Mid-year break, at last!

It's been a brutal Term 2, but it's over... more or less. Just another few days to go with our commitment at PUS 2013, which promises to be (if I may quote Amy) exciting, delirious or mad. What it entails is advising yet another bunch of kids on a project they are proposing that will accrue great national significance by 2030. Oh, is that all? No pressure, then.

It's a conspiracy!

Spent the morning shooting footage for Drama Night. It'll be the first time we'll be featuring video for our stage productions and I'm quite excited about that, though it also creates a heap of new staging problems I have yet to wrap my mind around. Balance and scale, mostly. Onstage, 'live' action and sound will pale in comparison to the video projection and soundtrack amplification. So how...?

Also, just returned from Jen's dad's wake. That's like six wakes now in four months. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd be very suspicious of the common thread linking our recently departed: all but one were in their 80s and all succumbed to lung cancer. None, as far as I know, were smokers, but they did live through a time when second-hand smoke was more common than first-hand air.

I'd like to request the-powers-that-be to put a temporary moratorium on more people I know dying. I'm particularly unsociable and wakes are terribly difficult places to have to show a social face in. And I'm exhausted. So, please, nobody else die for a while, 'k?

Taoist send-off

It's been a rough few days. It's been like another month, another wake. There was no getting out of this one. The wife's closest aunt passed away over the weekend and for the first time I've been attending the full works of a Taoist send-off... in the capacity of favourite grand-niece's husband and designated driver.

From the ecclesiastical perspective, we do not share the same beliefs but as family I'm not about to be all stand-offish and disrespectful of the obligatory rituals. As I'm not immediate family, I don't have to play a part in the main proceedings. That gave me lots of time to grade papers at an unoccupied corner table of the tentage; but where I am expected to show the minimum of family support, I take the wife's lead.

I helped fold origami 'ingots' (the more, the merrier) to be burnt on behalf of the deceased; wore colours appropriate to the occasion; and for the short procession behind the hearse, I had a mourning sash tied around my waist -- though I waited in the car, ready to join the convoy headed up to Bright Hill.

Between these familial duties and caring for the new maltipup, there isn't much left to Spring Break. So I'm really glad my grading quota has been met... and now I can party the rest of what's left of my brains out the rest of the week. As if.

Holiday fatality

Being on vacation over the last week put us out of touch with the news. At last night's Christmas eve dinner, the family alerted us to this tragic news story about a fellow S'porean tourist whose ascent up the very same volcano we had climbed a couple of days before proved fatal. As I read the report, I realized that it could have occurred to either of us too, unfit and unprepared as we were.

While we were both blessed to make it back in one piece, my sympathies are for our fellow countryman who didn't, and his family. At our age, it's time we did a bit more careful research into the items we want to put on our itinerary. And do the necessary prep if we're determined to follow through with our plans.

Geez. That's a cheery Christmas thought.

Bali revisited: Day 6

Our flight home was mildly dramatic. About a quarter into our journey, the captain announced that the plane had developed some fault and we had to turn back to Denpasar where we and our luggage would board a replacement plane. Passenger response was miffed but cooperative. Apart from a few questions regarding the delay causing a few missed connections and other similar concerns, we were generally adopting a 'whatever' attitude. The ground crew was apologetic and tried to explain the situation. They rustled up some mineral water to placate us at the boarding gate to tide us over the hour-plus delay. I was hoping to be compensated with a free night's accommodation in a luxury hotel in Kuta, but it was not to be. Before long, we were winging it back to SIN again... and Christmas eve dinner with the family.

Bali revisited: Day 5

Actually, we're not in Seminyak as we thought. Our villa is in Canggu, yet some distance away. But we've had enough of adventure. We're spending the tail-end of our vacation relaxing; soaking in our private pool (above); shopping and eating commercial food.

At the Adyana Villas and Spa, it's all the comforts of home with a comfy living room; some cable channels and a DVD player.

There's even a dining room and kitchen, if you're inclined to cook. All we've used the dining table for, though, is breakfast, served in the villa itself.

So far, we've been impressed with the friendliness and courtesy of the service staff in Bali, hospitality and retail alike. At the Adnyana, it seems to be a family-run operation. We love the set-up here, but because of the distance to the more touristy districts like Kuta, the traveller might prefer to park here and enjoy the peace and quiet. If you must see the town, the resort offers a free shuttle service to Seminyak, the timings can be made at the front desk or with the driver himself, which is what we've been doing. Otherwise, the very private facilities and with some marketing for your own provisions, it's easy to spend a couple of inactive days here in total bliss and contentment.

Bali revisited: Day 4

We've moved on to Seminyak. It's not quite what we'd expected: thought we'd find a beach here (yes, that's the depth of research we've done) but instead found a strip of little shops catering to the tourist crowd. Since it seemed to be an extension of Kuta Beach, we decided to walk to Kuta Beach... a whole hour-and-a-half on foot. We had a destination in mind: the Forrest Gump-themed Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which we share good memories of from the last time we were here. Good food, excellent if a tad over-enthusiastic service.

We both went with pasta options, which on their own were impressive. The shrimp is meaty and fresh; the portions generous. But what really made the dishes sing was not on the usual list of ingredients. We asked for sliced fresh chillies, and we were served a saucerful of pale-looking zingers. Awesome!

There's a promotion going on currently: a free house dessert with each main dish ordered. Strawberry shortcake (above) was a bit doughy for my taste but being served a la mode covered a lot of sins. The key lime pie (below) set the benchmark for my quest for the perfect key lime pie. It was smooth and well-balanced between sweet and sour. This is one dessert you don't need much to reach satisfaction with.

Bali revisited: Day 3

A holiday with me isn't complete without a spin on a quad bike. We booked a morning riding tandem on an ATV at Bakas Levi Rafting, which evidently offers more outdoor attractions than rafting. First time using a manual shift but got used to it pretty quickly. Again, prior experience (as in Port Arthur and Chiangmai) didn't make this ride any easier. Though this ride is much shorter, it's more challenging because of the steep gradients and the narrow dirt track bordering a nasty drop into a ravine. The route was simple: one way down, and then back up the way we came. Part of the challenge was to avoid things on the track like butterflies; the odd working elephant; and a gaggle of PRC tourists strolling to their rafting start point. 

Our guide, Jerry, was a jolly, easy-going fellow who knew how to pace our jungle ride. He was close on hand over more difficult terrain, and kept a distance when I got more confident so I could feel the illusion of independence. Though with June riding behind me, safety was always first in my mind, regardless. Being quite experienced with the camera, he was also responsible for many couple shots on this trip which our holiday albums are usually devoid of.

In the afternoon, we trekked the Campuhan Ridge trail. June copied the route directions off TripAdvisor which up to a point were quite accurate.

The trail offers some gorgeous views of the rural countryside. More locals than tourists frequent this area, and for some reason there were a number of high school students clustering along various parts of the trail today. School's out, maybe? Or is today a school holiday? At the end of this nicely paved trail is a number of well-hidden art galleries; a couple of spas and guest houses... and our directions got real hazy after that.

We could have gone back the way we came, but we took the other option suggesting that we make a huge loop back to Ubud central. "Huge" was an understatement. The road took us up and down steep slopes with vehicles whizzing past us and no sidewalk for a buffer. The area we were walking in began looking increasingly rural, and we had no idea what lay in front of us at the end of the road. Turns out we were going the right way, but if we wanted to take this walk, we should have started in the morning. In the end, we hitched a ride with an obliging young man in a Honda Jazz who offered to take us back to civilization for IDR20,000. We gave him 50K as we didn't have anything smaller after we tipped Jerry (above).

We had sate campur at Coco Bistro to celebrate our return. I was quite impressed with the quality of the skewered diced pork; chicken and beef. Served with a plate of plain white rice topped with a sprinkling of fried shallots, smooth peanut paste and a salad of chopped cucumbers; onions and tomatoes, this dish really hit the spot.

But this was treasure for our parched throats. It tasted like sparkling toothpaste, but it was cold and so thirst-quenching, we felt quite assured that were were home from the wilderness at last.

Bali revisited: Day 2

This sunrise view wasn't easy to acquire, especially for the likes of yours truly. Mt Batur was a challenging climb, moreso than we initially thought. After all, we survived the climb up Diamond Head, didn't we? Batur was no Diamond Head. No smooth paths; regular steps with handrails. It was wild, the path was narrow; strewn with rocks; and in parts the gradient was so steep, neither looking up nor down was in the least helpful. Besides all through the climb, it was raining, it was dark, the way lighted only by flashlight.

It turned out that we were ill prepared for the weather. We both had to rent waterproof hooded jackets from the trek guides at IDR50,000 each, having no idea who had worn them and sweated in them before us. We were just grateful to have them. We were also ill-prepared physically for the ascent. Before long,we both were huffing and puffing from the walk... and that was even before the terrain got steep and difficult. I was convinced that at some point, one of us would throw in the towel and collapse and die from exhaustion. Outside, the rain was soaking my rented jacket, inside my t-shirt was soaking with sweat. That bad. 

In the end, it was a game of mind over matter. Of concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and quashing all thoughts of how far more we still had to struggle. The journey had to become more important than the destination. To think of reaching the summit, looking up and seeing the distance and steepness of the path ahead of us was very daunting. Thinking of having to climb back down after reaching the top was a total OMG moment. But if we had our minds on our fluffy, comfy bed back at the Kamandalu, that would have killed us for sure. So step by painful step, up we went. We also took frequent breaks and let others pass us along the path. No deadlines, no hurry. Our guide waited patiently with us and kept encouraging us by accounting how far we've come already and ticking down the distance we had left to cover.

The view (top) was spectacular, but brekkie being all of a couple of slices of plain bread, a hard-boiled egg and a banana... well, this fellow (above) and his mates looked like they needed a meal more than we did. I kept the banana for the potassium I needed to stave off cramps in my sore legs.

The altitude and rain combined to make it feel cold up top, but the crater comprised many small holes emitting natural steam that warmed us up sufficiently as long as we stood close to one.

Needless to say, we survived our ordeal. Climbing down the volcano was way easier than climbing up as we didn't have to fight gravity any more. Still, we had to be careful of our footing on the slippery rocks covering the path but other than that, it was a breeze. But having given our brekkie to the local inhabitants and returning to the hotel too late for the morning buffet, we opted to sleep until lunchtime. We followed a recommendation from one of our travelling companions and tried the speciality roast suckling pig dish at Ibu Oka. Above is a mixed dish of roast meat, deep-fried meat, vegetables and on the left, a slab of crackling skin. The flavours were so amazingly rich, we realised we should have shared one order instead of having one each. The crackling skin was the best I've tasted, crispy pork fat at its finest, though the second piece nearly did me in with the sudden onset of the law of diminishing marginal utility.

Back at the Kamandalu, we indulged ourselves with a sore muscles massage and flower bath at the spa. The skilful papmpering from the professional and friendly staff made a great end to a tough but eventually satisfying morning.

Bali revisited: Day 1

See this? It's a well deserved tall, cold, drink from Cafe Wayan, Ubud, Bali. We very nearly didn't make it here at all. On the way to the airport, we realised that we forgot to pack our hotel bookings. We had to turn our cab around  for home, scramble to find the printed pages... but they were nowhere to be found. By the time we decided to transfer the booking email to my roaming email account, we were pushing late. And because the taxi meter was still running, we were out of $20+ even before we actually left our front door. Fortunately, we arrived last at the flight check-in counter just before it closed.

Our hotel in Ubud is the Kamandalu Resort & Spa. We have a private villa that's roomy and comfortable with both indoor and outdoor bath facilities... but too bad our first night won't be spent here. We're booked on a midnight trek up Mt Batur, an active volcano, to see the sunrise and have brekkie at the crater. But that's another adventure altogether...

USS Halloween Horror Nights 2

A little better strategy is in order if we want to enjoy this event at USS more next year.

Time: 2000-0100 hrs is too short to do everything, so despite the temptation to ride the coasters we have to be more focused on the specially themed attractions, even if it means forgoing our favourite rides.

Crowd: the place is swarming with merry-makers who create great atmosphere for the event, but also unfortunately make the lines for the rides and everything else very long. We waited about an hour to get on the Battlestar Galactica (Cylon) and another on The Mummy Returns. And that was all the time we had as upon exit from the Egyptian Necropolis, it was nearly 0000 hrs already.

Lockers: in crowded situations like this one, the time spent waiting and riding will invariably exceed the lockers' grace period and you have to pay the machine in order to get your stuff out of it. It gets difficult when all your belongings including wallet containing cash, NETS and credit card are locked in the locker as you are not permitted to ride with loose items in your pockets. For cash transactions, exact amount only, no change is given -- we found out a bit too late. For both rides, we ended up spending $18 on the lockers alone. Grr.

Food: we purchased the theme dinner at KT's Bar and Grill (on of the restaurants in USS). It was a three-course meal including a choice of baby pork ribs (above) and duck (below). The ribs were succulent and tender, likewise the duck. The theme decorations turned out cuter than the picture in the menu promised, but it was good eating anyway. There seemed to be a bit of a kerfuffle over the question of whether we had purchased the meal vouchers online, but it was only because online orders apparently received a complementary fruit punch, a nice surprise for us...

like so.

But back to strategy: the food was fabulous and reasonably priced ($28+++ per pax) but to start serving at 2000 hrs... well, the one hour we enjoyed eating was also one hour's headstart on the rides for everyone else who had nommed earlier elsewhere.

Parking: the one thing that worked for us was a last minute decision. Because parking was so limited at Vivocity, we detoured to park at the Beach car park on Sentosa. $3 entrance + $2 parking = $5 total. Even though the monorail ended service at midnight, it was a short and pleasant stroll back to the beach from USS to get M2 back.

Conclusion: to really enjoy ourselves, spend more money. Buy a day pass to ride coasters all day long, upgrade to stay for the night's activities and fork out for a universal express pass for faster (than normal) access to the attractions. Carry only a credit card and your smartphone (useful as a camera and for contacting separated party members) in a secured pocket, leave all other miscellaneous barang-barang in the car.

P.S.: To infer that we didn't enjoy the experience is not accurate. The creepy music and sound effects relentlessly permeating the entire theme park added atmosphere to the main street that was divided into sections by theme. From the House of Dolls at the entrance, to the post-apocalyptic urban cityscape, to the Mummy-cursed streets of ancient Egypt populated with ghouls and zombies popping up to scare random passers-by, USS really did take a lot of trouble to get the environment perfect for Halloween. All I'm saying is, next year, we go with a better plan to maximize the time allotted.

USS has dedicated staff. This forlorn ghoul guards the door of the closed gift shop. No one gets in regardless of how badly they want to buy a souvenir.

Wet market -- literally

Among the other things to do in Phuket is to go look at the weekend night market in Phuket Town. The ride by taxi is up and down a really steep gradient that separates Patong Beach from the rest of the island. It's 500B from the Jungceylon where we're staying to Phuket Town, but 400B back. How does that work out? Anyway, if you've already seen Chatuchak in BKK, this night market is similar, though the merchandise is more generic, tourist pleasing stuff. And, of course, while we were there, the skies opened up and blessed us with a brief but tempestuous shower. Thank goodness for Crocs (TM).

On to Patong Beach

Now, for a change of pace, we're in downtown Patong Beach. So busy, so many tourists here... lots of shopping to do. So it's time for me to get to work again. No more lazing about by the pool. Sigh.

Totally R&R

Phuket (Naka Island)
Welcome to pretty Naka Island, where there is nothing to do but relax and get pampered all day. Sit by the beach, read in your private gazebo, or dip in your private pool? So spoiled for choice we are. XD

Hello World! England 2011: Day 8

Blue Badge guide, Colin, meets us for a walking tour of sites relating to Oscar Wilde. As you can see, he's quite an animated speaker. Like all good guides, he wanted full attention from his audience, so he was frowning quite a bit at the people in the back...

who happened to be some old friends who tracked down our group in London and we had a bit of a noisy reunion.

It rains a bit so the brollies come out

Staff break from kids as we seek lunch separately. We opt for Lebanese and I get this nice lamb shish wrap.

Next stop, Buckingham palace, with our iconic sites tour guide, Julie.

It's not the Changing of the Guard, but a relief of the sentries as one shift takes over the previous.

Julie gets us photo ops at Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.

Last stop: Kensington Gardens, opposite the Royal Albert Hall. The temperature has taken quite a dip and the kids are freezing now. But it won't stop them from grabbing a few more scenic shots before departure.

The dome of the Royal Albert...

and his commemorative statue in gold directly opposite.

And a couple of rather congenial ducks bid us farewell.

Day 8 concludes at Heathrow Airport. We're comin' home!

Hello World! England 2011: Day 7

We get a warm welcome at Kingsford Community School. Here, Martin makes his introductions.

Their students guide our students around campus.

Then we have a joint art lesson. Medium: ink wash. Subject: still life, seashells

Though they haven't handled art implements for years, some of our kids display quite some talent in the field. The quality of Mrs Stevens' instructions helped to make this task easy.

Kingsford's hospitality extends to feeding us a school lunch. Today's special: lasagne, finger sandwiches and juice. Despite what we might have heard about British school lunches, this one was delish. Lots of cheese and meat sauce to keep me happy.

We pass some nice, iconic sites on our coach ride back to the hotel.

Then it's on to the BBC Television Centre for a tour of the studios.

Here we are at the stage door reception area. Lots of famous feet have trod this floor, apparently. Unfortunately, we don't see any today.

Because of time constraints, we had to grab dinner on the hoof at Victoria Station, then rush off to watch the musical version of "Billy Elliot". Very entertaining, with energetic song-and-dance routines. The kids may have found the Geordie accents difficult to pick up, but they enjoyed the performance nevertheless.

Day 7 ends back at the Travelodge. Everyone's zonked and we deserve a late start to tomorrow morning.