Wednesday 31 October 2012

Max's Birthday (as told by Max)

I will never forget my twelfth birthday in Thailand.

The day before my birthday my family and I went on a mountain hike/trek. On the hike, we went more than one kilometer vertically and a distance of eight to nine kilometers. That night we slept in a village at the top of the mountain.

Thomas doing Ninja tricks with his walking stick.
A view from the top.
Morning mountain mist.
This is where we slept.
Inside--note the bug screens.




On my birthday, we climbed down the mountain. We stopped once to cool off in a waterfall and later went whitewater tubing and rafting. Our group got a ride to the rafting place. I had never gone white water tubing before, but it reminded me of white water canoeing except that the waves were bigger and the tube couldn't tip.
Thomas taking a break from our descent to climb a tree.
Perfect waterfall to wade in, get wet and cool off.

Our trekking group.


After the rafting, we ate lunch and the got a ride to an elephant camp. When we got there, a different group was leaving so we were the only ones there that night. After supper, Tom (our guide) brought out some things that I had never seen before. He put out some circular objects that looked like tape onto a large plastic bag. Once he was done making them, he lit the circular object on fire. Then I figured out what it was: it was a floating lantern. The fire would create heat that would get trapped in the bag and it would rise. Not only did it create heat but it would also create light. So as you let go they would rise and they looked very cool.

Greg's note: Mom tipped off our guide that it was Max's bday and Tom surprised us with cake and the delightful lanterns.
Tom preparing the lanterns.
Lighting them.
Cynthia making a wish before releasing a lantern.

A terrible pic that does not capture the magic of lanterns floating into the night sky.



The next morning we met our new group. Then we fed the elephants a small snack of sugar cane and bananas. I thought it was very cool that the elephants would eat bananas with the peel and part of the stock. They would also eat as many as ten small bananas at a time. Some of the elephants preferred it when you put the bananas right in their mouth. Most of them want it in their trunks.
Max handing over some sugar cane.
Check out our lovely uniforms.
Thomas ensured that all the elephants got their share.



After the elephants' snack, we learned our first command when we're on or off the elephant. "Non-long" told the elephants to either lay down or stand up. We practiced getting on and off the elephants and then we learned other commands for forward, turn and stop. Finally, we practiced riding the elephants in a small loop before the elephants took a break and we had lunch.
Each elephant has a personal mahout.
A delighted Max.
That elephant looks good on you, Thomas.
"Non-long!"


After lunch we went on an hour long elephant ride through the forest. My elephant was kind of lazy because it would always stop in the middle of the path and I had to tell it to keep going, but we ended up finishing it.



My favourite part was washing the elephants.




Thomas getting right into it.





Friday 26 October 2012

Our week in Singapore

At the time of writing we are in Chiang Mai, a lovely northern city in Thailand-- really a darling among western budget travelers. Being here does give me a perspective on Singapore and the differences are striking!

Some factual info: Singapore is a small wealthy independent country on the southern Malaysian peninsula. It is essentially comprised of a port city with some less densely populated areas and nature reserves on the northern periphery.

Source: http://mawar-perawan.blogspot.com
In terms of area, Singapore occupies 710 sq km, compared to Winnipeg with 450 sq km and City of Toronto with 630. Thus in area and population, Singapore compares well with Toronto except for the fact that, unknown to many from TO, only Singapore is its own country.

The population is very international with about 40% of the 5 million people being expats (mostly from Asia, Australia, Europe and NorthAmerica). English, Manderin, Malay, and Tamil are the 4 official languages with English as a strong first. (much signage is only in English).

Chewing gum is illegal in Singapore because my God--what a mess it would cause. (Not unreasonable given the equatorial heat) This chewing gum law reflects the general orderly neatness that characterizes the city in general. (littering= $500 fine) I must admit, I used to think Germany was the epitome of order and über- regulation but Germany is now second to Singapore. Not once did I see graffiti in Singapore except carved initials into some bamboo trunks on a lovely jungle park walkway. It is verboten not only to eat or drink on the subway but per signage at the subway station you cannot carry with you a particularly stinky tropical fruit called durian (apparently it smells like stinky socks and In fairness to our current Thai hosts, this fruit is also not allowed in our hotel rooms here in Thailand).

If you are caught importing or selling drugs in Singapore you will be executed. (no joke) I don't think I've ever seen as many video cameras in public spaces. There is no need for bug spray as the flying insect population is managed and controlled. This is not to say that Singapore does not value its greenspace. There are some incredible public parks and spaces which we enjoyed.
Subway signage

Note the continuous line of ships offshore of East Coast Park.


Max and his cousin Fischer enjoying the park

There are no (few?) homeless and unemployed people and the public washrooms could rival those in a five star hotel ( i admit, i don't think i've ever stayed in a 5 star hotel but I kid you not there were some beautiful public bathrooms, often with considerate options of regular or squatter style toilets) Most middle class residents including expats (my brother and sister in-law notwithstanding) have live-in nannies, often imported from the Philipines. Life for the large wealthy middle class is pretty good--the wages are high but so is the cost of living.
We were happy with $5 price of a large bottle at the hawker stall

I must admit that in our short week there I did come to admire and appreciate the clean and beautiful city of Singapore. Of course, the fact that I'm English speaking and have time and money for leisure activities might have something to do with it. (A migrant worker on a Singaporean construction site in 35 degree heat just might have another view...but then again a migrant worker in Canada would have their own view as well! )


This MRT (subway) station is breathtaking
Bathroom notice reflecting Singapore as melting pot
Our boys' favourite day in SG

It was hard for us to leave the comfort and safety of Singapore. Rob and Anjali, my brother and sister-in-law, were generous hosts and we felt spoiled in their lovely condo. Admittedly, we had a soft landing into Asia-- things were, well, less foreign and less "Asian" then they are here in Thailand. We're finally stepping out.

Next on the agenda: jungle trekking and mud-bathing with elephants! We depart on a 2 day excursion tomorrow am.



What does ricewhine mean?

Greg here.

A couple of thots on this blog...

As ricewhine is our first travel blog (or any type of blog for that matter) and none of our family really do facebook or other types of social media like twitter and such, I'd like to get some feedback about what people would like to see and read. (BTW feedback means comments.)

I'm thinking that there are essentially three types of posts:


  1. Pictures and stories where we are the central focus, like the Adventures in Singapore video. Friends and family may enjoy watching it but really don't learn much about Singapore. So the focus is on us and not our destination.
  2. Pictures and stories focused on our destination. These posts are informative and probably enjoyed most by others that have travelled to or have an interest in the location. These posts relieve us from constantly putting ourselves in the spotlight but, on the other hand, we often don't have better insight into a location than a five minute google search may yield.
  3. Pictures and stories that reveal both ourselves and our context, the nirvana post where readers see a world through our eyes. Sure you can read about how elephants get bathed, but how much better to experience it as we did and laugh when you see Max get sprayed. (Although none of this happened yet, we are going on an Elephant Life Adventure tomorrow so who knows.)

Trying to wake sleepy boys.

Before I get back to work and write a *real* post, I'd like to remind those of you who have endeavoured this type of traveling of just how much of your day is caught up with those simple things in life--finding a place to eat, getting across the street without being run over, planning tomorrow--that it is tough to stop and reflect and then share.

Oh, I realize that we did not explain the ricewhine name. Simply, Cynthia & I wondered how this whole trip thing would fly with the boys. Over wine we wondered what they would eat--Thomas in particular is less adventurous in the "trying new foods" department--and how much they might whine. At worst, the blog would spiral into stories of only eating rice and whining most of time.

We are really at the beginning of "traveling in South East Asia with kids" and we have much to learn about the traveling in Asia part and about the traveling with kids part. Keep visiting this blog (and participating by commenting) and if you are lucky you may learn a bit about Asia through the eyes of a family that is learning together.

Last, I really appreciate comments.



Friday 19 October 2012

Adventure Singapore

Thanks for the guest blog post, Rob and Anjali.

I must say that life at their apartment here in Singapore feels luxurious and we will have a hard time leaving it in five days for Thailand and Myanmar as per our itinerary.

Today Cynthia and Anjali were off for a pedicure and a manicure while Rob and I took the boys swimming. I won't say that it was effortless, but I did have time to put together a movie trailer starring our two boys and their four year old cousin, Fischer. Don't worry, it's only a minute long.

As always, your comments are welcomed. Take care, Greg.

Thursday 18 October 2012

Satay-o-holic





Today we have two guest bloggers, Robert (Cynthia's brother) and his wife, Anjali.

Rob:

Hi Ricewhine followers. Today we took the Speizky family out for a night of cheap eats on the town in Singapore. An easy choice for fun atmosphere is Lau Pasat, a famous historic downtown food court. Not only is it easy to walk to from my work, but the selection is incomparable with dozens of vendors on various "streets". But it's best known for satay. At 7pm each night they shut a block of road down to let the bbq'ers smoke up the road. Not fine dining but a good time was had by all.



Anjali:

Hawker stalls are prevalent through out Singapore - people eat out quite a bit here and have their favorite places.

Here is the extensive sampling of our menu tonight:

Chicken, duck and beef satay with peanut sauce

Pork wanton noodle

Shrimp and chive dumplings

Padang (Indonesian sampling of vegetables)

Kai lan (greens)

Green curry

Washed down with fresh watermelon, mango and sugar cane juice and Thomas had a "western" plate - beans,toast, a sausage and fried egg ...











Wednesday 17 October 2012

Gastfreundschaft

Gastfreundschaft. The German word for hospitality which directly translates as "guest friendship". We are both humbled and privileged to have experienced such friendship in the truest sense of the word.

 

We've just completed the 13 day tour of Germany and were most warmly hosted by my maternal relatives and friends. Some history: my mother grew up in Russia (Siberia) within a community of extended family members. My mother immigrated to Canada in the 1960s but her extended family remained in Russia. They are all ancestrally German though the families had lived in Russia for many generations. In the early 1990s the relatives in Russia moved to Germany and hence a few Russian customs persist in their otherwise German homes. Aside from my second cousins and great uncles and aunts we also visited a longtime German friend of mine,(also my bridesmaid) Kristina, who I originally met when we were 16 in the context of a German-Canadian exchange program.

Giessen, Bad Berleberg, Essen, Bad Ems, and Weinheim are smaller cities and villages of central Germany all not too far from Frankfurt. They are lesser known places to most, but we will have long lasting fond memories of welcoming arms, freshly baked buns fetched for us for breakfast, over-flowing supper tables, warm and neatly made beds given up by household members, and conversations over wine and spirits into the evening hours.

 

We were toured through castles and lovely parks, driven at high speeds on the Autobahn (from one meal to another!) treated to a live concert of Russian folk songs (by the musical side of the family) and instructed on proper vodka consumption etiquette. (Ok so you just basically throw it back in one go in tandem with others and have something marinated as a chaser.) Greg: See end of this post for the Russian Folk Songs.

 

Our stay was capped off with a tour of an Audi factory arranged by Aleksander, my cousin the Audi mechanical engineer, not to be confused with Aleksander, my cousin-in-law the Porsche mechanical engineer... Audi beat the Porsche to the draw on that one.

 

On the subject of correct family-member identification, I can't wait to show off to my mother how I know all the names of my aunts, uncles, cousins and their cute kids. I must admit the job is made easier by the fact that over half the men and boys are named Aleksander or Andreas. If neither fit one could also try Viktor as a third guess. The women are frequently Irina (also my mom's name) or Elena with Olga as a close third.

We have extended invitations to them all to visit us in Canada and with any luck they will take us up on this genuine offer to return the "gastfreundschaft" shown to us. I just hope we can provide as good a breakfast...

Russian Folk Songs

Below are four songs performed for "Tante Tekla" which were able to capture. If your Russian is good enough, let us know the title of the last one.