Here a Temple, There a Temple, Everywhere a ...

A saffron-cloth draped Buddha statue
Needing to get out of Bangkok, we jumped on a local (and cheap; only 15B/C$0.50 per person) train for the two-hour journey to Ayutthaya, the former capital of Thailand. Ayutthaya has changed hands several times from Thailand to Burma and back again, and is known for having some impressive Khmer ruins. Lee visited way back in 2000 with a friend from home and that, coupled with her not being that into big piles of rocks, meant she wasn't that keen on the trip. But she knew it was a must-see, she wanted me to see it, and she wanted to get out of Bangkok so she graciously agreed to accompany me. (Although I think I heard her mumble something under her breath about preferring to have her kidney removed with a rusty spoon ...)

Although it was only two hours, it was a long and dirty ride -- 3rd class trains only have 'natural' AC, meaning open windows. Although the breeze is nice the engine fumes blowing in your face is not. Our journey ended on a pleasant note though; to get to the old city from the train station required taking a short boat ride (3B/C$0.10) which was rather cool.

Locating a guest house took a little time as we're never willing to spring for a cab and, for some reason, seem to prefer to schlep our bags around in the hot sun. But after checking a couple of places, we settled on Baan Lotus (Home of Lotus), which is a beautiful and well-kept Thai-style teak house on a quiet lane. The hostess was even better (her name in Thai, which I can't remember, means 'lotus' hence 'Home of Lotus'). She is this tiny little older lady who is quite chatty. While checking us in she told us she had a Master's degree in Medical Research Science with specialties in haematology and immunology, and that although she's now retired she occasionally lectures at private universities in Bangkok. Although she was politely interested in what I did, she erroneously thought Lee was in the same field (Lee recruits doctors and nurses for hospitals in the Middle East), and in short order she was inviting Lee to join her on the prestigious lecture circuit! Lee said she would be sure to look into it. (It was easier to agree than trying to explain again that she wasn't a nurse.)

After getting some information from Lotus, we headed to the temple Wat Phanan Choeng, where pilgrims from Bangkok go on the weekend to perform an interesting ritual. Since we arrived at the temple on a Sunday, we got a chance to see it firsthand and it really was quite spectacular. Housed in the main building is a 19m tall sitting Buddha. Devotees kneel at its base and are blessed with sprinklings of holy water distributed by a monk. Many bring offerings of incense, oils, fruit, etc., which are left on a small alter in front of the Buddha. But the central part of the ceremony seemed to be the lengths of saffron-coloured cloth which could be purchased for 140B (about C$5.00). Devotees would pass their tray of folded-up cloth to a guy in front who, in mannerism, was sort of a cross between a southern preacher and an auctioneer. With much flourish and great style, he would throw the folded cloths up to a handful of guys standing in the lap of the Buddha statue itself. Once a satisfactory number of cloths had been 'offered,' the chanting and drums increased in tempo and intensity and the gathered crowd were whipped into a frenzy (well, since we're talking about Buddhists here it's probably more accurate to describe it as a state of slight excitement). Meanwhile, the guys on the statue had secured the cloths to the Buddha's neck and shoulders and threw the free ends of the cloth back out over the praying crowd. People quickly handed the cloth to waiting hands behind them so very soon the lengths of cloth extended from the Buddha's shoulders, over the heads of the devotees, and out the entrance. At this point the drums reached a sort of crescendo, and within a few seconds it was all over. The cloths were collected. The devoted departed. And a few minutes later the whole ceremony started again with a new group. It quite a spectacular display to witness.

Ulrik enjoying the view
The following day we decided we had had enough of walking around in the heat, and instead opted to bike around in the heat. We were able to rent a couple of rickety and well-used bicycles (the old-style cruising kind) for 40B (C$1.30) each for the day. Ayutthaya has a plethora of great temple ruins, so it was just a matter of picking some. We began with Wat Phra Mahathat where I saw one of the most famous religious sites in Thailand: the sandstone head of a Buddha encased in the roots of a banyan tree. I had to do most of the exploring on my own as Lee had visited these ruins before and decided instead to hide in the shade. We also took a quick look at the Old Royal Palace and Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

After returning the bikes and enjoying a small break in front of the fan, we joined a tour arranged by our intrepid hostess. Along with three other couples, we were taken by túk-túk (a sort of motorised three-wheeled rickshaw; although they usually seat only two, the ones in Ayutthaya were 'sedan'-types that could seat up to six) to see some of the outlying temples and monuments. Because this was an evening/night tour, several of the temples were lit by spotlights which made for some nice visual affects. In addition to the temples, we also stopped at an elephant kraal (where we got to play with some baby elephants) and the local night market. It was all really interesting, but after half-a-day of sight-seeing on our own followed by a three-hour tour, we were both suffering from a bad case of temple-fatigue. We were more than happy to return to our cosy guesthouse for some rest before heading back to Bangkok the next morning.

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Baby Elephants

Isn't he cute?!?
While in Ayutthaya we were able to visit an elephant kraal. (A kraal is a wooden stockade that was used to round up wild elephants.) It was one of the more memorable parts of our trip to the ancient city.

There were many elephants to see and, surprisingly -- for me anyway -- they were much smaller than I expected. (Asian elephants are apparently smaller than their African cousins.) But the focus of all the attention was two baby elephants. They were so cute! Although they spent a lot of the time close to their mothers, they regularly ventured out to give one of us a sniff or a seemingly affectionate 'bump' with their bodies. They even grabbed for our hands with their trunks a few times! Although they look soft and fuzzy, their 'fur' is actually very bristle-y hair and their skin feels is quite rough to the touch.

While the babies were quite rough-and-tumble, you could see that all the foreign visitors were tying to be careful in their contact with the babies. For myself, this was because (a) I'm not used to being that close to wild animals so I am very aware that even though it might be well-trained or domesticated, I still understand that it is a wild animal; (b) the mothers were only a few feet away and who knew how they might react if we scared one of the babies by being too aggressive; and (c) you just don't pull on or yank on or try to climb on an animal. But then these local children came along and they were just so unpleasant! They were chasing the babies, jumping on them, pulling their ears and tails, trying to ride them, etc. Although the mother elephants didn't react negatively (perhaps they're used to this?), I was ready to smack a few of the kids on their behalf. Fortunately, the little (human) animals didn't stay long.

But it did make me wonder about what kind of life these elephants have. Although the babies were free to run around, the adult animals were chained by one leg. I suppose, being the size they are, they could escape if they really wanted to ...

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Sunshine Sunshine!

Amazing creatures, aren't they?
(source: Liza's Reef)
Being well and truly over Koh Samui, we were glad to get on a slow boat to Koh Tao -- especially after having to spend most of an afternoon trying to find an agent that didn't charge us a 'tourist' tax on the tickets and then still paying a 100B (about C$3) more than we had to! Oh Samui ...

Koh Tao is, as most of you know, where Lee and I met, did most of our diving, and spent about nine months in 2000 and 2001. Of course, spending so much time in one place means that it has a lot of good memories associated with it, so naturally we were a bit anxious about going back. Would it still be the same laid-back place or had it become all resort-y? Would Sunshine Divers (where we learned to dive and worked) still be around, and would the people still be as fun? At one point we even discussed not going just in case it wouldn't be as we remembered it and we would be disappointed -- you know what they say about not being able to go home again .... In the end we decided to go if for no reason other than that we were so close. Besides, we would likely regret if we didn't.

So there we were; on a boat crossing azure blue waters with a bright sunny sky above us. So far so good. Our first impression on pulling into the pier at Mae Haad (the main 'town' on Koh Tao) was that everything looked pretty much the same. Sure there were a few new buildings and a few more boats, but it sure did look like days of old. Wasting no time, we walked across the rickety wooden pier and bumped into a guy named David who, from the t-shirt he was wearing, was associated with Sunshine (turns out he's an instructor). He nicely arranged a free lift for us to Chalok Baan Kao ('our' beach) and the dive centre. Except for a few structural improvements, Sunshine looked very much like its old self and even though all our old colleagues had moved on (mostly to other parts of the island!), Soe was still running the restaurant. So we could enjoy our old lunch of chicken and cheese sandwiches. (And, yes, they tasted just as good as we remembered!) We sorted out a room, signed up for some diving, and breathed a sigh of relief that the place had the same vibe we remembered.

It's like we never left.
As we have dived all the sites numerous times, we focused on the most spectacular ones. Our strategy totally paid off, and on our second day of diving we spent more than 45mins diving with a playful, six meter long whale shark at Chumphon Pinnacle. Lee got a little mad at me for leaving her in the dust to follow it into the blue for a bit. Women can be so jealous sometimes ....

In addition to Soe and a few other non-dive staff who are still at Sunshine, we also bumped into Steve (my first instructor) who was now working at another dive centre, Pe-et who is married to Pi-mu who used to manage Sunshine and who now owns a shop in town, and Jonas (the course director of my instructor course) while checking out the changes in Mae Haad. They all remembered us, which was very nice. Some friends we didn't catch, as they were temporarily off island, were Darius and Jeff (both were instructors at Sunshine when we were there). Jeff now owns a very popular sports bar on Sairee beach and Darius owns a open-air gym!

Check out our wheels!
After a few dives, we decided to do something we'd never done before; actually explore the rest of the 3km long island! Lee was all gung-ho about renting a scooter for some serious rubber burning, and I reluctantly agreed (being rather worried about life and limbs on Koh Tao's pot-holed roads). I needn't have worried though, and we ended up having a great day exploring some undiscovered (to us anyway) bays and beaches. We finished the day at our favorite pizzeria, La Matta, with Ben (who we crossed the border with) and his friend Claire.

All in all, it was a good trip down memory lane. Koh Tao may be more build up now than it was before, and some good people have moved on, but it's still definitely an amazing place to hang for a bit. It's likely that it'll be a while before we head back, but after seeing it again I am pretty sure we will.

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Starbucks Schmarbucks!

Ulrik and Oi, the coffee lady
Who needs Starbucks? We sure don't! We have discovered a far superior way to get our caffeine fix. Her name is Oi and, unfortunately for you lot, her coffee 'establishment' is a cart on Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand.

Her coffee (iced only) deserves a place in coffee heaven, because that's where you go when you drink it. It's a simple mix of hot 'sock' coffee (the cloth filter is shaped like a sock), condensed milk, and a final splash of evaporated milk. Poured over a bag of roughly chopped ice, it quickly cools and you drink it through a straw.

Mmmmmmmmm ...
If you're more a mocha fan (as Ulrik is) she makes an iced coffee and chocolate drink too. Both are oh so very good.

Oh, and did I mention they cost only C$0.50??

I'm going to go get one now ...!

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Another Reason to Hate Us

Although we were quite eager to escape Chaweng (especially once I had my steak dinner), little did we know that Samui had a little surprise in store for us.

We had only just left our room when a British bloke by the name of Alex approached us and offered us a couple of scratch-off tickets -- the luxury resort he was working for was having a promotion and we could 'scratch-and-win' a free prize. Normally we're pretty skeptical of such offers but since we didn't have any plans and since he seemed like a nice guy we thought, "Why not?" I had the great fortune of winning a crappy bright yellow t-shirt (which I later left behind in our hut), but Lee got three stars, the fabled Grand Prize! Alex was gobsmacked or, at least, he put on a good show of being gobsmacked. Our prize was either 20,000B (more than C$700) in cash, a digital camera, a camcorder, a laptop, or a 'dream vacation.' The catch? (Of course, there's always a catch.) All we had to do was listen to a 90 minute sales pitch for a 'holiday membership' at their luxury resort -- with "no obligation" to buy anything -- and the gift was ours. They'd even pay for our transportation there and back. Thinking it would be fun to see how the well-heeled spend their vacation, we again thought, "Why not?" and were ready to jump into their taxi.

Before we left, though, Alex had to make sure we met the eligibility requirements. It quickly became apparent they were trying to weed out the backpacker set (e.g. you can't be travelling for longer than six weeks; you must be gainfully employed or retired; you must be paying at least 1000B/night on your current accommodation, etc.). We failed all three! But we didn't tell Alex that. The only one we copped to was the accommodations (we were paying only 400B/night) because we figured if they asked us where we were staying, they would quickly figure out that it was a backpacker haunt (it's been around for years). But Alex said to just say that we were staying in a more expensive room, and it shouldn't be a problem. When we got to their office, however, we had a hairy moment when, after asking us where we were staying and how much we were paying (we said the Embassy at 1100B/night; we picked it because when we arrived a guy asked us if we were interested in staying there for 800B/night and told us it was brand new ... we figured they probably wouldn't be familiar with it), the lady picked up the phone and started dialling. We thought for sure the jig was up! But no, she was just calling to arrange for one of the sales guys to meet us at the sales office.

The resort turned out to be absolutely stunning with amazing bungalows (actually, in this price class they're called 'suites' and 'villas'), infinity pools, private beaches, and fancy restaurants. David (our sales guy, an expat from Scotland) was really nice and not at all pushy. And the package he was selling seemed quite reasonable but, of course, after an interesting three hours (it was his first day and we were his first pitch) we turned it down. After a friendly handshake we were back at the main office where we received our big prize: the 'dream vacation'! It's not all inclusive -- we have to get there ourselves and food isn't included -- but it is seven days accommodation in a 5-star hotel in one of a selected list of countries. Maybe we'll trade the cockroaches with silk sheets while in India?

Next up, the dive paradise of Koh Tao. Has the Chalok Ban Kao beach been overrun with package tourists, McDonald's, and Starbucks? Are the whale sharks still around? Is Soe still making his strangely addictive chicken and cheese sandwiches? Stay tuned to find out.

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Churrasco = A Great Steak Dinner

That's one good piece of meat!
After living like monks for almost a week, we could think of nothing better than a big juicy steak to herald our return to normal life (well, I couldn't ... Lee seems to have taken a perverse liking to the endless amounts of rice gruel served at Suan Mokkh). The best place I could think of to get one was this great steak restaurant on Koh Samui that I had been to more than nine years ago. And Koh Samui was conveniently (sort of) on the way to our old dive haunt Koh Tao (aka Turtle Island). Obviously it was meant to be ...

What we found upon arriving at Chaweng Beach (the biggest beach on Samui and where my steak dinner was located), however, was nothing less than overwhelming: painfully loud music from every restaurant and club, hawkers selling more useless stuff then one could ever need, and hordes of large-sized speedo-wearing foreigners with young Thai girlfriends. This truly was the complete opposite end of the spectrum from the calm and tranquility of Suan Mokkh and, needless to say, the exact sort of environment we usually try to avoid. Lee was ready to kill me for dragging her there, and was more than prepared to jump on the next boat.

I managed to convince her to stay, and so we headed for Churrasco Steak House -- truly the only reason for subjecting yourself to Chaweng. I had been there about nine years ago with Andrew, an old friend from the UK, and the memory of the place had stayed with me all these years. Would it be as great as I remembered? According to Lee, it better be!

The place had not changed one bit. The German owner was still behind the counter and the walls were the same colour complete with the old cow skulls ... classy. And, most important, the steaks were still juicy. Success.

Lee, not being a fan of upmarket foreign restaurants (aka pricey) and not quite ready for a big honking slab of meat after Suan Mokkh's basic culinary offerings, had a green salad and a baked potato.

Other than my one indulgence -- I somehow managed to resist the ice cream at both Swensens and Haagan Daz -- we primarily ate the local fare, which is actually not that easy to find on Chaweng. Fortunately, a Dutch divemaster pointed us in the right direction: go down a dark alley, stoop under a house full of go-go girls, navigate some serious puddles, avoid the rabid dogs, and you'll find the local food market. Although we were a little suspicious that he and some club-wielding buddies might be waiting for us at the other end, we ended up at a great local market. With no other farangs (foreigners) in sight, we enjoyed a completely delicious meal of minced pork with garlic and chili over rice served with a tray of raw green beans, fresh herbs, sliced cucumber, and pickled veggies -- all for only 20 baht (about C$0.60) each.

Having found a small reprieve from the constant-dance-hit-playing-and-foreign-guys-with-local-girls-cliché hell in which we found ourselves, we knew we could survive the one day we had to wait before making our escape.

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Suan Mokkh - Logistics

Ask not for whom the bell tolls,
at 4:00am it tolled for me!
Daily Schedule
The schedule during the retreat was the same every day. Although we technically didn't have to attend all the sessions -- indeed, there were several people who seemed to be following their own schedule ( I think they had attended previous retreats) -- skipping sessions was frowned upon.

The day was broken up into four sections; these were divided by breakfast, lunch, and tea.

4:00am: We are woken by a very persistent bell toll-er. He started slowly, almost gently, but gradually picked up in both frequency and intensity.

4:30am to 5:15am: morning reading + sitting meditation
5:15am to 7:00am: yoga
7:00am to 8:00am: Dhamma talk + sitting meditation
8:00am: breakfast + chores

(We usually had about one hour after breakfast and chores -- between 9:00am and 10:00am -- for 'leisure' activities such as doing our laundry, washing up, etc.)

10:00am to 11:00am: Dhamma talk + sitting meditation
11:00am to 11:45am: walking or standing meditation
11:45am to 12:30pm: sitting meditation
12:30pm: lunch + chores

(Again, we usually had about one hour after lunch and chores -- between 1:30pm and 2:30pm -- for our own 'leisure' activities.)

2:30pm to 3:30pm: meditation instruction + sitting meditation
3:30pm to 4:15pm: walking or standing meditation
4:15pm to 5:00pm: sitting meditation
5:00pm to 6:00pm: chanting + loving kindness meditation
6:00pm: tea + hot springs

modelling the latest in monastic swimwear
(I started skipping tea in order to have the hot springs and the nearby shower to myself ... which meant I didn't have to use the communal tub and bathe wearing my sarong.)

7:30pm to 8:00pm: sitting meditation
8:00pm to 8:30pm: group walking meditation
8:30pm to 9:00pm: sitting meditation
9:00pm to 9:30pm: get ready for bed

9:30pm: lights out (literally ... the power went off)

An Index of Sorts
1. sitting meditation: literally meditating while sitting; usually in the 'lotus' (crossed legs) position, but the instructors weren't too fussy about body positioning; the type of meditation taught at the retreat is called anapanasati (mindfulness with breathing in and out)
2. Dhamma talk: instruction about Dhamma, a Buddhist concept regarding stress and sacrifice
3. chores: everyone signed up for a chore (e.g. cleaning toilets, sweeping the meditation hall, etc.) when they registered; I signed up for clearing food after meals (a very easy job) and Ulrik had to clear fallen palm leaves (a big more difficult)
4. standing meditation: meditating while standing; like sitting meditation, the object is to focus on the breathing
5. walking meditation: meditating while walking along a 'meditation path' (usually only about five metres in length); the idea is to meditate while being mindful of the movement of your body; therefore, you walk with slow and deliberate movements
6. meditation instruction: we were taught techniques on how to improve our meditation, such as overcoming the hindrances to meditation
7. chanting: we were taught the chants the monks usually use; while it was nice listening to our teacher-monk chant, I found chanting together to be a bit too cult-ish to feel comfortable joining in
8. loving kindness meditation: you concentrate on sending loving kindness to yourself, your family, your friends, your enemies, world leaders etc., etc., etc.; the idea, obviously, is to send positivity out into the world
9. group walking meditation: similar to individual walking meditation, but you can move a bit more quickly and you don't have to follow a short meditation path; this is something you could technically do anywhere and anytime

The Rules
- Keep complete silence throughout the 10 days.
- Refrain from destroying all forms of life. (This includes not killing mosquitoes which, as Suan Mokkh is surrounded by woods and freshwater ponds, was very challenging indeed!)
- Refrain from taking things without permission.
- Refrain from any sexual activity, mentally, verbally, or bodily.
- Refrain from smoking or intoxicating oneself with any intoxicant.
- Refrain from having dinner (last meal is lunch).
- Refrain from beautifying or entertaining oneself. ("Entertaining" oneself includes reading or writing in journals, both of which were forbidden.)
- Refrain from sleeping or sitting on luxurious beds or seats. (Hence the concrete bed and wooden pillow.)
source: SuanMokkh.org

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Suan Mokkh

Meditation Hall
Getting a bit tired of the backpacker trail, Ulrik and I were looking to do something that would be both different and personally challenging. By chance, we happened upon a small blurb in our guide book about a 10-day silent meditation retreat -- that's right, silent meditation -- that is held once a month at a monastery just outside Chaiya in Southern Thailand. We read about it just before we were to cross the Malaysia/Thailand border, and the next retreat was to start in three days ... talk about timing! And we were pretty much going to pass through Chaiya anyway as it is on Thailand's east coast on the way to Koh Tao, the island where we had lived for almost a year in 2000/2001 and where we had wanted to stop for a visit. It was almost like it was meant to be.

Although the timing and geography were perfect, however, we weren't entirely sure this 'different' was what we were looking for. Neither of us is particularly religious and neither of us has ever done any sort of meditation. And, some would say, neither of us is a particularly deep thinker! Unfortunately, I don't think we focused enough on the 'meditation' part of the retreat when considering whether or not to do it. Instead, we prepared ourselves for the other aspects of the retreat, specifically the basic living conditions and the continuous silence. And since we both agreed that we could handle the monastic lifestyle for 10 days, we decided to go for it.

Although the retreat technically starts on the 1st of the month, it actually starts the day before. The last day of the month is registration day. We read the paperwork, agreed to the rules, filled in the appropriate forms, attended an orientation session, got settled in our new digs, and listened to the welcome speech. At the end of the welcome speech, a bell was rung. The retreat, and the silence, had officially begun.

sitting meditation area
Lee's Impressions
I am sure most of you who read that Ulrik and I did a five-day retreat that required total silence will probably fall off your seats laughing. The idea that I, a renowned chatterbox, could keep silent for one day let alone five probably seems impossible to you. But when Ulrik and I were first considering the retreat, this was the one aspect that I really wasn't worried about. Yes, I talk a lot, and yes, I do tend to go on and on and on .... But I also like to be quiet. I enjoy silence. So I really didn't think that the 'silent' part of the retreat would be that difficult. For some reason, however, I didn't really consider the 'meditation' part of the retreat before the retreat began. Maybe because it was so obvious? But it very quickly became apparent that I am not a meditator.

When I was supposed to be meditating "on the breathing" (called anapanasati), I would focus on my breathing for one or two breaths, but would quickly become distracted. By the birds that would fly around meditation hall, by the breeze, by the clouds, by thoughts of things in the past, by thoughts of what I would do during our few breaks, etc., etc., etc. As you can see, I was focused on pretty much anything and everything other than my breathing. The only times I wasn't distracted by my external or internal surroundings were the times when I fell asleep. Yes, that's right ... the one thing I learned during the retreat was how to sleep sitting up on a hard little pillow. (It's actually quite easy; you bend your legs, wrap your arms around your calves, rest your head on your knees, and BOOM! it's beddy-bye time.) I never meant to fall asleep -- in fact, during a personal interview I asked how to prevent this -- but combine only six-and-a-half hours of sleep a night, bright sunshine and hot weather, and listening to Dhamma talks that are difficult to follow and delivered in a very metronomic cadence and most people will be sawing logs in no time.

Aside from the challenges of meditation, though, I really enjoyed my time at Suan Mokkh. The setting is really lovely, all greenery and ponds. The silence was, far from being a challenge, a really nice change. Since no one could talk, no one could gossip or say things in ways that could be interpreted negatively. Waking at 4:00am was not as much of a struggle as I had thought. In fact, my favourite time of the day was doing yoga as the sun rose. I slept remarkably well on the concrete bed and wooden pillow. And eating only twice a day was not a difficult adjustment at all; in fact, I was surprised to realize when I thought about it after the retreat was over that I didn't experience a single craving. Not once did I think about my morning coffee, potato chips, sweets, or even just wanting a dinner-time meal -- that was a surprise. So although I didn't catch on to the meditation and didn't even come close to achieving enlightenment I am really happy to have had this experience.

Yes, that's our 'mattress' and, yes,
that's a solid cement bed that it's laid on.
Ulrik's Impressions
Getting up at 4:00am? No problem, the temperature is so much more reasonable at that time of the day. Not being able to leave the premises during the retreat? No sweat, I don't know a soul in Chaiya anyway. Eat only twice a day? Great, after eating rather well in Singapore and Malaysia I can afford to lose a few pounds. Not talk for the duration of the retreat? Anyone who's ever traveled in Southeast Asia understands the value of silence. Sleep on a concrete bed with a wooden pillow? No worries; I've never really been a fan of overly soft beds and I quite enjoyed the back support. Very basic cell-like accommodations with shared mandi (a tub of cold water from which you scoop and pour over your head) for bathing? Can't be any worse than what we experienced in Indonesia.

The communal shower area ... and washing up area ... and laundry area ...
I didn't find it overly difficult to adjust to the lifestyle restrictions and 'sacrifices' at the monastery. It was kind of nice not having to worry about anything or having to make decisions more difficult than what to wear that day (which wasn't that difficult either as I mostly wore the standard 'uniform' of white cotton shirt and fisherman pants), After a couple of days, though, I started to get seriously bored. We spent most of the day meditating or listening to Dhamma talks (Buddhist teachings), and I never really got into either one. Although I like the idea of training the brain to be more focused, I just can't sit on my butt for such extended periods of time (we were sitting about eight hours a day). The talks themselves were frustrating because, with the exception of one farang (foreign) monk, it was very difficult to understand the speakers' English. And the parables they would use to to illustrate their points often made no sense to me. I think discussing the talks with the other participants would have helped but, of course, talking wasn't allowed.

Living in such close quarters, I found there were some pretty cool characters I would have liked to have gotten to know. There was the guy with dread locks and tribal tattoos all over his body; there was the guy who was planning on going to Burma to do a meditation retreat for six months (we spoke with him briefly on the drive to the retreat centre); and there was the guy who would practice some serious kung-fu moves with a broom stick every afternoon. Alas, I will never know more about them.

Our wooden pillow ... we slept surprisingly well on it!
By the end of the fourth day I had had all the Dhamma and meditating I could stomach. I felt it would be best to call it quits before I 'forgot' Buddha's first precept about not killing any living being. I slipped Lee a note in secret -- it was just like in high school! -- telling her that I was thinking of leaving the following morning. I wasn't sure what her thoughts were and where she was in all this meditating stuff, but it turned out that she was reaching the same point as me. Although she was prepared to leave early, she asked me to stay an extra day (day 5) in order to complete at least half the retreat. I agreed, and I spent the time packing and thinking about our return to the 'real' world. Even though I was ready to leave and even though it had only been five days, I also felt a bit anxious about being 'on the outside'. Is this -- on a much smaller scale, of course -- how people feel when they're about to be released from prison?

All in all, it was a good experience. All the staff were very nice, and although we had only two meals every day, they were pretty tasty. We even had hot chocolate at tea time. And as you can see from the pictures Lee took, the grounds were very picturesque and it was a nice place to meander around. Even though I didn't get the hang of meditation or gain any additional understanding about Buddhism, I might look at both again in the future. Perhaps I might even be up for another retreat?

One final thought: Prince Siddhartha (ca. 563 BC to 483 BC), who is considered to be the historical founder of Buddhism, had no less than 40,000 girl friends and three palaces, all of which he gave up to live an ascetic life and achieve Nirvana. He also had one wife, which might help explain his decision ....

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Better have your ticket ...

Crossing the Malaysia/Thailand border.
After leaving Taman Negara, we headed toward Thailand on the Jungle Railway. The Jungle Railway travels through the interior of Malaysia from Singapore to Wakaf Bharu, just south of the border with Thailand; we travelled only from Jerantut to Wakaf Bharu. The scenery was quite spectacular, but the train ride wasn't the most comfortable. Because it was a 'natural AC' car (i.e. windows down) exhaust from the engine got in and the soot adhered to the layer of travel sweat that our bodies always produces when we're on a train or bus; after a very short time we were hot, sweaty, and sooty. Eight hours later we were in Wakaf Bahru, and a short taxi ride after that we were in Kota Bahru, the last main town before the Thai border. After quickly finding a room, we headed to the local night market for some food. And what a night market it was! There were stalls selling a wide assortment of goodies from BBQ'd chicken on bamboo skewers to curries to roti (a kind of Malaysian pancake) to jellies and cakes. Surrounding the food stalls were tables and chairs, and surrounding those were stalls selling fresh fruit juices. Interestingly, the fruit stalls -- all 10 to 15 of them -- each had a television, and all but one were showing the same program.

The next day we took a public bus to the Malaysia/Thailand border. It was a very easy border crossing; we got our Malaysia exit stamp, crossed the bridge, and got our Thai entry stamp. A short walk later (about 1km) we were at the Sungai Kolok train station. We decided to cheap out and buy a third class ticket on a local train to Hat Yai; it cost only 42B (less than C$2)! But being a local train meant that it stopped at pretty much every station, which meant that it ended up taking us more than four hours to travel the fairly short distance between the two. But that was okay because we got to see an interesting side of Thailand that we hadn't seen before.

As some of you may know, there has been quite a lot of unrest in Thailand's southern provinces, the population of which is largely Moslem. There have been bombings, but the attacks have been primarily Thai on Thai; there have not yet been any attacks against foreigners. Although we didn't see anything overt to indicate this tension, each station we pulled into, even the smallest ones that were no more than a shed in a field, was surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by at least one soldier armed with an AK47. And on the train, the ticket collector was accompanied by two armed soldiers. You'd better have a ticket!

For more photos, see our Thailand photo album.

Hanging by a Thread

Ulrik suspended above the jungle.
Even if you spend the rest of your time hiding from leeches in your room, if you go to Taman Negara you have to do the Canopy Walkway. The walkway -- which is about 400m to 500m in length and divided into five or six different segments -- is constructed of overlapping wooden planks about 0ne-and-one-half feet wide that rest in a loose-weave net whose ends are tied by a series of ropes to steel cables that run the length of each section.

A close up look at the sophisticated 'engineering' behind the walkway.
Because of its primarily net-and-rope construction, the walkway sways with every step. And with the walkway being suspended about 40m to 50m above the jungle floor, you can imagine that all that swaying can be a bit disconcerting!

We had been told the walkway can become quite crowded as they limit the number of people on the canopy at any given time, but we were lucky and had it all to ourselves. And as you can imagine, the views were quite spectacular!

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.

Leeches Chased Me From Taman Negara

Ulrik and Graham at the base of a really big tree in Taman Negara
Okay ... leeches didn't literally chase me from Taman Negara, but their presence certainly didn't make me want to stay.

Taman Negara (literally "national park") is, at more than 150 million years old, considered the oldest rainforest in the world. It covers more than 4,300 square kilometres in the centre of Peninsular Malaysia. After being in Kuala Lumpur for a week we wanted to get back to nature and do some trekking.

We had been warned of the leech issue before and after arriving in Taman Negara. As much as I was freaked out about the prospect of encountering one of these disgusting little bloodsuckers, at the back of my mind I was thinking that they couldn't really be that bad. Unfortunately they were!

We travelled to the park via a basic wooden 'canoe'-like boat. It was a really peaceful way to travel. The sun was shining, there was a lovely breeze, the waters were calm, and rainforest lined both banks.

Three hours later we arrived at Kuala Tahan. Located on the opposite side of the river from the park, this is where most visitors to the park are based (there is a resort on the same side as the park, but it is exorbitantly expensive). Floating restaurants line the river and it was at one of these that we disembarked.

Our first order of business, after finding accommodations, was to visit the park office; we wanted to get more information about the seven- to nine-day hike to summit Gunung Tahan which, at 2187m, is the highest peak in Peninsular Malaysia. Unfortunately, it sounded very complicated. We had hoped that the guide we hired (which is an absolute requirement) would assist us in organizing the logistics of the hike. (Although there are a few huts within a day's walk, there aren't any after day two or three; we'd have to carry in our own tent, sleeping gear, food, water, and cooking gear.) Ulrik and I both felt confident that we could do the hike itself, but since we had never undertaken a completely self-sufficient hike before we weren't 100% comfortable with having the responsibility of kitting ourselves out. (Some of you might remember the story of our overnight hike in Honduras where we carried only tortillas and peanut butter for food and a sheet to sleep with.) So, instead, we decided to do a day hike to a small hill (about 11km roundtrip), and then do an overnight hike to one of the bumbuns (animal hides) where we could spend the night and, if lucky, see some animals. The two day/one night hike would cover a total of 22km. Great plans ... but they didn't take into account the leeches!

Before setting out, though, we decided to spend a day just relaxing. We headed to a nearby swimming hole which was really lovely; the water was cool and refreshing, which was wonderful because the Taman Negara is stinking hot! Unfortunately, our lovely afternoon ended on a gross note as Ulrik found a BIG FAT LEECH on his foot just as we were leaving. (Fortunately it was Ulrik and not me as he is much better at handling that sort of thing than I am.)

On our way out of the park, we met Lauren and Graham, this lovely South African couple who had travelled into the park on the same boat as us. We stood and chatted with them a bit and Lauren told us how she had had three leeches on her the previous day. Three! One of them was on her shoulder! After commiserating with her about her traumatic experience (if I was her, I don't know if I would have left my room again) we told them of our hiking plans, and arranged to do the day hike together.

Unfortunately, on the morning of the hike Lauren backed out. (She later said she just couldn't face the leeches again, and I can't say that I blame her.) But Graham was still up for it, and off we went.

My leech defence system.
Well ... before we headed out, I had to make sure that I would stay leech free. There are all sorts of suggestions for avoiding leeches: wear tightly-laced ankle boots, liberally spray your shoes with bug spray, rub tobacco on your feet, etc. Here's the strategy I came up with (I had thought of nothing else during the three-hour bus ride, one-hour bus ride, and three-hour canoe ride to Taman Negara):

1. Tuck long pants into socks.
2. In absence of ankle boots use gaiters with shoes (my gaiters went to my mid-calf).
3. Tuck tobacco in all exposed lace holes, and between gaiter and boot. (Although the Malay locals were laughing at me while I was doing this, secretly I think they were just sad to see the waste of so much tobacco.)
4. Tighten everything to the point of cutting off your circulation. (Hey, if one manages to get in at least there won't be any blood for the little f@%ker to suck.)
5. Liberally spray shoes and gaiters with bug repellent. How much is enough? Spray until you can actually feel yourself becoming sterile ... that's probably enough.

So did it work? Read on ...

Off we went into the rainforest. It was very cool. Some of the trees were huge. We got a little lost, but we ended up happening upon an Orang Asli (the "original people"; they are an indigenous people, and the only people, allowed to live in the rainforest) village. A tour guide visiting the village with paying tourists quickly pointed us in the right direction (I think he was worried that we might get to see the fire starting demonstration for free). After getting back on the right path, we stopped and explored a small cave and two bumbuns that were en route. Up until this point we'd only encountered a few small leeches. Both Graham and Ulrik got the occasional one on their shoes, but each time the leech was really small and slow moving and they were able to flick it off quite easily. And even though a couple actually got onto their socks, they weren't biting them -- I think they were just too small to get through the material. But as we started on the last kilometre of the hike, we noticed that the ground was much more damp, an environment that leeches apparently thrive in because we quickly noticed how many more leeches there seemed to be. Not only that but these were fat and aggressive leeches. These would get on your boot and haul ass to get to your skin. You had to flick them off quickly, and it usually took four or five tries to get the little buggers to let go. This was also the first time in the hike that I had leeches on my own boots, and I have to say that I was not too impressed by this development. So we're all distracted by the leeches, and with trying to move quickly to try to prevent them from getting on us, when we reach a point where the trail just seems to end. And, of course, we don't have the luxury of standing there to discuss which direction to move in, because if we stand still too long it's likely we will be overrun by leeches. So at this point, I said that I'd rather just turn around. Now most of you probably know how much I hate to concede defeat when it comes to physical exertions like this. I know I am not the most physically fit person, but I will run myself into the ground rather than be the first person to suggest turning around. And we were only about 3/4km from our goal. But I was not having any fun whatsoever. I was becoming totally paranoid that one of those aggressive buggers had gotten through my defence system and was, as I was standing there, having a little feast in my shoe. Based on how quickly everyone agreed with me, I think both Ulrik and Graham were happy that someone suggested it. So we turned around and practically ran through that stretch of the trail. We had to stop at one point because Ulrik noticed he was under serious attack ... he actually had a leech working its way through his sock! When he pulled his sock off, it was stuck halfway through! We stopped at the last bumbun for a bite of lunch and the boys assessed the damage. I refused to dismantle my defence system to take a look ... I knew that if I found one in there I might not be able to get myself together to get back out and Ulrik would have to carry me!

Shortly before we reached our starting point, it started to rain. Boy did that spur me on. I was just going for it. Forget the boys (who were behind me), I was getting the hell out of there ... everyone knows how leeches are so much worse during and after it rains. In fact, it was raining when Lauren got that leech on her shoulder.

Eventually we all made it out. (Pardon the dramatics ... leeches tend to do that to me!) And none to much the worse for wear. We quickly met up with Lauren, and then it was time for the great unveiling. Had my defence system worked? Was I leech free? Or was there a whole colony of the buggers enjoying a buffet in my shoes? Off came the gaiters, off came the shoes, off came the socks. And not a single leech. Phew.

Although I liked the hike and the scenery, I told Ulrik there was no way I was doing any more hikes in this rainforest. The prospect of leeches was just too much for me to relax and really enjoy myself. Even though I was pretty confident in my leech defence system throughout the hike, I was still paranoid the entire time. And even though I saw that my system did indeed work, I knew that I would still be paranoid if we went on another hike. And that's just no fun. Besides, I knew that there would be many other opportunities to go hiking in places that don't have any leeches. So we said goodbye to Taman Negara. We also said goodbye to Graham and Lauren, unfortunately, as they were headed south to Malaysia and we were headed north to Thailand.

F@%king leeches ...

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.

Quick Note

We're heading off into the jungles of Taman Negara. We're not sure how long we're going to trek for -- there are day treks, short multiple day treks, and a long trek up the mountain of Gunung Tahan (about seven to nine days). So we could be out of touch for over a week. Just think, it's the perfect time to catch up on your reading ...!

Kuala Lumpur

Mmmmmmmm ...
After Lee's last few posts, you might think that Kuala Lumpur has been only about doing taxes and chasing after mirage FedEx offices (by the way, the other day while sitting at an outdoor cafe, we saw a FedEx van drive by!). But that is far from the case; we've definitely experienced a lot of what KL has to offer.

Saturday we went to the district of Little India to check out its famous Saturday night market. The place was amazing! Picture several city blocks of tables laden with food, drink, snacks, desserts, etc. We feasted on such items as fried chicken breast, a beef sandwich, murtaback (similar to a samosa), chocolate cake, nasi lemak (which is really supposed to be for breakfast), and a tasty 'frappucino'-type iced mocha. All for under C$3 (the frapuccino was only C$0.60 -- take that Starbucks)! Well-stuffed and tired from looking at all the colourful stands, we decide to walk the half hour back to our guesthouse. After a few blocks we came upon a makeshift stage in a little plaza. As we got there, the MC (this very flamboyant, Liberace-inspired gentleman) who seemed to be introducing the next act spontaneously, and to much cheering, broke into song! He was actually quite good but Lee, cynically, believed he was lip-syncing. His act was followed by a local band called Master Clan. Part gangsta rap, part boy band, and part hip hop, they were dressed in the usual uniform of baggy clothes, trucker hats, headbands, etc., and they played it up with all the right rap/boy band/hip hop moves. They worked hard to get the audience to "feel the love ... it's all about the love, baby," but they just weren't buying. Probably because the audience consisted primarily of older couples, young families, and middle-aged men. They were actually quite good, and we felt a bit bad for them. Next up was a young Asian girl who was more to the audience's tastes. She sang a number of Hong Kong classics (including a famous soap opera theme song). It probably also helped that she was young, cute, perky, and wearing an outfit that was both demure and sexy (a look that has been mastered in the Muslim countries we've visited). We also saw a couple of traditional dances before we decided to head home.

During the last couple of days we've taken in a few other of KL's sights. First was the KL Tower, which is similar to the CN Tower in Toronto although shorter. The view from the observation deck was quite good despite the bad weather moving in. Afterwards, we managed to beat the rain to the Petronas Towers, the highest twin buildings in the world, and KL's most famous landmark. They really are quite stunning. While the KL Tower is rather plain and uninspiring to look at, the PTs are a marvel of classic and modern islamic architecture in glass and steel. At their base is a giant mall, Suria KLCC, and although we couldn't afford anything from the posh stores (think Gucci, Hermes, etc.), we did treat ourselves to some really tasty watermelon gelato.

Statues at the entry to the Batu Caves Hindu shrine.
Next on the agenda were the Batu Caves. This Hindu shrine is the site of the annual Thaipusam festival, an orgy of colours, dance, music, and skin pierced with metal hooks (apparently to show repentence). Alas, we missed it (it's in February), but the caves were rather impressive nonetheless. A stairway with 272 steps leads to the maw of the cave, and it's lined with monkeys waiting for handouts from tourists and devotees. While most of the older monkeys just sat around, the younger monkeys were a bit more playful and aggressive. Indeed, one little guy kept trying to grab at peoples feet and bags. On the way down the steps, we saw what was likely the cause of this behaviour. We saw a family teasing the monkeys with candy (it should be noted that the candy was still in its wrapper). And we were effectively ignored when we pointed out that not only could the monkeys choke on the wrapping, but also that candy is not good for them. And we later saw a woman waving a shirt in a monkey's face; I assume to get it to 'do' something. Why are people so ignorant?

Despite all the 'hard work' we've had to do in KL, we've enjoyed our time here. But it's time to move on ... next up, Taman Negara and, hopefully, a trek up Gunung Tahan.

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.

F@%king F@%k!

Our bank card's home for a day.
Pardon the language but, OHMIGOD, I practically had a heart attack yesterday.

We needed to replenish our cash stocks, so we went to find an ATM. Since we were at a big mall, there was a whole bank of ATMs to choose from. Well, I CHOSE WRONG!!!

A few seconds after putting our bank card in, the screen said,

"There is a problem with your card. Your card has been retained. Please contact your local branch if you have any questions."

RETAINED?!? RETAINED!?!? What the f@%k do you mean RETAINED?!?? At first I looked at the screen stupidly. Then I looked at Ulrik stupidly. Then I started punching buttons (e.g. like 'cancel', like that was going to work) stupidly.

Since I was pretty useless, Ulrik went to a nearby information desk and they told him that, fortunately, there was a branch for this bank just across the road. Since I still hadn't recovered from the shock, he headed over to the bank on his own and, about 45min later, came back with mixed news. The good news was that we should be able to get our card back; the bad news was that it wouldn't happen until the next day.

So, today, we trudged back to the bank and, el hum d'Allah (Arabic for God be praised), we got our card back. For that, and for making it happen so quickly, we have to thank Mr. Radhi Yaslam Bin Zainudin, Bank Executive at Bank Rakyat, for taking such good care of us stupid tourists. Mr. Bin Zainudin, we promise we will never use a Bank Rakyat ATM again!

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.

Looking for Koalas

After our big update, Ulrik pointed out that we didn't have a single picture of koalas on our website. Which was weird because I had made such a big fuss about seeing them -- and maybe even getting to pet one! -- when we were in Australia. So here are a couple of pics for you to enjoy.

We met this little girl -- and got to pet her! -- at
the Featherdale Wildlife Park.
We spotted this little fellow on the road to the Otway Lighthouse.
(He's to the left of the big cluster of leaves in the centre.)
For more photos, see our Featherdale photo album and/or our Great Ocean Road photo album.

Mission: FedEx? Mission: Impossible!

A completely unrelated photo. Oh what a carefree day that was ...
With our taxes complete, the next task at hand was to file them. Since TELEFILE and EFILE weren't an option, our only choice was to send them by mail. But I wasn't about to trust my original receipts to Malaysia's post (no offense Malaysia), and since FedEx doesn't have a depot on Pulau Tioman, it was time to head back to the big city. In this case, Kuala Lumpur (KL).

We had originally planned to bypass KL (which is on the west side of the country), and instead head inland and north to Taman Negara National Park. But Taman would just have to wait ... the taxes need to be filed!

We got to KL in good time and -- shockingly! -- during daylight hours. Again, our connections were smooth and hassle-free (we love you Malaysia!). But we arrived on Friday night, the end of the work week. We've obviously been away from the working world for too long already!

Thinking that a drop-off point might be open on a Saturday, we headed out with a list of addresses and telephone numbers from the FedEx website. We ran into problems almost immediately.

1. With only the map in our sad little Book, we couldn't figure out where the offices were actually located.
2. We tried calling them, but couldn't figure out how the public pay phones worked.
3. Once we found a phone that did work, it wouldn't accept the toll-free number for FedEx Malaysia.
4. We found a telephone centre, but the man who worked there couldn't figure out how to get the toll-free number to work.
5. We eventually figured out, after extensive research on the internet, that all but one of the offices were nowhere near us.
6. The office that was sort of near us still wasn't answering their telephone number.
7. After deciding to just go to the store anyway, we found that it was shut tight for the day and, more likely, the weekend.

We finally got a break at a fancy hotel near the store location, the Hotel Istana. (The map on their website is how we found the store in the first place -- go figure.) As they were located in the Central Business District, we assumed that their guests would regularly use a courier service like FedEx, so Ulrik asked them if they had any contact information for FedEx in KL. They did. So after a whole day of chasing our tails, all we had was a new telephone number. And we would have to wait two days until we could use it.

Well, we should have known. When we called the number on Monday, there was no answer. Fortunately, I also had the number for UPS (the guy at our guesthouse helped find it for me), and that number worked. Within two hours of calling them, a guy showed up and picked up our package.

Damn FedEx Malaysia. And damn taxes for being the cause of all this bother.

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.

Tax Time

The view from our dinner table.
After an wonderful week in Singapore, it was time to get back on the road. Actually, part of the reason why we were delayed leaving Singapore by a couple of days is that we really didn't know where we were going next. We knew we were heading to Malaysia, but should we go west or east? Sigh. The problems of being a world traveller. (Don't hate us too much, please!) I left it to Ulrik and he picked Pulau Tioman, a laid-back little island just off the east coast (I should have known).

The border crossing was incredibly straightforward, and cheap! We took the MRT to the bus station, caught an express bus to the border, hopped off to go through Singapore's immigration, hopped on to cross the Causeway to the Malaysian side of the border, hopped off to go through Malaysia's immigration, hopped back on to get to the bus terminal in Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia. All in all, it cost us about C$3 each to get from Singapore to Malaysia.

Once in JB, we quickly jumped on another bus bound for Mersing, where we would catch a ferry to the island. We left Singapore at about 9:00am and arrived on Pulau Tioman around 3:00pm. Each connection was quick and without hassle. If only it was always this easy!

We spent about five days on the island. Most of that time was spent DOING OUR TAXES!!!!!!! When I realized that we were well into April, I knew it was time to bite the bullet and get them done. Now most people would think that if they had to do their taxes, then a tropical island would be a pretty great place to do them. I thought the same until I actually had to do them on a tropical island.

Why a Tropical Island is Not a Great Place to do Your Taxes
1. It is very hot on a tropical island. Sitting doing calculations is no fun when you're sweating. (And don't even think about getting in the water to cool down.)
2. It can be a bit breezy on a tropical island. Your papers tend to fly everywhere. At one point, I couldn't figure out what I did with Federal Schedule 1, but then I found it on the ground behind me! (I hope I didn't lose anything else.)
3. It is very humid on a tropical island. The seal on the envelope kept getting stuck to my papers.
4. There are a lot more fun things to do on a tropical island. The last thing you want to be doing is your taxes!

To break up the tedium, and reward me for getting through them the first time (I always do the calculations twice), we went for a hike to the other side of the island. The walk is only about 7km, but it goes straight up and then straight down. It took us just over two hours to get to the other side. We took an hour to enjoy the beach and have a light lunch, and then we walked back. More than four hours of sweating like a pig for a bit of fried rice and a beach that looked just like ours. What were we thinking? Actually, the hike was quite enjoyable. It's good to stretch your legs after being stuck in a chair DOING YOUR TAXES!

I suppose that's one benefit to doing your taxes on a tropical island. Don't hate us too much, eh ...?

For more photos, see our Malaysia photo album.

Night Safari

The massive crowd waiting to get into the
animal show. Fortunately we were in front!
The one thing we knew, without a doubt, that we would do in Singapore was go to the Night Safari. But even though we bought tickets on our third day in town, it took us another three days (and one false start) to finally get there.

There are three main parts to the Night Safari: an animal show, walking paths, and a tram ride that travels beyond the walking paths. We hoped to get in all three. We were able to do the show and the tram ride but, because we had to make sure we made the last train home, we were able to do only a small part of the walking trails.

In general, the safari was very cool. The animal enclosures are unique in that many of them use natural barriers. I suppose this is to try to create more of a 'safari' experience for visitors. Unfortunately, it's hard to feel like you're encountering an animal in the wild when you're surrounded by the 'wilds' of civilization. There were so many people! It was so crowded, we had to get to the show area really early in order to get a decent seat, and then we had to wait in a long queue for the the tram. Not to say that the experience was terrible. The animal show was well done, and the main presenter was quite a showman. The tram ride, however, was just okay. It was difficult to hear the guide with so many people on board ignoring her and just talking amongst themselves. Also, they never really paused at any of the displays. So you didn't really have much time to see each enclosure. The guide, though, was quite funny. Obviously trying to push conservation, she would say things like, "It takes the coats of three lions to make a coat for one selfish individual to wear. Does that seem fair?" And, "It takes the coats of three tigers to make a coat for one selfish individual to wear. Does that seem fair?" And, "Their tusks are used to make chess pieces and ashtrays ... I don't think that seems fair, do you?" You get the idea. But, overall, I am glad we went. I've wanted to go to the Night Safari since reading about it during my layover in Singapore in 2000. It's just unfortunate that we had to share it with so many others.

For more photos, see our Singapore photo album.

Memorable Eats I

Mmmm ... fish head ...
Since giving up our kitchen (we unfortunately had to give it up with the apartment), we haven't been able to cook for ourselves as much as we would like. But we've still enjoyed some incredible culinary experiences. Here are the ones that warm our stomachs when the only option available is cup noodles.

- Elaine's incredible homemade pizza dough (Toronto)
- making homemade sushi with the White-Ngs ... or is it Ng-Whites? (Toronto)
- batches of toffee biscotti (Calgary)
- pork dumplings made from scratch; yes ... even the dough! (Vancouver)
- rice, jackfruit curry, and spicy sambal wrapped in a banana leaf ... for breakfast! (Indonesia)
- Copenhagen ice cream in Manly (Australia)
- pretty much every single apple we ate in New Zealand
- a peppermint Magnum after a long day of riding (New Zealand)
- 'homemade muesli' on the road: non-toasted muesli, half as much whole oats, a generous helping of raw pumpkin seeds, and, if your sweet tooth is singing (as Ulrik's always is), a sprinkling of dark chocolate chips (New Zealand)
- the beef tenderloin and the local wine (Vyper) at 19th, a restaurant in Queenstown (New Zealand)
- hokey pokeys ... but only from the bulk section of New World in New Zealand, or the candy stall at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne (New Zealand & Australia)
- Ulrik's bolognese sauce; satisfying any day, but especially after a day riding the open road (New Zealand)
- Kylie's killer chocolate muffins; she made them for Karen & Scott's wedding 'cake' (Australia)
- making starter with James (Australia)
- all the cheeses that we tasted in the Hunter Valley (Australia)
- kangeroo tenderloin at The Meat & Wine Co., a restaurant in Sydney (Australia)
- the coffee at Café Lava (Indonesia)
- ice cream sandwiches; literally a slice of ice cream on a piece of bread! (Singapore)
- fish head curry; sounds disgusting, looks disgusting, tastes delicious! (Singapore)
- ice kecang, a crazy mix of red beans, corn kernels, shaved ice, and topped with sweet syrups (Singapore)
- the food court at Funan Digitalife Mall, not only because of the quality and variety of food, but also because it was such a comfortable place to escape the heat of the day
- curry puffs and sardine puffs (Singapore)
- the coffee at ATRS; it was only Nescafe 2-in-1, but it sure was tasty! (Singapore)
- too many pints of Ben & Jerry's Phish Food ice cream, a terribly delicious concoction of chocolate ice cream, swirls of caramel and marshmallow, and pieces of fudgy fish (Singapore)
- pratha, a flaky pancaky-type bread that you dip in a curry 'gravy' (Singapore)
- Robin's hamburgers; we don't know what she puts into them, but they're incredible and addictive (Malaysia)
- nasi lemak; coconut rice served with small dried fish, roasted peanuts, a fried egg, cucumber, and spicy sambal ... another tasty breakfast option (Malaysia)

So, so many tasty eats ....

Singapore's OK!

Singapore is more than OK!
After a short interlude in Indo, we arrived in Singapore. We didn't really know what to expect but, if Changi Airport (love Changi Airport!) was anything to go by, we had high expectations.

We were in and out of Changi in less than 15min (did I mention that I love Changi?) and onto the MRT, Singapore's fast, efficient, and affordable public transit system. We had decided to stay in Chinatown -- a decision we would regret only because it made it so difficult to leave -- at a small family-run hostel called A Travellers Rest Stop (ATRS). Owned and operated by Lucy and Boy (Lucy's mother and father also work there), cosy ATRS quickly became our home away from home.

We had only planned on staying in Singapore for four days (01 Apr to 05 Apr), but ended up staying an additional three (until 08 Apr)! As I said before, the comfort of our guesthouse, combined with the ease of getting around Singapore, conspired to keep us a bit longer.

Most of our time was actually spent at Funan Digitalife Mall. Although neither of us are big shoppers, as most of you know, we had decided to buy either a laptop or PDA to help us keep on top of our emails and blog entries (as you can see, it's helping already!). We spent a lot of time researching what we wanted and, with some helpful input from a friend back home (thanks Jeff!), we decided to get an HP iPAQ PDA. But our decisions weren't done just yet. Now we had to decide who to buy from. Funan is this huge electronics mall, but the strange thing is that although there are over five floors of stores, they all sell pretty much the exact same products at the exact same price. And, yet, for some reason it still took us most of the day to decide on who to buy from!

The welcoming party to the Tree Top Walk.
That task completed, we escaped to the outdoors; specifically the MacRitchie Trails. One of the trails is the Tree Top Walk, which leads to a suspension bridge that is 25m above the ground. The walk itself is about 10km, but we only ended up walking about 8km as it started to pour and we met a nice Singaporean guy who offered us a chance to get in his car. Don't worry, we haven't completely lost our heads! We had walked with him for some time, and then hung out on the bridge under a bit of shelter while waiting for the rain to stop. In total we probably talked with him for more than an hour-and-a-half before we actually got into his car. He was a really friendly guy. He not only drove us to a food court to try a new dish (pratha, which we had mentioned wanting to try), he paid for it, and then took us on a mini tour of the city before dropping us off where we had originally planned to go after our walk. Thanks Ian!

Another example of that amazing Singaporean efficiency.
Other than the huge distraction and job of making our big purchase, our time in Singapore was very relaxed. We really enjoyed exploring our little part of town, especially trying all the tasty little treats in Chinatown and beyond. Although some people (both locals and foreigners) don't like the almost sterile nature of the country. (It can seem a bit big brother-ish. There are signs everywhere telling you what and what not to do: don't spit; throw away your rubbish; keep the bathrooms clean; etc. One would hope that adults would just know to do this but Singapore, apparently, doesn't want to take the chance.) But I really liked Singapore. The funny thing is, if I were running a country I could see myself doing the exact same thing. I, too, am an anal-retentive control freak. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed Singapore so much!

For more photos, see our Singapore photo album.