11am Friday, March 17, 2006 Lower Hutt

We were supposed to be in Queenstown on the South Island today, but instead we’re still in Lower Hutt, a suburb of Wellington. More on that in a bit.

The drive from New Plymouth to Lower Hutt was quite nice. We stopped twice to get out of the car and stretch our legs. We entered the Lower Hutt area just before rush hour, and would have been snug in a motel by 5pm if we hadn’t missed a turn. It took quite a while to get back on track, so Simone had to navigate into Lower Hutt during full traffic which was quite stressful.

A view of Kapiti Island:


It also took a while to find a motel. The first three we stopped at were full. Apparently that is quite common, even in the off-season. One of the motel owners called around and found a room for us at the Fern Hill Motor Lodge. We settled in there, then drove into Petone (an area of Lower Hutt that’s right on the harbour) for dinner at Valentine’s.

The best thing about Valentine’s wasn’t the food – it was the people-watching. We had to wait in the lounge until a table was ready. There were a few other groups waiting in the lounge as well, including a large Maori family. One of the women had traditional tattoos on her lips and chin. Another group waiting in the lounge were, well, fashionable in the 1981 sense and were “beautiful on the inside”. One of the women had used a feat of bra engineering to lever her breasts up to an unnatural height so they could hang alluringly out of her blouse.

After dinner both Mom and I were exhausted so we went back to the hotel and straight to bed. Mom could barely breathe and only slept about an hour that night. In the morning she stated “I want to see the doctor”, which was a surprise because earlier she’d stubbornly resisted any suggestions to see a doctor.

Simone and Bruce went for a run then had breakfast, then drove Mom to a clinic. The clinic didn’t accept foreign patients so they directed us to Emergency at Hutt Hospital. They took some blood tests at 11am and the results were back within an hour but Mom had to wait until 3pm to see a doctor. The doctor ordered a chest x-ray and another blood test, and at 6pm admitted Mom to hospital. He thought that Mom might have a pulmonary embolism as well as a severe viral chest infection.

Mom in Emergency, waiting for the doctor:


Back at the motel I phoned Mom’s travel insurance company to update them on her condition. With Bruce’s help I also phoned Air New Zealand and our travel agent to see if we could cancel or postpone our flights to Queenstown the next morning, but it was too late to make changes.

Simone and Bruce went to dinner at Regan’s where they got to meet Regan’s new wife Megan. Aunty Rose was at dinner as well. I stayed home and had dinner at the motel because I had developed a head cold and didn’t want to spread it around.

We got up early to check out of the motel, then visited Mom at the hospital. She was looking and feeling much better. A swarm of doctors came around at 11am and explained that she did not have a pulmonary embolism. However, she did have a very bad chest infection and needed to stay in hospital for one or two more days in order to complete a course of intravenous antibiotics.

Mom after a night in hospital:


From the hospital we drove to Aunty Rose’s. She had departed for New Plymouth to attend an important school celebration and planned to be away for a few days. She left the key out and instructions to make ourselves at home. I packed an overnight bag for Mom which we dropped off at the hospital, then Simone and Bruce departed for Napier.

I was absolutely knackered so I went to bed at 2pm. I slept until damn near 7pm. When I woke up I wasn’t feeling very hungry but forced myself to walk down to the local chippy where I ordered fish and chips for one person. They gave me two pieces of fish and about a pound of chips.

I ate some fish and chips and watched a bit of TV then went to bed. I slept straight through until 10am. I still have the head cold but at least I’m not coughing up a lung anymore. I don’t have much energy so I’ll probably walk to the Internet café and post this, come back to Aunty Rose’s for a nap, then catch a cab to the hospital to see Mom this afternoon.

Mom will likely be discharged tomorrow. We’ll stay at Aunty Rose’s until we’re both feeling up to travelling again. We will try to see some of the South Island. The original plan was to be in Queenstown until Tuesday, move on to Dunedin for a couple of days, and then move on to Christchurch. We’ll probably catch the ferry to Picton and train to Christchurch and carry on with our itinerary from there.

11am Monday, March 13, 2006 New Plymouth

In Auckland we were kept up half the night by some British travellers who were boozing it up on the patio below our room at the hostel. That’s the thing about hostels - sometimes you get a good sleep, sometimes you don’t.

We had breakfast at the café below the hostel then called a cab to take us to the bus depot. It was the cabbie’s first day on the job and he didn’t know where the depot was. I knew the name of the road so he just drove down the road until we found the depot.

The bus depot was the same as any bus depot. The staff were taciturn, the patrons varied from old ladies to young students, and the waiting area was bare and unattractive. The bus was quite nice, though, with large windows and comfortable seats.

I slept for most of the trip. I woke up for lunch at the Big Apple road house. Mom had pumpkin soup and I had a meat pie. I fell asleep again as soon as we were back on the bus. I woke up when I felt the bus turning left and right rapidly. We were ascending Mt. Messenger. The mountain ridge was covered with palms and tropical foliage and reminded me strongly of the jungle areas of Malaysia.

New Plymouth was bigger than I expected. Bruce’s sister Joy met us at the bus depot and took us out to Stratford, a Shakespeare-themed town near New Plymouth. We watched the glockenspiel, a clock that plays scenes from Romeo and Juliet. From Stratford we drove to Joy and Brian’s farm, Freehaven, where they raise sheep and beef cows.

We had a great dinner of fresh lamb (slaughtered the day before), potatoes, peas, carrots, and so on. The conversation touched on environmental change, farm subsidies, world politics, and much more. Mom was on the first day of a cold and went off to bed at 9pm. The rest of us followed shortly afterwards.

Joy had put a heated blanket on the bed. I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off so it was on all night. That was fine – I was “snug as a bug in a rug” – and had a great sleep. I woke up to the sound of the cows crying. Brian had weaned the calves from the cows a few days before and they had been crying for their calves since then.

After breakfast Brian took us down to the shearing shed and sheared three sheep so we could see how it is done. The dog, Ted 7, had a blast rounding up the sheep and getting them into the run. In the shed Brian showed us the shears, then grabbed a sheep and showed us how he holds the sheep to keep it quiet and cuts the wool from the stomach, the head, the back, and the legs.

Ted 7 rounding up the sheep:



Brian showing us the shears:


Brian shearing a sheep:


Naked sheep:


After shearing, Brian drove us out into the fields in the “ute”or utility vehicle. The highlight, for me, was driving amongst the cows. They ran away from the ute at first, possibly because Ted 7 was in the ute and had separated them from their calves recently. When we got out of the ute the cows were bolder and came up close to us. They were beautiful. Some had horns and some didn’t. I was surprised to see them eat thistles but Brian explained that they ate everything.

Ted 7 in the ute:


Brian and Ted 7 overlooking the fields:


Joy and Brian and Ted 7:


Cows, cows, everywhere:


On the drive back to the farm house I started coughing. I had picked up Mom’s cold. We stuck around the house for the afternoon because Mom and I weren’t feeling well, and drove over to Christine and Peter’s place around 6pm. Christine and Peter have just built their house and the yard is still dirt, but you can tell that the yard is going to be beautiful when Christine gets finished with the landscaping.

Simone met us at the door, followed by Bruce, and we were busy catching up when Karen, Brad, and their four kids arrived. Karen is Christine and Peter’s oldest daughter. The kids made themselves at home, playing games on the television and milling around the kitchen. Peter put steak and sausages on the BBQ and when they were cooked Christine pulled out the rest of the feast: roast chicken, potatoes, pasta salad, green salad, pickled beets, bread, and more. The kids filled their plates first, then the adults.

After dinner Christine brought out a carrot/birthday cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. Karen’s son Cameron blew out the candles for me (I didn’t want to spread my cold) and Christine brought out more desserts: pavlova, ice cream, and fruit torte. Everyone was given a bowl, into which they put a piece from every dessert. I wasn’t feeling great so I stuck with pavlova.

I went to bed early, around 8pm, because I was feeling so awful. I slept okay but woke up early with a severe cough. Mom woke soon afterwards with an equally bad cough. We dosed ourselves with Tylenol Flu and Benelyn cough syrup and felt good enough to go for a tour around New Plymouth with Christine.

Christine took us to Paritutu, a volcanic rock that juts up sharply from the coastline. You can hike up Paritutu but we didn’t because it was a bit windy and cold. From there Christine took us to the beach at Oakura. We took off our shoes and sandals and enjoyed the feeling of the sand in our toes. I enjoyed wading in the surf and looking out over the Tasman Sea.

Paritutu:


Smaller islands next to Paritutu:


Christine and Bruce wading in the Tasman Sea:


The next stop was a café in New Plymouth where we enjoyed a nice lunch. After lunch we strolled along the coastal walkway, then walked into town and meandered around the mall. I started to feel really bad at the mall so we headed back to the house and I collapsed into bed.

I slept from 3pm right around the clock until 7am this morning. I had a high fever that broke sometime around midnight. I felt good this morning, except for a headache. Christine gave me a couple of Panadol (sort of like Tylenol) which got rid of the headache. Now that I’ve had lunch I feel great.

Mom is feeling worse today. She has a wet cough and is short of breath. She had a coffee then went straight back to bed. She got up about an hour ago and is still struggling with a fever and a heavy cough, but says she feels better.

Peter has also been sick. He seems to have developed an inner ear imbalance. Whenever he moves he wants to vomit. Christine is quite concerned because Peter is rarely sick – he’s as “healthy as a shit-house rat”, as Dad used to say.

Bruce and Simone are off at the gym. When they get back we’ll go for a drive out into the countryside, maybe stopping in to see Bruce’s older brother Wayne. We might also drive a bit up Mt. Taranaki.

Bruce and Wayne:


The farm where Bruce grew up:


Mt. Taranaki:


Tomorrow Bruce and Simone will pick up a rental car, and we’ll drive with them down to Lower Hutt, just north of Wellington. There we’ll visit with Bruce’s aunt Rose and his nephew Regan.

7pm Thursday, March 9, 2006 Auckland

We woke up around 7:30am (we’re early risers) and showered, then made a mad dash for the 9am sailing of the Waiheke ferry. My legs seized up about three blocks from the ferry terminal. I was in so much pain that we had to stop and wait for a few minutes for the pain to abate. Then we went across the street to Starbucks for coffee and a muffin.

We made the 10am sailing. It was full of school kids in green and yellow school uniforms who were heading to Waiheke on a field trip. They were quite well behaved, and both Mom and I reflected that if the ferry had been full of Canadian school kids they would have been running around like mad things being as loud and obnoxious as possible.

We picked up a rental car on Waiheke Island and started driving for Oneroa, a beach community just east of the ferry terminal. We passed through Oneroa without realizing it, and found ourselves heading to Ostend.Before we knew it we had passed through Ostend and were on our way to Te Whau Point and Rocky Bay. When we reached the end of the road we were very confused, but luckily there was a winery there so we popped in for a tasting and a chance to figure out where the hell we were.

The view from Te Whau vineyard:


Normally, Mom would be a very good navigator. Unfortunately the maps we had were tiny and Mom was having trouble reading the print. Also, we could only read about half of the road signs because most were buried in bushes. It didn’t help, either, that each road had two or more names. For example, Ocean View Road becomes Sunnydale Road, which becomes Miami Avenue, which becomes Mitchell Road, which becomes Causeway Road, which becomes Belgum Street, which becomes Ostend Road. Add to that my unfamiliarity with driving on the left side of the road, and it was a recipe for getting lost.

The winery was a bit of a disappointment. You had to pay $3 per tasting, and both of the two reds that I tasted were extremely dry and didn’t have the fruity nose and bold taste that I normally associate with reds. The only lingering taste was the alcohol and some bitter tannins. I hope the wines in Napier – New Zealand’s wine country – are better.

From Te Whau we drove down Onetangi Road to Orapiu Road, then Waiheke Road to Man O’ War Bay Road. That’s when the nice tar road stopped and the red gravel road started. We took Man O’ War Bay Road through some really fantastic farmland. The road was quite challenging to drive because it was narrow, you were either driving on washboard or slippery gravel, and there were quite a few blind corners.

The red gravel road to Stony Batter Park:


We were relieved to arrive at Stony Batter Park, which was the location of a gun emplacement during WWII. The interconnected tunnels under the hillside are the highlight of the site but neither Mom nor I were interested in walking around in dark tunnels. Instead we walked 1km through a farm field, dodging the large cow patties and what looked like small piles of Glossettes, but were in fact piles of sheep poop. We ended up on a grassy bluff overlooking Hook’s Bay and Thumb Point. I would have liked to walk to Thumb Point but it was only accessible via private land.

The view of Hook's Bay and Thumb Point:


The hike back to the car was a killer and I had to stop several times to let the pain subside in my legs. The trip was worth the pain, though. When we got back to the car we drove back along Man O’ War Bay Road, Cowes Bay Road, and Orapiu Road then took Waiheke Road back to Onetangi. By then Mom was getting used to the map and the crazy roadways so she managed to navigate us along Onetangi Beach to Palm Beach, then to Oneroa. We found a car park in Oneroa – which seemed like a miracle because it was the only parking area we’d seen on the island – and went to a café called Salvage where we shared a pizza and I enjoyed a much-deserved beer.

Along Cowes Bay Road:


I didn’t want to go back to the ferry terminal after dinner so we drove from Oneroa to Blackpool Beach, a stony beach directly south of Oneroa. I wanted to go there to see the beach, but I was also curious to see the marae located just off The Esplanade. When we arrived there was a ceremony going on so we just admired the carved entry before heading back to the car and the trip back to the ferry.

We were so knackered that we caught a cab from the ferry terminal back to the hostel. (It’s a 45-minute walk, all uphill.) Tonight we will pack and get to bed early because we’re catching the bus from Auckland to New Plymouth tomorrow at 7:30am. It’s a 7-hour trip but at the end of the trip will be a warm welcome from Bruce’s family. (Bruce is my brother-in-law.) We’re staying with Bruce’s sister Joy and her husband Brian on their sheep farm the first night. After that we’re staying with Bruce’s sister Christine and her husband Peter.

I think that Joy is going to show us around the farm and then take us to Dawson Falls on Saturday. Saturday night is my birthday and I think we’re going out for dinner. Sunday is Taranaki Day and there will be a big parade and celebration. Should be fun!!

6:30pm Wednesday, March 8, 2006 Auckland

The flight from Singapore to Auckland was relatively uneventful. We were told that we could not sit together but it became clear just before take-off that the person who was supposed to sit next to me had missed the flight. Mom joined me just as we were pushing off from the gate. This was a good thing because Mom needed help with the remote control – you know, adjusting the brightness of the screen, choosing a movie, pausing and fast forwarding the movie, and so on. This is one of the few ways that children of my generation can be useful to their parents.

A team of athletes from India was on the flight. I’ve never seen such a group of tall men. Each one must have been close to 7 feet tall. They weren’t hard on the eyes either. The only unfortunate thing was that their coaches were heavy smokers and kept sneaking in the bathrooms for illicit ciggies. The best word to describe the reaction of the stewardesses is “vexed”.

We arrived at Auckland International Airport at 11pm local time. It took more than an hour to clear customs and collect our luggage. We also had to go through some extra screening because we were bringing smoked salmon into the country. New Zealand has very strict rules about bringing produce and meats into the country. They even wanted to know if people were entering the country with camping equipment, such as tents, that had been exposed to foreign soils and flora. They decided to let us and our salmon into the country, but not before one of the agents asked sarcastically “What is it with Canadians and salmon?”

Once outside of the airport it was relatively easy to find the airport shuttle. It cost $30 for the trip into Auckland, which went very quickly. The only downside was that there are two YHA hostels in Auckland, and I told the driver to drop us at the wrong one. It was a steep climb up to the other hostel so we asked for the night clerk to call us a cab. The cabbie reluctantly drove us the 1.5 blocks straight uphill to the other hostel.

As the cabbie pulled up outside of the hostel I noticed a very young Asian woman wearing a very risque white tube top and what looked like white vinyl hot pants. I asked the cabbie “Is she selling her wares?” and he laughed. Sure enough, our room at the hostel was on the first floor immediately above “kiddie stroll”. We spent the next two hours trying not to listen to the business dealings on the street below. The one good thing was that two of the girls were working together; one would go out on a job while the other waited for her to come back, then vice versa.

The other highlight of the evening (or morning) was that I wanted to charge my laptop so I could do some marking this morning. I plugged the universal adaptor into the wall socket then plugged my surge protector into the adaptor and turned on the socket. Sparks shot out two inches from the surge protector. I turned off the socket, checked the settings on the universal adaptor, and tried again. Same result. I totally fried adaptor and surge protector. At least the laptop wasn’t plugged in!!! I was too tired to worry overmuch and left the issue until this morning.

The first order of business this morning, aside from coffee, was to change rooms. The staff were quite accommodating. Our new room has twin beds instead of a double, too, which is an added bonus. The second order of business was to find another univeral adaptor and surge protector for my laptop.

The staff recommended a place called Dick Smith’s on Karangahape Road. It wasn’t too far and the salesman Eddie knew what I needed but asked if I could bring in my laptop just to make sure the adaptor and surge protector would work. I thought that was a good idea and said I’d be back in the late afternoon.

From there, Mom and I walked down Queen Street to Auckland Harbour. We stopped at the Fullers information center to ask about a harbour tour and the ferry to Waiheke Island. We booked tickets for the 1:30pm harbour tour, despite that fact that it was blowing a gale.

The ferry building at the end of Queen Street:


We had about an hour before the harbour tour so we walked down to the information center at Princes Wharf. We found some great maps, bought a FlexiPass (a discount pass for bus travel around New Zealand), and booked our bus trip from Auckland to New Plymouth for Friday.

We had a quick coffee then made our way to Dock 2B for the harbour tour. The Fullers ship was a big catamaran with indoor and outdoor seating. We chose to stay inside because of the wind and the dark clouds hanging over the harbour. The tour itself wasn’t amazing, but it was informative. It would probably be better on a sunny day when you can go out on deck and take endless pictures of the green sea and the city scape.

We got back to the dock at 3pm. We caught the free city bus to Wellesley and Queen Streets, then hiked up the Queen Street hill to City Street. I had to take a break because my legs were on fire. When I’d recovered sufficiently we climbed the City Street hill to Liverpool Street. We were absolutely knackered when we got to the hostel.

I collected my laptop and we walked back to Dick Smith’s and sure enough the adaptor and surge protector worked just fine. They were also quite affordable, costing approximately $30 in total.

By that time we were feeling peckish so we went across the street to the Thirsty Dog Pub. It was a local pub but we made ourselves at home. We had to wait 30 minutes until the cook arrived for his shift, but that was alright. We had a drink then ordered a Thirsty Dog Burger to share. Again, the burger was gigantic and easily fed the two of us.

As I was eating I was watching the traffic outside the pub and started to get really confused by the way drivers approached the intersection. In Canada, if a car wants to turn right and another car wants to the left onto the same road, the car turning left must yield to the car turning right. That didn’t seem to be the case. So, I approached a couple of guys and asked them to explain the rule to me. Sure enough, in New Zealand a car turning across traffic has the right of way. All others must yield.

After dinner we came back at the hostel. It’s still early so we’ll probably watch a movie on my laptop then head to bed. There is already a young Asian girl in revealing clothes stationed on the sidewalk outside of the hostel. Our new room overlooks the alley, and it is my sincere hope that the young ladies decide to service their customers in some other alley.

Tomorrow we will catch the ferry to Waikeke Island. We’ll rent a car for the day and drive around the island, go for some walks, lounge on the beach, and maybe visit a winery or two.

6pm Monday, March 6, 2006 Singapore

Yesterday we spent the majority of the day weaving in and out of air-conditioned shopping malls on Orchard Road. The highlight – for me, anyway – was the Centerpoint Mall where I found a fantastic pair of eyeglass frames. I didn’t recognize the brand, i.e. it’s not the usual Singapore fare of high-end labels like Versace, but the frame designs were actually more daring than than the frame designs from known fashion labels.

We got back to the hotel around 3pm and had another well-earned siesta. We arose at 6pm for a quick shower before catching the MRT and bus to the Night Safari. The best part of the evening was the route 138 bus ride, which wove through some amazing housing estates and park land. The Night Safari was as expected – very commercial but somehow amazing. The electric tram ride wove through herds of animals that I’d never seen before, including tapirs, hyenas, elephants, and even gigantic rats from South America. The hyenas were truly frightening. I wouldn’t want to meet one in a natural environment, let me tell you!

This morning we arose at 7am and enjoyed a leisurely morning of television and hotel-room instant coffee in bed. Then we went out for another budget breakfast of coffee, yoghurt, and bun from the 7-Eleven across the street. At 9:30am we started walking up Bencoolen toward Little India, with the intent of following a walking tour recommended by Lonely Planet before it got really hot. Of course, it was 30+ degrees by 10am!

Mom outside the Abdul Gaffoor Mosque:


We turned from Bencoolen/Jalan Basar onto Mayo and admired our first mosque of the tour, the Abdul Gaffoor Mosque. We turned right onto Perak Road then left onto Dunlop Street, which was lined with budget hostels that looked much more “well-run and clean” than the Mackenzie Hostel. We turned left onto Clive Street and right onto Campbell Lane, where we ran into a guided tour group that was just exiting the Little India Arcade. We walked around the Arcade a bit, then exited onto Serangoon Road. We walked up Serangoon to the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple where locals were arriving for worship. We loitered around the entrance for bit to listen to the chanting and smell the incense. A sign outside the temple explained that it was dedicated to Kali who is, if I remember, a very sexual deity. I’ll have to research that a bit to make sure.

The entrance to the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple:


From there we walked back down Serangoon and turned right onto Kerbau Road where we admired the Tan House. The Lonely Planet recommended a much longer tour but by then I was getting some serious chub rub/heat rash so we decided to head to the MRT. We went back to the Centerpoint Mall where I purchased the eyeglass frames I’d admired yesterday, then we caught the MRT to City Hall and walked over to the Raffles Hotel.

Tan House in Little India:


The entrance to the hotel was very grand and we looked somewhat out of place with our red, sweaty faces and rumpled travel clothes. We went outside and meandered around the hotel to the central courtyard/fountain. We sat for a while under the palm trees and just soaked up the ambience. We were started to feel peckish so I looked at the restaurants listed in the Lonely Planet and noticed that there was a Peranaken restaurant nearby.

For those unfamiliar with it, Peranaken food is a mix of Chinese and Malay ingredients and sauces. It’s often sold in hawker stalls but don’t be fooled – the ingredients can be quite varied and the tastes can be quite complex.

We were really excited to have Peranaken food again so we walked over the Empire Café for lunch. Mom had lamb curry and I had Char Kway Teow. Both dishes were excellent.

From there we went back to the City Hall MRT to refund our E-Z Link cards. Then we walked back to the hotel via Bras Basah Road. Construction was blocking the sidewalks so we had to take a detour through the Singapore Art Museum, up Waterloo Road to Middle Road, then down Bencoolen to our hotel.

We got back to the room around 4pm and I immediately curled up in bed for a siesta. Mom woke me up at 6pm. We’re going to walk down to the Sunshine Plaza Internet Café to check email, then we’re going to have an early night.

Tomorrow we have to be at the airport at 7am to catch our 9am flight to Auckland. The flight is another long one, 10.5 hours with no stopovers. We may have some jet lag this time because we’ll be arriving at midnight local time, but according to our body clocks it will be just 7pm.

9am Sunday, March 5, 2006 Singapore

Our “nap” lasted three hours and we were quite surprised to wake up in the early evening. We washed up, put on some going-out clothes, and headed off to catch the MRT to Clarke Quay.

We got a bit turned about on the way to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT. The locals were looking at us because strangely, which was the first cue that we were lost. The second cue was that there were no more shops, just residential buildings. So, we turned around and retraced our steps until we got onto Bras Basah Street.

A quick word on the MRT. It has changed a lot since we were here in 1999. Dhoby Ghaut used to be about as complicated and busy as, say, the Metrotown Skytrain station. Now it’s a major junction serving thousands of people every few minutes. You have to go down four escalators to get to the North-South line and another two escalators to get to the North-East line. The station is also tangled up with the Plaza Singapura shopping mall so finding the exit to Bras Basah Street is a challenge.

There was a lot of construction at the Clarke Quay MRT, as there seems to be all around Singapore. We crossed one of the many bridges and watched two girls get hurled up into the night sky on a G-Max Reverse Bungy ride. Then we wandered along the riverside past endless restaurants and shops. The outdoor restaurant tables were in these strange toy-like plastic enclosures that jutted a few feet over the river. There were also these really strange gigantic umbrellas over the Clarke Quay shops that were lit up with purple lights at sunset. It was the oddest thing to see. At the end of the row of restaurants we crossed another bridge, entered the state park at our own risk, and settled in at Brewerkz, a specialty brew pub.

The "umbrellas" at Clarke Quay:


Enter at your own risk:


I had a hankering for a beer but didn’t order one because their pricing system pissed me off. Basically, if you ordered a pint between noon and 3pm you paid $4. If you ordered the same pint between 4pm and 6pm you paid $6. If you ordered the same pint between 6pm and 9pm you paid $8. God help you if you ordered that pint after 9pm.

The dinner was nice, though. We each had a salad then shared a burger. No, we’re not dieting. At least, I’m not. The burgers at Brewerkz cost $15 but they’re gigantic. I think it’s reasonable to say that the patty was 7 inches across and 1 inch thick. Definitely a burger for two.

After dinner we went on a bumboat ride along the Singapore River. It was fantastic. The architecture along the river is fascinating, ranging from colonial to wildly modern. There are numerous bridges and everywhere you look there are people strolling along the river, eating at riverside restaurants, or just sitting at the riverside playing with their kids. The highlight of the bumboat ride is a photo-op by the Merlion. I knew from past experience that it’s impossible to take a picture of the Merlion at night from the bumboat, so I just enjoyed the view and the breeze off the water.

We had to return to the hotel after the bumboat ride because I had developed serious chub rub/heat rash during the walk around Clarke Quay. Like many Asian cities, Singapore comes alive after 9pm. It was disappointing that we had to end the evening at 11pm. Thankfully I’ve got a small pharmacy in my suitcase – I swear, half the space in my suitcase is occupied by remedies and personal products, and I’m a low-maintenance person! Hopefully I’ll be able to stay out a bit later tonight.

Clarke Quay comes alive in the evening:


The plan for today is (a) breakfast, (b) shopping on Orchard Road, and (c) the Night Safari. There’s no way we can buy clothes from the shops here, but the frames for eyeglasses are really cheap so Mom and I are planning to buy some stylish new designer frames. I may also see if I can find a nice pair of sandals for my gigantic Western feet.

2pm Saturday, March 4, 2006 Singapore

We’re here! And we already have stories to tell.

We caught an earlier-than-expected flight from Victoria to Vancouver. The two hour layover at Vancouver passed quickly. We boarded our plane around noon, and were very impressed when a steward showed us to our seats then stowed our handluggage for us. Immediately after takeoff we were given a hot towel and served drinks. Then we were given headsets, socks, and other amenities. Shortly afterwards we smelled food in the galley and sure enough, we were handed a menu – yes, a menu! – to choose our meals. No, we were not travelling in first class. That’s just how Singapore Airlines treats economy class travellers. Imagine the kind of service they were getting in first class!

The other great thing about Singapore Airlines is that they have a wide range of options for entertainment during the flight. You can watch movies and television shows, but you can also play cards or video games, or just listen to music. There were over 30 movies available so I went on a movie-watching spree. I started with the terrible Aeon Flux (I knew it was bad but just wanted to see it) then watched the depressing North Country. After that I needed something lighter so I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I started to feel guilty about not watching Oscar-nominated movies so the next movie I tuned into was Good Bye and Good Luck. It was really boring so I turned it off.

Around that time we landed in Incheon (Seoul, Korea) to refuel and take on new passengers and crew. We were required to de-plane with all of our hand luggage and go through a very thorough security check. After we cleared security we had 20 minutes to roam around before we were required to re-board the plane.

It took 15 hours to get from our doorstep to Incheon. The 6.5 hour flight from Incheon to Singapore was a killer. We were served another meal but I didn’t eat much because I was still full from earlier meals. I tried to pass the time by watching another Oscar nominated movie, Capote, which I’d already seen before but wanted to see again. Unfortunately I was too tired to really enjoy it. So, I turned it off and tried to get some sleep. I normally can’t sleep on airplanes but the seats on Singapore Airlines planes have these cool flaps that you can adjust around your head to support it while you snooze. Somehow I managed to snooze for about three hours. When I woke up we were about an hour from Singapore, and I managed to stay awake until we landed.

If you’ve ever been to Singapore, you’ll know why Changi Airport is rated the best in the world. It is so efficient that you are guaranteed to de-plane, get through customs, collect your luggage, and be in a taxi within 25 minutes. We had a bathroom break so it took us 30 minutes. We purposefully chose to fly to New Zealand via Singapore because of the airport – and the lack of uber-paranoid American security.

It took about 15 minutes to get from the airport to the hostel, which was good because we were exhausted and desperately needed to get to bed. The taxi driver was really confused about why we wanted to stay at the hostel. We thought he was just slotting us into the generic “tourist” category and expecting us to stay at some fancy hotel. When he pulled up to the hostel we understood his confusion.

Our first impression of the hostel was that it was on a dark, non-commercial street. There were no shops or restaurants, which is really odd in a city where the national pastimes are shopping and eating. Then we saw the stairs leading up to the lobby. I looked at our 70+ pounds of luggage and sighed. We schlepped it to the second floor where an old Chinese lady was sitting at a table. That was the “lobby”. We paid for our room then schlepped our luggage to our third floor room, which contained a bed, a dresser, a chair, and – thankfully! – a big-ass air conditioner. The floors were battered tile and dark stains were creeping up the walls from the floor. We were too tired to object to the condition of the room so we turned on the air conditioning, crawled into bed, and passed out.

In the morning we took one look at the ancient and filthy bathroom facilities and decided to high-tail it to a hotel on Bencoolen Street. (The facilities were so disgusting that I couldn’t find the nerve to use the sink to brush my teeth. The highlight of the shower was a 1-foot wide mass of hair around the drain. I’m not exaggerating.) I’ll have to write to the Lonely Planet and ask them to revise their description of the hostel, which is currently: “It’s a clean, well-run place…”

We were going to stay at The Strand (where we had stayed in 1999) but the cabbie recommended Hotel 81, a new hotel right next to The Strand. We decided to give it a try. We arrived around 9am but had to wait until 1pm to check in. We put our luggage into storage at the hotel and went across the street for breakfast.

The desk staff had recommended a $2 “Singapore” breakfast at a little café across the street, but we ended up going to a more up-scale café that offered a breakfast buffet. I enjoyed the fresh watermelon and pineapple the most because they had such a rich flavor. I think I had too much pineapple and orange juice, though, because I started to get stomach cramps toward the end of breakfast.

After breakfast we walked down to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station to buy a $10 transit pass. The MRT and bus system in Singapore is very efficient and easy to navigate so we plan to use it to get around over the next three days.

By that time it was about 10:30am and 30 degrees outside – and bloody humid. So we did the best thing you can do here, and headed for an air conditioned shopping mall. We ended up at Plaza Singapora which was having some kind of amazing sidewalk sale because there were hundreds of people lined up waiting to get into the mall. Of course, this being orderly Singapore, only so many people were allowed into the special shopping area at a time so people were queued up outside and there were security guards to let people in 10 at a time. We bypassed the queue for the sidewalk sale and wandered around the mall. It wasn’t a touristy mall. There was a supermarket, a linen store, and variety of stores selling children’s clothing. Accordingly, it was packed with locals running erands.

We stayed at the mall until 12:30pm then headed back to the hotel. By then we were feeling absolutely disgusting. We had been wearing the same clothing for three days, had slept in a filthy hostel, and had been walking around in 30+ degree heat. A cold shower and change of clothes was high on our priority list.

Our room at Hotel 81 is small, with twin beds, but it’s clean and modern. There is a television but we probably won’t use it. The only amenity that is missing is a bar fridge where we can put drinks and fruit to keep them cool. Oh, well. One must keep things in perspective – a 1-foot wide wad of hair in the shower or no bar fridge? Hmmmmm. Tough decision.

We’re going to have a nap then catch the MRT to Clarke Quay. We’ll have a wander along the river, enjoy dinner at one of the many restaurants, then go on a bumboat ride. We just want to take it easy today and get acclimatized. Tomorrow we’ll go on a walking tour of Little India and maybe go on a night safari.

Loose threads

My task today is to deal with the 30-some things that need to get done before I leave the country, like ... finishing contract work that was due two weeks ago, marking approximately 25 assignments, and submitting grades to SFU.

Sometime today I also need to pack. When Mom arrived home from Mexico last night and realized that I hadn't packed she silently projected motherly disappointment at me. I pointed out that I had managed to do laundry and tidy the house, which reduced her disappointment ever so slightly.

The kittens know that something is up and are roaming around the house meowing loudly. Grey Cat won't let me out of his sight and can't get enough petty-petties. Calico just wants to help with the cleaning and packing. They've adapted well to being house cats, but I wonder if they'll play nice with the cat-sitter's cats. I suspect there will be some hissing, scrapping, and perhaps a $400 vet bill. If they can't play nice with the other cats the cat-sitter will have to move them back to our house and stay here.

I wonder if we'll have a chance to visit Dad at the Veteran's Cemetary before we go. Mom went there after that big storm a few weeks ago and he was covered in about two feet of fallen branches. And a golf ball. At least there were no squirrels chirruping at him. I swear, the squirrels love harassing him. I think it's karmic retribution for offing so many furry creatures with his .22 over the years.