Back to Kathmandu - Trek begins soon

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I am now in Kathmandu. Today is my last day of aimless roaming in Kathmandu. I find aimless roaming quite interesting. It was rather enjoyable walking through the older part of the city which is now a market bustling with people. The design of the place reminds me somewhat of fantasy game books - one street sells hardware, another lane sells pottery, another alley sells electrical goods and so forth. The lanes are all quite specialised. If you want to find spices in a lane that sells electrical goods, then too bad - it is in the other street. I would have found it confusing if I wanted to buy something because the lanes are like a maze. Also there is a sense of serendipity - occasionally, you find something spectacular out of the blue. Today I found a stupa that was actually very nice in one of the streets.

Tomorrow my friends will be coming from Singapore and pretty soon after we will be starting our trek. We will have one evening to stock up on whatever we are lacking and then we will head out on Saturday. We will be doing part of the Annapurna Circuit. I say part because we do not have enough days to complete the whole trek and have to shorten some part of it by taking a flight from Jomsom to Pokhara. I think that is generally the plan as I left it all for the trekking companies and the guide. I will just follow along leisurely. Hopefully, none of us will be hit with any serious altitude sickness. Since the trek is starting, I think there will be very limited internet connection and so I might not be posting anything for a while.

Back to Kathmandu

Well I only managed to spend a little time in Pokhara. If I knew earlier, I might have just came straight to Pokhara because there are more things to do here - short hikes, paragliding, river rafting, etc. However, all these things do take time - 2-3 days minimum stay to wait for the schedule - and so I have decided to go back to Kathmandu tomorrow morning to wait for my friends who will be arriving on the 18. Besides, most of these activities would be better done with friends for companionship sake and economically. Most everything is cheaper for a few people rather than alone. For example, if I rent a boat it will be $12 a day for myself. If there were 5 person, we could still sit in the same boat. The locals pack 20 on to the boat meant for maybe 8 persons. Similarly, the room I am staying at sleeps 2 but I use the other bed to put my clothing.

Talking about money, I have overspent a little. I ate too much too frequently. Bought some useless stuff and went for too many nothing-to-see sights/temples. Anyway my budget of $50 a day is not lavish but for local it is likely a quarter of their salary. I was talking to the church leader and he mentioned that one of the Christians needs to get a better job if he wants to start a family. A better job is $200 SGD a month. Naturally, I did not share that I am blowing my $50 daily budget by eating at restaurants for most meals and hiring taxis.

Pokhara

Since I had a bit more time to kill but not too much, I took an easy trip to Pokhara. I just did not realize that the trip would take about 7 hours. As I will have to do this trip again when I start the trek when my Singapore friends arrive, it means I will be spending quite a lot of time sitting on the Kathmandu-Pokhara bus ride. The ride is not awful but neither is the bus extra comfortable. The tourist bus seats are the typical 'Bus Kilang' seats - stiff seats with not too much leg room. As a consolation, I still get a chance to roam around a little in Pokhara tomorrow. The only consideration is whether to spend Wednesday night in Pokhara or in Kathmandu. Today after spending some time eating and looking for a guest house, there's little left daylight. I went for a stroll near the lake area and it was getting dark already. Over in Nepal, it gets dark around 5:30pm so if I wanted to do something outdoor I would have to be out a little early. Quite likely, I will just rent a boat for half a day tomorrow and row around the lake. I hope I will not get wet because I don't really have any extra stuff to change into.

Durbar Squares near Kathmandu

I spent the last two days roaming around the few Durbar Squares near Kathmandu. If you don't know what Durbar Squares are, I don't either. Quite likely, they are like a trade and parade center for the towns. Walking up to the Durbar Squares is quite impressive because you are strolling through these small maze-like streets that barely large enough for a car to pass through and then you come up to a huge open space with impressive looking temples, scultures, pagodas and palaces. The temples are all quite unique with the huge foundations and impressive stone statues at the bottom but rather small temple up above. Many of the walls and the doors are richly decorated with carvings and frescoes. Most of the windows are equally well decorated. My favourite Durbar Square so far has been the one at Patan. The focus of these old architectures seemed very different from the modern architecture where the art and the aesthetic play such an integral part of these buildings while the functionality seems of a lesser concern. Most of the heritage sites require a ticket to
enter - about $10 SGD.

For the Durbar Square in Buktapur, I took a public bus from Kathmandu. I took it because it
seemed more fun and I am a cheapskate who doesn't want to spend money on taxis. (However in Singapore, I take taxis all the time.) It would likely cost me $12-$15 SGD for the 16km ride to Buktapur whereas it costs $0.50 taking the public bus. Of course the bus itself is part of the fun - squeezing with the locals. In fact, the bus I took to Nagarkot (one of the mountain resorts that I went to after Buktapur) was so packed, the roof had over 20 people. If there wasn't a bicycle on the top of the bus, I am sure they would have tried to pack at least 6 more person on the roof. Anyway the bus roof ride is definitely not something I recommend for us city people, sitting on a metal railing on top of a rattling bus for an hour and a half is not that fun after 10 minutes. On top of that, it was already dark and cold (about 10 degrees outside). I was shivering cold after the trip but fortunately I quickly found a shop with good hot tea and a delicious Nepali rice set.

Cold....Brrrr, Kathmandu

It's only 13 degrees C in Kathmandu and I am freezing in the motel room. In fact it was so cold, I decided to go down for a cup of tea. That's why I can type this blog. Earlier I was stuck in the room because the electricity was out for a couple of hours. As I was telling a friend, I can't take the cold anymore. Too used to the warmth of the equatorial weather. With the cold, there's so much packing to do. I spent most of Monday trying to figure out what to bring - t-shirts, thermals, jackets, etc. I realize I likely don't have enough warm clothing for the negative degrees trek. Ooops, no sub zero sleeping bag. Guess I'll just have to buy it here. Fortunately, there is no lack of sleeping bag shops. Kathmandu is the warm part of the trip. Maybe I am getting a little too old for all these types of adventure trips. Maybe it's time for the 4-5 star hotels luxury trip.

Silkair flight to Kathmandu

Grrrrr, it's been a rather bad morning so far. Currently I am griping about a credit card booking made for my silkair/singapore airline flight. When I tried to check-in to the flight, the counter lady asked me for my American Express credit card. (Why I booked using the Amex card is really beyond me because I rarely use this card?) Anyway, since I have booked this ticket about 2 months earlier, I have paid fully for the bill. Last month, American Express wanted to charge me $160 for an annual fee so I decided to cancel it. I thought it wasn't a big deal because I have no installments and I have paid everything in full. So when the Singapore Airlines lady asked me to produce the credit card I couldn't - it was cut in half and thrown into the rubbish dump. Instead of checking with the credit card office, they made me cancel the air ticket and bought a new ticket. Imagine the trouble it will cause me? I need to wait one to two months for a refund for a ticket that I have paid for about 2 months back. Moreover, will the refund go to my American Express account? Who knows? I was fuming mad because they made such a big deal on something I have paid for. With a budget airline I might understand but with a big airline like SQ, I thought they wouldn't bother their customers with these types of hassle. Anyway, I'll have to worry about it when I get back from holidays. I hope the holidays will help me get a new perspective. Maybe it's a small lesson for me to not fuss over all the smaller things in life.

Dusting off the blog

Blame it on facebook. After mindlessly joining the hordes in opening a facebook account, this blog has been left on the shelf untouched for more than 3 months. Instead of writing a full paragraph in the blog, I have broken up what I wanted to say into little mindless sentences - washed away in the sea of facebook comments. Work is also partly to blame - the last few months have been very busy. In fact, I have been doing something that I loath - working on weekends. Moreover, it is not like I am happy working to begin with. Anyway, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I am free. For the next 4 weeks at least - Christmas holidays. Hopefully, the holidays will make some of my hair grow back - I seriously doubt it.

With a little more free time, expect to see the blog active again and I have a trip to Nepal coming up. So if possible I will keep you updated on where I am that is if there is internet access on the treks - again which I seriously doubt. It will be exciting and I am keen to see a new country. From what I have been told, the mountains are magnificent and the adventure shop guy promised me that it will be freezing. Or maybe he is just trying to sell more of his thermals to naive trekkers.

One Year Wiser

Last Sunday was my birthday and thanks to Facebook I got a lot more wishes than I did in the previous years. Yes, Facebook can be annoying but for occassions like these it is wonderful. Also I am glad I now own a few more Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Marmot, Buff & Nike stuff. Yes, the theme for this year is sporting goods...Is it a hint for "you are a fat pig and it's time to slim down" or "there are holes in your t-shirt, please wear something else"? Anyway, it's the thought that counts and I appreciate all the calls and wishes for those not in Singapore. I am so thankful to have family and close friends around. Family has always been there for me. Friends are precious because I am getter fewer and fewer friends. Some have moved away and my grouchy demeanor is not making me any new ones. Anyway, I was encouraged by all of you. I got through the past year hopefully a little wiser but definitely a little older.

Bedouin Blood

In the movie Chocolat, Juliette Binoche plays a character that must move when the North Wind blows. And so, every once in a while when the wind blows, she moves - abruptly and without notice. I am a person that have that kind of inclination. Every once in a while I have a strong inclination to uproot everything and move. Last year the wind was blowing strongly and I had the impulsive desire to quit my job and roam around like a vagabond. But the crumbling economic situation (plus the exhortation from my father) made me reconsider. Resisting the pull of the wind, I decided to stay for my umpteenth year in Singapore. Singapore is quite livable as a working place. Moreover, the pay in Malaysia for lowly servants like me is likely about half of what I am getting due to currency exchange. Anyway, I am still in Singapore and likely will be here for a while.

Maybe the moving thing isn't just myself but the whole family. It is a family legacy. We have a little nomadic blood in our lineage. Just like my Jordanian friend, Malik, who says he has Bedouin blood in him because he is always roaming around. (Bedouins are the nomadic tribe living in Arabian desert.) For my family, it might be Chinese nomadic blood. We feel the urge to move around and live in different places, like rolling stones. My brother is in UAE, my cousins are in UK, Thailand, Australia, etc. I am stuck in Singapore. The good or bad thing is that as I age, the wind blows less frequently now. But on some occasions it still blows and the urge to follow it still remains.

Tummy Obsession

Lately, I have been rather obsessed with the waistline. It started with someone commenting that I have a slight tummy. That was late last year when I was training for my marathon. Imagine that, I was running about 40km per week and I still had a bulging tummy. I can imagine how difficult it is for those who are less active to not develop a tummy. And quite sadly, the pull towards developing a tummy after 30s is very strong. I went around in Sentosa one of those days and was watching some guys playing 2 on 2 beach volleyball. One of them was a middle age Caucasian man who was playing a rather decent game - he could bum, set and spike. Despite that, he still had a tummy. Not many people I know can play a decent game of 2 on 2 beach volleyball so I already consider him very athletic. With the odds stacked so high against the over 30s male, maybe we should all resign ourselves to the fate that it is inevitable to get a tummy after 30s.

Currently, I have been trying to lose the tummy while trying to put on some muscle. Sadly, the weight seems to naturally want to gravitate to my tummy. Here are some tips that I have gathered on making your tummy look smaller.

1. Don't wear body hugging clothes. We know you can afford the adidas body hugging compression top that will cut 0.01% off your 10km time. However, please remove the suit after your run if you have a tummy and please don't wear it into the restaurant. I don't want you to ruin other people's dinner seeing your belly flop up and down. (This happened in real life).

2. Built up the chest and shoulders. It is a matter of illusion. If you can't lose the tummy, built up the chest and shoulders to hide your tummy. Suddenly, the tummy doesn't seem so big anymore.

3. Wear loose fitting clothes. You don't have to look like a monk but if your tummy is not big enough, loose clothing can actually hide some tummy. Especially if your chest is big enough.

Well that ends part 1 of my tummy obsession post. Maybe in the future, I will sum up some better solutions to the problem. I might even talk about something boring like dieting.

Moving Day

Today, I moved out most of my stuff from my current room to the new room that I will be staying in starting from April. I feel nostalgic because before I know it, I have stayed in the same room for more than six years. It's easy to keep track of the duration because I moved in to this place a few months before the landlord had a kid. Now they have 2 kids and their daughter is in primary one. Doing some simple math, it should be more than six years that I have stayed here. I guess age is really catching up with me because it used to be common to move every few months. Now, it's every few years. Pretty soon it might be every few decades... if I live that long.

I guess in the last six years I have accumulated quite a bit of junk as well. I was glad that Jane, Jerry & Ricky came to help me move. I am grateful that I have friends around who were willing to spend half of their day helping me move. Jerry got his father's vegetable lorry to help in the moving and it was a great relief for me. However much I would like to think that I am self-sufficient, the job would have been humongous doing it by myself. I guess John Donne got it right when he said 'No man is an island.' Jane kept exclaiming how dusty my room was and what a mess it was, while she help pack the remaining stuff that were still lying around the room. Ricky & Jerry just tirelessly lugged all the boxes down to the truck. And with people around, they quickly point out to quite a number of useless things I had that should rightfully belong  to the bin. Oh! That's my old computer speaker box you just flattened.

Hopefully I'll adapt to the new place soon enough. Aljunied. Very convenient and few more stops nearer to my work place. Rent is higher too due to the proximity to town. However, it's near to the MRT and rather near to a public swimming pool. It's also just beside a library - not that I foresee myself using it too often. Unpacking will be another nightmare that I am not going to think about for tonight.

My money training

In the month of February, I tried an exercise in cost cutting - I limited my cash usage to $700 for the entire month. At least I tried to survive on a daily $23 budget. So how was it? Well...I think for me living on a budget is like going on diet for some. They give a good effort but then they bounce back fatter than ever. It's like that for me...not that I tried very hard. Anyway, it was easy on certain days but then there's always the occasional stuff that crops up - visitors, special meals, concerts, books, movies. Honestly, I prefer not having to be stingy on every little decision. It is a good practice - like fasting.

Maybe I will try it again - one of the other months...being a person who aspire to be a bum...I am nothing like a bum. Well, I think Chris McCandles (Into the Wild) has great appeal for me. But he is quite extreme...more loner than I will ever be.

Departure

As I lie on my back nursing a backache that was caused by my stupidity, I am thinking about the news that was conveyed to me by my father about half an hour ago. My uncle in Ipoh (my mother's younger brother) has passed away. Although we meet only once a year during Chinese New Year, it saddens me that he will be leaving behind 2 sons who are still in school - 1, I think doing SPM(O levels) and the other in lower secondary school. It saddens me that my grandma who is still active and working hard to do house chores and maintain her dilapidated house will have to attend the funeral of another child - the main breadwinner of the family. I am reminded about how much she wept at my mother's funeral and how sad it will be for her in the coming days. Life is often cruel to some and it seems like my maternal grandma was not spared the pain of sending away 2 of her children. My heart goes out to her and my aunt who will be without a husband.

Death is inevitable for all of us. I pray for my uncle's family that they will not be overwhelmed with sadness and find the strength to move on. I pray for those who has been dealt harsh hands in life that they might find a glimmer of hope in their everyday lives. I am reminded that life is fleeting and to live it to the full. It is my reminder to be more grateful for the friends and family around.

Davao - trip to Mt Apo

Davao

It's been a while since I posted some pictures so here are some pictures of Davao. My friends and I went over to Davao last December to hike up Mount Apo. Unfortunately, there was a rebel conflict at the base of the mountain and the military was stopping people from going up. So we were stranded in Davao for a few days. We managed to get the guides to take us to a nearby waterfall and had a night camp there. The trek was short but was challenging because of the mud which was ankle deep. By the time we reached our camp, our shoes were soaked and mud-caked. The waterfall was not exactly what we came for but as they say 'Even a bad day camping is better than a good day at work'. I enjoyed myself and had a bit of opportunity to look around the city. We even managed to visit the police station because my friend, Fang, lost her wallet in the mall. She pouted for a few days because she was not able to hike up Mount Apo and was determined to get back to it this year. One failed trip but sometimes the detours that are served along the way are just as enjoyable.

Disgrace

I finished a book 'Disgrace' by J.M.Coetzee on my trip back to Ipoh for the Chinese New Year. It is about a professor who slept with one of his students and was forced to resign from his job because of the scandal. He goes and stay with the daughter at her farm and encounters a terrible event...Well from the title, you can tell it is a rather dark and forbidding tale. And that's probably why I bought it in the first place. Since the beginning of the year, I felt my life has been rather depressing and so the title fits with the current mood.

Besides that, I caught 2 movies with similar themes recently - JCVD and The Wrestler. I liked both the shows. The themes were depressing but the acting was brilliant and the characters were very real and believable. They are still only movies so I know many things were exagerrated. Nevertheless, it reminds me how messed up life can be in a short while. Even with success, it is never permanent. As the book of Ecclesiastes say "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind". Sometimes I wonder, if so many people don't know where they are going, why are they hurrying to go anywhere? Why the fast pace and why the hurry? Shouldn't most people stop and figure out where they are going first? Because if they get the direction wrong, hurrying will get them further from where they want to go.

2009 getting older

I just read a blog somewhere and the author said that she was getting old. She was turning 22. Oh my goodness! 22! I would kill to be 22 once again. But then again someone in their 40s would think I am young. Age is so relative. Once upon a time, I'd never imagine I would languishing in my mid 30s - single and grumpy. I'd imagine myself being a father of a 10 year old kid by now - teaching my son his school work and telling him exciting bedtime stories. I'd imagine myself turning into this spiritual giant - tirelessly extending love and concern to all who needed them. Oh...the ideals of my youth. But isn't age just a number. Does it have to limit our abilities or ideals? I don't know what I am rambling about today.

2008 - The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

2008 was an eventful year for me. The year was a mix of good and bad events. So here is my own list of good, bad and ugly events.

The Good: Physical fitness. Well, this year was certainly a year that was filled with numerous new things for me. I started this year with only one physical fitness goal - to finish the Kinabalu race within the cutoff time. I did not achieve that goal but attempting it pushed my running ability up a few notches. So some achievements for 2008 - attempted Kinabalu Climbathon - first attempt, completed the Quadthlon - my first multi sport event (with skating, swimming, running & cycling), a 30km runway skating event & I completed a full marathon this year in a rather respectable first time timing. Not to mention the numerous mini 10km-15km races that were completed in between these main events. I am definitely a better skater and runner now than when I started 2008. In fact, I am a better distance runner now than I have ever been.

The Bad: Finances. Well I take consolation that a lot of people got hit a lot worse than me on finances. Not that it will do me any good that some bloke down the road lost his fortune but at least I don't feel so dumb for losing my money. For a person who puts a majority of his savings in stocks, the downturn hit me rather bad. It is also not very consoling that I did not have much to begin with. Perhaps, I should take my own advice and buy more stocks, now that stocks in general has become much cheaper.

The Bad 2: Relationship. Last I check, I was still single. I do not understand why girls don't dig me. I am actually normal - a little shy when it comes to dating but a normal human being. And I have a job. In fact I have been single so long I am beginning to wonder if I am gay. Being semi-religious doesn't help the situation either. Too religious for the non-church goer and too 'unreligious' for the church goer. Maybe it's the "do you want to be the mother of my child" pickup line, it only works if you are a Hollywood star (you know I am just kidding about that, right?).

The Ugly: Spirituality. Rather than turning this blog into a confession session, I will just leave it at the fact that my spirituality is hitting rock bottom.