Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia - a taste of South East Asia.

2013 Nov 25 - Dec 22

Alan had some business in Penang for a week and we decided that it would open up a space to explore some of South East Asia if we were to base ourselves in the region for a month. Singapore was the logical choice in terms of access to the region, access without the need for a visa, and availability of accommodation. So we flew to Singapore and made it our base. Alan had lived in Singapore from 1968 to 1969 and although he had visited many times since then these trips had always been on business, with little chance to explore his memories so this was an opportunity for him to regain familiarity with old haunts, and for both of us to relax and wander around together. 

Singapore has changed either a great deal or very little, depending upon whether one looks for change or not. Although the streets, buildings, airport, and so on have changed to the point that much of the islands as it was in the late sixties is unrecognizable, the people and their approach have not changed at all. It is still a place in which people of all cultures, religions, languages, and backgrounds live together in tolerance and cooperation.

Our time in the region was restricted to Singapore and Malaysia, however we found far more to do than we had time for; in Singapore alone we found that we needed to return for much longer, contrary to many opinions that in Singapore there’s nothing to do.

This post will look at a few aspects rather than being a chronology of our time.

1)     Singapore communities: it’s fascinating that Singapore, although in a sense a melting pot, has areas which retain their distinctive cultural environment. Chinatown has Chinese temples, markets, food stalls, stores, and a clear Chinese identity. Little India and its environs have Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh temples, markets, food stalls, and a South Asian identity, principally linked with South India. The Arab area of the city, centred around Arab Street has it’s mosques, food stalls, and stores with an Arab influence.

2)     A focus on nature: Singapore’s Botanical Gardens are an outstanding treasure of flora of the region and indeed elsewhere. The Jurong Bird Park offers an amazing opportunity to see birdlife in a space far larger than anything previously available (although many other places in the world have followed this lead in building similar parks). Singapore Zoo, even for those who are uncomfortable with enclosing animals, offers an excellent opportunity to see a huge range of wildlife, in conditions which are probably as good as can be provided in a zoological setting, with day and night “safaris” as well as the “river safari”. The Singapore Aquarium is excellent as well.

3)     Penang’s Georgetown: the old town remains a treasure, to be explored on foot, enjoying street food and colonial architecture, as well as temples, including the “Reclining Buddha” and Burmese temples

4)     Kuala Lumpur: although “KL” has its modern architecture and technology capability, Merdeka Square, the Central Market, and Then Hou Temple, retain evidence of the “old KL”.

5)     Melaka: with its history including Arab, South Asian, Dutch, and British influences Melaka is a distinctive town with much to enjoy, whether simply walking in Jonker Street, visiting the Chen Hoog Teng temple (& many others), stopping at the old port, or climbing the hill for a view over the town.

6)     Music: we enjoyed an amazing opportunity to appreciate music during our time in the region. Including concerts by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra with Lang Lang, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra at Tanjong Pagar, the Malaysia Young Philharmonic Orchestra at the Petronas Twin Towers, the Little Giant Chamber Orchestra from Taiwan and a performance from Macau, as well as a Masterclass, at the Ding Yi Festival in Singapore.

7)     Netball (netball?): this sport, familiar from schooldays held its Nations Cup matches in Singapore while we were there. We attended the Singapore vs PNG match (a home win) at Toa Payoh Sports Centre.

8)     Museums: too many to list, however some are indeed listed below

a.     Chinese Heritage Museum in Singapore’s Chinatown,

b.     Singapore Art Museum

c.     Singapore Asian Civilisations Museum (outstanding!)

d.     Penang Museum

e.     Cheong Fat Tze Mansion in Penang

f.      Georgetown Peranakan Museum

g.     Kuala Lumpur Muslim Arts Museum (also outstanding)

h.     Singapore National Museum

So, with only a month between Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia we ran out of time to see more than an introduction to these two countries. We were able to return to both later, and hope to do so again. 

Abrazos 

Alan & Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com

Art and Music in Texas and Arkansas - Marfa & the Ozarks

2013 Oct 23-Nov 9 We were going to be in Houston for a week and New Orleans for a week. In addition to the enjoyment of food and drink in these two, we had a couple of weekends available to find something to do. We spent one of these with friends in Arkansas, given that it would be easy to drop in on them in Batesville, Arkansas on the way from Houston to New Orleans (!). We decided to use the other one to visit Marfa, Texas, having seen that it had an art museum to which people would make “pilgrimages” from New York, among other places.    Weekend 1 – Marfa Marfa is more or less at the western end of Texas, which makes it about 1000 Km from our arrival airport in Houston. We headed west and stopped overnight at Boerne, to the north west of San Antonio, then continued in the morning via Fort Stockton, arriving in Marfa in the late afternoon, too late to think of visiting the Chinati Foundation, which was out principal objective.     Marfa (“ Tough to get to, tougher to explain. But once you get here, you get it”) is a small town (population 1968 according to the sign entering town) with good restaurants, and more (and more interesting) hotels than one might expect, as a result of its being home to the Chinati Foundation, established in 1986 by Donald Judd, who had moved to Marfa in 1977 since New York couldn’t accommodate the large scale works he wanted to display. In addition to the Foundation, there are numerous other art exhibitions and galleries in the town.      Having decided to visit at short notice, none of the hotels in town had rooms available so we dined and then went to Alpine, about half an hour away to stay overnight. On arrival, bearing in mind that in much of the USA, at least outside the cities, nothing happens after 2000h, and it’s often difficult even to find a place to eat, we were stunned to be asked whether we were going to the rodeo. We duly headed for the Rodeo Arena and spent some time watching contestants there.    The following day we returned to the Chinati Foundation, were we enjoyed the amazing exhibition, with works by Donald Judd himself, John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, and others including more memorable (to us) art by Ingólfur Arnarsson and Claes Oldenburg. At the end of the afternoon we made a circuit to visit Fort Davis, a classic “old west” town, and then back via the deserted roads to the west.    The following day we headed southwards to the Rio Grande, through vast open Texas country, on our way to Big Bend National Park, lunching at the “High Sierra Bar”. The course of the Rio Grande is wild and Big Bend is a beautiful desert environment; perhaps because it was late October it was free of other visitors, allowing us to appreciate the flora, fauna, and silence.            We returned to Houston via Highway 90, stopping for dinner at the Gage Hotel in Marathon, where we were surprised to be asked “Do you have a reservation?” following which we ate hamburgers in the garden from the bar menu.  After a night in Del Rio we continued to Houston via Gruene in the Texas Hill Country, which Alan remembered as a small village with an German immigrant history, in the Texas countryside, but which is now essentially a suburb of New Braunfels.    Weekend 2 – Batesville Following a week in Houston we flew to Little Rock, were we were met by our friends Troy and Pat, who took us to their home in Batesville for a relaxing and very enjoyable weekend, catching up on our lives, and (among other things) helping with the monthly cleaning of the guns. On the Saturday we made a circuit through the beautiful Ozarks, stopping at Mountain View, where musicians and music stores were evident  on all sides. We lunched at a local restaurant which, I am sure, was not yet aware of the loss of Elvis, and where the burgers were excellent. Returning to Batesville we made a loop via Greer’s Ferry, with wonderful views of the forest, which at the time was a sea of red, green, brown, and golden foliage.

After another day simply relaxing we left late in the afternoon to return to Little Rock airport, to fly back to Houston and then connect to our flight to New Orleans, for a week of po-boys, other cajun cuisine, a concert by Topsy Chapman & Solid Harmony, and a visit to the Ogden Art Museum, before heading home.

 

abrazos

Alan y Marce

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com 

Croatia & Slovenia: home of the tie and a thousand castles.

2013 Jun 16-29

Nota: publicado en Inglés: vamos a editar e incluir versión en español pronto. 

This blog is intended to capture current and future exploration, and also to give us an opportunity to record trips made in the last few years which we didn't get around to posting earlier. This post is in the latter category. We had no plan to visit Croatia or Slovenia in 2013, however the concept of mutatis mutandis applies to travel plans as well as contracts…

We were going to Algeria on business, and had a conference to attend, as a Panel Member,  in Istanbul. As always we sought to combine business with pleasure, and decided that a good option would be to spend some time in Turkey, taking advantage of being in Istanbul for the conference, and of the non-stop flights available from Istanbul to Algiers and back. However… shortly before travelling the conference was postponed to the following year, as a result of concerns following the occupation of Taksim Square and the resulting clashes.

 So, we could either go to Turkey anyway (which would no doubt be relatively quiet in tourism terms) or go somewhere else before/after Algeria, on the principle of “no dar papaya”.  We decided on the latter, and looked for an interesting destination from which it would be relatively easy to get to Algiers and back.

Since Lufthansa’s prices were significantly lower than their competition we were flying via Frankfurt a lot at this time (putting up with the negatives of FRA in the interests of economy). FRA was going to be a convenient hub for us to travel from home to Zagreb and back again to head for Algiers, then back again, etc., etc.

For Alan, Zagreb has been a destination with an image born of the post-World War II era, grey, drab, cold, and uninteresting, albeit with recognition that this image is a prejudiced. The reality of the city was astonishing: a bright sunny city, with beautiful architecture, lively markets, and a positive spirit. We walked through the upper town, noting with interest the memorial plaque to Nikola Tesla, visited the market and bought charcuterie and cheese for our travels. 

 

 

 

We picked up a rental car (Golf diesel, which proved to be excellent, complete with in-car WiFi), and headed south on the excellent new motorway, passing on the way out of the city, somewhat to our surprise, a BC-registered Jeep. 

 

Our first stop, after enjoying the countryside on the way, was Dubrovnik, the beautiful walled city, which has been an important seaport at least since the 7^th century CE, having been a stopover for Greek sailors, capital of Ragusa, key city in the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires, and which has survived the 1667 CE earthquake and the siege of Dubrovnik in 1991/1992 CE. 

 

 

 

 

The city, “Pearl of the Adriatic” according to UNESCO, is architecturally beautiful, with Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque churches, monasteries, palaces and fountains. The original walled city is accessible on foot, except for very limited vehicle entry, with the obvious result that it’s ideal for wandering around. We also explored the Dalmatian coast, one day heading to Orebić, from which one can take a ferry to Korčula, although we arrived too late to visit the island, We did enjoy a late lunch overlooking the Adriatic, then headed back to Dubrovnik.  

 

 

Our return trip northwards took us initially to Trogir, another UNESCO world heritage site, founded in the 3^rd century CE as a Roman port, 

 

 

...and then to Split. The latter, previously known principally as a budget seaside resort for British holidaymakers, was a stunning surprise. The Roman Emperor Diocletian retired here in the 4^th century CE, building a palace which is still, remarkably, a living part of the centre of the city, with stores, bars, restaurants, and businesses within its confines. 

 

One day we took a ferry to Šolta, to fulfil a commitment made a year or so earlier, when we had met our friend Aleksei, from Grohote, in a workshop in Cartagena. We had entered into a discussion of our discovery that the unusual cobbled streets in Punta Arenas had been built by Croatian immigrants to Patagonia in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries CE, and he had told us about his home town which was built of stone, and that we should visit it one day to see the techniques employed. The town is amazing, with streets, s, and even roofs built of stone. Thanks Aleksei for introducing us to your home.

 

 

 

 

The following day we went to see the Roman ruins at Salona, and on our way back noticed a hilltop construction which looked interesting, so detoured to see it. It turned out to be the fortress at Klis, which had not been on our radar as an attraction but which was well worth visiting, having been a castle and frontier post for 2000 years (as well as, we learned today, a shooting location for the series “Game of Thrones”). We arrived too late to go in, however the friendly goy at the entrance let us in, as long as we didn't spend too long. We had ample opportunity to ascend to the top of the fortress and appreciate the setting and construction. 

 

We then headed north again to Šibenik, yet another fascinating historic town, the oldest built by Croats on the coast, and then inland to the astonishing Plitvice Lakes. Although it was relatively late in the day with respect to the park opening times we walked a circuit around the lower lakes, which were by that hour relatively quiet. 

 

 

 

 

 

We then made our back to Zagreb, for a night before flying to Algiers (another story).

A few days later we returned to Zagreb, spending a night before picking up another rental car to drive to Slovenia. We had heard Slovenia described as the country of a thousand castles; we planned to make our way initially to Ljubljana and then explore from there, however only a few minutes after crossing the border into Slovenia we were seduced by the sight of a castle on our right, and detoured to find the town of Brežice; subsequently by Novo Mesto, attractive town in a bend in the river; then by Žužemberk; finally arriving in Ljubljana in the evening. 

 

 

Ljubljana is another city suffering in Alan’s mind from its post-World War II image, and which proved to be a jewel of a town. The castle alone offers a range of attractions, the town is green and pleasant, and the people welcoming and friendly. 

 

We explored Slovenia as much as possible in the short time we had: travelling  to Škofja Loka, then via leafy woods and hills to Cerkno on the way to Idrija, with its mercury mining history and lace tradition.

 

 

 

 

Lastly to Predjama Castle, built into a cave mouth in the cliffs. A fairytale castle if ever there was one. 

 

 We returned to Zagreb after our brief time in Slovenia, to return home this time via LHR with a brief stopover in London for a visit to the Royal Opera House and a curry (in a restaurant, not in the Opera House).

Photos may be used for non-commercial purposes with credit to alanymarce@gmail.com