We can’t believe it’s gone so quickly and are definitely more settled in our new life now (although we’re far from “asianised”- which isn’t a bad thing!). The weather has been quite unpredictable with some rain this month, which has been great for cooling us all down – it actually got down to 25 degrees last week – I almost put my cardi on!! It doesn’t feel as hot as it did, so we must be acclimatizing a little. Either that or we’ve just got used to walking round like damp sponges which is probably more the case. We still need the air con on at night to get to sleep.
It’s been an interesting and action packed month for us, so will start the general stuff before moving on to the more exciting things. Work – it’s all steady for Gareth, mostly work here, but with trips to Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong (I was allowed to go on the KL trip on the promise that I would stay out of the way and not tell any jokes to the clients!).
I successfully completed my first “solo” 2 day training workshop last week, which seemed to go really well. It was on presentation skills, so just as well I got it right, or it could have been embarrassing not being able to present a presentation workshop! Feedback was good and another one is being considered for next month and we’re currently taking bookings. I’m also involved in some future training work in Hong Kong for MBA graduates with delivery set for August. We’re at the design stage right now, so that’s all new, exciting, and a little nerve wracking to be honest, but plenty of time to get it absolutely right on the night.
Our week ends have been pretty action packed too. We went to Bintan Island for a day one Saturday. Bintan actually belongs to Indonesia, but is less than an hour’s sailing from here. There are a few resorts at the top part of the island where most people go for a week end or a short break. We thought we’d go for a day (as you do!!) and naively thought that once there it would be easy to get around. Not so – if you’re not booked in a resort with a bus at the ferry terminal to pick you up, you’re pretty much stranded. After about 20 minutes we approached the security gates at the terminal where a line of mopeds and motorbikes were parked. After a few minutes of negotiation, and with the help of a local who could speak English, we’d hired a security guards motorbike at a very reasonable price (including 2 crash helmets) and we’re off exploring!! It’s a pretty big island and once you’re off the “tourist road” it’s pretty basic. We seemed to be the source of most of the local’s amusement. I don’t think they’ve seen pinkies on bikes on that side of the island before. Anyway, we loved it, and I even managed to have a go at driving the bike, but immediately ran it into a ditch. Needless to say G (AKA Troy Bayliss) took the reigns again and got us safely back in time for the ferry home, and with much relief to the security guard no doubt.
The BIG news is that I FINALLY went windsurfing last week end! Some of you will know it’s been a dream of mine for quite some time, but the cold and too much wind in Wellie has always put me off. Being able to attend a 1 day workshop where you get proper training and can practice in a sea that’s as warm as bath water, with a slight “breeze” blowing is much more conducive to my learning style. Needless to say I couldn’t do it alone, so G came too. I’m very proud to say that by the end of the day we could stand on our boards and actually turn the board around –although at one point G got carried away, couldn’t turn and our instructor had to go swimming after him and bring him back!! Our instructor was great fun, and had a LOT of patience when dealing with me. G said at one point all you could hear, right across the beach was me and him yelling at each other – great stuff! The thing now is to practice and practice, so our Saturdays will be booked out for quite a while now – wonder if we’re in time to qualify for Beijing????? Watch out Barbara Kendal – Bebby’s on your tail!
We’ve pretty much figured that if you want to make friends here, it’s all about joining clubs (we actually joined the Sailing Club so we can go Windsurfing whenever we want). No one will befriend you unless they know you pretty well. We’ve been putting it off as the idea of social networking just doesn’t do it for us, but there is an NZ/Ozzie club that’s meant to be good with lots of socializing (we presume drinking!!), so are thinking about that. G has been invited to join a pinkies dragon boat team, and I’ve just joined a photography club so I can finally learn how to use our complicated camera properly, and make some friends. I would love to be able to take better pics, so I should learn some stuff and go on some cool field trips too. Hopefully you’ll start to see an improvement in the pics next month! Talking of which, hope you like the new ones. Quite a few of you wanted to see the apartment, but it’s quite a big complex and tricky to get the right angles. Still, I hope they give you an idea – the outside is more flash than inside! The units are your basic 4 concrete walls with tiled floors, standard kitchen and bathrooms.
Our other big, new experience was going to the movies for the first time. The locals are getting the message about turning mobiles off now (quite recent apparently), but they make up for that with slurping and munching all the way through a movie, plus throat clearing really loudly, and laughing hysterically at stuff that’s not even funny!!
So, what’s hot and what’s not this month? Well. It’s all about value for money as we find our way around this place:
HOT:
Little India – a great place, full of Indian atmosphere and fantastic restaurants where you can get a wonderful Masala Dosai for $2.50 and large bottle of beer for $5.50. CD shops, all of which sell them for $20 or under – and that includes all the latest stuff. Book shops seem to be able to sell books between $5 and $10 cheaper than NZ too. Cheap wine!!!! Well, not exactly, but we have found a place the size of the Warehouse that sells lots of wine and their specials are around $15 to $18 – quite good stuff too, lots of Californian and Chilean reds which are cheerful enough when you’re in the mood and got nowt else! Euro 2008 is BIG over here. Of course, the Asians love their football and this tournament has got everyone going. Some companies are letting their staff work flexi time so they can stay up to watch the 2.30am matches live on cable TV.
NOT:
Petrol and transport prices. Like everywhere else in the world, this is a big concern and they’re hitting motorists hard (it’s very much a user pays society here) with added levies and taxes for driving in the city etc..This all means that the MRT is getting busier and more cramped – they recorded 5 MILLION trips last month alone. Plus, of course, it’s much safer to sleep on the train than behind the wheel!
Pig Organ soup –yes that old, family favourite that is still dished out at the local hawker food market is still available, but the younger generation don’t appear to be as keen on it as, say KFC, so it may be off the menu in many places soon. No – we haven’t tried it!
And that’s about it from us folks for this month. Hope you’re all well and happy. A BIG THANKS to everyone who’s made contact us – great to hear from you. The rest of you….please do email us, or post something on the blog – we’d love to hear from you.
Cheers
J and G
