Taronga Zoo and first visit to the MCA

Before I launch into a writeup of the day's sightseeing, I have to make a complaint. I have several friends who have heard of, or who actively follow The Mars Volta. On a couple of occasions they've even mentioned them, and I've said "Oh, I don't really know their stuff". Why, on these occasions didn't one of them grab me by the neck, pin me to a wall and say "Listen, you f*cking idiot, go and buy an album immediately, and listen to it until you're sick of it. Then play it again." then release my neck and let me slide to the floor and think about what I've done? Every now and then I see a show or hear an album that reminds me why I bother following all this popular music stuff. This morning's bus journey was one of these moments.

Right. Taronga Zoo. It took a ferry journey to get there, and a cable car journey from the jetty the ferry arrived at to enter the zoo. It's another really well laid-out zoo, with lots of emphasis on the importance of conservation, expansive enclosures, variety of animals, and a couple of excellent shows. The seal show talked about the importance of conservation and of building good relationships with animals in captivity. It also involved somersaults in the water, a baby seal picking up some litter and putting it in a bin, an adult seal demonstrating the importance of not discarding old netting in the sea (funny but with a serious message - you had to be there). The bird show talked about a colony of penguins round Manly way that the zoo is trying to assist, and asked for donations to the cause, as well as using very well trained birds and a sense of humour to keep a crowd entertained and engaged. All in all it was an excellent balance of entertainment and education, which is how a zoo should be. If you want to run something for the purposes of conservation, the money has to come from somewhere, and Taronga will keep people coming through the gates, and keep funding its projects.

On the way back home I popped into the Museum of Contemporary Art and saw an exhibition by Paddy Bedford - an Aboriginal artist who only started painting for exhibitions in 1989 at the age of 76. The paintings all had unusual textures from the materials he used, and strong, bold colour schemes, but I didn't take the audio tour, so I didn't see what the paintings symbolised. I've already got an impression that Aboriginal culture is very laid back and relaxed, so the one painting that I did see the detailed description of wasn't as much of a surprise as it might have been. A red circle surrounded by black rings, all below a large black shape with two white rings on it, all looks very innocent - a nice balance of colours and shapes. The painting actually turned out to be a picture of several Aborigines being burned for spearing an animal they shouldn't have, having been forced to chop down the wood for their own funeral pyre. The red circle is the fire, the black rings are tree stumps and the two white rings on the larger black shape are two Aborigine women witnessing the whole event from a hill nearby. I'm hoping to go back soon and take the audio tour. I think it could be very rewarding.

Finally, though, here's a picture of a man playing a didgeridoo, as requested by an email correspondent. I think any photos of kangaroos wearing hats with corks in (her other request) may get me deported for crimes against good taste.

Cathedral and the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Today I went to the Cathedral just off Hyde Park, and managed to stumble in on a service. A nice man gave me a miraculous medal afterwards as a gift, as I obviously looked like a tourist. The building itself was very impressive, just the sort of thing we'd get back home, but obviously built with local stone, which makes the whole thing an earthy brown colour. Stained glass, big arches, pipe organs. All very nice. I hope the Pope likes it when he arrives in 2008.

Then I wandered up the road to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. It's also impressive, housing lots of paintings and sculptures by Australian artists and by the big names like Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin and Pissarro (just picking the people I recognised anyway). I really liked this statue of a man wrestling a snake.

My first overseas job!

Today I registered with Adecco and they've been very efficient. Tomorrow I'm spending a day entering information onto a report in Adobe InDesign (a package I've only used briefly, but that is similar to Quark, so I should be ok) for a local primary school teacher's association. Also, the main point of interest is that the Adecco consultant who set me up used to work in the same licorice factory in Sheffield as the guy we met at the kebab place on Sunday night. How weird is that?!

Romance and Iced Coffee

The below is an email I received from Alec, who was my host in Singapore. For people not from Singapore, Kopi Ping is a local type of iced coffee made with condensed sweetened milk that I developed a liking for when I was in town:

...I glanced at one of the local tabloids a few days ago and a rather sensational headline caught my eye. It read:
Kopi Ping Molester
Apparently police are looking for some chap who likes to offer free kopi pings to taxi drivers. You see the kopi pings are drugged and while the poor taxi driver is out cold, this reprehensible chap enjoys himself by having a sly grope.
I was a little concerned because the dates of the reported crimes overlapped with your stay in Singapore. I also noticed that the suspect was described as 'disheveled'.

Now, I'm not pointing any fingers. I'll just say that it might be better to stay where you are until September. Australia doesn't have an extradition treaty with Singapore.

My first weekend in Australia

Elissa organised a bit of a get together with her friends, billed as an Election night party (it was the NSW elections on Saturday), a farewell to her old flatmate (who wasn't invited) and a chance for me to get acquainted with her people. Among them were Bec, who I'd met the previous evening, Chris, one of Australia's premier drift racers, and lots of others who I'd seen photos of before. Generally the evening was spent drinking, talking a lot of crap and, eventually, playing Buzz on the PS2. A lot like parties at home, really. There was also talk of a weekend out of town with instruments and things, which I'm looking forward to. Ursh said I'd be welcome to use her bass some of the time, so that's a relief.



On Sunday we woke up late, but discovered the clocks had changed, so we had an extra hour all of a sudden. We had sandwiches for lunch, and then headed to Bondi to go shopping. I've finally got some proper boardies (I think that's the word), you know, big swimming shorts, like what people wear on the beach in Australia.

That evening we went for kebabs with Ben (seen pictured with Memo, purveyor of kebabs) in Strathfield and then went to see Hot Fuzz at the cinema. While we were having the kebabs, we met a man who had spent 10 months in Sheffield, working for Bassetts, the licorice allsorts people. He said it was my fault he couldn't give blood, because of mad cow disease. I'm looking forward to more absurd reasons to have a go at Brits. Next time I'll pretend to be Irish I think. Hot Fuzz was full of lots of reminders of home, but it's definitely too early to be homesick, so I laughed til I ached instead.

The Jim Henson Company's Puppet Up!

Last night we saw Puppet Up, an improv show by the Jim Henson Company. It was a little bit like Whose Line is it Anyway, but with lots more audience suggestions and puppets! Among the sketches were a Japanese sketch about a young man learning the ways of the Samurai (complete with bad lip sync) which turned into an orgy, a Tennessee Williams style play called "A U-boat named Stinky" and a fairy tale called "Angus and the Ugly Fruit", told in a rap style, in which the King decides to experiment in homosexuality to appreciate the point of view of an unwelcome suitor.

It was hilarious from start to finish, but extremely smutty! I recommend it to anyone who grew up with Sesame Street, The Muppets and Fraggle Rock. It'll open your eyes!

Afterwards, Elissa, Bec and I went for a few drinks, met some nice young Australian chaps and said rude things about each other's mothers. (Sorry Mum).

Australia Day Four - Sydney Harbour and The Rocks

This afternoon I went for a wander round The Rocks, one of Sydney's oldest districts. There were lots of excellent old buildings, though it all looked a bit American somehow. This one looks a lot like New Orleans, I think.

I'm an idiot. I left my bridge climb voucher somewhere in the UK. The lady at the desk was very helpful though. I gave her Emma's email address and we found the voucher on the system. She said "Can you remember if it's silver, gold or platinum?" and I said I wasnt' sure, it was white. She said "Was it a platinum one?" and I said I didn't really remember, not getting the hint. "Cause if you tell me whether or not it was a platinum one I should be able to sort you out". "Ah," I said, "This is one of those leading questions, isn't it?". "Yes" she said. "Then yes, it was a platinum one". "That's great!" she said, with Aussie Service Industry cheer, "We should be able to give you the details, here they are, just give us a call to organise your climb". I thanked her and left, with the voucher number in my pocket, looking forward to my trip.

Then I walked across the bridge, spotting a tall ship coming into the harbour. It's not that interesting unless you're into boats, but especially for my Dad and my brother, there's a whole set of photos of the ship going in and out of the harbour in my flickr account. Check the link on the left.

On the north side of the bridge I wandered down through Luna Park, and took a few more photos, but I didn't find much to grab my attention (perhaps I need a tour guide? I'll see if I can get Elissa to take me round another time) so I took the ferry back to Circular Quay. It's a short hop but the ferry that came first was going the long way round. Suits me, I thought, and sat down for a very cheap tour of the harbour. We went up to the Aquarium and Darling Harbour and then back down to the middle of town, taking in views of the city from all angles and seeing the National Maritime Museum for a while. I noticed something labelled the Welcome Wall at the end of the museum. I'm hoping to find out what this is later, cause to my mind, walls don't normally mean a welcome. If the wall in Berlin had been called that, perhaps they'd have kept it? Marketing can be very powerful. The whole concept sounds pretty similar to that of Friendly Fire, though. I'll try to make sense of it when and if I make the National Maritime Museum trip.

I came back into town, grabbed a coffee and came home. On the way I picked up some "Toohey's Old Black Ale", so I'm delighted to have found a proper beer here, where my English friends said there would be none! Time to shower now, and get ready for tonight's puppet show. And put on some more aftersun - sitting on top of that ferry for an hour was a bad idea...

Australia, Day Three

No photos from today, just a few updates as a reassurance to family, and a couple of odd meetings with people.

Firstly, I've got a bank account, a tax file number (like an NI number I think) and I've set up my phone properly. I think that means I'm in a position to get myself employed, so I hope to register with some agencies tomorrow and see what happens.

Ok, stories from the day - the lady on the plane from East Timor happened to wander past me today, and after some glances and mental "Is that...? No..."s from both of us we stopped and chatted. She still has terrible jetlag, as she came through from Ireland to Sydney, and spent 30 hours travelling in total. She's settling back in though and beginning to enjoy herself again. I had told her on the plane that I was travelling in part to meet a girl I hadn't seen for 6 months, so she asked for an update on that. I asked where I might buy a guitar, but she wasn't sure. I was on the verge of asking for contact details and dragging her to the party on Saturday, but she was staying an hour outside the city, so I thought it'd be a long way to come. So we both agreed that if we bumped into each other after two days, we'd probably see each other again.

In the asian supermarket this afternoon I was wearing my "I climbed the Great Wall" t-shirt, and the man behind the counter aked if I'd been to China. I told him how much I'd enjoyed the Temple of Heaven. He asked if I had been to the mountain range there. Apparently if you walk up the hill until you see the sunrise, and pick up the pebbles there, they have a cultural significance. You leave them on the join of a branch of a tree and the tree grows around the pebbles. It's something to do with Feng Shui, which I remember was a big thing in Singapore. I'll look it up eventually. He said he had never been to China but he really hoped he could some day.

Tomorrow the job search starts in earnest. Hopefully there's something out there that pays ok, isn't too dull and wants someone for 6 months or less. Of course, I'll keep you posted.

Australia Day Two

We woke up this morning and headed out shopping to pick up a few bits - a phone charger, a mains adapter, a phone number and so on. Most of the way there I found I was steering from the other side of the car. Driving in Australia is easy!

After this we came home and headed into town on the bus. We walked down to Circular Quay and had lunch at City Extra, which overlooks the harbour. In front of us were the Manly Ferry, the Harbour Bridge and lots of yachts and ships. Not to mention some colossal plates of food!

After lunch we walked to the Opera House and walked round the outside, me taking lots of photos, Elissa (having worked there for several years) not really that impressed. But we went inside and met some of her colleagues and chatted to them. CJ was particularly excitable, but they all seemed like a lovely bunch. Somehow we managed to land ourselves some freebies too - CJ offered us a couple of spare tickets for a play, Lotte's Gift, that evening. David Morley suggest we take the tour of the Opera House, so we organised that with Mel and came back at 4pm for the tour.

The space age loos weren't on the tour, but they were very impressive. The wavy sinks that just about caught the water, the illuminated loo roll holders. Very good. Then we joined the tour, and although we couldn't take photos inside the venues, the surrounding building got photoed to death! We were in the main concert hall, and the guide was telling us the history of the venue when the organ struck up. It's apparently the largest mechanical tracker organ in the world, with more than 10,000 pipes. Our guide didn't have much of a hope of talking over it! It's very rarely played, the guide herself had only heard it a few times, and Elissa had never heard it before.

After the tour we wandered to Australia Square, where we had cocktails in the Orbit Bar. It was all very laid out, and they were nice enough to let me in despite my sandals. The views were perfect, taking in the whole city. Elissa thought she knew one of the waitresses, but I was convinced (as we both agreed all of the waitresses were very good looking) that people only say they think they know someone as an excuse to themselves to ogle a bit. Expounding this theory (that's cocktails for you) I said "Don't I know your arse from somewhere?" as one of the waitresses arrived to ask us if everything was ok. Elissa was convinced she knew what was going on, though she remained very polite. We tipped too much and left. We may go back. For the views of the city of course.

We went and found somewhere to eat (the first time I've ever had sushi in a restaurant) and then went to the theatre. The play was a one woman show, acted by a reknowned classical guitarist. She played beautifully and told the story with feeling. Despite being so tired after my flight the day before, I enjoyed the whole thing, and I'm going to have to find some of the music on CD. Our company, CJ and Jane, was excellent too. Jane told me about her experiences of travelling a long way for some boy, CJ hit us all with a rolled up programme and told dirty jokes.

On the way home we walked through Hyde Park. We saw fruit bats and possums, and a huge fountain (though not as big as the one at Suntec City in Singapore of course) and caught the bus home. Today should be a bit more sedate by comparison, I'm going guitar shopping and setting up a bank account! And I've already set up a new phone number in Australia, so if you'd like it, let me know.

Australia Day One

Don't worry, I won't number them all the way up to 365! So I dropped my bags off at the flat and Elissa took me to Maroubra beach for fish and chips. We sat on a step watching the waves breaking and the tourists surfing, and noticed we'd attracted the attention of some of the local seagulls. Having eaten all we wanted, I threw a chip, just to see what would happen. Three or four of them dived after it, and a couple of seagulls flew down from further up the beach. A few chips later and we had a crowd of about 30 seagulls (the one pictured isn't one of them, though). One was squawking in a particularly high pitch, and another seemed to be pushing all the other gulls back so the high-pitched one had first go at the chips. As the seagulls got closer and closer we began to think better of the whole thing. We gathered up the rubbish and flinged the remaining handful of chips onto the beach, where there was much squawking and fighting, and then we disappeared up the beach, being followed by a combination of wry smiles and horrified looks from the folks sat on benches nearby.

Then Elissa drove me round the coast to the kitesurfing shop. When we walked in, there was a man in an afro wig and a facemask waiting to greet us! I asked if it improved his balance, and he said it made him look good cause everyone else would fall about laughing and he'd stay up on his board. I'm hoping to take lessons with them, they seem like a nice bunch.

Today's plan is shopping and seeing the middle of Sydney. More on that later!

Travelling to Australia

Checking my pockets at Changi Airport in Singapore I saw I had $4.40 left in change. An iced coffee was exactly $4.40 and exactly what I needed. I ordered one, but for reasons unknown to me or the guy serving me the bill came up as $4.60. He said "Look, don't worry about it if you haven't got it", but I searched and lo and behold, 20c appeared from nowhere and I paid the bill properly. "That's very lucky" said the man behind the counter.

Eight hours later when te plane suddenly banked to the left and an announcement said we were off to Melbourne to refuel while the fog cleared from Sydney, I didn't feel that lucky. Plus the iced coffee wasn't even half as good as a $2 Kopi Peng from a hawker stall. Anyway, we ended up landing in Melbourne about half an hour after I should have been through customs in Sydney, and sitting on the tarmac refuelling. While I was there I chatted to the lady next to me who turned out to be Australian, but from East Timor stock. Not for the first time, I felt embarassed at my complete ignorance of South East Asian politics, but she explained the general events leading up to the formation of the world's youngest nation. Her grandparents fled from Timor to Darwin by boat, while her mother was at university in Portugal. They've lived in Australia ever since, but her parents still want to go back, once everything is settled down. As Chris knows of the former Soviet nations in Central Asia, these things always take a while to settle, and there's an election coming up. I have my fingers crossed, and again, I hope to learn more about South East Asian politics, both for my own pride and because it's fascinating stuff. And maybe the coffee guy was right, I am lucky.

A few final notes on Singapore

• I didn't go to Raffles Hotel. I saw it but didn't go in. Everyone here said Singapore Slings taste pretty ropey anyway, and I didn't really want to celebrate a British conquest that a) we probably shouldn't have had in the first place and b) that we lost because we pointed the guns the wrong way. They've done better without us, the nation is thriving, and in terms of economic development, is probably giving the rest of South East Asia something to aim for.
  
• Alright, I might try a cocktail at Raffles in September - I did say I would.
  
• Sir Stamford Raffles seems to be held in high esteem round here - I'm still trying to figure out why. Perhaps visiting the hotel would have helped?
  
• Chicken rice is pretty tasty, despite the seemingly bland concept.
• The McDonalds McSpicy (their attempt at making their food local to Singapore) is just a slightly hotter KFC Zinger Burger.
• Eating Chicken Rice and a McSpicy meal in one lunchtime is not a good idea in a tropical climate.
  

Singapore Day Five - last day!

So getting up this morning was a challenge, but lunch in Toh Payoh was well and truly worth it. We had lots of delicious Chinese food, but most importantly, I spent time with Hsien-li and Rebecca and Derek, pictured left with me. I hadn't met Derek before, but he was very good conversation and company, as it later transpired. Hsien-li and Rebecca had to go and work that afternoon (as seems to be the norm in Singapore) and so I said my goodbyes - I'm looking forward to seeing them again in September - and wandered off with Derek. He was a great tour guide, taking me down Orchard Road (the shopping area I hadn't seen yet) and then to Little India. We wandered round here for a while, spotting lots of gold stores and singer sewing machines actually being used! Then we headed to a large square in the Arab Quarter and aside from hearing the Muezzin calling the Muslims to prayer from the Sultan Mosque, I saw a collection of stuff on sale on the street - everything from cine cameras to DVDs, from porn to mobile phones, and an old-style wooden sailing ship that I really hope I can buy when I get back here.

We then headed to Geylang, a notorious part of town for the sex industry, but also a great place to get Malaysian food, apparently. Derek pointed out some hotels that charge by the hour and various bars where one might expect to meet some of the friendlier locals. We stopped for fruit too, some tiny bananas and some small citrus-looking things with pale grey insides. I can't remember what they were but they were delicious! We also stopped for barbecued Chinese-style pork and I picked up a gift for my hosts.

Then we headed to the National Stadium, where he showed me the riverfront and a view of the city, and I took a few photos. He drove me back into town and dropped me at Esplanade, having taken me round parts of the city I never would have seen otherwise. I look forward to thanking him with a beer or two at the wedding in September!

From Esplanade I made my way to Swissotel in the Raffles City complex. I was told the bar on 70th floor had a smart-casual dresscode and I wasn't allowed to take photos from there unless I bought a drink. I went up, took photos while dressed casual-casual and no one seemed to want to offer me a drink, so I came back down again. Here's an upstairs photo of Esplanade, fast becoming one of my favourite places.

Then I headed back there to see a few bands playing and sound-checking outdoors, and met Alec and Michelle for Femi Kuti, his first Singapore gig in a decade or more's career. The man played a storm, the crowd loved it and showed their appreciation by spending most of the show on their feet and dancing(an uncommon practice in an all-seater venue in Singapore), the band were energetic and lively and good fun, and there was some excellent horn improv at the end. I won't say Femi Kuti is my new favourite act, but he's got enough about him for at least one good show, and I'll definitely see him again if folks are going.

My hosts and I had dinner in the nearby hawker centre (after glimpsing more free performances bringing Mosaic to a close) and headed home. I'm spending tomorrow in the flat relaxing and packing, so that's the end of the Singapore story so far. I'm looking forward to my next visit though, and I'm hoping to catch Mosaic 2008 when I return from Australia!

Singapore Day Four

Saturday was St Patrick's Day, Michelle's birthday and therefore time to party on both counts. We had a gathering here at Alec's place for Michelle, and a fair few Newman people came along. I hadn't seen Hsien-li, Dave and Avril in about two years, Inez and Rebecca in about 5 (except lunch with Rebecca on Thursday of course) and so it was wonderful to catch up with folks. Tessa and Arthur were along too, who I've met before - it was a regular reunion. Dave and Avril's daughter made the party too, she's a beautiful child and her parents seem completely delighted, as they should be.

Later, the party involved Alec and Michelle giving a swing dancing demonstration (photos on Flickr) and Dave and Alec did some Irish dancing for us. Then conversation turned to mixing drinks for the karaoke that evening. We emptied out some coke and filled up with rum, and laced some green tea with vodka, though later forgot the bottles and spent a fortune on beer instead...

The karaoke was pretty intense. We started with So Young by Suede, and I ended up doing Rock and Roll by Led Zep and Back in Black, pretty early on. We were then joined by the others (just four of us there to start with) and two cardboard air hostesses, which was fun. Michelle showed off her harmonies and her friend (whose name I forget) did a cracking Alanis Morissette. Don sang an excellent Brett Anderson impersonation.

The karaoke and drinking continued until 4am, when we headed home. I had arranged a lunch at 1 the following day, so slept as soon as I could. I wasn't really ready for the 11am alarm this morning, that's all I'll say.

And I'm very disappointed by the rugby scores.

Singapore Day Three

Yesterday I visited Singapore Zoo, for a couple of hours. I woke up at 1.30pm, realising I'd missed the best part of the day, and frantically rushed around grabbing bags, phoning people and getting organised for that evening. I jumped in a taxi after a very quick lunch and headed out of town. Taxi drivers are as opinionated in Singapore as they are in the rest of the world, and I learned a lot about this country in the journey out to the zoo and back - opinions on freedoms, traffic, smoking, drinking, the weather, anything they could come up with. All very friendly of course, though I was told that being European might have something to do with that.

When I got into the zoo, one of the first really striking enclosures held some of these - white tigers. I've always been into tigers, but I don't think I've seen white ones before. The rest of the photos are on my Flickr account (I keep meaning to put a link in the sidebar, should be one there soon), but the general impression of the zoo was that it was extremely well laid out and spacious, informative and affordable. Both taxi drivers said I should try the Night Safari. Next time I'm in Singapore perhaps.

In the evening I met Alec and Michelle for dinner in the Arab Street area. I got there early and so went to see The Sultan Mosque, a beautiful building designed by the chap who designed Raffles Hotel. Sadly I couldn't go in as it was a Friday, but the outside was gorgeous enough. The photo on the right shows the mosque, the DHL balloon and a building called Parkview Place, or something similar, which really belongs in a Batman film. We went to look at this at the end of the evening, and a waitress was suspended from the ceiling, grabbing wine from an enormous wine rack, a jazz band was playing on a balcony, everything was gilded or coated in something that looked expensive, if tasteless. I'm looking forward to popping in for a drink next time I'm in town.

Singapore Day Two

Today I visited the CBD, and started the day with a Kopi Ping (iced coffee, very nice) and some duck and rice. I strolled along the coast, past the Merlion and Esplanade, then up to Raffles Hotel. Sadly I was wearing sandals so I didn't bother trying to get in. Singapore Slings taste like mouthwash anyway, my guidebook says. I headed back to the Asian Civilisation museum, in search of entertainment in air-conditioned buildings. Inside were relics of early Singapore, thousands of years ago. A thriving port, and a far cry from the fishing village that Sir Stamford Raffles discovered. Also, there were galleries of artifacts and descriptions of cultures and religions from China to Arabia. A special exhibition talked of a long-lost civilisation in Central China, discovered again in 1986.

I met Alec and Rebecca for lunch, which was lovely - I haven't seen Rebecca in nigh on 7 years, though she hasn't changed. We ate Japanese food and chatted, then Alec and Rebecca headed back to work. Rebecca recommended I head to Little India, which I did. I took in this temple to the left, and a hawker centre with a distinctive odour. Then I jumped back on the MRT and hit Chinatown.

In Chinatown I found myself constantly accosted by tailors, trying to sell me shirts. I don't know what they were saying, I think the shirt I'm in is nice! Stalls offered Chinese lanterns, incense, wind chimes, food, drinks, CDs of Chinese music. I wandered in and out of some smaller alleyways in hunt of some nice photos and a cold drink.

I stumbled upon a couple of temples. The one to the right, under construction, a Buddhist temple and a mosque, all beautifully presented and open to the public. I had to get back to Esplanade for the gig that evening, so I moved on quickly, and walked back towards the CBD.

Some people have described Singapore as sterile, soulless. I haven't found this to be true. It's a thriving, vibrant city, full of life and a myriad of cultures. I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow brings - I'm off to the zoo, and some primary rainforest they've put aside for the tourists.

Chick Corea and Gary Burton - Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

I was told by both people I went with, independently and together, what excellent acoustics the Esplanade complex (picture right) has. Presumably this applies to all the parts of it, but the concert hall was definitely sounding pretty good this evening. We arrived to be informed that we were moved from the circle to the second row in the stalls. "Excellent" we thought, "$150 seats for $60 a piece". Sadly the nearly-front-row seats just meant we wouldn't be able to see Chick and Gaty's hands, and the aforementioned acoustics (some of the best in the world) meant we weren't gaining anything even on the "worst" seats in terms of sound quality. We moved to the dress circle in the interval, helped by the friendly staff.

I have never seen someone play the vibraphone before, but something tells me I won' see it played like that again. Gary Burton had some spectacular solos, improvisations over complex and innovative (well done Chick) chord progressions in a variety of styles from flamenco and tango to chinstrokey jazz and just good fun bluesy jazz, and didn't break a sweat (thanks in part to air-conditioning, I can tell you). Chick, as Michelle said, made some very challenging piano playing look effortless. The sound they made got a bit tired for me halfway through, though the hardcore fans cheered every piece at start and finished and applauded every exceptional solo (all of them actually, even though good grammar probably doesn't allow that). But some life was injected into it at the end - one piece involved percussion introduction (both performers tapping the piano) and another started with the audience clicking their fingers. The last number involved both performers on the vibraphone (Chick unsurprisingly competent - if it's laid out a bit like a keyboard, he can play it), and had the crowd cheering from the start. A standing ovation for a duo who hadn't recorded an album for 13 years, from an audience crying out for the next one, at a venue I'm looking forward to visiting again on Sunday.

Arriving in Singapore

Photos are here from my first day in Singapore.

So far I've arrived, Alec has shown me to his place and then I've wandered round the neighbourhood a bit. The shopping centre seemed well-stocked, the beach was beautiful with all sorts of birdsong I had never heard before, and the street Alec sent me to seemed pretty lively. I can just picture the bay full of pirate ships (which of course it still is, just not ones with sails and mainbraces and so on) and little rowboats heading to shore to hit the bars and the brothels. If Jack Sparrow ever insinuates that I've clearly never been to Singapore, I know different already.

Singapore doesn't feel like that today though, it's very modern, very civilised. A local crime prevention slogan says that even though there's no crime, that doesn't mean there's no work to be done - "Zero crime doesn't mean no crime!". Which is a new concept for me. Drug smuggling carries the death sentence. By hanging. I'm grateful to the guys at the rectory for not planting anything in my luggage "for a laugh". Chewing gum on the street carries a substantial fine. But the streets are clean, the people are at ease all the time, seemingly, so maybe it's not such a bad thing.

Oh, and the weather. It's just a wall of damp heat! It's incredible! I don't know what to do with myself! I expect I'll get over it soon though. More soon.

Even the flight's exciting!

I've just got to Singapore and the things I saw on the flight were incredible. Firstly, flying over Iran, Pakistan and India, the sky was completely clear and I could see hundreds and thousands of cities, towns and villages all the way to the horizon - a million inidividual streetlights, in every direction. Then, over India, off in the distance there were flashes of red - a thunderstorm on the horizon. It put me in mind of the long range shots of Mordor in the Lord of the Rings films - towers of lava, billowing smoke - it was incredible, even from so far away.

Then the plane flew right by a big electrical storm, and then another. Sparks of lightning every second, from cloud to cloud, lighting up storms that were miles across with yellows and blues. I've never seen a lightning storm from above before, it was really breathtaking. I pointed it out to Charmaine from Perth, who shared my row, saying "you have to see this" and we both stared out the window for ten minutes. It was better than most of the films they were showing.

As we flew down over Malaysia, the sun came up over the horizon, and there were rich blues, over soft yellows, over oranges, and then clouds. The gaps beween the clouds and the horizon showed cracks of deep red, like the whole landscape was one big volcano.

A nice smooth touchdown and I was here, with Alec waiting at the gate ready to plonk me on a bus and drag me back to the flat, where I'm currently sat sweating like a pig, at just 10,10am. I'm going to have to get used to that, I think. I only hope the next five days in Singapore are as much fun as those thunderstorms.

More events from the past few weeks

So on the Saturday after that, Richard had his birthday drinks and Loz had a cheese and wine evening - all lots of fun. I ended up at the Rectory in Mile End, and so went back to Tooting to collect my belongings and came back to the Rectory on the Monday. Tuesday I had lunch with work people (Helen's 40th birthday) at a lovely restaurant in Wimbledon, and then went out for drinks in the evening. By the time I'd turned up to help Sara move on Wednesday, people at work were thinking I'd never leave - words like "Something about being beaten off with a sharp stick" and the much more direct "Go away!" definitely came up... Thursday evening I was entertained by Rob and Chris, and Rob makes a mean Pisco Sours. Friday night involved dinner with Liz and Van and a couple of drinks with Nina, and a brief party (brief for me) in the front room of the rectory. Saturday brought with it Dan's birthday party, which came accompanied by lots of drinks and a surprise meeting with Rob's friend Ruth. Sunday involved a roast dinner with the Everitts, the Graingers, Guy and Caroline, a surprise victory over France in the 6 nations then a visit to Cafe Cairo with Rowena and a barbecue back at hers. Phew!

Tonight I've dragged a few people to the Dover Castle for a drink or two and tomorrow morning I get up early and fly to Singapore! I promise to blog more descriptively from then on!

Leaving, leaving some more, and not leaving

On Friday night, Sam and I had some leaving drinks in GJs in Colliers Wood. Lots of work people came and we all had an excellent time. There are some photos on Flickr, if you fancy a look. Just click on the photo to the left.

Following the pub golf on 17th February (click on the photo to the right for more on Flickr), and drinks after work on Wednesday, this makes Friday my third leaving do. I think I might be starting to milk it slightly. I'm still here, after all. But everything everyone has done has been very touching. And I'll happily organise one last leaving do on Monday next, just cause there's always room for one more party, whatever the reason. And cause there's lots of people I'll miss a great deal and who I'd love to spend one last night with.