Aftermath of Oswald

By Monday the rain had eased off considerably and the wind didn't seem gale force any more. It was a public holiday, but Wes, Nathan and myself were up early to get me to the bus station for 9 am as I was booked to go out into the NSW outback to see my cousin Pam. The bus company had been adamant they needed a contact phone number when I booked, an I gave them Nathan's number. We had not heard from them to say, the trip was cancelled, so set off expectantly with Wes as chauffeur. Alas on getting to the bus station all was cancelled, and very little information was to be had. As we got back into the car, the lovely Wes decided that he hadn't anything planned for the day so would try to drive me part way to get me on the other side of the flood zone around Ipswich, so we drove out cross the flat countryside as the Brisbane River ran eastwards. We seemed to make good timing and I enjoyed seeing a different terrain to the urban landscapes I had been experiencing. As we got to the Ipswich area fields were flooded and we wondered how wise we were, and what prospect the boys had of getting home after dropping me, but nontheless remained optimistic. It was just beginning to feel like we had beaten the system as we got on the eastern side of Ipswich when the side of Fire department trucks loomed across the road. The road was closed and we at the end of our adventure. We were allowed to get out of the car and take photos of the floods. It was obvious that it would be several days before that road was passable again, and I sadly accepted that I was not going to get to see Pam.

As we drove back to Brisbane, we realised that the chances of the boys getting back later in the day, had we made it through to Warwick were virtually zero. The water was still rising.

As we got into the suburbs of Brisbane Wes pointed out places of interest and shared his knowledge of local history with me. We drove to a beauty spot, and the highest peak overlooking the city, Mount Coot-tha, which is an indigenous word meaning 'place of honey'. Ithaca creek was really swollen and trees were down across several of the tracks, necessitating a change of direction for us on at least one occasion. The wind was strong, but it was so good to be outside after being cooped up over the weekend. The wind was warm, and not like the cold UK winds.

I treated the boys to a good Chinese meal for lunch and we then went to a supermarket to get a few bits – Aldi, which was pretty much like Aldi in UK but with far less deli products. The main 2 supermarkets in Queensland are Woolworths (nothing like our late departed UK store of the same name) and Coles. So refreshing not to find Tesco!!

In some ways not the most interesting day of my trip, but certainly not boring, and a day packed with friendship.

Oswald ruins Australia Day

Jan 26th is the anniversary of the first arrivals at Jackson Cove (later to become Sydney) from England, and hence the declaration of British Sovereignty.  Its celebrated as a public holiday and everyone celebrates being Australian with parties and big public firework displays.  As this year Jan 26th fell on a Saturday, there was an additional days holiday on the Monday.  Everyone  had there own plans for how to spend this long weekend.  it also marked the end of the long summer holiday break for schools, and the start of the new school year.  Being the southern hemisphere, this was the height of summer.  My family were going to celebrate by having a BBQ lunch at Jane's house on the Sunday.  I was looking forward to seeing everyone together.

Jane has a beautiful single storey house set in a garden of palm trees in the Riverhills district of Brisbane, with  pretty swimming pool and large covered BBQ area.  It was about 15 yrs since we had seen each other, and we had plenty of catching up to do.   The cry of the kookburras pierced the background sound from other birds, and the thunder of the heavy rain.  It really felt like I was in the middle of a rain forest. The TV informed us that it would rain heavily all weekend.  Jane and I set in for a weekend of chat.

As Saturday progressed, it became apparent that the cyclone had not lessened but in fact had picked up speed and was moving south.  It was no longer expected to not affect us.  The wind was bending the trees and the rain torrents were beginning to go sideways. Jane and I dug in further for more chatting and TV.

The weather didn't stop everyone getting through ion Sunday for the BBQ, which Nathan cooked in the covered area outside, and we ate inside. Good times.

TV informed us that most of the public celebrations for the weekend were cancelled, so there would be no fireworks.  Furthermore the airport was closed and 5 tornadoes had struck up the coast, and there was no knowing if they would strike us. We didn't need the TV to tell us things were getting worse, it was self evident.  Non the less Wes drove us back to town without incident as the rain continued sideways.  The next morning (Monday) I was due to go into the bush to stay 2 nights with cousin Pam in Emmaville.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmaville,_New_South_Wales

The Sunshine State

With regret I left Sydney for Brisbane.  On arrival, it was raining and the temp was around 25 degrees.  It wasn't unpleasant, but the rain was a bit heavier than I had expected. My 2nd cousin Nathan, who had stayed with me 3 yrs ago in Surrey was there to meet me and guide me back to his central apartment, that he shares with his lovely partner, Wes.  We laughed that Nathan had managed to even lay on English weather for me to make me feel at home, and settled down to a cuppa and catch up.  A few hours later when Wes got in from work the rain seemed to be set in.  We realised from the TV that rain would be a feature of the next few days as we were picking up the tail end of tropical cyclone Oswald, but there was no reaason to suspect anything extreme was about to happen.

It was so good to sleep on a soft bed that night and I slept well.  (Thailand seemed to be a land full of hard, but not uncomfortable, beds).  The next day Nathan escorted me into town to sort out tickets to visit my cousin Pam, which lies in the country about 260 miles away, and to show off the impressive south bank area of town.  My first impression was one of an extremely efficient public transport system. South bank was the arts focus of town and home to the Queensland Library complex, which houses so many different activity and interest centres. This is where Nathan used to work, and where Troy, who also stayed at my house in 2010, still works.  We had lunch with Troy and a couple of other friends.  It seemed like I had known Tania for ages, and that it was only yesterday that I last saw Troy.  Happy days!

The rain continued, and later that day Nathan's bro in law, Jason, picked me up on his way home from work to take me to my cousin Jane's house about half an hour away.

The rain got worse and worse, was this really The Sunshine State???

Sydney

After an overnight flight from Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur, I arrived in Sydney at 11 am on Jan 22^nd 2013. First problem was the taxi I booked didnt show up, so I used the airport taxi rank – OMG how expensive was that. Its a comparable journey from my own hoe to Heathrow but cost £60 as opposed to the UK £35. The route took me over The Harbour Bridge. Initial impressions was that Isambard Brunel Kingdom had been here, and that if you have ever driven over The Tyne Bridge, you would have a feel for this bridge too. Luckily the guest house booking was fine and my room at Glenferrie Lodge was ready A shower followed by a few hours kip was just what I needed.

I then set off to explore the locality of Kirribilli. How beautiful! The area is a wealth of Art Deco architecture, and the guest house has some fine original features. Its considered an very well off neighbourhood, and is the location of This is a period of design I just love. At the end of the road I turned towards a small cove and get my first glimpse of Sydney Harbour. The Opera house looks smaller than I had expected against the back drop of skyscrappers, but I later discover this is an illusion. The temperature is mid 20's so much cooler than Thailand, and I find it very comfortable to walk, so I wander along the foreshore to Milsons point.  The ups and downs of the rocky coastline means this was possibly not the kindest thing for my knees, but no lasting damage was done, and later I took a ferry into Circular Quay to explore the vibrant area around the Opera House, where I resolved to see La Boheme the next night.

For my only full day in Sydney I went on the open double decker sightseeing tour that took me everywhere, including Bondi   http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/australia/sydney.htm#tourlandingposition Sydney is built on a numerous headlands, spits points and ismuths (I once had a neighbour I used to refer to as ismuth, as she had a long neck sticking out to see), that form inlets and coves that would have made Slatty Bartfast proud. This gives to an interesting geography where sea travel is essential to join up all the communities. There is a great ferry system, which is efficient and punctual where everything docks at Circular Quay.

Everywhere was awesome and the cool breeze made it a very pleasant day. Bondi reminded me of Mawgan Porth in Cornwall. The waves were not as big as I had imagined. I am not sure why I found it so reminiscent, and it is now more than 10 yrs since I went to Mawgan Porth, so my memory is probably warped. Its also interesting to note, that although the Aussies are big on sun protection, there were no parasols or shades available on the beach as there are in many other tropical and sub tropical resorts.

After a quick refresh back at base, I then went to The Opera House to see La Boheme, which was absolutely brilliant, and will live with me for many years to come. The inside of The Opera House reminded me in parts of The Barbican – large swathes of concrete caverns, and over priced sarnies.

My 3^rd day was only a few hours in Sydney, and I decided that after the good hot buffet breakfast provided by the guest house, I would just soak up the sunshine in their garden while catching up on my blog and onward itinery. The driver from the guest house ( £15 cheaper than a taxi) drove me back along The Harbour Bridge. Its not surprising that it felt like the Tyne Bridge, as it was designed and built by the same team, who based both on New York's Hell's Gate Bridge. My driver went on to tell me about the place I stayed in. It was built as a rest and respite care lodging for bridge workers in the 1930's when art deco was at its peak. The rest of the area grew up around it once the bridge was open, and is now home to many famous people.

48 hrs was not enough time to explore this lovely city, and all too soon I was at the airport on my way to catch up with my Brisbane family

Reflections on Thailand

A land of contrasts – there's some amazing modern architecture and impressive sky scrappers in several places I visited, but also some abject squalor as was seen alongside river banks whether on water taxis or luxury cruises, the views were always comparable. Despite this everyone seemed to be happy and it certainly was The land of a thousand smiles. Ambitions did not seem particularly high – make 500 Baht a day and everyone is happy. 300 Baht for a 12 hr day is the legal minimum wage, but for many of the street sellers they are self employed so on a bad day they will not be protected by this law.

Street life is 100% ingrained in life style, all kinds of wares are sold from static stalls, hand carts, motorbikes with specially rigged side car structures, hand held baskets and frames, or traditional panniers balanced over one shoulder like a giant weighing scale. Popup bars and eateries materialise at dark fashioned out of any of these means. The food always looks good, and smells tasty and thousands of locals use them. However, I had 2 bouts of food poisoning in 3 weeks, only using the fruit sellers, so am dubious as to how clean some of these actually are. I then heard that Thai girls who go to Europe with their rich sugar daddies are often frightened of going to the loo as they have never passed a solid motion in their lives, and think they will tear themselves. Make your own mind up as to whether or not you would eat street food!

Because of the high temperatures during the day, dusk is when there is a flurry of activity on the streets. Its cooler, and more conducive to market shopping, hence the plethora of night street markets. There are thousands of them, and no one any less interesting to the westerner than the next. Bartering is not on the same level that one finds in Arab countries, but they do try to get s much for their goods as possible from visitors, so its worth trying to negotiate. For instance, I bought some pearls from beach seller in Jomtien. I was offered just a necklace for 500 Baht – actually a bargain for real pearls, but I didnt want to pay the first price offered. After a little to and fro I got a necklace and bracelet for 350 Baht. She had quickly dropped to 400 so I knew there was room for manoeuvre downwards, and at the end of the day (it was dusk) she would have been glad to take what mounted to a days wage in one sale. £7 for a real pearl necklace and bracelet – bargain! The next day Andy bartered for a hair clip for Ruby, his ability in Thai helped no end. We soon saw the sellers in 7 Eleven, and he said the reason we couldn’t get it any cheaper was obviously because they were thirsty, and wanted enough to buy a couple of drinks. Made me feel a bit guilty that I had bartered!

There's a pervasive smell of sewers everywhere, but the loos are by and large acceptable, although some public ones have signs telling you they are for urine only. I have met this in Turkey, where its obvious the plumbing just cant cope with bulk, but it was not so obvious in Thailand and I wonder whether its just a matter of cant be bothered to clean.

You cant reflect on Thailand without considering the sex industry. The mind set is different here. Westerners see the girls as being exploited by men, often older. However, a great many girls, especially from the country are brought up to expect not to work, as its a man's job to keep her, and in return she would pander to his every whim. She would learn to cook, massage, and to go to the beauty salon on a regular basis, and always wear smart new clothes that have been paid for by a man. Working in restaurants and bars is seen as a way to meet well off men. The population is 55% female and the birthrate seems to keep this a fairly static percentage. When you take out the gay and ladyboy percentage, this leaves a high deficit of local men, which is why Thai girls look elsewhere. It makes it hard to criticise the girls for allowing themselves to be exploited. Furthermore, they see it as the men being exploited as they are daft enough to to pay for what they see as very little effort. However, the hidden price is often high in the form of disease. Furthermore, the cheap and free clinics do not spell out exactly what the problem is when a girl presents with HIV or some other STD. She will be told she has a faulty immune system, or a virus or some similar bluff. As a consequence she will not know that she really must use condoms, and so the infection is spread.

At the same time, Thais are deeply spiritual and superstitious, believing in ghosts and lucky charms. They take fortune telling such as tarot very seriously, and believe every word. They are by and large devout Buddhists, with a keen sense of karma in both this and other lives. They honour spirits of place, who are often ancestors, and make sure there is always somewhere for them to reside in the form of spirit houses and or garlands of flowers, such are seen on the front of boats or hanging from rear view mirrors in vehicles.

There's a happy go lucky and can do attitude throughout society. Our health and safety nannies would have a field day here - who needs scaffolding when Don over there is happy with a rope ladder to take bricks up 15 floors?. Complain about pot holes in the road? You're having a laugh. Put up and shut up, and learn to drive round them. Be bothered that yobs will interfere with main elec supply when the cables are only at the level of the 2^nd floor of a house? Its an earthquake region so where else do we put them? And yob will only touch them once and word will soon get round that he fried himself. And if he decides that its the lower phone lines he will tamper with, then a Thai Jail will sort him out. A friend of Andy's recently found himself in jail – 150 to a cell with only a mat to sleep on, and a bowl of rice each day to eat, unless friends brought you more. When he got back to UK he went out for a drink to celebrate, his system didnt cope with alcohol after 6 weeks detention in Thailand, and he got picked up for being drunk and disorderly - thought he had died and gone to heaven with the luxury of the cell in the local nick!

There is also little social consciousness about plastic use.  The idea that you would reuse a carrier bag, or not need one it frowned on.  You  buy a bottle of  water, and you need a small bag and straw so you can hang it over your arm and drink from a straw, same for a can of coke, so you still have a hand free for whatever.   Rubbish was really noticeable on the island of Koh Lan - mountains dumped on a side road and occasionally burnt when the stench got high enough. The concern for public health is not part of national pride.  However, plastic bottles are recyclable, and some of the street dwellers go through bins collecting empty bottles which bring in an income of 1 Baht for 4 bottles.  At 50 Baht to the £1 this is hard work to earn a bag of groceries.

So is it with regret I leave Thailand? Hmm not sure. Mixed feelings really. I do have a further 5 days booked for March on the return leg of this odyssey. I will tell you then, but the fact I cant tolerate the food is a major sway against the country. (10 kgs lost in 3 weeks).

Jomtien

By Jan 14th I was ready to move out of Bangkok and Andy had had some distressing news over the weekend concerning his apartment in Bangkok.  It seemed the landlady had decided he was leaving without giving notice, despite the one year lease.  She  had changed the locks on the apartment and taken possession of all his belongings, and re let the apartment.  She was demanding a sum of money of around £250 to release his belongings and he was technically homeless. He came back to Bangkok to try to sort things out.  He called in a few favours for legal advice and realised that since the landlady had possession of his Spanish residency and ID documents she was actually committing a serious crime under Thai law punishable by 7yrs imprisonment.  He had his UK passport with him and a quick trip to Tesco Lotus gave him a clean change of clothes. Armed with his negotiating skills he spent some time with his landlady, negotiating and explaining his position.  To regain his other belongings might be a civil case, but he was giving her 24 hrs to think about her position before he called the police to arrest her over the Spanish docs.

I had originally planned to meet some friends in Phuket for a couple of days but had been unable to get in contact to confirm arrangements, so that evening Andy and I took a bus back to Jomtien, and  quickly found a holiday apartment for the week.  This was great, allowing us both to chill in a more homelike environment and do some serious mother/son bonding.  This was the main objective for the week, rather than sightseeing.

On the Tuesday Andy went back to Bangkok to see the landlady.  He arrived back at our temporary home late in the evening with everything apart from his guitar which the landlady wanted as surety against him paying the final electric bill. She had overvalued it by a factor of 10, so it was with mixed feelings Andy struck this deal.  Apparently it is common place for Thai's to try this sort of exploitation of Europeans, and the Landlady was taken aback when Andy didnt roll over and pay up.

The next day we hired a motorbike and quickly sorted out a more permanent address for him from 21st, and went on to Tesco's to do the weekly shop.  Unfortunately my guts were exploding again, but without the temperature, and other symptoms I had last week.  I stuffed myself full of imodium and got more antibcterial stuff.   As the day was fading around 6pm we jumped on the motorbike up to the Chinese Temple on the hill between Jomtien and Pattaya to see Kwan Yin.  The atmosphere was so peaceful and lovely, a truly spiritual experience for me.

The next day, took a similar chilled out format.  Homecooked food to let my guts settle, and reading by the pool.  Again as dusk was falling we set off for the hill we had been to the previous evening, but this time to the big golden Buddha that looks over Pattaya City, and the Thai temple.

Andy stopped on the way back to put some more petrol in our bike.  BP? Esso?  Shell?   No way! We pulled into a roadside where a couple of guys had a rack of old whiskey bottles filled with liquid.  One bottle 30 Baht (50 to the £1).  I had seen many of these stalls and not known what they were.  Now I knew, this was how people filled up the ubiquitous motor bikes with motion lotion!

Friday was another chill by the pool day, although I did go for a wander around the market.  Flies crawling all over the meat, it was no wonder I had had 2 food poisonings during my stay, although I had been careful with street food, the problem was probably because of my love for pineapple and buying that ready cut from 7 Eleven.

Now there's something to note.  The most useless direction you can give anyone trying to meet up with you is, ' turn at the 7 Eleven, down that street'.  7 Elevens are on the corner of every other street.  Even more ubiquitous that the Indian Corner shop in UK.  They are not all much of muchness, and its sometimes better to walk a block past your nearest to get a better selection of food.

Its now my last day here, and tomorrow I will wend my way back to Bangkok to get a flight to Kuala Lumpur, which connects to my overnight flight to Sydney, Australia.

Temples and Buddhas

With Oi and Andy still at loggerheads, Andy decided to head out of town to clear his head, so on Sat 12th, I had a leisurely brekky and browse of the papers and decided to find my way to the grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. There wast a skytrain near to it, and I wasnt certain I could use the songtaews without a local guide.  I then remembered our day on the river when we were right royally ripped off.  River taxi's went from that same point, and we had passed the Palace during that afternoon.  The pier would be a good starting point, so I took the skytrain there, and of course my intuition was correct.  I chatted to a gent from London on the river trip.  He seemed to think there was way too much walking involved in visiting The Palace.  I was a bit worried about that as I am not the world's best walker, and by this time the temp was 42 degrees.  The admission to the Palace was 500Baht  - £10 which is a lot of money in Thailand.  Touts outside were offering their services as personal guides, for an additional 450 Baht.  I wondered if I was doing myself a disservice by declining.  Soon the answer became apparent - certainly not!  There were free guided tours in English available from official guides.  The guide new exactly what to point out and at what pace to take it for us heat shy farangs.  However it was sometimes difficult finding her in a crowd as she was  not much more than 4ft tall and even with the obligatory guides umbrella, she disappeared below the towering bodies from Aus, USA, and UK!

The Palace is spectacular.  It has not been used as a royal residence for over 100 yrs, but it still has a firm place in ceremonial duties of state, and houses several staet departments. Everything glistens golden in the sunlight, and you cannot help but gawp in awe.  I am sure all the gold only reflects more heat down on us poor mortals who find temperatures at this level rather difficult.  Theres a dress code for visiting temples and other revered sites.    With a mid calf dress, not low cut I thought I had it sorted.  However, I had overlooked the necessity to make sure shoulders were covered.  My top had 3 inch wide straps, which didnt meet requirements.  I had to throw my shawl over my shoulders to get in.  The numbers who dont realise this  are such that there are booths that loan out acceptable clothing.  One of the first pics many tourists take is of the fellas decked out in floral beach pants or sarongs to cover their knees, and ill fitting shirts to cover their shoulders.

Within the grounds of the Palace is The Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  This is probably the most revered temple in Thailand, and its name refers to the tiny jade (not emerald) statue that sits atop an impressive and large altar in the temple's main hall. The Buddha image is clothed in seasonal robes, changed three times a year to correspond to the summer, winter, and rainy months. The changing of the robes is an important ritual, performed by the king, or these days because of the frailty of the king, by The Crown Prince.  The magically empowered statue is thought to have been made in North Thailand in the 15th century, before being installed at a temple in Laos, only to be taken back by the Thais and brought to the capital around 1780 -- a sore subject between the nations.  The statue is made of one solid piece of jade, and whilst it might be disappointing to find out that it isnt emerald, it is still an impressive lump of precious stone.  The whole atmosphere of the temple was one of awesome reverence.

By this time I was hot enough and ready to make my way back to my hotel - about an hour away, but not without what has become a favourite afternoon tipple of iced latte.

On the Sunday, I decided to repeat the formula for Saturday, and this time visit Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining Buddha.  I didnt really know what to expect, but knew it was on every list of things not to miss in Bangkok.  This temple was almost next door to The Palace, so I knew how to get there. I wander through the street traders to get there, and decided to try some coconut water as I was thirsty.  They just slice the top off a green coconut in front of you and stick a straw in it for you to drink.  I managed half of it  - not my favourite of drinks.  Nothing ventured nothing gained.  I'd stick to water in future.

 The temple is a much smaller complex, and therefore only 100Baht for entrance.  It is non the less spectacular, glistening golden flecks from the roof tiles and giving off a magical air.  Many of the stupas are covered in ceramics, not just here but in other temples too, Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) from last week, being the most notable.  The reason for this is that Thailand used to plunder Chinese trading ships, and frequently on the high seas the cargos of porcelain got broken, rather than waste the crockery it was  cut up and recycled as temple decoration. Whether or not this anecdote is true, I dont know, but it certainly makes a good example of recycling 15th century style!

The temple is also the seat of traditional Thai medicine and massage. Around the grounds are shelters bearing the instructional texts and diagrams, dating back hundreds of years.  Massage is part of Thai culture, and most Thais will have some understanding of it.  Oi gave me a foot massage (reflexology) one day shortly after my arrival, and at the weekend, I had my hair done in Jomtien.  The ladyboy who washed my hair gave me a full head massage as art of the service.  Really nice, even if the stylist was a bit frightened of my fine wispy hair.

Nothing could have prepared me for the sight of the reclining Buddha.  Yeah, I had read that it was 15 mtrs high and over 40 mtrs long, but when faced with such an imposing  statue you cant help but be in awe. . . . .  and then wonder 'Why?'.  There was an element of money grabbing here that I would not play ball with.  Down one side of the statue were a series of money bowls.  You paid  a couple of quid and were given a bowl of coins ( probably 60p worth) and for everyone of the bowls you put coins into, buddha would bless you.

Having seen all I wanted to, I began to make my way back.  I got to the river/skytrain interchange and felt it was still too early to go back to the hotel, and I hadnt had my iced latte.  I decided to divert to the adjacent Shangri-La Hotel and see how the other half lives.  Afternoon tea was being served in the riverside lounge  - how elegant - so I partook.  It amazed me how so many petite oriental girls were just diving into mountains of cakes and pastries.  How on earth do they keep their figures!

I then wandered round yet another street market before making my way back, again observing that this was a nation of shopaholics!