the coastline and was up close with the hundreds of ocean going freighters who were waiting their turn at Singapore's docks. He also saw more oil tankers than he could have imagined. Singapore is a hib for oil shipments to China, Australia, and Asia in general. It has a number of huge refineries. However, the day was getting warmer and more humid.
After a leisurely narrated cruise they stopped at Kusu Island for 45 minutes. Kusu is Chinese for Turtle and he saw many turtles and tortoises there as the place is a sanctuary as well as being a place holy to Taoists and Muslims. Many people make a pilgrimage to the island at special times of the year. However, there was nothing to eat or drink on the small island so John was happy to get back on board and buy a can of Sprite for $3. He sat and talked to a couple from England on the cruise back.
He went back to the hotel for a bit of a break and uploaded videos to the blog before heading out once again - this time to Sentosa Island. Sentosa is Singapore's family fun island with hotels, beaches, theme parks, rides, and shows and the name means tranquility in Malay. After getting there, John was amazed by the sheer numbers of humanity. You could not walk without bumping into people. The local people seemed well equipped to handle this but if you used Western manners you just didn't get to go where you wanted much of the time and people piled up behind you. In the end, John just had to push ahead but felt he did not really understand the proper way to go about moving because, as he brushed by people, they seemed to startle a little.
John lined up for 30 minutes to take a ride on the Tiger Sky Tower - a round revolving disk filled with people that goes up slowly to give beautiful views of the island and Singapore itself. He took more video here, too. crammed though he was. This was not a highlight of the trip!
However, after that, John went in to see 'Images of Singapore' that definitely WAS a highlight, though he did not take video in it. It was a three part presentation of the history of Singapore. It started with a wonderful five minute film of four men, one Malay, one Chinese, one Indian and one Western (Eurasian actually). They represented the four winds that brought people to Singapore (north from Malaya, east from China, south from India and west from Europe). They talked about the four values on which Singapore is based - family, community, peace, and harmony. John was touched.
The next part, the Singapore Adventure, was a walk through museum with dioramas of life on the island since the earliest times as well as multimedia displays of old photographs and movies. It was chronological and very well done... enough writing for those interested but not too much for those who just wanted to experience history. John was very impressed by the good behaviour of the children, unlike his experiences earlier in the trip. They were exhuberent and having a wonderful time but were not out of control.
The experience finished with Singapore Celebrates, a multimedia showcase about Singapore today. It is obvious that the people of Singapore love their 'city state' country and it was nice to see their pride.
By then it was time to go to the Songs of the Sea, a spectacular live action, laser, fountain, flame, music, computer graphics and pyrotechnic show held on the beach in front of an amphitheatre that can hold 2,500 people. It is the world’s only permanent show set in the sea. It is a fairytail story about a young man named Lee, wh by singing was giving the fire, the sea, and a beautiful maiden back their powers. It was truly impressive! John has asked me to upload a video he made.
Anyway, I am tired just thinking of the busy day that John has had.
TRB
Friday, January 22, 2010
The City and the Safari
Jan 22
Well, what a day John had! He booked or arranged stuff, through the hotel's travel advisor, to do for his entire stay. So, it started off with exploring the hotel. He found the pool and the pub. Every time he went outdors though his camera lens steamed up, such was the difference in humidity from inside to outside.
The hotel has six restaurants if you call two fast food places, restaurants. There is the buffet restaurant off the lobby, Tony Roma's, a posh bar, an Irish pub, a Subway, and a Texas burger place. And it has its own shopping arcade with beauty salons, spas, and wedding planning stuff including a wedding dress store.
As his camera got used to being outside, John then went to video the shopping both high and low. He got back just in time to take the city tour.
Unlike the other city tours he has been on, this guided tour also took you to places and you got out to explore with the guide. He saw little India, Chinatown, the old Imperial sector, what was supposed to be a jewelry factory (but turned out only to be a fancy jewelry store). Finally, they had precious little time to see the National Orchid Garden. John was not happy to have wasted time walking around a jewelry store where the people tried to sell him stuff when he could have been taking more time seeing the buggest collection of orchids in the world. They were magnificent. The highlight was the new variety of orchid that was created in Singapore in honour of Nelson Mandela (even though it was not the prettiest one).
Little India was fascinating too - the culture, the smells, the street decoration. A major Hindu festival had just finished so that the streets were still alive with colour. It was almost, John imagined, like an authentic street in India itself. The Indian population is not that large, though, some 5% of the total.
Chinatown was great as well. John got to walk through a Buddhist temple as a service was going on. He also bought some candied pineapple slices and sweet lime balls at the Chinese market on Smith Street and ate them before getting back on the tour bus. The woman at the stall had asked for $2 but John said he only had one dollar on him (which was sort of true; he only had one $1 coin). So, she screwed up her face, took a few pieces out and sold him the rest for $1. John had never bargained before. He doesn't know if he really got a bargain or not.
The guide explained the the population is made up of Chinese, Indians and Malays and that of the 5M people about 1.2M are expatriates from other countries living and working there.
Anyway, he also saw the Raffles Hotel, in passing. A Singapore Sling drink costs between $24 and $28 there. Just because they invented it. He saw the Singapore Opera House, the Supreme Court building, and many, many malls that the bus passed. Honestly, you can find a specialized mall for any conceivable thing you might want to buy. Think of Masonville and multiply by maybe 100 or more and you have Singapore's malls.
The National Orchid Garden was amazing. It covers three hectares with hundred if not thousnads of species of orchids. There is the VIP orchid garden, the orchidarium with its wild orchids, the Tan Hoon Siang mist house, the refridgerated cool house where the mist spray allows high altitude tropical orchids to flourish. The whole garden takes up 40 hectares.
Coming back from the Botanic Gardens, they ran into a huge traffic jam. The guide had said that traffic in Singapore is good because they have an intricate road toll system and a limited number of vehicle registrations. Every so often the government puts some more on the market and lets the people bid for them. It currently costs between $20,000 and $22,000 for the document and it only lasts for 10 years. Then you would have to bid again. Nobody does that. They sell their cars. So Singapore, which does not manufacture cars at all, is the world's second biggest exporter of used vehicles (after Japan).
Beside the vehicle registration, there is a 100% sales tax on cars' MSRP and gas is $1.79 a litre. So, you have to be rich to drive a car. They even have special registration for cars that cannot be driven in peak hours. So those are for the weekend drivers.
Government housing is not cheap. They build huge high rises - 50 stories - but charge people current real estate prices (from $200K to $15M) depending on location and size. Almost everybody lives in government housing. Expatriates have the best housing and some even have their own detached houses on their own property (a real rarity in Singapore). John thought his faculty should set up an international programme here. hahaha The poor people, however, have to rent. But rents are based on income alone and you can get a bachelor apartment for $35 a month if you earn less than $1500 a month. So their system is capitalist and socialist at the same time.
When they got back to the base, John switched buses and went to the Night Safari. It was breaking his resolution to see only free animals but this is a 'first of its kind' in the world. The place only opens at night so you can see night animals walking about. There was a tram ride but John's camera could not see in the darkness well enough to take any video. Then there was a cultural performance by Malay people of the tribe who orginally inhabited the area. He shot good footage of that.
Anyway, he is up early tomorrow morning so he will have to upload the video when he gets a chance. Right now it is late and he needs to get his sleep.
TRB
Well, what a day John had! He booked or arranged stuff, through the hotel's travel advisor, to do for his entire stay. So, it started off with exploring the hotel. He found the pool and the pub. Every time he went outdors though his camera lens steamed up, such was the difference in humidity from inside to outside.
The hotel has six restaurants if you call two fast food places, restaurants. There is the buffet restaurant off the lobby, Tony Roma's, a posh bar, an Irish pub, a Subway, and a Texas burger place. And it has its own shopping arcade with beauty salons, spas, and wedding planning stuff including a wedding dress store.
As his camera got used to being outside, John then went to video the shopping both high and low. He got back just in time to take the city tour.
Unlike the other city tours he has been on, this guided tour also took you to places and you got out to explore with the guide. He saw little India, Chinatown, the old Imperial sector, what was supposed to be a jewelry factory (but turned out only to be a fancy jewelry store). Finally, they had precious little time to see the National Orchid Garden. John was not happy to have wasted time walking around a jewelry store where the people tried to sell him stuff when he could have been taking more time seeing the buggest collection of orchids in the world. They were magnificent. The highlight was the new variety of orchid that was created in Singapore in honour of Nelson Mandela (even though it was not the prettiest one).
Little India was fascinating too - the culture, the smells, the street decoration. A major Hindu festival had just finished so that the streets were still alive with colour. It was almost, John imagined, like an authentic street in India itself. The Indian population is not that large, though, some 5% of the total.
Chinatown was great as well. John got to walk through a Buddhist temple as a service was going on. He also bought some candied pineapple slices and sweet lime balls at the Chinese market on Smith Street and ate them before getting back on the tour bus. The woman at the stall had asked for $2 but John said he only had one dollar on him (which was sort of true; he only had one $1 coin). So, she screwed up her face, took a few pieces out and sold him the rest for $1. John had never bargained before. He doesn't know if he really got a bargain or not.
The guide explained the the population is made up of Chinese, Indians and Malays and that of the 5M people about 1.2M are expatriates from other countries living and working there.
Anyway, he also saw the Raffles Hotel, in passing. A Singapore Sling drink costs between $24 and $28 there. Just because they invented it. He saw the Singapore Opera House, the Supreme Court building, and many, many malls that the bus passed. Honestly, you can find a specialized mall for any conceivable thing you might want to buy. Think of Masonville and multiply by maybe 100 or more and you have Singapore's malls.
The National Orchid Garden was amazing. It covers three hectares with hundred if not thousnads of species of orchids. There is the VIP orchid garden, the orchidarium with its wild orchids, the Tan Hoon Siang mist house, the refridgerated cool house where the mist spray allows high altitude tropical orchids to flourish. The whole garden takes up 40 hectares.
Coming back from the Botanic Gardens, they ran into a huge traffic jam. The guide had said that traffic in Singapore is good because they have an intricate road toll system and a limited number of vehicle registrations. Every so often the government puts some more on the market and lets the people bid for them. It currently costs between $20,000 and $22,000 for the document and it only lasts for 10 years. Then you would have to bid again. Nobody does that. They sell their cars. So Singapore, which does not manufacture cars at all, is the world's second biggest exporter of used vehicles (after Japan).
Beside the vehicle registration, there is a 100% sales tax on cars' MSRP and gas is $1.79 a litre. So, you have to be rich to drive a car. They even have special registration for cars that cannot be driven in peak hours. So those are for the weekend drivers.
Government housing is not cheap. They build huge high rises - 50 stories - but charge people current real estate prices (from $200K to $15M) depending on location and size. Almost everybody lives in government housing. Expatriates have the best housing and some even have their own detached houses on their own property (a real rarity in Singapore). John thought his faculty should set up an international programme here. hahaha The poor people, however, have to rent. But rents are based on income alone and you can get a bachelor apartment for $35 a month if you earn less than $1500 a month. So their system is capitalist and socialist at the same time.
When they got back to the base, John switched buses and went to the Night Safari. It was breaking his resolution to see only free animals but this is a 'first of its kind' in the world. The place only opens at night so you can see night animals walking about. There was a tram ride but John's camera could not see in the darkness well enough to take any video. Then there was a cultural performance by Malay people of the tribe who orginally inhabited the area. He shot good footage of that.
Anyway, he is up early tomorrow morning so he will have to upload the video when he gets a chance. Right now it is late and he needs to get his sleep.
TRB
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Melbourne to Singapore
Jan 21
After just four hours' sleep John was up to get his packing finished and be on his way to Singapore. Janice was worried about the traffic and so they left around 7:30am. John was very sad to say goodbye to Barney because he is an old dog and John knew for a fact that he would never see him again.
As they drove to the main Melbourne airport, John and Janice reminisced about their time together and how both had enjoyed the holiday. It was her birthday, in fact. They faced the inevitable they they, too, might never see each other in person again although they agreed to stay in touch. After dropping John off at the departures, Janice was going to see her sister's children's children who are visiting her sister.
The traffic, however, had been a dream and they were at the airport at 8:30. John's flight was at 11:20, so he had lots of time and no worries about getting on the flight.
John lined up to get his boarding pass and filled out his Australian exit form. He passed through exit Customs and then security with no worries this time apart from emptying me again for them. He bought a drink and a science magazine and settled down to wait.
The time passed quickly and it was time to board. Perhaps John is getting too old but he felt some trepidation with the number of families with two-year olds getting on the plane. They were in a Boeing Triple 7 and the two rows directly ahead had three toddlers. Each child took their turn emitting piercing screams from time to time. John heard shrieks of pain, of fear, of frustration, and sometimes just plain naughty ones as one tyke tried to outdo the kid in front.
That was the only negative of the whole trip. The service on Singapore Airlines was beyond excellent. Before the plane was very high in the sky the flight attendants were around offering complimentary wine, juice, pop, beer - and that was in economy! They did two rounds before bringing lunch. Each passenger had a menu. The appetizer was marinated sweet chili shrimp with asian slaw along with a roll and butter. There was a choice in the main course: roasted chicken in mushroom sauce, buttered vegetables, and lyonnaise potatoes OR Gaeng chu chee pia (fish filet in red curry and coconut milk) served with mixed vegetables and rice. John asked for the chicken, but they had just ran out of that one but he was fine with that because the fish dish was remarkable. They ended with cheese and crackers, and an ice cream cone.
Twice more they came around with drinks before serving refreshment - lamb and potato curry pie or fried rice with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. John asked for the fried rice and the flight attedant made sure he got it. John had not seen such service in Canada since the 1960's.
The plane was not full and John had only one seatmate in the three seats. He was a young guy from Hyderabad, India just finishing a two-year contract with a bank in Australia. He is a software engineer and his job was to increase the bank's business intelligence. The two had a couple of really good chats during the sevan and a half hours they spent together. He said that John should visit India some day and John said he should really come and visit Canada. They made a deal that each would do it - completely unenforceable, of course!
Upon landing at Changi airport, John filled out his Singapore Immigration card and passed through Immigration with no lineups and zero difficulty. He went to pick up his luggage and it was already on the conveyor belt going around. There was room everywhere - no people jostling to get their bags, no huge lines anywhere. Customs just waved him through the door. John was not used to being trusted like that! Everywhere else I have been like a red flag in front of a bull as far as Customs people are concerned. John and I must fit some sort of profile, I guess.
He went to the traveller's desk and paid for his shuttle to the hotel. It was only nine Singapore dollars. The same rde had cost $50NZ in Auckland.
He met a young Aussie woman who seemed a little nervous because she started to talk to John spontaneously while waiting for the shuttle. By the way, from getting off the plane to the shuttle leaving the airport was about 15 minutes.
Anyway, she had just got a job as an occupational therapist in one of Singapore's hosptials and she was kind of nervous about the new job, finding a place to live and so on. John tried to reassure her and it seemed to help.
Her htoel was out by the hospital so John was off before her. Both wished each other the best.
John is very happy with the hotel. It is the highest quality place he has stayed on this trip. His room was upgraded from superior to deluxe which means he has slippers and a robe and little extras like that. Take a look at the video.
John decided to splurge and pay for good Internet access while he is here.
He went out for a walk and found that indeed Singapore ia all about shopping. More on that another time. Now it is time to say goodnight as it has been a long day.
TRB
After just four hours' sleep John was up to get his packing finished and be on his way to Singapore. Janice was worried about the traffic and so they left around 7:30am. John was very sad to say goodbye to Barney because he is an old dog and John knew for a fact that he would never see him again.
As they drove to the main Melbourne airport, John and Janice reminisced about their time together and how both had enjoyed the holiday. It was her birthday, in fact. They faced the inevitable they they, too, might never see each other in person again although they agreed to stay in touch. After dropping John off at the departures, Janice was going to see her sister's children's children who are visiting her sister.
The traffic, however, had been a dream and they were at the airport at 8:30. John's flight was at 11:20, so he had lots of time and no worries about getting on the flight.
John lined up to get his boarding pass and filled out his Australian exit form. He passed through exit Customs and then security with no worries this time apart from emptying me again for them. He bought a drink and a science magazine and settled down to wait.
The time passed quickly and it was time to board. Perhaps John is getting too old but he felt some trepidation with the number of families with two-year olds getting on the plane. They were in a Boeing Triple 7 and the two rows directly ahead had three toddlers. Each child took their turn emitting piercing screams from time to time. John heard shrieks of pain, of fear, of frustration, and sometimes just plain naughty ones as one tyke tried to outdo the kid in front.
That was the only negative of the whole trip. The service on Singapore Airlines was beyond excellent. Before the plane was very high in the sky the flight attendants were around offering complimentary wine, juice, pop, beer - and that was in economy! They did two rounds before bringing lunch. Each passenger had a menu. The appetizer was marinated sweet chili shrimp with asian slaw along with a roll and butter. There was a choice in the main course: roasted chicken in mushroom sauce, buttered vegetables, and lyonnaise potatoes OR Gaeng chu chee pia (fish filet in red curry and coconut milk) served with mixed vegetables and rice. John asked for the chicken, but they had just ran out of that one but he was fine with that because the fish dish was remarkable. They ended with cheese and crackers, and an ice cream cone.
Twice more they came around with drinks before serving refreshment - lamb and potato curry pie or fried rice with chicken, shrimp and vegetables. John asked for the fried rice and the flight attedant made sure he got it. John had not seen such service in Canada since the 1960's.
The plane was not full and John had only one seatmate in the three seats. He was a young guy from Hyderabad, India just finishing a two-year contract with a bank in Australia. He is a software engineer and his job was to increase the bank's business intelligence. The two had a couple of really good chats during the sevan and a half hours they spent together. He said that John should visit India some day and John said he should really come and visit Canada. They made a deal that each would do it - completely unenforceable, of course!
Upon landing at Changi airport, John filled out his Singapore Immigration card and passed through Immigration with no lineups and zero difficulty. He went to pick up his luggage and it was already on the conveyor belt going around. There was room everywhere - no people jostling to get their bags, no huge lines anywhere. Customs just waved him through the door. John was not used to being trusted like that! Everywhere else I have been like a red flag in front of a bull as far as Customs people are concerned. John and I must fit some sort of profile, I guess.
He went to the traveller's desk and paid for his shuttle to the hotel. It was only nine Singapore dollars. The same rde had cost $50NZ in Auckland.
He met a young Aussie woman who seemed a little nervous because she started to talk to John spontaneously while waiting for the shuttle. By the way, from getting off the plane to the shuttle leaving the airport was about 15 minutes.
Anyway, she had just got a job as an occupational therapist in one of Singapore's hosptials and she was kind of nervous about the new job, finding a place to live and so on. John tried to reassure her and it seemed to help.
Her htoel was out by the hospital so John was off before her. Both wished each other the best.
John is very happy with the hotel. It is the highest quality place he has stayed on this trip. His room was upgraded from superior to deluxe which means he has slippers and a robe and little extras like that. Take a look at the video.
John decided to splurge and pay for good Internet access while he is here.
He went out for a walk and found that indeed Singapore ia all about shopping. More on that another time. Now it is time to say goodnight as it has been a long day.
TRB
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Culminating Day in Australia
Jan 20
This was to be John and my last day in Australia. He woke up about 7am and read for a while. Then when he got up he found Janice downstairs getting some toast. She had decided that rather than stay at home for the day and meet John later for a meal in the city she would come in too. She rarely goes to the downtown because it is so crowded.
Anyway, they took the train in to the city and got off at Southern Cross station because Janice had said she wanted to see the newly developed precinct called Docklands.
At a posh little fish and chip place on a part of the area, Janice bought lunch for them both. They had blue grenadier fish, with french fries, a dim sim each, and a battered potato hasbrown each. It was very filling.
After walking for a bit they found a shopping area with hundreds of designer shops and factory outlets. They also found Australia's first Costco. Janice had wondered what it was like. So they went inside. You can look at stuff there but not buy until you have a membership and that is not practical for a person living on their own. John has foound the same thing in Canada even though he lives close to a Costco.
Next, they went to a bookshop for Janice to buy some books for her grand niece and nephew and after coming out they realized they were right beside a City Circle tram stop, a free service.
They hopped on even though it was quite full and found seats. As the tram continued on its route, more and more people got on, stop after stop, until it was straining to move and standing room only. They were both happy when they came to Flinders St Station and were able to get off.
One of the things that John had wanted to see before leaving was the flame show outside the casino later that evening, so the two went looking to find a movie to put in some time. After some considerable searching they found the downtown movie theatre but there was no movie about to start. So, it was plan B. But there was no plan B.
They wandered down to the area called Southbank on the south bank (strangely enough) of the Yarra River than runs through Melbourne. They say the Yarra is an upside down river because it is as muddy on the top as it is on the bottom. However, Southbank is lovely with hundreds of fine restaurants. They put in some time because neither was hungry enough to eat at 4:30. So, they had a lemonade or slushy at a foodcourt.
Then they went along and looked at the menus of many of the restaurantts. Janice's sister-in-law had suggested a restaurant called 8 and they really liked the look of its menu so they went in. This was to be John's way to thank Janice for all her kindness.
It was great! It was a part of the casino and the food and service were both 5 star quality. The restaurant had a great special - two glaases of wine, two courses (either appetizer and main course or main and dessert), a side and coffee or tea. John had two glasses of pinot noir from the burned out area he had seen the day before while Janice had sauvignon blanc. John's main course was kangaroo with a raincherry sauce, salad and a huge creme brulee. Janice had a beef carbaccio, barramunde (fish) and s aalad.
Aside: Although John loves to see kangaroos wild and free, they have to cull them these days or they eat up all the vegetation in the current drought and end up dying of thirst.
The day turned to evening as they sat on the restaurant patio. The restaurant was near one of the six huge three-story fire towers spaced about a hundred or so metres apart that the casino uses to put on the flame show every evening and they felt the heat from some of the flames. So, after they finished their meals they went outside to watch the whole show. John videoed some of it. The waiter said that it costs the casino about $10K a night to put it on.
Then it was back to Janice's home on the train, arriving after 11pm. It had been a fitting day to end this leg of John's trip. After getting me to write this post John attempted to upload a video to the blog.
John and I are not really looking forward to the 8 hour flight tomorrow to Singapore.
John wants me to tell you, my readers, that he has no idea of the connections in Singapore starting tomorrow so please be patient.
TRB
This was to be John and my last day in Australia. He woke up about 7am and read for a while. Then when he got up he found Janice downstairs getting some toast. She had decided that rather than stay at home for the day and meet John later for a meal in the city she would come in too. She rarely goes to the downtown because it is so crowded.
Anyway, they took the train in to the city and got off at Southern Cross station because Janice had said she wanted to see the newly developed precinct called Docklands.
At a posh little fish and chip place on a part of the area, Janice bought lunch for them both. They had blue grenadier fish, with french fries, a dim sim each, and a battered potato hasbrown each. It was very filling.
After walking for a bit they found a shopping area with hundreds of designer shops and factory outlets. They also found Australia's first Costco. Janice had wondered what it was like. So they went inside. You can look at stuff there but not buy until you have a membership and that is not practical for a person living on their own. John has foound the same thing in Canada even though he lives close to a Costco.
Next, they went to a bookshop for Janice to buy some books for her grand niece and nephew and after coming out they realized they were right beside a City Circle tram stop, a free service.
They hopped on even though it was quite full and found seats. As the tram continued on its route, more and more people got on, stop after stop, until it was straining to move and standing room only. They were both happy when they came to Flinders St Station and were able to get off.
One of the things that John had wanted to see before leaving was the flame show outside the casino later that evening, so the two went looking to find a movie to put in some time. After some considerable searching they found the downtown movie theatre but there was no movie about to start. So, it was plan B. But there was no plan B.
They wandered down to the area called Southbank on the south bank (strangely enough) of the Yarra River than runs through Melbourne. They say the Yarra is an upside down river because it is as muddy on the top as it is on the bottom. However, Southbank is lovely with hundreds of fine restaurants. They put in some time because neither was hungry enough to eat at 4:30. So, they had a lemonade or slushy at a foodcourt.
Then they went along and looked at the menus of many of the restaurantts. Janice's sister-in-law had suggested a restaurant called 8 and they really liked the look of its menu so they went in. This was to be John's way to thank Janice for all her kindness.
It was great! It was a part of the casino and the food and service were both 5 star quality. The restaurant had a great special - two glaases of wine, two courses (either appetizer and main course or main and dessert), a side and coffee or tea. John had two glasses of pinot noir from the burned out area he had seen the day before while Janice had sauvignon blanc. John's main course was kangaroo with a raincherry sauce, salad and a huge creme brulee. Janice had a beef carbaccio, barramunde (fish) and s aalad.
Aside: Although John loves to see kangaroos wild and free, they have to cull them these days or they eat up all the vegetation in the current drought and end up dying of thirst.
The day turned to evening as they sat on the restaurant patio. The restaurant was near one of the six huge three-story fire towers spaced about a hundred or so metres apart that the casino uses to put on the flame show every evening and they felt the heat from some of the flames. So, after they finished their meals they went outside to watch the whole show. John videoed some of it. The waiter said that it costs the casino about $10K a night to put it on.
Then it was back to Janice's home on the train, arriving after 11pm. It had been a fitting day to end this leg of John's trip. After getting me to write this post John attempted to upload a video to the blog.
John and I are not really looking forward to the 8 hour flight tomorrow to Singapore.
John wants me to tell you, my readers, that he has no idea of the connections in Singapore starting tomorrow so please be patient.
TRB
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A sobering drive
Jan 19
The day was cloudy and cool when John woke up. He dozed while watching me put in a couple of hours uploading new videos from his days in Sydney. Take a look, if you haven't seen the new ones - like Manly Beach, Manly and the pirates, and some nice views in the Powerhouse Museum. These were all possible because the dongle, though expensive, allowed John to have a better Internet connection. He has no idea what his connection will be like from Singapore.
Anyway, after having a cup of tea, he and Janice set out to see the effects of the devastating bush fires that occurred last February, almost 11 months ago. John remembered hearing about them on the news - over 200 people (men, women, and children) had been killed in the fires. Janice had been there 10 months ago but had not seen it since.
They drove towards a town called Marysville, population about 520, about 90 minutes away to the north. As they passed through the Yarra Ranges National Park, they began to see the changes in the landscape. For mile after mile, trees had blackened burnt trunks reaching up to the levels that the flames had leaped. Many of the gum or eucalyptus trees are able to withstand bush fires so they were sprouting greenery all along their trunks from the ground up, giving them a weird looking appearance. John felt that it was good to see this regeneration as it meant that the forest was healing itself. However, he felt sad to think of the countless animals, both wildlife and stock, that had perished in the flames.
Nothing prepared him for the utter destruction of the small town of Marysville. An early description of the town said, "Marysville is well known for its beautiful gardens and scenery, and as a gateway to year-round outdoor activities. Nestled in the foothills of Melbourne's Yarra Range..." it had many attractions for tourists such as fern gullies, views of the mountains, and walking tracks to Steavenson Falls. It was the place to go for Melburnians to escape the summer heat since the 1920s.
"It's primary industry [was] tourism. Prior to the fire, it contained numerous cafes, art galleries, restaurants, and craft shops. It has been used as a base for the Lake Mountain ski resort. During the snow season, the population of the town has been known to double or even triple, due to the influx of other hospitality and tourism caterers, such as ski hire, toboggan hire, chain hire, and many other profitable ventures associated with snowplay and skiing. During summer Marysville is frequented by many bikers, particularly on weekends. Marysville is cradled between two of Victoria's best motorcycling roads, the Black Spur & The Reefton Spur." source: Wikipedia
Now it was just a shell. The fires of 2009 had destroyed 90% of all the buildings including the school, police station, and almost all the residential houses. That day they still call Black Saturday, the fires raced through the town in minutes, killing some 45 people in the little town alone. The fire had been huge, and had started perhaps as far away as 150km.
John was very touched to see the empty spaces where people's lives had been played out. He saw the reconstruction efforts with homes at all stages of construction - and some with nothing happening that he assumed meant the family had been killed. But he was most impressed with one home, nothing more than a concrete pad, with the debris all cleared away, and an Australian flag flying from an old stick.
He was inspired that the trees were regrowing, the animals were having babies to repopulate the forest and the people were rising again from their tragedy.
TRB
The day was cloudy and cool when John woke up. He dozed while watching me put in a couple of hours uploading new videos from his days in Sydney. Take a look, if you haven't seen the new ones - like Manly Beach, Manly and the pirates, and some nice views in the Powerhouse Museum. These were all possible because the dongle, though expensive, allowed John to have a better Internet connection. He has no idea what his connection will be like from Singapore.
Anyway, after having a cup of tea, he and Janice set out to see the effects of the devastating bush fires that occurred last February, almost 11 months ago. John remembered hearing about them on the news - over 200 people (men, women, and children) had been killed in the fires. Janice had been there 10 months ago but had not seen it since.
They drove towards a town called Marysville, population about 520, about 90 minutes away to the north. As they passed through the Yarra Ranges National Park, they began to see the changes in the landscape. For mile after mile, trees had blackened burnt trunks reaching up to the levels that the flames had leaped. Many of the gum or eucalyptus trees are able to withstand bush fires so they were sprouting greenery all along their trunks from the ground up, giving them a weird looking appearance. John felt that it was good to see this regeneration as it meant that the forest was healing itself. However, he felt sad to think of the countless animals, both wildlife and stock, that had perished in the flames.
Nothing prepared him for the utter destruction of the small town of Marysville. An early description of the town said, "Marysville is well known for its beautiful gardens and scenery, and as a gateway to year-round outdoor activities. Nestled in the foothills of Melbourne's Yarra Range..." it had many attractions for tourists such as fern gullies, views of the mountains, and walking tracks to Steavenson Falls. It was the place to go for Melburnians to escape the summer heat since the 1920s.
"It's primary industry [was] tourism. Prior to the fire, it contained numerous cafes, art galleries, restaurants, and craft shops. It has been used as a base for the Lake Mountain ski resort. During the snow season, the population of the town has been known to double or even triple, due to the influx of other hospitality and tourism caterers, such as ski hire, toboggan hire, chain hire, and many other profitable ventures associated with snowplay and skiing. During summer Marysville is frequented by many bikers, particularly on weekends. Marysville is cradled between two of Victoria's best motorcycling roads, the Black Spur & The Reefton Spur." source: Wikipedia
Now it was just a shell. The fires of 2009 had destroyed 90% of all the buildings including the school, police station, and almost all the residential houses. That day they still call Black Saturday, the fires raced through the town in minutes, killing some 45 people in the little town alone. The fire had been huge, and had started perhaps as far away as 150km.
John was very touched to see the empty spaces where people's lives had been played out. He saw the reconstruction efforts with homes at all stages of construction - and some with nothing happening that he assumed meant the family had been killed. But he was most impressed with one home, nothing more than a concrete pad, with the debris all cleared away, and an Australian flag flying from an old stick.
He was inspired that the trees were regrowing, the animals were having babies to repopulate the forest and the people were rising again from their tragedy.
TRB
Monday, January 18, 2010
Dandenong Drive
Jan 18
On this day, the rain showers continued helping Melbourne to become more quenched. Janice and John visited her friend Lynney where they had some pikelets (small pancakes) and a Boston cake - a sponge cake with white creamy frosting.
After that they visited a wholesale nursery as Janice wanted to find some six foot plants to act as privacy hedge. However, she didn't see what she needed and will go back another time.
Then they visited the Dandenong Ranges National Park and the quaint little villages up in the hills overlooking Melbourne. John found some souvenirs and they had lattes and a vanilla slice french pastry.
They saw stringy bark gum trees, one of the many species of eucalyptus in Australia. These trees shed their bark in strings down their sides until the strings fall off. They also saw a Kookaburra fly in front of the car. The Kookaburra, a kind of kingfisher that makes a distinctive sound, is another Australian icon.
After one of the many showers the air heated up and the road steamed as the wet pavement evaporated back into the air.
They arrived back at Janice's where she made spaghetti and meat balls with home made sauce. Janice doesn't use packages much!
TRb
On this day, the rain showers continued helping Melbourne to become more quenched. Janice and John visited her friend Lynney where they had some pikelets (small pancakes) and a Boston cake - a sponge cake with white creamy frosting.
After that they visited a wholesale nursery as Janice wanted to find some six foot plants to act as privacy hedge. However, she didn't see what she needed and will go back another time.
Then they visited the Dandenong Ranges National Park and the quaint little villages up in the hills overlooking Melbourne. John found some souvenirs and they had lattes and a vanilla slice french pastry.
They saw stringy bark gum trees, one of the many species of eucalyptus in Australia. These trees shed their bark in strings down their sides until the strings fall off. They also saw a Kookaburra fly in front of the car. The Kookaburra, a kind of kingfisher that makes a distinctive sound, is another Australian icon.
After one of the many showers the air heated up and the road steamed as the wet pavement evaporated back into the air.
They arrived back at Janice's where she made spaghetti and meat balls with home made sauce. Janice doesn't use packages much!
TRb
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