I've Been Dumped

He's Not Better Than Me.....
I been away from my golf partner, Che, for a long time. I honestly don't remember the last time we played together. I miss it. He doesn't seem to be missing me though. Got an email from him yesterday that had a pic of him with his new friend, Tiger. Tiger makes Che look like a runt.

Che and his cousin are volunteers at the Barclays, the first tournament in the Fedex championship. I think this photo was taken at the practice round on Tuesday.

Love My Job...

I Really Do.....
I worked hard for 10 years, took on problems that nobody wanted, gained a lot of respect in America, got promoted to VP. What do I get in return? A move to Paris to start all over again, back at square one. I am one of 72 people working on this project, out of which I respect maybe 2. I got more and more bosses every day - I cannot even keep up with it. I am gonna manufacture a way outta here. I've had enough. This thing is a real cluster-F. I'm giving myself until the end of the year to be back in NY, period.

This clothespin photo was shot at a coffee shop in Singapore. Each table has a number. You sit at table 29, for example. They attach a number 29 clothespin to your plate so the delivery folks know where to take it....

Getting Locks Shorn, Chinese Style

and I Wasn't Even Scared...
I think it's been about 2 months since I was last in NY but it seems like a lot longer to me. One of the little gotchas I never planned for in my global superstar lifestyle was getting a haircut. I'm a rational dude but when it comes to haircuts I'm superstitious - I like to find one person and stick with them until they die. My current haircutter is Charles, an old dude on Atlantic Ave who probably will be dying soon, now that I think about it. Anyway, that aside, two months without a cut and my doo starts to get unwieldy. Pingle recommended this spot near her house and for some reason, it didn't even faze me. I didn't even consider I might come out looking like Mao or some other bowl-cut Chinese dude.

The salon looked normal enough - bunch of seats in front of mirrors, magazines to peruse, etc. I sat at one of the seats and looked through a car magazine the helper-guy dropped off for me. Some waiting was in store - we got there as the place was opening and only the hair-washers had arrived, not the cutters. Back in the Apple, the washers and cutters are one in the same but I took it in stride. A few pages into Singapore Gear, I looked up into the mirror to see a woman slowly walking up behind me. She was delicately cradling something in one hand and had what looked like a plastic ketchup bottle in the other. She was the washer. She carefully turned the cradle-hand over onto my head as she squirted a liquid from the ketchup bottle. This was some wash, nothing like I've ever had for a hair-cutting. Just imagine a normal wash, followed up by a head scratching, followed up by head and neck massage. By the time it was done, I didn't care if they cut my hair - I needed a nap. I snoozed through the cut, opening an eye from time to time to make sure nothing crazy was happening. After the cut, they even rinsed my hair again to get out all the snip-bits. Good value for the money - and the look? Just as bad as always - looked like me, with a smaller amount of hair. No complaints.

Doing the Touristy Thing

Why? Because I'm Stupid.
Somehow I got it into my head that it would be cool to go to the Raffles hotel to drink a Singapore Sling - after all, that's where it was invented. Puffin and I jumped in a cab and made our way downtown to the "happening area." It's an old, ornate, hotel but unfortunately that doesn't show in the photo.

Hungry Ghost Festival

It's The Little Things....
Singapore is an ultra-modern city state, some even refer to it as the 51st State. Sometimes, it's the little things that smack you back into reality - you're in southeast asia, dummy! Last night was one of those times - I started to smell smoke after I went to bed. Pingle explained that it was the beginning of the Hungry Ghost month, which lasts for 30 days beginning on the 15th day of the 7th month in the Chinese lunar calendar. Huh-what?

Tea House Visit

Not Any Old Teahouse...
This teahouse is named for a famous Chinese seafarer, Zheng He, and while only 350 years old, it's purported to be within the original facade used by the seafarer himself. Zheng He is an interesting character who made impressive nautical expeditions in the early 1400's, you can read up no him here. What makes him such a revered man in this part of the world is his role in supplying the many Chinese sailors who stayed on in Malacca and married the local Malay women, creating the Peranakan culture. Part of the teahouse is a museum that celebrates Nonya (or Peranakan) history.

Getting Around Malacca

Colorfully and Loudly
Seemed to me the coolest way to get around Malacca is on one of the many colorful rickshaws. They are side-loaded, with the passengers next to the driver. Underneath the passenger seat is a boom box which is used to blasting effect.

The Faces of Malaysia

They Are Many and Varied
Little girl from a tea house.

Street Scenes

The Houses Are Narrow, But Long
Our tour guide Christopher explained that hundreds of years back, you were taxed according to the width of your house alone. As such, people built very narrow houses that extended back 6 to 7 times longer than the width.

The Hotel

Colorful Surroundings
We stayed in an old hotel near the middle of the old section of Melaka. It was colorful, with painted shutters and a beautiful interior.

There was a stone mosaic in the middle of the lobby and antique wood-carved benches to sit in.

Looking up from the middle of the lobby you could peer to the glass roof.

There was a room with antiques - including an ancient rickshaw.

High up on the walls were nesting swallows.

Let's Get Our Bearings Straight

Where We Going?

We're talking bout Malaysia- the country once known as Malaya. Back in 1963, Singapore agreed to become a part of Malaya and in return, they added an "SI" to the name to make it MalaySIa. That only lasted a few years and by 1965 Singapore were on their own but the name stayed as is. The big picture below will give you an idea of where we're going. On the far left are the eastern coast of India and Sri Lanka. On top are Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Thailand extends down into the middle of the picture and turns into the Malaysian peninsula. Singapore is the small island at the tip. From the bottom up is the Indonesian island of Sumatra. On the right is Borneo - part of which is Malaysia, another part is Indonesia and a tiny piece is Brunei.

Closer up you can see Singapore at the lower right and Melaka near the middle of the map, just south of Kuala Lumpur. The sea between Malaysia and Indonesia is known as the Melacca Straits and was a key shipping route between India and China. As you might guess, the European powers have been fighting over this area of the world for the last 500 years. At first the Portuguese ran the show only to be replaced by the Dutch and then finally the British. Our tour guide, Christopher, explained that there was still a small Portuguese community surviving in Melacca and they still speak the archaic Portuguese from the 1500's.

The Bus Is Here!

Just Bring Your Appetite....
A few months ago in Paris, Pingle was huddled over computer typing furiously. Nothing unusual I guess but it stood out in intensity. I asked her what she was doing. "Planning for Malaysia" she said without looking up. Saturday morning I got a glimpse of how deep the planning went. I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am and slept-walked outside to find a huge bus waiting for us. There was a placard on the bus, as you can see. We were headed to Malacca, Malaysia - a province on the west coast of the Malaysian peninsula.

There was even an itinerary - which was almost entirely food-related. Scary - but her family is even more into food than she is. There were 17 family members, me, a bus driver and a tour guide.

Once at the edge of Singapore we had to get off the bus and pass through Singaporean immigration and customs. We then walked through, re-boarded the bus and headed across the bridge into Malaysia. Same deal there, off the bus, through immigration and customs and back onto the bus. Pingle loaded me up with 50 Malaysian Ringitt - in case I needed to bribe someone.

Many slept on the 4 hr trip. Pingle's aunt and uncle knocked out the earliest of all. I watched the passing countryside. Relatively flat with some distant hills, extremely green and hazy, palm plantations everywhere.

Some of us don't wake up well early in the morning. I think Pingle's sis Joanne is used to going to bed around 6am, not getting up then.... This shot was taken at our first stop. Check it out here.

A Few Words About...

Singapore Airlines
Forever and a day Pingle's been bragging about Singapore Airlines. I finally got to judge for myself - we flew them round-trip from Singapore to Hanoi. I don't want to admit it, but I'm impressed. It was a short-haul flight, just 3.5 hrs, but we were still offered a nice meal. Sorry, correction, we were offered choice of meal - and this was in coach. Each seat has a video screen with hundreds of movies to choose from. Need to fill in your Hanoi arrival form but forgot your pen? Just ask a friendly steward or stewardess and they'll hand over theirs no problem. Pingle demonstrated this just to make this point. She had done the same thing while on Air France and the stewardess said "I don't have one." Then, when pressed, the stewardess suggested we ask around to our fellow passengers. Air France - a lame company from a lamer country. How I loathe the idea of returning there....

Tell Me Something...

How Is It Possible?
Which is the 3rd World? Hanoi or Paris? I really am wondering - here's my simple reasoning: in Hanoi, I can get ice in my drink - even if you are sitting at a street stall. In Paris, forget it. Ice? It's like you're asking for a hand grenade. How is it possible that I can get ice in Hanoi but not in Paris? How?

While I'm on the topic, the same goes for air conditioning. All the stores in Hanoi have it. You shop in Paris till you drop - literally. There is rarely AC in Paris. Which is the 3rd World? Which?

All Types of Ways

To Get Around and Get Things Around
The modes of transport of both people and things are decidedly skewed towards the two wheel variety in Vietnam. You've got the food sellers who user their bikes to move their goods.

Sea Kayaking Anyone?

Hailing from SG, No. 27........
I was absolutely sure I wasn't going to go sea kayaking. Let's face it, I'm a big chicken when it comes to water. I pictured Pingle acting silly, tipping it a lot and teasing me. So, when we got to the floating city I stepped out towards the sea kayak dock just to act macho. I wasn't going to do it. I looked dumbly at Pingle as she pointed to the life vest. I didn't move. Maybe if I just stand here and don't move she'll leave me alone....

We all know how this turns out, right? I put the life vest on and faster than I liked, some Vietnamese kid was ushering me to the side of the dock, he used his left foot to hold the kayak still. Pingle got in first. The kid handed me both oars and then pointed at the back seat. I took an uneasy step in and it felt like I stepped onto butter. The kayak slid away from me slightly - enough for me to drop the oars and steady myself. They clanged onto the pier and announced to everyone "hey look, the guy is a panicky loser!" I sat down into the wet seat and pushed away from the pier with one oar. I'd locked my camera onto the top latch of my life vest and shortly after we left the pier, I laid my oar across the kayak to fetch it. Pingle was still rowing, taking us further and further into the still bay.

I was again reminded why it's good to date a younger, strong, Chinese girl - she can paddle you around a sea kayak as you lay back and take photos and video. Thanks for the ride Pingle!!

The Caves

at Halong Bay
We docked along one of the larger islands and I peered up to see the mouth of the cave about 500 feet up. We had a long walk up stairs to reach the entrance.

Once inside, the temp dropped significantly but it seemed all the more humid. The cave was enormous and cleverly lit with different colored lighting that made the photos come out nicely.

On the way out of the cave, the mother shot - from high up on the side of the mountain.....

I couldn't help but to take shots from different angles....

On The Move...

About 100 Miles Eastwards...

For the longest times, I've been seeing pictures of this amazing place in Asia, a seascape with all these small moutain islands jutting up through the mist towards the sky. I always wanted to go there - it defined Asia in my mind. I never knew where it was exactly, I just knew it was in SE Asia somewhere. Fast forward to Wednesday - we were walking around Hanoi and passed a tourism office. There was the picture of this magical place - it is called Halong Bay and it was only three hrs away!

Paying Respects

Ho Chi Minh Must Be Spinning in His Grave...
Like good tourists, we made our way to Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. I was hoping he was laid out like Lenin, kept lifelike inside a glass box, hands folded on chest, beard groomed onto his green uniform.

But it was not to be. You could walk to within 20 feet and stare at the guards that watched the front door, but that was it.

Luckily the grounds behind the mausoleum were interesting in their own right. First, the presidential palace, which was originally built by the French in colonial times. It was beautifully maintained.

This is where Ho Chi Minh lived for 5 years. It is now a museum, like a 1950's time capsule. You can look in to see Mr. Minh's living room, dining room and study - pictures of Lenin and Marx hung on the wall above his desk.

We walked down a small street named "Mango walk", at the end of which is a pergola where Mr. Minh welcomed guests. It is a beautifully lush and tranquil place.

There is a small lake on the grounds that is stocked with fish.

We walked around it slowly. I felt my pulse slow with each step - it was really relaxing.

Stands of pomelo trees, bursting with fruit line one side of the lake.

Some tree roots poked up through the lake's edge.

Upon exiting, we noticed a small group of soldiers being drilled. If you click on the photo, perhaps you can see them - they blend in well with the surroundings.

A few hrs later, back towards the old town, I saw this billboard. Mr. Minh must be in his mausoleum, spinning around and around. A Dove billboard? Capitalism everywhere here in Nam.

The grocery store even had a flat screen tv, imploring shoppers to buy more.