Greetings from Middle Earth

I am sitting in our campervan in the shadow of Mounts Cook and Tasman, we've had the most glorious sunshine all day and to be honest, it really doesn't feel like Christmas. But we are having a fantastic time and falling in love all over again with New Zealand.

It's day 5 of our trip and we've travelled from Christchurch, through the Southern Alps via Arthur's Pass and now we are working our way down the West Coast with the aim of spending Christmas in Queenstown. The best bits of the trip so far have been when we have gone off the beaten track: 'freedom camping' in Lake Mahinapua where we swam in the lake in the rain and the next morning, in bright sunshine; kayaking on the empty Orakito lagoon through temperate rainforest filled with unusual bird life, with Mount Tasman and the Southern Alps as our dramatic backdrop.

Internet connection is extremely patchy but I'm going to try and update this with pics and more chat in the next week or so. But here are a few shots to get you started.

Blossoming

Easter weekend saw us in Tokyo and we were right in time to join the locals in the orgy of cherry blossom viewing that took place over the weekend.  Due to a harsh winter the blossom arrived a couple of weeks late, which was all to our advantage.  It was delicate, beautiful, ethereal...and witnessing the unbridled delight on the faces of everyone around us was extremely heart-warming.

You have your picnic facing the blossom, obviously

We were not the only ones there - to be honest it was like being at a rock concert

We came across this street linked with cherry trees in the middle of the business district

The best way to see it all was by boat

Eco-tourism and education

Sunset from Bali airport

I can't say that we live a very 'green' life in Singapore.  There isn't a big push to recycle and with all the flying that we do we are hardly what you would call an environmentally friendly couple.  So, perhaps to alleviate some of our guilt, we decided to go 'green' for the first four days of our recent holiday in Bali.  We stayed in a hut on stilts in a place called Bambu Indah.  It was rustic, open-air (in the case of the bathroom) and creaky, but quite charming.  We shared our open air bathroom with a cockroach and, at night, moths the size of baseballs, but in that rustic setting it was not alarming at all. We had views of distant rice paddies and a river gorge right below us. Instead of your standard swimming pool, the owners had installed a 'natural pool' - filtered water teaming with clever American bacteria that apparently keep the water clean.  I was a little freaked out about not being able to see the bottom and then getting caught up in some slimy, long, green snaky thing (just a big of algae it turned out!) but after that first dip, I just loved it.  Somehow so much more refreshing than a normal swimming pool and minus the chlorine.

Every care had been taken for the retreat to blend with and respect the natural environment.  There was a lot of bamboo, including (cleverly we thought) bamboo straws.  Why doesn't everyone use bamboo straws?  They feel SO much nicer than the plastic variety.  All our food came from the garden which I really appreciated.  I loved the fact that the journey from source to plate was so short. 

We hired a moped while we were there, for the princely sum of $5 a day.  As you know, Tim loves anything with an engine and he was soon moving very confidently through the streets of Ubud, perhaps a little too confidently at times.  I am lucky to have returned to Singapore with ten toes - I nearly lost a little toe from each foot in two separate (but not too serious) accidents.  I think he forgot I was on the back - but apparently my weight really impacted performance...how rude.

I have a Singapore friend who recently moved to Bali and she happens to work for the school set up by the owner of Bambu Indah - The Green School (http://www.greenschool.org/).  We took her up on her offer of a visit and so we took to the moped armed with two very basic maps, my excellent sense of direction and a reasonable hope that we would reach our destination in time for lunch.  The school is special because 1) it is all made of bamboo and all the classrooms are open-air 2) it's very focused on experiential learning and educating the kids to be socially responsible and environmentally aware 3) it is VERY green, a bit like the place we stayed.  An issue taxing them at the moment is that they are 'still on the grid' i.e. they are still pulling electricity from the mainframe and not fully self-sufficient.  Imagine being vexed by such an issue!  Also, which I thought was kind of cool, they have two loos in every cubicle.  One for number ones, one for number twos (complete with a bucket of sawdust to throw over your brown snakes once you've finished). Sorry to lower the tone, but I thought it was cool.

Anyway, we thought it was all fascinating and it definitely got us thinking about the point of education.  Is education about THE NOW - doing really worthwhile stuff that may not have 'conventional' academic value but certainly enriches a person's life or is it about THE FUTURE - knowing that school may not always be fascinating day-to-day, but the knowledge the kids are acquiring will serve them well later on.  Ideally, I suppose it should be a bit of both.  As a teacher, sometimes 'the future' is a hard sell. Most of the time, students are very much in the present.  I know how important it is for my students to learn how to read for understanding, analyse a text, string a sentence together, punctuate properly, but oftentimes they can't imagine a future where they might need these skills.  Of course, by the time they realise it, it is too late.  Aaaahhh, the wisdom of old age!

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

Colourful offerings to the spirits, available for purchase in the market!

Our hut in the background and the natural pool

The view from Bambu Indah

It's all made of bamboo!  The Green School

The iconic Green School bridge

Inside school and more bamboo - it's just such a versatile wood

Bamboo desks and chairs in school

Hanoi & Halong Bay

Hanoi was cold.  I mean, jeans, scarves, jumpers cold.  I don't think any of us were properly prepared and hence there were some choice outfits on display.  Luckily, it is not the fashion capital of South-East Asia.  Throughout our trip, grey cloud hung heavy over us, which made me think of North Korea (even though I've never been).  And it was mizzling.  So I don't think we were seeing either Hanoi or Halong Bay in a good light.

See what I mean by grey cloud?

In Hanoi we stayed in the Sofitel Metropole, a lovely French-colonial style hotel in the heart of the old French colonial quarter.  It was peaceful and pleasant inside but leaving the hotel we were confronted with a frenzy of activity - mopeds, bikes, cars, buses all with horns blaring, women with those special Vietnamese baskets on their shoulders, cars driving the wrong way down streets, mopeds trying to run you over.  It was hectic to say the least. The shopping was excellent though and as Vietnam is so cheap we were able to indulge without feeling too guilty. 

We had a four-hour drive to Halong Bay with the obligatory stop at a souvenir warehouse for much longer than it takes to empty your bladder.  It was crammed with naff tourist tat and outside there was a multitude of huge marble statues (no photos allowed unfortunately) so we wandered among them, wondering why anyone would want such hideousness in their house/garden.  After that we stood watching our driver enjoying a cigarette and having a bite to eat inside, and he eventually got the hint and we left earlier than planned.  

I've mentioned the road situation briefly, but I will return to it now.  There are no traffic rules in Vietnam (that we could ascertain).  The road to Halong Bay is well-travelled and we were sharing it with heavy goods vehicles, big tourist buses, mopeds, cars and pedestrians.  We saw unbelievable manoeuvres that endangered pedestrians, other vehicles and us - vehicles overtaking vehicles that were overtaking other vehicles with other vehicles coming straight for them in the opposite direction.  At one point we arrived at the scene just after a fatal accident - the victim was still lying in the road with other cars and buses driving round him.  Passing drivers threw money out of the window, apparently to appease his ghost.  That kind of incident would be a big deal in the West and yet in Vietnam it hardly raised an eyebrow.  Life is cheap.

We spent a day and a night on a tourist 'junk' which was an interesting experience.  The hum of the engine kept making Al fall asleep (it was very soporific) and the food was fair to poor - it started out fair and ended poor.  The boat took us very slowly through a very small section of Halong Bay and we ended up mooring cheek by jowl with the other tourist junk boats, as you can see from the pictures below.  And then everyone disembarks and does the same thing - climbing one of the rocks (named after a Soviet astronaut), going to a 'surprise' cave with some impressive rock formations and then going to see some monkeys.  This trip confirmed something that I think we already knew - we are not cruise-ship people.  Still, we had fun and I have to admit the fruit carving was a particular highlight.

I'm not sure I'll be rushing back to Hanoi - I preferred Saigon and it is also warmer.  I think after 7 months here my blood is beginning to thin and I never thought I would admit it, but I am starting to feel the cold!

You look GORGEOUS!

Tourist junks under an overcast sky

An apple in the shape of a swan - and who says fruit carving is out of fashion?

Digster and my sis with a bit of the bay in the background

Catching up & Cambodia

I haven't posted properly in a long time.  Time has slipped by with trips home, Christmas holidays, family, a new job and visitors.  Suffice to say that we are well and busy and getting on with life in Singapore.  Visitors have provided us with opportunities to explore Singapore in more depth and a wonderful excuse for South-East Asian travel.  In the last two weeks we have been to Siem Reap in Cambodia to see the temples and Hanoi, Vietnam to see Ha Long Bay, a 'provisional' new seventh natural wonder of the world (I loved the 'provisional').

Of the two trips Cambodia stands out and I can't wait to go back.  It is a two-hour flight from here so perfect for a weekend trip.  On our first day we persuaded our driver to take us back to the hotel (30 mins each way) for a siesta around midday after a hot and sweaty morning in the crowds.  This wasn't part of the plan and he wasn't keen on the idea but to be honest I didn't blame him - driving our underpowered moped with a tuktuk stuck on it looked like thankless work.  It was uncomfortable enough in the back.  But we persuaded him with a $5 tip and so, refreshed, we ventured out again in the late afternoon.  And it was very special.  The light was spectacular and what was really so wonderful is that most of our fellow tourists had finished for the day.  So we were (comparatively speaking) alone.  Bayon, my favourite temple, is famous for the multitude of Buddha heads on the sides of the towers, looking out in all directions.  The complexity of its construction and the intricacy of the carvings was really overwhelming.  We were seeing these places as shadows of their former glory, but it left me in awe of what man can achieve in the name of faith.  And despite it being a ruin, I found it to be a very spiritual place. 

There were just so many wonderful photo opportunities!  Here is a very small selection of the 400+ photos I took. 

Bayon Buddhas - don't they look so serene?

Bayon from a distance

Angkor Wat was probably my least favourite temple, although that is the one that everyone goes to see.  It is on the tourist trail like none of the other temples and it was literally overrun with people.  That said, it is an enormous complex (it used to be a city) and there is just so much to see so I'm not sure our one hour visit did it justice. 

The steep climb up to the highest point at Angkor Wat

Trees growing in the temple...

Diggy at Angkor Wat - those are windows

NZ

As I think I mentioned, we fell in love with New Zealand and are plotting a return trip as soon as our bank balance has recovered.  I found it to be a ridiculously beautiful country - I mean how much breathtaking scenery can one country have?  And as I've mentioned previously, this is only the North Island, the South Island is supposed to be even better.  Even though we are 'closer' to New Zealand in Singapore, it is still a ten-hour flight so it's not exactly on our doorstep.  But I feel very grateful that we had the opportunity to visit this year.

Taken from the air in the Bay of Islands - we were trying to get up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of the North Island but the weather was not kind and we had to turn back.

The marae (meeting house) at Waitangi, built to commemorate the signing of the Waitangi treaty between the Maori and the British Crown.  It turns out that the British and the Maori signed two very different versions of the treaty as the Maori translation did not reproduce the exact meaning of the English text.  Although the treaty still stands today, it has proved controversial since its signing.

Hawkes Bay with Cape Kidnappers in the distance and the town of Napier in the foreground - taken from our wonderful art deco lodge.

The Alpha Domus vineyard near Hawkes Bay, taken during our 'On Yer Bike' wine tasting bike tour

Cape Kidnappers - named by James Cook

Waitrose lambs!

The ferry making its way to Auckland.  Taken from Waiheke Island, a 45 min ferry ride from the city, but it is like another world

Susnet from our lodge on Waiheke Island

Redwoods at Rotorua

View south from Te Mata peak

Sydney

We arrived on a Saturday night and on Sunday Tim took me to Manly beach (above), a spot he had already visited on a previous trip.  The weather was gorgeous and we found a cute little restaurant, white-washed walls and views of the sea, for lunch.  As we sat people-watching, we were amazed at how impossibly good-looking Sydneysiders are - hot bods, not a pick of fat in sight, tiny bikinis, sun-kissed tresses.  We found out later that this was the first 'hot' weekend of Spring and the population of Sydney had poured out onto the various beaches along the coast.  Many of the people we saw, apparently, spend winter getting ready for summer so they can proudly bare (nearly) all and strut their stuff along the beach.  It was good to get that perspective, because otherwise I think we would have left thinking Sydney was the best-looking city in the world.

After that initial excitement, Tim spent his days working and I spent mine exploring the city.  I can see how pleasant life in Sydney would be, with the water, the parks and the beaches just a stone's throw away.  The only problem is being so far away from the rest of the world.

Three things in particular stand out:

1) getting up early and jogging through the Botanical Gardens to the Opera House.  The light was so clear and bright that early in the morning and we had such gorgeous views of the Bridge and the Opera House.

2) walking from Bondi beach to Coogee beach in the rain.  The weather put all but the hardiest of runners and walkers off but the views were spectacular and we arrived in Coogee just as the sun was setting.  It was magical and when we got to the end I wanted to turn around and do it all over again.

3) visiting the beautiful art deco inspired ANZAC war memorial in Hyde Park.  It got a red star in my guide book (a good thing) but I wasn't expecting it to be such a special place.  I found it very moving, particularly the sculpture 'Sacrifice' (see here for a pic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ANZACWarMemorial3_gobeirne.jpg).  It is the only war memorial that represents a soldier naked, in death. 

Here are a few pics of the obvious sights:

Early morning view of the bridge and opera house, with that special light I was talking about

More to follow!

Getting back to normal

We are finally back from our trip and getting back to normal.  Tim is already into the swing of things at work and I have a busy week of interviews and catching up with people planned.  It feels good to return to Singapore knowing that I have (new) friends to see and potential jobs on the horizon.  But we were both very sad to leave New Zealand.  It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, and we have only seen the 'average' part so far - apparently the South Island is waaaay better.  And apart from amazing food and wine, stunning scenery, wonderful people and seeing a real kiwi in the flesh, I was thrilled to be able to wear jeans, my converse trainers, a hoodie and my gilet (as modelled below with my All Black friend).  More photos on the way.

Penang

Tim, Al and I made a short trip to Penang while Al was here.  It is a small island off the north west coast of Malaysia, just south of Langkawi and the equivalent of going to Edinburgh for the weekend - a short hop in the plane from Singapore.  We stayed in the heritage part of Georgetown, which was declared a World Heritage Site by the UN a while back.  It is a busy burg, bustling and brimful of quaint shophouses, one of which provided our accommodation for the three nights we were there.  The only downsides to being so central were the 5am call to prayer (we were hemmed in by mosques), the constant buzz of mopeds and the dog across the way that barked all night.  I'm not sure Tim caught up on his much-needed sleep.

A day and half would have been enough, but we amused ourselves for three days.  The guidebook said it was what Singapore used to look like, so it was good to see. 

Downtown Georgetown

Down by the harbour

Sunset

Chinese lanterns

Having an aperitif outside our shophouse

 One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Tropical Spice Garden, about 40 minutes out of town.  It was wonderfully done and best of all, they had a giant swing and we had so much pushing each other back and forth.  It really is the little things.  The garden was full of mozzies and the 'organic' citronella oil that they provided did not cut the mustard, so I reverted to the 'burning the very skin off you' spray that you can buy in Singapore. Works a treat.  Although in the final count, Al was bitten 17 times and I escaped with a mere 10 bites.  Damn those mozzies!

On the swing

The swing in action!

Ridiculously happy