The curious cat walking

新加坡的房價日益高漲,房東大筆一揮一夜間房租漲了50% (可惜薪水沒漲50%) 所有中產階級外國人紛紛搬出condo, downgrade 到HDB去住,尤其最近拜en bloc 遍地開花所賜, 這股房租房價漲勢愈演愈烈,幾乎引起一陣恐慌痛苦指數 90%: ,隨著住家遷徙,會不會大家也跟我一樣開始懷疑自己是不是來當台勞來的....
本來我也汲汲營營在找我的condo新居 不過東海岸近來連10多年的舊2+1 condo都要賣到1200 psft以上,Mandarin Garden的studio居然開價 620K,連paya lebar的condo都要賣到700K, 看來我的2+1未來夢想之家買下來可能要1M, 突然有種被追殺的感覺 *#%&~
一時間所有房東跟屋主都變成       （假想敵...)
對local新加坡人來說不知道他們自己是什麼樣的感覺? 是覺得おめでたい,還是跟我們一樣覺得ヤバイぞ～
可惜我們沒辦法像巴菲特一般透視經濟趨勢,即使在全球通膨越來越有可能使經濟成長降溫, 美國房市跌到谷底,全球房地產投資也缺乏繼續上升力道的現在,新加坡好像上攻的意志堅定. 賭場PLUS IR大計畫的影響真是強大,這個國家的人民對錢潮的敏感度跟敢於下賭注的精神也讓人佩服, 相信這波錢潮當中新加坡又產生了不少千萬富翁了吧
終於本月我也開始放棄昂貴的2手condo,開始請agent幫我看HDB. 雖然不確定真的要買但就先見學一下吧~~ , ,看來明年2月確定要跟住了3年MG還有它的steam bath說再見了. よし把studio的rental省下來,現金留在手上好好投資獲利吧,這樣想 心情好些~~~ 
話說HDB 最近我稍微survey了一下這個有趣的國家對single有著非常高的期望跟要求, ,Single singaporean must be above 35 years old. Single Singporean can not apply for a new HDB flat from HDB. Single people must go for open market solution. And those singles whose average monthly income exceeding SGD3,000 can not get SGD 11,000 redeem, neither can they enjoy the 2.6% CPF loan (bank loan please). 我個人覺得這些為了提高國家''生產力'' 的規定, 在這種快找不到房子的時代對單身只有SINGLE INCOME的人來說有點像被打入地獄的感覺, 該不會有人為了買HDB結婚吧  めでたし　めでたし～
That's all for today. 問完後發現我不可以買HDB  >_<

 
create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits Nederlands

  買一包超市賣的方形cheese 片

Caught up with the final 2nd  show in Indoor stadium, I went to see the Musical of Notre Dame. The audience was more than I expected. Though the stadium seemed to be too empty and simple for the musical performance.  Some local audience still needs more education about manners in this kind of place. People came in casual as if they were going to the movies. They ate sandwiches and drank coca cola in the theater. This is an old problem I have noticed here. Even in Esplanade concert hall, some people wear in sandals and cross and shake legs.  That's not illegal but it is about proper manners.   This musical is designed of the best sound and lighting effect. Kind of break-through the tradition way of performance. With most of the original cast singing all the songs in French lyrics, all the conversations are translated by songs instead of speaking.  The songs are either romantic or imposing. It is good to listen to the French one as the background is in old Paris, French lyrics make it more original. A bit different from the other musicals like CAT or RENT, the performance adapts a lot of modern dance and visual arts conducted by technology. Actors are bumping from floor to the ceiling with the ropes and alertly crawling cross the walls. The background dancers dancing under the flashy spotlight to express the conflicts between iniquity and conscience of the character really explains a lot.  The entirely visual and aural stimulation on the stage was fantastic!   They open the musical information on the web http://www.notredame.com.sg/   I look forward to the play of phantom of the opera next March. Hope to see more civil audience there then.  

I am back from my 14-day- trip in Turkey.   We did a lot a plan about this trip. And basically we did most of the things as planned. Well, plan is plan. There are always unexpected happenings, luckily we handled them without too much suffering. We flew 10 hours directly from Singapore to Istanbul. It was a pretty smooth flight. Turkish airline was much better than what we thought. New aircraft, personal screen to choose movies and delicious meals. The crews' service was friendly.  We arrived at Istanbul early in the morning and immediately transferred to Ankara by the domestic airline. It was so exciting to arrive at this country and my friend started taking pictures on the way from Ankara airport to the bus terminal where we will have to find out the long distance bus and started a bus trip for 5 hours to Cappadocia. What a day!!. It was a mess when we got to the bus terminal, neither of us had Turkish lira. We lost some exchange rate in USD and changed the lira from the store man. It was the worst rate we got in the entire journey. Surprisingly people in the bus terminal don't speaking English at all. It took us a lot of time to communicate and finally we got the tickets and caught up with the departuring bus. I heard that on the long distance bus they serve drinks and snacks. It was Ramadan, and I wondered if there is any thing to take on the bus. Actually we did got a lot of tea and coffee and cake on the way to Cappadocia. It is interesting coz we were the only 2 non-Muslim foreigners on the bus so that nobody was eating or drinking except us. And the grammas sitting in front of us were so curious about us, one of them even peeping me from the gap of chairs.   We reached Cappadocia at around 4PM. There we were in one of the well-known world heritage. Couldn't find Osman via the phone so that we decided to go to the hotel by ourselves as the uncle in the information center told us it was only 10 minutes walk away. Then we realized that it was a tricky calculation. We had to carry our backpacks and climb up to the steep hill. We felt it was more than 10 minutes.  The cave hotel is so special we got a twin bed room by using a 5 bedded room. In Cappadocia there are so many cave hotels and pensions. I believe that people in Cappadocia reply a lot of tourism. Since that we were there, we decided to join the rose valley tour before sunset after check-in. Rose valley is named after the beautiful color it presents during the sunset. Must seize the chance to have a look at it. We had a tour guide, Beck, who knows a lot of stories about the escaping Christians and Roman period stories that make the tour and the cave house quite meaningful. It is hard to imagine that people would dig a house in the rock and live there. What had inspired them to do so?!  Sunset, rose valley and prayer broadcast from the mosque in the far place actually remined me that we are in TURKEY now.   We met 2 interesting friends from Taiwan , Kevin and Chelsea in Cappadocia when we joint together the green tour to track in the Ihhara Valley. Ihhara valley was a pleasant hiking - even though in some places we needed to climb into the cave with flashlight and crawl over the big rocks. The river running down in the valley is so green and beautiful. And the cliff besides the river looked gorgeous.  We even had lunch at the riverside restaurant. The environment is just like in the fairy tale world. Sep and Oct in Turkey is the season of flowers that colors the trip. In the morning and evening it was a bit chill though it turned to be hot in the day time. Strange but even though it was hot, we didn't sweat a lot. It is good for the Turkish as in the Ramadan they can not even drink water before sunset. I wonder how they can make it. The local tour guide did the same exercise as we did without eating or drinking anything.   We stayed in Cappadocia for 4 days and 3 nights. We visited every points of that place and also tried the typical local food, such as pottery lamb. It was great and it seemed that pottery lamb is only available regionally. We tried a cozy restaurant with a fireplace. And after we finished the meals and started the Turkish wine, the electricity was gone. It seemed not possible for the restaurant to restore the electricity right away so that we had no choice but drinking in the dim light of candle. And then one German couple walked in as they found that restaurant has no electricity and we sat around a candle for wine. Unlike us, they thought it was quite romantic..   It is a special experience. Maybe we should learn to enjoy more.          We said goodbye to all the friends in Cappadocia and hopped on the night bus to Pammukale. The situation of road was not good enough. In Turkey they still have a lot of flagstone pavement. It was quite tumbling and difficult to sleep on the bus.  The bus trip to Pummukale was the most tricky one. We read on the internet discussion forum that before arriving at Pummakle the bus company may cheat you and ask you to change to some mini bus. And it happened. Actually we have no choices as we arrived at 5AM in the morning. We were taken to a family hotel by the hotel manager. And he kept selling us his hotel, tours and his friends hotel and restaurant.  We insisted to go to the one in our shortlist eventually though we finally found out the another called Mustafa in our shortlist had the best service and location. It wasted us a whole morning to deal with the hotel owner. We went for Pammukale in the afternoon. It was as beautiful as we saw in the pictures. Yet it was not exactly as we imagined. The place is consisted of limestone that make it looks like snow covering all over the mountain. And the spring water was flowing down over the limestone and creates beautiful ponds. Those ponds are shallow so that we can walk on naked feet and climb up to the top. It was not slippery at all - another surprise.   We climbed up to the top and there were a lot of roman period heritage and theater relic. It was extremely dry and hot that we escaped to the park and lay on the wooden bench next to the cliff. When I lay on the bench and watched the snow white limestone cliff,  I fell asleep. It was cool to sleep down under the trees.    Coming back to the town, we decided to had dinner in Mustafa as Kevin could not find his Korean Shin Ramen. To compensate, the owner gave him 2 packs Taiwanese snack instant  noodles. They were given by some Taiwanese tourist. Apparently Turkish doesn't like the flavor so that he kept them without touching. The owner of Mustafa kept his promise to give us a bottle of Pammukel white wine and water pipe. The wine was cold and sweet. I should have brought a bottle back. We tried to take the pictures of smoking water pipes and found that we could n't take any elegant looking ones. We ended up with a lot of funny photos. A lot of fun.       We left Pammukale the next day after breakfast and said goodbye to Kevin and Chelsea. They headed  to Selcuk. And we went south to the resort city by Agean sea, Bodrum. The bus trip is not so long and it was comfortable. When we found sea on the way we realized that we might have been reaching the destination.  It looks like being in Greece. A lot of white houses by the sea side. People here look very different from those in Cappadocia. They looks more like Europeans.  We checked our hotel list and started to search the one operated by a Japanese lady. It took us for more than 30 minutes carrying the backpacks and wondering on the streets to search for the pension. And finally we were told that that pension was closed already. We settled down in our second choice, Bodrum Backpacker. The staff is friendly and he seemed to be very interested in Asian travelers. He told us that he also traveled like a backpacker in south east Asia last year.    Bodrum has a beautiful harbor and a lot of nice cafes and restaurants by the sea. There are many European tourists and again we were the ONLY 2 Asian tourists. People are quite friendly here. We stopped by a Kebab restaurant for lunch and I tried my first Turkish coffee. Honestly speaking it was tasteless. I guess one cup is enough as a travel experience.  We found that on the way to the beach, there are a lot of stores selling fashionable things and  souvenirs. For the first time we fel like coming back to the civilization~  We had supper and local beer in one of the modern cafe. It was a good way to spend the night in Bodrum. This place is not like Turkey at all. Very hard to feel any thing about Muslim expect that they are really Muslims.       We got up early and decided to take a walk at the beach. The morning of Bodrum was wonderful too. It was quiet and we could hear the sound of waves peacefully. The castle looked fantastic in the morning sunshine. After taking breakfast, we hurried to the bus terminal and move to Selcuk. Think it back, I think we should have spent one more day and discover that city. Everything was too rush.   Selcuk was a very small town. And when we arrived at the bus terminal I felt it like a place of only 100 population. Well of course it has more than that number  when we walked up to the center of town. And .. we came across with Kevin and Chelsea again  in a restaurant. I ordered pide - the Turkish pizza as after staying in this country for so many days,we still didn't have a chance to try it. It was very delicious. Then we started to walk around the town. It was a small place so that me and Emily decided to see the relic nearby after visiting the museum. We came back to join in Kevins' later for tea time at a local dessert shop. The shop owner let us tried the local sweets and we order rice pudding in normal and chocolate flavors and apple pie. Quite nice. Interesting, the owner started to say that he wants to marry a Korea or Japanese girl. It sounds funny. How could someone marry a girl by her nationality.  Kevin and Chelsea left for Istanbul by night bus. Since that we still had time for dinner, we went to the restaurant with roasted chicken  which is assigned by Kevin who has longed for meat for days. And this was our way to celebrate mid-autumn festival :-)  We tried Laki - the Turkish alcohol. It has spicy. And after drinking I started to have running stomach that made me quit eating just like Turkish people in Ramadan for a whole day.  The next morning, we visited the relic of Ephesus. It was a huge world heritage. We spent 2 hours there and got back to the pension to check out.     When we got to Izmir, it was totally a mess. As we didn't have any plan in Izmir. Now we don't know where to go. We try to find a hotel to stay and found that people there always gave us a wrong direction. After struggling for nearly one hour figuring out the way to the information center, we gave up.  It was so tiring to carry the 7 KG backpack and keep walking for one hour. And we walked to Turkish Airline office. We decided to take a chance to change our domestic flight one day earlier to Istanbul. We found that Havas, the airport connecting bus of Turkish airline was just right in front of the office. Very helpful! So once the tickets are done, we looked for food. We tried the Turkish sandwich. It tasted good. The toast was crunchy and the kebab was juicy. Maybe we were too tired and hungry that any food was great ... haha   We reached Istanbul one day earlier and that was a surprise to Chelsea and Kevin. And we were really glad that we did negotiated with the hotel side when we were in Cappadocia so that we got airport pick-up service that saved us from the tiredness in Izmir. The hotel is compact and nice. Facilities were new and the location was just good. And we had buffet breakfast on the rooftop where we can see the sea and blue mosque very clearly. And free internet --- key point, especially after leaving our work behind for more than a week.  After Selcuk, all of us want to see something modern and Istanbul is our target shopping paradise. So our first visit is the most popular area, Taksim.  People really buy a lot when they have a clear target. We even came across with a demonstration on the street. A lot of armed policemen and journalists. Though comparing to those in Taiwan, it was a minor one. We had coffee at the rive side cafe in front of the palace. In Turkey, sitting by the river or sea for coffee is really something pleasant.            We also went to watch the distinguished worship dance -- Whirling Dervishes at the train station mall - Sirkeci. There are regular performance on  every Tuesday - Wednesday - Friday - Saturday and Sunday starting at 19:30. This place has a very good atmosphere with dance & music.       Before Chelsea left for Taiwan, we went for Turkish bath in the famous one Cemberlitas Hamami , one with more than 420 year history and is famous for the 12-person-space big marble stone bed. Unfortunately a big group of European high school students came in after us, that made the bathing experience pretty bad. Their service was quite rude and the massage was nothing but 10 second rub on the shoulder. Me and Emily went the other local one called' Sultanahmet Turkish Hammai'' before we flew back to Singapore. Sultanahmet Turkish Hammai is closer to tourist center is smaller but offers super great service.  They give 20 minutes soap massage that the previous one didn't. They offer a personal bath room and dressing room and after bath they serve you coffee and apple tea.  That was a nice experience that made up my previous one.        The next day, go on shopping. We went to the Grand Bazzar and Spice market. We also walking down to the streets of wholsale market. I have to say my partners really had a  good sense of direction. I didn't know how to come back if they weren't there. Grand Bazzar is too famous and the price turns to be unthinkably high. We didn't buy anything there. We did some in the spice market and also the wholesale stores.  EVentully I brought back a lot of evil eyes and apple tea set and an iron coffe maker.... just like a typical tourist.   I had one bad impression on the men in Istanbul. Somehow we became the target of Turkish men in Istanbul since that we are Asians. And sometimes the only 2 Asians on the street.  Every 2 minutes, there was someone who asked us if we were Korean or Japanese? I wonder what happened to Korean or Japanese girls that makes the Turkish men so in for it. It is quite confusing anyway.   To escape from the old town and troublesome Turkish guys, we started to explore somewhere out of town. We took the ferry to the remote side near the black sea and enjoyed a nice fish meal. Actually we also went to the Asia side, Bagdat street. This is a very cozy place with wide pedestrian walking paths and boutique shops, malls and nice spacious cafes. And we found a lot of starbucks there. Somehow this is like a place for foreign residents and wealthy local people. And finally no one asked us if we were Japanese again -- one day break.   Istanbul is a historical city. Put asides those boring men , there are so many things to see. The Ayasofya Museum and blue mosque were breath-taking. It is admiring that they change the Ayasofya as a museum and start to recover the hidden wall paintings of the church. Reading the history is fun.  And when we visited the Topkapi Palace. I was amazed by the gorgeous golden stuffs and the 86 karat diamond. The dynasty was once quite wealthy definitely. We spent 7 days in Istanbul. And there are still a lot to see. Even now I am back to Singapore, those turkey things are still so clear in me. I hope I will have a chance to drop by this country again. And take the Turkish bath again ~~   I open some of the photos on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/15064689@N00/sets/72157594331178972/show/      

土耳其之行我們規劃了整整半年,嚴格說起來應該只有1個月因為前面5個月只決定了去土耳其跟那時去土耳其這2件事,接著我們便開始沉醉在奧圖曼帝國的蘋果茶跟沙威馬的幻想世界裡。從8月底我們終於開始畫起路線圖,整個計畫就好像封藏在書架上的地圖被翻開來一樣,版本越翻越大張。一開始先決定哪裡有好玩好酷的地方,我們畫了好大一個scope簡直想在2週內把整個土耳其走透透,心滿意足來訂機票以後我們方才開始看細部距離跟交通時間,幾乎嚇死了,土耳其據說有台灣的22倍大,城市間的乘車時間也有台灣的N倍長,各家國內航空公司的飛機幾乎都飛往伊斯坦堡卻不見得彼此連結各大都市,看來問題很大條~~  

首先要先找到每個點的距離跟搭長途巴士的時間,距離太長的再看看有沒有國內班機可以到,成本也是一個考量,事先訂票可以省下好幾千塊錢。 還好發現了Turkey Travel Planner, 裡面的資訊實在是太詳盡了,不虧是Lonely planet Turkey的作者的網站。透過這些網路資訊我們很快就瞭解到之前的規劃真的太樂觀了,原來土耳其真的挺大由東到西每個點跟點之間都要花4-10小時的車程,最糟得情況是連國內飛機都沒有,搭火車要更多時間 (我一直以為火車會比巴士快呢。。。)。為了不走馬看花,爭取更多時間在每個地方好好停留,我們的路線改了10多版,甚至到最後一刻還差點將好不容易弄出來的行程倒過來走 (還好不需要走到這種田地) 

我很喜歡規劃旅遊行程,這樣會使我快速瞭解那個國家的地理位置及國內都市配置,還知道他的歷史背景,地形,交通狀況,氣候特徵甚至出產什麼東西,再研究一下有哪些好吃的好玩的,一切都非常有趣。 我邊畫著交通路線圖時一般納悶著為何以前老師沒叫我們用這種方式學地理。邊旅行邊學習我肯定考100分的,想當年為了背誦那些河川主流支流鐵路名稱跟各大樞紐站,真是背死我了! 換一個方式看東西原來事物可以如此好玩 :)

 這次我們運氣很好,土航9月開始從新加坡直飛就給我們遇上了。Promotional price S$888 含國內兩個定點來回機票,光機票錢就省了一萬塊。 雖然土航我們從來沒搭過,不過上回聽到在德國公司工作的朋友提到他們的財務長都搭土航,頓時放心了一點。

 這次我們還遇到回教齋戒月,本來有點懊惱擔心會跟著餓肚子,不過在土國其實好像還好,反之齋戒月可能是一個很特別的體驗。 

土耳其是一個西化滿深的回教國家,這個土耳其人本身很友善,但他的鄰居並不安寧,8月一訂完機票,黎巴嫩跟以色列就打起來了,接著土國東南方爭取獨立的庫德族到處放炸彈,連伊斯坦堡跟Antalya都遭殃,而美國跟伊朗又在爭執核武開發問題。 聽說當地人對爆炸事件已經見怪不怪 (就像台灣人看到立法院又打起來。。。),但是沒人知道BOMB會被放在哪裡,還是會令人冒冷汗。 即使如此,當我跟我的好妹妹居然異口同聲很堅定地要去土耳其看世界時真是感動不已。原來找對partner是粉重要的! 雖然最後我們因為交通因素跟安全考量也放棄了Antalya不過等和平來到時 we shall be back。  

從前我們很少注意中東情勢,但這幾年那塊區域真的是紛紛擾擾,加上國際石油能源價格深受其局勢左右,最近倒是讓我注意了不少該區的動態。我記得在越南旅行時結交到一個愛爾蘭的夥伴,途中我們談天說地,講自己各種旅行經驗,一提到回教國家,我才發現西方人對於回教世界其實有很極端的看法,在911之前他們可能會因為神秘東方色彩跑去中東探險甚至能感受東方文化之美,911之後發生許多事情,很多人其實是退避三舍聽到穆斯林3個字就猛搖頭。 這世界上很多衝突都是因為不了解異文化背景跟缺乏同理心而發生的。 再加上強國間的利益考量,挑撥離間,古代有政策''以漢治漢'',搞內鬥削減一個國家的力量從中得利,在現代依然隨地可見,這是人類最有心機的遊戲。因為規劃土耳其我看了不少blog跟資料,我發現回教這個宗教並沒有那麼可怕,但可怕的是過分盲目地陷在自我的認同裡而鄙視他人,而這些迷思般的我膨脹很容易為有心人所利用。用自己主觀的價值觀去judge別人的行為模式進而干涉似乎難以避免地永遠都會發生。 看著這些衝突越演越烈,會不會有一天我們那兒都去不了了,只能呆在自己安全的家中。。 也許只有文明跟道德教育能慢慢拯救這個世界吧?! (沒想到每天為了結案用盡心思的sales也會討論起仁義德來..嘿嘿)

 

因為這樣我開始覺得長久以來新加坡的多種族融合政策作的很好,各種種族宗教可以友善相處(至少互不干擾)是一件難能可貴的事情。 雖然近年來新加坡移民門戶大開,外來中國人跟印度人要融入原有的多種族社會似乎還有一段路要走,偏見跟歧視可能難以避免,不過相信時間的磨合跟經濟成長會慢慢使這樣的衝突淡化掉。 身為新移民我也希望這是一個真的願景。

 出發前一點小小心得,等回來再好好檢討一下到底在土國吃的什麼好料。

 

 

　　七月下旬以来私の部屋は珍しく賑やかくかなり人気なところになっている。しばらく会わなかった友達は三連弾でついつい台湾や中国から遊びにきた。いつの間にか私は地元の人の姿でお客さんを迎えるようになった。シンガポールにきて2年半、ここの生活習慣になれたとも言えないがだんだん普通に生活をやってくる。新鮮感をなくしつづあり、そして新しい物事を捜査中。急に遠くの友達に訪ねられると、なんとかシンガポールの特色を見つからなくちゃと思い始めた。とにかく緊急事態！！
　　そして私が思い出す。はじめてシンガポール来たときどこへ行ったか、何がみたか、何を食べたか。思い出いろいろ。いえ、思い出をする時間がない。さっそく私が面白いと思うところをリストアップしなければ。。とりあえず日本人の友人から森の中で朝食したいと要望をうけた。確かこの間に森みたいなカフェで酒を飲んだ記憶が。。調べると確実に向こうはブランチをやっている。助かった～～　さずが森の中の朝食だから、緑一杯のテラスでホットケーキに新鮮な自家製リンゴとプラム．ジャム。鳴く鳥とリスが身の近くに飛んでいる。普段はこんなふうにゆったりと朝食をしたり、おしゃべりしたりすることが絶対無理。ほんとうに気持ちよかった。やっぱ私たちがわざわざ来る甲斐があるね。
　　そしてほかに何か特別なところは？Little Indiaに間違いなく。すると二人はタクシーに乗ってかけていく。今度は彼女のおかげで初めてあのインドのお寺（Sri Veeramakliaman Temple）の中に入った。外から臨むより雰囲気がずっと神聖的で土曜の朝だから皆礼拝の儀式を待っている。多くの仏像が寺内の周りに座ってる。信者たちが仏像に何枚もの花の輪を着せる。寺内に香料と線香と花の匂いが漂っている。儀式が終わったりお寺の方に顎に指で白い粉をつけてもらう。そしてバナナなどの果物を神職人員から取得。よくインド人の顎に白いマークをつけてるのを見かけたが、わけが分からなかった。それは祈りを完成したという印だよね。勉強した。
　　ついでに一橋大学の後輩は広州からやってきた。もう何年ぶりか分からないほどの長い間あっていないが、後輩はいっそう綺麗になった。夜中までしゃべりが続いた。なんだか学生時代の日々が戻ってくる感じ。週末にいつも大学通りの書店の上のカフェでおいしい朝ごはんを食べながら、お昼までしゃべりる連中だった。旅行の発見や人生の体験、思い出、計画など話せることに切りがなさそう。なんだか懐かしい～　山ほどの夢と希望の時期だったね。社会人になった私たち当初の夢が多少変わったのだろうね。仕事だっていつかを試した。今は自分の望み通りに生きているのかまだ確信できないけど、頑張っている。昔の友人と会うとなぜかまた勇気をつける。
　　せっかくだから、シンガポールで一橋大学同窓会＠Singaporeをやりたい。今は定員３名。陳さんを入れれば４名となる。シンガポールでの同僚と友達も誘って、ぶち同窓会及び食事会を行った。 場所はしばらく行ってなかった新桃園。おいしかったが、相変わらずサービスがいまいちで残念。二次会でMt. Fabberにある新しいカフェにいってきた。Sentosaのケーブルカーがここまで上るのが知らなかった。おしゃれなカフェだった。しかもシンガポールの夜景を頂点で一覧できる。最高だった。
　　次の日にやっと市内観光。Melion parkにRaffles place。雨が降りそうで、急いでRaffles place MRTの隣にあるBakerzinに入り込んだ。まだ早いからTea timeになってないのに、店員がとても親切で食べさせてくれた。雨の景色をみてケーキを食べながら、コーヒーをのんでた。金融地帯なので、週末には人影が少ない。のんびりだった。雨がしばらく降り続いだが、やっと止んできた。みんなを集めてSentosaに出発。Sentosa って二回目だけど、初回は島中１０分しかいなかった。なぜかというと、途中Headhunterから緊急面接の知らせを受けた。友人を島に残して慌てて面接にいってしまった。それ以来Sentosaに来ることがなかった。だから二回といっても何でも新鮮。観光客感覚。Sisolo beachは前回と違ってとても落ち着いた感じ。子友達が水を遊んだり、白い砂の上に走ったりする姿があっちこっち見える。楽しい気分が漂っていた。ちょうど日が落ちる時間にビーチに到着するので、綺麗な夕暮れが見えた。その美しい風景をみて、これが人造のビーチなんかなかなか想像できない。
 
　先週の金曜日、Changi Airportで前の仕事の同僚を迎えた。実は私たち９月に一緒にトルコ旅行に行く予定がある。そもそも旅行のディスカッションをするべきだったが、ショッピングとおしゃべりをしているうちについ忘れちゃった。８月三日にシンガポールは国の日のために初日の花火をやること。私たちはとても運がよく、ちょうどEsplanadeのNo Signboardで夕食をしてた。花火が放すときいい場所に立っていた。今年の花火は１０分以上も続くので、たっぷり見えた。花火がこっちに飛んでくるように見えて、とても興奮だった。だって花火の音を聞くと、旧正月気分になる。なりよりも嬉しかった。
 
　　友達のおかげでこの３週間いろんなシンガポール再発見をした。毎日働きに働く日々をするうちに忘れていく物事を一気に記憶回復。しかも新たしい感動をもらった。人はこうやって生活の楽しさを見つけるべきだよね。これからはQuarter endに入る。また緊張な仕事状態になるかも。いつも楽しい事を忘れないように心がけること。

６月の頭、バンコクに行ってきた。５月末は会計年度の終わりなので狂うほど忙しくてなかなか旅行計画が立てられないにもかかわらず、私だちは最後の最後までチケットとホテルをとりかく確保できた。前回と違ってお寺や観光地域を行かずに大勢の友達と一緒にショッピングと美食巡りの旅だった。   陳さんと二人でとりあえず向こうに飛んでいった。たどり着いたホテル想像外に襤褸だった。とりあえず荷物を卸してホテルを出た。新しい宿を探さなくちゃ。そして、スクビの街を一周回ってしまった。前回はこの辺にきてなかったが、ホテル探しのためについ夜中の市内観光も完成。おまけにバンコクには一杯なホテルが存在することが分かった。台湾の夜市場のように、街中数え切れない服の露店や食べ物の屋台がある。安くて楽しいショッピングの予感。   夜のバンコクは誘惑の町になる。前回は郊外を目当てにしてたから、気づかなかったのか。この都市には売春が氾濫している。街中やレストラン、ホテルの中に至って売買の姿が見える。いつのまにかバンコクを始、東南アジアの観光地は欧米の男性の遊楽地になった。バンコクってまじめな佛教の国である一方金儲けのために矛盾な面もある。これは途中発展国の代価かも。   次の朝とにかく旅行代理店とやり取りを終えてAMBASSADOR HOTELに移した。歴史のあるホテルに見えるが、内装はゴージャスで心地よい。一安心した。台湾の友達は夜の到着だから、陳さんと二人で先にDOWNTOWNに観光。     四日目朝食の後FLOATING　MARKETに出発。３年ぶりだった。今度はフェリーに乗って川近辺の棲家を一覧することができた。水辺に木造の家が隅々建てられてある。人々は河の水を飲用水にしたり、洗濯したり、体を浴びたりする。観光の風景というより日常生活の一部です。フェリーは１５分くらいかけて水市場に入ってくる。相変わらずに賑やかだった。この市場は早朝ごく普通の地元市場だけど、昼間に入ると観光客向けの水上観光地になる。物価は非常に高くバンコクの２倍以上に求められる。それにしても皆バーゲンで楽しんでいた。帰りにあの有名なORIENTAL HOTELに寄った。一応そちらがよく紹介するHIGH TEAを試し。ピアノの演奏にイギリス伝統のHigh Tea雰。外に雨が降り始めたものの室内には囲気がとてもよくて、すばらしい午後の暇つぶしになった。   バンコクにきたらマッサージが欠けないもの。連続二日間ボディーマッサージをやってもらった。シンガポールや台湾と比べるとぜんぜんやすい。さすが二時間コースなので旅の疲れ解消に効く。タイでお金持ち如の行楽。地元の人たちの生活は大きな対比になるだろう。この世界は不均衡の面もある。今の自分の幸せを大事にしなくちゃとつい考えちゃう。   交通渋滞と空気汚染のひどいバンコクは成長するために代価を払っている。今のタイも台湾と同じに政治不安定で経済発展の足を引っ張っている。いい自然の財産と働く人たちを持つアジア各国は欧米並みの社会に進行するのはまだ長い道だろうね。  

I am back from Hanoi last Wed night (Mar 29). A small trouble that delayed the flight for an hour. Arrived at Singapore at 12AM. Smooth flight though. I posted my pics on Yahoo Photo http://sg.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/cch_lisa/album?.dir=/35c4&.src=ph&.tok=ph0vnoEBrKS7lw3f    Vietnamese food is great. Lemongrass chicken, Pho, spring rolls...... and the French food. The first night as siib as we have finally arrived at Daewoo Hotel, first thing we did is to call a taxi and rush to Green Tangerine- the recommended French restaurant. The food was nice. I liked the Carrot-shape bamboo root with pork.. Impressively delicious and creative.The second day we went to the most fashionable streets, Nha Thro and Hang Gai, etc. Lunch at Little Hanoi. This is a cozy cafe with nice French banquette and local delights. Reasonable price as well. We found a new open foot massage store near St. Paul church. It only cost us USD 5 for one hr foot and head massage with herbal foot bath. fantastic isn't it. Still got time, we visited the best Hotel in Hanoi, Sofitel Metropole Hotel. We stayed in Le Club for some drinks. This reminds me of Raffles hotel in Singapore. smaller but graceful.  Later, we headed for the restaurant I wanted to visit most. The Emperor. A local Vietnamese restaurant where ex- US president Clinton and Singapore ex-PM had been entertained. This is a beautiful French style building.. Sense of noble and elegance. I definitely recommend it since that the decoration, and food is great and the waiters are friendly and interesting..   Vietnam has low cost consumption. The 3rd day we went for the spa and facial. 75 mins moisture facila only cost me VD 250.000 (SGD 25). The place was nice, staff is skilled and careful. And I did feel the result. It is goot place to relax like this.  We had lunch at Sofitel Metropole hotel again. The Pho they severd was nice looking and delicous. Cost us USD 7 each. My friend left for Singapore in the afternoon and I headed for a smaller hotel in old quarter. And hurried to book my one day trip to Halong Bay the next day. I spent my afternoon in the water puppet theater. Simple stories but full of humors and creativities. I am happy that I saw it eventually.   The 4th day morning, I got up early at 7AM. Having my simple breakfast, French toast and banana with Vietnamese coffee. I was to be picked up to Halong Bay at 7:30. Joint group. On the way I met a friend from Irland. And another 2 elder friends from Thailand and Australia. It was not boring at all even I traveled alone. The aussie shared us some experience to Cambodia and Berma and Africa. So this is a guy who had adventured himself and he is still doing that. Halong Bay is listed in the world heritage. And definitely it should be. The scene I have never seen before in my life. We took the boat and visited the water village, fruit vendor on the sea and beautiful caves. I had a happy day trip in Halong Bay. Especially I met a friend to travel with me. It is good to have someone to talk when you travel. We found a Kodak to burn the photos we took in the day time. We took hundreds. After dinner, it took us a great efforts to find a look ok bar. Apparently, Vietnamese doesn't drink so much alcohol. bars are for tourists and foreigners only. I noticed many western backpackers or tourists are happy to sit at the side of motobike-jammed road and drink beer. They don't mind looking like roamers or beggars on street. I am impressed. Somehow these people from Europe or US, they begin to travel when they are young. I start to think what I was doing when I was 20. I did travel. But not so bold and adventurous. perhaps our parents had over protected us. I think this attitude reflects to the value and behaviors of us when we turn to be adults.   The next morning, we had typical Vietnamese breakfast as recommended by the Irish friend. Banana hotcake. I ordered Vietnamese tea with it. The tea is much lighter than Oolong tea. Still good. We spent a lot of time in breakfast, and chatting and finally time to say good bye. he is heading to Bangkok and transfer to London.. Me later had to catch up with my flight back to Singapore.   Before the taxi came to pick me up. I went to the well-known cafe operated by Taiwanese called Tamarine Cafe in Ma May Street. It was in the middle of the old quarter and very easy to find. Mixed of Chinese and French decoration. I can feel something home in that cafe. A cafe of mixture of Chinese and French style interior. Free wireless internet - that is very advanced in Hanoi. Nice drinks and cozy coaches.They even have a travel help desk insides, travelers can find local tour package information there. I wonder why so many western tourists know about the travel agency inside of a cafe. Anyway Tamarine is another nice cafe in Hanoi I would recommend.   Overall speaking, I like my journey in Hanoi and Halog Bay. People are much more friendly than I expected. We didn't encounter too much fraud. Only once in the taxi and we quickly noticed that. we paid 2/3 of the fare and the taxi driver complained though didn't give us any threat. Basically this is a safe country to travel. To my own opinion and also some of the friends met in the trip people are nicer compared to some of those in Bangkok. . It is still a poor country and maybe has serious jobless as I found that so many people working for a simple function in the store that acutely duplicates the labor resource. And agriculture is still a main income of them. I have not seen an endless field of rice farm and so many cows for years. The scene seems to only seen in TV. Though I believe that someday it would grow with the low cost of labor & materials and their hard working.. And the close to China someday may bring them benefit and fortune.   Good to visit Vietnam finally I think. If there is a chance I shall visit their largest city in Ho Chi Ming. That is where the most foreign companies are investing. in.