Shiva's and Metta's Mother's Sutra

2018 - us in another jungle - on top of Gunung Bntan Well, that's another location I have introduced to the boys - the ridiculously amazing and beautiful Bintan. We have had adventures in loads of places now. Small places like Mutiara means that you are able to get to know the people who live and work there. I met Mark the owner of the place just before I left. He had dropped in to check on how things were and we had a very short chat for about ten minutes. I told him how much I admired what he was doing and how important it was. It was an example of what tourism could be like and he said that his idea was two fold - the have a business which could focus and give the place direction because hand outs was not a solution, but also to give the people opportunities to go on to work in larger resorts. Then he added, laughing, but they don't leave! Well, that's because you are a good employer. Bintan is really beautiful, BUT it still suffers from the blight of plastic. Th...

Sunrise Sometimes it feels like my heart should break. The beauty of Bintan is beyond all words. And the people so so lovely. But there is a fly in the ointment, they are made to believe that they have nothing and people take advantage of that. Bintan has a rich and illustrious history. It used to be the centre of the Malay empire. It was also an important outpost of the Sriyijaya Empire but in the 19th century that all fell apart. Bintan then became a small island once again, with mostly plantations and fishing and some commerce and some government offices. Then... some have disasters thrust upon them. It fully annoys me how greedy politicians are. Really, it does. I may bring myself to talk about it in time, but meanwhile...here is us enjoying our time here. FIRST I have to say I have managed to enjoy my time here because of this place I found many many years ago - Lianne helped me find it. Well really she brought me to it with Oisin who was probably not more than 4 y...

Paradise Regained It is morning in Bintan. Yesterday both boys experienced eating outside a 'developed' world. They both ended up with tummy bogs and throwing up. It is hard to say what happened there. I of course had no symptoms or sufferings at all. Such is the life of an Asian with an Asian stomach. It is made of cast iron. Unbreakable. If I do end up puking, it had to be serious. I am sitting here, watching the sunrise. Trikora is located on East Bintan we are are given a show every morning. Around 6.15 the sun rises and it is a blazing ball of light that emerges from the warm seas. It floods everything before it with heat and light and the world is filled with colour. I was not woken by the call to prayer today. Instead, I got up all by myself - the rooster appears to have forgotten to crow. As the sun rises higher the waters emit a blinding glow. I used to watch sunrises all the time when I had the chance to be at the beach. Sunrises in this part of the world are ...

If you can imagine a food, it will be available. On Friday, instead of going to Bukit Timah Nature reserve like wanted, my uncle Gab, who is incredibly unpredictable despite being a Lieutenant-General or maybe because of it, he said that we could either go to Bukit Timah OR Johor to eat. The only reason why Singaporeans go to Johore, it seems, would be to eat. OR fill up on petrol. Yes, because everything is several times cheaper than Singapore. Everything is divided by 3, which makes everything very affordable indeed. However, in order to get TO Johore, there is the small matter of the Causeway. This is a bridge, around 1 km across and it is hell on Earth. At anyone time thousands of people are crossing it. And in order to discourage people from doing things which they absolutely have to do and therefore make life unnecessarily difficult of them, the Causeway is utterly chaotic and inefficient. It is BY DESIGN inefficient. I kid you not. However, once you have passed it, you are t...

Cousins! My mum helps with the school run almost daily and today she had to get my nephew who studies in Catholic High. I am lamost certain it is the only school which has bullets for buttons. Yes, I kid you not, like metal buttons, and, I think eight of them. The Twitter handle for Catholic High is #MyBloodIsGreen So very gangsta Bak Kwa Back kwa is a dried, smoked meat which is flavored with honey. It is a typically Singaporean delicacy and it is rather addictive. It is easy to run through a couple of pieces at one sitting. Ghin has discovered the delights of bak kwa. Here we are, post collecting Alex and eating at the Food Court in Thomson Plaza. Just completely gorgeous packaging Alex has a go Kopi O peng

I recently found out I look absolutely hideous when I don't take my own photo. Anyway... here are three good ones of me! But I am writing from Bintan, and I told my sons this afternoon this was the first time, after the hike, that  no longer felt sleepy or the need to sleep. For the first time in ages, I feel normal. Lots of exercise, very strenuous, with lots of R&R in between has been the magical recipe. Also no booze, good food and no stress. I must really not let myself become so run down and exhausted next year. Absolutely critical. My routine in Singapore now is run in the morning, have breakfast, swim mid morning and then either visit friends post lunch or sleep. Although it appears I no longer need to sleep in the afternoon. However, I believe that this sleep bit will be replaced by doing my research. Yes, it is almost a month before school restarts. So, it has been three weeks now since school closed up. Maybe even four! Being out here has made me thin...

Jackfruit When we come to Singapore and hang out here, we mostly eat at local hawker centres. There are any number of these. Singapore is filled with food. But in addition to food, there are also shops selling everything you need to live well. I have never really gotten into branded shite and it is probably because I did most of my shopping in Town Centres. Neighbourhood shops which sold perfectly good, cheerful towels, shorts, pots and pans... you get the idea. But they also sell a mind boggling variety of fruit and there is probably nowhere in the world where you get a better variety of fruit than in Singapore. Nagka Jackfruit recently has developed this reputation for tasting like chicken. Nothing taste less like chicken than jackfruit. The ripe fruit has a taste of its own and the unripe fruit, which is made into a curry, is just amazing. But it doesn't not taste like chicken, neither does it have the texture of chicken. It is ludicrous. My grandmother used to...