Chinese New Year in Sydney

As Chinese New Year comes to a close this weekend marking 15 days of celebrations, I have to remark that Sydney knows how to celebrate! I think mostly due to the fact that weather isn't as much of a factor as it is back home (Vancouver). I think back on the Vancouver Chinese New Year parade where I can estimate say it's cold and miserable 70% of the time meaning people are marching and watching in layers and layers of clothing and ponchos and the lion dancers and performers brave the cold in their costumes.

Interestingly, an art exhibit that started with the Sydney Festival and is running through Chinese New Year was really interesting. This man, Song Dong, has placed all his family's belongings from China out on display. Every piece from their old home. Two things struck me - plastic bags folded into triangles and little scrap pieces of string tied nicely together to be saved. Both are things I and I know many other of my Asian friends do. I just never really thought of it being ingrained in our culture although I certainly know that saving everything because it could be useful one day, is pervasive in the Chinese culture which leads to clutter. The story of this exhibits explains why they collected "clutter" and I can understand. I find it interesting that as we come out of hard times, we still have these habits.

Chinese New Year in Sydney started off with a festival opening and Chinese Market in Belmore Park on the weekend that consisted of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. It was just a little market with some food stalls, but nothing like what we have home where we have trinkets, As-Seen-On-TV goods, and other knick-nacks and gimmicks for sale. I did miss that, but I figure it probably existed somewhere in the more Chinese suburbs of Sydney. And I missed my one opportunity to get Dragon Beard Candy which for as long as I recall, get every year in Vancouver during Chinese New Year. Also, I was able to hunt down "leen goh" (literally translated as "year cake") and "loh bak goh" (literally translated as radish cake) in Chinatown which made me a very happy camper. However, I really missed Mom's "loh bak goh" as she always gets the taste so spot on and it's loaded with goodies like "lap cheung" (Chinese sausage), "ha mai" (Dried shrimp), and shiitake mushrooms (no translation needed) without too much MSG.



Last weekend (the 2nd weekend) I went with a friend to go see the Chinese New Year parade. The first major difference I pointed out above with the weather. The second is that this one takes place at night and this time, on a Sunday night! Vancouver would never have this! It was fun to see floats all lit up and the route lit up by lights. They also included the Korean community as it's Lunar New Year and both communities celebrate it. You may have guessed already - one of the Korean groups Gangnam Style-ed the whole parade route!

Town Hall all lit up with projections for the New Year.

So there it is - Chinese New Year in a different city. I still have yet to spend on in an actual Chinese city or country and I vow to do it one day! 

Bali Part 1 - Kuta/Seminyak/Kerobokan

In mid-December I took a short 5 day trip to Bali on a shoestring budget. Once piece of advice - Bali is not for people with shoestring budgets who are travelling solo. It was a lot more expensive as I had expected and I suppose if you have time to use local transit and really dig to find cheap places to stay, it's do-able. Anyways...

I arrived near midnight on a Saturday night and the first thing I noticed walking out of the airport was that I wasn’t mobbed by taxi drivers. Although they asked if I needed a taxi, they were not nearly as aggressive as others I have encountered in Asia. I was first offered 120,000 Rupiah (Rp) for the ride to Happy Day Hostel in Kerobokan, I asked for 80,000 (Lonely Planet tells me that Seminyak, just south of Kerobokan costs up to 70,000Rp) and was turned down. So I walked away to go check with the counter and a few steps later the cabbie agrees to 80,000Rp. First negotiation - done.

On the way it was dark, of course, but there were definitely some similarities to Sri Lanka. Motorbikes riding near the shoulder, lines on the road are just suggestions, and little shops and eateries along the way. As we got to Kuta and through Seminyak, things got more touristy and quite a bit nicer. Reminded me of Sri Lanka combined with Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Got to the hostel where the security guy handed me my key and was happy to walk into a 10 bed dorm where 4 UK gals were still up. Quickly got settled and caught some zzzz’s dreaming of surfing the next day.

Pura Petitenget - A temple in Kerobokan near my hostel. Loved that it was very un-touristy and no one was in it.

Bright and early I woke up and met a nice couple from England having breakfast in the common area. We chatted over breakfast then while they figured out what to do for the day I headed down to Kuta to go catch some waves. Catch some waves… well, just a few. I’m not so good plus the guy I rented the board from put me on a 7 footer “beginner” board. To be fair, he did come out into the water and helped me out for awhile which was awesome considering I rented the board from him for 50,000Rp for two hours (I probably could have negotiated for 10,000Rp less, but that was a pretty fair price!). He was a pretty cool dude because when I realised I didn’t have enough money to cab back to the hostel afterwards he offered to take payment the next day. How trusting! I told him I wasn’t sure I’d be back, so I gave him the cash and decided to walk along the beach north back to the hostel.

Local satay vendor.

Walking along the beach was quite enjoyable. Although asked quite constantly if I wanted a sun bed, a gentle “no, thank you” was enough to stop them from asking and often was answered by a “you’re welcome” or “have a nice day”. I really couldn’t get over how nice the Balinese were – a few even engaged in a short conversation with the standard “Where are you from?” and “How long are you here for?” even after saying no to them. So nice.

What I thought were fish tanks were actually display cases of food!

After returning to the hostel I spent the afternoon contemplating whether or not to head to Ulu Watu or wait to do that until the end of the trip. I decided to wait then went back to the beach at late afternoon to try to catch the sunset. To my surprise, the beach was filled with locals with some vendors selling treats in what looked like fish tanks on top of their heads. I stopped by a guy roasting some corn on his trailer and a lady squatting over a small grill making pork satay. I took that back to the beach and enjoyed the setting sun and watching the locals enjoy some family and friends time. A superb way to end the day! 

Happy 2013 from Sydney!

 Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a wonderful and fulfilled year ahead.

This year, I had the pleasure of ringing in the new year in Sydney Harbour. No, I didn't get the view of the bridge I wanted, but did met a lovely gentleman who was there by himself with all a bit of his camera equipment who I chatted with throughout the day and then lent me his tripod and taught me a bit about how to shoot fireworks. :)

For people from Vancouver, the fireworks themselves are beautiful over the harbour, but not as impressive as the Celebration of Light. However, the fireworks off the bridge are a different story. Those, are spectacular - but I only got a glimpse of it in person. I vow to come back one day and pay the $600 or whatever it is to be on a boat (or a bit less to be on an island lol).

Here are a few of my favourite shots! (No filters, no touch-ups and no editing, other than the bottom left hand corner on some of them, I blacked out the LCD screen of another camera that was in my frame)

Courtesy Seats and Online Shaming

What really gets my blood boiling is that people play ignorance when someone elderly gets on the bus. Instead of offering their seat (and yes, they are sitting in the courtesy seats), they just keep their eyes on their phone/tablet and are fully engrossed in whatever they are texting/watching/reading. They never check who is around them. They never look up to see if anyone needs the seat more than them. The ones who are the worst offenders are people my age or younger. For goodness sake, can you give up the slight inconvenience that you won't be able to watch your show for just a moment as you get up to offer your seat to the person who needs it more than you? I suggest if you want to take advantage of the courtesy seat, that you look up every stop and see who is getting on a the bus or train out of respect.

So there's actually a solution to bring my blood back down to a simmer, but I've learned of it only recently. There's a website called STOMP that allows site users to post pictures of people behaving rather poorly on the road or on transit. Check out this page, and maybe have a laugh here.

Only issue is, that a lot of these posts have turned into personal opinions, rather than just shaming someone for breaking a rule. Like, there is a statement that it was "unsightly for a woman to be sitting with one leg up on a luggage". This is an opinion; not a rule. So, people have taken it beyond what this page is supposed to be an complaining (remember, people here self-proclaim the country is known for eating, shopping, and complaining).

I think this could really work, if appropriate moderators are in place. Back home, there have been so many times I would have loved to post a photo or a video of an idiot driver driving recklessly on a road. What do you think? Like the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riots, would this be of help or detriment to law enforcement?

Around the Big Island on Two Tanks of Gas – Day 3: Black Sand Beach, Turtles, and Green Sand Beach

What I loved about this trip most were my easy and unrushed mornings. I would wake up around 6:00 am when it got light, step out of the tent, stretch, wash up and then slowly prep and eat my breakfast. I typically sliced up from fruit to snack on throughout the day (oh the papaya, mango, star fruit, and dragon fruits were deelish!), slowly packed up and then by around 8:00 or 9:00 am was on the road to my next point of interest. So that was how this morning began ...

I was on the road to Black Sand Beach and got there nice and early around 8:30am. With the 2nd half of my breakfast in hand, I moseyed on over to the beach to find the turtles that my guidebook told me would be sunbathing there. On the way there, a family from Alabama caught my attention and told me there were 5 or 6 of them about halfway down the beach! Totally stoked, I soon spotted three on the beach and a couple of them floating in the shallow water seemingly enjoying each wave of water washing over them. I found a spot on the rocks, plopped down, then enjoyed the peacefulness of watching the turtles and feeling the sun rising higher in the sky.

As more tourists arrived over the next hour, I walked around to try to find a quieter spot. I found a tide pool where one turtle was cruising around on its own and watched it for awhile. I didn't leave soon enough though. As I once again set to find another quieter spot, an irresponsible tourist family took over my spot, saw the turtle, then approached it and touched it. For those of you who don't know, disturbing turtles in their natural habitat is illegal or "kapu", meaning forbidden, in Hawaiian. Not only that, as I'm sure we have all experienced with the numerous "don't feed the bears", "don't feed the birds" or "don't feed the raccoons" signs, it habituates them with human interaction which distracts them from their natural habits. So as the members of this family touched the turtle, I glared ... I even said something, but they ignored it while I died a little inside (like the time the man we went snorkelling with in the Maldives broke off a giant piece of coral by stepping on it, albeit accidentally). I was so angry that people could be so ignorant and inconsiderate. It took sometime for me again to recognize it was something I could not control, but I really was quite angry because turtles are such a precious and endangered species around the world.


After that, I decided I had to move on. I went on to Naahelu where I had a tent site booked at Margo's Corner. Margo herself was pleasant and such a trooper. She has Parkinsons and runs this little business plus a small shop on her own. She does have workers who visit to help her out and told me she was pretty independent as she's been meeting people from online dating the last few years. Go Margo! Anyhow, I set up my tent, tossed my stuff inside, then went off to find Green Sands beach!

Long, dusty, seaside walk to Green Sands! 

I was SO glad I rented an all-wheel drive SUV as the road from Naahelu to Green Sands Beach and South Point eventually became pot-holed and single-lane where you had to pull over onto the little shoulder there was to let oncoming cars pass. It was a scenic drive going by horse stables, pastures, and even a wind farm! I got to the very dusty parking lot, thought about driving a part of the dirt road towards the beach, but decided to park the car and do the hike/walk as planned. It's a walk - but on very dusty sand covered tracks in full and direct sunlight. It was quite windy which was really helpful in keeping the body temperature down, but I almost got burned having forgotten my sunblock back in the car!

The coast is gorgeous, on your right hand side, as you go along the numerous dirt tracks created by 4x4s. However, you look left and all you can see is brown sand and dirt which makes it look like you're trudging through a desert. There were some moments where I thought "is this really worth it?" Just over an hour later, I finally reach the site where I was rewarded with a uniquely green sand beach (from the Olivine eroded from the giant rock that frames the bay) and beautiful turquoise blue waters. It wasn't very busy as only about 10 others were there, and a one point, it was just me and 3 others. I sat in the shade of the rock and enjoyed a little picnic with my peanut butter and banana sandwich washed down by some green Powerade. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? ;)

The walk back was more enjoyable, because I wasn't thinking so much "are we there yet?" I got back, super dusty, headed back to Margo's for a shower then went to a local bar for a well-deserved (well, at least I thought) meal of Laulau. I found Laulau to be very similar to a Chinese soup made with pork/pork bones and watercress, except, minus the soup. After the filling meal, I spent some time in the common area of Margo's (just me) reading, planning my next day, and helping her do some of her giant puzzle before calling it a night.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Just a short one tonight. It's my 2nd Thanksgiving in a row away from home and it's put me in a very reminiscent mood. I cooked some chicken tonight after locating a can of cranberry sauce (which isn't too hard to find here, yay!) and a can pumpkin pie mix. As I admired my Thanksgiving creation, I couldn't help but think of the warmth of a family Thanksgiving dinner and all the smells associated with assortment of food our family has when we all get together.

I thought I had blogged about my last Thanksgiving and if I did, the post escapes me. I think I did something very similar - managed to locate a can of cranberry sauce in Colombo and cooked some chicken. :)  Here's to hoping that I can do the same for Christmas in Hong Kong this year (yes, I'm spending Christmas in Hong Kong!).

Tonight, I also sat at my computer browsing through the Facebook posts from a year ago. It's hard to believe that a year ago I had just returned to Colombo after a month abroad visiting India with a friend, wandering London, conquering Ireland, attending and working at the Isle of Man Commonwealth Youth Games, and learning at midterm in Cayman. Now I sit in Singapore, knowing that I have a plan that only goes as far as the beginning of January 2013.

Conquering Ireland! Not really, just being a dork in The Burren,  Ireland.

I'm a person who plans a lot - if you saw the spreadsheet that I had on my trip in 2007, and also last month for Hawaii, you might think I'm a little too detail-oriented. This past week in learning from two of the most amazing people I know, I really recognized that I could be a bit more spontaneous. I'm starting to think I've started this journey to do exactly that and for once in my life, not have every little step planned out. It's a little scary, but I'm going to enjoy the ride.

Speaking of this past week, I was humbled by how hard it is to facilitate rather than teach. I've been able to stand up in front of people and tell them what to do and present information, but I have never experienced what I did this week which was facilitating a participatory training session. It is incredible, that when you are specific with your instructions, the information and knowledge you can draw out of a group of people without telling them exactly what you are looking for can be so powerful. And, to be able to help them synthesize all their thoughts was such an incredible feeling. It was really hard though, and well outside my comfort zone. I'm looking forward to start exploring more about facilitation and getting opportunities to practice these techniques.

So maybe this post wasn't so short after all. =P Happy Turkey Day, Canada. I am thankful that I can do what I love and it's given me the opportunity to travel, live, and learn around the world. 

Singapore!

If you don't know yet, I took another placement with Commonwealth Games Canada's Capacity Support Program - this time in Singapore for three months. I got here EARLY on Saturday and have had a packed schedule since!

I had a great weekend of exploring and just getting the little things I needed to make life comfy here - some food, toiletries, my own mug, etc. The apartment is soooo luxurious. TV, garbage chute right in the apartment, plus it's serviced. Crazy to me, but pretty standard here, it seems!  Met up with a friend from Vancouver who was here to watch the F1 race (I sadly could not get a ticket to the race, nor could I afford it). I took local transport which is really well marked. The bonus is that it's so clean and it's air-conditioned. Ate some local food which I know I will enjoy immensely while I am here.

My first day at the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) was on Monday. They currently have a temporary office in the building of the Singapore Sports Council (SSC). I'm a short, sweaty 10 minute walk from the office. There are murals of national athletes all over the interior walls. I was so inspired when I walked in. The SSC has 150+ staff from marketing to sports medicine; all working together to manage sports in the country. The SNOC has 6 staff who so far have been super helpful and definitely keen to get started on Zeus. The staff go out for lunch everyday - generally at the local hawker centres close by where a lunch can be had for about 3 - 4 CAD and choices range from BBQ pork on rice to curry or laksa!

I was fortunate to have an invite extended to me to attend their London 2012 Athlete Appreciation Dinner last night. What an amazing event. In addition to the team being present, the Deputy Prime Minister who is also the President of the SNOC was the guest of honour, the super personable female Chef de Mission, and past Olympians including their first ever Olympic medallist from the 1960 Games in Rome. Probably better summed up here: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/olympians-feted-ceremony-medallists-get-cash-20120926.

Culturally, I'm a little nervous - only because it seems so familiar at times that I'm afraid I'm overlooking something. I get the humour, many of the traditions, the work ethic, and bits and pieces of the language (aside from English, Mandarin is commonly used). I already feel so much more at ease here than my entire last year which makes me a little cautious. I guess we'll just wait and see! One of the things I do hope to accomplish is that by the end of the three months, when someone asks me what I need in Mandarin, I'll be able to understand them even if I still have to respond on English.

So I hope to get one or two more posts up this week about Hawaii, but if I don't, it's because we're preparing for a week-long Zeus workshop that's happening next week AND it's Mid-Autumn festival this weekend. I'm really excited about both things, but will write about it afterwards!

Zai jian!

Around the Big Island on Two Tanks of Gas – Day 1: Mauna Kea

To my pleasant surprise, my awesome Hotwire deal got me a Ford Escape for $240/week. Even more surprising, I actually had a lot of fun driving this vehicle – maybe the first time I’ve enjoyed driving a domestic car! I managed just over 600mi in hitting all my sites and sights! Let's start with Day 1. 

I flew into Hilo from Honolulu on a Sunday morning arriving around 9:30am. My first order of business after picking up the car was stocking up at the local Wal-Mart with some basic dry goods and some camping fuel before setting off for my first adventure of the week: Mauna Kea. After stocking up and checking into the lovely Hilo Tropical Gardens where I had a cute little campsite and set up my tent in the rain, I booked it up to Mauna Kea OnizukaVisitor’s Center to make their 1pm escorted summit tour. It’s free, but you do need a 4WD or AWD to drive up to the summit. I make it there in the nick of time where we have a 1 hour film to watch about Mauna Kea, the observatories, and its flora and fauna. It’s also where our bodies start to acclimatize to the high altitude.

After the film, we all quickly do our washroom pit stop and then we all get in line with our vehicles to drive up as a convoy. Unfortunately, I caught a really foggy and rainy day so I felt like I was driving on Mars, surrounded by red rock and gravel, while being enveloped by clouds. As we get to the top, I hop out of the car and quickly notice I was a little unsteady on my feet! The altitude had definitely kicked in; I would compare it to being drunk. Being on the escorted tour meant we got to tour one of the telescopes. They took us into one of the Keck Observatory telesopes where we got to see the telescope rotate and move around. It was so massive and so cool to see the technology. This massive telescope weighing many tonnes had hydraulics that would allow just one person pretty much move it with just their arm. Okay, instead of getting into details, watch and listen to this video:

After that, we were free to explore the summit on our own. I was pretty set on seeing if the clouds would clear for the sunset so I was one of the people who decided to stay on the summit despite the single digit (Celsius) temperatures. I made the quick hike up to the summit as marked by a United States Geological Survey Marker and then huddled in the car for the remainder of the hour and a half until the sunset where I wished with all my might I would see it. No such luck. The whole time I was up there was rain, mist, and fog. By the time I started my descent, the summit temperature had dropped to 2 degrees Celsius. So close to snow!

The official summit of Mauna Kea. Okay, I lied. I got a glimpse of blue sky.

So back to the Visitor’s Center I go as they have a stargazing program every night (also free!). They sell bowl and cup noodles and I think the bowl I had was the best bowl I ever had being so cold after being on the summit. So remember how I said the stars were amazing when I was in Martinborough last year? Well, this blows that out of the water. Being at altitude with minimal light pollution, I have NEVER EVER seen so many stars or seen the Milky Way so clearly! I felt like I could just lie there and stare at the skies all night (except that it was cold). I was truly thankful for the volunteers and staff who run that program every night so that they can share such amazing sights. I wish that were my TV every night. At 10pm, the program ended so back down to Hilo I went for the night. I would have had a great night's sleep if it wasn't for the Coqui frogs!

Maldives - Male and Maafushi

Again, delayed in true Sri Lankan fashion. A cab we called for to pick us up at 4am to take us to the airport didn't find us until 4:30am. Anyways, we get to the airport, checked in, then after a short wait our flight was off to the Maldives!

About an hour later we could see below us the beautiful atolls and islands that makes up this incredibly beautiful nation. Being handed a landing card also provided us with some interesting facts. For example, did you know that materials deemed contrary to Islam, including "idols for worship" and "bibles" are illegal? Before arriving I had no idea the country was 100% Islamic.

The local ferry fully equipped with couch up front - probably just someone
shipping it from Male to Maafushi. 

We landed in Male on Saturday morning and it was an Islamic holiday so not much was open. We walked around trying to find some traditional Maldivian breakfast, but as it is often like in Sri Lanka, these local shops were filled with men and I just wasn't comfortable enough to walk in, even with Chad by my side. I think it's mostly because tourists to the Maldives don't see much of Male or local life as they only go through the airport to their waiting resort transfer. We eventually found a more Western cafe that served a Maldivian breakfast. We had about 4 hours to kill so we walked around some more after breakfast, found a supermarket, bought some food I hadn't in forever (i.e. Grass Jelly Drink!) and went to the city beach to snack a bit. After sometime, our guesthouse owner helped us find the local ferry and we were on our 1.5 hour boat ride to Maafushi!

Weather didn't look too great, but we were hopeful. On our way to Maafushi it started to rain a bit. We passed by numerous giant resorts and were anxious to see what our accommodations would look like for the next 5 nights. We arrived to gorgeous green and turquoise waters and a gentleman with a wheelbarrow waiting to walk us to our guesthouse. A short 300m walk later, we arrived at the White Shell Beach Inn that was well, right on the beach!

The gorgeous view - every day! 

The beach itself was small but where the locals frequent for a "sea bath" - Sri Lankan and Maldivian talk for a dip/swim in the ocean. It was GORGEOUS ... every morning we woke up and had breakfast with a view of the gleaming turquoise waters and bright white sand.

Some of the garbage strewn about and washes up ashore
on Maafushi.

We took our first day easy and met up with a local Council Member/Couchsurfer host, Ibrahim (thanks Habib for the connection!) who chatted with us and told us about the island, politics, culture, and environmental issues plaguing his country. As beautiful as the beach we stayed at was, not far from it and also on the other side of the island were piles of garbage strewn everywhere. The locals have not yet learned how to respect their land and the ocean, despite the fact their economy depends highly on both. After a slooow morning and afternoon just hanging out, we went on a night fishing trip with a Singaporean couple that arrived in the afternoon. We had a great night catching loads of fish while floating peacefully in the dark near a reef. We returned to the guesthouse with our catch where we got to pick the fish we wanted to eat and the guesthouse bbq'd it for us. YUM!

Relaxing at Biyadhoo!

Day two took us to Biyadhoo Island Resort where we could freely drink and sun tan in bikinis. Yes, those are also restrictions in this Islamic country. Being ultra-conservative, alcohol is illegal except on resort islands along with women wearing bikinis. Women in the Maldives go for a swim usually covered head to toe and if not, with pants/capris and a t-shirt on. We asked our guesthouse to pack us a breakfast which we had on the beach and then had lunch in the bar at the resort. I spent most of the day chasing fish in the water - best snorkelling I've had so far. Lots of coral (not multi-coloured everywhere though like they show in the tour guides) but plenty of fish and other sea life including a Moray eel. It was great!

The giant fish. See sunglasses for scale.

Day three was mellow day where we hung around the guesthouse until late afternoon where we went on a snorkelling excursion. The snorkelling was alright ... nothing we hadn't seen until we saw a manta ray! It was just chilling in the sand. Along the way, what did irk me was the family, who were weak swimmers, were taken on this excursion. The currents were moderate and they struggled the whole time even with life vests. They didn't use flippers and they probably should have. Not sure it would have made a difference, but my heart broke a little when the mother and father stood on coral, then broke some coral when the father kicked off again go get back to the boat. We never made it - the boat had to come to us. Props to the Maldivian snorkelling guide! He was practically dragging the family of three. We followed this up with more night fishing. It would have been peaceful except the little one of that family of three was a little terror - as he was through the entire stay. That aside, it was a quiet night without many bites, but it was this night that Chad caught the biggest fish of the trip!

Day four was another fairly slow start. I had been set on doing some squid/octopus catching so the guesthouse arranged for a couple locals to come guide us along the reef just off the shore of Maafushi. We were out there for about an hour and thought we were going to go back empty handed. However, at the very end when we were nearing our starting point, one of the guys did spear and catch an octopus. We were going to eat it for lunch but the poor time management of the guesthouse and kitchen ran the octopus excursion into our dolphin watching excursion. We asked them to save it for our dinner so that we and the Singaporean couple could take it to Ibrahim's for dinner that night. And quickly we were off again! On our first and third day we were able to spot dolphins from our guesthouse so the chances of spotting them by boat seemed like a shoe-in. Sadly, we scoured the waters around North Male Atoll for probably an hour with no luck. Our captain figured he needed to turn this excursion into something somewhat exciting so we did more night fishing! A few more bites than the night before (but nothing like the first night) and before we knew it we had dinner for the evening and headed back in.

Picnic Island. 

Day five was our final day and the day we were heading back to Male. We were going to take an early morning ferry, but was offered to share a speedboat transfer with the Singaporean couple later that day. It made a lot of sense since it would let us enjoy the day at Picnic Island before we went back to Male late afternoon. What a brilliant decision. Had a fantastic day on the almost deserted island with the occasional boat stopping over. This island truly was set up for for picnics. There were plenty of picnic tables and loungers for people to spend the day there. There was a stranded ship that looked like it had been there for quite some time about 300m off shore (Chad walked to it, I didn't). The waters were gorgeously clear and there was a sandbank at one end of the island. Bliss! When the boat came back to pick us up to go to Male we were certainly sad to go!

Male wasn't so bad. Many people say it's just a really busy city with nothing much to it. Yes, in some respects it is that, but I quite enjoyed their fruit market and seeing the mosque and Islamic Centre at night. Also to top it off, we booked at Sala Boutique Hotel which was an amazing place that was totally worth the splurge. Thomas, the owner, was such a hands on manager who looked after every detail to ensure our stay was perfect - even though we were only there for one night. He certainly knows the value of a happy guest! We had dinner there that night in his Thai restaurant where all the ingredients are flown in from Thailand each week (sorry my carbon footprint was not small that meal). That may have very well been the best Thai meal I've ever had. Then for breakfast it was German with ... you guessed it; ingredients flown in from Germany each week. He had bread that was homemade and baked in house - the best bread I'd had since leaving Vancouver! Chad was raving about the yogurt ... so good that I broke my lactose ban and had some. Agreed - so good I would replace ice cream with it.

After that wonderful breakfast we explored Male a little more before going to the airport late morning to catch the flight back to Colombo. I really didn't want to go! Now our mission is to find somewhere just as nice in the Caribbean which is just a little easier to get to!

Chad then had two more days in Colombo. I was really happy that he got to see and hang out with some of my friends here when one of them hosted a little get together at her place. We got to have some what of a "normal" routine where we actually cooked some meals and Chad got some homework done (he's finishing his CMA). It was a sad goodbye at the end of the weekend, but also optimistic knowing the larger half of my placement was over and that we would be able to spend time together in person again in less than 6 months.

You can see the Facebook album here.

And that my friends, is the end of Denise and Chad's Excellent Adventure. I'm certain we'll have many more adventures to come, and I promise not to take so long to blog about them!

Victoria Golf and Country Resort and Kandy

Our train ride to Kandy was nice - we rode in the first class observation saloon. It was a bit bumpy ... more than usual which makes me think it's because it's the last car on the train. We got into Kandy in the early evening, had some trouble finding a place for to leave our bags while we went to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. We wanted to leave it at a hotel thinking it would be safer, but we ended up leaving it with the bag drop at the front of the temple. That posed no issues so away we went!

Having visited twice before, I wasn't particularly motivated to come again. However, coming to see evening Puja definitely had a different feel. We were also lucky that it was a Poya day the next day so the moon was pretty much full which made the setting even more spectacular. On this particular night, there was a group of mostly elderly men and women who looked like they were from Thailand or Japan. Amazing to think that people travel just to come see the Temple (or make it the highlight of their journey).

After Puja I tried to call for a meter cab but with no luck. We eventually settled with taking a tuk tuk ... all the way to Victoria Golf and Country Resort. It was a LONG and DARK ride in that tuk tuk ... and the driver had no idea where he was going. For quite some time it just seemed like we were going nowhere! In the end we got there safely, but weren't exactly greeted warmly by the staff. I guess they had expected us earlier, but the didn't indicate that we needed to be there by a certain time for dinner. When we checked in, they initially told us dinner was over. Fortunately, the Chef agreed to cook some dinner for us. It's so Sri Lankan to not follow up on things and just kinda wait and let things be. A tip for their customer service would be to call the guest (you did take my number for a reason, no?) you are expecting if they haven't turned up by an expected time. I would have come earlier had I known!

Victoria Reservoir that borders one side of the course.

Anyhow, early the next morning we had a tee time booked for 6:30am. We were told to meet our caddies and ball boy at 6:15am. Again in true Sri Lankan fashion, they were late (the caddie master forgot we had a tee time, geez!) so didn't tee off until about 7am.

Putting while our two caddies look on. 

Yup. We each had a caddie and then shared a ball boy. Pretty amazing. Actually, it's required by the course. Having a caddie remind me of the things to focus on for each shot really helped. Maybe it's because it is warm here, but I didn't try to muscle the ball as I would usually back home and as a result, got my shots a lot straighter than I usually would. Despite the help from the caddies and ball boy, we were slow ... about 4 people played through us. We finished our round in about 4 hours and they say that average people play an hour faster. It's a pretty blistering pace! After that we had brunch then a nice dip in their infinity pool before just relaxing for the rest of the day.

The next day we headed back down to Kandy so we could catch our train at 3pm. I originally had some pretty ambitious plans to go see either the botanical gardens or the tea museum, but ended up a bit tight on time. We ended up wandering a bit through town and finding a nice place to sit (and so that Chad could do some work). We went to check out the Mlsena tea store and sat down for a nice cup of iced tea there away from the hustle and bustle of Kandy. After that we decided to settle at White House Restaurant where they conveniently had free Wi-Fi. We had to leave for a little while as they had to close for noon prayers (as they are Islamic) so we tried to find another place to hang out. We tried to find a place listed in the Lonely Planet, but it was no where to be found. We turned and started to head back to a place we had passed by. On the way, we were "befriended" by a local who in the beginning, seemed great to talk to. But, things got a little suspicious. I posted about this experience in a few places to warn others so I will copy and paste it here:

" A man on the street struck up a conversation and then suggested we go to have tea at a local tea shop. We were heading to the same shop anyhow so we went with it. We had a few short eats and some tea while he explained how his family owned a plantation and offered to ship 5kg of tea to my boyfriend as he has connections for shipping (he's a Port Master?) He stated shipping would only cost 220 LKR (or something really low). He talked about his family, how his daughter is married to a foreigner overseas, and how his son was about to go abroad to work in a hotel. To try and prove he was credible he showed us his son's visa. He also said if we were staying in Kandy longer he'd invite us to his house for lunch. He consistently returned to the point that shipping the tea to us would be no big deal and would always mention the cost.

Slowly things started to not add up. He was motioning the 5kg box of tea with his hand and the size he motioned was too small. Initially it sounded like he was going to ship for free then he straight up asked for the 220 rupees as we wrapped up with tea time. We declined saying we were uncomfortable with giving the money upfront, but happy to provide it once we received the tea. In our minds, we were thinking "220 LKR for a 5kg box? Too good to be true." I started to get the feeling this guy was a scam as when the bill came, he made no motion to pay or split the bill.

I have a sneaking suspicion this man does it regularly ... "befriending" travellers and seemingly appear generous and helpful with all his information, and then end up getting his tea and short eats paid for with a extra few hundred rupees. Chances are most travellers would be happy to pay someone so "friendly". His tone changed pretty quickly though when we backtracked on the tea and said we didn't feel comfortable giving him the money for shipping. I know it's not a lot, but it's the principle of the matter. Tea time quickly ended after that and he left just as quickly.

Anyhow, if you come across a man like this, it's your choice what you do. If you do/did give him money and you do end up with a 5kg box of tea back home, please let us know here that this man is not a scammer."

I got a few messages back from the forums I posted in confirming that this scheme is known to happen. I even got a message saying that the parents of someone living here who met this man, or someone selling a similar story, were still waiting for their tea! So people, beware!

Kandy does not have a nice reputation in my books anymore. After that incident we had the pleasure of dealing with a very persistent tout for a guesthouse. As Chad was taking photos around the lake, he repeatedly asked "Guesthouse? Guesthouse? I know one. Cheap." etc, etc. Anyhow, after many attempts at asking him to leave, telling him we didn't need a place, and having him talk to my hand, I said "GO AWAY". He then had the nerve to scold me about how rude it was of me to ask him to go away! We bickered a bit as I wasted my breath trying to reason with him that what he was doing warranted that reaction from me and explained it's people like him that give this country a bad reputation. Eventually we just had to walk away and ignore him even though I was fuming! Anyways, Kandy is now one of my least favourite places because of people like the ones I just mentioned. Such a shame.

So after all that, we were finally on our way back to Colombo where we had less than 12 hours before were to go on our way to the airport to catch our flight to ..... THE MALDIVES!

BTW, sorry for the long delay in between posts! Since getting back I've pretty busy and also trying to get Christmas all figured out. I've also resurrected my Twitter - you can see my latest Tweets on the right hand side of this page. Please follow if you have an account and I will do the same! 

Nuwara Eliya and Horton's Plains/World's End

Nuwara Eliya was a long, bumpy, windy, and squishy 5 hour bus ride from the junction by Tissamaharama. We made the mistake of sitting at the back of the bus (they were the only two seats together that were still available). With about an hour left in our ride we finally got seats near the front which was SO MUCH BETTER! I would recommend to anyone to sit separately near the front of the bus than to sit together at the back of the bus if you had to make the choice! Regardless, the seats anywhere on a bus is made for tiny skinny Sri Lankans. Chad definitely did not fit in these seats (and those who know him also know he is not that big).

Morning view from King Fern Bungalow

We arrived at the Nuwara Eliya bus station and was promptly greeted by Wasantha, the manager of the King Fern Bungalow (not to be confused with King Fern Cottage, owned by his brother Nishantha). Up one of the hills we went to the guesthouse perched high on one of the surrounding hills with a gorgeous view of town centre. We checked into our room on the second floor which had a beautiful view off the balcony. We were eager to explore the town so Wasantha quickly drew up a little map that showed us the path to walk down to town (about 7 minutes) and we were on our way! We passed by a few kids playing cricket, saw the Cargills Food City that still had all their old colonial signage, had some short eats at a local vegetarian restaurant (best vada ever!), walked through the public golf course, and enjoyed the cool weather that was so familiar to us. The air was cool and crisp and a bit damp. Loved it! We had another amazing Sri Lankan meal, this time, prepared by Wasantha's wife, Chithra, and her helpers.

Dawn with Adam's Peak in the background.

The next morning we shared a van with three others to Horton's Plains for a 10km, relatively flat hike with some pretty uneven and muddy terrain though. We departed just before 5:30am with breakfasts packed for us and reached the park at about 7:30am after another very slow and bumpy ride. Along the way we spotted the silhouette of Adam's Peak along the road as the day broke.



We got out of the van to pay our entrance fees (again, expats with a residence visa have a much cheaper rate at 60 LKR compared to the 2500 LKR for foreigners) and was hit with cold! It was foggy and damp with temps probably hovering around 10 degrees. Not that cold, but certainly a big difference from the 30+ we were in down in Yala. We quickly hopped back into the van and drove to the parking lot which was our starting point.

World's End

It wasn't long until we were pretty warm while moving along the trail and the sun was breaking through the fog. It was a leisurely walk as we occasionally stopped at the informational signs to read about the flora and fauna of the plains. Within 45 minutes we had reached Mini World's End which was beautiful. After a brief stop and a few clicks of the camera we continued to what we really came for, World's End. That was probably roughly another 30 mins on so we were there by 9:15am. It was perfect timing as we took our time snapping shots and taking in the view. We sat down for breakfast as we watched the clouds and mist roll in over the view at around 10:00am. So peaceful.

The hike back to the car seemed much longer. On the way back was the beautiful Baker's Falls. We also stopped on the plains by the river to have a snack ... I didn't want to leave! I would have loved to set up a tent there and just stay there for awhile. It reminded me of home with "real" grass (i.e. grass like home and not Sri Lankan grass) with pine trees and rhododendrons all over along with the fresh air and clear visibility. Would love to go back one day and just spend the day in the park.



We got dropped off in town on the way back so we could have lunch then head down to the Mackwoods Labookellie Tea Factory.  The tour was lacklustre. When we first arrived we were told it would only be 5 minutes until the next tour. Then it was 15 minutes. Then 40 minutes later after being rather exasperated, we finally got a tour of the tea factory. The tour guide herself was real nice, but the cashier behind the counter of the tea room was rather cranky and had  a poor attitude tossing boxes of tea that customers were purchasing nonchalantly and pretty much throwing change back at them.

Anyhow, after that we headed back to our guesthouse where we had our 2nd lovely meal with Wasantha and Chithra along with our fellow adventurers.

Tea plantations near King Fern Bungalow. 

The next morning we woke and got ready for a stroll through some tea plantations Wasantha would take us on. What an amazing walk. Sunny morning, greenery all around, and Wasantha guiding us while answering all our questions about tea. He also found a tea picker who was nice enough to let us take photos with her and pick some tea. She was young and very genuinely nice, unlike the older tea pickers who actually beckon you to take photos with them so they can force you to pay them for that opportunity. We tipped this wonderful woman afterwards, anyways. I hope though, that through the years she doesn't become like the older women. After our walk, we had breakfast, then we were off to the train station to catch the train to Kandy! 

Kataragama and Yala National Park

A brief stop in Matara.

No time machines in this excellent adventure, but lots of good times were had! In Part 1 of our adventure, we started off in a rather cramped A/C bus in Colombo heading to to Galle. A brief pit stop in Galle to use the bathrooms and stretch our legs we quickly continued to Matara, this time on a regular non A/C bus. We briefly stopped in Matara for lunch before getting a bus to Tissamaharama, where our accommodations would be for the next two days. Travelling along the coast rather than going inland rewarded us with some amazing views of the coast!

In the garden of My Village Guesthouse.

We booked at My Village Guesthouse which turned out to be one of the best guesthouses I've stayed at so far. Sujith, the owner and his friend Alae, who was down from Colombo helping him were amazing hosts. We wanted to get to Kataragama for the evening puja (about 7pm) pretty quick so they helped us organise a tuk tuk for 1200LKR. No hassles, no problems!


Puja at Kataragama was interesting and different. Unfortunately, it was raining so we spent quite some time just standing under cover. I was later told that the Puja at Kataragama is mostly attended by Hindus and Tamils which have different traditions than the Sinhalese (as witnessed at Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic/Sri Dalada Maligawa). We saw one lady who was twirling head of long hair around (similar to headbanging) to the chiming of the bell at the temple, like she was possessed by some sort of spirit. Then there were a couple of different groups with drums, flutes, dance, and chants that paraded through the grounds touching and worshipping in particular ways. The one thing that I wanted to see was people smashing coconuts. So there are these two, giant tiles I suppose, in the ground on which people wish upon their coconut. This said coconut is sometimes on fire. When the wish is completed, the wisher smashes the coconut into the ground. If it breaks, it's good luck. If it doesn't, well, I guess what you wished for doesn't come true!

We got back to My Village to an amazing Sri Lankan dinner consisting of the proteins of our choice (chicken and fish) accompanied by 6 other side dishes! We were stuffed at the end and still couldn't finish. We got our full day safari organised for the next day (8000 LKR for the jeep and driver/guide + entrance fees). A note to expats with residence visas - try to get your driver to get you the local entry fee. It's something like 150 LKR as opposed to 2500 LKR! Photo is on my iPhone... will upload when I remember!

Entry Gate to Yala.

The next morning we were up at 4:30am with a tea ready for us. Alae and Sujith had been up preparing and packing our breakfast and lunch which we would eat in the park. Just after 5:00am we departed with our awesome driver who passed a bunch of jeeps on the way to the park to get us as close to the front of the pack as he could. We were in the park by 6:30am in time for the sunrise and immediately started to spot animals! We broke for breakfast at around 9:30am at a stopping point on the beach in the park. Most half day safaris leave the park by 10:00am leaving the park to just those on the full day safaris (which was just a handful) so when we drove around for another hour and a bit it was much more peaceful, allowing us to observe the leopard we spotted for quite some time!

We stopped by the river for lunch for a couple hours before starting the afternoon portion of the safari. Again a bonus was being able to start before all the afternoon half-day jeeps arrived. During this period we had some amazing close encounters with a few elephants where they were just a foot from the jeep while walking by. Just amazing. Also these elephants were such a contrast to the elephants in chians at Pinnewala, which I really don't like.

It started to rain, then pour at around 3:00pm. However, we weren't quite done yet! The jeep drivers have a bit of a network so if they spot a really cool animal they call each other. So at this point, there was word a sloth bear was spotted so we were rushed to that position where about 10 other jeeps were already. However, our driver, being patient, predicted that the sloth bear would exit the brush a little farther back and backed us up away from the other Jeeps. Eventually he moved a bit forward again but he was spot on! We got the closest sighting of the bear as it walked right past our jeep!

On our way back it was a bit of a slow trip on the wet rainy roads following or passing the local motorbikes/scooters/tractors. We waved to many of these locals and got some great smiles. One local man and his family on a scooter even tried to have a conversation with us while driving along! We arrived back at My Village for another amazing dinner after a nice shower. After dinner, Sujith asked us to help him place his guesthouse on Google Maps. This came up because when I booked his guesthouse I asked him to point out where he was located on Google Maps. Anyhow, it wasn't a really easy task as Tissamaharama ends up being Trincomalee on Google Maps but we figured it out eventually (we put Hambantota which allowed us to tag his guesthouse in Tissa). Sujith was so appreciative and we were so happy we could help!

The next day we were a bit sad to leave, but after a relaxing breakfast in the garden we said our goodbyes as the tuk tuk they arranged for us pulled away to drive us to the junction where we needed to catch our bus to Nuwara Eliya!

For more photos, go to my Facebook album.

Grand Adventure Part 6 (Cayman Islands)

Chad is arriving in 26 hours ... and then we set off on a two week trip through parts of Sri Lanka and then to the Maldives. Life has been pretty all over the place (literally), but I will most certainly have an update after the Commonwealth Games 2018 host city is announced! In case you don't know, Hambantota on the south coast of Sri Lanka is competing against the Gold Cost in Australia. I honestly can't tell you who is going to win and who I want to win because like so many others, I keep flip flopping on the pros and cons. I don't envy the CGAs who have to make a decision on who to vote for!

Back to the adventure ...

So from the Isle of Man we left to go to London, met up with two other CSOs, Wendy (Uganda) and Natalie (Falkland Islands) and spent a night in disappointing 2 star "hotel" in a dingy basement triple room that smelled musty. The company was great though, we had a nice walk around in Covent Garden, and we were thoroughly excited for Cayman Islands!

We flew via Miami and reach Cayman on the evening of the 15th September. Greeted by all the CSOs we were relieved to find beautiful rooms at the Grand Cayamanian Resort and being in the company of familiar faces. Being exhausted, I hit the bed pretty early after dinner so to be ready for the next day!

Despite what some might think, we were in the boardroom from 9 - 5 everyday with the exception of one day ... where we made an afternoon trip to 7 mile beach (SO SO goregous!) I wish I had photos - I forgot my camera that day. :( Needless to say it was relaxing and really enjoyable. Jennie (CSP coordinator) did some one on one meetings, including mine, in the water. Now that is what I call an effective meeting! Aside from that, quite a bit of time was spent in the morning and evenings by and around the pool as the ocean off this resort had jellies in the water. We only learned after Nat and Jennie got stung!

We also met up with the Cayman Hash House Harriers who were an extremely hospitable group and made us feel so welcome! It was a "Hash Bash" meaning they had met some major milestone (in this case, the 1750th hash in the history of the club). The challenge that day was that it was a short run/walk (4km) but every km they had stopping points where participants, if they chose to participate, had to down a beer at each stopping point. Hearing from those who tried it, it was tough!

Anyhow, our midterm training in Cayman was incredibly rewarding. There was a lot of self-discovery through a lot of the nervous and anxious energy I was harbouring. I got some reassurances with what I was doing is in a positive direction and a much needed injection of self-confidence. We worked more on our cross cultural skills, problem solving, assessing our personal and professional progress, as well as evaluating the program thus far. We also did some work on principled negotiation ... I really need to work on that!

It was really hard to leave this group to come back to Sri Lanka. Not that I don't like Sri Lanka, but when you are with people who you are close to and love it's hard to leave them. I had spent the last month with some of the closest friends I have from meeting Linda in India, travelling with Paddye through Ireland and the UK, spending time with Wendy and Nat, then with the awesome CSOs in Cayman Islands. Additionally, for three weeks I had let my guard down and didn't have to deal with the constant questions of whether I needed a taxi, where I'm from, what I'm doing, or the staring. As much as those things don't really bug me, I am consistently in a heightened state of alertness which is a bit tiring and exhausting!  This was a really foreign feeling from the first time I left Vancouver. The difference I think was that I didn't have a benchmark of what it would feel like living alone, away from home, for an extended period of time. My trip back to home away from home felt like I was missing something ... but it wasn't long until I got back into my routine and things felt better again.

With that I conclude my Grand Adventure. I did spend one more day (12hr layover) in London on my return trip from Cayman back to Sri Lanka where I wandered around the Museum of Natural History (really cool place!) and Oxford Street. Photos will be on Facebook, eventually!

I also want to take this chance to thank my readers. I know many of you are reading this to just see what I'm up to, but I am also getting hits from some countries I wouldn't expect - particularly on my posts for the Kandy Esala Perhera and my stakeholder map! I also want to say that if you are one of those people who have ended up at my blog because you are searching for an image or information on travelling (or whatever else I have written about), please don't hesitate to send me a message/email if you have any questions! 

Grand Adventure Part 4 (Ireland to Isle of Man)

Sorry for the hiatus! I was prepping for, then attended the South Asian Beach Games in Hambantota the last two weeks. But, to pick up where I left off...

We had our tickets booked from Dublin to Douglas, Isle of Man departing roughly around 10am to arrive in Douglas at 1pm. We got up and left the hostel just after 9am to catch a bus to the ferry terminal, only to find they don't run a bus service for the Isle of Man Steam Packet ferry (they only do for Irish Ferries and maybe the Stena Line). So we paid an exorbitant amount for a cab to get to the Dublin Ferry Port where we immediately found out our ferry had been cancelled due to rough seas.

Now, this doesn't happen very often. They gave us our alternative route to which we went O.O and :O We looked for a way we could call Richard, our CGF Zeus guru and supervisor at the Games (and with all things related to Zeus). I had no credit left on my mobile phone and there was no free wi-fi. Paddye ponied up her credit card and used their public phone to call (the bill, we later found out, was also exorbitant) and find out what we should do. Booking last minute flights turned out to be way too expensive so the alternative route we would travel. Here is our journey, documented in photos:

Leg 1: Dublin Ferry Port to Dun Lagohaire Ferry Terminal @11:30am

Leg 2: Dun Lagohaire to Holyhead, Wales @1:15pm

Leg 3: Holyhead to Liverpool @3:45pm

We had dinner in Liverpool in this awesome little pub in the downtown/financial district (which was deserted by 6pm, by the way). It was cheap (i.e. less than 10 pounds for dinner) and DELICIOUS. And the staff were so nice ... they got the ingredient list for the things I wanted to eat and just really understood that an allergy is not to be taken lightly. They were concerned when their bread didn't have an ingredients list. So sweet. In the end we tipped them a little bit and they were so shocked that we would want to do that for them. They had to ask if we were sure we wanted to leave a tip and we were both like, "yeah!".

Leg 4: Liverpool to Heysham @ 9pm

Leg 5: Heysham to Douglas, Isle of Man @ 2:15am

Leg 6: Douglas Ferry Terminal to Hotel @ 6:15am (luckily this was only 2 minute ride).There's no photo here because we were so exhausted from the cold on and off again napping on the ferry and well, I think I just simply forgot.

By the way, we didn't shower that morning because we were staying in a hostel in Dublin and just couldn't be bothered to. We thought that we'd be just a few hours away from a posh hotel with an awesome shower and decided we'd just wait. We were so wrong in that decision! So what was supposed to be a simple, 3 hour, ferry trip turned into a 19 hour journey. Needless to say, were exhausted and feeling rather gross. We checked into the hotel, showered, took a 2 hour nap, then went straight into our work!