i'm living in Edinburgh

which I love. The home of the Scottish enlightenment, where Adam Smith is interred.

This is my street, after the first of the snow "episodes" from about mid November.

back on it...lah

yep, i'm blogging again...seems like a decisive point, so, why not. I've been suppressed for 7 months in Singapore, quite apt, given the political situation here, I'm not going into that in any more detail, I still have to leave the country today, so don't want to get stopped at immigration control :P

taking off to London, via Abu Dhabi tonight, about 7 hours to AD, 3 hours sitting around changing planes, then another 7 hours to Heathrow...catching up with a cousin and a brother, then on to Holland, catching up with some peeps up there...then on to Edinburgh around the 25th, in time to start the new job on August 30th...and, more importantly, catch the tail end of the Edinburgh Fringe :D

So, if you're reading this...good, secondly, consider Edinburgh as a holiday destination, at least you'll know one person there, and I'd be more than happy to host you and show you around...

the "lah" reference - that's what the people round these parts tack on the end of a sentence, it's catchy...take my word for it ;)

what we're not

i've had a good dose of thinking i should be something else for the past 6 months. lots of other things

that can only mean trouble. mostly pain, struggle, using energy...

it went like - i was hearing things from someone i was close to...and taking them negatively every time - then i'd spend a great deal of effort digesting that information, justifying myself, telling myself i was not like that...

sometimes the things weren't intended to be negative, but i managed to take them that way...

so, now...appreciate the lessons, practise and reflect...

a final thought - life seems to make us experts in what we're not...what about dropping all that and being who we actually are? hmmm

Venezuela

...first South American travel experience...some lessons

1. know what the currency is doing - in this case the Bolivar Fuerte (Bf), which replaced the Bolivar as of Jan 1, 2008 - essentially taking the Bolivar and dividing it by 1000, since there were 100 000 Bolivar notes and the like...i guess at that point the currency gets kind of meaningless. The Bf has an official (2Bf to 1USD and 3.5 Bf to 1EUR) and a black market rate - 5Bf to 1USD and 7Bf to 1EUR...so, cash does talk and, with a good rate on the black market, you can effectively halve the cost of your travels...we were only stocked with about 1.5 week's worth of cash, so pretty quickly had to find an alternative...more on that later

2. get organised - we were "organised" for the first 2 nights...and then it was kind of seat of the pants stuff. this approach is ok if you kind of know the country...but not so good when you are hearing stories about the country being unsafe

so, to start out we checked in ok with Iberia...but then had to run for the gate and i was stopped and asked some questions about travelling to South America and Venezuela due to the drugs coming out of that region...a flight down to Madrid...then another to Maiquetia near Caracas...and we were in Venezuela...with a few tips from other people on the flight about where to go, to stay safe and what black market currency rates we could likely get

we found our transfer guy from the hotel catimar pretty quickly, in amongst screaming fans of someone...off to wait for other hotel catimar guests and have our first experience with cambia (money changing)...Serafine is much better at negotiating than me...much, much, much better - so i tried to keep a poker face as Serafine talked the guy up from 6 Bf to 1EUR, to 7...which we found out later was a very good rate at the time...we changed 200EUR while another hotel guest, from the Canary Islands...a native spanish speaker, with good english - a combination we found to be valuable, but very rare in the country

out into the transfer truck and a warm evening, through heavy friday night traffic and to our hotel near the beach...around 7pm, after the sun had gone down...the beach area was full with cars, loud music and drinkers...we checked in pretty smoothly, into a very small room with a tiny window...we crashed on the night of Nov 20th...then woke up round 9 on the 21st to a beautiful day and disappointing beach, small beach area, plenty of litter, but nice in the water...the highlight for me was probably dinner on the second night - seafood rice, kind of like paella...i couldn't stop eating the stuff, and they served us heaps and heaps

2 nights in that environment...then what?...that was where the lack of planning kicked in and we were suddenly out at Maiquetia Nacional Airport to plan on the fly (pardon the pun)...we had a nice option to fly to Punto Fijo, but then realised that if I paid with my credit card we'd be going with the official rate...we also wanted to change some more euros and were on the verge of getting 7.1Bf to 1EUR and negotiating a 700Bf taxi ride to Punto Fijo - out on the Paraguana Peninsula...so the flight fell through, the changing fell through and the taxi fell through...so we decided to go to Maracay, west of Caracas...a taxi from the airport to all of the Caracas bus terminals uncovered zero spots on buses going to Maracay...so, we opted for a bus to Valencia, west again from Maracay and a bargain at about 40Bf each ticket...

Valencia doesn't feel like a nice city though...we arrived there at about 430pm...we had a quick look around the bus terminal for options to get out the next day...then tracked down our bags and a taxi...the bus trip to Valencia was quite good...and we decided on the Hotel Diamante on the way...a not so great choice - it was close to a very rough downtown and felt a bit like a fortress and the spaghetti bolognase bore little resemblance...to much that is edible (Lonely Planet has a lot to answer for re Accommodation guidance, Diamante and Casa Lucetia in Porlamar are not even close to their LP write up)...but i digress

we were super keen to get out of Valencia and grabbed a cab the next morning, back to the Bus Terminal, hearing from the taxi driver along the way that buses to Punta Fijo wouldn't start until later in the afternoon - another lesson learnt - trust between 40 and 80 percent of what you hear, or what you think you hear - we had all kinds of fun trying to talk and understand spanish, Serafine is much more proficient than me, thankfully...when we got to the bus station we found...or got found, by a guy organising a car to go to Coro/ Punto Fijo, at 70Bf per person...we thought about it for 10 seconds and decided to go for it - they needed 2 more people to go ahead with the trip, they got one and we were off on the road...another good road trip, dropping the other passenger off at Coro and Serafine getting some advice on good places on the Paraguan Peninsula...turns out Adicora had a better set of Playa (beaches) than Punto Fijo..but, at the juncture to either go to Punto Fijo (34km) or Adicora (25km), the taxi driver says it will cost an extra 20Bf to take us to Adicora instead of the agreed Punto Fijo...i lost it a bit then - the guy wants to charge us more, to take us less distance...so we agree to stick with the original plan and head to Punto Fijo and then to Adicora...

we asked the taxi driver to take us to the promising sounding Hotel ????

which, turned out to be the best accommodation so far, in terms of quality and comfort BUT, it was in the middle of nowhere, being south east of the city itself and a 20Bf taxi fare from anywhere...but, it had a pool and casino, 2 restaurants and...it seemed, they could change cash for us at black market rates...which bought on a round of us trying to explain the concept - we'd pay them in USD, they'd give us Bf at black market rates...which didn't turn out to be the case when i checked out my bank statement...luckily they only gave us 1200 Bf, costing me about 500 AUD...live and learn

we relaxed by the pool...had dinner and breakfast in the over airconditioned restaurant and probably relaxed for the first time on the trip...coz we were off to Adicora for at least a couple of days on the beach, which was a relaxing prospect...

so, taxi to Adicora and 100 Bf later, we're checking into the Posada Casa ??? The first real Posada we've stayed in...on the Northern side of a small peninsula that juts out from the main Paraguan peninsula...with the entrance not 5 metres from the sea...it looked really good, and it was, but the mosquitoes loved Serafine, as they did for the whole trip, while they kept away from my hairy arms and legs and apparently not tasty Australian blood!?

Adicora then took over as the most relaxed place we'd been...especially after Raffie told us that the area is ultra keen on tourism...even going so far as imposing martial law on thieves who target tourists. Raffie's a Venezuelan who left the country in 1981 i believe, to work on luxury yachts as a chef...he sure loves his food. Raffie's looking to set up a kite surfing business with Pachi, a real local in Adicora, who sometimes works as a computer technician and sometimes as a kite surfing business owner who is listed in Lonely Planet. We had a couple of nice meals with them...tho don't go to Adicora if you don't like fish - local fresh fish dominates a lot of menus...i had fried fish eggs one morning, which was supposed to help me in a similar way to viagra...didn't have a chance to bust that myth. Swimming in Adicora was in nice, warm Carribean water, though there were a lot of stray dogs, who liked Serafine (the feeling was not reciprocated) and even some crabs who liked Serafine, one latched on to one of her toes at the dinner table outside the Posada...looking back we probably stayed a day too long in Adicora before getting on a local bus to Coro, where we had planned to spend a day or 2

that planned was trumped as we were at the bus station, a new plan came to light - jump straight on a bus to Merida, thus missing out on Coro and Maracaibo. From what we heard later that turned out to be a good plan - Coro was nice, but not for more than half a day and Maracaibo should be avoided all together - according to a couple of sources

so, we had an unexpectedly pleasant day at the Coro bus terminal - sitting in the cafe, having some food, planning the rest of our itinerary...we were feeling good..until we got on the bus at 7pm that night...it was freezing...another lesson - it's good to overpack for warmth on those buses. Serafine was literally freezing - i wasn't any better off...and we were half an hour in to a 9 hour bus trip, overnight! Serafine and a few others complained to the bus driver a few times to turn the AC down...which resulted in him, after our food stop, to come and threaten to turn the AC UP, if anyone else complained. It was RIDICULOUSLY cold - we used seat covers, paper..anything for insulation. We got to Merida with about half an hour sleep and feeling mightily peeved off with the world, completely ruining our good mood when we got on the bus

Merida is breathtaking - sitting on a plateau in the Andes, we chilled out (probably a bad choice of words - more like thawed out) at the Merida bus terminal, with a Brazilian guy - Martin M, who we'd met before we got on the bus. We split a taxi into the centre and went looking for Posada Casa Sol at 730am...i was totally disoriented and moody after not having slept, but at least Serafine's sense of direction was on - we found the BEST posada and one of the best places I have ever stayed (Posada Casa Sol). Off one of the main streets in the centre of Merida, it's run by 2 Swiss folks who bought the house, I think around 8 years ago, simple rooms, really well fitted out, clean...where they made us feel comfortable straight away, especially good after the bus ride from Hell

we got out for a walk around town...checking out the awesome views out into the mountains, doing some shopping at a sunday market and appreciating how clean the city is..especially compared to the other parts of the country that we'd seen up until then...Venezuela is a really beautiful country but they don't know what to do with rubbish - or they do know what to do - drop it where you are

we met a guy called Ysaac - an American/ Venezuelan, who indicated that he'd be able to help us out with some cash change - at pretty decent black market rates, using Paypal, of which I'm a registered member...Ysaac's well placed to cater to tourists - speaks excellent, if American, English, and Spanish, he's young and technologically savvy

the biggest tourist drawcard in Merida is the Telefirico, which is a great idea - extensive cable car system from near the town centre up into some of the mountains in the Andes surrounding the town...but, it's been out of action for a couple of years - it's kind of symbolic of tourism in Venezuela - a great idea, but badly maintained with no real planning to it...so, to get to the villages previously serviced by the Telefirico you now have to get transport to the villages and do some hardcore trekking - the villages are consequently suffering in terms of the number of tourists

a few of my decisions around travelling were...let's just say ill advised..or more to the point, ill conceived...to name the most prominent - spending an extra day in Adicora - we'd seen all there was to see, but stayed one day too long...staying an extra day in Merida - too much of a good thing - we had a great time in Merida but stayed that extra day too long...taking a car ride from Merida to Caracas - I thought we'd get to see some more of the country, but we chewed up a whole day and the drive wasn't really worth it

it worked out pretty well though - Ysaac drove us from Merida to Caracas, which took about 10 hours...and we met up with Thomas Berry at a bus terminal in Caracas. Thomas organised our Canaima/ Angel Falls tour for us and had all of our tickets and permits ready for us when we met up with him...plus loads of advice and some good homespun Venezuelan philosophy - Thomas went to Venezuela when he was a baby (with his parents) and grew up there - his english is perfect, as is his venezuelan/ spanish and he's married to a venezuelan soap star - my favourite quote of Thomas was, when he got asked about how the 2008/ 2009 Global Financial Crisis was affecting Venezuela, he said that Venezuela is always in crisis, so they hadn't noticed a difference - interesting guy with a dry sense of humour

...so, after a couple of hours waiting at the terminal, we got on our bus to Cuidad Bolivar, where we were to be met by a local guy who'd take us to the airport, for our light plane trip to Canaima, where our tour would start - all that went according to plan...except that we arrived at 4.30am and our pickup was meeting us at 6.30am - so a couple of hours "relaxing" in the pre dawn at Cuidad Bolivar bus terminal...before our pickup picked us up and got us on the way

the light plane was a 6 seater, including the seat for the pilot, but a pretty smooth flight out to Canaima, where we bought our national park permits and then kicked back to wait for our local guide to come and meet us...our group arrived in ones and twos, until we were all there and Churun, our guide, took us off to camp, where we had an hour to go swim in the Canaima Lagoon before lunch and an afternoon tour

the area is naturally spectacular - the camps at Canaima are right on the lagoon, which sources it's water mainly via 3 waterfalls, including the immense Hacha Falls, and, further up Salta Angel (Angel Falls). The afternoon tour included a boat trip to Hacha Falls, a walk behind Hacha Falls, then a walk overland through some bushland and a swim in a small lagoon and water fall. All this water eventually ends up in the Orinocco River...

back to the camp for a sunset walk around the Lagoon...a few disappointing things about the tour - the food - they've got this awesome natural area with perfect growing conditions and they have mass produced, crappy food...

overnighting in dorms, up for breakfast then a wait before taking a bus up to the top of the falls into Canaima Lagoon and a powered boat trip up towards Salto Angel...the boat trip was great and unexpected - some really tight and rough rapids...about a 4 hour trip, punctuated with lunch about half way and we reached the drop off point to Salto Angel - the face of Salto Angel faces south west, so, by the time we got to the base at about 2, the sun was past the top of the falls - i'd recommend trying to get up there in the morning if you go - that way you'd get the sun directly on the falls in all their glory...their glory is also influenced by how much rain has fallen at the top of the falls - the water collects on top of Tepui - flat topped mountains - one of the things the area is famous for. Story has it that Jimmy Angel - an American pilot, crash landed his plane at the top of the falls and spent 12 days making his way from the top to the base - to get help from the locals...later, he was telling his story in Caracas (I believe) to a cartographer who offered to go back to the falls and measure their height...somehow the venezuelens managed to call it Angel Falls...and guide's reckon that Hugo Chavez will soon rename it..Chavez Falls...though that might be too much of an omen for his presidency?! haha

a night in hammocks in a pretty basic camp...again, would have been nice to have a camp fire and cooked over it...then a much quicker trip down river to the big camp...

we had a flight booked back to Cuidad Bolivar and then an overnight bus trip back to Caracas...Then a flight to Isla De Margarita...

BUT, there was a plane on the runway that would go direct from Canaima to Isla De Margarita = brilliant! But, it was a big chunk of our remaining cash...we did some quick sums and it was a goer...the bonus was a takeoff and short detour out over Angel Falls from Canaima airport...then an hour and a half up to Isla De Margarita...then we bought our tix to Caracas at the airport then a quick taxi ride to Porlamar - the biggest city on Margarita, but not the capital...and our second questionable LP recommendation - Posada Lutecia - it had a decent, but very small pool and a decent rooftop bar area...but the rooms were old, dirty..but, probably the most important thing to us at that stage was CHEAP, unfortunately not cheap and cheerful, just cheap...

porlamar does, however, have a beautiful beach..and a Mercantil Bank - where we were to get the rest of our cash that we'd transferred to Ysaac - we had a cheque for 5000 Bf - enough for 1.5 weeks travel...we found the bank, had a very average seafood grill, spent a nice afternoon at the beach and had a drink with the Urugyan, french speaking barman...also had a great pizza in there somewhere and a couple of surprisingly good nights sleep...

then, to the bank on the Monday morning...turned out to be a partial bank holiday. we discerned from a local sitting out front of the branch we went to...but there was another branch just out of town, by bus...luckily the bus came past as we were discussing options and our local friend told us to jump on - so we did, not entirely convinced we were on the right bus...with our eyes peeled for the branch, Serafine heard from another passenger that it was a bank holiday, so we were unlikely to find the branch open - a cash disaster for us...

but, on hearing that we were driving through a bank area of the city...so we decided to jump off, fortunately right outside a Mercantil branch, fortunately, which was open, despite most of the other banks in the area being closed...

20 minutes in a queue and the teller tells us that we can only cash a cheque for 4000 Bf...if we wanted to get 5000 Bf out, we'd need to get the person who wrote the cheque to write out 2 cheques...

But, Ysaac was in Merida - about 15 hours away...

so we pleaded...the teller asked the Bank Manager, who approved the 5000Bf withdrawal...and we were walking away with more cash than you should sensibly be seen with on a Venezuelan Street..safely tucked away in my backpack, we were ready to head to our next destination - Playa El Agua on the North East Coast of Margarita...

and, bingo, beautiful beach...but

we'd made a booking on a 3rd party website at the Hesperia Playa El Agua Hotel...which hadn't quite made it through to the Hesperia...so they wouldn't acknowledge the 320 Bf/ night booking...but Serafine wouldn't have that...and was on the phone with the website we'd booked through...was working the bloke in reception...and it paid off - we ended up with 2 nights @ 400 Bf/ night, thanks to Hesperia, no thanks to the 3rd party website - another lesson - be careful about the third party web sites...however, Agoda in Asia is a really good site in this category...

finally, we were checked in, got a dip in one of the 7 pools and started enjoying the all inclusive - 3 resaurants, cocktails from 11am...

and enjoying Playa El Agua - some good surf, a nice long beach..the Venezuelans there didn't really do surf though, most folks were keen to get out up to their thighs...and if you tried to go out any deeper - to where the waves were breaking, an overzealous whistleblower would dissuade you...and, if he wasn't around, an unofficial lifeguard - a mid 50's masseuse, who looked like she'd spent a good portion of her life on the beach, unprotected by suncream...imperiously let fly with her whistle on whoever got too far out into the surf on her watch

we got online and booked 3 more nights there in a better room, for a lower price - via the Hesperia offical website...and spent a few days warding off beach vendors, enjoying the all inclusiveness of the resort and, finally for me, getting a surf out at El Agua - even though i had no paddling fitness, it was great to get out in the surf again after a looooong time off...

then, a taxi ride back to the Margarita airport...a quick plane trip back to Maiquetia Nacional Airport...then some "negotiating" for a taxi - where we paid the 100 Bf asking price in the end, to the Hotel Ole Caribe - perched atop a hill in Mercator

a comfortable but ageing hotel and a decent nights sleep...lazy breakfast by the pool...then a real early transfer to the internacional airport - to huge queues...weird - we were lined up for nearly 2 hours, but by the time we got to the front of the queue, there was no queue left, so we could have had another 2 hours near the pool

we cleared passports...with 500 Bf still in our pockets - a bit ironic after all the struggles we had for cash along the way - some turbo shopping...then rush for the gates - for the flight to be 45 minutes delayed...and off we went, back towards Madrid

Cash - know the best way to get your hands on local currency - if it's by the blackmarket - make sure you've got enough hard currency, or the means make the exchange

Get a decent itinerary - it doesn't have to be minute perfect, but it should be to a good level of detail and..have 3 alternative itineraries
Negotiate - ask what the price is, what their best price is, then go in with half the price

don't fight it...

yep, they kicked me out of NL - as an aussie i'm allowed 90 days out of 6 months in schengen area countries in the EU...the company i was working for kept extending my contract, which was initially 3 months...saying that i'd be ok to stay past the 90 days...right up until the 90 days was about to expire, then their position changed so i had to get out quickly - within 3 days of meeting with their HR department. not great news when you've started seeing someone - that kind of knocked the wind out of those sails...so i jumped on the Eurostar train from Brussels Zuid station, through a bit of France, under the English Channel tunnel and got off at the first stop in the UK - Ebbsfleet, to be picked up by Benny and Poppy - Lou was out on a Hen's night for Nicole...

a couple of nights near Strood, then a bus with Benny up to London, tube out to Heathrow, Singapore Airlines business class out to Singapore...and here i've been for the past 5.5 weeks

Don't Fight It - the name of a song from The Panics latest album, which i'm finding a bit of comfort in at the moment - and which may end up being a Dirty Scooter Crew cover in the next couple of years - basically the way i take the lyrics is - there's invisible things in your life that you end up fighting against with your emotion and energy, but that can be exhausting...and i've been fighting for the past 5.5 weeks and i'm exhausted - letting it go and realising it feels kind of energising

...and another line which i'm quite liking - "with God as my witness" - not going to make any pronouncements about converting to this or that...but it also kind of helps when i think of my actions under the notice of someone who knows everything but won't judge me - bringing my actions/ thoughts/ emotions into the light helps too

where does that all leave me...in Singapore for another 6 days then heading North to the UK and then Venezuela til mid December...then ?????????????????????

Don't fight it :)

crossroads...Gent/ Belgium...they're gonna kick me out...

i'm now coming up to the end of my contract...and my Schengen visa here in NL...i'm not really sure what's next...options = UK to Guatemala to UK, UK, India, Australia, Singapore or more time in NL...this will all get sorted, one way or the other, or the other in less than 3 weeks...

since my last post, my middle bro Benny, his wife Louise and my 6 month old niece Poppy Mae came for a visit over the UK Bank Holiday weekend...we spent some good time in my flat here in The Hague...a great day in Amsterdam with the highlight the Van Gogh museum - with around a third of his original works and great info on his life and contemporaries...with a brilliant research program which is uncovering more and more info on his life

since then there's been some a heap of work...but some good times with people from the project - a load of Aussies - Ash from Melbourne, Mary from Adelaide...then the locals - Serafine and Melajnia from Belgium, Dirk from Germany, Charl from South Africa...most of them are in the previous post from the Limoncello session

Serafine and I have had a few sessions swimming in the North Sea...i didn't realise when i agreed to go swimming that she's an ex Belgian national champ, with a great tan...next to the fluouresent white Aussie, it's pretty funny...and Serafine dropped me in Gent last weekend, on her way out to Tunisia. Gent's a beautiful city in Belgium, some amazing buildings and such a cozy atmosphere...the weather was turning - good enough to have some good strolls round the city, but cool enough for cozy evening beers in some great old pubs...one i went into was almost completely dark - not sure if the power was out or they were aiming for ambience - it was nice either way :)

the train back to Den Haag, via Antwerp and Rotterdam is great...for someone who loves cities it's nice to spend time or pass by some of these great European ones...

now, back in Den Haag, working...with 3 weeks til my visa expires and wondering where my next stop will be :)

just add limoncello...

...and forget the rest. the NL summer evenings are great for dinner, so some folks from the project I'm on are taking off once/ week to enjoy it while it lasts...

this week was Limon - a tapas place in one of the more expensive parts of town. i was keen to get out, we're in full on training mode at the moment, so busy, stressful...there was a break in the schedule last wednesday...a couple of beers, nice food, surrounded by Belgians and Dutch, not having much idea about what was being said...there were a few aussies there...

i should have stopped at a couple of beers...but it's so easy to keep going with daylight til after 10pm...next stop was an italian place that we've been to a couple of times...and my first experience of limoncello...probably my last...like my photo, things got a bit hazy after that :)

Scheviningen

...yeah, i still can't say it properly either :) It's the beach most easily accessible from Den Haag on the North Sea, or Nord Zee as these Dutch folk say...I've been down there a couple of times, on the right day it's so nice that it seems like half of Holland gets down there. I caught the number 9 tram down there from Centraal, out to Scheviningen along Nieuwe Parkplaan then walked up to Westbroekpark - a massive, beautiful parkland where the other half of Holland comes on a nice day. The tram was crammed full, so was Nieuwe Parkplaan...but it's worth it for the beach and the late evening sunsets over Nord Zee to the west...

BHP Billiton First XI

...working here in the Hague with BHP Billiton, a big mining company with Australian (BHP) and South African (Billiton) roots. they have a team in a local cricket competition played after work in the long Dutch summer evenings once/ week. I met one of the aussies organising in the lifts when I first started here and last night I made my debut. Our team was made up of Aussies and South Africans...and Eric Smuts Senior and Junior...Eric Sn works with me, Eric Jn is his 10 yo son, who's a young star in the making

We played at Voorburg Cricket Club, a really well maintained ground on a perfect evening...despite having 10 players, we got up for a win in a 20 overs/ team format. I added about 16 with the bat before being bowled by a slow, straight one and did pretty well at mid off in the field...

afterwards the other team put on Heinekens and a bit of tucker...brilliant!

jetlag, sleeping in and big splifs

...a really comfortable flight over from Houston to Amsterdam - funny thing about the US, they make a huge fuss about you getting in to the country, but make it exceptionally easy to leave...maybe not so funny really...

5 days after my flight, i'm back in my Dutch groove...last 2 days i've slept in til about 11 - combination of the jet lag and a hectic few weeks of joining the project, getting up to speed with what's going on, delivering training and travelling a quarter of the way round the world...it all caught up with me this weekend...

i went up to a really cool courtyard cafe for coffee yesterday...there were these 2 blokes at the end of my street (Nieuwe Molstraat), both coughing heaps...one moreso than the other, they were passing a huge joint between themselves - middle of a busy street, round midday on a Saturday...up in Amsterdam on Friday night was the same deal - someone pulls out a joint and fires it up. Amsterdam was pumping - it is Pride weekend and the city was really warming up to it...it was my first night out in Amsterdam, definitely not the last - i jumped on the train at Den Haag Holland Spoor, and, half an hour later I was at Schiphol, to meet a friend of a friend I'd made in Mysore...then another train to wander round the city...back home by midnight...then a couple of massive sleep ins...and now...Sunday coffee, followed by some Sunday arvo yoga...then work looks a lot slower for the next couple of weeks...

i'm 1 month into a 3 month contract...no indication yet as to if the contract will be extended - everyone's way too busy to try to meet the go live date = 1 September, it's now August 2, and the project's launch has been delayed twice...when they're spending US$1 million/ day on this thing, delays are quite costly...so busy and stressful...

given all that, i'm not sure where i'll be next, tho the FOF i met in Amsterdam said Diwali is on in India in October...and our German manager is suggesting Oktoberfest as a celebration for getting through our work...could be a very good couple of months :)

ciao Houston

at the KLM lounge on the way out of Houston. bought some sunnies at the duty free store, the lady there was not so friendly. i'm trying not to take these personally, find that when i get to a new place i'm very inclined to take things personally...til i get into some kind of comfort zone...

on the bright side i then met a very nice girl who loves her job, who works in the KLM lounge...so, what's the answer to being happy?

i'm happy to be heading back to The Hague. Eric and I were booked to head out to Capital Grille last night. A return trip after Eric had the best steak he's ever had there. I must admit to eating more red meat than i have in ages. My vegetarian exploits ended about a year back.

Instead, we ended up at Houston's with a bunch of other folks from the project. some serious workaholics in that group.

I'm sticking to my guns on the quality front...despite my gen y friend Alex's opinions on the consequences of quality...maybe that's part of what makes me happy

i know, a random, ill conceived post...but that's me today :)

rockin out in Houston, Texas

after landing in Den Haag and getting relatively settled...off to Houston for a week of training some of the guys over here...this kind of random changes in schedule makes my head spin a bit, and, i'm usually more comfortable with order and routine, but this trip has surely tested my ability to handle pressure, adapt to a new environment...each time those boundaries are tested, i think they're also widened a bit...but then again, who wants their boundaries always tested??? is that some kind of masochistic attempt to distract myself from other areas of my life? sometimes i think the answer is most definitely yes...but...

I landed in Houston and caught a taxi to the hotel...my initial impressiions were of the warm weather, signs for the weekend gun show downtown and the laid back nature of the people here...then again, in most restaurants there are signs warning that unlicensed gun carriers can be punished with 10 years jail and a huge fine...how can such laid back people need guns so much?

the work's been quite good...i feel underprepared, tho that's how i often feel...the combination of not good enough training material and not enough time to prepare make the delivery not quite as good as it should be...not looking for perfection, but i think these folks deserve better...on so many jobs over the past few years, these symptoms have been widespread...maybe that's the next revolution - to quality? i like quality

rocking out? a guy from work and i had been talking about how we like to play a bit of guitar - so, at Best Buy last night we went to the acoustic guitar testing room and jammed a bit...it was the most fun i've had since the DSC in Mysore...funny though, coz the room's virtually soundproof, so there was this South African guy and I (Reuben Aldum), playing along, for as long as we liked while no one could hear us...heaps of fun

couple of days and i'm back on a plane to Den Haag, which I'm really looking forward to...tho, after just reading my mate Bec's blog...don't look too far forward, the good stuff's going on now :)

lost in translation/ india & dutch mashup

this post has 2 parts, instead of breaking it up into 2 posts...

pt 1 - lost in translation
coming to the netherlands and looking like a local means that i get approached with folks speaking dutch to me - a lady at a cafe asking me what my lunch was...a bloke parking his bike behind me, telling me that I didn't need to move out of his way...people serving in stores. what's interesting about The Hague is the mix of people - Ive seen just about every representation of cultures here, all speaking Dutch, so the default is to speak Dutch...unlike India where I don't look Indian, so the default is whatever English the local can manage...

...something i bought over from India is the Indian head wobble, present in every conversation i had towards the end of my time there - consisting of a side to side and forward and backward motion of the head, it can mean - yes, no, maybe, thankyou, i'm not sure, i don't understand what you're saying, of course, don't be silly, congratulations, excellent, you're welcome, as reassurance that it is so...meaning, you can come away from a conversation feeling totally confused as to the conclusion. BUT, towards the end of my time in India, I was starting to get it - using my own head wobble to the correct effect, depending on the tone of the conversation, in conjunction with a facial expression to convey an unspoken message...however...

when translated into an office environment in The Hague, it didn't quite translate...someone asked me a question, which i answered with a yes and head wobble as reassurance, leaving the other person a bit bewildered, thinking maybe that i had some kind of nervous tick...

back to the office...like any other office, but i do enjoy the work..and my time in India has made the time in the office infinitely more bearable - some of the things i picked up from practising, the length of the time i had off...have refreshed me somewhat..and the prospect of heading back and taking a similar break soon makes the office more palatable as well...looking at the people in front of the computer screens, with shallow, impersonal interactions is a bit disheartening though...

i've found a permanent place to stay - well as permanent as 3 months worth anyway, pretty close to the hotel i'm in at the moment - just off downtown, in chinatown. nice walk to the office and a tram out to yoga and the beach

back to mysore - my last week was a real blur, though i got to say short or long goodbyes to most folks...and enjoy most of my time...i think i've still got some mysore words left to post...right now though i'm off to get a tram to a 915 yoga class - the dutch aren't really early risers, specially on a sunday - though some folks just rolled into the hotel, still primed after a night at the clubs and abusing the reception guy for champagne...

the ridiculous to the sublime

i'd meant to be in Mysore until my visa almost expired - July 9th, but then i started looking for work...and, one of my contacts came through - big time. I had an interview on Monday, the 22nd of June for a SAP training job in Den Haag (The Hague), Netherlands. The interview took all of 20 minutes...an hour later BHP had offered me the 3 month contract...20 seconds later I accepted. I wasn't having a lot of response from the UK, so why not go where they actually wanted me...

one of the catches - they wanted me to start on June 29th - so scrambling for flights, visas, security clearances, contracts...details, details...so my last week in mysore was a bit of a blur. but i got to spend some good time with the Dirty Scooters and was blessed to spend my last couple of hours with Liz, Bec and Alex...leading up to that i'd been scooting round Gokulam - saying goodbyes, returning guitars, saying farewell to Saraswati - as it turned out my last practise at the Shala for this trip, I was in exactly the same spot as my first. The gates were opened late so there was a mad scramble for spots. I'd lost my regular front left spot, the only spare spot was centre at the very back

the ridiculous - the roads in India being total chaos - i had a driver take me from Siva's place to Bangalore airport - one of his 4 sisters had just been taken to the ER, so he was on the phone every 2 minutes of the 4 hour trip up to Bangalore...ridiculous is the amount of security at Bangalore airport. I don't mean ridiculous in a bad way - but in an over the top kind of way...

the sublime - arriving in Frankfurt airport - the epitomy of German efficiency.

the juxtaposition of India against Germany is pretty interesting. even though I was sad to leave Mysore, and earlier than I'd planned, I'm glad for the chance to keep travelling to new places as a reflection on my attitudes, emotions and habits - samskaras if you will - I know that's one of Liz's favourite yoga words ;)

the efficiency of Frankfurt? epitomised by the security screening - the plastic tubs that you put laptops, jackets, belts etc in, are automatically returned, bowling ball style to a guard standing at the front of the security section...the ergonomics and efficiency are seemless

Frankfurt to Amsterdam - 50 minute flight...then used my credit card to buy a first class train ticket to Den Haag. Turns out i sat in second class, which the guy checking the tickets pointed out, second class was fine with me. I used my debit card to withdraw some euros, which I've been using in Den Haag - after I found my hotel and crashed monumentally - i was absolutely spent after running round all week and getting about 5 hours rough sleep on the Lufthansa flight

the sublime - the urban planning of Den Haag against the ridiculous (in a good way), effervescent growth of Bangalore

i've got some Mysore words left, I think, but travelling again opened my eyes and senses and keeness to put some words in my blog :)

the perfect chai...

is one of the names that our band is going by at the moment...as artists, we're more concerned with the music than the name of the band...we might even go without a name...though the latest thinking on that is...the band is now called The Dirty Scooter Crew...

Dirty Scooter because we're gritty, down to earth musos = Dirty...also coz Bec and Liz reckon that Scooters are dirty, polluting machines...bec had a brilliant idea to call the backups = rickshaws, but Dirty Scooter Crew and the Rickshaws is too much of a mouthfull..so Dirty Scooter Crew we is...and here are some of the members in a Rickshaw on the way to Julian's 40th dinner at the Metropole;





our band includes bec (from Florida) and I on acoustic guitar, liz (from Florida) on backing vocals, tambourine and chai, nat (From Illinois and Mexico) on backing vocals and asking questions, alex (from Malaysia) on backing vocals and reading, hanuman (from ?) on human beatbox...and the latest additions, all the way from Norway = Elin and Lars - these guys are in a real band in Norway so they add a lot of class to the lineup

our favourite time of the week is Friday band practise, where the beers come out;


we cite our influences as Neil Young, Green Day, Concrete Blonde, Gomez, Tom Waits, Pink Floyd...and India - being the motivation for a lot of bec's lyrics

we reckon we're a couple of weeks away from gigging...which is what we've said for about the last month or so :)

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois - 1915 - 2009

...Guruji passed away on Monday, May 18 at 1430 Mysore time. Since I arrived in early April there's been rumours about his health - in hospital intensive care, out of hospital. Not taking food, only drinking milk...reciting death shloka...long time students coming to Mysore to pay maybe their last respects...Sharath coming back from a tour of the US... Manju coming to Mysore...

a new chanting course was scheduled to start at 1630, so Natalie and I went along to the Shala just before. There was a fire being built in the drive way and, when we went to go inside we got told something about "Guruji, not good..." then Natalie, Lee and I waited out the front to see what would happen. A local told Nat that this was a ritual performed for a death. We started to see visitors file into the shala...and in we went, after I'd asked Shiva what was going on. Rightly, he told me to take the jasmine off my scooter...in i went with Guruji's body in the middle of the marble floor of the Shala, surrounded by family, friends, students. This was the first time I'd seen Guruji in person. It seemed to me like I was intruding somehow, I'd never had a direct relationship with the man, moreso relationships with his teachings. So, I stayed for a short while and took in the atmosphere...and left to reflect a bit myself on what it all meant.

a group of us got together at 6th Main for dinner with a few rumours flying about what would happen as part of the funeral rites...what would happen at the shala...while this was going on a big rain storm was brewing, that lasted most of the night. Scooters and motor bikes cruised through a huge downpour, back to 6th, 7th and 8th where we all were staying... by the time we got back home after dinner, the first of the Pujas was going on in the basement of the Shala. The body was displayed while the mantras and rituals occurred...we were given dry rice to put somewhere on the body (a lot went in the mouth), I put mine near his heart...the body was moved to the back of a van then taken to the nearby crematorium...where, according to Pattabhi Jois Hindu caste, only men could be present at the final rituals before the body was burnt. From what I understand the body is burnt almost immediately as it is considered impure and the spirit, which has left the body must be encouraged to move on - a quote I just read says something about the astral body, or soul, or spirit, will linger as long as the physical body is visible - hence it is spiritually expeditious to burn the physical body...and so it was with Pattabhi Jois' body

last Sunday, the 31st of May, marked the end of the mourning period and associated rituals. White is the colour of mourning and the Shala and street outside were packed with Indians and foreigners paying their respects to Guruji's spirit. Inside the Shala, at the back of the room were a number of Brahmins chanting...again, I felt like a bit of an intruder...not being close with Guruji...but I'm beginning to appreciate that all manner of Indian ceremonies are attended by a wide group of people, sometimes with minimal association with the participants - weddings, house warmings, even funerals are attended by folks with very tenuous links...just like me. We were treated to a lunch served on banana leaves under the huge awning assembled out on the street in front of the Shala.

during the week leading up to the 31st there was a huge wave of visitors to attend the ceremony. that wave has subsided somewhat this week. The Shala's open for practise again next Monday, the 8th and, in an important way it will be different, but somewhat the same.

RIP Guruji

full moon weekend

the yoga practise is typically 6 days/ week, excluding full and new moon days. the past 2 "moon days" have conveniently fallen on Friday and Sunday, so we've had 2 day breaks - you get to stay up late - even to midnight! late nights when you're getting up at 4am to start practise at 5am are 9pm...well, for me at least...

A chess tournament was on the agenda on Saturday, May 9th. Jonathon organised it (Jonathon's practising Bheema Shakti yoga...i think that's right)...and had about 12 participants. Jon's first shot at organising meant that we ran a bit overtime. Donations were taken for Odamati - I think that's the spelling - an organisation aiming to stop people trafficking in the sex trade, especially children...the tourney was set in the sunny confines of Om Cafe at Alia's...



that night we took off to Planet X...x for extreme I guess - go karts, bowing, pool, hookah club...i took part in extreme dinner and a round of go karts;




after the extremity of Planet X, the serenity of sunrise at Chamundi Hill...meaning a 4.30am get up, riding the scooter through the unusually quiet Mysore streets with Sandra, also on a scooter, to the top of Chamundi Hill...to wait...until about 6am for this;


Chamundi Hill sits on the Eastern side of Mysore, so obscures most of the sunrise, by being at the top, Sandra, Carole and I got a great view of the sun...not breaking the horizon, but rising out of a blue haze. We could look directly at the sun for about 10 minutes before we were off to find the Nandi (the Bull which Shiva rides), about a third of the way up (or down) Chamundi Hill;



a very happy discovery has been the pool at the Regalis (Southern Star). a really cool oasis in amongst temperatures reaching 38C at the moment;



a very unhappy undiscovery was a yoga sutras discussion group...we were following an item from the local newspaper advertising a discussion group in Lakshimpuram...i'm developing a theory about Lakshimpuram that they have massive roadworks each night to entirely reconfigure the streets - each time I go there I invariably get lost



Big, Bad Ben from Texas left Mysore Tuesday, May 14th. Ben's got a great propensity when it comes to his food - both in terms of seeking out new dining experiences (you may remember from an earlier blog, Ben's sampled road kill) and the amount he puts away. As a fan of Flight of the Conchords he's always willing to give the kiwi iccent a go, as well as the aussie flavour. One of his last meals was at 3 sisters...here's one of Ben's Flight of the Conchords moments;



Carole the kiwi also left Mysore...parting usually involves meals...so we had a Friday night dinner at the Green Hotel, undercover due to the steady rain, bought to us by this storm;

Carole, like a lot of us, is already planning a trip back :)


my comfort level on the scooter's way up, so much so that I can now comfortably take passengers...Karnataka state traffic law limits passengers to a grand total of one. So, when I attempted to take Ben and Joe from the Metropole Buffet back to Gokulam, I ended up with a Rs 400 fine for my trouble. We got stopped at a traffic light, the rotund policeman ran over, whistle on fire and pulled my keys out. There are many instances of people seeing a law enforcer...and taking off, so when the Police catch somebody, they make sure they get something out of them. We did the right thing, including Ben and Joe insisting on an official ticket and not paying the Rs 300 the cop tried to write up on a scrap piece of paper...so back to the Police station, me driving with the traffic cop as my passenger, much to the amusement of me and everyone we passed, including rickshaw drivers laughing out loud...and the cop sitting way back on the seat and telling me "slow down, slow down". Back at the station I had an official ticket and the traffic cop telling me I was a gentleman, I assume because I was pretty cool about the whole thing

i know...another blogging montage :))

attack of the monkeys

there's a lot of monkeys around Gokulam, they seem to me to be liking the idea of an "organised" society, and maybe wanting to join in. there was one little guy up on our balcony, rummaging through a bag, looking very much like a small, agile human (or maybe that's just my view of the world and humans are just large, slow moving monkeys?)

up and down the street the monkeys were in various fun activities, the street being setup perfectly for monkey business - a lot of large trees providing a canopy of foliage for the entire street...why they turn up when they do is a mystery at the moment, at least to me. there's been a couple of days of heavy monkey action, one being two days back - they play happy mayhem with all types of monkey activity, including attempted procreation, for all of 20 seconds across the road in a tree...

i had some almonds that ants had gotten to, which proved the perfect temptation for a monkey photo shoot on our balcony. with eyes much bigger than stomachs, they'd keep coming for more and more almonds, until their cheeks bulged...here's some shots of the monkeys...

Mahadeshwara...

about 4 weeks ago, when I first arrived in Mysore, I went on huge walk...along the way Leah and I happened upon a Mahadeshwara temple, under construction. there were banners for the grand opening, occurring May 4th (international Star Wars Day), 5th and 6th. So, yesterday, Tuesday, May 5th, I happened along again, with Oden, to see what the grand opening was all about.

Mahadeshwara is an earthly incarnation of the Hindu God Shiva, who is said to have lived in the 14th century in an area including Mysore...who was manifest in order to destroy and evil king - Shravanusara...

Oden and I saw a puja being made to a column which was being erected out front of the main temple...I think the column is devoted to a Nandi...I can see why these occasions take days to perform - the Brahman priests were blessing every single part of the construction. I spoke with Andrew about it - the temple has been under construction since they arrived - last January - so about 15 months in the construction...this pic's of Mahadeshwara, on his Tiger. I like Shiva as a God, my take on Shiva, at the moment is that he/ she often takes the form of the destroyer - typically of ignorance, vanity and unhealthy aspects of the ego...with destruction a necessary part of cycles in life. One thing about this that I like is a lesson to not hold on to material things to much - they are transitory and continually subject to change...that's my interpretation at least...or part of it



this next shot's of the column going up...i can kind of see why there's a lot of accidents in India...there were at least 30 people way too close to the column, which had to weigh close to 2 tonnes...i was a safe distance back...



the kids loved the cameras...i was surprised there were only 3 at the event - Oden's, mine and a video camera...thinking I'll get a few shots made into prints and take them down to the temple.

blogging montage...

what to do when you haven't blogged for a few days? use that ol' Hollywood technique of the montage, you know, the part of the movie when they play music and the great drama in the movie is resolved...by a montage of images...

breaking up with your ayurvedic health practitioner...Lee and I signed up at Swastha, an Ayurvedic health clinic in Gokulam....Ayurveda is an ancient Indian system of health, a wholistic way of treating an individual's physical and mental health...I've read a bit about Ayurveda and, long term I'd like to read and possibly study a lot more...the Swastha clinic is run by a young Ayurvedic doctor, who puts together a program for yoga students/ active people...he had Lee initially agreeing to a 21 day program, which I got 7 days through. It consisted of daily massage with lots...and lots of oil, in the capable hands of 2 massage guys and then the good doctor would come in for some heavy massage work...about an hour's worth of massage, then hot, hot herbal packs prepared on the stove and tamped all over the body...too hot sometimes :) the whole routine challenged some of man/ man intimacy ideas i had, not that i want to jump the fence, but i feel a lot more comfortable being butt naked and lubed up in the presence of dudes...

aside from that...the treatment involved a steam chamber on day 4, which knocked the stuffing out of me...and then some castor oil ingested on day 6...which was a really effective treatment getting fully flushed out...BUT, along with yoga practise, it was a bit too much, so i resolved to finish after 7 days. this breakup went smoothly, I told Lee and Natalie that I was finishing after 7...and they actually broke the news to the doctor...a painless breakup for me. So back to the practise today (May 4th), with no Ayurvedic treatment - and a really strong practise. So much so, that Saraswati is having me start Salabasana on Wednesday - apparently no new posture day on Tuesdays

I went with Alex downtown - me keen on checking out Ashok's - a renowned book store in the city...Alex to pick up some tailoring from Rashinkar's - Ashok's is great - I picked up the 3rd Stephanie Meyer and a dictionary for scrabble at Santosha...

then off to Rashinkar's for Alex...who ended up engrossed, so I took off to try to find some ipod speakers in KT Street...i ended up in a section of the city where gold, silver and precious stone shops are clumped together...then there was a parade down one of the tiny side streets, and, for some reason having a westerner in the parade is good luck, so they pull me in for a bit of a dance - tho i'm not sure why they're parading, i go along for a bit, then opt out...a young local called Imran catches me asking for speakers, then offers to take me to KT street, along the way he tells me that he's from Goa, studying Ayurveda in Mysore. Imran's looking to finish his studies in Mysore then go back to Goa and open his own practise. Imran tells me about an oil factory that presses it's own sandalwood, lotus, hash, opium oil...i'm interested but some other time, not so much in the hash and opium, but some good, cold pressed oils would be great to get a hold of...finally, to KT street (electronic goods hub in Mysore) and the first store has a decent sub woofer and small speaker set - a brand called Frontech...for Rs 1300...I offer 1000, we agree on 1175 - i'm kind of getting the hang of this...the other notable interaction of the trip was lassi's at Bombay Tiffany's - very...very good...i had to take a second...

and yesterday, Sunday May 3rd, I was talking with a new arrival who I met at Om Cafe - James, from Hawaii via Singapore, about getting a guitar - he gave me good directions to a music store in the city, so after meeting up with Ben for a midday chai and mango crisp at Santosha, I took off on the scooter and badly followed James' direction, ending up instead at Chamundi Hill - definitely on my to do list, but a long, long way from my intended destination. Chamundi Hill sits imposingly over Mysore and I found myself riding along and somehow drawn to it, then up it...a local waved me down for a lift up the hill. If he'd known that I'm a newbie on the scooter he might not have waved me down...when we were pressed against the side of the road by a tourist bus going up the hill and overtaking us, he would have definitely been having second thoughts! I dropped him nearly at the top and rode on up...for a brief look around - reckon I'll be back this weekend for a betterer look round sunrise, when it's a bit quieter...

getting home was circuitous - i ended up on the road back to Bangalore, finally making my way back to Gandhi Square in the city, from where I'm now adept at getting back to Gokulam...where an afternoon Dosa, an afternoon Chaat, an evening ice cream and a game of Carrom with Elizabeth, Ben and Oden took place :)

which brings us to today, watch out for the next montage ;)