Wet,cold and hot in New Zealand

Dec 21 (Midsummer's day!), Queenstown, NZ
It has been so cold, I'd completely forgotten that the longest day in the southern hemiphere is already here.
It's nearly time to go home.I have been busy showing Susan and Choo around for the last 2 weeks. We have at last reached our last watering hole and I have some time to do some serious blogging.
My NZ sojourn this year began auspiciously with fine weather greeting me in Paihia as I arrived. The next day was also beautiful for walks towards Opua and to Waitangi. An informal party for timesharers completed the day.
Then it happened...it started to pour and never stopped till I left town. I valiantly went on the sailboat R Turner Thompson and stood drenched the whole day on deck. Kudos to Timberland's rain jacket for keeping me (top half only) warm and dry. The cook did wonders in preparing a tasty curry chicken salad in cramped quarters below deck. Would you believe, there were 16 bunks available, if one wanted to stay overnight! The crew were marvellous and kept up their good humor. Still, it was a good day for the sails in the strong winds.
I had signed up for a tour to Cape Reinga the next day. What a disappointment! The lighthouse was not to be seen, and neither the Pacific nor the Tasman sea! Rock (I think) music blasted away during the whole trip.
I managed to have an enjoyable outing to Kerikeri on my last day there. Definitely more shops to dip in and out of to stay our of the rain. Lunch at Nosh was delectable.
The last insult: all flights out of Kerikeri were cancelled the morning I was to leave. I felt greatly reassured by Air New Zealand staff who seemed to treat this as no big deal. Some were sent to the Whangarei airport by coach, and I was with the group being coached up to Kaitaia. We were met with warm dry weather and a cheerful commiserating staff...wonderful.
I was only slightly delayed for my rendezvous with Susan and Choo in Nelson. Struck up a conversation with a young guy who had been to Auckland overnight to celebrate a friend's 21st birthday. He works in Nelson, and kindly gave me a ride down town.
After a night in a spacious, though out-moded motel room in Nelson, the three of us took a bus to Marahau with a cheerful driver who delighted in giving us misinformation. Fortunately Susan and I knew about pinches of salt.
Old Macdonald's farm...! Yes it was. But the Studio that we stayed in turned out to be a Villa with a LARGE jacuzzi bath and surrounded by glass walls. Choo had her reservations, but later was the one who revelled most in the bath. I took quick showers in the dark!
Our outing in the Abel Tasman Track began in pouring rain...again! Thank God that as soon as we started our trek, the rain stopped and we set off from Tonga Bay to Bark Bay, where we had lunch and the sandflies had their lunch on our legs and arms. 90 mins after lunch we reached Torrent Bay where we put on more repellent and basked in the sunshine..,
The highlight of our stay in Abel Tasman Park was the sighting of a pod of 4 dolphins while returning in our water taxi. Our driver stayed out on the water for an extra 30mins while the delightful creatures frolicked around us.
In Picton, we stayed at the newly-renovated Beachcomber Inn, with nice views of the marina from our balcony. Our guide to the Queens Charlotte Track was Greg. He quickly found out that our old legs were rather creaky and aborted the first leg of the track. We walked on Matarua Island among large tame birds. Then on to Ship's Cove where James Cook spent much time. Resolution Bay was the start of our walk for the day. I was so glad that Greg made the right decision. It was a very pleasant walk and the weather was cool and dry. We celebrated the day's acheivement with a cold drink at Fourneaux's Lodge. I will be back...
We took the train to Christchurch...Bad idea. The train had an accident just that morning with a woman who ran over the tracks. It was 2 hours late in arriving in Christchurch. Had to sms Ambrose several times, but he insisted on waiting for me to eat "mee Sua" together with him.
Unfortunately, it was I (again) who brought the cold weather to CHC! Ambrose and Doreen reminded me about my visit last year. Well.. all I could say in defence was that it was warmer (at 14C) this year!
On to Queenstown...all of us were blown away by the view from the windows of the Ridge Resort. I hadn't been here for 3 years and I sure missed something. For the past few days we have been driving out of town to Arrowtown, Glenorchy and Wanaka for walks. Everyday started out being freezingly cold but ended up burning hot. Then at dinner time we watched the wind howling outside our windows.
Tomorrow we are going by coach to Te Anau. I'm too chicken to drive there and back alone.
Today we had a lovely walk on the Waterfall Track in Sunshine Bay.
Susan and Choo are leaving on Sunday while I look forward to Christmas Eve Service in St Stephen's Cathedral in Auckland, followed by Christmas Day on SQ 286.

Two days in Hungary

It took us all night and half a day to get to Budapest, but the dramatic entry into the heart of the city which is bisected by the Danube was unforgettable. There we were, on the deck of the boat, sailing comfortably past all the monuments and Bridges, as Robert gave a commentary. My previous visit here was in 1985, a quick overnight trip from Vienna. Then, the border controls had been rigourous, and driving into a city with pot-holed roads and buildings still damaged from the 2nd World War was depressing.
We docked conveniently near the Central Market into which we swarmed as soon as we got off the boat. As it was a Saturday, traffic was not too heavy, though we did have to look out for trams which occasionally came on the tracks parallel to the docks. We had to look out for the speeding cars, though.!
Our guide for the city tour was Zoltan. He was a retired engineer, spoke excellent English and gave a very comprehensive tour, giving us a personal insight into the Communist period, as would all the guides in the East European countries.
The buildings have been slowly restored to their former grandeur, but lots of work needs to be done.
Sylvia and I skipped dinner to go to an organ concert in the Parsh Church where Lizst had played. Both the organist and the organ were so-so, but there was a full house, and an appreciative audience.
Those who were on the seven-day cruise disembarked the next day and the rest of us were bundled off to the conutryside so that the crew could "sanitise" the boat for the new group of passengers.
We had an uninteresting drive through the arable land, before arriving at Kecskemeth, the home-town of our cabin stewardess, and of Kodaly. Had a drive around the town, the guide pointing out places of interest.
Onto the grasslands of Hungary...the Puzta... to have lunch and a show featuring the horsemen of the area.
Of course we had Goulyas to start with and then a substantial meal before tottering off to the show grounds. We were entertained with gypsy music and the Saltoons got Sylvia and me to dance the Hora. The costumes and whips used by the horsemen was more interesting than the show! It was very hot and dusty!
Back to the boat for our departure to Kalocsa, which we visited the next day. This is the paprika capital of the world, but first we heard a 30-min organ recital at the cathedral. The organ has 4000 pipes and corresponding decibels. The organist chose a selection of music to show off this capability...very enjoyable!
We were dropped off in the heart of town to wonder around(pretty boring!) and then whisked off to the village of Hungarian houses and the Paprika Museum. Unfortunately we could not go to a parika factory, as the plants were not yet harvested for the year.

Onward to the Austro-Hungarian Empire

On the fifth day of our cruise we docked at Melk. Walking through a forested path, we looked up to see the imposing twin towers of the Melk Abbey looking down on us. A bus was provided for the journey uphill to the Abbey, but after the guided tour, we took an easy walk down the steps from the Abbey to the main drag of the pleasant town, shops and cafes welcoming tourists, and cyclists dropping by from the canal "towpath" on their way from Passau to Vienna.
In the Abbey, there is an excellent display of the collection of some of its treasures, before arriving at the spacious marble salon and then emerging onto the Terrace from where there is a panoramic view of the town. We then went on to the library and finally into the ornate Baroque chapel.

We did not linger long, but hurried back to the boat which left before lunch so that we could later have a good view of the Wachau valley while sitting on the sundeck. Commentary was given by our Cruise Director, Robert.
We saw the fertile vineyards as we approached Durnstein with its association with Richard the Lionheart. Robert gave a powerpoint lecture on the History of Austria after Coffee and cake in the afternoon.
Vienna came into view as evening approached, and after dinner on the ship, Sylvia and I ventured downtown on the U-bahn, the user-friendly subway system. Once in Stephansplatz, we savoured the Viennese air as we strolled down Kartnerstrasse, past the famed Opera House to the Ringstrasse where we caught the tram for a ride past the monumental Museums, Hofburg palace, and Parliament buildings.
Arriving at the Stadtpark, we paid our hommage to the Strauss monument and peeked into the Kursalon where our friends had gone to listen to an evening of Viennese music.

Sylvia went on the city tour the next day, but I went off to see 2 sights that I had missed on every previous visit to Vienna: the first was to walk in the Vienna Woods, and the second to walk up to the Gloriette in the grounds of the Schoenbrunn Palace. I was very pleased to have accomplished both missions. The view was practically zero from the Kahlenberg heights, the morning mists still covering the city. I had a lovely cool walk in the woods and then a very hot walk in the Schoenbrunn palace grounds later in the morning.

DANUBE 2007: the ODYSSEY begins

Here's our ship, the ARTISTRY moored at MELK. Sylvia and I began our cruise on June 10th in Nurnberg and ended 14 days later in Otenita, the port for Bucharest. We collected many immigration stamps in our passports as we passed through Germany, Austria,Serbia,Bulgaria and Romania. We visited 15 towns and cities. It sounds like a whirlwind coach trip, but it was so comfortable to go back to the same accommodation very night instead of living out of a suitcase. While we slept, we were transported to our next port of call. Sometimes we sailed during the day. The highlights of day-time sailing were: viewing the Wachau Valley from the ship, and sailing into Budapest, standing on the sundeck listening to a full commentary by our cruise director.

It was wet in Nurnberg! I wasn't in a photo-taking mood, so the camera stayed firmly in my backpack as we first visited the sites related to the Nazi period (pretty grim way to start a tour!)and then stretched our legs with a walk up to the fortress. We were left to our own devices in the main square but there was little we could do except buy some gingerbread (Nurnberg specialty) and other souvenirs.




We left Nurnberg after lunch and set off for Regensburg. The excitement on that leg was to watch the ship go through the locks of the Danube Canal. This Canal joins the Danube to the Rhine, thus enabling ships to sail all the way from the North Sea to the Black Sea. It is a feat of engineering that took several decades to complete.

There sure were plenty of locks! All afternoon, and all through the night the crew manoeuvred through them, while we worked our way through coffee and cake and dinner. Stefan, the ship's chef was quite a character. He is from Slovakia and is nearly 7 ft tall. Instead of the chef's toque, he prefered a bandana and sported a dark tan cultivated during off hours on the sun deck.
Sylvia and I spent a lot of time sleeping off our jet lag, having arrived from Singapore only 48 hours earlier.
Regensburg came into view at dawn the next day (dawn being at 4am!). Somehow, everyone was eager to get off the ship to stretch our legs. Our guide, Rainer, gave us copious amounts of information of this formerly wealthy town, now left with an imposing Cathedral, elaborate Town Hall, and several italian-style villas built by wealty merchants. We also visited the Thurn and Taxis Castle, very glad to get out of the rain that suddenly poured down halfway through our visit of the town.
Early the next morning we docked at Passau, the town at the confluence of the Danube, the Inn and the Ilz. Sylvia went off with a fair number of the passengers, on a bus trip to Salzburg and the Austrian Lake District. I went with Inge's group for a fairly dull tour of the non-descript town.
The deck chairs were finally out as we left Germany behind and entered Austrian waters. We reached Linz late in the afternoon and I rushed off the boat for a "run" around town, aided by the tourist train which was helpful in providing a quick overview, including the house where Mozart wrote the Linz Symphony. After dinner, Sylvia and I went for another walk.

Week end in Riau

My last visit to the island of Bintan, just a 45 -min ferry ride from Singapore, was a good 10 years ago. At that time the resorts on the northern shore had just opened their doors ,and I stayed at the Bintan Lagoon Resort. This time I stayed at the Angsana Resort and Spa which charged for food and services in USD, and at very inflated prices at that. If you don't eat and don't go the spa, that is fine! Anyway, I was very pleased with my room with a balcony and I sat outside for many hours. There's not much to do here. I tried to go for a Mangrove eco-adventure, but the tide was out at the time I wanted to go.

I went for countless walks on the 500m stretch of beach instead. There is of course the town of Tanjung Pinang and a fishing village nearby if one is bored. They have an all-terrain vehicle that you can ride onto a prepared trail in the jungle. There's golf on a Gregg Norman -designed course.

The Pantai Grill, which has tables right on the beach ,was delightful. The smell of the kerosene lamps at dinner time brought back memories of the hawker stalls on Koek Road in the Singapore of the 50's. I had sate. [sah-tay]. The sate sauce tasted of the Indonesian soya sauce kecap, rather than the coconut milk base of the Singapore sate. The meat was chunky and well-marinated.

I went on a guided walk, but it turned out to be a boring tour of the grounds of the Banyan Tree Resort next door. The guide did point out an interesting tree, though. That's the "sea pineapple" It turned out that we also had that tree on the grounds of our resort

Fruit from the farm

I'm back home now and being industrious, while some other people have 10 days' vacation like the Chinese school students in Penang.
On my last day in Penang I spent an hour at the fruit farm. I'd been here before, and the same routine still applied. Havin been outfitted with a wide-brimmed straw hat to shield us from the blazing sun, we were taken in a van to the starting point of the tour, with a guide.
Unfortunately I did not get his name, but he was very entertaining, first showing us a wild banana plant with it's colorful flowers pointing skywards. He said, "Don't eat these flowers or else you will be going up to the sky as well!" Apparently the cultivated banana have flowers and fruit that hang downwards, and once the fruit is cut off "you are chopping off the head", said he.I had watched our cook many times at our Balmoral Crescent home, chopping down the whole tree after harvesting the large comb of bananas. I always wondered why. It isn't really a tree, anyway. The "trunk" is made up of sheaths of thick fibre. It grows from an underground rhizome.

I was fascinated by the dragonfruit plant. It is actually a cactus! We then saw the cinnamon tree, the nutmeg tree, the custard apple, the star apple, the chiku , the experimental "skyfruit", the tamarind tree and the fig tree. At the end of the tour we were treated to a fruit buffet and a large glass of juice.

The farm is actually used for research by agriculture students.

I had lunch at Parkroyal, but was not really hungry. Later that day there was a Lion Dance show in the lobby of Bayview Hotel.

So that was my holiday. Will probably not go back to Penang, which is sad. It used to be a nice vacation spot.

Pigging in Penang

As I was busy recording my nephew Bruno's historic first meeting with his grand aunt Maggie, and then printing the photo straightaway after the reunion dinner on Feb 17th, I left the camera on my dining table and forgot to put in in my back pack in my early morning rush to the airport.
Well, here I am in Penang. I guess I'm celebrating "my" year. Though I was born in year of the mouse, I appeared before the lunar new year, so that makes me share the same zodiac sign with Dad (who was at any rate, not sure of his birth year!). As mum says, why should we, created perfect by God, look for our characters in animals???!
I'm staying at the Bayview Hotel on Batu Ferringhi. I believe my last visit to Penang was 1998 (not sure). I stayed at the Mutiara then...far superior to this hotel. I had thought that I paid for a full frontal view of the Straits of Malacca, but I got a full frontal of the decrepit Casuarina Beach Hotel. Well, I must admit that, from the 9th floor,I am high up enough to see the water.
I rushed down to the beach yesterday after settling myself in the room. The beach in front of the hotel seems to have been gouged out, and there is any unsightly pit which one has to descend into before gaining access to the water's edge...strange. Walking towards the Rasa Sayang hotel, some 20 mins away, there are 3 streams that one needs to cross. They are vilely polluted, emiting almost black water. Fortunately 2 of them can be crossed by bridges, but to ford the last one, one has to descend into the mire...ugh!
The beach was busy with Chinese New Year holiday crowds. Indian men cornered the para-sailing trade, which was quite colorfully successful. It seemed so easy to get airborne for 10mins or so, "sail" over the water, way out to sea, and then return to land, encourage by shouts from everyone on the ground to "tarik"! "pull!" There were also boats that take you out for a ride, water scooters, 4-wheeled motor bikes to ride on the sand, handsome horses who patiently carried their burdens of adults and children up and down the beach, a long float that could carry 4 people, towed by a motor boat...it was a colorful scene.
Rasa Sayang was a sight to behold. It was affected by the Tsunami and had only opened for business in Dec 2006. It had taken over the adjacent Palm Beach Hotel and built a new wing and added extensive, beautifully landscaped gardens.
Sitting on a deck , under a rain tree facing the sea, I had lunch amidst the hotel guests lounging by the poolside and in the garden, the Chinese in their new year finery taking a break from visiting their relatives, and the myriad birds and bees in the garden...it was delightful.
I then walked back to Bayview on Batu Ferringhi Road, the landward side now polluted by shops of all shapes and sizes, which catered to tourists' needs: restaurants, swimming paraphernalia, tailors, communications...it was (sadly)an eyesore.
Today I visited the Spice Garden. Now THAT is a sight for sore eyes! I soaked in the humidity of the natural garden setting, so skilfully divided into 3 trails: ornamental plants, jungle plants, and spice plants. Jamal, a freelance oil industry technician had driven me to the garden. He also freelances as a tourist car driver in his "off" periods. He's from Clapham and has lived in SEAsia for 20 years.
I had lunch today at the Golden Sands, also a Shangri-La Hotels property. It was quite crowded by the pool, but it didn't seem busy in the coffee house.