New Office

Finally my office room is made ready today, 16m2, I like it… I always need a quiet place to work.

New Apartment

Shifted to a new apartment yesterday, finally I could enjoy my own space and absolute privacy. It’s just a mere 67m2 small apartment, but the rent is USD 1400 per mth! This is Kigali. Well, company paid for it.

It’s the smallest unit in the building, at the ground floor, the infrastructure is not class at all and fairly basic. It’s ok… shouldn’t complain.

Look how the toilet bowl was installed. How should I sit on it? With right leg lifting higher, or crossing my right leg over stylishly, or sit facing the bathtub?

My Adidas T-Shirt

I know, she tried, and she’s still trying her best to do the job well… but sometimes a little over…

The cleaning lady showed me my Adidas shirt… colour was bleached… I sighed, said, “no problem.” She replied, “thank you.”

What a pity, even though that’s a fake Adidas.

Akagera Park (photos)

Akagera Park, Rwanda

With a colleague and his son, we travelled to Akagera Park yesterday. It was a 2-hr drive from Kigali, border to Tanzania on the east.

We stayed at Akagera Game Lodge, the only hotel situated inside the national park. The official website of this Lodge (last update was in 2008) gave a complete false data of room rates. It was stated USD60 and 80 for a single and double room respectively, instead we were shown the revised rates were USD110 and 150. Ok, fine… we didn’t mind. We checked-in the room, not larger than 3x5m, acceptable clean, but my toilet was partially flooded and a small spider was lying in my bathtub. The only complimentary item – soap, smelled like detergent.

The tourists were countable. The facilities were poorly maintained, the moss-coloured milky opaque pool water was obviously not changed for weeks. Baboons wandered inside the hotel compound, mainly around the restaurant, attracted by the scent of the foods.

We paid the park entrance fees, USD40 for 2 days (or USD30 for 1 day). The park ranger, Charles guided us to the game drive. He said lion has been extinct in this park after 1994 due to unregulated hunting by the farmers to protect their cattle. Unlawful poaching was still happening occasionally. The park was not immense, game (wild animals) was not plentiful. We could get close to the giraffes, impalas within 10m range, but the highly alert zebras, wild hogs and waterbucks fled instantly when our vehicle was approaching.

Hippos and crocs could be seen around the lake and islands. Unfortunately the weather was a little cold, we were told these beasts wouldn’t come ashore for sunbathing, boat trip (USD20 per person) was thus canceled. We saw a few hippos immersing themselves in the lake with their tiny eyes emerging an inch from the water, a few were staring at me when I was standing close to the lake taking photograph.

We drove in the valley this morning and saw a herd of approx. 70 buffaloes drinking at a muddy pond, but a stupid car got too close to them and scared them off back to the bush. Idiot driver!

Elephants could still be seen in this park, but they used to wander far away and hard to be spotted. By chance we saw one… one big pile of fresh elephant shit, but no trace of him.

I never thought of making a safari trip in this mountainous landlocked country. With no high expectation, I enjoyed the trip quite well. Of course the size, variety, organization, quality and value-for-money were no way to compare with my previous Kenya visit.

In general, without the gorillas in the mist, the tourism in Rwanda would be much neglected.

(photos will follow soon)

“Oui!” or “Ouah!”

Have been working with German company for 15 years… still not able to speak a proper German sentence. 22 mths spent in Philippines, I couldn’t speak Tagalog; 6.5 yrs in Oman and Sudan, I only learned to say “Insyalah”; 2.5 yrs in Bulgaria, my tongue couldn’t roll Bulgarski. Obviously I’m not gifted… (or my secretaries didn’t like to make me clever???)

French is still being widely spoken and used in Rwanda. It is interesting to find the similarities with English, especially some technical terms. By catching the keywords, we could figure out briefly the meaning of an article. This was comparatively harder to understand a German article instead. I heard French is a complicated language. Thinking of picking up a basic French language course, just to prepare myself when someone tells me “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?”, should I reply “Oui!” or “Ouah!”?

Kigali Memorial Centre

Visited the Kigali Memorial Centre today, a memorial for 1994 genocide which killed a million. The centre was small but well installed. History of the genocide development was displayed, was quite unexpected to learn that it was programmed by the Belgium ruler then. In fact the genocide had started years earlier until it was pacified by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) led by the present president in 1994. During this period 2/3 of the populations fled to the neighbouring countries. The majority Hutu tribe set up road blocks in many places, Tutsi was murdered, raped, beaten… Grenades were thrown into the church where women, children and elders were seeking refuge. The notorious radio station broadcasted hatred towards Tutsi meanwhile. UN did not re-act promptly to stop the massacre, they realized too late the severity of this case. The 2nd deployment arrived only after the war was eventually controlled by RPF.

The exhibits comprised of photos and some documentary clips, most of the images were not gory. Thousands of photos contributed by the victims’ family decorated the walls.

Outside the building, there were a few mass graves burying up to 300,000 dead souls. The tidily trimmed garden with blooming roses and wild flowers couldn’t shed off the solemn atmosphere.

Photographing was not allowed inside the building.

Summer

The climate is getting warm lately. The office is facing west and I have to pull the curtains to block the heat, but the air is so stiff!

There is no big river in this mountainous country. The raining season yet to come, and the country is facing water crisis. The pressure was so low that water supply couldn’t reach our house for 4 days. We ordered a full load of water tanker, costs EUR 40! This country is not cheap at all.

Affairs

Just received from a friend, not new but a good refreshing.

The 1st Affair
-------------
A married man was having an affair with his secretary. One day they went to her place and made love all afternoon. Exhausted, they fell asleep and woke up at 8 PM. The man hurriedly dressed and told his lover to take his shoes outside and rub them in the grass and dirt. He put on his shoes and drove home.
'Where have you been?' his wife demanded.
'I can't lie to you,' he replied, 'I'm having an affair with my secretary. We had sex all afternoon.'
She looked down at his shoes and said: 'You lying bastard! You've been playing golf!'

The 2nd Affair
--------------
A middle-aged couple had two beautiful daughters but always talked about having a son. They decided to try one last time for the son they always wanted.
The wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy. The joyful father rushed to the nursery to see his new son. He was horrified at the ugliest child he had ever seen.
He told his wife: 'There's no way I can be the father of this baby. Look at the two beautiful daughters I fathered! Have you been fooling around behind my back?'
The wife smiled sweetly and replied: 'No, not this time!'

The 3rd Affair
-------------
A mortician was working late one night. He examined the body of Mr. Schwartz, about to be cremated, and made a startling discovery.. Schwartz had the largest private part he had ever seen!
'I'm sorry Mr. Schwartz,' the mortician commented, 'I can't allow you to be cremated with such an impressive private part. It must be saved for posterity.' So, he removed it, stuffed it into his briefcase, and took it home.
'I have something to show you won't believe,' he said to his wife, opening his briefcase.
'My God!' the wife exclaimed, 'Schwartz is dead!'

The 4th Affair
-------------
A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door. 'Hurry,' she said, 'stand in the corner.' She rubbed baby oil all over him, then dusted him with talcum powder. 'Don't move until I tell you,' she said. 'Pretend you're a statue.'
'What's this?' the husband inquired as he entered the room.
'Oh it's a statue,' she replied. 'The Smiths bought one and I liked it so I got one for us, too.'
No more was said, not even when they went to bed.
Around 2 AM the husband got up, went to the kitchen and returned with a sandwich and a beer.
'Here,' he said to the statue, have this. I stood like that for two days at the Smiths and nobody offered me a damned thing.'

The 5th Affair
-------------
A man walked into a cafe, went to the bar and ordered a beer. 'Certainly, Sir, that'll be one cent.'
'One Cent?' the man exclaimed. He glanced at the menu and asked: 'How much for a nice juicy steak and a bottle of wine?'
'A nickel,' the barman replied. 'A nickel?' exclaimed the man.’
'Where's the guy who owns this place?'’’
The bartender replied: 'Upstairs, with my wife.'
The man asked: 'What's he doing upstairs with your wife?'
The bartender replied: 'The same thing I'm doing to his business down here.'

The 6th Affair
-------------
Jake was dying. His wife sat at the bedside. He looked up and said weakly: 'I have something I must confess.'
'There's no need to, 'his wife replied.
'No,' he insisted, 'I want to die in peace.
I slept with your sister, your best friend, her best friend, and your mother!'
'I know,' she replied. 'Now just rest and let the poison work.'

Rwandan Colleagues

Last Friday a come together dinner was organized for our colleagues. The atmosphere turned lively after a few bottles of beer gushing down to the stomach, people no longer sitting rigidly, laughter sprouted here and there. Was a pleasant evening.

Being a “considerably” new comer to this project, it was interesting to observe the relationships among the colleagues, as well as their behaviors and characters.

Most of them are <30 year old, lacking of relevant experience in our field. Probably this is in line with company’s vision to recruit and train more local employees. The idea is good, but not well implemented. The young engineers fresh from the school / university are left idle in the office most of the time, without given appropriate duty, guidance and training.

The talking points had not much about the works, but emphasizing on personal matters. Many were surprised to learn that I am still a bachelor. Of course I would explain the famous “Cow & Milk” philosophy :) many volunteered to introduce their female friends to me… really appreciate their kindness… heh heh…

One said he is going to get married in the next months, and wished to further study. I was curious how could he afford financially? He replied, “God will help me”. I heard this answer not once, and I respected his faith to God. I told him, self effort is more foreseeable and manageable, not sure if he understood what I meant.

After midnight, alcohol had started seizing consciousness of some people. Everyone was in pleasant mood, no aggressive behavior. We checked the bill, someone must be disappointed for our early call to cease their drinking spree.

Photos - Taiwan & Germany

The photos of my recent trip to Taiwan and Germany are now available in my Travelogue.

Tips: Wait all thumbnails are downloaded, then click off the annoying ad on the right side of the screen.

Monopoly

Simon was feeling bored, he brought the Monopoly to us excitedly. Was fun to play again this childhood game, the luck was not with me yesterday...

BBQ Dinner

With Bobet, we organized a BBQ dinner at home yesterday. We did it mainly for the cook, maid and the 2 watchmen working for us, 2 colleagues were invited. Possibly due to the communication barricade, or could be too shy, they kept silence most of the time.

Many parties were held in this guesthouse in the past, but it was the first time SAG staffs, us, organized a dinner for them. They said they had never before been invited to dine on the same table. I heard “Thank you” repeatedly. I could sense their gladness.

They are simple people, nice to us, they deserved a little respect. (After all, they were the ones prepared all the meals, and cleaning… we gave only instructions…)

外甥女

家有弄瓦之喜。妹今早生了个女儿，七磅二，母女平安。夫姓陈，前阵子我挑了几个名字，较喜欢单名“愉”，意乐、活无忧。古人喻倾国容颜为沉鱼落雁、羞花闭月，陈愉谐音沉鱼也，是巧合。妈说母女名字不能太相似，妹名“仪”与“愉”相近，投了反对票。复选了“容”字，是宽容、呈大体。妹说我痴恋黄蓉矣，其实不然。再说如这小丫头有黄蓉一半聪颖美貌，夫复何求？在考虑中。。。

2 movies

Angels & Demons

Disappointed… another failure after “The Da Vinci Code”, same mistake. The movie just couldn’t accommodate the whole story. It was a waste for Tom Hanks playing the role of Dr.Langdon.

非诚勿扰

冯小刚的电影没让我失望。喜欢精简的编剧台词、幽美的北海道、令人怜悯的漂亮舒淇，更喜欢幽默的葛优。

Security

We were shocked to learn that someone broke into our new guesthouse at night and stole the new Samsung flat screen TV and the decoder. No one was alarmed, nor did the watchman. I wondered if he was asleep all night long? Police report was lodged, I doubt the investigation would bring any result. Speculation immediately pointed to the watchman.

I had been told several times that the criminal rate in Rwanda was very very low, and the city was absolutely safe. But, explain to me, if this statement is true, why armed security is seen around the city even our office building?

I don’t know if we had bad luck, for sure we have to keep higher alert to our safety and security from now on.

Site Visit to Mt. Kigali

We made a site visit on Sunday. 2/3 of the roads were unpaved, and the last 1/3 was particularly not so comfortable, lots of turns in this hilly terrain. We passed through small villages occasionally, exciting kids were yelling and waving. Like to see the big white teeth glimmering on their bright smiling faces. People are poor but they keep themselves tidy. We stopped by at one small village for lunch, a skewer cost EUR 0.30 each, compared to EUR 1.20 charged in Kigali’s restaurant. The overall environment was peaceful, no hassle…

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I bought this novel because of the storyline was set on Afghanistan - among the “exotic” and “mysterious” countries on my wish-to-travel list, also partly convinced by the author – Khaled Hosseini’s previous success “The Kite Runner”.

I don’t like the story, too heavy and too dark… The fates of the 2 ladies were doomed in the feudal society, no hint of happiness till flipped to the last pages. The idea was not fresh, very much alike typical Bollywood’s movies. The storyline spanned from 1960’s to the present day, buffered in the continuous civil war, Soviet invasion, Taliban etc. The history was more interesting instead. I couldn’t help myself to curse the stupid act of destroying the Great Bamiyan Buddha Statues.

Somehow I must agree that the book was beautifully scripted.

Stray Dogs (This Article Is Not For The Fainthearted)

The government launched stray dogs elimination campaign after the 1994 genocide incidence. During this unpleasant period, the scattered dead bodies had become feast of stray dogs. They grew stronger and the wild nature of savoring raw meat recaptured their tamed characters. They had even started to attack people when getting hungry, posting high risk to the public. Psychologically people still couldn’t wipe off the memory of dogs eating the corpse. Therefore this campaign was launched.

Chicken

Eating chicken here was a great challenge to teeth strength, the meat was tougher than a tire, could probably be used as substitution to industrial anti earthquake material. Was told the chickens here are mostly raised in free range, plenty of marathon exercise daily, resulted fatless lean muscles and tough! One needed real strong teeth to shred it off the bones… I made it…

Attitude

I asked for a quotation yesterday, the Indian manager promised to send to me. An e-mailed was sent to confirm my requirement.

No feedback, we called his office this morning, left a message asking him to return call. Of course, no response. After lunch I called his mobile again, he denied receiving my e-mail and stated firmly he did send me the e-mail. He defended, “I sent to you yesterday, if you did not receive it what can I do?”

Heh… is this the attitude to do business? The market is small here, when a company monopolizes particular business, they could be arrogant…

Iran Post Election

It was rather unexpected to see the riot escalated in Tehran after the recent election. News shows lots of destruction to the public infrastructure and properties. Some opportunists were taking chance to loot the banks and shops. The opposition leader Mousavi has no intention to cease the political unrest, he is waiting for the chance to gain his own interest. Apparently this is the most efficient way to ask for concession from the incumbent party.

The latest news said votes may be recounted. Ok, let’s say the opposition succeeded to reshuffle the result, the supporters of Ahmedinejad would launch another massive protest again… then what?

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…