Small Gift

I developed a few photos of the house cleaning lady and the watchman, and gave to them just now. “Thank you” swarmed my ears, smiles were beaming, joy was radiating… A small gift has the power to cheer up someone greatly. They are easily content… so simple…

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu

It was the portrait of Gurrumul by Guy Maestri who won the excellent 2009 Archibald Prize, and the massive reports of him on the Australian local media, I learned to know this name for the first time. An aborigine, a singer, but he was born blind. Unlike the ordinary traditional aboriginal music, his music and voice is truly enchanting. His CD is worth to be on your rack.

Night Club

Went out to a night club at KBC yesterday… it was not the kind of night club I thought, but just a place offering a disco dance floor, a bar and a billiard room. Decoration was bare, simple colourful laser beams were straying on the walls and dance floor, music was suck – combination of African music and the 80’s pops, and the service was cold.

At 10:45pm, it was too early for the night owls. We sat at the bar, chatting and spotting girls around… hmm… most of them were either too “round” or like villagers, a few were exceptionally gorgeous. Many came here to search for relationship, eye contact was all you need. Being a muzungu (white person) this would be much easier.

After midnight, crowds started pouring in. Music was still suck, and the alcohol after 2 draft beers gradually seized my consciousness.

Curiosity

Went to the site for the first time this afternoon. People were staring at us (1 white + 1 yellow) from a distance, like watching the caged animals. A short while later, alert faded, curious kids came close to us, shyly, surrounding us. Ruggedly dressed, but not dirty, they tried to discover the dissimilarity between us. They touched my skin, probably wondered why it was so delicate… I didn’t explain to them I was using L’Oreal Men’s Expert series Anti Aging cream…

Come To Work Happy

Haircut

Just went for a haircut. Hah… not bad… more professional then my expectation, somehow couldn’t compare with the saloon in Asia or Europe. It was fun to see how the hairdressers work, and the trend of fashion and preferred hairstyle of Africans. It was definitely much better than Khartoum, where they only know shaving head with razor.

I paid EUR6.50, this is the high end price in Kigali.

Night Life

This was the 3rd weekend in Rwanda, colleagues invited me to local pubs in town. This place was much different to Khartoum (Sudan), nightlife was much livelier. Though the facilities and decorations were not contemporary or “class” and partly need really improvement, the fusion of Africans presented unique ambience.

Plenty of foreigners and better off locals hang out and toasting drinks. Heard there is a place having Salsa dancing every Thursday, would try to find out in future.

Flamingo Chinese Restaurant

Had a dinner at the Chinese restaurant yesterday near to my place. The decoration was a mixture of different cultures. The pavilion designed restaurant was painted blood red, with typical lanterns hanging on it. The materials used were improvised and localized, duplicating Chinese architecture. Soft Chinese music was airing under the romantic French dim lighting atmosphere, served by the Rwandaise and Ugandaise waiters… no one spoke Chinese. The Rwandaise boss, who was also the chef, spent years in China.

The food was unexpectedly quite authentic. But I doubt if the GongBao chicken I had yesterday was really chicken… was too dark to examine…

Still Frustrated

Has been here for more than 2 weeks. If you ask me how my job is, I would tell you I don’t enjoy it. Too much restrictions, the system is bureaucratic, overall management was not well integrated, just caused by a bunch of people.

Company Guesthouse

This is the company guesthouse where I’m staying presently (maybe temporarily) with 2 colleagues. Good hah! Well… it is located in the prime residential area in Kigali. Short distance away the poorer objects and scenes covered large part of the hills. Standard deteriorates when moving further off Kigali. The rental is REALLY expensive in Rwanda standard.
In this guesthouse, a cook, a cleaning lady (pic) and guards (pic) are employed, serving a lazy man like me.

Will upload more photos in future, don’t be shocked.

Cleaning

Every last Saturday of the month is the environment cleaning day. People would carry out communal works to clean up the country in the morning. Though it’s not mandatory, people is obliged to contribute their effort, many respond to it. I couldn’t recall any country else performing the same.

Into The Wild & Slumdog Millionaire

Read these 2 books lately, but the movie version seemed to be more interesting and entertaining.

Into The Wild – A compilation of the memories and comments from the persons known to him, the character of McCandless a.k.a Alex Supertramp was shaped in this true story. Some people disagreed with his motive and idea to walk into the wild, but Alex thought the world was immoral, he opted to live in the nature. Possibly the author wanted to thicken his book, he added someone else’s and his own experience into it, these sections were boring. Somehow the book was beautifully written, touching… The movie has enriched the life of Alex.

Slumdog Millionaire – The blockbuster movie extracted the idea and structure of this novel, but 80% of the contents have been changed. The movie had revamped the character of Ram Mohammed Thomas (a combination of Hindu, Muslim and Christian names), who was also a thief and a murderer in the novel. The movie had introduced more controversial and interesting Indian religion, cultural and social issues into it, made the storyline more realistic and convincing. The movie was better.

Kigali (2)

The city (or town) center is pretty small. Not much things to see and to buy… would disappoint any shopaholic, and casual tourists… Considering the general low income of the populations, shopping choices & entertainment are less than desirable. I hope I would find more leisure activities, so not to get bored in the near future.

The air pollution is mainly contributed by the inefficient diesel engine of the old junk vehicles, otherwise the air is really refreshing. At night the lights studded all over the hills, clearly.

My Nike Jacket

I handed over a few shirts to the house lady for washing yesterday morning. Back home I found my favourite Nike jacket was damaged by hot iron. I showed to her, not scolding, just wanted her to be careful while handling my clothes. After all how could I expect the poor lady to compensate EUR80 to me while she was earning the pitiful EUR4 (this is comparatively higher than average pay) per day? That’s my fault, I should have instructed her accordingly. And I shouldn’t bring good quality shirts to here.

Kigali

– The city is situated on the highland, houses are built on the mountain slopes.
– Quite clean, of course not to the level of Singapore or Japan.
– Pretty crowded for 10m population, roads are narrow.
– Not much own industry production, imported goods are expensive (eg. EUR8 for a shower gel)
– Have no problem to get good food here.
– Shopping mall and supermarket are available, but in small scale.
– French is more frequently spoken than English.
– The gap between the rich and the poor is really drastic.

20090516 Berlin

Car Pooling
----------------
Learned an alternative traveling mode in Germany economically. I traveled to Berlin last Sat with car pool from Frankfurt, a service I had not heard of in my country. There are agents coordinating passengers to join those drivers who are heading to the same destination and wanted to share cost. It’s cheaper, I paid EUR 30 one way for this trip, instead of approx. EUR 110 by train or EUR 135 by flight. The driver even dropped me in front of my hostel, saved me time to search around.

Sightseeing
----------------
Was excited to travel to Berlin, to fulfill my dream to see the Berlin Wall, though greater part has collapsed and come down. The 2 and half days trip was far too short to have a fine look, but roughly scratching surface of this charming historical city. Due to the last minute organization, I didn’t have guidebook with me. This visit was solely satisfying visual excitement.

The famous landmark Brendanburger Tor was not grand as expected, but its location weighed in the history. The original walls on the west had all been run down and the Pariser Platz was reconstructed.

The adjacent Reichstag was my pick, though was only allowed to access to the Cupola (the dome). The dome itself and the surrounding views were unbeatable. Helplessly I dropped my jaw…The sparkling glass and mirror structure was beautifully designed, tourists were excited to catch their reflection on the mirror pillar. The thoughtful design of the spiral walkways ensures smooth flow of traffic.

A short distance away was the Holocaust Memorial. The 2711 different dimension stones were laying tidily on the uneven ground, intentionally designed to give a sense of insecurity. I was hopping from 1 to the other, the higher I went up, concern of falling down was looming. The psychological trick of the design worked on me. Young kids and teens were playing hide and seek in between the blocks, cheering up the dead souls.

Only a stretch of 1200m of Berlin Wall remnants remain standing, lots of tourists’ improvised remarks and graffiti smearing the original murals. A large part of it was being repainted and new murals were being drawn.

The Berliner Dom was attractive and well maintained. Was possible to climb up to the dome, giving a surrounding view of Museuminsel. I prefer the smaller roof-damaged Kaiser-Wilhelm church, which was being served as memorial hall. The upper floors had been close for visit, for safety sake… what a pity for not allowed to climb upstairs.

Had dropped by to visit Scholsspark Charlottenburg and the Sansoucci Park. The time was too constraint for me to visit these palaces. Just snapped some photos… in fact I had no intention to see the interior decoration.

Yet To Do
-------------

Many more sites had been neglected during this trip, like Museumsinsel, Jewish Museum, art gallery etc. BERLIN, I’LL BE BACK!

Rwanda Visa

I was told that my Rwanda visa has been approved and the Embassy in Berlin was sending back to our office. We opened the envelope this afternoon and found a wrong passport was enclosed. Gosshhh… We called the Embassy immediately, they realized the mistake yesterday and my passport was sent to Austria instead, which is being DHL to us.

I had my flight booked for tomorrow morning. My planning has to be changed, and reschedule to next Thursday. I take this chance to travel to Berlin tomorrow, for 3 days trip.

Come Together

Our department has organized a 2-days gathering at Grasellenbach, approx. 75km from Langen. The management team gathered and pooled the ideas aiming to discuss and identify problems, and the solutions (if possible). In my opinion, some decisions needed direct instruction and pressure from the higher management to sort out the existing problems. It was remarkable that the 2 veteran site managers demanded greater authority to rule the project, which obviously unpleasing the head office management team.

It was a good occasion to meet other colleagues whom have been in contact via e-mails or calls for long but never met. Meals and drinks were free… what a good vacation :)

Am now in Langen

Has been a week in Langen now. While waiting for the Rwanda visa application, have started gathering info and data of this project. The overall situation is not clear yet – employment contract is not concluded, salary? responsibility? scope of works? Since an existing local Rwanda team is working on the project now, am expecting some conflicts would disrupt when they thought we, the “intruders” are seizing power from them.

Travelled to Koblenz yesterday, mainly to meet Maike and Tom. Was a leisure afternoon to visit the town perching on the Rhine River bank, and the Ehrenbreitstein. The gelato was delicious.

Today Connie-baby spent the whole afternoon giving me a Frankfurt city guide. The view from the Main Tower over Frankfurt city was beautiful. Though Frankfurt is the commercial hub of Germany, the skyline is lacking of impressive-designed buildings, the architecture is quite conservative instead. The arts gallery – Staedel Kunstinstitut was good but we didn’t have time to appreciate in detail. The Caravagio exhibition was being held.

Rwanda, Swine Flu & Wolverine

Will be leaving to Germany next Tuesday before proceeding to Rwanda 2 weeks later. Family and friends are concerned with the situation there, I’m curious about it too. Time to work again… Colleagues are assuring me of the peaceful and good living environment there, hope it is true. I wonder if I could adapt with this majority French speaking country.

The swine flu has alerted worldwide precaution of this mutated virus, stirring panic in many countries. What’s the cause of this mutation? Was that because of too much chemical substance in the feeds or injections on the pigs that mutating the DNA?

Watched the latest movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” yesterday… entertaining… but the fighting scenes are not enough!

Taiwan – Dan Shui (淡水)

Once important port city in the history for its geographical position. Just a short distance from Taipei, nowadays it is a pleasant weekend escape from the city. Foods are plentiful, and the Fisherman’s Wharf was a pleasant place shouldn’t be missed. The serene long boardwalk along the coast provides good venue for dating. A great place to see the sunset over Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan – Alishan Forest Recreation Area (阿里山)

Another top tourist attraction of Taiwan. The name was so famous and the song about the beautiful Alishan ladies was popular. Thought I would have chance to certify this statement, but I had no time. I stayed only 2 nights and it was raining. Without own transportation it was handicapped to travel to villages nearby.

To many tourists, it was a must to ride the small forest train from JiaYi (嘉义 – altitude 30m) to Alishan village (altitude 2200m). The journey took 3.5hr and passed through 3 climatic zones – tropical, subtropical and temperate. The train was 1 of the 3 most famous mountain trains in the world.

The Alishan village was small and packed with hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops. Starbucks was boasting its highest outlet in Taiwan here.

The common activity was to hiking in the forest. Plenty of centuries old trees around. The ordinary route was too easy and frequented by elder folks. So I tried challenging the TaShan (塔山 – altitude 2610m). Was regretful… I spent 4 hrs hiking on this route, but the thick fog and mist enveloped the whole mountain, not even the silhouette of nearer view could be traced. Worse, I injured my knee cap again, was painful to climb up and down the stairs on the way back.

Taiwan – Ken Ding (垦丁)

One of the favourite tourist spots in Taiwan, visitors come here for swimming, surfing, snorkeling, diving, hiking etc. The beaches around were not exceptionally good and the land rises fairly steep from the sea, but the water is clean. The view from the cliff over the coast was beautiful. The blue sky and the ocean were harmoniously integrated.

Tim brought me to here. We stayed at the small surfers’ hostel, right in front of the surfing beach JiaLeShui (佳乐水). Was good to try understanding surfing culture, but I didn’t pick up any lesson. Possibly having an unpleasant boat capsize experience in the past, have still a little phobia to swim in the sea.

There were plenty of go-kart racing circuits around though the fields were pretty small. It was my first trial, exciting!

The town center was transformed to night market after sunset. It was OK but I preferred the night life atmosphere in Phuket where tourists were throwing beer and music was blaring out loud from speakers.

Taiwan – Tainan (台南)

Tainan is the oldest and the 4th largest city. Among the places I have travelled in Taiwan, it has the most historical relics and temples, though the size, architecture and history are no way to compare with China.

The famous Matsu Temple was crowded with devotees praying for good luck in health, business, fortune, affair, safety etc… From the size of the crowd, one can tell if the deities had granted their wishes. To me, the concern is that, people would respect and believe in something and thus guiding their own behaviour in order and discipline.

The night market was really enjoying, huge and heavily packed. Local snacks were plentiful. Thank you Tim!

Taiwan – Yang Ming Shan National Park (阳明山)

It is said that the geological forces that frequently shake Taiwan have caused the island to be riddled with hot springs. The major attraction of Yang Ming Shan is the hot-spring baths. We sneaked into the forbidden area at BaYan (八烟) after 5pm. The meeting point of the two hot and cold streams was a perfect place for soaking. The water has a milky colour and mildly sulphurous odour. Though the water temperature of above 40C was slightly too warm, the feeling was real good.

Depends on the season, different types of flower blossom could be seen over the park. Fields of white HaiYu (海芋, Alocasia Rhizome / Giant Taro / Giant Elephant Ear) adorn the fields.

Taiwan – JiuFen (九份)

Nestled against the mountains, this small village was once center of gold mining during the Japanese occupation. It was abandoned after the mining sources dried up. It was said more than 100km of underground mining tunnels were crisscrossing inside the mountain, unfortunately the authorities did not explore the advantage of it for adventurous tourism sake.

Nowadays the tourists are flocking here for the old teahouses and traditional narrow lanes. The old JiShan Street was packed with plenty of souvenirs and snacks stalls. Plenty of Japanese tourists came here to recall their memory.

Thks to the hospitality of Shelly and A-Ru, they were my guide for these 2 days. This was my best memory in Taiwan.

Taiwan – Taipei (台北)

The moment travelling from the Airport to Taipei City, I realized that my expectation of Taipei was utterly wrong - I meant physically comparing to Hong Kong. The atmosphere was more laid back, not many high rise buildings studded the skyline.

The highlight of Taipei was the National Palace Museum, which housing huge collection (world’s largest and finest) of invaluable Chinese Arts brought from mainland China during the retreat of KMT. Among the focuses are the “jade cabbage” and “jade pork”… they were smaller than I thought.

The iconic Freedom Square (previously known as “Zhong Zheng” Square, the name was changed a couple of years back) was my pick for photographing. The buildings were grand, and the atmosphere was good. The gigantic bronze statue of Taiwan’s first president in the “Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall” was sitting high up overlooking the square.

The politeness of the sales promoters in the shopping mall was overwhelming, sounds like the Japanese culture… I had to respond with a courtesy smile each time… eventually I hanged the smile on my face in the whole afternoon.

Who won’t go to see the current world tallest (current record) building “Taipei 101”? I didn’t go up to the observation floor. The lower floors are lined up with world top class boutiques, very spacious. Wonder how much cost they need to spend just to replacing a spot light on the sky high ceiling, or to pump a liter of water to the top floor?

The most famous Shi Lin night market was interesting, is a good place to savour local foods and shopping.

Dentist

Hate to see dentist but no choice… have to make routine check up to avoid greater disaster in future… aih… so I went to visit him this morning. After x-ray scanning, he suggested to crown a molar which was amalgam filled long long time ago, it would be getting weak sooner or later… cost me EUR450!

I complained about the front teeth problem happened to me a yr ago… after x-ray… infection was found at the root. He strongly advised to make an operation to solve this problem. Simple, he said, first cut the bone of 2 front teeth, flip both teeth upwards, drill and clean the pus inside the gum, flip down the teeth, stitching… half an hour job… EUR200! He added, pls come tomorrow with full breakfast and lunch, you won’t be able to eat for the next hours!!!

Taiwan – General

Savouring the mouth watering foods was one of my main reasons to here. It was good… plenty of delicious snacks, not similar to the traditional recipes in China, but prepared with new material and new idea. Foods are cheap, EUR1 grants an ordinary meal. The night markets themselves are tourist attractions, fun to get lost in the crowd. The “smelly bean curd” was really terrible to me, dare not to savour this Taiwanese delicacy.

The traffic was congested but not terrible as in Bangkok or Manila. Lots of scooters but the traffic was much better organized compared to Vietnam. Public transportation within city was though convenient, without own transportation it was not easy to move around for sightseeing in the smaller towns. In consideration of Taiwan’s historical, cultural and geographical aspects, I shouldn’t expect great monuments or sceneries as those in China. As friend Shelly advised, I should adjust my expectation accordingly, then only I would enjoy and appreciate Taiwan beauty better. She’s right!

Radio stations were boring, I expected more English channels instead.

Lots of tuition center, reflecting the over concern about education and examination. It must be a huge business. The advertisements of the top students were displayed in large to gain public attentions.

I was told not to discuss politics in the public, just to avoid someone would get mad with personal opinion and sparking off unnecessary disputes.

Taiwan Trip

Will be leaving to Taiwan tomorrow. In fact this was not on my priority travelling list, was just trying to kill time rather than staying bored at home. 2 weeks… only 2 weeks…