Now I'm back on Bribie Island, I'm just gathering my initial thoughts on my month on Bali, virtually all of it spent in Ubud. I've not been online much in that time as I've been too busy enjoying myself and soaking up the experience.
I'm not into beach holidays, so while I've been aware of Bali's tremendous reputation in that area, it's not something that's ever attracted me. When Jubbly mentioned she wanted to go to the cultural and craft centre, Ubud, my initial reading up intrigued me - certainly being inland it was going to mean a very different feel compared to the traditional beach holiday. But neither of us really knew just what to expect, probably an idyllic peaceful arty-craft place but that was just a thumbnail view.
Our first views were around 11pm at night being driven to our hotel, about an hour away from the airport, so it was dark and we were limited by what we could see. However, we seemed to drive past the most amazing (Hindu) stone statues and temples which certainly intrigued even more. We stayed at a lovely place that first night, but it was one night only as our preferred accommodation wasn't available until the following day.
The first detailed views of Ubud in the day were a shock - far from being quiet and peaceful it was heaving with traffic and very very busy, certainly not what we expected. Our location was about a mile away from the centre of Ubud along an extremely busy road, mostly without a pavement, so walking in wasn't that easy with all the traffic. But after unpacking we made it in, despite the cars and bikes - after a late lunch, Jubbly went back to the hotel while I went deeper into the town to explore.
Great initial impressions, going into the Monkey Forest itself was positive. One of the main streets in town, Jalan Monkey Forest (part of the three road one-way system around the centre) was just heaving with small hotels, massage spas, restaurants and shops selling tourist trinkets. Extremely busy and certainly not a peaceful place. But it had a fairly up-market feel with some designer shops contributing to that impression. And some great Hindu-related architecture.
The following day I explored the other two streets in the one-way system, Jalan Hanoman and Jalan Raya Ubud. The first was, again, lots of tourist related establishments but it appealed more because it wasn't as flash as Jl Monkey Forest, much more down to earth, with none of the big designer names. Jl Raya Ubud was a bit more of the same but it had a few spectacular features, the Market and Ubud Palace being the main ones. The Market was a totally fascinating place with lots of small traders selling largely tourist related items, such as carvings, paintings, bags, jewellery and clothes ranging from sarongs to tee-shirts, etc. - the home of haggling, something I've never done and only previously seen my father do, much to my embarrassment as a young kid.
A couple of themes started to emerge over those first few days, one was the sheer number of guys hustling for driving work - every few metres on Jl Monkey Forest. Another was the high quality of the food in the restaurants and the artistry in their presentation. But the big one was the incredible friendliness of the locals, so many people smiling - with their friends, families, colleagues and visitors! Quite infectious and I found myself reciprocating without any difficulty.
Gradually, I started getting a handle on life in Ubud, for both tourist and locals alike. Foreigners ("Bules" in Indonesian and pronounced "boo-lay") such as myself probably find the gap in wealth between locals and tourists is incredibly difficult to comprehend. But let's put some meat on the bone - a fairly typical monthly wage for a shopworker would be around 300,000 Rupiah (currently approx. GBP21, USD 32.66). A fairly typical main course in one of the tourist restaurants would be around 50,000 Rupiah - ONE SIXTH of total monthly income! Yet that same meal would probably cost me around 15-20 GBP in the UK, maybe 5 times more than on Bali. So, very very inexpensive for me but horrendously pricey for the locals. But despite life being indescribably hard for the locals, they maintain their cheery optimism, "maybe tomorrow?" being their response after being rejected for taxi work by the "bule".
Those of you who know me will be aware of my political leanings and my distaste for commercialisation and globalisation. Seeing a Ralph Lauren shop on Jl Monkey Forest certainly exacerbated those feelings into total revulsion. I find it abhorrent seeing shops of that kind in an area where decent folk are trying to scratch out a meagre living. Quite frankly, I really wonder what they contribute to the local economy of Ubud and how their presence is of any significant benefit to the locals. Sure, it may attract to Bali those people with more money than sense, those who are stupid enough to lured by designer labels - the direct benefit may be half a dozen jobs (paid at Bali rates) and a contribution to local business rates and the services such as heating and lighting. But I would be interested in learning what proportion of the products sold by such shops were of Balinese/Indonesian origin. One thing is for sure, the lion's share of their earnings would go overseas, as profits, back to their already rich parent companies and lost to the Balinese economy. That's what made me look towards supporting, as much as possible, those businesses with local ownership in preference to those with foreign parents unless there was some real commitment towards the local economy.
When it came to bartering, I knew I was a total amateur at the mercy of the locals and, rather than try to screw down a price which was already cheap by Western standards, I decided to enter into the fun of the occasion, teasing them about the whole process and turning it into entertainment. I've no problem with the concept of a dual "parallel" economy and while I have earned UK sterling, I don't mind paying "bule" prices.
On my second day in Ubud I saw the first of a number of Hindu religious ceremonies, in this case, the purification of the soul following a cremation. It was a wonderful gathering, full of ritual and extremely colourful. I also saw two temple ceremony processions and a cremation and, again, fabulous experiences, especially the latter. I find many organised religions to be very preachy, full of dogma and instilling fear of non-believing, but Hinduism seemed to be very gentle, peaceful, positive and optimistic, not unlike the Balinese! It's a very giving religion, with the daily rituals of thanks - an episode that really touched my heart was when I woke up one morning to find a young girl opening the gate to my rented villa and placing an offering on a shrine. To realise that someone who was a stranger was thinking of me as a matter of course and giving thanks to the Gods for my good fortune was very reassuring - that this was the result of a religion was doubly comforting.
On Bali, Hinduism is at the very centre of life, uniting and bonding the people. There are so many rituals and ceremonies and these have the effect of uniting people and strengthening the community. I've met three people (two were male drivers and one was a lady shop assistant) who had responsibilities relating to their temple and these were taken very seriously by the individuals concerned. Bali seems to be two parallel universes, totally different, yet happily co-existing alongside each other. For the Balinese, keeping tradition alive is important, even though commercialisation is inevitable. But in Ubud, on any night you will have the choice of a number of venues offering traditional Balinese dance, exotic, mysterious, colourful, fascinating and totally captivating - I went to five in all and still didn't exhaust all the venues offering these wonderful performances.
Countless times I was told how only ten years or so ago, Jl Monkey Forest had many less shops and had quite a few rice paddies directly visible from that road. Nowadays, this is not the case as all frontage has been developed commercially. At the same time, the move from bicycles to motor bikes is being followed by the switch from motor bikes to cars, bringing with it a real danger of the centre being totally gridlocked.
Yet all is not lost. I soon realised that Jl Monkey Forest was not real Ubud, it was only "bule" Ubud. Straying down any path or side street will still bring you back to the real world within 100 metres or so - rice paddies, traditional warungs offering inexpensive food and locals going about everyday life.
It will be obvious to anyone who has read my posts over the last month that I really bonded with the locals. Put quite simply, I have never smiled so much in my entire life, nor have I ever had such a good time sharing the crack with the locals, all total strangers. I was once complimented on my smile to which my reply was "How can I NOT smile? I'm only returning the beautiful gift given to me by all the locals". Maybe I'm a fool, but I responded to each request for "massage?" or "taxi?", acknowledging each person and giving my apologies if appropriate, but each time with a smile. Getting rejected thousands of times a day must be hard, but if I can't give them any business, the least I can do for these beautiful people is to leave them with some dignity - virtually always I was thanked and wished a good day. I was told many times that the typical "bule" doesn't smile, looks down at the pavement or directly ahead into thin air avoiding eye contact and ignores them - well, if that's the case, then I'm glad I'm not the typical "bule". It was lovely being recognised on subsequent occasions by the people I'd met previously and having a bit of a catch-up conversation - I think both of us began to treat each other as a friend. I was invited to a driver's house and spent time with his family on a couple of occasions, very moved and touched by the honour.
This being my first visit to Asia (which started on my stopover in Malaysia in late July) I knew I was in for a shock and that certainly was the case in Ubud. It's a chaotic place yet it works. You see thousands of motorbikes invariably loaded with maybe 4 or 5 people (including 2 or 3 kiddies) - a typical sight would be a child standing on the bike between the handlebars and the driver (or maybe asleep in mother's lap) and a couple of kiddies behind, or a driver with a lady behind riding sidesaddle carrying a massive shopping load. It's the sort of sight that would result in the Health and Safety brigade in Europe having kittens, yet I didn't see one accident. You have to be aged seventeen to be able to drive a bike legally over there, yet I saw countless kids under that age (probably 14 or so) going to and from school on a motorbike - it wasn't done to break the law in a wanton way, because all the kids I saw were very well behaved and respectful, it's just that driving under 17 wasn't a big deal! On my first day in Ubud I was walking along one of the major streets and there was a paving slab missing with a visible drop of maybe a metre down to the drains underneath - big deal, you just walk around it! It's a big shock when you come from over-regulated Europe, yet it works and the sky doesn't fall in because of crooked and uneven pavements. You just get on with it. there are far more important things to get on with.
The area around Ubud really is such a vibrant creative place with an abundance of talent in painting, wood carving and silver work, just to name a few, not forgetting the performing arts. The original plan was to spend a week in Ubud, a week on the rest of Bali then two weeks on Java, but that didn't happen because I was in Ubud all the time, staying at five very different places in different parts of the town, each with its own distinctive feel. I walked for miles each day, down the main streets and down the side and back streets too, getting a feel for the flavour of the locality. I was happiest at my last location which was also the simplest in some ways, only some 500 metres from Ubud Palace. I recall arriving there, having booked for 3 nights and realising to my initial disappointment that there was no fridge - then the penny dropped. As long as I had food in my belly, a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in and was safe and had water to wash, that's all that mattered (apart from having the internet, LOL). If I wanted a cool drink, I just needed to go to the warung 100 metres away and get one from their fridge, so where's the big deal? My initial booking for three nights was extended in less than 24 hours to seven nights and subsequently to nine!
It would be remiss of me to ignore the ladies - those who know me will know how much I like brunettes, especially the long haired variety. That, together with gorgeous brown skin, is a killer combination and I was stunned by the number of beautiful ladies of all ages, no matter where they were or what they were doing. This was so evident at temple ceremonies where they were impeccably dressed and with the most beautiful lace tops. "Balinese" and "beauty" are certainly two words that go together so naturally.
I've realised the big benefits of a simpler lifestyle and the real value of community and friendship, something where Ubud just excelled. The very brief view of Sanur I had (an overnight stay before flying out of Ngurah Rai International Airport the following day) was that it wasn't for me (I wanted to be with locals not with tourists in some sanitised tourist village) and while I liked what I saw of Denpasar, it didn't give me a feeling of intimacy with the people in the way that Ubud had done (although, in fairness, I didn't stay overnight, just had a few trips in mainly for specific computer/camera equipment).
Bali, especially Ubud, has been the most incredible - totally life-changing - experience, in particular, it's the people who have touched me very deeply. It's given me a view of a very different world and confirmed that I don't want to be in Europe anymore. I know that it's unwise to be making speedy decisions without seeing other places, so I do need to travel more - that includes the rest of Indonesia (particularly Java), Thailand and the Philippines especially as they are my top contenders, with Vietnam as an outsider, for where I think I will end up living. While I loved Malaysia a lot, I am discounting it, very simply because that's a country chasing "progress" and the Western dream very aggressively - having spent all my life in the West, we've lost the plot, I've been there and don't want it anymore. While Ubud is slowly embracing change, it recognises the value of what it does have, a caring, vibrant and strong community.
I took nearly 14,000 pictures during my stay and I'm going to have great fun going through them and posting a selection grouped by various themes. There will be other blogs where I may expand on specific subjects and they too will come in time.
It would be remiss of me to ignore the fun I had with Jubbly, my travelling companion. We flew in together and had the first week at the same place, enjoying many laughs. While I tried to embrace the basics of the language, "Bahasa Indonesia", Jubbly had the locals in hysterics developing her own version "Bahasa Jubbly" with the universal greeting "Nasi Goreng" (a fried rice dish with a fried egg on top, LOL!) which, interchangeably, could mean "Good morning", "Good evening", "How are you?", "Where is the nearest khasi?" and "My! You ARE a big boy, aren't you?". "Nasi Goreng" it was to all the staff who adopted the greeting themselves! One puzzled German guesthouse owner took her to one side and gently tried to find out why she was saying "fried rice" in all situations only to be faced by one of his staff greeting Jubbly a few seconds later with.. yes, you got it! "Nasi Goreng"!!!
I also need to thank her for the ritual humilation every time we were in a taxi together or in a restaurant where she would explain that we were just good friends, "No sex" and would then go on to say that I was smitten by the nice Balinese ladies and was looking for one..... in the case of the girls "were they married?", with the drivers "did they have a sister?"
Then there was the final night in Sanur - she hadn't seen me in about 2 weeks and decided I should have a haircut. We went to a salon where she had highlights done and I had my haircut - the initial routine humiliation was surpassed this time when she got the girls to give me a pedicure (the first in my life) and a shoulder and head massage. So there I was with my top off, stupid tea towel on my head and my tits hanging out while the girls worked on my feet and all the world passing by the salon was peeing itself at the idiotic spectacle clearly visible from the street. Errrmm, thanks pal, I think. How I narrowly missed having a Brazilian done I will never know but maybe they realised they didn't want to be responsible for a murder on their hands, LOL.
As we hadn't seen each other in a while we spent most of the night yacking and catching up and, apart from a couple of hours sleep, we were still chatting at 5am and managed to catch the sunrise on the beautiful beach, one of those idyllic views I will never forget.
Thanks, gal, you were a scream! "Nasi goreng!"
I've been typing this listening to Balinese music and a DVD of a women's performance of the Kecak and while doing so, an incense stick has been lit, its gentle aroma filling the room and instilling peace all around. Mmmm, nice!
Final words well.... Gotta love Bali and yes, it will come as no surprise when I say I'm in love! I DEFINITELY *LOVE* Ubud! Can't wait to get back.
Lots of love
Alan
xxxx
Saturday 24 September 2011
Wednesday 31 August 2011
Dateline Wednesday 24th August - Unbelievable Ubud
What a stunningly beautiful place is Bali, quite honestly, it's one of those locations where you run out superlatives.
We flew out from Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon, Pacific Blue (part of the Virgin group) flight DJ4199 scheduled to depart 16:40 and arrive at Denpasar, Bali at 21:10.
Jubbly booked a local company to arrange the airport transfer and shortly after 2 pm we were at Brisbane's International Airport. When we booked our flight at the Bribie's travel agent, they warned us that we might need a return flight to be allowed into Indonesia on a 30 day visitor's visa, but we thought we would chance it. In the event, the airline desk staff informed us they couldn't let us depart without purchasing return fares, so this was eventually done, allowing for the maximum stay in Indonesia. Then the usual shuffling around of my luggage which was busting limits again (imagine my surprise, LOL) so Jubbly kindly obliged to absorb my excess baggage!
A fairly uneventful flight, apart from Jubbly's hilarious efforts to get organised with her headphone cable - I tell you, it was like a scene from a "Frank Spencer" episode. That girl should be doing slapstick/stand-up comedy, she's wasted!
We arrived at Denpasar about half an hour early and, getting off the plane, made our way to baggage reclaim, where there seemed to be thousands of locals milling around offering help (a taster of things to come on Bali)! After that, the scramble for the 30 day visa queue and then through immigration where they didn't even look for proof of a return flight!
Outside the main complex into Arrivals but there was no sign of the lift that had been arranged through the hotel. Plonking our bags in a café, we ordered drinks and made a start on our travel problem. We found the hotel e-mail and website addresses in our paperwork but that's not much use when there's no Wi-Fi or internet café in sight. I suddenly remembered Jubbly had forwarded an e-mail from the hotel and sure enough, opening up the laptop, there it was in the appropriate folder, with a phone number! Ringing the hotel was a challenge itself with language issues galore but eventually I managed to convey the gist of my message and was told the driver would depart immediately! A slight problem is that Ubud is around an hour's drive away from the airport - every few minutes we were being approached by someone offering taxi services but as our driver was on his way, we decided to wait. Jubbly was getting quite tired and I could tell she was on a short fuse, but then it had been a long day for her and it wasn't over yet! The girls in the café were delightful, giving us our first taste of Balinese hospitality - they even gave us the password for their private Wi-Fi.
The immediate feel of Denpasar airport was of a ramshackle place but pretty quaint. One thing was for sure, the temperature was rather higher than what we'd left behind in Brisbane, which was cold and wet. Here it was hot and steamy and by now it was well past 10 pm.
Eventually, our driver, Dewa, arrived - we loaded up the car and we were finally on our way to the hotel. He was quite a character, with a great sense of humour - when we introduced ourselves Jubbly was renamed "Jackie Chan"! Of course mentioning I was from Manchester brought the immediate response "Manchester United". Jubbly then started on what has since become a routine on Bali, telling the driver that I liked dark skinned, dark haired Asian ladies and it was her mission to find me one and asked whether he could help, LOL! I can't begin to tell you the number of times she has said that since, usually accompanied by blushes from moi!
Passing through the outskirts of Denpasar, we couldn't see an awful lot as it was dark but it seemed to be endless temples and statues, very impressive indeed.
About an hour later, we got to our hotel, Matahari Cottage Bed and Breakfast, just off the town centre, although we didn't know that at the time (it's on Jalan Jembawan, best entered from Jalan Raya Ubud). The car was unloaded and we were lead to our suite, a single room (large double bed plus another double mattress on the floor) and en-suite bathroom, plus a large outside verandah. We were so shattered we just unpacked the bare essentials and hit the sack.
Waking up a few hours later (still dark), we found ourselves in a delightful complex. I've since realised that all these places are idyllic - how does each location manage to take your breath away? But we were first timers and this was a first time experience, not that (a week down the line as I type this) you get blasé about it, even though you see these sights every day over here!
The location of the hotel was stunning - lush, exquisite gardens and a stunning temple just looking out over the verandah. The previous night, in the dark, we hadn't noticed that when you pulled up the blind in the bathroom, it was open to the world outside! A lot are like that, I guess it stops the room getting steamed up and the warm fresh air will dry your towels without problem.
There was a gorgeous covered eating area outside, complete with traditional Balinese roof, where we were served breakfast. There was also an amazing library (I've seen photos of the library being used for weddings) with an incredible collection of books and magazines - just picking up a pile of National Geographics stacked on a table, the top two editions were from August 1959 and September 1963! A German who was also staying at the hotel told me he was reading the complete works of Blake! The collection certainly had an ex-pat feel about it.
But we were only there for one night and we had a taxi on order. While I waited I wandered onto the street, a collection of craft shops and a temple. Virtually next door there was a traditional Balinese Therapeutic Massage place - when the young lady saw me outside she immediately scurried out to engage with me. A very gentle soul, Lena, seemed desperate for the business, but unfortunately for her "not today" as the taxi was due to arrive soon afterwards anyway.
Our destination was the Desa Sanctuary on the other (south) side of town in the Pengosekan area of Ubud off the busy Jalan Raya Pengosekan, yet another spectacular residence, this one currently consisting of five houses for rent. We were booked into the Joglo Ganesha - I'd recommend looking at their website to get a feel of the place. Essentially, a twin-storey house with a large open-plan living room plus kitchen area (which houses a four-poster bed complete with mosquito nets) and bathroom downstairs and a bedroom upstairs complete with outside bathroom and verandah. There is a pool on the complex for them into that sorta thing and rice paddies on the land next to it and across the main road.
We were introduced to all the staff, a very friendly crew, totally eager to please who helped us with our belongings and once we unpacked we decided to walk into main Ubud village and get something to eat. Well, the PR spiel for Ubud talks about it being this idyllic place, but don't kid yourselves, it's a massive tourist success, attracting visitors from all over the world - and if you're driving through the main thoroughfares during the middle of the day, expect to be in a slow-crawling line of traffic. The main road in for us, Jalan Raya Pengosekan, was no exception being one of the main arterial routes in and out of the village - hordes and hordes of scooters and just a slightly lower number of cars - peaceful it most certainly ain't! It's very difficult gauging distances from maps and the hotel complex was further out than we'd imagined, the route in made a bit more difficult by the absence of solid, level and even pavements alongside the road - but hey, I'm not quibbling. I'm used to walking along country roads where, half the time, there is no pavement, so you get used to be on the side of the road facing oncoming traffic from a safety point of view.
We found a nice restaurant just on the edge of the village, the Sunti Resort, which has its own accommodation alongside. I can't now recall what we had to eat but I do recall it was top notch! A beautiful meal, amazingly priced, with superb, friendly service and in delightful surroundings, something that seems to be a norm in this neck of the woods. (* see addendum)
Afterwards, Jubbly said she was tired, so she headed off back home while I went further into the village - fascinating passing all the restaurants, hotels and gift shops. Jalan Raya Pengosekan becomes Jalan Hanoman, then you turn left into Jalan Monkey Forest.
Within a few minutes, you come to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary itself,adult entrance fee IDR20,000, about £1.44 at current exchange rates. I purchased some bananas to feed the monkeys and set off down the path. I'll let my photos do the talking to describe the entertaining hour or so that I had in the Sanctuary watching our "cousins eating, playing, fighting, squabbling and looking after their young. Just wonderful stuff.
Turning back, I retraced my footsteps but missed the turn off towards Pengosekan and walked north up Jalan Hanoman. Slightly smaller shops here than the larger affairs on Jalan Monkey Forest. I probably walked halfway up Hanoman before turning round and making my way back to the "billet". At the time of writing, sunset was just after 6 pm but I returned home, about 5:30 pm, tired but having had a glorious day in this beautiful part of the world.
At night, we ordered a take-away - can't remember now what we had but, again, it was delicious.
* addendum - just found the bill for our meal at the Sunti. I had the Nasi Goreng (Indonesia's national dish, Mixed fried rice) while Jubbly hd Grilled Tuna Steak. For dessert, I had Apple Ampanadas, followed by Bali Coffee.
We flew out from Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon, Pacific Blue (part of the Virgin group) flight DJ4199 scheduled to depart 16:40 and arrive at Denpasar, Bali at 21:10.
Jubbly booked a local company to arrange the airport transfer and shortly after 2 pm we were at Brisbane's International Airport. When we booked our flight at the Bribie's travel agent, they warned us that we might need a return flight to be allowed into Indonesia on a 30 day visitor's visa, but we thought we would chance it. In the event, the airline desk staff informed us they couldn't let us depart without purchasing return fares, so this was eventually done, allowing for the maximum stay in Indonesia. Then the usual shuffling around of my luggage which was busting limits again (imagine my surprise, LOL) so Jubbly kindly obliged to absorb my excess baggage!
A fairly uneventful flight, apart from Jubbly's hilarious efforts to get organised with her headphone cable - I tell you, it was like a scene from a "Frank Spencer" episode. That girl should be doing slapstick/stand-up comedy, she's wasted!
We arrived at Denpasar about half an hour early and, getting off the plane, made our way to baggage reclaim, where there seemed to be thousands of locals milling around offering help (a taster of things to come on Bali)! After that, the scramble for the 30 day visa queue and then through immigration where they didn't even look for proof of a return flight!
Outside the main complex into Arrivals but there was no sign of the lift that had been arranged through the hotel. Plonking our bags in a café, we ordered drinks and made a start on our travel problem. We found the hotel e-mail and website addresses in our paperwork but that's not much use when there's no Wi-Fi or internet café in sight. I suddenly remembered Jubbly had forwarded an e-mail from the hotel and sure enough, opening up the laptop, there it was in the appropriate folder, with a phone number! Ringing the hotel was a challenge itself with language issues galore but eventually I managed to convey the gist of my message and was told the driver would depart immediately! A slight problem is that Ubud is around an hour's drive away from the airport - every few minutes we were being approached by someone offering taxi services but as our driver was on his way, we decided to wait. Jubbly was getting quite tired and I could tell she was on a short fuse, but then it had been a long day for her and it wasn't over yet! The girls in the café were delightful, giving us our first taste of Balinese hospitality - they even gave us the password for their private Wi-Fi.
The immediate feel of Denpasar airport was of a ramshackle place but pretty quaint. One thing was for sure, the temperature was rather higher than what we'd left behind in Brisbane, which was cold and wet. Here it was hot and steamy and by now it was well past 10 pm.
Eventually, our driver, Dewa, arrived - we loaded up the car and we were finally on our way to the hotel. He was quite a character, with a great sense of humour - when we introduced ourselves Jubbly was renamed "Jackie Chan"! Of course mentioning I was from Manchester brought the immediate response "Manchester United". Jubbly then started on what has since become a routine on Bali, telling the driver that I liked dark skinned, dark haired Asian ladies and it was her mission to find me one and asked whether he could help, LOL! I can't begin to tell you the number of times she has said that since, usually accompanied by blushes from moi!
Passing through the outskirts of Denpasar, we couldn't see an awful lot as it was dark but it seemed to be endless temples and statues, very impressive indeed.
About an hour later, we got to our hotel, Matahari Cottage Bed and Breakfast, just off the town centre, although we didn't know that at the time (it's on Jalan Jembawan, best entered from Jalan Raya Ubud). The car was unloaded and we were lead to our suite, a single room (large double bed plus another double mattress on the floor) and en-suite bathroom, plus a large outside verandah. We were so shattered we just unpacked the bare essentials and hit the sack.
Waking up a few hours later (still dark), we found ourselves in a delightful complex. I've since realised that all these places are idyllic - how does each location manage to take your breath away? But we were first timers and this was a first time experience, not that (a week down the line as I type this) you get blasé about it, even though you see these sights every day over here!
The location of the hotel was stunning - lush, exquisite gardens and a stunning temple just looking out over the verandah. The previous night, in the dark, we hadn't noticed that when you pulled up the blind in the bathroom, it was open to the world outside! A lot are like that, I guess it stops the room getting steamed up and the warm fresh air will dry your towels without problem.
There was a gorgeous covered eating area outside, complete with traditional Balinese roof, where we were served breakfast. There was also an amazing library (I've seen photos of the library being used for weddings) with an incredible collection of books and magazines - just picking up a pile of National Geographics stacked on a table, the top two editions were from August 1959 and September 1963! A German who was also staying at the hotel told me he was reading the complete works of Blake! The collection certainly had an ex-pat feel about it.
But we were only there for one night and we had a taxi on order. While I waited I wandered onto the street, a collection of craft shops and a temple. Virtually next door there was a traditional Balinese Therapeutic Massage place - when the young lady saw me outside she immediately scurried out to engage with me. A very gentle soul, Lena, seemed desperate for the business, but unfortunately for her "not today" as the taxi was due to arrive soon afterwards anyway.
Our destination was the Desa Sanctuary on the other (south) side of town in the Pengosekan area of Ubud off the busy Jalan Raya Pengosekan, yet another spectacular residence, this one currently consisting of five houses for rent. We were booked into the Joglo Ganesha - I'd recommend looking at their website to get a feel of the place. Essentially, a twin-storey house with a large open-plan living room plus kitchen area (which houses a four-poster bed complete with mosquito nets) and bathroom downstairs and a bedroom upstairs complete with outside bathroom and verandah. There is a pool on the complex for them into that sorta thing and rice paddies on the land next to it and across the main road.
We were introduced to all the staff, a very friendly crew, totally eager to please who helped us with our belongings and once we unpacked we decided to walk into main Ubud village and get something to eat. Well, the PR spiel for Ubud talks about it being this idyllic place, but don't kid yourselves, it's a massive tourist success, attracting visitors from all over the world - and if you're driving through the main thoroughfares during the middle of the day, expect to be in a slow-crawling line of traffic. The main road in for us, Jalan Raya Pengosekan, was no exception being one of the main arterial routes in and out of the village - hordes and hordes of scooters and just a slightly lower number of cars - peaceful it most certainly ain't! It's very difficult gauging distances from maps and the hotel complex was further out than we'd imagined, the route in made a bit more difficult by the absence of solid, level and even pavements alongside the road - but hey, I'm not quibbling. I'm used to walking along country roads where, half the time, there is no pavement, so you get used to be on the side of the road facing oncoming traffic from a safety point of view.
We found a nice restaurant just on the edge of the village, the Sunti Resort, which has its own accommodation alongside. I can't now recall what we had to eat but I do recall it was top notch! A beautiful meal, amazingly priced, with superb, friendly service and in delightful surroundings, something that seems to be a norm in this neck of the woods. (* see addendum)
Afterwards, Jubbly said she was tired, so she headed off back home while I went further into the village - fascinating passing all the restaurants, hotels and gift shops. Jalan Raya Pengosekan becomes Jalan Hanoman, then you turn left into Jalan Monkey Forest.
Within a few minutes, you come to the Monkey Forest Sanctuary itself,adult entrance fee IDR20,000, about £1.44 at current exchange rates. I purchased some bananas to feed the monkeys and set off down the path. I'll let my photos do the talking to describe the entertaining hour or so that I had in the Sanctuary watching our "cousins eating, playing, fighting, squabbling and looking after their young. Just wonderful stuff.
Turning back, I retraced my footsteps but missed the turn off towards Pengosekan and walked north up Jalan Hanoman. Slightly smaller shops here than the larger affairs on Jalan Monkey Forest. I probably walked halfway up Hanoman before turning round and making my way back to the "billet". At the time of writing, sunset was just after 6 pm but I returned home, about 5:30 pm, tired but having had a glorious day in this beautiful part of the world.
At night, we ordered a take-away - can't remember now what we had but, again, it was delicious.
* addendum - just found the bill for our meal at the Sunti. I had the Nasi Goreng (Indonesia's national dish, Mixed fried rice) while Jubbly hd Grilled Tuna Steak. For dessert, I had Apple Ampanadas, followed by Bali Coffee.
Sunday 28 August 2011
Dateline Wednesday 24th August - Looking back at Oz
Finally typing this up, some four days after leaving Australia, I'm in a different world on Bali and a stunning one at that, but that shouldn't take anything away from my brief experiences of this fabulous country.
At the outset, I do need to thank Jubbly for her superb hospitality in the three weeks (and two days, as she will remind everyone!) that I stayed with her on Bribie Island. There has been endless leg-pulling on both sides, all done with love and affection and I don't think I've laughed as much in years. It says a lot about our friendship that there's never been a cross word despite the fact that we have some significant differences, notably as regards sleeping hours - she is one of life's larks, I'm an owl. When I'm ready to party, she's ready to go to sleep!
However, I'm not here to talk about that, I want to reflect on my three weeks in Oz. When my son visited the country a few years ago, he spoke about it with great affection and I can now truly understand why.
As an outsider, I've had my own preconceptions about the country and the people and it's interesting to reflect on how accurate those views actually were.
Firstly, the obvious, the corner of Queensland known as Bribie Island is largely given over to National Park territory and that gives an immediate clue as to how the country treasures its most precious natural asset - its wild life, be it the beautiful plants and trees or the stunning birds. In a world where money rules increasingly, it's a joy to find a country recognising its natural wealth and for me to meet so many people who appreciate it and want to preserve it. I only wish some of the countries that are busy cutting down their rain forests accorded them the same importance.
Next, the people. We all know about the sparring that goes on between Aussies and the Brits (Poms). I met citizens who were rightly proud of their country and were, without exception, totally friendly and welcoming. Aussies have a renowned reputation for not standing on ceremony and it was refreshing to see this in action.
The two countries share a common heritage but it was interesting to see how the Australia has moved on to establish its own identity. As a schoolboy, my Geography lessons concentrated initially on those parts of the globe that were coloured red, the old British Empire, which had become the Commonwealth by that time. I recall, all too well, the disappointment from countries such as Australia and New Zealand that greeted Britain's entry to what was then known as the "Common Market", now the European Union. I was all for closer ties with Europe but I do recognise that we turned our backs on our antipodean cousins, forcing them to seek trade alliances elsewhere.
Australia turned instead, to the Pacific Rim and that realignment has brought a freshness and vitality to the country. For example, dining out proved to be a sensational experience, not that I went for Egon Ronay recommended restaurants. Stunningly creative and beautifully presented meals impressed greatly, a far cry, I guess from the stodgy fare inherited from colonial days.
Food, however, seemed expensive in the shops and when buying fruit and vegetables, the choices were, to my eyes, rather limited, being used to seeing all manner of fresh produce available all year round in the UK. But everything has a price. The UK imports a large proportion of the food consumed, despite the fact that the facility is there for a lot to be grown at home. Certainly on Bribie Island, there seemed to be a policy of "Buying Aussie" and minimising imports - no bad thing when it comes to preserving a healthier balance of payments position and protecting employment. Also, in the UK, we have been beneficiaries of the ruthless tactics employed by the large supermarket groups (that control such a large percentage of the domestic economy) from screwing down prices, both to us as consumers and what they are prepared to pay their suppliers. One wonders whether this economic model is a viable one long term. Maybe the higher prices in Australia are partly a reflection of a fairer policy in dealing with suppliers.
It wasn't just food that was more expensive, most other items I bought seemed dearer, especially clothing. I don't have a feel for other costs, such as heating and lighting, rates etc. It would be interesting to explore further the potential reasons for this situation.
Probably my biggest disappointment was witnessing the relative Americanisation of the country. This was most evident on television. Zapping through the satellite channels while Jubbly was asleep, it was distressing to see the volume of mind-numbing American pap being screened, and a dearth of what I would call "quality television". I didn't find much evidence of serious home -grown programming, despite the country's reputation in Arts. My anti-globalisation views are probably well known and I can't for the life of me understand, if they're going to show crass programmes on the box, why they don't make them themselves - at least it would secure employment in the country, rather than exporting Aussie dollars to the States. I guess I can relate to the Canadian ethos of wanting to retain your own national character and being anything BUT American. I know that media legislation regarding "Canadian content" is a controversial subject, but I support that type of policy to safeguard national traditions, identity and employment.
I recognise that I saw just one tiny corner of a massive country, but it's certainly whetted my appetite to explore some more. Good on ya!
At the outset, I do need to thank Jubbly for her superb hospitality in the three weeks (and two days, as she will remind everyone!) that I stayed with her on Bribie Island. There has been endless leg-pulling on both sides, all done with love and affection and I don't think I've laughed as much in years. It says a lot about our friendship that there's never been a cross word despite the fact that we have some significant differences, notably as regards sleeping hours - she is one of life's larks, I'm an owl. When I'm ready to party, she's ready to go to sleep!
However, I'm not here to talk about that, I want to reflect on my three weeks in Oz. When my son visited the country a few years ago, he spoke about it with great affection and I can now truly understand why.
As an outsider, I've had my own preconceptions about the country and the people and it's interesting to reflect on how accurate those views actually were.
Firstly, the obvious, the corner of Queensland known as Bribie Island is largely given over to National Park territory and that gives an immediate clue as to how the country treasures its most precious natural asset - its wild life, be it the beautiful plants and trees or the stunning birds. In a world where money rules increasingly, it's a joy to find a country recognising its natural wealth and for me to meet so many people who appreciate it and want to preserve it. I only wish some of the countries that are busy cutting down their rain forests accorded them the same importance.
Next, the people. We all know about the sparring that goes on between Aussies and the Brits (Poms). I met citizens who were rightly proud of their country and were, without exception, totally friendly and welcoming. Aussies have a renowned reputation for not standing on ceremony and it was refreshing to see this in action.
The two countries share a common heritage but it was interesting to see how the Australia has moved on to establish its own identity. As a schoolboy, my Geography lessons concentrated initially on those parts of the globe that were coloured red, the old British Empire, which had become the Commonwealth by that time. I recall, all too well, the disappointment from countries such as Australia and New Zealand that greeted Britain's entry to what was then known as the "Common Market", now the European Union. I was all for closer ties with Europe but I do recognise that we turned our backs on our antipodean cousins, forcing them to seek trade alliances elsewhere.
Australia turned instead, to the Pacific Rim and that realignment has brought a freshness and vitality to the country. For example, dining out proved to be a sensational experience, not that I went for Egon Ronay recommended restaurants. Stunningly creative and beautifully presented meals impressed greatly, a far cry, I guess from the stodgy fare inherited from colonial days.
Food, however, seemed expensive in the shops and when buying fruit and vegetables, the choices were, to my eyes, rather limited, being used to seeing all manner of fresh produce available all year round in the UK. But everything has a price. The UK imports a large proportion of the food consumed, despite the fact that the facility is there for a lot to be grown at home. Certainly on Bribie Island, there seemed to be a policy of "Buying Aussie" and minimising imports - no bad thing when it comes to preserving a healthier balance of payments position and protecting employment. Also, in the UK, we have been beneficiaries of the ruthless tactics employed by the large supermarket groups (that control such a large percentage of the domestic economy) from screwing down prices, both to us as consumers and what they are prepared to pay their suppliers. One wonders whether this economic model is a viable one long term. Maybe the higher prices in Australia are partly a reflection of a fairer policy in dealing with suppliers.
It wasn't just food that was more expensive, most other items I bought seemed dearer, especially clothing. I don't have a feel for other costs, such as heating and lighting, rates etc. It would be interesting to explore further the potential reasons for this situation.
Probably my biggest disappointment was witnessing the relative Americanisation of the country. This was most evident on television. Zapping through the satellite channels while Jubbly was asleep, it was distressing to see the volume of mind-numbing American pap being screened, and a dearth of what I would call "quality television". I didn't find much evidence of serious home -grown programming, despite the country's reputation in Arts. My anti-globalisation views are probably well known and I can't for the life of me understand, if they're going to show crass programmes on the box, why they don't make them themselves - at least it would secure employment in the country, rather than exporting Aussie dollars to the States. I guess I can relate to the Canadian ethos of wanting to retain your own national character and being anything BUT American. I know that media legislation regarding "Canadian content" is a controversial subject, but I support that type of policy to safeguard national traditions, identity and employment.
I recognise that I saw just one tiny corner of a massive country, but it's certainly whetted my appetite to explore some more. Good on ya!
Monday 22 August 2011
Dateline Saturday 20th August - Roaming round Brisbane
I've been meaning to have a good look around Brisbane but the couple of times I've been so far, the visits have been for specific events, so I haven't had time.
Anyway, I decided I should remedy that situation. Got a lift from Jubbly to Caboolture station, bought a "Go" card and joined the train already waiting on the platform. The journey is about an hour and that gave me an opportunity to have a power nap, as I'd been up late the previous night(no change there, LOL).
I decided to get off at Fortitude Valley, a stop or two before Brisbane Central as Jubbly said it was seedy! No, it was because that's the local Chinatown area.
Wandering out of the station, I crossed over the junction with Wickham Street to find an arts and craft market taking place in the pedestrianised part of Brunswick Street. Busy with lots of shoppers and browsers and quite a few eateries too, good fun and worth further exploration, I thought.
The Chinatown area appears to be in a block bounded by Brunswick Street, Wickham Street, Gipps Street and Ann Street - there is a Chinese gate at the junction of Duncan Street with Wickham Street, although not as big and grand as the one in Manchester, it's a good focal point for the locality. Mainly Chinese restaurants, but also some Thai, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, again, not as large a choice as in Manchester's Chinatown but still pretty respectable. I vowed to dine oriental-style at night but needed some sustenance pretty immediately so I found a café on Brunswick and ordered a "Monster Steak Sandwich" and a coffee.
Somewhere along the line I'd lost my guide book, a particularly nice Dorling Kindersley guide to Australia, I couldn't find it, despite retracing my steps, so it was now a matter of playing it by ear. I knew what direction to set off walking into town and followed Wickham Street until it joined Ann Street, crossing over onto Queen Street.
As I got onto this main thoroughfare, I'd got a view of the river and the various craft plying their trade, in between the skyscrapers, so I moved in for a closer view. Met a guy from Hong Kong doing the same thing - a banker on his first trip to Oz - and we had a really good natter.
After that a really good look around the centre - I especially loved the feel of Queen Street, with all the cafes and shops. Then across the Victoria Bridge onto South Bank where I explored the shops and market stalls, demolishing a coffee and a bun in the process. Again, a lovely atmosphere there.
Light was starting to fade by then but this was a cue to snap away at the Nepalese Temple which was now lit up, a truly stunning sight. Next to it is the Brisbane Wheel and this gave me the opportunity of taking some interesting photos of the Wheel illuminated by the many spotlights - I think I've been fascinated by wheels of this sort ever since I saw the iconic film "The Third Man", a lifetime ago.
I was getting tired of walking by then and, rather than retracing my steps, as originally planned, I took a train from South Brisbane to Central, then onto Fortitude Valley where I went into Chinatown again to find a suitable restaurant. I was slightly disappointed by the choices available, but, sometimes, it's not until you travel that you realise just how blessed you are at home - undoubtedly, Manchester's Chinatown is a larger, far more vibrant affair. I settled on a place frequented by orientals and ordered my meal. Really nice nosh, although I'd dropped a clanger in not noticing that the place was not licensed for booze, so I couldn't have the Chinese beer I'd fancied. Time seemed to zoom by and before long, it was time to get the train back.
Calling Jubbly to get my pickup organised, I settled down on the train, dozing off a number of times after all my walking, safe in the knowledge that Caboolture was the terminus and there was no danger in overshooting my destination! Shattered doesn't even begin to describe how tired I was on getting back to Bribie.
I was really impressed by the feel of Brisbane and would really love to explore the town in more detail, this time hanging onto my guidebook, LOL! I'm not going to have time to do this again, before my trip to Bali, but, hopefully, will remedy that on my return.
Anyway, I decided I should remedy that situation. Got a lift from Jubbly to Caboolture station, bought a "Go" card and joined the train already waiting on the platform. The journey is about an hour and that gave me an opportunity to have a power nap, as I'd been up late the previous night(no change there, LOL).
I decided to get off at Fortitude Valley, a stop or two before Brisbane Central as Jubbly said it was seedy! No, it was because that's the local Chinatown area.
Wandering out of the station, I crossed over the junction with Wickham Street to find an arts and craft market taking place in the pedestrianised part of Brunswick Street. Busy with lots of shoppers and browsers and quite a few eateries too, good fun and worth further exploration, I thought.
The Chinatown area appears to be in a block bounded by Brunswick Street, Wickham Street, Gipps Street and Ann Street - there is a Chinese gate at the junction of Duncan Street with Wickham Street, although not as big and grand as the one in Manchester, it's a good focal point for the locality. Mainly Chinese restaurants, but also some Thai, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, again, not as large a choice as in Manchester's Chinatown but still pretty respectable. I vowed to dine oriental-style at night but needed some sustenance pretty immediately so I found a café on Brunswick and ordered a "Monster Steak Sandwich" and a coffee.
Somewhere along the line I'd lost my guide book, a particularly nice Dorling Kindersley guide to Australia, I couldn't find it, despite retracing my steps, so it was now a matter of playing it by ear. I knew what direction to set off walking into town and followed Wickham Street until it joined Ann Street, crossing over onto Queen Street.
As I got onto this main thoroughfare, I'd got a view of the river and the various craft plying their trade, in between the skyscrapers, so I moved in for a closer view. Met a guy from Hong Kong doing the same thing - a banker on his first trip to Oz - and we had a really good natter.
After that a really good look around the centre - I especially loved the feel of Queen Street, with all the cafes and shops. Then across the Victoria Bridge onto South Bank where I explored the shops and market stalls, demolishing a coffee and a bun in the process. Again, a lovely atmosphere there.
Light was starting to fade by then but this was a cue to snap away at the Nepalese Temple which was now lit up, a truly stunning sight. Next to it is the Brisbane Wheel and this gave me the opportunity of taking some interesting photos of the Wheel illuminated by the many spotlights - I think I've been fascinated by wheels of this sort ever since I saw the iconic film "The Third Man", a lifetime ago.
I was getting tired of walking by then and, rather than retracing my steps, as originally planned, I took a train from South Brisbane to Central, then onto Fortitude Valley where I went into Chinatown again to find a suitable restaurant. I was slightly disappointed by the choices available, but, sometimes, it's not until you travel that you realise just how blessed you are at home - undoubtedly, Manchester's Chinatown is a larger, far more vibrant affair. I settled on a place frequented by orientals and ordered my meal. Really nice nosh, although I'd dropped a clanger in not noticing that the place was not licensed for booze, so I couldn't have the Chinese beer I'd fancied. Time seemed to zoom by and before long, it was time to get the train back.
Calling Jubbly to get my pickup organised, I settled down on the train, dozing off a number of times after all my walking, safe in the knowledge that Caboolture was the terminus and there was no danger in overshooting my destination! Shattered doesn't even begin to describe how tired I was on getting back to Bribie.
I was really impressed by the feel of Brisbane and would really love to explore the town in more detail, this time hanging onto my guidebook, LOL! I'm not going to have time to do this again, before my trip to Bali, but, hopefully, will remedy that on my return.
Wednesday 17 August 2011
Dateline Tuesday 16th August - Ekka 2011
When I was a kid, every year, my folks would take me to Platt Fields' Flower Show, held at the park of the same name in Manchester. As I recall it would be held on the 3rd Friday and Saturday of July, usually a day or two after we had broken up from school for the summer holidays. It was a wonderful mix - primarily a forum for flower, fruit and vegetable growers to submit the results of their labours in a competitive environment, there was also a section for breeders of pigeons, doves and other birds, not to mention rabbits and other small livestock I can't remember at this stage. There was a gymkhana section where I recall seeing world class show jumpers such as Harvey Smith. Various home improvement companies would also exhibit and for all the kids there was a travelling fun fair with the usual rides.
If it rained, the whole site got churned up by the thousands of visitors becoming a horrible mud bath, but if the sun was shining then it would be a glorious afternoon out. I always loved it, my favourites being the various flower displays (living in a terraced house, we didn't have a garden) and the bee-making display. A local beekeeping society had a section of a hive under glass and it always fascinated me seeing the bees busily working away in this honeycomb and we were always on the lookout to spot the queen bee.
Such memories are so powerful that when I heard about the EKKA, I just had to go as it sounded like an Aussie version of something I enjoyed as a kid.
Originally called the Brisbane Exhibition, now formally called the Royal Queensland Show and usually shortened to Ekka, it's the annual agricultural show of Queensland. The Ekka has a history going back to 1876 and is based on the agricultural shows held in Britain in the 19th Century.
We decided to go on the Tuesday as that's the day, a friend of ours, Elaine and her husband, Paul, attend every year. So, bright and early (for me, LOL), we set off in the car around 8:45 towards Caboolture Railway Station. Parking at the station was a bit tricky, especially as it was a normal working day and the station has its fair share of commuters and this was exacerbated by the additional passengers going to the EKKA by rail. Anyway, Jubbly managed to get parked up. We found that the rail company were laying on additional trains for the exhibition - our train departed at 9:28 and, as the journey went on, it filled up rapidly.
We got into conversation with a couple about the EKKA and, amusingly enough it turned out that the man was Polish so the language switched for the rest of my conversation! He had emigrated from Poland in the early 1980s while the country was still under Communist rule. He already had a grown up family but his partner was his Indonesian bride of some two years, a lovely lady with a grown up family of her own as well - a fascinating story, for sure.
Conveniently, the train took us direct to the Exhibition Centre, arriving an hour later and we entered the show to be greeted by familiar themes - fast food stalls, fun fairs and the inevitable agricultural judging!
Rather than describing the themes in detail, it's easier for me to identify differences when compared to the Manchester Show. There was a big emphasis on judging of agricultural livestock, cattle and horses being prominent when we were around. Certainly no sections for amateur breeders, such as pigeon fanciers, but maybe that's not a big thing over here in Oz. The fun fair section was large with some massive, pretty daring rides, not that you'd catch me dead on anything like that, with my fear of heights!
There was a superb choice of food available to cater for a very wide range of tastes, indeed when we met up with Elaine and Paul to have lunch at the Gourmet Harvest, our table sported Indian, Greek and Thai cuisines! It was good to catch up with them, following the meet some ten days earlier.
Particularly enjoyable were the food and drink displays on show in the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion, allowing producers to showcase their wares to discerning customers, proving that not all food has to be mass packaged and sometimes quality is appreciated. There were food demonstrations going on throughout the day and we witnessed one which described the process of making a tasty risotto. I could have stayed there all day!
A fun part of the event was the Showbag Pavilion allowing visitors to purchase heavily discounted Showbag collections of products such as perfumeries and cosmetics, chocolate and nut snacks and, some ten thousand miles from home there was even a Manchester United showbag!
TV station Channel 9 had a building - they were running some live programmes from the show during the day, including the 6pm news magazine programme. We had a brief chat with their weather presenter, teasing him about the accuracy of the forecasts!
By around 3:30 we were seriously flagging despite having had a few pit stops and, even though we hadn't seen all the displays we were just too tired to continue. So, we made the return journey getting home thoroughly exhausted around 5:20pm.
A great day out at a great Queensland institution.
If it rained, the whole site got churned up by the thousands of visitors becoming a horrible mud bath, but if the sun was shining then it would be a glorious afternoon out. I always loved it, my favourites being the various flower displays (living in a terraced house, we didn't have a garden) and the bee-making display. A local beekeeping society had a section of a hive under glass and it always fascinated me seeing the bees busily working away in this honeycomb and we were always on the lookout to spot the queen bee.
Such memories are so powerful that when I heard about the EKKA, I just had to go as it sounded like an Aussie version of something I enjoyed as a kid.
Originally called the Brisbane Exhibition, now formally called the Royal Queensland Show and usually shortened to Ekka, it's the annual agricultural show of Queensland. The Ekka has a history going back to 1876 and is based on the agricultural shows held in Britain in the 19th Century.
We decided to go on the Tuesday as that's the day, a friend of ours, Elaine and her husband, Paul, attend every year. So, bright and early (for me, LOL), we set off in the car around 8:45 towards Caboolture Railway Station. Parking at the station was a bit tricky, especially as it was a normal working day and the station has its fair share of commuters and this was exacerbated by the additional passengers going to the EKKA by rail. Anyway, Jubbly managed to get parked up. We found that the rail company were laying on additional trains for the exhibition - our train departed at 9:28 and, as the journey went on, it filled up rapidly.
We got into conversation with a couple about the EKKA and, amusingly enough it turned out that the man was Polish so the language switched for the rest of my conversation! He had emigrated from Poland in the early 1980s while the country was still under Communist rule. He already had a grown up family but his partner was his Indonesian bride of some two years, a lovely lady with a grown up family of her own as well - a fascinating story, for sure.
Conveniently, the train took us direct to the Exhibition Centre, arriving an hour later and we entered the show to be greeted by familiar themes - fast food stalls, fun fairs and the inevitable agricultural judging!
Rather than describing the themes in detail, it's easier for me to identify differences when compared to the Manchester Show. There was a big emphasis on judging of agricultural livestock, cattle and horses being prominent when we were around. Certainly no sections for amateur breeders, such as pigeon fanciers, but maybe that's not a big thing over here in Oz. The fun fair section was large with some massive, pretty daring rides, not that you'd catch me dead on anything like that, with my fear of heights!
There was a superb choice of food available to cater for a very wide range of tastes, indeed when we met up with Elaine and Paul to have lunch at the Gourmet Harvest, our table sported Indian, Greek and Thai cuisines! It was good to catch up with them, following the meet some ten days earlier.
Particularly enjoyable were the food and drink displays on show in the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion, allowing producers to showcase their wares to discerning customers, proving that not all food has to be mass packaged and sometimes quality is appreciated. There were food demonstrations going on throughout the day and we witnessed one which described the process of making a tasty risotto. I could have stayed there all day!
A fun part of the event was the Showbag Pavilion allowing visitors to purchase heavily discounted Showbag collections of products such as perfumeries and cosmetics, chocolate and nut snacks and, some ten thousand miles from home there was even a Manchester United showbag!
TV station Channel 9 had a building - they were running some live programmes from the show during the day, including the 6pm news magazine programme. We had a brief chat with their weather presenter, teasing him about the accuracy of the forecasts!
By around 3:30 we were seriously flagging despite having had a few pit stops and, even though we hadn't seen all the displays we were just too tired to continue. So, we made the return journey getting home thoroughly exhausted around 5:20pm.
A great day out at a great Queensland institution.
Dateline Saturday 13th August - Food, Glorious, Food
For a country whose history is based on the forced shipping of convict labour, Australia has certainly come on, like its kangaroos, in leaps and bounds! From architectural icons such as the Sydney Opera House to the city's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with the world’s biggest gay pride parade, the country has long shed its colonial image and established its own identity, one demanding to be noticed on the world arena.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of food and drink. Australian wines have established a reputation that challenges the best that the "Old World" has to offer while the country's food is cutting edge - imaginative and inventive, these days drawing on the raw ingredients available as much as being a fusion melting-pot for the best that South East Asia has to offer. All this done in Aussie style, taking no prisoners! A couple of meals out this past week illustrated this perfectly.
The first was our return visit to the Surf Club at Woorim on Saturday. Jubbly had "Lamb Shanks Braised Overnight" (slow cooked overnight with braised winter vegetables, mash and roasted tomato reduction) while I elected to continue with the fish courses, this time with a Fisherman's Lunch (scallops in the half shell, salt and pepper squid, beer battered flathead and fresh king prawns with baby salad and tartare sauce). The club was rather busier than usual, it being the weekend and free tables were hard to find, although we were lucky in that respect. J had gone for two shanks, rather than one, but the portions were so generous, she could have done with a doggy bag, LOL. My meal was absolutely faultless, sheer perfection. Hardly surprising that the place was heaving, it deserves its success. Given the Aussie reputation for being brash and "in your face", this was skilfully understated - if you're that good, then you don't need to shout it out loud, your customers vote for you by putting their bums on your seats and ordering the food, which is what happens here. It's a real gem of a place, classy without being snobby. I love it!
We followed that up with a wander around Lions Park and then onto the beautiful beach. Lovely! And winter too, although you wouldn't know it!
The following day we made a proper visit to the Ettamogah Pub. I've previously described how I was bemused by the look of the place and the history behind it and the visit certainly didn't disappoint. I quote from the website:
"The original creator of the Ettamogah Pub was Ken Maynard who started drawing the Ettamogah Pub in 1959. It was made famous through his regular cartoons in The Australasian Post.
The Aussie World Ettamogah Pub was built in 1989 and the word "ettamogah" is Aboriginal for "place of good drink!" Now one of Queensland's leading tourist attractions it stands at an impressive 18m in height. It's a must to visit due to its quirky shape and caricature appearance. It was opened on 24th November 1989 with most of the furniture inside the pub built from trees cleared from the actual site.
There's a 1930 Chevy truck on top of the bright red roof of the Ettamogah Pub. In the cartoon the theory is the truck was washed up there in the floods of 1946 and none of the regulars could be bothered to get it down. There are also pictures of the cartoons hanging around the walls of the Pub along with other eclectic displays of everything Australian."
Can't say fairer than that! The whole place is wonderfully tongue in cheek and I adored the humour and fun surrounding the site, including the road signs on the roof! And the food was superb, too! We both had steaks, which were absolutely delicious and generous portions at that. Aussies have a reputation for not taking themselves too seriously and this place is a great example of that. If you're ever near the Sunshine Coast, this is a must-see!
Nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of food and drink. Australian wines have established a reputation that challenges the best that the "Old World" has to offer while the country's food is cutting edge - imaginative and inventive, these days drawing on the raw ingredients available as much as being a fusion melting-pot for the best that South East Asia has to offer. All this done in Aussie style, taking no prisoners! A couple of meals out this past week illustrated this perfectly.
The first was our return visit to the Surf Club at Woorim on Saturday. Jubbly had "Lamb Shanks Braised Overnight" (slow cooked overnight with braised winter vegetables, mash and roasted tomato reduction) while I elected to continue with the fish courses, this time with a Fisherman's Lunch (scallops in the half shell, salt and pepper squid, beer battered flathead and fresh king prawns with baby salad and tartare sauce). The club was rather busier than usual, it being the weekend and free tables were hard to find, although we were lucky in that respect. J had gone for two shanks, rather than one, but the portions were so generous, she could have done with a doggy bag, LOL. My meal was absolutely faultless, sheer perfection. Hardly surprising that the place was heaving, it deserves its success. Given the Aussie reputation for being brash and "in your face", this was skilfully understated - if you're that good, then you don't need to shout it out loud, your customers vote for you by putting their bums on your seats and ordering the food, which is what happens here. It's a real gem of a place, classy without being snobby. I love it!
We followed that up with a wander around Lions Park and then onto the beautiful beach. Lovely! And winter too, although you wouldn't know it!
The following day we made a proper visit to the Ettamogah Pub. I've previously described how I was bemused by the look of the place and the history behind it and the visit certainly didn't disappoint. I quote from the website:
"The original creator of the Ettamogah Pub was Ken Maynard who started drawing the Ettamogah Pub in 1959. It was made famous through his regular cartoons in The Australasian Post.
The Aussie World Ettamogah Pub was built in 1989 and the word "ettamogah" is Aboriginal for "place of good drink!" Now one of Queensland's leading tourist attractions it stands at an impressive 18m in height. It's a must to visit due to its quirky shape and caricature appearance. It was opened on 24th November 1989 with most of the furniture inside the pub built from trees cleared from the actual site.
There's a 1930 Chevy truck on top of the bright red roof of the Ettamogah Pub. In the cartoon the theory is the truck was washed up there in the floods of 1946 and none of the regulars could be bothered to get it down. There are also pictures of the cartoons hanging around the walls of the Pub along with other eclectic displays of everything Australian."
Can't say fairer than that! The whole place is wonderfully tongue in cheek and I adored the humour and fun surrounding the site, including the road signs on the roof! And the food was superb, too! We both had steaks, which were absolutely delicious and generous portions at that. Aussies have a reputation for not taking themselves too seriously and this place is a great example of that. If you're ever near the Sunshine Coast, this is a must-see!
Friday 12 August 2011
Dateline Thursday 11th August - Mangroves, Strawberries and Nuts
Wot? No sunshine? I was thinking of asking for my money back when I got up - a very, very overcast day, much like any other UK day. And then the rain started. It didn’t last long but after a pause, we had another short shower. I was told by SWMBO that this was an ideal day to visit the mangroves, so who was I to argue?
We packed and set off, travelling north up the Bruce Highway, but a tad further than I'd ventured previously. En route, I realised I'd forgotten my sunglasses and bottled drinks. Doh, that's what cloudy skies do to the mind!:-(
Took a few piccies of Mount Tibrogargan, one of the Glass House Mountains then we carried on to the Ettamogah Pub. Jubbly had previously posted the link for this quirky pub and it had certainly tickled my fancy, but this was just a short pit stop to get some drinks and munchies. There are a few touristy shops here by the side of the pub, so we got a steak and kidney Beefys Pie and a coffee each from one of them - although I'm not a regular pie eater these were delicious. Round the corner was a petrol filling station where I got a pair of sunglasses and my drinks. Sorted.
Our destination was the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli. I've never visited the mangroves previously but in the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading up about their importance to the eco-system. Jubbly has taken tour groups around the sanctuary previously and it showed - brilliant having your own personal guide who knows their stuff. She explained how the vegetation changed gradually as we moved into the mangroves, pointing out the different types of mangrove, including berries and root systems and the various bird calls. Being the cool season it was a quiet time for the wild life, just as well as the mosquitoes weren't around. It was a bit disappointing that the fiddler crab was absent, although this may have been due to a slightly noisy boat tour that had just disembarked. It was a fascinating hour or two where Jubbly's training and professionalism showed.
After this we went to a nearby strawberry centre, where I demolished a lovely homemade ice cream and then we had a Devonshire Cream Tea, served up with their own strawberry jam. We talked to the owner about pineapples and she pointed out where her pineapples were growing - from the ground, not from a tree as I'd always imagined!
Then a change of plan, rather than going to the Ettamogah Pub for a meal, as originally planned, Jubbly drove further inland to Yandina (originally called Maroochy), to visit the Ginger Factory. I've never seen so many products with Ginger and Honey as their common theme! Jubbly stocked up in the shop, then we went to the Coffee Roastery across the road, but this closes at 3 pm, so we nipped into the Nutworks Macadamia Factory next door - again, the most incredible collection of nut-oriented products - oils, chocolates and a mind-boggling choice of flavoured nuts.
It seemed a long drive home after what had been a lovely day. Thanks again, J! xxx
We packed and set off, travelling north up the Bruce Highway, but a tad further than I'd ventured previously. En route, I realised I'd forgotten my sunglasses and bottled drinks. Doh, that's what cloudy skies do to the mind!:-(
Took a few piccies of Mount Tibrogargan, one of the Glass House Mountains then we carried on to the Ettamogah Pub. Jubbly had previously posted the link for this quirky pub and it had certainly tickled my fancy, but this was just a short pit stop to get some drinks and munchies. There are a few touristy shops here by the side of the pub, so we got a steak and kidney Beefys Pie and a coffee each from one of them - although I'm not a regular pie eater these were delicious. Round the corner was a petrol filling station where I got a pair of sunglasses and my drinks. Sorted.
Our destination was the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli. I've never visited the mangroves previously but in the last few weeks I've been doing a lot of reading up about their importance to the eco-system. Jubbly has taken tour groups around the sanctuary previously and it showed - brilliant having your own personal guide who knows their stuff. She explained how the vegetation changed gradually as we moved into the mangroves, pointing out the different types of mangrove, including berries and root systems and the various bird calls. Being the cool season it was a quiet time for the wild life, just as well as the mosquitoes weren't around. It was a bit disappointing that the fiddler crab was absent, although this may have been due to a slightly noisy boat tour that had just disembarked. It was a fascinating hour or two where Jubbly's training and professionalism showed.
After this we went to a nearby strawberry centre, where I demolished a lovely homemade ice cream and then we had a Devonshire Cream Tea, served up with their own strawberry jam. We talked to the owner about pineapples and she pointed out where her pineapples were growing - from the ground, not from a tree as I'd always imagined!
Then a change of plan, rather than going to the Ettamogah Pub for a meal, as originally planned, Jubbly drove further inland to Yandina (originally called Maroochy), to visit the Ginger Factory. I've never seen so many products with Ginger and Honey as their common theme! Jubbly stocked up in the shop, then we went to the Coffee Roastery across the road, but this closes at 3 pm, so we nipped into the Nutworks Macadamia Factory next door - again, the most incredible collection of nut-oriented products - oils, chocolates and a mind-boggling choice of flavoured nuts.
It seemed a long drive home after what had been a lovely day. Thanks again, J! xxx
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Dateline Wednesday 10th August - A snapper and a belly
Jubbly and I had had a late night, watching Australian TV reporting on the disturbances back in the UK, pretty unsettling stuff that made me relieved to be thousands of miles away from all the mindless violence.
So, I got up a tad later than usual and pottered around for a few hours before we went out for lunch. Jubbly chose The Surf Club at Woorim, where she is a member.
The Bribie Island Surf Club was established in 1922 and is one of the oldest Surf Life Saving Clubs in Australia - they are open for lunch and dinner all year round. It's a very classy establishment without being snobby. The bistro is on the upper deck with beautiful views out over the Ocean.
We arrived around halfway through lunch. Looking at the menu there was quite a wide choice available, prompting me to comment that I would like to work my way through the fish part of the offerings, something that we resolved to do in the future!
Jubbly ordered Ginger and Honey Glazed Pork Belly (twice cooked with parsnip mash, confit garlic and wilted pak choi) while I settled for Gold Band Snapper Fillet (oven roasted on egg plant, roma tomatoes and zucchini with sweet potato crisps and pesto), priced at 23.5AUD and 23AUD, respectively. The order called to the kitchen was for "a snapper and a belly", at least it wasn't a slapper and a belly!;-)
While we waited for our food, we looked out to sea. Across the water we could see Moreton Island and a few prawn trawlers and pleasure craft going about their business. We caught a flash of a dolphin, but again, in the distance. Then there was a bit of excitement on the deck as some of the diners and drinkers pulled out their binoculars to view something out there in the water - we could see a head and a long body as it moved slowly eastwards - it wasn't until later that we were told that it was a whale!
The food arrived, stunning to view and mouth-wateringly delicious and tasty. I wasn't sure how comfortably egg plant would sit with snapper but it did and extremely well at that. Jubbly's was equally gorgeous with a lovely ginger and honey sauce. Classy but not pretentious with decent size portions.
After the main course, I elected to go for the Rhubarb and Apple Crumble, (8AUD) served with ice cream. Just stunning.
Off to do some shopping then back home to unwind. What a stressful life we lead, LOL!;-)
Tomorrow an early start as we visit the mangroves.
So, I got up a tad later than usual and pottered around for a few hours before we went out for lunch. Jubbly chose The Surf Club at Woorim, where she is a member.
The Bribie Island Surf Club was established in 1922 and is one of the oldest Surf Life Saving Clubs in Australia - they are open for lunch and dinner all year round. It's a very classy establishment without being snobby. The bistro is on the upper deck with beautiful views out over the Ocean.
We arrived around halfway through lunch. Looking at the menu there was quite a wide choice available, prompting me to comment that I would like to work my way through the fish part of the offerings, something that we resolved to do in the future!
Jubbly ordered Ginger and Honey Glazed Pork Belly (twice cooked with parsnip mash, confit garlic and wilted pak choi) while I settled for Gold Band Snapper Fillet (oven roasted on egg plant, roma tomatoes and zucchini with sweet potato crisps and pesto), priced at 23.5AUD and 23AUD, respectively. The order called to the kitchen was for "a snapper and a belly", at least it wasn't a slapper and a belly!;-)
While we waited for our food, we looked out to sea. Across the water we could see Moreton Island and a few prawn trawlers and pleasure craft going about their business. We caught a flash of a dolphin, but again, in the distance. Then there was a bit of excitement on the deck as some of the diners and drinkers pulled out their binoculars to view something out there in the water - we could see a head and a long body as it moved slowly eastwards - it wasn't until later that we were told that it was a whale!
The food arrived, stunning to view and mouth-wateringly delicious and tasty. I wasn't sure how comfortably egg plant would sit with snapper but it did and extremely well at that. Jubbly's was equally gorgeous with a lovely ginger and honey sauce. Classy but not pretentious with decent size portions.
After the main course, I elected to go for the Rhubarb and Apple Crumble, (8AUD) served with ice cream. Just stunning.
Off to do some shopping then back home to unwind. What a stressful life we lead, LOL!;-)
Tomorrow an early start as we visit the mangroves.
Dateline Tuesday 9th August - Up the Passage and then by foot
After a quiet Monday following the PP Ping, today was booked for me by Jubbly as a trip "Up the Passage". Best offer I've had in a while, LOL! The passage in question is the Pumicestone Passage, the narrow channel between Bribie Island and the Queensland mainland. Ferryman Cruises is a local company that does cruises up the passage ( - these take 3 hours and normally cost 52AUD, but only 40AUD if you're a guest of a local resident. Jubbly has done this trip on a number of occasions, but recommended it to me, as a must-do trip for someone interested in bird life.
The company does a variety of eco-cruises from their purpose built vessel, the MV Ferryman. The trip was booked the previous day and was due to start at 11am, departing from Sylvan Beach Esplanade, so we got there around 15 minutes early. Boarding commenced soon after we arrived and I got myself a good seat on board. Numbers didn't look too good until a coach party arrived, filling the boat.
Bang on 11am we cast off but within a few minutes the old biddies behind me were complaining about the wind, prompting the staff to drop the wind covers to shield them. Unfortunately, this obscured the camera view, prompting me to move to the smaller open-top upper deck which offered an unrestricted panoramic view, a bit breezy but fine for me.
The Passage is a Marine Life Park, largely less than 2 metres deep with 24 islands. A wide range of sea and bird life frequents the park and this presented lots of photo opportunities. Early on in the cruise there were some brief sightings of dolphins but they were too far away to photograph. However, it was a great starter for the first serious outdoor use of my new telephoto zoom lens (apart from in Jubbly's garden a few days earlier), with me taking around 800 shots in the 3 hours.
One of the non-wildlife attractions of this tour is view of the Glass House Mountains as you approach the half-way point in the cruise. The mountains are a spectacular sight on the Queensland Sunshine Coastline and I do look forward to an even closer inspection in the future.
The captain provided a very informative commentary throughout the journey, pointing out the various sights and the birds as they presented themselves and there was an excellent cold buffet provided, together with complimentary tea/coffee.
For anyone interested in marine life, I can thoroughly recommend Ferryman Cruises as they are run by a eco-friendly organisation, people who know their subject inside out. They run a variety of cruises to cater for different levels of interest and it's worth looking up their website.
After the trip, we did some shopping and came back home. I needed to post some cards and packages and as I'd largely been sitting down all day enjoying the view, I decided to be a bit more active and take a walk to the Bribie Island Shopping Centre - it's a pretty easy journey, just under half an hour each way. Plus it gave me the opportunity to photograph some of the roadside flowers and plants en route.
Just before you reach the shopping centre, you go over a small road bridge on Goodwin Drive. In previous journeys in the car I'd noticed, this was in the middle of an upmarket housing development and the bridge ran over a stretch of water but hadn't realised this was a man-made canal purposely built to add a feature to the development. I suppose if you have the bucks then you can buy the goods and must say this is a lovely well-structured development.
A visit to the post office, then a quick Chai Tea Latte (never had one of these before, and although it was a tad sweet, it was nice) and a slab of cake and it was time to set off home. I had to get a move on as it gets dark around 6pm and dusk is virtually non-existent. I arrived back at the camp, LOL, just before 6 as light was fading.
A thoroughly gorgeous day. Thanks J!
The company does a variety of eco-cruises from their purpose built vessel, the MV Ferryman. The trip was booked the previous day and was due to start at 11am, departing from Sylvan Beach Esplanade, so we got there around 15 minutes early. Boarding commenced soon after we arrived and I got myself a good seat on board. Numbers didn't look too good until a coach party arrived, filling the boat.
Bang on 11am we cast off but within a few minutes the old biddies behind me were complaining about the wind, prompting the staff to drop the wind covers to shield them. Unfortunately, this obscured the camera view, prompting me to move to the smaller open-top upper deck which offered an unrestricted panoramic view, a bit breezy but fine for me.
The Passage is a Marine Life Park, largely less than 2 metres deep with 24 islands. A wide range of sea and bird life frequents the park and this presented lots of photo opportunities. Early on in the cruise there were some brief sightings of dolphins but they were too far away to photograph. However, it was a great starter for the first serious outdoor use of my new telephoto zoom lens (apart from in Jubbly's garden a few days earlier), with me taking around 800 shots in the 3 hours.
One of the non-wildlife attractions of this tour is view of the Glass House Mountains as you approach the half-way point in the cruise. The mountains are a spectacular sight on the Queensland Sunshine Coastline and I do look forward to an even closer inspection in the future.
The captain provided a very informative commentary throughout the journey, pointing out the various sights and the birds as they presented themselves and there was an excellent cold buffet provided, together with complimentary tea/coffee.
For anyone interested in marine life, I can thoroughly recommend Ferryman Cruises as they are run by a eco-friendly organisation, people who know their subject inside out. They run a variety of cruises to cater for different levels of interest and it's worth looking up their website.
After the trip, we did some shopping and came back home. I needed to post some cards and packages and as I'd largely been sitting down all day enjoying the view, I decided to be a bit more active and take a walk to the Bribie Island Shopping Centre - it's a pretty easy journey, just under half an hour each way. Plus it gave me the opportunity to photograph some of the roadside flowers and plants en route.
Just before you reach the shopping centre, you go over a small road bridge on Goodwin Drive. In previous journeys in the car I'd noticed, this was in the middle of an upmarket housing development and the bridge ran over a stretch of water but hadn't realised this was a man-made canal purposely built to add a feature to the development. I suppose if you have the bucks then you can buy the goods and must say this is a lovely well-structured development.
A visit to the post office, then a quick Chai Tea Latte (never had one of these before, and although it was a tad sweet, it was nice) and a slab of cake and it was time to set off home. I had to get a move on as it gets dark around 6pm and dusk is virtually non-existent. I arrived back at the camp, LOL, just before 6 as light was fading.
A thoroughly gorgeous day. Thanks J!
Monday 8 August 2011
Dateline Sunday 7th August - PP Ping at South Bank Parklands, Brisbane
Why PP Ping? Well, PP stands for "Purple Person" aka Tinky. And because Tinky in the Teletubbies wore purple, SWMBO ("She who must be obeyed" aka Jubbly) decreed the dress code would be purple in deference, LOL. I just couldn't find the right shade of purple but, in the end, settled for a Rugby World Cup 2011 tee-shirt loaned to me by the Jubbly one.
Proceedings were due to start at noon at South Bank Parklands, Brisbane. This journey is around a couple of hours involving car and two trains, so an early start was needed.
How to describe the Parklands? Well, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bank_Parklands or http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/attractions/south_bank_parklands, they do it far better than I ever could. Difficult to imagine that this area was largely submerged following the bad floods earlier in the year.
Jubbly and I got off the train, crossed over the street and found ourselves going past the Brisbane Wheel, some time cousin to the London and Manchester Wheels before going down to the river front and passing by the spectacular Nepalese Peace Pagoda. Colleen had contacted us to advise she'd found a bench for us to sit on and she came up to meet us when we texted to announce our arrival. It was so nice for me to see her again, as we'd had such a good time when she and Jubbly came over for last year's Coro-Ping. She took us down to the river-front where her grand-daughter (shome mishtake shurely!) Ashleigh was guarding our place. Pretty soon, Joan Elliott joined us (a Corrie Cobber herself, she'd already contacted me before my departure from the UK), followed by Elaine (Feral Rambler on IRC) and her hubby, Paul. It was so nice meeting old friends and new - I first met Elaine online over 13 years ago on IRC and it was a real joy to meet her in real life after all this time. Apart from young Ashleigh, Joan was the newest face to me, a delightful lady originally from Mexborough in South Yorkshire who has been in Australia many years. For the next few hours, we took photographs, then settled down to natter and either get to know each other or to catch up on events.
The Parklands has barbecue areas with free heating for use by the public to BBQ their food - such a wonderful idea and, unsurprisingly, these were all in high demand. The part of the Parklands where we were was just a wonderful mix of friends and families out for the afternoon, enjoying each others company, having drinks, eating food, playing games, a superb venue to get together, a real winner.
We got the food going on the barbecue ourselves with Ashleigh becoming designated chef and Colleen going back and forth to keep an eye on proceedings. Then munching time, washed down with pure aqueous matter, (LOL, I lie)!
It was one of those lovely afternoons when there wasn't a dull moment and the time went far too fast. I'd like to thank all who turned up to make this such a special event for me, quite something going halfway round the world and having such a great time! Such is the ethos of the Corrie community! Bless you, one and all. Mwah xxxxx
Proceedings were due to start at noon at South Bank Parklands, Brisbane. This journey is around a couple of hours involving car and two trains, so an early start was needed.
How to describe the Parklands? Well, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bank_Parklands or http://www.visitsouthbank.com.au/attractions/south_bank_parklands, they do it far better than I ever could. Difficult to imagine that this area was largely submerged following the bad floods earlier in the year.
Jubbly and I got off the train, crossed over the street and found ourselves going past the Brisbane Wheel, some time cousin to the London and Manchester Wheels before going down to the river front and passing by the spectacular Nepalese Peace Pagoda. Colleen had contacted us to advise she'd found a bench for us to sit on and she came up to meet us when we texted to announce our arrival. It was so nice for me to see her again, as we'd had such a good time when she and Jubbly came over for last year's Coro-Ping. She took us down to the river-front where her grand-daughter (shome mishtake shurely!) Ashleigh was guarding our place. Pretty soon, Joan Elliott joined us (a Corrie Cobber herself, she'd already contacted me before my departure from the UK), followed by Elaine (Feral Rambler on IRC) and her hubby, Paul. It was so nice meeting old friends and new - I first met Elaine online over 13 years ago on IRC and it was a real joy to meet her in real life after all this time. Apart from young Ashleigh, Joan was the newest face to me, a delightful lady originally from Mexborough in South Yorkshire who has been in Australia many years. For the next few hours, we took photographs, then settled down to natter and either get to know each other or to catch up on events.
The Parklands has barbecue areas with free heating for use by the public to BBQ their food - such a wonderful idea and, unsurprisingly, these were all in high demand. The part of the Parklands where we were was just a wonderful mix of friends and families out for the afternoon, enjoying each others company, having drinks, eating food, playing games, a superb venue to get together, a real winner.
We got the food going on the barbecue ourselves with Ashleigh becoming designated chef and Colleen going back and forth to keep an eye on proceedings. Then munching time, washed down with pure aqueous matter, (LOL, I lie)!
It was one of those lovely afternoons when there wasn't a dull moment and the time went far too fast. I'd like to thank all who turned up to make this such a special event for me, quite something going halfway round the world and having such a great time! Such is the ethos of the Corrie community! Bless you, one and all. Mwah xxxxx
Dateline w/c Tuesday 2nd August Queensland - beautiful one day, perfect the next!
That's Queensland's tagline, also proudly boasting of itself as the Sunshine State! That was certainly the impression waking up on my first full day in Australia and on Bribie Island. A lovely sunny morning, bright light and a feeling of airiness, after the skyscrapers of KL!
This past week has been a total contrast from the rushing around of the previous week, just chilling out, taking it easy, going for strolls, doing the day-to-day shopping and photographing the birds, just the feathered kind, LOL.
Jubbly lives in a detached bungalow on a seniors' resort (not an "estate" as I previously called it, LOL!). Apparently Bribie Island is called "God's Waiting Room", well, "don't come a knockin'" on my door, just yet! Palm trees line her row and although the houses look a little bit squashed in from the front, it's totally different round the back of the house which has a verandah/patio, then a small lawned area and beyond the fence is the "great outdoors", the bush.
A simply marvellous location to observe the bird life that's so abundant round this neck of the woods. During her time here, she's obviously made her place a bird friendly location for our feathered friends to drop in for a quick snack! And they're so tame, they'll take food from her hand and happily be just a foot or so away from you! Probably the two species that have endeared themselves most to me are the Kookaburras and the Lorikeets.
When I was in secondary school, around 1962, I became a keen shortwave radio listener and was just fascinated by this wonderful window on the world. In spring and autumn, conditions were perfect to hear Radio Australia, the overseas service of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was then known). I would pick up the station on the 25 and 31 metre bands in the morning before I went to school and it was so exciting in those pre-satellite, pre-internet days to be listening to live radio from the other side of the globe. Shortwave stations identify themselves with a signature tune, known as an interval signal - this is played before the commencement of a broadcast so that you can find the station on the dial and not miss the actual programme itself. Radio Australia's interval signal was a tape loop of a laughing Kookaburra and just before they launched into the broadcast they would play "Waltzing Matilda". So the sound of a Kookie is one of those wonderfully evocative blasts from the past for me, it's such a happy sound, always brings a smile to my face.
Imagine my surprise to find a whole load of Kookies regularly visit Jubbly! Just wonderful. There's one who sits on the fence separating her place from her neighbour's, he regularly comes down to the table on her verandah where she places food for him. A gorgeous sight.
The other bird that's caught my imagination is the Lorikeet - here we have a number of Rainbow Lorikeets, just spectacularly beautiful - blue head, bright red bill, yellow-green collar and deep violet-blue abdomen. Never ever seen a bird "in the wild" that's so beautifully coloured!
The other birds around that seem to be plentiful in this location include the galahs (pink and white cockatoos), sulphur-crested cockatoos and the ibis.
It's just been wonderful sitting out on the patio with my new long lens snapping away to my heart's content and Jubbly's amusement ("this morning in an hour and a half, did you know he took 400 photos of a kookaburra?", LOL).
Our cultural attaché insisted that the first tourist sight that should greet me was the "willie trees" (Pandanus to the horticultural types), so off we went to Sylvan Beach on the Tuesday. After some rude posing, we carried on walking along the beach front with a great view of the Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook. Hopefully, I'll be getting closer to them at some stage. Then we went down the road to Bongaree Beach where we had an ice cream at Scoopies.
The following day, my 61st birthday, included a trip to Banksia Beach, followed by birthday butties at Woorim looking out to sea, with the ibis around us, sheer bliss.
Thursday morning started with some great bird photography on the patio, taking piccies of kookaburras, galahs and magpies, before going out to Bongaree Beach. They have an interesting Sea Museum there where I had a good look around before having a pastry at Scoopies. Jubbs had gone to the hairdressers' but joined me later to have her breakfast.
It was computer catch-up time on Friday during the day - Jubbs got her new laptop and I set it up for her, actually tidying up her cables! In the evening we went out for dinner to the Hog's Breath Café on the mainland at Morayfield where we met up with her daughter, Cassie and her partner, Dave. We were joined soon after by her son, Brad and his friend, Katrina. Really nice to meet them all after hearing about "Search and Destroy" all these years.
Café is a real misnomer for this establishment, it's what I would have called a friendly steak house way back. It has the feel of an American diner, doing steaks, sea food, chicken, burgers etc. At the entrance is a 1952 (or was it 1953) Mercury, well the front half of it anyway, in stunning purple, a gorgeous gleaming sight. I had rib of beef, that was the most delicious and tender steak I've had in, well, I don’t know how long.
Saturday was an easy day at home in preparation for the following day's ping at Brisbane Southbank Parklands.
The past week has been a gentle time, allowing me the opportunity to catch up on things. I've been surprised at how cold the place gets at night, but I suppose I've been conditioned by the heat of Malaysia and we are that much further away from the equator. But, as with all these things, it's a matter of getting used to the new surroundings. One thing's for sure and that's Bribie's wonderful bird life makes it a real gem of a place for all nature lovers. And, boy, have Jubbly and I had some great laughs. That's what it's all about!
This past week has been a total contrast from the rushing around of the previous week, just chilling out, taking it easy, going for strolls, doing the day-to-day shopping and photographing the birds, just the feathered kind, LOL.
Jubbly lives in a detached bungalow on a seniors' resort (not an "estate" as I previously called it, LOL!). Apparently Bribie Island is called "God's Waiting Room", well, "don't come a knockin'" on my door, just yet! Palm trees line her row and although the houses look a little bit squashed in from the front, it's totally different round the back of the house which has a verandah/patio, then a small lawned area and beyond the fence is the "great outdoors", the bush.
A simply marvellous location to observe the bird life that's so abundant round this neck of the woods. During her time here, she's obviously made her place a bird friendly location for our feathered friends to drop in for a quick snack! And they're so tame, they'll take food from her hand and happily be just a foot or so away from you! Probably the two species that have endeared themselves most to me are the Kookaburras and the Lorikeets.
When I was in secondary school, around 1962, I became a keen shortwave radio listener and was just fascinated by this wonderful window on the world. In spring and autumn, conditions were perfect to hear Radio Australia, the overseas service of the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission, as it was then known). I would pick up the station on the 25 and 31 metre bands in the morning before I went to school and it was so exciting in those pre-satellite, pre-internet days to be listening to live radio from the other side of the globe. Shortwave stations identify themselves with a signature tune, known as an interval signal - this is played before the commencement of a broadcast so that you can find the station on the dial and not miss the actual programme itself. Radio Australia's interval signal was a tape loop of a laughing Kookaburra and just before they launched into the broadcast they would play "Waltzing Matilda". So the sound of a Kookie is one of those wonderfully evocative blasts from the past for me, it's such a happy sound, always brings a smile to my face.
Imagine my surprise to find a whole load of Kookies regularly visit Jubbly! Just wonderful. There's one who sits on the fence separating her place from her neighbour's, he regularly comes down to the table on her verandah where she places food for him. A gorgeous sight.
The other bird that's caught my imagination is the Lorikeet - here we have a number of Rainbow Lorikeets, just spectacularly beautiful - blue head, bright red bill, yellow-green collar and deep violet-blue abdomen. Never ever seen a bird "in the wild" that's so beautifully coloured!
The other birds around that seem to be plentiful in this location include the galahs (pink and white cockatoos), sulphur-crested cockatoos and the ibis.
It's just been wonderful sitting out on the patio with my new long lens snapping away to my heart's content and Jubbly's amusement ("this morning in an hour and a half, did you know he took 400 photos of a kookaburra?", LOL).
Our cultural attaché insisted that the first tourist sight that should greet me was the "willie trees" (Pandanus to the horticultural types), so off we went to Sylvan Beach on the Tuesday. After some rude posing, we carried on walking along the beach front with a great view of the Glass House Mountains, so named by Captain Cook. Hopefully, I'll be getting closer to them at some stage. Then we went down the road to Bongaree Beach where we had an ice cream at Scoopies.
The following day, my 61st birthday, included a trip to Banksia Beach, followed by birthday butties at Woorim looking out to sea, with the ibis around us, sheer bliss.
Thursday morning started with some great bird photography on the patio, taking piccies of kookaburras, galahs and magpies, before going out to Bongaree Beach. They have an interesting Sea Museum there where I had a good look around before having a pastry at Scoopies. Jubbs had gone to the hairdressers' but joined me later to have her breakfast.
It was computer catch-up time on Friday during the day - Jubbs got her new laptop and I set it up for her, actually tidying up her cables! In the evening we went out for dinner to the Hog's Breath Café on the mainland at Morayfield where we met up with her daughter, Cassie and her partner, Dave. We were joined soon after by her son, Brad and his friend, Katrina. Really nice to meet them all after hearing about "Search and Destroy" all these years.
Café is a real misnomer for this establishment, it's what I would have called a friendly steak house way back. It has the feel of an American diner, doing steaks, sea food, chicken, burgers etc. At the entrance is a 1952 (or was it 1953) Mercury, well the front half of it anyway, in stunning purple, a gorgeous gleaming sight. I had rib of beef, that was the most delicious and tender steak I've had in, well, I don’t know how long.
Saturday was an easy day at home in preparation for the following day's ping at Brisbane Southbank Parklands.
The past week has been a gentle time, allowing me the opportunity to catch up on things. I've been surprised at how cold the place gets at night, but I suppose I've been conditioned by the heat of Malaysia and we are that much further away from the equator. But, as with all these things, it's a matter of getting used to the new surroundings. One thing's for sure and that's Bribie's wonderful bird life makes it a real gem of a place for all nature lovers. And, boy, have Jubbly and I had some great laughs. That's what it's all about!
Dateline Monday 1st August - Flying over to Oz
Malaysia Airlines flight MH135 KL-BNE in airline speak from KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) to Brisbane, some 7 hours or so, to take me on to the next phase of my holidays based in Australia.
This airline didn't have quite the opulence of Emirates but nothing to complain about, at all. Mind you, stuck for 7 hours next to the miserable git in the seat next to me, could get me going. Looking like Bush Tucker Man, he was sitting in aisle seat as I came to sit down by the window and never said an intelligible word during the whole of the flight, every gesture merely accompanied by a grunt. Suited me, as it was an opportunity to catch up on the missing night's sleep.
The in-flight refreshment started off with a bag of nuts - you'll have to wait until the piccies go up to see what amused me with this offering. The food was lovely, as were the attendants!:-)
The time soon passed and before I knew it, I was looking over the wing at the Brisbane night lights. On landing, I let the mad scramble go past me while I collected by bags, then off the plane and through Immigration where they asked the usual questions - where was I staying and for how long, etc. Then the Customs. The landing declaration asked whether I was carrying any medication, pornography, etc. etc. so, with 3 months of medication on board, I had to tick the "yes" box. Quite amusing being asked by the lady about whether I was carrying this that and the other, so I explained and was told to go to the lady with the sniffer dog. The thing wasn't interested in me at all and in a few seconds found myself in the free world, LOL, the fools had let me in!;-)
While in the queue for Immigration, I'd phoned Jubbly to let her know that I'd landed safely and to confirm details of the transfer arrangements made for me by her. She was panicking a bit wondering whether it would all come good, but she needn't have worried. I found the Transfers desk, checked in, the lady printed a sheet and told me where to wait outside for the coach.
First reaction was that Brisbane was significantly cooler than the steamy KL I'd left behind. I sat outside with my cases and a few minutes ahead of time, a small coach came along with a towed trailer at the back. The guy checked me in but after that any conversation was staccato machine-gun fire - the guy had obviously had some sort of personality bypass (don't you need a personality in the hospitality business?) but what the heck! Got on the coach with a number of others and some 35 minutes later we arrived at the drop-off point, BP Morayfield, to await my local driver, who, I was told, was running a few minutes late but not far behind.
So I was dumped outside with all my worldly belongings, very quickly starting to freeze my wotsits off! I'd left KL where it was 30C at night, appropriately dressed, tee-shirt and shorts, but this was far from appropriate here. I recalled Jubbly's comments over the years about her wearing her winter shorts and wondered what I was letting myself in for and whether this Queensland rhetoric was all PR BS!
Anyway, a few minutes later this minibus comes zooming along, the driver winds down the window and yells "Alan?". It was Gary from Bribie FAST, a local Bribie Island transfer company, a complete contrast to the previous driver. Gary is actually a Kiwi who has lived in Oz for a few years, a wonderfully friendly "in your face" (but not overly so) guy and for the next half an hour or so we had a brilliant conversation about everything under the sun. I'm not a "beers with the guys" bloke but I'd happily do so with him anytime, top guy.
We crossed over the bridge onto Bribie and pretty soon we were outside Jubbly's place. She must have been waiting and seen the headlights because I was greeted with a scream and a "Do I know you?", LOL.
Journey over, now on the other side of the world, the furthest east I'd been, this is GMT+10 hours (although with British Summer Time, it's currently only 9 hours ahead)! Time to dump my bags and have a long natter and catch up with her face to face! So good to see her again and actually BE here in Oz, never thought it would happen. A few hours later, off to bed for lots of zzzzz.
This airline didn't have quite the opulence of Emirates but nothing to complain about, at all. Mind you, stuck for 7 hours next to the miserable git in the seat next to me, could get me going. Looking like Bush Tucker Man, he was sitting in aisle seat as I came to sit down by the window and never said an intelligible word during the whole of the flight, every gesture merely accompanied by a grunt. Suited me, as it was an opportunity to catch up on the missing night's sleep.
The in-flight refreshment started off with a bag of nuts - you'll have to wait until the piccies go up to see what amused me with this offering. The food was lovely, as were the attendants!:-)
The time soon passed and before I knew it, I was looking over the wing at the Brisbane night lights. On landing, I let the mad scramble go past me while I collected by bags, then off the plane and through Immigration where they asked the usual questions - where was I staying and for how long, etc. Then the Customs. The landing declaration asked whether I was carrying any medication, pornography, etc. etc. so, with 3 months of medication on board, I had to tick the "yes" box. Quite amusing being asked by the lady about whether I was carrying this that and the other, so I explained and was told to go to the lady with the sniffer dog. The thing wasn't interested in me at all and in a few seconds found myself in the free world, LOL, the fools had let me in!;-)
While in the queue for Immigration, I'd phoned Jubbly to let her know that I'd landed safely and to confirm details of the transfer arrangements made for me by her. She was panicking a bit wondering whether it would all come good, but she needn't have worried. I found the Transfers desk, checked in, the lady printed a sheet and told me where to wait outside for the coach.
First reaction was that Brisbane was significantly cooler than the steamy KL I'd left behind. I sat outside with my cases and a few minutes ahead of time, a small coach came along with a towed trailer at the back. The guy checked me in but after that any conversation was staccato machine-gun fire - the guy had obviously had some sort of personality bypass (don't you need a personality in the hospitality business?) but what the heck! Got on the coach with a number of others and some 35 minutes later we arrived at the drop-off point, BP Morayfield, to await my local driver, who, I was told, was running a few minutes late but not far behind.
So I was dumped outside with all my worldly belongings, very quickly starting to freeze my wotsits off! I'd left KL where it was 30C at night, appropriately dressed, tee-shirt and shorts, but this was far from appropriate here. I recalled Jubbly's comments over the years about her wearing her winter shorts and wondered what I was letting myself in for and whether this Queensland rhetoric was all PR BS!
Anyway, a few minutes later this minibus comes zooming along, the driver winds down the window and yells "Alan?". It was Gary from Bribie FAST, a local Bribie Island transfer company, a complete contrast to the previous driver. Gary is actually a Kiwi who has lived in Oz for a few years, a wonderfully friendly "in your face" (but not overly so) guy and for the next half an hour or so we had a brilliant conversation about everything under the sun. I'm not a "beers with the guys" bloke but I'd happily do so with him anytime, top guy.
We crossed over the bridge onto Bribie and pretty soon we were outside Jubbly's place. She must have been waiting and seen the headlights because I was greeted with a scream and a "Do I know you?", LOL.
Journey over, now on the other side of the world, the furthest east I'd been, this is GMT+10 hours (although with British Summer Time, it's currently only 9 hours ahead)! Time to dump my bags and have a long natter and catch up with her face to face! So good to see her again and actually BE here in Oz, never thought it would happen. A few hours later, off to bed for lots of zzzzz.
Saturday 6 August 2011
A look back at Malaysia
When you go to a country new to you, you don't really know what to expect. My knowledge of the country was sketchy, initially based on the Geography lessons we did at Grammar School some fifty years ago when Malaya was newly independent. It was all coconut and rubber plantations as I recall, plus tropical rain forests and, of course, with a heavy colonial slant. The country's prime minister in the early sixties, Tunku Abdul Rahman, had one of those exotic names that matched the exotic image of this country a third of the way around the globe. Then, much later on, came their involvement in Consumer Electronics and Motor car manufacture.
But it was still pretty minimal knowledge, that is, until I started reading up about the country after I'd first met the girls. Although I was getting better informed, it’s still only theoretical textbook stuff until you actually go to a place and see for yourself.
The last few days have been pretty amazing as it's been a whirlwind of emotional experiences and in that time, I've started to get the feel for this wonderful country.
Let's turn to facts. Just looking up nominal GDP for 2010 in Wikipedia shows the country as 35th/37th out of some 180 (depending on the source). Pretty respectable figures beating a number of European "First World" countries. It becomes 28th/29th when looking at GDP based on PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) and 50th/57th on GDP PPP per capita.
Wikipedia states "Under Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad there was a period of rapid economic growth and urbanisation beginning in the 1980s. This period saw a shift from an agriculture-based economy to one based on manufacturing and industry. The physical landscape of the country changed with the emergence of numerous mega-projects, such as the Petronas Towers, the North-South Expressway, the Multimedia Super Corridor, and the new federal administrative capital of Putrajaya."
Wikipedia further goes on to say "Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years." Now that's something I wasn't aware of, but it’s something that comes over when you talk to Malays.
Mahatir is rightly revered in his country as a visionary prime minister, stating some time ago that, although Malaysia was a third world country, he wanted first world status for it. Projects such as Putrajaya and the Petronas Towers are hardly the work of a third world nation!
Sure, there is a way to go but one mustn't undervalue the determination of the nation and its people to improve themselves. When you have youngsters being taught English, Maths and Science at special school that goes on until the late evening, that's a recognition of how much they value those subjects (we could - and should - take a big leaf out of their book as it's Science and Engineering that generate wealth). Looking at the advertising hoardings along the E1 Expressway, I lost count of the number regarding education, clearly a top priority for this highly aspirational nation.
I came across a nation very proud of its achievements and rightly so. But that's only part of the story. In the two areas I visited, Pinang and KL, we have the two worlds that make up Malaysia - stunningly beautiful countryside, rain forests and idyllic beaches on the one hand and a futuristic very modern city to rival anywhere in the world. Wikipedia continues "Kuala Lumpur alone has 66 shopping malls and it is the retail and fashion hub for Malaysia".
It is an Islamic state but one with significant non-Islamic minorities, such as the Chinese and Indians. However, even though it does not recognise the state of Israel, being a strong supporter of Palestine, it clamped down heavily on Islamic fundamentalists post 911.
That tells me it's a country that knows itself and where it stands on many issues - it prefers being its own person, rather than to cow-tow to any other power.
Its industrialisation since the 1980s has been at the expense of one its most valuable resources, resulting in the loss of rainforests. I do hope that commonsense prevails in its pursuit of rising living standards.
But this is all political stuff. I found a stunningly beautiful country, full of friendly people proud of and loyal to their country. They work and play hard. The history of the country means there is a bubbling, bustling melting pot of races and religions where diverse ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony. And while their newly found wealth as a nation leads them to pursue consumerism and its trappings, they still value the three Fs - family, friends and food!
I just fell in love with the place and its people. I count myself so lucky to have met the ladies and have found this gem.
But it was still pretty minimal knowledge, that is, until I started reading up about the country after I'd first met the girls. Although I was getting better informed, it’s still only theoretical textbook stuff until you actually go to a place and see for yourself.
The last few days have been pretty amazing as it's been a whirlwind of emotional experiences and in that time, I've started to get the feel for this wonderful country.
Let's turn to facts. Just looking up nominal GDP for 2010 in Wikipedia shows the country as 35th/37th out of some 180 (depending on the source). Pretty respectable figures beating a number of European "First World" countries. It becomes 28th/29th when looking at GDP based on PPP (Purchasing Power Parity) and 50th/57th on GDP PPP per capita.
Wikipedia states "Under Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad there was a period of rapid economic growth and urbanisation beginning in the 1980s. This period saw a shift from an agriculture-based economy to one based on manufacturing and industry. The physical landscape of the country changed with the emergence of numerous mega-projects, such as the Petronas Towers, the North-South Expressway, the Multimedia Super Corridor, and the new federal administrative capital of Putrajaya."
Wikipedia further goes on to say "Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years." Now that's something I wasn't aware of, but it’s something that comes over when you talk to Malays.
Mahatir is rightly revered in his country as a visionary prime minister, stating some time ago that, although Malaysia was a third world country, he wanted first world status for it. Projects such as Putrajaya and the Petronas Towers are hardly the work of a third world nation!
Sure, there is a way to go but one mustn't undervalue the determination of the nation and its people to improve themselves. When you have youngsters being taught English, Maths and Science at special school that goes on until the late evening, that's a recognition of how much they value those subjects (we could - and should - take a big leaf out of their book as it's Science and Engineering that generate wealth). Looking at the advertising hoardings along the E1 Expressway, I lost count of the number regarding education, clearly a top priority for this highly aspirational nation.
I came across a nation very proud of its achievements and rightly so. But that's only part of the story. In the two areas I visited, Pinang and KL, we have the two worlds that make up Malaysia - stunningly beautiful countryside, rain forests and idyllic beaches on the one hand and a futuristic very modern city to rival anywhere in the world. Wikipedia continues "Kuala Lumpur alone has 66 shopping malls and it is the retail and fashion hub for Malaysia".
It is an Islamic state but one with significant non-Islamic minorities, such as the Chinese and Indians. However, even though it does not recognise the state of Israel, being a strong supporter of Palestine, it clamped down heavily on Islamic fundamentalists post 911.
That tells me it's a country that knows itself and where it stands on many issues - it prefers being its own person, rather than to cow-tow to any other power.
Its industrialisation since the 1980s has been at the expense of one its most valuable resources, resulting in the loss of rainforests. I do hope that commonsense prevails in its pursuit of rising living standards.
But this is all political stuff. I found a stunningly beautiful country, full of friendly people proud of and loyal to their country. They work and play hard. The history of the country means there is a bubbling, bustling melting pot of races and religions where diverse ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony. And while their newly found wealth as a nation leads them to pursue consumerism and its trappings, they still value the three Fs - family, friends and food!
I just fell in love with the place and its people. I count myself so lucky to have met the ladies and have found this gem.
Dateline Sunday 31st July KL - Final day
Sunday, my last full day in Malaysia. Started off buying some souvenirs from the KLCC, then I was picked up from the hotel by the girls and yes, we went out for food again, to another restaurant recommended by Arvin. Like all the best eateries, basic in appearance but again some superb nosh!
After that, a trip to the Batu Caves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves), to the north of KL, one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. As you approach the caves you see the massive imposing Murugan statue, covered in gold paint. Lots of parking is available in front and behind the statue, you climb the 272 concrete steps to get to the Temple cave at the top. It's worth stopping periodically, not just to gather breath but also to survey the increasingly spectacular views of the surrounding area the higher you climb. It's a stunningly beautiful shrine, fascinating for anyone interested in Eastern culture.
Notwithstanding the cultural aspect of the location, there is much fun to be had seeing the proboscis monkeys playing around, keeping the crowds amused. When I visited, apart from a few lone monkeys, there were two females carrying their young, such a beautiful sight.
Then back into KL, initially to Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) with the splendid Sultan Abdul Samad Building located in front of the Square and the colonial Royal Selangor Club behind - a beautiful contrast of East and West.
Jesse and Hanie went off into a retail complex for a manicure and pedicure while Adde and I headed off for the incredible Low Yat Plaza on Jalan Bukit Bintang, the heart of the "shopping mall centrum". The plaza is on umpteen floors and the home of just about everything you could hope to buy in the field of consumer electronics and computer and photographic equipment, a treasure trove for anyone with the slightest interest in these areas. I was no exception getting some items there before we went onto some of the other retail malls, including one where we saw sweets being made in front of the crowd.
Finally into Chinatown to have a look at the market and a bite to eat at a Chinese restaurant before Adde took me back to the restaurant, tired but happy.
Another fab day, wish there were more! I was actually up all night sorting out my things and packing them in readiness for the trip out of KL, the following morning. The girls came for me around 5:30 and all of us were shattered, the girls doubly so because it was the start of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting - they had got up at some unearthly hour before dawn to have their breakfast, so were probably more tired than me.
I checked out of my room, settled my bill and then we loaded the car with my belongings before going on to KLIA, Kuala Lumpur International Airport. After some checking in for the flight, we hung around for a while, then the girls had to leave as they needed to return their hire car in time. I just found it horrendous saying goodbye, not knowing when I'd be seeing them again as I continued onward with my Australasian adventure. Those were heartbreaking moments - I was struggling to hold back the tears as I saw them disappear around the corner.
It had been a wonderful few days, full of so many incredible experiences, all new. I'd fallen in love, with a country, a nation, its lovely people, its beautiful sights and its incredible food. Thank you for one of the most amazing few days of my life, you all know collectively and individually just what you mean to me, so I won't embarrass you, other than to thank you for your kindness, love and hospitality. Nothing was too much trouble for you and you are all such wonderful proud ambassadors for your splendid country - I include not just Jesse, Adde and Hanie but also their friends Arvin, Albert, Shana and Didi. I love and miss you guys so much. I hope Google Translate is able to do justice to my words:
Sehingga kita bertemu lagi, rakan-rakan yang indah saya, terima kasih, dari bahagian bawah jantung saya! (Until we meet again, my beautiful friends, thank you, from the bottom of my heart!) xxxxx
After that, a trip to the Batu Caves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Caves), to the north of KL, one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India. As you approach the caves you see the massive imposing Murugan statue, covered in gold paint. Lots of parking is available in front and behind the statue, you climb the 272 concrete steps to get to the Temple cave at the top. It's worth stopping periodically, not just to gather breath but also to survey the increasingly spectacular views of the surrounding area the higher you climb. It's a stunningly beautiful shrine, fascinating for anyone interested in Eastern culture.
Notwithstanding the cultural aspect of the location, there is much fun to be had seeing the proboscis monkeys playing around, keeping the crowds amused. When I visited, apart from a few lone monkeys, there were two females carrying their young, such a beautiful sight.
Then back into KL, initially to Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square) with the splendid Sultan Abdul Samad Building located in front of the Square and the colonial Royal Selangor Club behind - a beautiful contrast of East and West.
Jesse and Hanie went off into a retail complex for a manicure and pedicure while Adde and I headed off for the incredible Low Yat Plaza on Jalan Bukit Bintang, the heart of the "shopping mall centrum". The plaza is on umpteen floors and the home of just about everything you could hope to buy in the field of consumer electronics and computer and photographic equipment, a treasure trove for anyone with the slightest interest in these areas. I was no exception getting some items there before we went onto some of the other retail malls, including one where we saw sweets being made in front of the crowd.
Finally into Chinatown to have a look at the market and a bite to eat at a Chinese restaurant before Adde took me back to the restaurant, tired but happy.
Another fab day, wish there were more! I was actually up all night sorting out my things and packing them in readiness for the trip out of KL, the following morning. The girls came for me around 5:30 and all of us were shattered, the girls doubly so because it was the start of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting - they had got up at some unearthly hour before dawn to have their breakfast, so were probably more tired than me.
I checked out of my room, settled my bill and then we loaded the car with my belongings before going on to KLIA, Kuala Lumpur International Airport. After some checking in for the flight, we hung around for a while, then the girls had to leave as they needed to return their hire car in time. I just found it horrendous saying goodbye, not knowing when I'd be seeing them again as I continued onward with my Australasian adventure. Those were heartbreaking moments - I was struggling to hold back the tears as I saw them disappear around the corner.
It had been a wonderful few days, full of so many incredible experiences, all new. I'd fallen in love, with a country, a nation, its lovely people, its beautiful sights and its incredible food. Thank you for one of the most amazing few days of my life, you all know collectively and individually just what you mean to me, so I won't embarrass you, other than to thank you for your kindness, love and hospitality. Nothing was too much trouble for you and you are all such wonderful proud ambassadors for your splendid country - I include not just Jesse, Adde and Hanie but also their friends Arvin, Albert, Shana and Didi. I love and miss you guys so much. I hope Google Translate is able to do justice to my words:
Sehingga kita bertemu lagi, rakan-rakan yang indah saya, terima kasih, dari bahagian bawah jantung saya! (Until we meet again, my beautiful friends, thank you, from the bottom of my heart!) xxxxx
Dateline - Saturday 30th July KL Food for the body and the soul
KL is a place that successfully feeds all sorts of needs and desires - a great consumerist centre with its malls, home to thousands of restaurants and a melting pot for different cultures and religions.
After a good night's sleep, I popped into the KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) to have breakfast. I thought the easy option would be to go to the Food Court there - but oh boy, with so many stalls just HOW do you decide WHICH option to go for? I was just mesmerised by the choices open to me from just about every cuisine imaginable - the photo album will give you an idea of the dilemma that faced me. In the end I settled for some heavenly smoked salmon sandwiches from the Norwegian Sandwich Centre, washed down with a couple of nice cups of tea.
En route back to the hotel, I stopped off for a refreshing pineapple milk shake at the milk bar next to the hotel. Delicious! After stocking up with some bottled water and fruit juice at the nearby hawkers stalls it was back to the hotel to wait for the girls who were taking me out… for more food. This time Adde and Hanie picked me up and we made our way to meet Jesse and her good friend, Albert Spwong at the Restauran Tupia Tupia (it means squirrel in Malay). Again, a superb meal at this traditional Malay restaurant with great company. Yet another meal in what has become known as the Malaysian Munching Marathon!;-)
A couple or so hours later, we were on our way to Putrajaya, the new-ish administrative centre of Malaysia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrajaya for a detailed description). We booked a book cruise to take us round the complex, this was excellent value and very informative. This stunning and extremely impressive development is just over ten years old, testimony to former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, the visionary leader credited with the modernisation of Malaysia. For anyone who believes Malaysia is a third world country, this development should dispel those thoughts or at least signal the country's intention to climb up the world rankings. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go into the stunning mosque nearby (built in a Persian style) as we were running out of time, although we did pop into the café for more food, lol, before driving around Putrajaya where, coincidentally, a big fun run was taking place with radio and TV there for the event.
Then a drive back through the traffic jam nightmare that is KL, although I enjoyed the buzz of the place, it's got to be the most happening place I've ever visited. Some superbly aggressive driving from the girls to get through.
Hanie wanted to take us to a renowned satay restaurant, the "Restoran O Mulia". We were lucky to get in as they prepare the satay some hours ahead and once it's gone it's gone and we were among the last to be served - the satay is cooked on open barbecues and, although the service was painfully slow, the food was gorgeous and well worth waiting for.
Another incredible day, thanks ladies! Mwah xxx
After a good night's sleep, I popped into the KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre) to have breakfast. I thought the easy option would be to go to the Food Court there - but oh boy, with so many stalls just HOW do you decide WHICH option to go for? I was just mesmerised by the choices open to me from just about every cuisine imaginable - the photo album will give you an idea of the dilemma that faced me. In the end I settled for some heavenly smoked salmon sandwiches from the Norwegian Sandwich Centre, washed down with a couple of nice cups of tea.
En route back to the hotel, I stopped off for a refreshing pineapple milk shake at the milk bar next to the hotel. Delicious! After stocking up with some bottled water and fruit juice at the nearby hawkers stalls it was back to the hotel to wait for the girls who were taking me out… for more food. This time Adde and Hanie picked me up and we made our way to meet Jesse and her good friend, Albert Spwong at the Restauran Tupia Tupia (it means squirrel in Malay). Again, a superb meal at this traditional Malay restaurant with great company. Yet another meal in what has become known as the Malaysian Munching Marathon!;-)
A couple or so hours later, we were on our way to Putrajaya, the new-ish administrative centre of Malaysia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrajaya for a detailed description). We booked a book cruise to take us round the complex, this was excellent value and very informative. This stunning and extremely impressive development is just over ten years old, testimony to former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, the visionary leader credited with the modernisation of Malaysia. For anyone who believes Malaysia is a third world country, this development should dispel those thoughts or at least signal the country's intention to climb up the world rankings. Unfortunately we didn't have time to go into the stunning mosque nearby (built in a Persian style) as we were running out of time, although we did pop into the café for more food, lol, before driving around Putrajaya where, coincidentally, a big fun run was taking place with radio and TV there for the event.
Then a drive back through the traffic jam nightmare that is KL, although I enjoyed the buzz of the place, it's got to be the most happening place I've ever visited. Some superbly aggressive driving from the girls to get through.
Hanie wanted to take us to a renowned satay restaurant, the "Restoran O Mulia". We were lucky to get in as they prepare the satay some hours ahead and once it's gone it's gone and we were among the last to be served - the satay is cooked on open barbecues and, although the service was painfully slow, the food was gorgeous and well worth waiting for.
Another incredible day, thanks ladies! Mwah xxx
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Dateline Friday 29th July Kuala Lumpur - the city that never sleeps!
After all the frenzied activity the previous night, I had an equally wild night of sleep with the weirdest dreams after my mind was struggling to process it all, no doubt trying to cope with the jet-ski and Wiper rides. We were all tired from the exertions of those rides so a bit later getting up as planned. The day was scheduled to be one for travelling down to KL, the capital Kuala Lumpur, the city that never sleeps!
But before that we had to pack and then drive to meet up with Hanie and Arvin for brunch Indian style. Going home the previous night we had encountered a really heavy rainstorm with torrential rain that had brought down a tree in the middle of the winding coastal road, with the downpour just bouncing off the road surface. But, maybe 7 or so hours later, there was no sign of the violent weather with a road surface that was totally dry.
A street style restaurant, basic but with brilliant food again. This time, my hosts got me eating Indian style, no fork and spoon, just using my hands, quite an experience that takes some getting used to! Arvin certainly knows his food and restaurants and this was another wonderful recommendation. Unfortunately, after another superb meal, it was time to say "farewell" to Arvin, hopefully, we will meet again! Miss you, brother!
Then the long car drive to KL on the E1 motorway - fascinating seeing the various advertising hoardings on the road, giving quite an insight to Malay culture.
Hanie had booked me into one of the "Crown Regency Serviced Suites" right in the centre of KL, a few minutes walk away from the stunning Petronas towers. Final check-in was 3pm, but because of an accident on the E1 that delayed us, the girls had to ring in to extend the deadline to 6pm. As it was we were a few minutes late because we were delayed further once we hit KL. I don't think I'd ever seen the like of the traffic jams that we had to wade through, simply unbelievable. The suite was really luxurious but very reasonably priced and once I’d checked in, the girls departed to stay at a cousin of Jesse's about 20 minutes away.
This enabled me to explore and take a walk to the nearby Suria KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Shopping Centre), which is Malaysia's premier shopping mall, located at the bottom of the Petronas Twin Towers. Malls aren't particularly my thing, but this is a really classy affair with top designer label names all represented.
Pretty soon, though, it was time to make my way back to the hotel suite. A few yards away from base, I was accosted by three ladies sitting at a bus stop. They smiled at me as I passed them and called to me, was I a tourist? The camera strapped around my neck and my pale white legs obviously gave the game away!;-) Well, I'll chat with anyone who's friendly and it turned out they were from the Philippines. I explained my trip but after a short while I realised their intentions, they were working girls looking for a pickup, promising me a massage and one explained how she was good at kissing and promised me a relaxing time. Oddly enough, they seemed to lose interest when I explained I would be meeting my lady friends for dinner, though not until they asked how about meeting after dinner, LOL! Very pleasant ladies but "no thanks", LOL!
A shower and change of clothing then off out with the girls again, this time to go to an authentic Malay restaurant. The only problem was we had to pick up Hanie's nieces en route and that meant wading through a couple of hours of incredible traffic jams. I was most impressed by the girls' aggressive driving skills in carving out a route despite the other competition on the roads without a scratch - I tell you this, driving in KL is not for the faint hearted!!!!
The nieces had been to evening school which really got me thinking about Malaysia's incredible success in moving up the economic league tables, a subject to which I will return as a look back on my time in Malaysia.
Anyway, a bit more driving to get to our restaurant, this time offering authentic Malay cuisine. More fun eating then onto a night street market - think of a really busy market but still heaving with the throngs of browsers and at MIDNIGHT, for heaven's sake and you get the picture, this is KL, the city that never sleeps!
But talking of sleep, it was time to take Hanie's nieces home then be taken back to the hotel for some kip myself. Thanks for an amazing experience, ladies!
But before that we had to pack and then drive to meet up with Hanie and Arvin for brunch Indian style. Going home the previous night we had encountered a really heavy rainstorm with torrential rain that had brought down a tree in the middle of the winding coastal road, with the downpour just bouncing off the road surface. But, maybe 7 or so hours later, there was no sign of the violent weather with a road surface that was totally dry.
A street style restaurant, basic but with brilliant food again. This time, my hosts got me eating Indian style, no fork and spoon, just using my hands, quite an experience that takes some getting used to! Arvin certainly knows his food and restaurants and this was another wonderful recommendation. Unfortunately, after another superb meal, it was time to say "farewell" to Arvin, hopefully, we will meet again! Miss you, brother!
Then the long car drive to KL on the E1 motorway - fascinating seeing the various advertising hoardings on the road, giving quite an insight to Malay culture.
Hanie had booked me into one of the "Crown Regency Serviced Suites" right in the centre of KL, a few minutes walk away from the stunning Petronas towers. Final check-in was 3pm, but because of an accident on the E1 that delayed us, the girls had to ring in to extend the deadline to 6pm. As it was we were a few minutes late because we were delayed further once we hit KL. I don't think I'd ever seen the like of the traffic jams that we had to wade through, simply unbelievable. The suite was really luxurious but very reasonably priced and once I’d checked in, the girls departed to stay at a cousin of Jesse's about 20 minutes away.
This enabled me to explore and take a walk to the nearby Suria KLCC (Kuala Lumpur Shopping Centre), which is Malaysia's premier shopping mall, located at the bottom of the Petronas Twin Towers. Malls aren't particularly my thing, but this is a really classy affair with top designer label names all represented.
Pretty soon, though, it was time to make my way back to the hotel suite. A few yards away from base, I was accosted by three ladies sitting at a bus stop. They smiled at me as I passed them and called to me, was I a tourist? The camera strapped around my neck and my pale white legs obviously gave the game away!;-) Well, I'll chat with anyone who's friendly and it turned out they were from the Philippines. I explained my trip but after a short while I realised their intentions, they were working girls looking for a pickup, promising me a massage and one explained how she was good at kissing and promised me a relaxing time. Oddly enough, they seemed to lose interest when I explained I would be meeting my lady friends for dinner, though not until they asked how about meeting after dinner, LOL! Very pleasant ladies but "no thanks", LOL!
A shower and change of clothing then off out with the girls again, this time to go to an authentic Malay restaurant. The only problem was we had to pick up Hanie's nieces en route and that meant wading through a couple of hours of incredible traffic jams. I was most impressed by the girls' aggressive driving skills in carving out a route despite the other competition on the roads without a scratch - I tell you this, driving in KL is not for the faint hearted!!!!
The nieces had been to evening school which really got me thinking about Malaysia's incredible success in moving up the economic league tables, a subject to which I will return as a look back on my time in Malaysia.
Anyway, a bit more driving to get to our restaurant, this time offering authentic Malay cuisine. More fun eating then onto a night street market - think of a really busy market but still heaving with the throngs of browsers and at MIDNIGHT, for heaven's sake and you get the picture, this is KL, the city that never sleeps!
But talking of sleep, it was time to take Hanie's nieces home then be taken back to the hotel for some kip myself. Thanks for an amazing experience, ladies!
Dateline Wednesday 27th July Getting There
So we rejoin the blog at the start of the flight, at 9pm the previous night (Tuesday 26th July). Sitting down in my seat in the aircraft, after all the frantic preparations the holiday is really starting, it's not a dream, it's a reality.
Emirates was the airline I chose, mainly on Jubbly's recommendation as an carrier providing a high quality of service, plus a generous luggage allowance, which I needed!:-) The service was certainly exceptional, although I can't say that I exactly had bags of leg room, but maybe you need to be a first/business class passenger for that!
I was knocked out by the cockpit view of the runway displayed on the screens for all to see, quite something. A phenomenal choice of in-flight entertainment too, although I couldn't really be bothered with it being knackered due to staying up all night. The meal was very good indeed, much better than some I've had. I tried to sleep but I think I was too tired, managing not much more than a few minutes and that certainly didn't refresh me.
But before I knew it, seven hours had elapsed and we were touching down in Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates, around 20 minutes ahead of schedule at around 6:45am. As the main luggage was being transferred to the next flight, all I had to do was take the hand luggage with me off the plane. Then it was a matter of going through immigration and then into the Arrivals hall. Now I knew that the Arab world was pretty well-heeled but the sheer opulence of the Duty Free area was just jaw dropping - I can quite honestly say I've never seen anything like it! You realise at times like that just where the wealth is in this world.
I hadn't changed any UAE currency so it was a matter of going to the hole in the wall and drawing out a modest amount, sufficient to get me some food. I found a French patisserie place and had a couple of cakes and a coffee, finding that, yet again, time seemed to zoom by. Two and a half hours had elapsed and, as it was time to check-in, I made my way to the relevant gate. Boarding didn't start on time but they soon got us on and we were off again! Another seven hours in the air!
This time I had a really interesting flight passenger sitting next to me. Originally from Pakistan, he had lived in Malaysia for a number of years and was currently a Professor in Electrical Engineering at City University, London. We had a lot in common as I'm a graduate Electronics Engineer and we spent quite a few hours enjoying some fascinating conversation. He told me how he works with a number of Asian universities, especially those in Malaysia, which get involved in research projects with his university - this tends to be funded by the relevant government and is a way of them building contacts and getting experience at the ground floor level in technological developments. The picture that emerges is of foreign governments who want their countries to get ahead in the technological race and are prepared to invest to make it happen.
Nothing to add regarding the quality of Emirates' service, top notch as before. The journey was nearly over, apart from one last hop, that of the domestic flight to Penang. I was given ambiguous instructions as to where to go, resulting in me queuing up in the wrong place, but eventually found the right place, however at the price of me not having time to get something to eat before the flight. Checking in through immigration had them querying the amount of medication I was carrying but my explanation was accepted without a quibble.
This time, a Malaysia Airlines flight, lasting just 50 minutes, a more modest and relaxed affair being a domestic flight. The offer of juice was gladly accepted together with some nibbles.
Then, at 00:45 Malay time on Thursday morning, I finally got to my destination, the island of Penang. Jesse, her sis Adde and friend Hanie were waiting for me and I was able, at long last, to play out my surprise - my transformation from beard and moustache to cleanly shaven. A warm reception from my dear friends and a good reaction from the lady regarding the shaved face!
Loading the car up, we then went for a drive to find somewhere to eat, enabling me to unwind and get a taste of Malay cuisine on Malaysian soil. Jesse and Hanie had fun winding up the waiter, poor lad, they had him running round in circles, the start of a real fun-filled few days.
Then it was time for us all to go "home", an apartment they'd booked out of town. A quick unpack, a shower and off to sleep after my first few hours on Malaysian soil.
Emirates was the airline I chose, mainly on Jubbly's recommendation as an carrier providing a high quality of service, plus a generous luggage allowance, which I needed!:-) The service was certainly exceptional, although I can't say that I exactly had bags of leg room, but maybe you need to be a first/business class passenger for that!
I was knocked out by the cockpit view of the runway displayed on the screens for all to see, quite something. A phenomenal choice of in-flight entertainment too, although I couldn't really be bothered with it being knackered due to staying up all night. The meal was very good indeed, much better than some I've had. I tried to sleep but I think I was too tired, managing not much more than a few minutes and that certainly didn't refresh me.
But before I knew it, seven hours had elapsed and we were touching down in Dubai, capital of the United Arab Emirates, around 20 minutes ahead of schedule at around 6:45am. As the main luggage was being transferred to the next flight, all I had to do was take the hand luggage with me off the plane. Then it was a matter of going through immigration and then into the Arrivals hall. Now I knew that the Arab world was pretty well-heeled but the sheer opulence of the Duty Free area was just jaw dropping - I can quite honestly say I've never seen anything like it! You realise at times like that just where the wealth is in this world.
I hadn't changed any UAE currency so it was a matter of going to the hole in the wall and drawing out a modest amount, sufficient to get me some food. I found a French patisserie place and had a couple of cakes and a coffee, finding that, yet again, time seemed to zoom by. Two and a half hours had elapsed and, as it was time to check-in, I made my way to the relevant gate. Boarding didn't start on time but they soon got us on and we were off again! Another seven hours in the air!
This time I had a really interesting flight passenger sitting next to me. Originally from Pakistan, he had lived in Malaysia for a number of years and was currently a Professor in Electrical Engineering at City University, London. We had a lot in common as I'm a graduate Electronics Engineer and we spent quite a few hours enjoying some fascinating conversation. He told me how he works with a number of Asian universities, especially those in Malaysia, which get involved in research projects with his university - this tends to be funded by the relevant government and is a way of them building contacts and getting experience at the ground floor level in technological developments. The picture that emerges is of foreign governments who want their countries to get ahead in the technological race and are prepared to invest to make it happen.
Nothing to add regarding the quality of Emirates' service, top notch as before. The journey was nearly over, apart from one last hop, that of the domestic flight to Penang. I was given ambiguous instructions as to where to go, resulting in me queuing up in the wrong place, but eventually found the right place, however at the price of me not having time to get something to eat before the flight. Checking in through immigration had them querying the amount of medication I was carrying but my explanation was accepted without a quibble.
This time, a Malaysia Airlines flight, lasting just 50 minutes, a more modest and relaxed affair being a domestic flight. The offer of juice was gladly accepted together with some nibbles.
Then, at 00:45 Malay time on Thursday morning, I finally got to my destination, the island of Penang. Jesse, her sis Adde and friend Hanie were waiting for me and I was able, at long last, to play out my surprise - my transformation from beard and moustache to cleanly shaven. A warm reception from my dear friends and a good reaction from the lady regarding the shaved face!
Loading the car up, we then went for a drive to find somewhere to eat, enabling me to unwind and get a taste of Malay cuisine on Malaysian soil. Jesse and Hanie had fun winding up the waiter, poor lad, they had him running round in circles, the start of a real fun-filled few days.
Then it was time for us all to go "home", an apartment they'd booked out of town. A quick unpack, a shower and off to sleep after my first few hours on Malaysian soil.
Saturday 30 July 2011
Dateline Tuesday 26th July 2011 Flying out...
Well, here I am, in the departure lounge of Dubai International Airport, having travelled overnight from Manchester. After a few weeks of preparation, I'm actually here but not without some frustrations en route.
A word to web designers of airline sites - do think about what you're doing and try to make it foolproof and do offer clear instructions. The first frustration was a few days ago when I was trying to book a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Penang via Malaysia Airlines - for some reason, the system didn't like my debit card details but invited me to try again. I did this a few times but with no joy and, in frustration had to ring the airline in KL on my mobile - expensive, but all I got was essentially "delete cookies, close your browser and try again". I didn't fancy waiting and clocking up more phone charges but I wish I had done because it didn't work. So, back to the infernal online queuing system and try again. This time, the guy on the line was basically saying you've got to wait about half an hour before retrying for the problem to work its way out of the system - this actually worked, so why didn't the website say that?
The second was yesterday, trying to check in online with Emirates. I had to enter in my son's phone details for next of kin - three boxes, international code, area code and phone number. Well, in common with a lot of youngsters, Simon doesn't have a landline, only a mobile which has no area code. Try as I may, the system wouldn't let me enter various permutations of his number, telling me to enter a valid number each time I failed! Phoning the UK call centre was frustrating - for the country code, I was variously recommended +44, 044, 0044. A similar palaver regarding which part of the mobile phone number to enter into the area code box. Why don't these people show some examples on their website? Or would that be too easy?
Anyway, that was then. The more recent activity was last night - I had so much to do to get ready that, around 2 or 3 am, I was panicking wondering whether I'd actually get everything done on time. It ended up with me staying up all night, but once I got going, sorting things out, it all got a bit easier.
In the morning, I took one lot of belongings to the storage unit and called in for a haircut on the way back to Glossop. Back to the house to have a shower and a shave, but this time, a shave with a difference. I'd decided a few weeks back that, after nearly 38 years, I was going to shave off my moustache and beard. It's been a trademark part of me for so long, but not without certain frustrations at times. But this is a new chapter in my life, so why not a new image too? Being one for surprises, I reckoned it would certainly be that for a certain someone in KL!
Then it was the onerous job of packing, something I loathe at the best of times, but even more so, now I was faced with flight weight restrictions. Let's just say that it was a nightmare, I ended up having to leave a load of stuff I really wanted to take with me, I mean, I'm gonna be away from home for a while! My backpack with all my computer and photographic gear was just short of 20Kg - then there was the little matter of the main suitcase itself. I even had to call in some Weightwatchers rejects to sit on the case and flatten it just to get the stuff in. Pity about the Ming vase, but hey! since people think I'm a crack-pot then they'll have to make do with me rather than the pottery!;-) I'd congratulated myself at doing such a good job of packing it until I discovered my toiletries upstairs, with not a cat in hell's chance of getting them in the case too!
Any euphoria totally evaporated when I weighed it all to find - surprise surprise, I was way over the limit! I nearly had a surprise bowel movement when I read the tariff for excess baggage! However, Emirates were offering a 20% discount if you booked your excess online, unfortunately my booking wouldn't go through, for some reason. So, in the end, I got a lift to the airport carrying, shall we say, a few more bags than I'd originally intended.
The check-in was, ermm, fun, NOT! I was told that my backpack could kill someone if it fell out. I felt tempted to claim their baggage allowance but decided it might not go down too well, so I didn’t go down that route, pleading ignorance and that, as I'd be away from home for eons, this was all vital stuff. The crunch came when they told me what the repair bill would be for the weighing equipment I'd just melted. At times like this, you realise your sense of humour is either off the scale, or the jobsworths have had a sense of humour bypass. I mean, I'd lost probably the same amount of weight in the last 18 months as I was presenting in excess baggage, surely this was a healthier option, LOL. No, I exaggerate slightly - my main bag was well within the allowance, so I was told to repack shifting some of the stuff out of the backpack into the main case. I went down that route and found, to my surprise, I was let in without any extra payment required!!!! Result! So I celebrated in Duty Free by buying a nice tripod!;-)
With all the faffing around I just about managed to get something to eat before the boarding ended, making it to the desk with about a minute to spare!
And before we knew it, 9pm was here and we were thundering down the runway with a big adventure ahead of me.
A word to web designers of airline sites - do think about what you're doing and try to make it foolproof and do offer clear instructions. The first frustration was a few days ago when I was trying to book a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Penang via Malaysia Airlines - for some reason, the system didn't like my debit card details but invited me to try again. I did this a few times but with no joy and, in frustration had to ring the airline in KL on my mobile - expensive, but all I got was essentially "delete cookies, close your browser and try again". I didn't fancy waiting and clocking up more phone charges but I wish I had done because it didn't work. So, back to the infernal online queuing system and try again. This time, the guy on the line was basically saying you've got to wait about half an hour before retrying for the problem to work its way out of the system - this actually worked, so why didn't the website say that?
The second was yesterday, trying to check in online with Emirates. I had to enter in my son's phone details for next of kin - three boxes, international code, area code and phone number. Well, in common with a lot of youngsters, Simon doesn't have a landline, only a mobile which has no area code. Try as I may, the system wouldn't let me enter various permutations of his number, telling me to enter a valid number each time I failed! Phoning the UK call centre was frustrating - for the country code, I was variously recommended +44, 044, 0044. A similar palaver regarding which part of the mobile phone number to enter into the area code box. Why don't these people show some examples on their website? Or would that be too easy?
Anyway, that was then. The more recent activity was last night - I had so much to do to get ready that, around 2 or 3 am, I was panicking wondering whether I'd actually get everything done on time. It ended up with me staying up all night, but once I got going, sorting things out, it all got a bit easier.
In the morning, I took one lot of belongings to the storage unit and called in for a haircut on the way back to Glossop. Back to the house to have a shower and a shave, but this time, a shave with a difference. I'd decided a few weeks back that, after nearly 38 years, I was going to shave off my moustache and beard. It's been a trademark part of me for so long, but not without certain frustrations at times. But this is a new chapter in my life, so why not a new image too? Being one for surprises, I reckoned it would certainly be that for a certain someone in KL!
Then it was the onerous job of packing, something I loathe at the best of times, but even more so, now I was faced with flight weight restrictions. Let's just say that it was a nightmare, I ended up having to leave a load of stuff I really wanted to take with me, I mean, I'm gonna be away from home for a while! My backpack with all my computer and photographic gear was just short of 20Kg - then there was the little matter of the main suitcase itself. I even had to call in some Weightwatchers rejects to sit on the case and flatten it just to get the stuff in. Pity about the Ming vase, but hey! since people think I'm a crack-pot then they'll have to make do with me rather than the pottery!;-) I'd congratulated myself at doing such a good job of packing it until I discovered my toiletries upstairs, with not a cat in hell's chance of getting them in the case too!
Any euphoria totally evaporated when I weighed it all to find - surprise surprise, I was way over the limit! I nearly had a surprise bowel movement when I read the tariff for excess baggage! However, Emirates were offering a 20% discount if you booked your excess online, unfortunately my booking wouldn't go through, for some reason. So, in the end, I got a lift to the airport carrying, shall we say, a few more bags than I'd originally intended.
The check-in was, ermm, fun, NOT! I was told that my backpack could kill someone if it fell out. I felt tempted to claim their baggage allowance but decided it might not go down too well, so I didn’t go down that route, pleading ignorance and that, as I'd be away from home for eons, this was all vital stuff. The crunch came when they told me what the repair bill would be for the weighing equipment I'd just melted. At times like this, you realise your sense of humour is either off the scale, or the jobsworths have had a sense of humour bypass. I mean, I'd lost probably the same amount of weight in the last 18 months as I was presenting in excess baggage, surely this was a healthier option, LOL. No, I exaggerate slightly - my main bag was well within the allowance, so I was told to repack shifting some of the stuff out of the backpack into the main case. I went down that route and found, to my surprise, I was let in without any extra payment required!!!! Result! So I celebrated in Duty Free by buying a nice tripod!;-)
With all the faffing around I just about managed to get something to eat before the boarding ended, making it to the desk with about a minute to spare!
And before we knew it, 9pm was here and we were thundering down the runway with a big adventure ahead of me.
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