I kept meaning to update what was going on in the land of MissSin, but somehow I never got round to it. But now I am…
2010 was a good year & a sad year.
It was sad because I lost 2 influential people in my life; my grandmothers.
Molly I lost at the beginning of summer & then grandma in autumn. Both of them had ‘good innings’, but it doesn’t make it any easier to know they’re gone.
Still, neither of them would want me to sit here and write a maudlin blog, so I won’t.
2010 was a good year because I got my own life in Germany.
I found work, albeit part-time. It did, however, mean I had my own money and no longer was a full-time hausfrau. Erm, wait a minute, I STILL am a hausfrau AND working…something went wrong there….
I’ve also improved my German.
In 2010, I joined 2 German courses and am now capable of ordering in restaurants & basic conversations. I’m not as fluent as I would like to be because a) German is a bitch of a language to learn, b) I have to learn everything twice because my brain is frazzled (i.e. old) c) I’m lazy at home & K and I only use English (although we are slowly increasing the percentage of German we use) and d) German is a bitch to learn (oh…did I mention that already?)
2010 was also a year of travel; not as much as 2009 naturally, but in 2010 I started the year in Egypt and finished it in Thailand, with England, France & Italy in between.
I also managed to become an Advanced Open Water diver while in Thailand, so can now dive to depths of 30m. We did a four-day liveaboard (diving holiday on a boat, where you live, sleep & breathe diving) in the Andaman Sea off the west coast of Thailand. It really improved my confidence, and I now feel a lot better about diving. And, hopefully, this year K & I will go diving somewhere warm. We are considering going to the Red Sea, but need to keep an eye on the news in the region…not much fun diving when people are dying.
And I think that covers the rest of 2010.
2011, so far, has been a great year. I started it in Thailand, on Koh Chang, a small island off the west coast of Thailand (not to be confused with the other larger Koh Chang, which is the other side of Thailand, just to make things complicated). Or Koh Chang was incredibly undeveloped with only generators for electricity, which ran from sunset to about midnight. After that, you were reliant on torches. It was great! No cars, no noise, no bright lights. Heaven!
We came back to freezing Germany and at the end of January, I was offered a full-time job. From April, I will be an in-house trainer at the same company as K (although not in the same place) I will no longer be self-employed and will have all the perks that a full-time contract here entails (30 days paid holiday, sick pay and insurance) YAY! And the job itself will be interesting – I’ll be ‘embedded’ in a department at the company and be responsible for all their English needs, which will range from lessons, to proofreading to OJT. I think it will be challenging, but after a year of ‘cookie-cutter’ teaching, I am really looking forward to something more intellectually challenging.
In February, K turned 30, so we are now in the same decade (just for 3 years though, as he keeps reminding me). We also had a visit from my aunt & uncle, which was great. I really enjoy when visitors come, because we actually get up and do things & see places. This time we went to Tubingen, a medieval town an hour away from here. It was really pretty and I definitely need to go back there again when it’s warmer.
And now it’s March and K’s team (Schalke 04) is in the final of the German League Cup, so I have a headache after celebrating a tad too much for a Wednesday evening…
There, think I am up to date now…
03 March, 2011
10 September, 2010
Summer Holiday Part 2 - The English Live Up To Their Stereotype
On our travels, we had a couple of moments where Kevin gleefully chuckled about English people living up to their (perhaps deserved) reputation of a nation of drunken fools.
I am very happy to report that none of my family members (except perhaps myself) fell into that group. And of course, not ALL English people in or out of England are Chavs, WAGs, drunks, hooligans. We did, however, have a few classic moments which i would like to share...
The first place was Croydon.
We went out to sample the night life there and visited a few pubs. More interesting than the pubs, however, was watching what the girls where wearing. At first, K was quite impressed when some young hotties dressed in (not very much) Lycra came (staggering) by. And then a few more hotties cam by in Lycra. And K decided that he liked Croydon. Then we realised that EVERYONE (female, that is. The men managed to show come kind of restraint when i came to Lycra) was wearing Lycra. Some people should NOT wear Lycra. Sadly no one had told these girls that they looked like tightly wrapped pre-packed sausages. With make up. And heels. This did put K off a bit & i think even he decided that Lycra isn't necessarily a good thing...
Later that evening, we were queuing up to get into a pub (later opening = bouncers & ID check on the door) As we were waiting there, a bouncer drags out a young skinny boy with blood all over him. And here is what went on next:
Bouncer: You're not coming back in; you're covered in blood.
Boy: But, mate...
Bouncer: No, you're covered in blood. You're NOT coming in.
Boy's testosterone kicks in
Boy: You F****R! LET ME IN!!!!
(Like the Bouncer will change his mind...)
Bouncer: (calmly) No, you're covered in blood.
Boy tries to hit bouncer without great success; Bouncer being twice the size & sober
Boy: COME ON THEN!
Boy's Girlfriend: HIT 'IM!!! GO ON!
Boy tried to hit Bouncer again. He missed.
Bouncer: You are NOT coming in. You've got blood all over you.
Boy's Girlfriend: It's only 'cos he found out I was unfaithful (!!!!!)
Boy tried to hit Bouncer again; Bouncer gets Boy in headlock and removes him from the premises. While this was going on, Unfaithful Girlfriend was yelling, "Hit 'im!" repeatedly at the top of her voice... Classy couple!
The second 'English' event was in Salisbury, next to our campsite, which was right next to Salisbury race track. There wasn't any horse racing going on, but on the Saturday, a family had rented out the club/bar there for a wedding party.
When we headed out in the morning, around 10am, the first guests were arriving. When we got back, at around 8pm, the party appeared to be in full swing. We retired to our tent for a few quiet beers & some poker.
Then around midnight, we heard raised voices and people screaming at each other. So, K & I, being the nosey people we are, headed up to the racetrack to have a look at what was going on. There, hiding behind a tree, we had a great few of a wedding gone completely & utterly bad. Bouncers were dragging people out of the pub & handing them to Police who were dragging them off the Police van. Men were punching men, women were punching women, everybody was cursing everybody else & it was just a complete free-for-all.
The classic moment, though, was when the police were dragging off one man, a woman ran up & cursed the police for taking her man. And even tried to hit the police man. Then, a third man came running up after the woman and shouted, 'Sharon! Don't forget you have babies at home!'
Oh dear oh dear...
Ah, England!
I am very happy to report that none of my family members (except perhaps myself) fell into that group. And of course, not ALL English people in or out of England are Chavs, WAGs, drunks, hooligans. We did, however, have a few classic moments which i would like to share...
The first place was Croydon.
We went out to sample the night life there and visited a few pubs. More interesting than the pubs, however, was watching what the girls where wearing. At first, K was quite impressed when some young hotties dressed in (not very much) Lycra came (staggering) by. And then a few more hotties cam by in Lycra. And K decided that he liked Croydon. Then we realised that EVERYONE (female, that is. The men managed to show come kind of restraint when i came to Lycra) was wearing Lycra. Some people should NOT wear Lycra. Sadly no one had told these girls that they looked like tightly wrapped pre-packed sausages. With make up. And heels. This did put K off a bit & i think even he decided that Lycra isn't necessarily a good thing...
Later that evening, we were queuing up to get into a pub (later opening = bouncers & ID check on the door) As we were waiting there, a bouncer drags out a young skinny boy with blood all over him. And here is what went on next:
Bouncer: You're not coming back in; you're covered in blood.
Boy: But, mate...
Bouncer: No, you're covered in blood. You're NOT coming in.
Boy's testosterone kicks in
Boy: You F****R! LET ME IN!!!!
(Like the Bouncer will change his mind...)
Bouncer: (calmly) No, you're covered in blood.
Boy tries to hit bouncer without great success; Bouncer being twice the size & sober
Boy: COME ON THEN!
Boy's Girlfriend: HIT 'IM!!! GO ON!
Boy tried to hit Bouncer again. He missed.
Bouncer: You are NOT coming in. You've got blood all over you.
Boy's Girlfriend: It's only 'cos he found out I was unfaithful (!!!!!)
Boy tried to hit Bouncer again; Bouncer gets Boy in headlock and removes him from the premises. While this was going on, Unfaithful Girlfriend was yelling, "Hit 'im!" repeatedly at the top of her voice... Classy couple!
The second 'English' event was in Salisbury, next to our campsite, which was right next to Salisbury race track. There wasn't any horse racing going on, but on the Saturday, a family had rented out the club/bar there for a wedding party.
When we headed out in the morning, around 10am, the first guests were arriving. When we got back, at around 8pm, the party appeared to be in full swing. We retired to our tent for a few quiet beers & some poker.
Then around midnight, we heard raised voices and people screaming at each other. So, K & I, being the nosey people we are, headed up to the racetrack to have a look at what was going on. There, hiding behind a tree, we had a great few of a wedding gone completely & utterly bad. Bouncers were dragging people out of the pub & handing them to Police who were dragging them off the Police van. Men were punching men, women were punching women, everybody was cursing everybody else & it was just a complete free-for-all.
The classic moment, though, was when the police were dragging off one man, a woman ran up & cursed the police for taking her man. And even tried to hit the police man. Then, a third man came running up after the woman and shouted, 'Sharon! Don't forget you have babies at home!'
Oh dear oh dear...
Ah, England!
08 September, 2010
Summer Holiday Part 1 - What/Where We Did
This year, K & I decided we would combine a family visit (mostly mine) with a camping trip. Originally, we had wonderful ideas of going to England, visiting my family and then heading off somewhere warmer (e.g. Southern France) for the camping part of the holiday.
Then reality hit: we had 2 and a half weeks. Also, Southern France & England are in completely opposite directions from Stuttgart.
So, we bravely (stupidly?) decided to camp in England.
Actually, it did turn out OK & the weather was relatively kind to us. For the first 4 or 5 days, the weather was basically crap - rain & most of it horizontal. However, this was the part of the trip was spent staying with family (in their homes) or in hotels.
The remaining week, the weather turned, and despite a couple of really windy days (when we feared that the tent would turn in paragliding equipment), it was clear and even sunny most of the time.
If you're interested, here's where we went & what we did:
1. Halifax, Yorkshire - first family visit, where we even managed to have a BBQ outside (little did we know that that would be the last time we saw the sun for 5 days...)
2. Manchester - Lunch time family visit; lovely to reconnect with family, but shocked/surprised at how grown up my cousins are...
3. Castle Donington (with only 1 'n'), Leicestershire - Went to see the biggest collection of Formula 1 cars in the world. I came to the conclusion that once you have seen one Mclaren, you have seen them all... Also met a bloke in a pub who invited to go and see motorbike racing on Bank holiday Monday (the following week) We said we'd think about it, but K & him exchanged numbers.
4. Croydon, South London - A visit to Grandma. Was great to see her, she's still as feisty as ever, just not as healthy. But considering she's 90 & been a smoker for 70 odd years, she's doing pretty well!
5. Salisbury, Wiltshire - Here we went to watch Gurston Down Hillclimb (for those who don't know a hill climb event involves driving up a hill as fast as possible. The fastest cars take about 30 seconds. Not exactly an endurance sport!) If you want to know more & see some photos, go here.
6. Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire - We decided to take Yonny (Donington dude) up on his offer & trekked all the way North to see motorbikes. Yonny, of Sondel Sport Racing, invited us in & we succeeded in watching a lot of different bikes racing round. Watching motorbikes in the flash is WAY more exciting than watching them on TV. But i have to admit that it scared the crap out of me. Much scarier than watching cars racing - decided that anyone who takes up motor bike racing has to have a streak of insanity or else have a death wish!
7. Lingfield, Surrey - We were on our way to the South coast, but it was getting late & decided to find the nearest camp site. At first, things seemed OK, but we quickly realised we were directly under the flight path from Gatwick airport. PLanes are not quiet. Neither was the guy with the chainsaw at 8am the next day. And neither was the mechanics' workshop directly the other side of the hedge. NOT a good night's sleep...
8. Alfriston, East Sussex - After I gently persuaded K that NO, I WAS NOT STAYING ANOTHER NIGHT IN LINGFIELD, we hit the road and headed south towards the sea. Got to Seaford & found a nice tourist information office, who gave us information about local campsites. We ended up choosing one in Alfriston (after visiting one in Seaford that looked like it was owned by a gnome worshipping religious cult). Alfriston was lovely - really Olde Englishe & very quaint & touristy. But the locals were friendly & the sun was shining & there were no aeroplanes!
And there ended our England trip. We left from Dover & took the ferry to Dunkirk/Dunkerque - or however spell it. And then headed off the East Belgium (in the German speaking bit. Did you even know there was a German speaking bit? I didn't until last year...) There was a spent a lovely weekend with K's family; 4 sets of uncle+aunts, plus cousins, mothers and a dog (and a huge amount of alcohol, which is just the kind of family weekend i am am used to!)
Oh, I forgot the beginning of our trip. I decided that an overnight ferry from Rotterdam, Holland to Hull, Yorkshire would be a more time effective & relaxing way of getting to the North of England. Well, it was for one of us. We had a cabin with bunks which was nice. However, if one person in a relationship is a snorer, bunk beds are the worst thing EVER. It is impossible to elbow a snorer whilst in bunk beds. Therefore, one person has a blissfully ignorant night's sleep, whilst the other is a tetchy sleepless wreck.
I won't mention names about who the snorer was, but I'll give you a hint: the snorer wasn't German.... ;)
Then reality hit: we had 2 and a half weeks. Also, Southern France & England are in completely opposite directions from Stuttgart.
So, we bravely (stupidly?) decided to camp in England.
Actually, it did turn out OK & the weather was relatively kind to us. For the first 4 or 5 days, the weather was basically crap - rain & most of it horizontal. However, this was the part of the trip was spent staying with family (in their homes) or in hotels.
The remaining week, the weather turned, and despite a couple of really windy days (when we feared that the tent would turn in paragliding equipment), it was clear and even sunny most of the time.
If you're interested, here's where we went & what we did:
1. Halifax, Yorkshire - first family visit, where we even managed to have a BBQ outside (little did we know that that would be the last time we saw the sun for 5 days...)
2. Manchester - Lunch time family visit; lovely to reconnect with family, but shocked/surprised at how grown up my cousins are...
3. Castle Donington (with only 1 'n'), Leicestershire - Went to see the biggest collection of Formula 1 cars in the world. I came to the conclusion that once you have seen one Mclaren, you have seen them all... Also met a bloke in a pub who invited to go and see motorbike racing on Bank holiday Monday (the following week) We said we'd think about it, but K & him exchanged numbers.
4. Croydon, South London - A visit to Grandma. Was great to see her, she's still as feisty as ever, just not as healthy. But considering she's 90 & been a smoker for 70 odd years, she's doing pretty well!
5. Salisbury, Wiltshire - Here we went to watch Gurston Down Hillclimb (for those who don't know a hill climb event involves driving up a hill as fast as possible. The fastest cars take about 30 seconds. Not exactly an endurance sport!) If you want to know more & see some photos, go here.
6. Cadwell Park, Lincolnshire - We decided to take Yonny (Donington dude) up on his offer & trekked all the way North to see motorbikes. Yonny, of Sondel Sport Racing, invited us in & we succeeded in watching a lot of different bikes racing round. Watching motorbikes in the flash is WAY more exciting than watching them on TV. But i have to admit that it scared the crap out of me. Much scarier than watching cars racing - decided that anyone who takes up motor bike racing has to have a streak of insanity or else have a death wish!
7. Lingfield, Surrey - We were on our way to the South coast, but it was getting late & decided to find the nearest camp site. At first, things seemed OK, but we quickly realised we were directly under the flight path from Gatwick airport. PLanes are not quiet. Neither was the guy with the chainsaw at 8am the next day. And neither was the mechanics' workshop directly the other side of the hedge. NOT a good night's sleep...
8. Alfriston, East Sussex - After I gently persuaded K that NO, I WAS NOT STAYING ANOTHER NIGHT IN LINGFIELD, we hit the road and headed south towards the sea. Got to Seaford & found a nice tourist information office, who gave us information about local campsites. We ended up choosing one in Alfriston (after visiting one in Seaford that looked like it was owned by a gnome worshipping religious cult). Alfriston was lovely - really Olde Englishe & very quaint & touristy. But the locals were friendly & the sun was shining & there were no aeroplanes!
And there ended our England trip. We left from Dover & took the ferry to Dunkirk/Dunkerque - or however spell it. And then headed off the East Belgium (in the German speaking bit. Did you even know there was a German speaking bit? I didn't until last year...) There was a spent a lovely weekend with K's family; 4 sets of uncle+aunts, plus cousins, mothers and a dog (and a huge amount of alcohol, which is just the kind of family weekend i am am used to!)
Oh, I forgot the beginning of our trip. I decided that an overnight ferry from Rotterdam, Holland to Hull, Yorkshire would be a more time effective & relaxing way of getting to the North of England. Well, it was for one of us. We had a cabin with bunks which was nice. However, if one person in a relationship is a snorer, bunk beds are the worst thing EVER. It is impossible to elbow a snorer whilst in bunk beds. Therefore, one person has a blissfully ignorant night's sleep, whilst the other is a tetchy sleepless wreck.
I won't mention names about who the snorer was, but I'll give you a hint: the snorer wasn't German.... ;)
28 July, 2010
Happy Times
The last few weeks have been crazy with so much happening...
Some really sad things happened - most monumental of which was my grandmother dying. It was quick & sudden, which although a huge shock, would have been the way Molly would have wanted it.
In life, she was a huge character - both in a positive way & a negative way. I don't think anyone who met her wasn't affected by her in some way - whether that be in complete & utter shock at some of the things she dared say or do or her random kindess that went beyong the call of duty. But whatever anyone thought of her, somehow she knew she was doing the right thing, whether you agreed with her or not.
Anyway, the world will an empiter (and quieter) place without her.
Also, some really happy things happened.
At the beginning of July we had a family reunion in Italy. There were 14 of us in total. We had a lovely villa in Tuscany & it was really good to see everyone. It was the first time for us all to get together in one place for 20 years (our family is spread across the world; since i moved back to Europe, we're now spread across 2 continents instead of 3)
Tuscany is really gorgeous & I now get why people fall in love with it. It looks so 'Tuscan'! And top it all, we had lovely weather, good food, copious amounts of alcohol & lots of laughs. I think a good time was had by all.
Then I had my one-year anniversary in Germany (which I already wrote about.)
And then to finish my month off, I had a visit from the Davises. They stayed with K & me in Stuttgart for 5 days & we had a blast. We did more sightseeing in the last week, then i have done in the whole year i've been here! We did the zoo, the Black Forest, a medieval festival and a pub crawl of Stuttgart (Ok, so K & I have done that bit of sightseeing before!)
we managed to fit in a poker night, where M surprised us with his skill - he just needs to work on his poker face, as everytime he had an ace he started giggling...
It was really great to see them all again. And the best thing of all was that we just picked up where we left off. No awkwardness, no rough patches, just back like we were in Japan. Except that we weren't in Japan. We were in a whole different continent. Guess we'll have to meet in the U.S. next time.
Some really sad things happened - most monumental of which was my grandmother dying. It was quick & sudden, which although a huge shock, would have been the way Molly would have wanted it.
In life, she was a huge character - both in a positive way & a negative way. I don't think anyone who met her wasn't affected by her in some way - whether that be in complete & utter shock at some of the things she dared say or do or her random kindess that went beyong the call of duty. But whatever anyone thought of her, somehow she knew she was doing the right thing, whether you agreed with her or not.
Anyway, the world will an empiter (and quieter) place without her.
Also, some really happy things happened.
At the beginning of July we had a family reunion in Italy. There were 14 of us in total. We had a lovely villa in Tuscany & it was really good to see everyone. It was the first time for us all to get together in one place for 20 years (our family is spread across the world; since i moved back to Europe, we're now spread across 2 continents instead of 3)
Tuscany is really gorgeous & I now get why people fall in love with it. It looks so 'Tuscan'! And top it all, we had lovely weather, good food, copious amounts of alcohol & lots of laughs. I think a good time was had by all.
Then I had my one-year anniversary in Germany (which I already wrote about.)
And then to finish my month off, I had a visit from the Davises. They stayed with K & me in Stuttgart for 5 days & we had a blast. We did more sightseeing in the last week, then i have done in the whole year i've been here! We did the zoo, the Black Forest, a medieval festival and a pub crawl of Stuttgart (Ok, so K & I have done that bit of sightseeing before!)
we managed to fit in a poker night, where M surprised us with his skill - he just needs to work on his poker face, as everytime he had an ace he started giggling...
It was really great to see them all again. And the best thing of all was that we just picked up where we left off. No awkwardness, no rough patches, just back like we were in Japan. Except that we weren't in Japan. We were in a whole different continent. Guess we'll have to meet in the U.S. next time.
07 July, 2010
How time flies!
Today is my one year anniversary.
One year ago today, I arrived (a day later than planned) in Stuttgart to start my new life here.
It's been a tough year in many expected & unexpected ways, but I know i did the right thing. I feel more relaxed here and, in many ways, happier & less stressed.
The transition to a new country/language hasn't been as traumatic as I expected.
However the transition financially & emotionally has been harder than i expected. Weird - the things i thought be hard haven't & the things i assumed would be OK haven't been.
Germany is a great place to live - the people are nice, it's more laid back than i expected & the beer tastes good. Sometimes the people here in the south of Germany fulfill all the stereotypes of Germans (all work & no play; lack of humour & so on) but that's HERE. It's not true for the whole place (and K isn't from here, so he really doesn't fill any German stereotypes. Well, expect for the beer drinking part...)
German, the language, isn't easy by any means, but at least I don't have to learn a whole new system of writing/reading. And there are a lot of words that are similar. Grammar though is a lot harder - but i am very very slowly improving. I understand a lot more than a year ago, but i am still unable to have conversations. I can, however, read enough on a menu now & order what i want...
On a personal level, it's been tough. K & I have been having a lot of trouble settling back into couple life. The whole balance of 'us' changed by me moving here. So it's been a very bumpy ride. But, on a positive note, we're still together, still smiling & still working on us and making things work - some days being better than others.
People ask me if I miss Japan. In truth, i don't know how to answer that. I don't feel aching pangs for Japan. I have moments where I miss certain things - mostly food. More though, I miss my friends. But I know that even though they re not here, and I am not there, they are still my friends. So in a bizarre way i also don't miss them. Don't know if that makes any sense...
So, yeah, that's been my year.
One year ago today, I arrived (a day later than planned) in Stuttgart to start my new life here.
It's been a tough year in many expected & unexpected ways, but I know i did the right thing. I feel more relaxed here and, in many ways, happier & less stressed.
The transition to a new country/language hasn't been as traumatic as I expected.
However the transition financially & emotionally has been harder than i expected. Weird - the things i thought be hard haven't & the things i assumed would be OK haven't been.
Germany is a great place to live - the people are nice, it's more laid back than i expected & the beer tastes good. Sometimes the people here in the south of Germany fulfill all the stereotypes of Germans (all work & no play; lack of humour & so on) but that's HERE. It's not true for the whole place (and K isn't from here, so he really doesn't fill any German stereotypes. Well, expect for the beer drinking part...)
German, the language, isn't easy by any means, but at least I don't have to learn a whole new system of writing/reading. And there are a lot of words that are similar. Grammar though is a lot harder - but i am very very slowly improving. I understand a lot more than a year ago, but i am still unable to have conversations. I can, however, read enough on a menu now & order what i want...
On a personal level, it's been tough. K & I have been having a lot of trouble settling back into couple life. The whole balance of 'us' changed by me moving here. So it's been a very bumpy ride. But, on a positive note, we're still together, still smiling & still working on us and making things work - some days being better than others.
People ask me if I miss Japan. In truth, i don't know how to answer that. I don't feel aching pangs for Japan. I have moments where I miss certain things - mostly food. More though, I miss my friends. But I know that even though they re not here, and I am not there, they are still my friends. So in a bizarre way i also don't miss them. Don't know if that makes any sense...
So, yeah, that's been my year.
14 June, 2010
Vuvuzela Madness
I've had some complaints that I haven't updated here for a while.
No, I haven't - BECAUSE I HAVE A LIFE!! There's infinite amount of beer to drink, but a finite number of sunny days, so I need to maximise my outdoor time. And work (to pay for the outdoor time)
Seriously though, I have been busy and work doesn’t make for very exciting blogging. But to the curious among you, work is going well – am getting good feedback from my students. Life outside of work is also good – went to Berlin for a weekend, have enjoyed the sunshine, and will be going to Italy next month (woohoo!)
But now the World Cup has started, so everything else is on hold. For the next month, it is & will be just football. Being here for a world cup is interesting but VERY different. Up till now, I have watched World Cups only in England & Japan. In England, I was surrounded by my fellow dreaming masochists, so felt quite comfortable bemoaning the England team. I mean, that’s part of the national psyche; build up our hopes to irrational levels then have them completely annihilated. And THEN complain that our team is shit, always was and always will be. That’s what being an England fan is all about.
After that, I lived in Japan. A land of even bigger dreaming masochists. There, England fans can breathe a little sigh of relief, and feel a little (big?) sense of superiority – we have, after all, won the world cup (OK, yes, it was once, but it was once more than Japan)
And now I am in Germany. A land where people are realists and are not afraid of the truth. And where pretty much everyone has a memory of Germany winning a World Cup. And maybe even more than one. Perhaps they’ll remember THREE! They even have a little song celebrating their victories. The lyrics are imaginatively, “vierundfünfzig, vierundsiebzig, neunzig, zehn”, which translates as, “54, 74, 90, 10”. K likes singing that song. A lot.
So, it’s a great pleasure to be here when people keep telling me that England doesn’t stand a chance of winning, not reaching the semi-finals and perhaps not even the quarter finals. And then, to add insult to injury, numerous people have told me that England should have won it in 1966 either and that also should have been a German victory. Please don’t take our one star away! It’s pretty much the only thing England football fans have to brag about (even if we weren’t alive to witness it ourselves…)
Saying that, it’s not said in a nasty way. My friends are just being realists. The thing is, it’s easy to be a realist when you have witnessed your team win a World Cup. Being a masochistic dreamer sometimes isn’t as good as it’s cracked up to be….
No, I haven't - BECAUSE I HAVE A LIFE!! There's infinite amount of beer to drink, but a finite number of sunny days, so I need to maximise my outdoor time. And work (to pay for the outdoor time)
Seriously though, I have been busy and work doesn’t make for very exciting blogging. But to the curious among you, work is going well – am getting good feedback from my students. Life outside of work is also good – went to Berlin for a weekend, have enjoyed the sunshine, and will be going to Italy next month (woohoo!)
But now the World Cup has started, so everything else is on hold. For the next month, it is & will be just football. Being here for a world cup is interesting but VERY different. Up till now, I have watched World Cups only in England & Japan. In England, I was surrounded by my fellow dreaming masochists, so felt quite comfortable bemoaning the England team. I mean, that’s part of the national psyche; build up our hopes to irrational levels then have them completely annihilated. And THEN complain that our team is shit, always was and always will be. That’s what being an England fan is all about.
After that, I lived in Japan. A land of even bigger dreaming masochists. There, England fans can breathe a little sigh of relief, and feel a little (big?) sense of superiority – we have, after all, won the world cup (OK, yes, it was once, but it was once more than Japan)
And now I am in Germany. A land where people are realists and are not afraid of the truth. And where pretty much everyone has a memory of Germany winning a World Cup. And maybe even more than one. Perhaps they’ll remember THREE! They even have a little song celebrating their victories. The lyrics are imaginatively, “vierundfünfzig, vierundsiebzig, neunzig, zehn”, which translates as, “54, 74, 90, 10”. K likes singing that song. A lot.
So, it’s a great pleasure to be here when people keep telling me that England doesn’t stand a chance of winning, not reaching the semi-finals and perhaps not even the quarter finals. And then, to add insult to injury, numerous people have told me that England should have won it in 1966 either and that also should have been a German victory. Please don’t take our one star away! It’s pretty much the only thing England football fans have to brag about (even if we weren’t alive to witness it ourselves…)
Saying that, it’s not said in a nasty way. My friends are just being realists. The thing is, it’s easy to be a realist when you have witnessed your team win a World Cup. Being a masochistic dreamer sometimes isn’t as good as it’s cracked up to be….
19 April, 2010
Clear Skies
I looked up at the sky yesterday and realised there were no vapour trails. Not one.
When was the last time you looked up at the sky & just saw blue space & fluffy white clouds? It was weird not seeing them.
And then today, i was working at the airport here. Both the arrivals board & departures board just had one word in the TIME column: CANCELLED
Yup, European airspace is closed. No flights out of/into Stuttgart till at least 8pm tonight. And the people in charge (whoever they, but i am sure they wear suits) are not even sure that the ban will be lifted then. But it is for safety reasons - no one (except alternative forms of transport, hotels & erm, maybe that's it)is really benefiting from it. But what can you do?
At least we have clear blue skies (with huge invisible clouds of toxic volcanic dust floating above)
In other news, I have started a German course. Twice a week for 3 months. Only downer is that it's Friday evening and Saturday morning as this was the only time i had available. We have a nice group of people from nearly every continent (haven't got Australasia covered) and everyone seems pretty mellow & willing to learn, which make life easier.
It's interesting being on the other side, as a language student instead of the teacher. Part of me is watching the teacher & wondering if I'd do things in the same way. Another part of me is thinking about all the things i tell my students & i should set a good example.
And then the main part of me is just getting confused with German grammar....
When was the last time you looked up at the sky & just saw blue space & fluffy white clouds? It was weird not seeing them.
And then today, i was working at the airport here. Both the arrivals board & departures board just had one word in the TIME column: CANCELLED
Yup, European airspace is closed. No flights out of/into Stuttgart till at least 8pm tonight. And the people in charge (whoever they, but i am sure they wear suits) are not even sure that the ban will be lifted then. But it is for safety reasons - no one (except alternative forms of transport, hotels & erm, maybe that's it)is really benefiting from it. But what can you do?
At least we have clear blue skies (with huge invisible clouds of toxic volcanic dust floating above)
In other news, I have started a German course. Twice a week for 3 months. Only downer is that it's Friday evening and Saturday morning as this was the only time i had available. We have a nice group of people from nearly every continent (haven't got Australasia covered) and everyone seems pretty mellow & willing to learn, which make life easier.
It's interesting being on the other side, as a language student instead of the teacher. Part of me is watching the teacher & wondering if I'd do things in the same way. Another part of me is thinking about all the things i tell my students & i should set a good example.
And then the main part of me is just getting confused with German grammar....
24 March, 2010
The Long Night
Last Saturday was the 'Lange Nacht der Museen' here in Stuttgart. At this event, all museums, art galleries, and other cultural spaces were open from 9pm to 2am. You just needed to buy a 15€ ticket and you could go to as many (or as few) places as you liked AND the ticket price included free transportation too (special buses were put on connecting the event places).
Some of the places open were the City Art Gallery, the castle, the Porsche Museum and some local vineyards. But that is just a little taster; there were more than 90 places to choose from...
With this smorgasbord of places to choose from, we started of by visiting a WWII era bunker which had a photo exhibition entitled "Angels & Anarchy". The anarchy photos were all famous Stuttgartians (who i dodn't know) posed on/with/next to an anarcy logo. The angels were photo portraits of the local Hells Angels and in the bunker they'd also set up a biker bar for the event. Bit scary but interesting as the bunker isn't normally open to the public & i don't go to biker bars.
After that, we made a quick stop to a local art space and then took a massively crowded bus to the harbour. For those of you who don't know, Stuttgart isn't by the sea. It's really really far away from the sea, but it is on the Neckar river, which is a main transportation route. So there is a harbour on the river. From there, we took a 30 minute cruise up & down the river, looking at the scenic view of silos, warehouses and heaps of scrap metal.
After our harbour tour, we went to the Mercedes Benz museum. Wow! This museum is brand spanking new & a really impressive piece of architecture. It's really beautifully laid out & there was always something to look at. One of the funny things was that the local radio station was having a club night there (until 4am) as part of the Lange Nacht, so while we were wandering round, we were serenaded by the black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and other such music.
Apparently, the Lange Nacht is not special to Stuttgart and happens in cities all over Germany. It's an idea that I've never heard of, but is a fantastic idea. And judging by the number of people out & about, I wasn't the only person who thought so.
And later in the year, there's a similar event, where live music is played in various bars, clubs & spaces around town. I'm looking forward to that one too & hopefully the one in Mülheim too.
-----
Some Random Observations...
The Police do live up to their stereotypes - even in Germany
Was sitting in a cafe, when up pulled a police car. Out got the police man, and into the cafe he came. There, he proceeded to by some donuts/cake and then headed back out to his car & drove off.
Men aren't that different in Japan & Germany
I've had a few instructors here telling me how different it would be teaching German & Japanese students. So far, as i've mentioned before, there aren't too many major differences. And sometimes, there are some HUGE similarities.
For instance, in one of my basic classes this week, we were discussing housework & who does it. My students (1 woman and 5 men) were making sentences such as 'I do the vacuuming'; 'My wife does the laundry' and so on.
The end result was my female student saying, "I do everything. My boyfriend do nothing".
Then one of the male students topped that by saying, "My wife does everything. The best house machine is my wife".
Hmm....
Some of the places open were the City Art Gallery, the castle, the Porsche Museum and some local vineyards. But that is just a little taster; there were more than 90 places to choose from...
With this smorgasbord of places to choose from, we started of by visiting a WWII era bunker which had a photo exhibition entitled "Angels & Anarchy". The anarchy photos were all famous Stuttgartians (who i dodn't know) posed on/with/next to an anarcy logo. The angels were photo portraits of the local Hells Angels and in the bunker they'd also set up a biker bar for the event. Bit scary but interesting as the bunker isn't normally open to the public & i don't go to biker bars.
After that, we made a quick stop to a local art space and then took a massively crowded bus to the harbour. For those of you who don't know, Stuttgart isn't by the sea. It's really really far away from the sea, but it is on the Neckar river, which is a main transportation route. So there is a harbour on the river. From there, we took a 30 minute cruise up & down the river, looking at the scenic view of silos, warehouses and heaps of scrap metal.
After our harbour tour, we went to the Mercedes Benz museum. Wow! This museum is brand spanking new & a really impressive piece of architecture. It's really beautifully laid out & there was always something to look at. One of the funny things was that the local radio station was having a club night there (until 4am) as part of the Lange Nacht, so while we were wandering round, we were serenaded by the black Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and other such music.
Apparently, the Lange Nacht is not special to Stuttgart and happens in cities all over Germany. It's an idea that I've never heard of, but is a fantastic idea. And judging by the number of people out & about, I wasn't the only person who thought so.
And later in the year, there's a similar event, where live music is played in various bars, clubs & spaces around town. I'm looking forward to that one too & hopefully the one in Mülheim too.
-----
Some Random Observations...
The Police do live up to their stereotypes - even in Germany
Was sitting in a cafe, when up pulled a police car. Out got the police man, and into the cafe he came. There, he proceeded to by some donuts/cake and then headed back out to his car & drove off.
Men aren't that different in Japan & Germany
I've had a few instructors here telling me how different it would be teaching German & Japanese students. So far, as i've mentioned before, there aren't too many major differences. And sometimes, there are some HUGE similarities.
For instance, in one of my basic classes this week, we were discussing housework & who does it. My students (1 woman and 5 men) were making sentences such as 'I do the vacuuming'; 'My wife does the laundry' and so on.
The end result was my female student saying, "I do everything. My boyfriend do nothing".
Then one of the male students topped that by saying, "My wife does everything. The best house machine is my wife".
Hmm....
15 March, 2010
März Madness
Is it half way through March already? Nearly a third of the way through the year? DAMN!
Since I last wrote, I've got more classes & am teaching 5 days a week. Not all day teaching (i.e. 9-5), but at least one class a day, usually more. Still have some gaps to fit a couple more classes in, but my schedule is quite nice as it is (still have time to do all my hausfrau duties as well....)
So, what have i found out in my first month of working? Here's a little run down....
There are a lot of similarities to what i did in
- The students all want to learn, they (mostly) need English for their jobs
- Companies spend a LOT of money on English training
- Low level students are still a bit giggly & nervous
- High level students are demanding & ask tough questions (related to English)
This means that work isn't too challenging for me. I don't mean that in a negative way; I have 13 years experience teaching in the corporate field, I know what to do & I know I do it well. And now I will stop blowing my horn.....
But it does mean that when I have got used to things (i.e. travelling around town), I can focus on joining a German course. If work is easy for me to do well, then i can definitely afford some time on studying. Just want to get a couple of months under my belt first though.
On the other hand, there a few things that are really different here in
- When I commute, I can sit down on the train. I can buy a coffee, eat breakfast, read the newspaper, prepare my lessons & not get elbowed, pushed or generally mauled. I spend approximately 40 to 60 minutes travelling to some of my classes (others are a 15 minute walk away), and i find it relaxing. I go through fields & hills (lot of tunnels in
- This does mean, however, i have to be really careful with bus/train schedules. If I miss one, I could have to wait for up to an hour for the next one. I'm used to a train every 2 to 5 minutes, and buses every 15 minutes or so. I've been both spoiled & scarred by commuting in Tokyo...
- In class, when I ask my (higher) level students for their opinions, they actually give them. And they are not afraid to disagree with each other. It's a refreshing change not to have to cajole an opinion out of them. On the other hand, it has really screwed up my time management as an activity that would have taken 10 minutes with a Japanese class, now takes twice as long with my German students...
And those are the main things I have noticed so far. I'm sure there will be more & i will be sure to keep you updated....
*****
And one completely unrelated observation: I love that Euros come from all over the place. Each country got to mint their own coins & could change the design a little (ie German 1€ have an eagley thing & the Spanish ones have King Juan Carlos on them). It means that in my wallet i can have coins that have travelled across countries. Don't know why, but i find that fascinating. It's probably actually verging on geeky, but hey, everybody needs a bit of geek in them...
23 February, 2010
Februar...
Last month i wrote that one of my resolutions for 2010 was to find a job.
Guess what? I have! In fact, i've found three! I think i mentioned before that there was very little chance of me getting a full-time teaching position here in Germany, due to the fact that companies really don't want to be responsible for all the benefits (pension, health-care, whatever) This means that i have had to accept the fact that i am going to be a freelancer (ie working for at least 2 companies).
In January, I had interviews with 3 different coprorate training companies & all three accepted me. Woohoo! I've already started working with 2 of the companies & start with the third tomorrow. I am teaching business people of all levels & needs & so far, so good. Now is just a matter of building up a schedule & fitting as many classes together (but not so many that i begin to neglect my hausfrau duties....)
Otherwise, not much else has gone on. Both K & me had birthdays. As did my mum. And K's mum. And the biggest milestone of all was my grandma who reached the milestone of 90. NINETY! Can you believe that? And have you ever gone shopping for a 90th Birthday card? Surprisingly, there was a (limited) supply in the shops. They were, however, hideous. Apparently, anyone who has reached the age of ninety is supposed to like roses and soft pastel colours. And anyone who has met grandma, the woman who loves bright red & bought herself a frog green leather jacket, would know that pastel peach roses are *so* not her. Instead i bought a Happy 60th card & Happy 30th card and told her to choose which one(s) she felt was/were more appropriate!
=====
Last week's amusing teaching anecdote:
We were studying the difference between informal & formal requests and the students had to fill out a table of requests. Sometimes the formal version was missing, sometimes the informal...
Textbook:
FORMAL: May I have another glass of beer?
INFORMAL: ????
Students discussing the answer:
Student 1: Hmmm...
Student 2 (in a loud voice & empty beer mug gesture): Beer, please!
Teacher (me): Isn't that a little too direct?
Student 1: No, that works.
I couldn't really disagree with them, could i?
Guess what? I have! In fact, i've found three! I think i mentioned before that there was very little chance of me getting a full-time teaching position here in Germany, due to the fact that companies really don't want to be responsible for all the benefits (pension, health-care, whatever) This means that i have had to accept the fact that i am going to be a freelancer (ie working for at least 2 companies).
In January, I had interviews with 3 different coprorate training companies & all three accepted me. Woohoo! I've already started working with 2 of the companies & start with the third tomorrow. I am teaching business people of all levels & needs & so far, so good. Now is just a matter of building up a schedule & fitting as many classes together (but not so many that i begin to neglect my hausfrau duties....)
Otherwise, not much else has gone on. Both K & me had birthdays. As did my mum. And K's mum. And the biggest milestone of all was my grandma who reached the milestone of 90. NINETY! Can you believe that? And have you ever gone shopping for a 90th Birthday card? Surprisingly, there was a (limited) supply in the shops. They were, however, hideous. Apparently, anyone who has reached the age of ninety is supposed to like roses and soft pastel colours. And anyone who has met grandma, the woman who loves bright red & bought herself a frog green leather jacket, would know that pastel peach roses are *so* not her. Instead i bought a Happy 60th card & Happy 30th card and told her to choose which one(s) she felt was/were more appropriate!
=====
Last week's amusing teaching anecdote:
We were studying the difference between informal & formal requests and the students had to fill out a table of requests. Sometimes the formal version was missing, sometimes the informal...
Textbook:
FORMAL: May I have another glass of beer?
INFORMAL: ????
Students discussing the answer:
Student 1: Hmmm...
Student 2 (in a loud voice & empty beer mug gesture): Beer, please!
Teacher (me): Isn't that a little too direct?
Student 1: No, that works.
I couldn't really disagree with them, could i?
27 January, 2010
Life in Progress
I don't really make resolutions, but i have 3 vague goals for 2010:
1. Get a job
2. Learn to drive
3. Learn German, enough at least to have a conversation
Number 1 is definitely in progress at the moment. The good news is that i've had three successful interviews & all three companies want to hire me. The bad news is that all three only hire freelance instructors (i'm looking to continue in the corporate Enlgish education field). This is probably because the benefits German companies have to pay their full-time employees are huge. Therefore, companies don't want to take on the responsibility of hiring their own trainers.
Also, i am starting back down the bottom of the teaching ladder. I'll be teaching seminar classes again, not in curriculum development or intensive training.
But on the more positive side, all three companies have mentioned other possibilities; for example teaching basic Japanese courses, running intensives, or becoming a cross cultural trainer. Also, as a freelance trainer, i can accept all three jobs & jigsaw them together.
So far, i have one confirmed class starting 10th February, but it looks like more will be coming soon.... I will finally be able to break free from the Hausfrau life!!
As for 2 & 3, not much progress has been made.
I am, however, in the process of changing my (unused) British driving license into a German one. No real need to do it (EU people can drive in EU countries), but i have no ID card for Germany, so i thought a driving licence issued here would be useful. Still, i need to learn to drive though....passed my test in 1997 & haven't driven since...
As for German, i have heard that there is the possibility of joining a government run intensive program (for free). Apparently, it's a nightmare to get through all the red tape (in German, which kind of defaeats the point - if you can do all the paperwork & bureaucracy in German, why do you need a German course?!) But a friend of mine knows a man who has successfully negotiatied the process, so i am going to pick his brain next week to find out if it is even an option for me.
And what else? The biggest & best news this year is that The German & I finally have our own place. And it came fully furnished, albeit in an old Italian lady kind of way (the former owner's choice of decor...) We even have a piano & the living room looks more like a salon for afternoon teas than somehwere to chill... It's in central Stuttgart, near a main road & tram but far enough away to be quiet. And we have a spare room, so guests are more than welcome. I will, hopefully, take some photos and upload them in the coming weeks.
And i had a birthday. My first German birthday & the birthday that officially marked me as closer to 40 than 30. Yup, i'm old(er). But i'm happy. 2010 is looking good!
1. Get a job
2. Learn to drive
3. Learn German, enough at least to have a conversation
Number 1 is definitely in progress at the moment. The good news is that i've had three successful interviews & all three companies want to hire me. The bad news is that all three only hire freelance instructors (i'm looking to continue in the corporate Enlgish education field). This is probably because the benefits German companies have to pay their full-time employees are huge. Therefore, companies don't want to take on the responsibility of hiring their own trainers.
Also, i am starting back down the bottom of the teaching ladder. I'll be teaching seminar classes again, not in curriculum development or intensive training.
But on the more positive side, all three companies have mentioned other possibilities; for example teaching basic Japanese courses, running intensives, or becoming a cross cultural trainer. Also, as a freelance trainer, i can accept all three jobs & jigsaw them together.
So far, i have one confirmed class starting 10th February, but it looks like more will be coming soon.... I will finally be able to break free from the Hausfrau life!!
As for 2 & 3, not much progress has been made.
I am, however, in the process of changing my (unused) British driving license into a German one. No real need to do it (EU people can drive in EU countries), but i have no ID card for Germany, so i thought a driving licence issued here would be useful. Still, i need to learn to drive though....passed my test in 1997 & haven't driven since...
As for German, i have heard that there is the possibility of joining a government run intensive program (for free). Apparently, it's a nightmare to get through all the red tape (in German, which kind of defaeats the point - if you can do all the paperwork & bureaucracy in German, why do you need a German course?!) But a friend of mine knows a man who has successfully negotiatied the process, so i am going to pick his brain next week to find out if it is even an option for me.
And what else? The biggest & best news this year is that The German & I finally have our own place. And it came fully furnished, albeit in an old Italian lady kind of way (the former owner's choice of decor...) We even have a piano & the living room looks more like a salon for afternoon teas than somehwere to chill... It's in central Stuttgart, near a main road & tram but far enough away to be quiet. And we have a spare room, so guests are more than welcome. I will, hopefully, take some photos and upload them in the coming weeks.
And i had a birthday. My first German birthday & the birthday that officially marked me as closer to 40 than 30. Yup, i'm old(er). But i'm happy. 2010 is looking good!
04 January, 2010
2009: A Year to Remember
2009 - wow! So many things happened in 2009 that it seems pretty impossible to actually remember everything that occurred.
It was a year of many things & with many faces:
A Year of Travel
I opened the year in Britain and closed it in Egypt.
In between i went to Germany, Japan, France, Belgium, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia & Singapore; three continents & multiple time zones. So many beautiful places, lovely people & great memories.
I also moved from Asia to Europe, only to travel back to Asia again for 3 months.
My carbon footprint must be huge...
A Year of Change
This year i made a monumental leap of faith - giving up pretty much everything I had for a man, The German. I moved half way round the world, giving up my job, my home & my comfortable life.
Do i regret moving? Not for a moment.
Has it been challenging? Yes, but perhaps that was what i needed. Life in Japan didn't really present many big challenges, or not as major as living here.
Do i miss Japan? Constantly. I miss beers on the train home with Ian; I miss girly Friday nights with Lala & Aya; I miss my Saturday night Fat Mam dates with J-dad; I miss walking into Blue Corn knowing that I'd know someone there to chat with; I miss speaking Japanese; I miss my J-friends. But most of all, I miss Michael & Shingo - my family in Japan, my anchors.
But there are new faces now. My German family. My new German friends. And the wonderful reconnection with a friend from high school in Japan (also British, also with a German partner and, funnily, also called Helen) And not to mention being able to go & see my parents for a weekend.
A Year of Challenge
The year opened with the tail-end of the TB saga; the last two months of my course of antibiotics. I am happy to report that everything is still A-OK; no TB & my liver is back to normal again.
Lesson Learnt: never underestimate the power of antibiotics
I also managed to fracture a bone in my face which, unsurprisingly, scared the crap out of me. More surprisingly though, was the fact that it was the first bone i have (knowingly) fractured.
Lesson Learnt: don't drink lots on an empty stomach whilst jet-lagged & then try & sit on a bar stool
I moved home from Japan to Germany. For 12 years, i had lived in the same flat & had managed to collect a hideous amount of stuff (aka crap). I had to reduce 12 years into 2 cubic metres. It was a challenge, especially negotiating it all & arranging everything all by myself. But i did it.
Lesson Learnt: start sorting & throwing things out at least 6 months before moving
I overcame my fear of water & got my Open Water Diver Licence. I failed the first time, but i didn't give up & tried again more slowly. I am still nervous of the ocean, but now it is a healthy respectful fear rather than a crippling 'i-will-not-go-in-the-water-if-i-can't-touch-the-bottom' type of fear.
Lesson Learnt: Overcoming fears IS possible & remember to trust people when they tell you that you are doing a good job. And do it in baby steps, not forcing yourself too hard.
That was 2009. A huge year. Of course a lot more happened; some i don't want to write about here. And some things that happened aren't really my story to share, but 2009 really was a huge eventful chaotic year.
Let's hope that 2010 is less eventful, calmer but just as challenging.
23 December, 2009
The Joys of Winter
Unless you've been living under a rock or have cut yourself off from all forms of media, you have probably heard about the big freeze hitting northern Europe at the moment.
So, you have read about all the transport troubles & accidents that have occurred?
Let me tell you my story - a real-life tale of winter...
The story started with a car. Daddy Sin offered to sell me his old car for a really good price. I eagerly accepted the offer - MY FIRST CAR!
Only problems were that a) the car was in France and b) I can't drive (have a licence, but haven't driven since i passed my test 12 years ago...) There was K & his car, but we needed another driver & Joe, our flatmate, very kindly agreed to be the second driver.
Then we discussed the travel plans. We had two options; stay Saturday night chez Parental Sins or do a day-trip on Saturday (about an 8-hour return trip).
We decided to take the second option (which was to be probably the biggest mistake of the day)
Travel plans sorted, we could relax, driver - check, car - check, plan - check!
But then on Friday night it started to snow. And snow. And snow some more. It was the first day that snow had actually stuck in south Stuttgart. Went to bed nervous that we would be snowed in & unable to drive to France.
Saturday morning, i opened the curtains with trepidation. Luckily, there it hadn't snowed much more & there was only about 5cm on the ground & the main road had been cleared.
So, off to the car, K's aged VW Golf. This car has been dying a slow & painful death, but has been soldiering on. Saturday though was too cold & Golf decided that, no, he didn't want to start.
No amount of cajoling could persuade Golf to start - too cold, too tired & too snowy. Personally, I don't blame Golf for not wanting to start. At this point the temperature was -8C.
Luckily, we had the keys for another flatmate's car, so we decided to use that car instead.
And yes, Saab decided that, yes, he would go to France. And so off we set.
But it was cold. And despite being a Swedish car, Saab didn't like the icy spray off the road, which stuck to the windscreen, froze & left frozen sludge & impossible to see through. This meant stopping every few km to pour anti-freeze over it or, once the anti-freeze had run out, cleaning it manually. This resulted in our 4-hour journey taking just over 6 hours.
But we got there. And had a lovely dinner.
Pretty soon after dinner, we left in order to get back to Germany. Daddy Sin did suggest again that we stay the night in France, but we all had decided on our plan to return to Germany. Again, this was a decision that we would regret...
We left my parents place around 8:30, aiming to be back in Stuttgart around 1am.
we set off with no problems & the first couple of hours were uneventful & stress-free. By this time, the roads were pretty empty, so there wasn't any spray to stick to Saab's windscreen. Also, the temperature had dropped to below -10C, so everything was solid.
Motorway was empty, everything was great. Looked like we were going to have a smooth drive home. But NO! Nothing can be that simple.
Daddy Sin had warned us earlier that day that my new car, Renault, had summer diesel in it, which had froze earlier that day. However, he's left Renault running for a few hours to warm everything up & topped the tank up with winter diesel & it seemed to be OK. And yes, Renault WAS fine for the first 3 hours. But then, while Joe was driving, the engine just stopped. We pulled over to the hard shoulder & he tried to start Renault again. No. So Joe & K swapped cars, the logic being that as K is an engineer maybe he would have some magic trick to get the car working.
Meanwhile, Joe took Saab to the nearest exit to stop safely (also, at some point during the day, Saab's indicators decided not to work - not a great idea to be parked on the hard shoulder at night with no hazards)
K tried to get everything going, but to no avail. Renault completely refused to start. By this point the temperature was -18C.
So, we were stuck on the motorway, in the middle of nowhere in France with no power in freezing conditions. Not only that, when had swapped cars, he left his wallet & coat in Saab. Not fun.
Called my dad & he gave me the insurance phone number (thank god for insurance and especially AXA insurance). Called AXA and luckily they had someone who spoke English. He explained, that while they could support us, they couldn't organise a tow-truck on the motorway, as the police are in charge of that. But once we off the motorway, he explained i should call him back & then he could help me out.
So i had to call 112 (the continental Europe emergency number) Called there, where no one spoke English & explained what happened in my broken french. Got given a number for the local gendarmes (that's french for police, that is...) In a side point, found it a bit discomforting that the emergency services didn't speak any English. Luckily, as i discovered that night, my french isn't as bad as i thought it was, so i could explain what was happening. But imagine if you're some stuck tourist? You'd be completely screwed.
Called the local police, who again didn't speak English, and they gave me the number for the depannage (breakdown service in French. I think i doubled my french vocabulary this weekend!!)
And so, on phone call number 4, i was finally through to the Depannage. He asked all the usual questions; name, car model & registration, what happened, where are we, etc. The 'where are we' was a bit of a challenge though, it was dark, we were in the middle of nowhere. I could tell him we were on the A4 heading towards Strasbourg. But where on the A4? Absolutely NO idea.
Luckily though, motorways are prepared for this kind of thing. Have you ever noticed the km markers? In France, they're in the centre of the motorway (not at the side, as K discovered while he was running around in -18C trying to find it) They are every 200m, so the Deppanage can find the broken down car with relative ease. He said he would be there in about 45 minutes; an hour later he arrived. We had never been so happy to see those flashing orange lights.
At this point, Joe was still waiting for us. I explained to the Depannage dude that our friend was waiting & could we stop there. He, not being very impressed with working in minus temperatures on a Saturday night, said, no, he wasn't going that way. This was because Depannage trucks can use secret exits off the motorway. And he had to pick up another car (a french couple who also had frozen fuel)
Finally, we get to the garage, dump our car(s), then head over the Depannage office. There, i called AXA once again & explained what had happened. The nice AXA man told me that they would provide a hotel & taxi to it & even organise everything. About 30 minutes later, the taxi arrived and took us to a Novotel about 20 minuteas away. When we got to the hotel, it was after 2am, but the staff were there. And the girl working in the bar, explained that the bar was usually closed at that time, but she thought that we probably needed a drink, so had stayed open for us. So we had a couple of beers.
And then went up to our nice clean room, had a shower to warm up & then crashed.
Next day was Sunday. And lovely AXA had also organised breakfast for us. FREE! Woohoo!
After breakfast, I called AXA to see what was happening. They said i should call the garage, but I explained that my french wasn't good enough, so the nice AXA man called on my behalf.
A while later, he called back with the bad (but not completely unexpected) news - the garage is closed on Sundays. we would have to wait until Monday, at the earliest, for the car to be ready. Luckily, the insurance covered up to 2 nights at the hotel. So, there we were having a mini-Hotel California experience; K had no coat, so going outside was not an option. Besides that, we had very limited money - all we had was my Xmas present money from my dad!
Luckily, this money was enough for lunch, dinner & a couple of beers.
And so Monday morning rolled around.
Once again, I called AXA. They, once again, called the garage. And AXA called back to tell us to wait until the afternoon. After 1pm, i called AXA again. An hour later, they called back. The car was READY! And AXA would organise & cover the taxi back to the garage. they wouldn't, however, cover any repairing fees.
Headed over to the garage, and the garage lady confirmed that, yes, the diesel had jelified (hopefully that's a real word...) But we weren't the only ones - lots of cars had had the same problem on Saturday (which turned out to be the only night that was that cold!!!) And when i asked how much it was, she said it was free! I guess all they had to do was warm the car up - they didn't to do anything mechanical or replace any parts; just de-jelify the diesel.
And then we were on our way & i am very happy to report that the last 2 hours were completely uneventful.
In the end, our day-trip to France took 3 days, but we had a free weekend away in a nice hotel & what could have been a complete and utter nightmare actually ended up OK due to the nice helpful AXA people, the friendly Novotel staff & the garage people. And i would like to thank my parents for making me go to French school when i was 7 because if i had had no French it would have been so much worse and WAY more difficult.
And while all this was going on, Sister Sin was stuck in London waiting for the Eurostar service to restart. Hopefully she has got to France now...
28 November, 2009
The Great Adventure: Day 61 to the homecoming
I have been a bit of a slacker & not updated what we were doing.
K & I are now back in Europe, but in different countries; he's off on a sailing weekend in Germany & i'm in France chez the Parental Sins (was in severe need of my winter clothes & they're all in boxes here - think i mentioned that before)
ANYWAY...
I think i left off in Ko Phi Phi (seems like a distance memory now that i am sitting here in a sweater with the heating on, looking out on a grey & drizzly day)
I wasn't keeping my journal towards the end of the trip, so things are a bit hazy. I will try my best to remember what we did...
Day 61: Tuesday 10th November
This was our last full day in Ko Phi Phi. K went diving, I had a Thai massage and in the evening we met up with K's dive instructor & co diver (Rob) and proceeded to have a stupid night. And yes, it did involve bucket cocktails...
Day 62: Wednesday 11th November
Luckily, I hadn't booked ourselves on the 9am ferry to Phuket; we were on the 2:30pm. This meant checking out of our bungalow, having breakfast, hanging out on the beach & then making our way to the ferry.
In Phuket, we were met (eventually) by the driver from Khao Lak Scuba Adventures who took us to Khao Lak - about 3 hours from Phuket port. Once there, we filled out loads of forms & waited around for a while & then boarded out liveaboard. For those of you who haven't heard of liveaboards, they are boats for divers where you live & breathe diving. We had booked ourselves on a 4 night/4 day trip to the Similan Islands; which included 15 dives for K & snorkelling for me.
At around 7pm, we boarded our boat (Manta Queen II) and headed out to the Similans (one of the world's best dive spots, apparently. Jacques Cousteau has been here, so it MUST be good!)
Day 63 - 66 (Thurs. 12th to Sun. 15th November)
This was our liveaboard time. Everyday involved diving, sleeping, eating & maybe a few beers in the evening. There were 19 customers onboard & 18 were divers. And there was me, the only snorkeller, but it actually turned out OK. The boat crew looked out for me & i had my own tuk tuk dinghy that picked me up when i'd had enough snorkelling. As a snorkeller though, i saw pretty much the same things every time as i was always at the same (surface) level. The divers, however, saw loads of amazing things as they could go anywhere up to 30m deep. K told me about eels, shark, octopuses (octopi? Never sure which is correct...), beautifully coloured coral and that's just a few of the things he saw. Me, i saw squirrel fish, box fish, parrot fish & Nemos (anenome clown fish) It was a really good experience - the staff on board were really nice & helpful and the other divers were all really nice people.
Once we got back on Sunday evening, we met up with 2 other couples who were also staying in Khao Lak and had dinner & drinks. It was a fun evening, but i had really bad land sickness. Never thought about it - but i had got so used to being on the boat that once i got off & i felt dizzy & nauseous for about 24 hours. Was a really bizarre feeling.
Day 67 - 71 (Mon. 16th to Friday 21st November)
Once we got our feet back on dry land & after 4 intense days of diving, K decided that he wanted to continue his diving education & enrolled in a rescue diver course. This involved him first doing an Emergency First Response (EFR) course for one day, then 2 days of rescue diving. Both course meant lots of role-playing & dealing with panicking/unconscious divers. I had a quick flick through his manual, and it seems that most problems occur because of diver carelessness or over confidence. Just goes goes to show that you should never EVER underestimate the power of the ocean.
And while K was doing his rescue course, what was i doing?
Believe it or not, i was attempting once more to get my Open Water Diving License. And guess what? This time i actually passed it! I AM A LICENSED DIVER!!!!! WOOHOO! It wasn't easy & it was a touch and go for a little while, but once i had got through the skills (ie taking and replacing my mask off underwater or practicing an emergency swimming ascent) and gone underwater in the ocean, i was a lot calmer & began to enjoy diving a lot more.
Day 72 (Saturday 21st November)
K & me went diving together! We had a day trip out to the Similan Islands, had two dives & had Irish Dave the Dive Master as our guide (in K's course, Dave was the panicking victim for the role plays - was really nice having a Dive Master that we both knew & knew us - me the nervous diver, K the eager rescue diver).
On the first dive, K was in full Rescue Diver mode & was constantly checking to see if i was OK. With both him & Dave checking, i felt really safe & relaxed a lot more. It was also relaxing knowing i didn't have to practice/pass any skills. I could just enjoy the view.
On the second dive, K was a lot more relaxed too, knowing that i was OK. And so we both had a great day. It was so cool that i could finally enjoy diving with K. I wish i had managed to get my licence earlier in our travels, but i don't think i would have been ready. I needed to do a lot more snorkelling & build my confidence in the water before i tackled diving again. And the liveaboard experience was the turning point for me, as i was snorkelling on my own in the ocean. I felt a lot more comfortable in/with the water & could quite easily jump off the boat into the sea. Bear in mind that at the beginning of the holiday, i could only swim in shallow water...so i have come a long way during our 2 months travelling!
Day 73 (Sunday 22nd November)
This was our last full day in Thailand. And in Asia. And on holiday.
We actually didn't do much either. Just relaxed & enjoyed our last day there. We would have gone diving again if we could, but because of pressure changes & other technical stuff, you can't fly 18-24+ hours after diving. We decided to stay safe & have a mellow day - and even packed our bags the night before.
That meant we could enjoy our last evening in Khao Lak...
Day 74 (Monday 23rd November)
We had booked a taxi for 5am. We woke up at 5:30am.
Luckily, the taxi driver was still waiting for us, so we threw ourselves together (thank goodness we'd packed our bags!!!) Drove to Phuket airport, flew to Bangkok. Had 4 hours in Bangkok, then flew to Dusseldorf & back to reality again.
Was a long day, but it was a relatively easy day. Bangkok airport is well designed and it's really easy to change from domestic to international flights; just have to go up a few escalators. The only downer were the 2 annoying kids sitting behind us. They were constantly kicking our seats, moaning, fighting & basically all round little brats. I finally complained (politely) to their mother when one of the kids ended up UNDER my seat and was grabbing my flip flops. They were a bit quieter after that, but it made the 12 hour flight seem a lot longer...
And that was our great adventure. It was a great trip; sometimes frustrating, sometimes really hard, but mostly fascinating, inspiring, relaxing, and fun. I am really glad we went & i really had a wonderful time & met really lovely people pretty much everywhere we went. And i think that will be my overwhelming memory from this trip - the people. However, considering the fact that K & I did pretty much no sightseeing (e.g. we visited absolutely no temples) and spent much of our time diving/snorkelling/relaxing, people are the only local culture that we encountered. Then again, people ARE the culture.
But, yes, it was a fantastic adventure. And i want to go again...
K & I are now back in Europe, but in different countries; he's off on a sailing weekend in Germany & i'm in France chez the Parental Sins (was in severe need of my winter clothes & they're all in boxes here - think i mentioned that before)
ANYWAY...
I think i left off in Ko Phi Phi (seems like a distance memory now that i am sitting here in a sweater with the heating on, looking out on a grey & drizzly day)
I wasn't keeping my journal towards the end of the trip, so things are a bit hazy. I will try my best to remember what we did...
Day 61: Tuesday 10th November
This was our last full day in Ko Phi Phi. K went diving, I had a Thai massage and in the evening we met up with K's dive instructor & co diver (Rob) and proceeded to have a stupid night. And yes, it did involve bucket cocktails...
Day 62: Wednesday 11th November
Luckily, I hadn't booked ourselves on the 9am ferry to Phuket; we were on the 2:30pm. This meant checking out of our bungalow, having breakfast, hanging out on the beach & then making our way to the ferry.
In Phuket, we were met (eventually) by the driver from Khao Lak Scuba Adventures who took us to Khao Lak - about 3 hours from Phuket port. Once there, we filled out loads of forms & waited around for a while & then boarded out liveaboard. For those of you who haven't heard of liveaboards, they are boats for divers where you live & breathe diving. We had booked ourselves on a 4 night/4 day trip to the Similan Islands; which included 15 dives for K & snorkelling for me.
At around 7pm, we boarded our boat (Manta Queen II) and headed out to the Similans (one of the world's best dive spots, apparently. Jacques Cousteau has been here, so it MUST be good!)
Day 63 - 66 (Thurs. 12th to Sun. 15th November)
This was our liveaboard time. Everyday involved diving, sleeping, eating & maybe a few beers in the evening. There were 19 customers onboard & 18 were divers. And there was me, the only snorkeller, but it actually turned out OK. The boat crew looked out for me & i had my own tuk tuk dinghy that picked me up when i'd had enough snorkelling. As a snorkeller though, i saw pretty much the same things every time as i was always at the same (surface) level. The divers, however, saw loads of amazing things as they could go anywhere up to 30m deep. K told me about eels, shark, octopuses (octopi? Never sure which is correct...), beautifully coloured coral and that's just a few of the things he saw. Me, i saw squirrel fish, box fish, parrot fish & Nemos (anenome clown fish) It was a really good experience - the staff on board were really nice & helpful and the other divers were all really nice people.
Once we got back on Sunday evening, we met up with 2 other couples who were also staying in Khao Lak and had dinner & drinks. It was a fun evening, but i had really bad land sickness. Never thought about it - but i had got so used to being on the boat that once i got off & i felt dizzy & nauseous for about 24 hours. Was a really bizarre feeling.
Day 67 - 71 (Mon. 16th to Friday 21st November)
Once we got our feet back on dry land & after 4 intense days of diving, K decided that he wanted to continue his diving education & enrolled in a rescue diver course. This involved him first doing an Emergency First Response (EFR) course for one day, then 2 days of rescue diving. Both course meant lots of role-playing & dealing with panicking/unconscious divers. I had a quick flick through his manual, and it seems that most problems occur because of diver carelessness or over confidence. Just goes goes to show that you should never EVER underestimate the power of the ocean.
And while K was doing his rescue course, what was i doing?
Believe it or not, i was attempting once more to get my Open Water Diving License. And guess what? This time i actually passed it! I AM A LICENSED DIVER!!!!! WOOHOO! It wasn't easy & it was a touch and go for a little while, but once i had got through the skills (ie taking and replacing my mask off underwater or practicing an emergency swimming ascent) and gone underwater in the ocean, i was a lot calmer & began to enjoy diving a lot more.
Day 72 (Saturday 21st November)
K & me went diving together! We had a day trip out to the Similan Islands, had two dives & had Irish Dave the Dive Master as our guide (in K's course, Dave was the panicking victim for the role plays - was really nice having a Dive Master that we both knew & knew us - me the nervous diver, K the eager rescue diver).
On the first dive, K was in full Rescue Diver mode & was constantly checking to see if i was OK. With both him & Dave checking, i felt really safe & relaxed a lot more. It was also relaxing knowing i didn't have to practice/pass any skills. I could just enjoy the view.
On the second dive, K was a lot more relaxed too, knowing that i was OK. And so we both had a great day. It was so cool that i could finally enjoy diving with K. I wish i had managed to get my licence earlier in our travels, but i don't think i would have been ready. I needed to do a lot more snorkelling & build my confidence in the water before i tackled diving again. And the liveaboard experience was the turning point for me, as i was snorkelling on my own in the ocean. I felt a lot more comfortable in/with the water & could quite easily jump off the boat into the sea. Bear in mind that at the beginning of the holiday, i could only swim in shallow water...so i have come a long way during our 2 months travelling!
Day 73 (Sunday 22nd November)
This was our last full day in Thailand. And in Asia. And on holiday.
We actually didn't do much either. Just relaxed & enjoyed our last day there. We would have gone diving again if we could, but because of pressure changes & other technical stuff, you can't fly 18-24+ hours after diving. We decided to stay safe & have a mellow day - and even packed our bags the night before.
That meant we could enjoy our last evening in Khao Lak...
Day 74 (Monday 23rd November)
We had booked a taxi for 5am. We woke up at 5:30am.
Luckily, the taxi driver was still waiting for us, so we threw ourselves together (thank goodness we'd packed our bags!!!) Drove to Phuket airport, flew to Bangkok. Had 4 hours in Bangkok, then flew to Dusseldorf & back to reality again.
Was a long day, but it was a relatively easy day. Bangkok airport is well designed and it's really easy to change from domestic to international flights; just have to go up a few escalators. The only downer were the 2 annoying kids sitting behind us. They were constantly kicking our seats, moaning, fighting & basically all round little brats. I finally complained (politely) to their mother when one of the kids ended up UNDER my seat and was grabbing my flip flops. They were a bit quieter after that, but it made the 12 hour flight seem a lot longer...
And that was our great adventure. It was a great trip; sometimes frustrating, sometimes really hard, but mostly fascinating, inspiring, relaxing, and fun. I am really glad we went & i really had a wonderful time & met really lovely people pretty much everywhere we went. And i think that will be my overwhelming memory from this trip - the people. However, considering the fact that K & I did pretty much no sightseeing (e.g. we visited absolutely no temples) and spent much of our time diving/snorkelling/relaxing, people are the only local culture that we encountered. Then again, people ARE the culture.
But, yes, it was a fantastic adventure. And i want to go again...
10 November, 2009
The Great Adventure: Day 50 to 60
We're on the final stretch now - just 2 more weeks until we launch ourselves back into our 'normal' lives. Hard to even contemplate cold weather - the other day it was 28C here & both of us felt a bit chilly. Think German winter is going to be a nasty shock to the system...
Anyway - let me update you on our adventure:
Day 50 (Friday 30th October)
Still in Kuta, Bali
Had a slow day. Found a lovely Mexican called TJs. Great food, lovely decor & quiet despite being on Poppies I (one of the crazy noisy side streets of Kuta). In the evening, we had bangers & mash (there's only so much rice one can eat on holiday...) and then played pool.
We found a lovely little bar with no other customers & an empty pool table. The staff were at a loose end & racked the balls up for us every time AND gave us free garlic bread. Needless to say, we stayed there a lot longer than intended. Was defintiely a nice way to end out last night in Bali and the Southern hemisphere.
Day 51 (Saturday 31st October)
Headed out to Bali airport (aka Denpasar or Ngurah Rai airport, which makes things a bit confusing when you're looking for flights & each airline seems to use a different name)
We didn't have much Rupiah left, so had to resort to a cheap McDs lunch. And, yes, McDs is the same everywhere; cheap, cheerful & that's about it...
And on our way out of Indonesia, we had to pay $20 fee for something or other. Not really sure what, but it was another sneaky way of getting hard currency into the country...
Anyway, we got on our flight to Singapore - which left late but managed to arrive (nearly) on time. Note to everyone - if you use Air Asia, never EVER have a tight connection time. They seem to run late a lot of the time but are cheap & clean. Plus minus...
On arrival in Singapore, we took the train into town & went hunting for a guesthouse in Chinatown. Bad idea. Everywhere we went was full & there weren't many places to choose from. We ended up staying in a 'nice' hotel for the night after having a couple of (expensive) beers.
Day 52 (Sunday 1st November)
After checking out of our nice hotel, we took the train to Little India to try our luck in finding a place there. A lot better decision - Little India has a lot more choices. They are, however, expensive. EVERYTHING in Singapore is expensive. Well, except food maybe.
But we were expecting that, so it wasn't a nasty a shock as it could have been.
This day ended up turning into a sightseeing day. And we headed out to the west of Singapore to the "Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC)". That was one SCARY place. It was verging on propaganda-like; trying to instill in everyone how GREAT Singapore is and how Singaporeans are the best people on earth. And how important it is to be proud of coming from Singapore. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, it was a bit creepy seeing this brain-washing on such a large scale.
To balance things out, we headed to the Singapore Army Museum next door (we got cheap tickets because we'd been to the SDC.
This was not quite as scary as the SDC, but did at times feel like an army recruiting centre ("Look how fun it is to be in the army! You too can jump out of helicopters and make great friends and wear shiny boots! And fire big rocket launchers!!") It was a a bit ironic though (for me) that the Singapore Army was only established in 1957 and has never been involved in any direct combat, but has, to be fair, taken part in a lot of earthquake rescue operations in South East Asia. It just seemed such a big space to dedicate to an Army that hasn't really done much. But maybe I'm just jaded...
In the evening, we headed out to the Night Safari. Yay! I LOVE the night safari. And i think K liked it too. And the bats are still just as cool.
And that was our first day in Singapore...
Day 53 (Monday 2nd November)
This day was a totally decadent day. We went over to Clarke Quay & firstly went book shopping at Kinokuniya. Then we found a Vietnamese coffee shop & stocked up on caffeine (never sure when you'll see a proper coffee machine in SE ASIA). After that, we went and had ramen. PROPER ramen. With gyoza. Yummy. And extremely filling. But oh so satisfying.
Afterwards, K & i managed to find ourselves a happy hour (happy hours seem to last at least 4 hours for some reason. So why don't they call them "Happy evening" or "Happy Monday" or "Let's see how drunk you can get on Monday night"?) at a Microbrewery place on the Quay and proceeded to get very happy...
Day 54 (Tuesday 3rd November)
K & I surprised ourselves by actually waking up at a reasonable hour, despite our happy adventure the previous evening. Kick started the day with a curry lunch (we were staying in Little India after all) and then headed off to Singapore Zoo. There, we spent around 3 hours wandering around, watching animals doing animal things (which for lions means sitting around looking bored and listless). Our favourite area was the walk-through rain forest. Here, mousedeer, lemurs, big birds, strange pigeony things and, best of all, the Malayan Flying Fox. All of these creatures (plus butterflies & other animals i missed) were wandering around freely. The lemurs were really tame and came up and walked by everyone without a care in the world. The Flying foxes were hanging right in front of us doing shocking things, ie peeing while hanging upside down and licking parts of their body in public (and enjoying it in a very obvious male way)which they really shouldn't. Needless to say, The German and i, being serious responsible adults, didn't find this amusing at all and didn't chuckle about it for the rest of they day. Oh no...
On our way back to our guest house, we stopped at a steak restaurant to eat huge chunks of meat with potatoes (again, you never know when you'll find a good steak in SE Asia...)
Being in Singapore this time was interesting. I had already visited Singapore 4 times, when the Parental Sins were living there. But it was interesting to see how my perspectives on Singapore had changed because or both where i was coming from & why i was going there.
When i visited there before, i was coming from Tokyo, was staying with my parents & there for 2 weeks. Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was city. But it was a breath of fresh air coming from Tokyo.
This time, i was coming from Indonesia & staying at a guesthouse. It was still expensive (even more so because i wasn't staying chez mum & dad) . It was still hot. It was still city. But after being on islands & relatively quiet places, it was a tad overwhelming. But i still like Singapore - it just isn't SE Asia. It's Europe in a hot place.
Day 55 (Wednesday 4th November)
Another travelling day.
Took the train out to the airport & then bus to the Budget Terminal at Changi. Was expecting a huge shed/hangar type place, but the budget terminal was actually really nice (and new). It was even nicer than Bali airport!
Got our flight out of Singapore to Krabi in Thailand (West coast). On arrival at Krabi airport, we booked a taxi into to town. Here the taxi driver took us directly to a travel agency so we could book a guesthouse. At first, i thought this was all a bit dodgy, as we hadn't asked t be taken to a travel agency. It turned out to be a great decision though. The agency found us a nice place in Krabi, booked our ferry tickets to Ko Phi Phi and reserved a guesthouse there too. And all within our budget requests (500 Baht/night). AND the taxi driver waited for us to have lunch then drove us to our Krabi guest house. All in all, great service.
Had a pleasant evening in Krabi & despite what the guidebooks say, Krabi is nice place. Not the most beautiful of towns, but there's stuff to do & the people are really friendly.
Day 56 (Thursday 5th November)
Had to get up early for our 10am boat to Phi Phi (early = anything before 11am). Was a smooth uneventful ferry ride - nice big boat & smooth waters. When we arrived on Phi Phi, there was a man waiting to take us to our guest house AND he had a trolley to put our bags in. Hurrah.
Once there, we had a siesta, looked into diving/snorkelling trips, had dinner and watched a lady-boy cabaret show at the local Irish pub. While watching the Ladyboy show, the only question on my mind was, "Where do they put their 'bits'?" This was swiftly followed by "Do they even have bits?"
Interesting evening.
Day 57 (Friday 6th November)
Didn't really do much. We did change guesthouses though. The first one, while clean & relatively big, didn't have any wind/breeze access; neither did it have a balcony. So we decided to up grade a tad & moved up the hill to the appropriately named Uphill Cottages.
The rest of the day was spent siesta-ing, eating & having a couple of quiet beers.
Day 58 (Saturday 7th November)
Had a REALLY early start: 7am wake up! Went on our half-day diving/snorkelling trip. For me, it wasn't great as the current was quite strong on the surface & i had trouble swimming in the right direction. But as i had a life jacket on, it wasn't too stressful. K, meanwhile, had a good time and saw a turtle and lots of sharks. Everyone, in fact, saw the sharks except me. I am not sure whether it was an eyesight thing (can't wear glasses AND a snorkel) or just plain ignorance. Luckily, K's dive master took lots of pictures with his underwater camera, so we bought a copy of the CD from him. So, yeah, i saw the sharks...
After having a siesta (we are really getting into the whole siesta thing. I think it should be introduced into the ordinary working day), K & I had dinner in town & then wandered over to Reggae Bar which is probably the most touristy bar on Phi Phi. Here there is a Muay Thai (aka Thai boxing) ring and tourists can beat the crap out of each other & get a free bucket cocktail. Thing is, Reggae Bar always has 2 for 1 bucket cocktail promotions, so you'd be getting in the ring for the equivalent of about 4 Euros (or less). Still, it was entertaining in a kind of 'car crash on the motorway' way.
Afterwards, we managed to find a quiet bar on the beach. This was no easy challenge, what with fire dancers, bucket promotions, lap dance competitions and limbo dancing.
Day 59 (Sunday 8th November)
Another restful day. Then again, Sunday IS the day of rest after all.
Somehow managed to catch some Ultimate Fighting on TV at lunch time. I have never seen anything like it. It's totally & utterly MAD. It was like bar brawling, except that these guys are getting paid for it & none of their mates stop the fight. It was nasty. And i thought K1 was scary. Oh, how wrong i was. UF is nasty.
In the evening (after our siesta, of course) we played Connect 4 for hours & i drank silly cocktails which managed to delete my memory & made me get aggressive while playing Connect 4. CONNECT 4! The most non-aggressive game ever. Ah, the wonders of alcohol.
Day 60 (Monday 9th November)
Once again, we had a really slow day. Went for a wander on the beach until it started raining (rainy season may be over here, but it rains for about half an hour everyday - not necessarily a bad thing).
Had coffees in the afternoon, and both K & I had caffeine highs, which actually weren't that fun. Impelled us to go back and lie down for our siesta...
The evening was a quiet one; alcohol-, caffeine-, pool-, bar- free. Believe it or not...
And now we're on day 61. K is off diving for most of the day & I'm updating the blog. Later, I'm going to try & book our tickets onwards, have a massage & exchange some books. And then have my siesta... Ah, life is hard!
Anyway - let me update you on our adventure:
Day 50 (Friday 30th October)
Still in Kuta, Bali
Had a slow day. Found a lovely Mexican called TJs. Great food, lovely decor & quiet despite being on Poppies I (one of the crazy noisy side streets of Kuta). In the evening, we had bangers & mash (there's only so much rice one can eat on holiday...) and then played pool.
We found a lovely little bar with no other customers & an empty pool table. The staff were at a loose end & racked the balls up for us every time AND gave us free garlic bread. Needless to say, we stayed there a lot longer than intended. Was defintiely a nice way to end out last night in Bali and the Southern hemisphere.
Day 51 (Saturday 31st October)
Headed out to Bali airport (aka Denpasar or Ngurah Rai airport, which makes things a bit confusing when you're looking for flights & each airline seems to use a different name)
We didn't have much Rupiah left, so had to resort to a cheap McDs lunch. And, yes, McDs is the same everywhere; cheap, cheerful & that's about it...
And on our way out of Indonesia, we had to pay $20 fee for something or other. Not really sure what, but it was another sneaky way of getting hard currency into the country...
Anyway, we got on our flight to Singapore - which left late but managed to arrive (nearly) on time. Note to everyone - if you use Air Asia, never EVER have a tight connection time. They seem to run late a lot of the time but are cheap & clean. Plus minus...
On arrival in Singapore, we took the train into town & went hunting for a guesthouse in Chinatown. Bad idea. Everywhere we went was full & there weren't many places to choose from. We ended up staying in a 'nice' hotel for the night after having a couple of (expensive) beers.
Day 52 (Sunday 1st November)
After checking out of our nice hotel, we took the train to Little India to try our luck in finding a place there. A lot better decision - Little India has a lot more choices. They are, however, expensive. EVERYTHING in Singapore is expensive. Well, except food maybe.
But we were expecting that, so it wasn't a nasty a shock as it could have been.
This day ended up turning into a sightseeing day. And we headed out to the west of Singapore to the "Singapore Discovery Centre (SDC)". That was one SCARY place. It was verging on propaganda-like; trying to instill in everyone how GREAT Singapore is and how Singaporeans are the best people on earth. And how important it is to be proud of coming from Singapore. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, it was a bit creepy seeing this brain-washing on such a large scale.
To balance things out, we headed to the Singapore Army Museum next door (we got cheap tickets because we'd been to the SDC.
This was not quite as scary as the SDC, but did at times feel like an army recruiting centre ("Look how fun it is to be in the army! You too can jump out of helicopters and make great friends and wear shiny boots! And fire big rocket launchers!!") It was a a bit ironic though (for me) that the Singapore Army was only established in 1957 and has never been involved in any direct combat, but has, to be fair, taken part in a lot of earthquake rescue operations in South East Asia. It just seemed such a big space to dedicate to an Army that hasn't really done much. But maybe I'm just jaded...
In the evening, we headed out to the Night Safari. Yay! I LOVE the night safari. And i think K liked it too. And the bats are still just as cool.
And that was our first day in Singapore...
Day 53 (Monday 2nd November)
This day was a totally decadent day. We went over to Clarke Quay & firstly went book shopping at Kinokuniya. Then we found a Vietnamese coffee shop & stocked up on caffeine (never sure when you'll see a proper coffee machine in SE ASIA). After that, we went and had ramen. PROPER ramen. With gyoza. Yummy. And extremely filling. But oh so satisfying.
Afterwards, K & i managed to find ourselves a happy hour (happy hours seem to last at least 4 hours for some reason. So why don't they call them "Happy evening" or "Happy Monday" or "Let's see how drunk you can get on Monday night"?) at a Microbrewery place on the Quay and proceeded to get very happy...
Day 54 (Tuesday 3rd November)
K & I surprised ourselves by actually waking up at a reasonable hour, despite our happy adventure the previous evening. Kick started the day with a curry lunch (we were staying in Little India after all) and then headed off to Singapore Zoo. There, we spent around 3 hours wandering around, watching animals doing animal things (which for lions means sitting around looking bored and listless). Our favourite area was the walk-through rain forest. Here, mousedeer, lemurs, big birds, strange pigeony things and, best of all, the Malayan Flying Fox. All of these creatures (plus butterflies & other animals i missed) were wandering around freely. The lemurs were really tame and came up and walked by everyone without a care in the world. The Flying foxes were hanging right in front of us doing shocking things, ie peeing while hanging upside down and licking parts of their body in public (and enjoying it in a very obvious male way)which they really shouldn't. Needless to say, The German and i, being serious responsible adults, didn't find this amusing at all and didn't chuckle about it for the rest of they day. Oh no...
On our way back to our guest house, we stopped at a steak restaurant to eat huge chunks of meat with potatoes (again, you never know when you'll find a good steak in SE Asia...)
Being in Singapore this time was interesting. I had already visited Singapore 4 times, when the Parental Sins were living there. But it was interesting to see how my perspectives on Singapore had changed because or both where i was coming from & why i was going there.
When i visited there before, i was coming from Tokyo, was staying with my parents & there for 2 weeks. Yes, it was expensive. Yes, it was hot. Yes, it was city. But it was a breath of fresh air coming from Tokyo.
This time, i was coming from Indonesia & staying at a guesthouse. It was still expensive (even more so because i wasn't staying chez mum & dad) . It was still hot. It was still city. But after being on islands & relatively quiet places, it was a tad overwhelming. But i still like Singapore - it just isn't SE Asia. It's Europe in a hot place.
Day 55 (Wednesday 4th November)
Another travelling day.
Took the train out to the airport & then bus to the Budget Terminal at Changi. Was expecting a huge shed/hangar type place, but the budget terminal was actually really nice (and new). It was even nicer than Bali airport!
Got our flight out of Singapore to Krabi in Thailand (West coast). On arrival at Krabi airport, we booked a taxi into to town. Here the taxi driver took us directly to a travel agency so we could book a guesthouse. At first, i thought this was all a bit dodgy, as we hadn't asked t be taken to a travel agency. It turned out to be a great decision though. The agency found us a nice place in Krabi, booked our ferry tickets to Ko Phi Phi and reserved a guesthouse there too. And all within our budget requests (500 Baht/night). AND the taxi driver waited for us to have lunch then drove us to our Krabi guest house. All in all, great service.
Had a pleasant evening in Krabi & despite what the guidebooks say, Krabi is nice place. Not the most beautiful of towns, but there's stuff to do & the people are really friendly.
Day 56 (Thursday 5th November)
Had to get up early for our 10am boat to Phi Phi (early = anything before 11am). Was a smooth uneventful ferry ride - nice big boat & smooth waters. When we arrived on Phi Phi, there was a man waiting to take us to our guest house AND he had a trolley to put our bags in. Hurrah.
Once there, we had a siesta, looked into diving/snorkelling trips, had dinner and watched a lady-boy cabaret show at the local Irish pub. While watching the Ladyboy show, the only question on my mind was, "Where do they put their 'bits'?" This was swiftly followed by "Do they even have bits?"
Interesting evening.
Day 57 (Friday 6th November)
Didn't really do much. We did change guesthouses though. The first one, while clean & relatively big, didn't have any wind/breeze access; neither did it have a balcony. So we decided to up grade a tad & moved up the hill to the appropriately named Uphill Cottages.
The rest of the day was spent siesta-ing, eating & having a couple of quiet beers.
Day 58 (Saturday 7th November)
Had a REALLY early start: 7am wake up! Went on our half-day diving/snorkelling trip. For me, it wasn't great as the current was quite strong on the surface & i had trouble swimming in the right direction. But as i had a life jacket on, it wasn't too stressful. K, meanwhile, had a good time and saw a turtle and lots of sharks. Everyone, in fact, saw the sharks except me. I am not sure whether it was an eyesight thing (can't wear glasses AND a snorkel) or just plain ignorance. Luckily, K's dive master took lots of pictures with his underwater camera, so we bought a copy of the CD from him. So, yeah, i saw the sharks...
After having a siesta (we are really getting into the whole siesta thing. I think it should be introduced into the ordinary working day), K & I had dinner in town & then wandered over to Reggae Bar which is probably the most touristy bar on Phi Phi. Here there is a Muay Thai (aka Thai boxing) ring and tourists can beat the crap out of each other & get a free bucket cocktail. Thing is, Reggae Bar always has 2 for 1 bucket cocktail promotions, so you'd be getting in the ring for the equivalent of about 4 Euros (or less). Still, it was entertaining in a kind of 'car crash on the motorway' way.
Afterwards, we managed to find a quiet bar on the beach. This was no easy challenge, what with fire dancers, bucket promotions, lap dance competitions and limbo dancing.
Day 59 (Sunday 8th November)
Another restful day. Then again, Sunday IS the day of rest after all.
Somehow managed to catch some Ultimate Fighting on TV at lunch time. I have never seen anything like it. It's totally & utterly MAD. It was like bar brawling, except that these guys are getting paid for it & none of their mates stop the fight. It was nasty. And i thought K1 was scary. Oh, how wrong i was. UF is nasty.
In the evening (after our siesta, of course) we played Connect 4 for hours & i drank silly cocktails which managed to delete my memory & made me get aggressive while playing Connect 4. CONNECT 4! The most non-aggressive game ever. Ah, the wonders of alcohol.
Day 60 (Monday 9th November)
Once again, we had a really slow day. Went for a wander on the beach until it started raining (rainy season may be over here, but it rains for about half an hour everyday - not necessarily a bad thing).
Had coffees in the afternoon, and both K & I had caffeine highs, which actually weren't that fun. Impelled us to go back and lie down for our siesta...
The evening was a quiet one; alcohol-, caffeine-, pool-, bar- free. Believe it or not...
And now we're on day 61. K is off diving for most of the day & I'm updating the blog. Later, I'm going to try & book our tickets onwards, have a massage & exchange some books. And then have my siesta... Ah, life is hard!
30 October, 2009
The Great Adventure: Day 36 to 49
Sorry about the big gap in updating you all on our travels - been getting lazy & too distanced from technology. Do you realise that i haven't watched TV for weeks & weeks? I haven't even listened to my ipod much. Most of the time i read, sleep, relax & not do much at all. But isn't that what holidays are for?
Anyway, here's what we've been doing for the last 2 weeks...
Day 36 (Friday 16th October)
K went off for a morning dive (i stayed in bed) and finally saw a big shark - about 2m long. He also saw a couple of turtles. He was well chuffed with that dive!
The rest of the day was spent sitting around reading & relaxing.
Day 37 (Saturday 17th October)
K had another dive & saw even more sharks - white-tip sharks; not dangerous even if they are 2m long (apparently - don't think i would be too relaxed if a 2m shark came anywhere near me...)
In the afternoon, we decided to rent bicycles & cycle round the island (Gili Trawangan). K predicted it would take us half an hour or so, seeing as the island isn't that big. 2 hours later, we managed to make it back to our bungalow. What we didn't figure was that the road round the island is only paved in certain bits. The rest is just sand. Soft loose sand. Have you ever tried cycling on that kind of service? And on an ordinary bicycle? It definitely wasn't fun & we nearly ended up with heatstroke. But we can say we did it!!
Day 38 (Sunday 18th October)
K had two dives, while i slept then had a massage - which was very welcome after the previous day's cycling activities.
In the evening, we headed to the Irish pub in the island to their DVD shacks/gazebos (whatever you call them). Here, you can watch any DVD (the pub has about 200 to choose from) for free as long as you order some drinks and/or food. Can't remember what we watched, but do know it involved guns & war (guess who chose that movie...)
Day 39 (Monday 19th October)
While K went out on a morning dive, i was in charge of getting money. Despite what the guidebooks say, Gili Trawangan now has an ATM. But it's a fussy old thing and only takes certain cards. And it didn't like K's (German) cash card. However, our flexible friend, Visa, was accepted. But, K didn't know that number. Luckily, his mum had sent him the pin number. So, i had to check K's email, find the number, remember it & get some cash. But i only had 2000 Rupiah (14 cents), which isn't very much money at all. Now, this might not seem like a problem - but i needed to pay the Internet cafe. I got into K's email, found the right email, got the pin # in 5 minutes. And guess how much that cost? Exactly 2000 Rupiah. Miracle.
Anyway, to cut a long ramble short, i got the money.
Rest of the day was spent sipping cocktails & chatting.
Day 40 (Tuesday 20th October)
A complete non-day. Really didn't do much at all.
Day 41 (wednesday 21st October)
Had a slow start to the day, but in the afternoon we went snorkelling again. And this time i didn't use a floaty (life jacket). I got a bit nervous, and held K's hand most of the time, but i actually went in the ocean and snorkelled, all in deep water with out freaking out. And, best of all, i saw a turtle. And a big eel & a lionfish (which are really weird looking things)
Day 42 (Thursday 22nd October)
Today was laundry day, so i lugged everything off to the nearest laundry service. Everywhere we've had laundry done, they do it by weight, but on Gili T, they itemise it. I wasn't prepared for that, but it wasn't really that challenging - just meant emptying out dirty clothes all over the floor & counting everything. Not the most fun task ever, but definitely necessary...
In the afternoon, K & i went snorkelling again & i didn't hold his hand much at all. Am definitely getting more confidence in the water - yay!
In the evening, we had a DVD dinner at the Irish pub & watched 'This is England'. I really recommend it to anyone who grew up in England in the 80s. It reminded me of home, but also reminded me why i don't live there anymore.
Day 43 (Friday 23rd October)
In honour of K's sister's birthday, K & me humiliated ourselves on the beach by making a Happy Birthday video with my camera. It really is embarrassing to sing into a camera, knowing that people around you are watching... The bugger was that the video was too big to attach to an email. So, Sarah, if you're reading, i still have the video in my camera, so I'll show to it you when we get back. And Happy (belated) Birthday!
Day 44 (Saturday 24th October)
As this was going to be our last day on Gili T, we booked tickets off the island to Amed (Bali). Also got some new reading material & paid all our outstanding bills (bungalow & diving - NOT bar tabs, OK?!)
Had another DVD dinner, and then headed off to Rudy's, the best bar on Gili T. We'd spent quite a few evenings there & the staff had come to know us & were really funny & friendly. They spent half their time flirting & the other half dancing behind the bar - but still somehow managed to serve drinks. While we were there, a waiter at our regular beach cafe, Madi, came to join us. He was a really lovely man, fiercely proud of both his home (Bali) and his religion (Hindu), but in an open way - he really wanted us to enjoy & understand both. Still, i didn't fully understand his story about how the gods chose Bali to be a holiday island - something to do with stars & aeroplanes...
Day 45 (Sunday 25th October)
Left Gili T on a speed boat (still not my favourite means of transport...) and on the way we stopped briefly at Gili Air. We got off the boat & wandered on the beach so we could say that we had visited another of the Gilis...
The crossing wasn't too bad, but it still scared the pants off me. I really don't like how speed boats thump across the water; i find it very nerve-wracking. However, about three-quarters into our journey, the boat crew started cheering & smiling & the captain slowed down - a shoal/troop/school/whatever of dolphins was playing around the boat. There were about 10 of them swimming around & splashing in & out of the water. It was wonderful to see. I don't know who was more excited the passengers or the crew!!
Once we arrived in Amed, one of the boat crew recommended a place to stay in Tulamben (our desired destination). And so we arrived at the Mata Hari resort in Tulamben, East Bali.
In the evening, we found a local bar with a pool table & played until there was a power cut all over Tulamben...
Day 46 (Monday 26th October)
Was a bit of a non-day as both of us were feeling crappy (Bali Belly), so just hung, slept & read a lot.
Day 47 (Tuesday 27th October)
Both of us were feeling pretty much back to normal, so K headed out to the USAT Liberty wreck (the main reason for coming to Tulamben).
In the afternoon, K went out on another dive, while i (once again) went out on a money mission. In Tulamben, there are no ATMs. Also, due to the unreliable electric & telephone connections, no where takes credit cards. Lonely Planet, however, omits this important information. So, for 100,000 Rupiah, the hotel provided a driver, Agus, to take me to the nearest town with an ATM, Amlapura, about 30 minutes away. We get there, and i try all the ATMs in town (all 3 of them) and NONE of them work - cash card OR Visa. Arghh!! I had visions of us washing dishes forever at the hotel...
But Agus knew another bigger town, Semarapura, with more ATMs. And finally we got one that worked. Then we had the long drive home - in all, it took 4 hours. Despite all that, it was a nice afternoon. Agus pointed out lots of things on the way (monkeys, pigs, weddings, chili plants, durian stands, amongst other stuff) and i saw beautiful rice paddies, a really odd huge statue of a bull which had a bucket under it's boy parts. Not really sure what that was about. Actually, i don't think i want to know what that was about!
Also saw some villagers cock fighting. Oh dear, that really came out wrong.
They had fighting cockerels & the cockerels were fighting. Only saw it quickly in passing, but was a bit shocked - but i guess it's part of the culture here.
The biggest thing though was seeing the difference in environment. In 1963, the area was devastated by the eruption of Mount Agung the highest mountain/volcano on Bali. This means that the area around Tulamben resembles a moonscape with a few random palm trees on it. But then you go over a mountain pass, enter the next valley & it's back to green lushness again. Really interesting to see the massive changes.
Day 48 (Wednesday 28th October)
In the afternoon, we went snorkelling together. The USAT Liberty wreck is kind of rare in that snorkellers can also see it as it's only 50m of the shore and, at it's shallowest, is only 5m below the surface. It was really cool to see and especially to see how the marine life have taken it & made it their own. On the minus side, it was hard getting in & out of the water as the beach was really rocky - doable, but a tad painful.
Day 49 (Thursday 29th October)
Booked a driver (turned out to be Agus again) to take us back to Kuta. Enjoyed the 3-hour drive there, through winding mountain roads & rice paddies (half of the journey I'd already done on my ATM mission...) Also 'enjoyed' the Pussy Cat Dolls album THREE TIMES! Agus only had one CD & he just played it over & over. I don't even know that people actually bought PCD CDs. Well, they do in Bali. Surprisingly though, it wasn't quite as bad as we had anticipated, still 3 times was enough.
In the afternoon, i booked flights out of Bali for 31st. AirAsia is GREAT! Their website is easy to use & everything is really hassle free. So, on Saturday we are heading to Singapore for 4 days. Yay!
And that brings us to today, Friday, which I'll update later. We have just over 3 weeks left on our travels & i am really NOT looking forward to heading back to Europe (no offence to anyone, i love being warm & hate European winters). And especially as all my winter clothes are in boxes in France & I'm going to be in Germany...
Anyway, here's what we've been doing for the last 2 weeks...
Day 36 (Friday 16th October)
K went off for a morning dive (i stayed in bed) and finally saw a big shark - about 2m long. He also saw a couple of turtles. He was well chuffed with that dive!
The rest of the day was spent sitting around reading & relaxing.
Day 37 (Saturday 17th October)
K had another dive & saw even more sharks - white-tip sharks; not dangerous even if they are 2m long (apparently - don't think i would be too relaxed if a 2m shark came anywhere near me...)
In the afternoon, we decided to rent bicycles & cycle round the island (Gili Trawangan). K predicted it would take us half an hour or so, seeing as the island isn't that big. 2 hours later, we managed to make it back to our bungalow. What we didn't figure was that the road round the island is only paved in certain bits. The rest is just sand. Soft loose sand. Have you ever tried cycling on that kind of service? And on an ordinary bicycle? It definitely wasn't fun & we nearly ended up with heatstroke. But we can say we did it!!
Day 38 (Sunday 18th October)
K had two dives, while i slept then had a massage - which was very welcome after the previous day's cycling activities.
In the evening, we headed to the Irish pub in the island to their DVD shacks/gazebos (whatever you call them). Here, you can watch any DVD (the pub has about 200 to choose from) for free as long as you order some drinks and/or food. Can't remember what we watched, but do know it involved guns & war (guess who chose that movie...)
Day 39 (Monday 19th October)
While K went out on a morning dive, i was in charge of getting money. Despite what the guidebooks say, Gili Trawangan now has an ATM. But it's a fussy old thing and only takes certain cards. And it didn't like K's (German) cash card. However, our flexible friend, Visa, was accepted. But, K didn't know that number. Luckily, his mum had sent him the pin number. So, i had to check K's email, find the number, remember it & get some cash. But i only had 2000 Rupiah (14 cents), which isn't very much money at all. Now, this might not seem like a problem - but i needed to pay the Internet cafe. I got into K's email, found the right email, got the pin # in 5 minutes. And guess how much that cost? Exactly 2000 Rupiah. Miracle.
Anyway, to cut a long ramble short, i got the money.
Rest of the day was spent sipping cocktails & chatting.
Day 40 (Tuesday 20th October)
A complete non-day. Really didn't do much at all.
Day 41 (wednesday 21st October)
Had a slow start to the day, but in the afternoon we went snorkelling again. And this time i didn't use a floaty (life jacket). I got a bit nervous, and held K's hand most of the time, but i actually went in the ocean and snorkelled, all in deep water with out freaking out. And, best of all, i saw a turtle. And a big eel & a lionfish (which are really weird looking things)
Day 42 (Thursday 22nd October)
Today was laundry day, so i lugged everything off to the nearest laundry service. Everywhere we've had laundry done, they do it by weight, but on Gili T, they itemise it. I wasn't prepared for that, but it wasn't really that challenging - just meant emptying out dirty clothes all over the floor & counting everything. Not the most fun task ever, but definitely necessary...
In the afternoon, K & i went snorkelling again & i didn't hold his hand much at all. Am definitely getting more confidence in the water - yay!
In the evening, we had a DVD dinner at the Irish pub & watched 'This is England'. I really recommend it to anyone who grew up in England in the 80s. It reminded me of home, but also reminded me why i don't live there anymore.
Day 43 (Friday 23rd October)
In honour of K's sister's birthday, K & me humiliated ourselves on the beach by making a Happy Birthday video with my camera. It really is embarrassing to sing into a camera, knowing that people around you are watching... The bugger was that the video was too big to attach to an email. So, Sarah, if you're reading, i still have the video in my camera, so I'll show to it you when we get back. And Happy (belated) Birthday!
Day 44 (Saturday 24th October)
As this was going to be our last day on Gili T, we booked tickets off the island to Amed (Bali). Also got some new reading material & paid all our outstanding bills (bungalow & diving - NOT bar tabs, OK?!)
Had another DVD dinner, and then headed off to Rudy's, the best bar on Gili T. We'd spent quite a few evenings there & the staff had come to know us & were really funny & friendly. They spent half their time flirting & the other half dancing behind the bar - but still somehow managed to serve drinks. While we were there, a waiter at our regular beach cafe, Madi, came to join us. He was a really lovely man, fiercely proud of both his home (Bali) and his religion (Hindu), but in an open way - he really wanted us to enjoy & understand both. Still, i didn't fully understand his story about how the gods chose Bali to be a holiday island - something to do with stars & aeroplanes...
Day 45 (Sunday 25th October)
Left Gili T on a speed boat (still not my favourite means of transport...) and on the way we stopped briefly at Gili Air. We got off the boat & wandered on the beach so we could say that we had visited another of the Gilis...
The crossing wasn't too bad, but it still scared the pants off me. I really don't like how speed boats thump across the water; i find it very nerve-wracking. However, about three-quarters into our journey, the boat crew started cheering & smiling & the captain slowed down - a shoal/troop/school/whatever of dolphins was playing around the boat. There were about 10 of them swimming around & splashing in & out of the water. It was wonderful to see. I don't know who was more excited the passengers or the crew!!
Once we arrived in Amed, one of the boat crew recommended a place to stay in Tulamben (our desired destination). And so we arrived at the Mata Hari resort in Tulamben, East Bali.
In the evening, we found a local bar with a pool table & played until there was a power cut all over Tulamben...
Day 46 (Monday 26th October)
Was a bit of a non-day as both of us were feeling crappy (Bali Belly), so just hung, slept & read a lot.
Day 47 (Tuesday 27th October)
Both of us were feeling pretty much back to normal, so K headed out to the USAT Liberty wreck (the main reason for coming to Tulamben).
In the afternoon, K went out on another dive, while i (once again) went out on a money mission. In Tulamben, there are no ATMs. Also, due to the unreliable electric & telephone connections, no where takes credit cards. Lonely Planet, however, omits this important information. So, for 100,000 Rupiah, the hotel provided a driver, Agus, to take me to the nearest town with an ATM, Amlapura, about 30 minutes away. We get there, and i try all the ATMs in town (all 3 of them) and NONE of them work - cash card OR Visa. Arghh!! I had visions of us washing dishes forever at the hotel...
But Agus knew another bigger town, Semarapura, with more ATMs. And finally we got one that worked. Then we had the long drive home - in all, it took 4 hours. Despite all that, it was a nice afternoon. Agus pointed out lots of things on the way (monkeys, pigs, weddings, chili plants, durian stands, amongst other stuff) and i saw beautiful rice paddies, a really odd huge statue of a bull which had a bucket under it's boy parts. Not really sure what that was about. Actually, i don't think i want to know what that was about!
Also saw some villagers cock fighting. Oh dear, that really came out wrong.
They had fighting cockerels & the cockerels were fighting. Only saw it quickly in passing, but was a bit shocked - but i guess it's part of the culture here.
The biggest thing though was seeing the difference in environment. In 1963, the area was devastated by the eruption of Mount Agung the highest mountain/volcano on Bali. This means that the area around Tulamben resembles a moonscape with a few random palm trees on it. But then you go over a mountain pass, enter the next valley & it's back to green lushness again. Really interesting to see the massive changes.
Day 48 (Wednesday 28th October)
In the afternoon, we went snorkelling together. The USAT Liberty wreck is kind of rare in that snorkellers can also see it as it's only 50m of the shore and, at it's shallowest, is only 5m below the surface. It was really cool to see and especially to see how the marine life have taken it & made it their own. On the minus side, it was hard getting in & out of the water as the beach was really rocky - doable, but a tad painful.
Day 49 (Thursday 29th October)
Booked a driver (turned out to be Agus again) to take us back to Kuta. Enjoyed the 3-hour drive there, through winding mountain roads & rice paddies (half of the journey I'd already done on my ATM mission...) Also 'enjoyed' the Pussy Cat Dolls album THREE TIMES! Agus only had one CD & he just played it over & over. I don't even know that people actually bought PCD CDs. Well, they do in Bali. Surprisingly though, it wasn't quite as bad as we had anticipated, still 3 times was enough.
In the afternoon, i booked flights out of Bali for 31st. AirAsia is GREAT! Their website is easy to use & everything is really hassle free. So, on Saturday we are heading to Singapore for 4 days. Yay!
And that brings us to today, Friday, which I'll update later. We have just over 3 weeks left on our travels & i am really NOT looking forward to heading back to Europe (no offence to anyone, i love being warm & hate European winters). And especially as all my winter clothes are in boxes in France & I'm going to be in Germany...
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