Penang – New World Heritage Site
Penangites rejoice! Our beloved Georgetown has been newly inscribed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Hopefully more funds will now be poured into its upkeep to maintain this honor.
The liberated Sri Lankan Tigers
Ok now I am really shitting in my pants. I am seriously reconsidering my initial decision to take on this trip to the ‘Teardrop of India’……..10 hours before flight time. Exotic, they told me which usually means backward and having only a leave to clean up after answering nature’s call. Been there done that in my halcyon days but at my age now? The world wide web is no help with its warning of blood thirsty warring factions and suicide bombers. Read this excerpt from the New Zealand goverment and weep.
There is an extreme risk to your security in the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka due to the fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan authorities. The northern area encompasses all areas north of the A12 road that runs from Puttalam in the west to Trincomalee in the east, including the Jaffna peninsula. The eastern area comprises the Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts as well as the coastal areas of the Ampara district north of Panama and east of the A25 and A27 roads. That includes the town of Ampara and Arugam Bay.
Elsewhere in Sri Lanka, there is high risk to your security as the situation is unpredictable. We advise against tourist and non-essential travel. In the capital, Colombo, bomb attacks caused deaths and injuries on 8 and 14 August 2006. In early January 2007, there were bombs on buses between Colombo and Kandy and Colombo and Galle. You should avoid areas where there are Sri Lankan military bases and where the military are operating, eg convoys, patrols. Be security conscious. Keep yourself updated on the situation by monitoring local media and follow any instructions issued by local authorities and security forces. The state of emergency declared by the government on 13 August 2005 remains in effect.
Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo was closed briefly on 26 March 2007 following an attack on the military base next to the airport.
Here’s hoping that I survive and see you guys and gals on the other side if I don’t!
Dirtiest cities in the world
Well thank heavens we are not in the list although sometimes I feel we should be!
http://greatsubjects.com/2007/05/15/worlds-dirtiest-cities/
A play
Went for a play in the Sydney Opera House this afternoon. The play “Holding The Man” was basically about 2 gay men who go through the usual stuff of meeting up, coming to terms with their sexuality, the disapproval of family and friends, contracting HIV, guilt and then death. Not a barrel of laughs but they did incorporate some humor in certain parts. The thing was quite predictable but still quite refreshing in its own charming way. The language can get coarse and there were a lot of onstage french-kissing between people of the same sex. There goes the hopes of the actors ever getting to stage their play in good old Malaysia!
It was surprising the number of people who came for the show at 1pm on a working day. It was mainly an older crowd but still a lot of thirtysomethings including moi. Sitting right beside me was a Singaporean who is working in Sydney. We had a good chat before the show. He was telling me that this play was quite hot when it first premiered in Sydney and how he could not get tickets earlier on. Well I had absolutely no problems buying my ticket on the spot this morning.
Took a 35 minute walk to the hotel after the show and am just amazed at how things are all connected in this city. The walk took me through well manicured lawns of public parks and beautiful old churches. The weather was great and the walk did not even register in my legs. Usually I would be beat after 15 minutes of walking under the hot sun in Malaysia. Being cut in half by the Equator really makes a huge difference.
Will be flying home tomorrow afternoon. Will miss this place but I can’t wait to get back to my Hainan Chicken Rice!
Borrowed time
When you are a tourist you know you are living on borrowed time. You are not meant to be here and yet you are; like a fish out of water. My 4th day in Sydney and I am trying to cram in as many tourist attractions that my little head can handle. Went on a whirlwind city and Bondi beach tour in an open air double decker bus. I hopped on and off quite a bit and you are permitted to rejoin the tour as often as you want in a 24 hour time-frame.
Bondi is a small stretch of beach compared to ours in Batu Ferringi but man is it well kept. The water is crystal clear and you can see a vehicle much like a road sweeper running lovingly over the sand to even out all the foot prints and trail marks left by both animals and humans. It leaves an immaculate layer of sand in its slow, lumbering wake. You can see that the beach is well cared for by all the taxpayers’ money.
Spent 2 hours there and then straight into the city. Spent another few hours hopping on and off the bus and then before I knew it, I was at the end of my tour. Tried out the microwave oven in my room by preparing a TV dinner of rice, bits of beef and (of all things) oysters and some instant soup. This can’t be good for me in the long run. At least I had my fruits to balance out all the toxins I am inviting into my body. After this its off to bed!
Sydney!
Internet access at last! Wow I had to go cold turkey for the past few days. I am now at an internet cafe in Sydney. How cool is that?!
Its been a hectic past few days, not to say anything about the stupid cold that I have battling even before I landed here. Its now reduced to an irritating dry cough which can get bad at night and leaves me with fitful sleep and a mild headache in the morning.
Well official business is over and I am free to roam the streets of Sydney. It was extremely hard to concentrate on the speaker during the conference with a view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge right outside the window taunting you. I and a couple of friends practically burst out of the hotel’s front door when the meeting was wrapped up.
The weather is lovely here although when we were at the wharf, the wind blowing in had a bite to it. We just basically just strolled along Circular Quay, pass the Harbor Bridge and the fabulous Opera House. Took some photos but unfortunately did not bring my cable for connecting to any pc. Must remember to upload them when I get home.
Moved out of the hotel this morning to another cheaper place seeing that my stay is only sponsored for 2 days. I am now officially emancipated from THE MAN! Yes! Was expecting a youth hostel environment but was pleasantly surprised just now. It is clinical and not very cozy but that’s the way I like it. Even comes with a microwave oven for all the TV dinners that I am going to eat. For me this is a first. A bit more space would have been great but for the price; can’t complaint.
Will update whenever I can. Until then I am going roaming!
mojave
about 7 years ago i found myself thousands of miles away from home looking out across the wide expanse of the mojave desert. every where i looked there was just sand, rocks, desert fauna and sky. i realised then that it was the very first time i have seen such a wide open space without a single man made structure in sight.
for the most part of my life i have lived on an island and during my student days in a cosmopolitan city. nothing in my past experience had prepared me for the physical sense of space that i was swimming in. travelling in a bus a few hours later, i suddenly noticed that there were actually people making their homes amidst the barren landscape. dotted across the sands were little wooden structures with largely redundant fences marking out imaginary boundaries. i imagine territories are pretty much a vague concept around these parts although looking at the maps available i realise that 4 states actually saw fit to mark their borders across this hostile but beautiful land.
i wonder how it would be to get lost in this arid land without hope of getting to civilisation. would it be the perfect end?
