Found lyrics and translation online.
不能说的秘密 | Bu Neng Shuo De Mi Mi | Secrets I Can’t Tell
词: 方文山
Ci: Fang Wen Shan
Lyrics: Vincent Fang
曲: 周杰伦
Qu: Zhou Jie Lun
Music: Jay Chou
冷咖啡离开了杯垫
leng ka fei li kai le bei dian
As the cold coffee leaves the coaster
我忍住的情绪在很后面
wo ren zhu de qing xu zai hen hou mian
I desperately tried to hold my emotions far behind
拼命想挽回的从前
pin ming xiang wan hui de cong qian
Fighting hard to restore the past
在我脸上依旧清晰可见
zai wo lian shang yi jiu qing xi ke jian
On my face you can still see ever so clearly
最美的不是下雨天
zui mei de bu shi xia yu tian
that rainy day wasn’t the most beautiful
是曾与你躲过雨的屋檐 oh~~
shi ceng yu ni duo guo yu de wu yan
It’s the shelters that I once shared with you in the rain
回忆的画面
hui yi de hua mian
The pictures in my memory
在荡着秋千 梦开始不甜
zai dang zhe qiu qian meng kai shi bu tian
While on the swings dreams become less sweet
你说把爱渐渐 放下会走更远
ni shuo ba ai jian jian fang xia hui zou geng yuan
You told me that by gradually letting go I’d be able to go further
又何必去改变已错过的时间
you he bi qu gai bian ni cuo guo de shi jian
and why bother changing the times that you’ve missed
你用你的指尖 阻止我说再见
ni yong ni de zhi jian zu zhi wo shuo zai jian
you used your fingertip to stop me from saying goodbye
想像你在身边在完全失去之前
xiang xiang ni zai shen bian zai wan quan shi qu zhi qian
imaging you being by my side before you completely disappear
你说把爱渐渐 放下会走更远
ni shuo ba ai jian jian fang xia hui zou geng yuan
You told me that by gradually letting go I’d be able to go further
或许命运的签 只让我们遇见
huo xu ming yun de qian zhi rang wo men yu jian
Perhaps life’s destiny only allowed us to meet
只让我们相恋 这一季的秋天
zhi rang wo men xiang lian zhe yi ji de qiu tian
(and) Only allowed us to love this one season of fall
飘落後才发现 这幸福的碎片
piao luo hou cai fa xian zhe xing fu de sui pian
only after the pieces drifted down that I realized these are the pieces of happiness
要我怎麼捡
yao wo zen me jian
How do i pick them up
*Credits to FSUTan for the translation*
---------------
Trying to abide by my philosophy of 拿得起，放得下。If I can pick it up, I can also let go. Right? Very useful philosophy for Work, and Life in General. 不是我的，是永远得不到。No use obsessing over it. Now that it's recorded here, I will read it multiple times and finally convince myself to believe.
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
How to be Zen
Apparently the trick to achieving inner peace despite being buffeted by storms is to acknowledge the offending storm, then ignore it. Because it is impermanent and hence will eventually go away.
So I've been practising acknowledging then ignoring things which disturb my inner peace.
Thus far, I've had mixed results.
Some things can be ignored. They pop up every now and again, and I acknowledge them then put them aside. And it's ok.
But for other things the longer you ignore it the more it grows. Like work. Specifically, my lab meeting presentation due tomorrow. Which is why I'm on blogger procrastinating.
So I've been practising acknowledging then ignoring things which disturb my inner peace.
Thus far, I've had mixed results.
Some things can be ignored. They pop up every now and again, and I acknowledge them then put them aside. And it's ok.
But for other things the longer you ignore it the more it grows. Like work. Specifically, my lab meeting presentation due tomorrow. Which is why I'm on blogger procrastinating.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Of canaries and canneries
A boisterous canary dug elephants from giant holes. Indeed, just keeping loose monsters neatly organized, provoked quiet remonstrances. Still, they unconditionally vested with xenophilic yellow zooids.
--------------------
Once upon a time, there was a canary who sung terribly lewd songs, because it believed it was a pirate. Having been raised by pirates, you see, it didn't know any better. It dreamed of a day when it could sail the high seas, liberate the rich from their riches, and 'AAARRRR' with impunity.
However, life is often cruel, and this dream was not to be. Instead, the Capt'n was from this world untimely ripped, and the grieving canary passed into the hands of the youngest deckhand, Mozart, whose unfortunate name had imbued his young heart with the desire to compose classical music.
-------------------
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Iceland 6: debrief
Back in Singapore, I initially struggled to explain why I had so much fun in Iceland.
- We didn't see the Northern Lights
- The weather was mostly bad
- Only 4-6hrs of light per day (if not totally cloudy/rainy/snowy)
- We spent many hours driving
However,
- we ate really well, thanks to our icelandic home cooking expert
- it was very pleasant to spend many hours in the car with YH, Julia and Seok. Yes, there was some singing involved. And after awhile it was ok that the entire car smelt of antifreeze whenever we cleaned the windscreen. (Also nice chatting with YR and SW when we switched cars.)
- even when we were stormed in, somehow managed to entertain ourselves. if they ever need second careers, SQ and YH can start a talkshow...
- Iceland has a rugged beauty, and snow can transform a simple field of grass or scrub into a landscape worthy of Lord of the Rings/ vampire horror movie.
- awesome sunrises and sunsets. And believe me, the sun was ALWAYS either rising or setting.
- puffins.
Worth the trip. Might be even better in March (better weather?), and/or summer.
- We didn't see the Northern Lights
- The weather was mostly bad
- Only 4-6hrs of light per day (if not totally cloudy/rainy/snowy)
- We spent many hours driving
However,
- we ate really well, thanks to our icelandic home cooking expert
- it was very pleasant to spend many hours in the car with YH, Julia and Seok. Yes, there was some singing involved. And after awhile it was ok that the entire car smelt of antifreeze whenever we cleaned the windscreen. (Also nice chatting with YR and SW when we switched cars.)
- even when we were stormed in, somehow managed to entertain ourselves. if they ever need second careers, SQ and YH can start a talkshow...
- Iceland has a rugged beauty, and snow can transform a simple field of grass or scrub into a landscape worthy of Lord of the Rings/ vampire horror movie.
- awesome sunrises and sunsets. And believe me, the sun was ALWAYS either rising or setting.
- puffins.
Iceland 5: Reyjkavik and Amsterdam
Jan 6th: Morning soak in the Blue Lagoon! It looks mystically blue in all the pictures, and is Iceland's most famous geothermal spa. The water in the lagoon is from the neighboring power station, having travelled from the ground, through the turbines, past a municipal water heater, and finally into the lava field that makes up the lagoon. At this point, its temperature is 37-39 Celsius.
Would have preferred it slightly warmer, but t'was a relaxing soak nonetheless. Moving from one part of the lagoon to another was a semi-awkward duck walk/crouch/swim, because the water was only chest deep-- yet the cold air made it absolutely necessary to submerge to neck level. We enjoyed the waterfall section: powerful shoulder massage. However, inevitably ended up tasting the water, which was blearghring-ly salty. High mineral (silica and sulphur) concentration. Supposedly good for skin, but bad for hair. Applied silica mud to our faces. Gloopy (like yam paste), and fun to play with, but not sure how beneficial it is. Hmm.. Thinking of yam paste is making me hungry.
Back in Reykjavik, we find a hotdog stand to stave off the hunger pangs. Delicious hotdog! Dressed in mayo, mustard, sauerkraut, and crunchy onions. very sexy. Dinner that evening was equally good. Icelandic Fish and Chips. I had the fried tusk: the batter was crispy but not too oily, and the fish.... Ah, the fish... firm meat, with bursts of juicy flavor. It was definitely a ratatouille moment for me.
I liked what I saw of Reykjavik =). Pity that the others left the next morning (Jan 7). SW and I felt somewhat bereft without the bustle of the group.
The shops had interesting and thoughtful window displays. Normal to see troll figurines in the window of a jewelry store, or any other store. And there is all this random sculpture in the streets. Quirky. =).
The cathedral (hallgrímskirkja) is a useful landmark. The exterior was designed to mimic basalt columns (like those at Reynisdrangar), but the interior looked newer, and had a stark, spartan feel (Lutheran church). It was commissioned and designed in 1937, but work only began in 1945 and it took 38 years to build! There's an interesting back story about how Iceland converted from Norse paganism to Christianity in ~1000AD. The King of Norway kept sending people over to convert them, and of course, the way to convince people in those days was to kill anyone who disagreed with you. In a final arbitration, everyone agreed to listen to Thorgeir Thorkelsson, a pagan priest. And he decided that Iceland should convert to Christianity, but the people could continue their pagan customs in private (i.e. eat horseflesh and kill unwanted babies by exposing them to the cold). Eventually, even private customs were banned, but not till Christianity and churches had gained a foothold. [This is a fantastic strategy, and totally transferrable to getting medical devices approved by the FDA. First, get it approved for a very safe indication. Then just make a series of minor modifications which will pass very easily, until you get to the one you really want.] Wikipedia also has an article on religion in Iceland.
The pond was voted 'Best Attraction' in a free tourist rag we picked up. It was stunning during sunset, and even after dark, one can spend many absorbing hours watching the swans, geese and ducks. They are extremely busy and vocal creatures. The pond would freeze over in winter, but the city keeps it hospitable for the birds by pumping in heated water.
The waterfront, where the viking ship sculpture resides, has a great view of the mountains. One can see all the way to Snaefellsnes. Reminds me of Seattle, but even better, because there are more mountains. Went to an art gallery nearby, which had an exhibit of photographs from the 1920s. Divided roughly into studio portraits (grim looking, well dressed people), and fishing village pics (grim looking, wizened fishermen). There was also some modern art. One large piece had a bunch of green, brown and red, which I am convinced (after all the vampire movie discussions), depicts a zombie attack. I think modern art is like Harry Potter's Room of Requirement. It should be whatever you need it to be at that time. That being said, I'm not sure how to interpret my zombie attack imagery...
Lunch on Jan 7th was at Mamma Stein's, which claimed to serve traditional icelandic home cooking. We had fishcake (tasted like sotong ball, with texture of croquette), and lamb soup (lamb and celery, potato, carrot, leek). The lamb soup tasted like something Seok would make, but saltier. SW and I had an epiphany: throughout the trip, we'd been enjoying icelandic home cooking by Seok! We are convinced that she could've set up her own restaurant, and put Mamma Stein out of business...
-----------------
Jan 8th: Amsterdam! We spent our 8hr layover taking a canal tour, and going to the flower market. The city started from the 13th century as a small settlement on the banks of the river Amstel. As it expanded, concentric rings of canals were planned and built.
Canal tour was interesting. Learnt stuff like
1) Houses are taxed based on their widths. Hence, they became narrow and deep.
2) Because of the narrow frontage, furniture don't fit through the doors, staircases and lifts. Instead, stuff is moved in through the windows. A hook is provided near the roof for this purpose. Houses also tilt forward to provide more clearance.
Smell of pot everywhere. Walked into a mushroom and pot store at the flower market, which sold supplies for the home grower, and cannibis lollipops for 1 euro each =).
I like the buildings in Amsterdam. Old. Got character. Huge contrast between Hallgrímskirkja and Amsterdam's Oude Kerk. I like to go into churches to test if I can feel God. Even though Oude Kerk is Calvinist (that's quite close to Lutheran, yeah?), it feels more hallowed (??) somehow?? I think it's the old stones, the darkened interior, the expanse of width and height.
Would have preferred it slightly warmer, but t'was a relaxing soak nonetheless. Moving from one part of the lagoon to another was a semi-awkward duck walk/crouch/swim, because the water was only chest deep-- yet the cold air made it absolutely necessary to submerge to neck level. We enjoyed the waterfall section: powerful shoulder massage. However, inevitably ended up tasting the water, which was blearghring-ly salty. High mineral (silica and sulphur) concentration. Supposedly good for skin, but bad for hair. Applied silica mud to our faces. Gloopy (like yam paste), and fun to play with, but not sure how beneficial it is. Hmm.. Thinking of yam paste is making me hungry.Back in Reykjavik, we find a hotdog stand to stave off the hunger pangs. Delicious hotdog! Dressed in mayo, mustard, sauerkraut, and crunchy onions. very sexy. Dinner that evening was equally good. Icelandic Fish and Chips. I had the fried tusk: the batter was crispy but not too oily, and the fish.... Ah, the fish... firm meat, with bursts of juicy flavor. It was definitely a ratatouille moment for me.
I liked what I saw of Reykjavik =). Pity that the others left the next morning (Jan 7). SW and I felt somewhat bereft without the bustle of the group.
The shops had interesting and thoughtful window displays. Normal to see troll figurines in the window of a jewelry store, or any other store. And there is all this random sculpture in the streets. Quirky. =).
The cathedral (hallgrímskirkja) is a useful landmark. The exterior was designed to mimic basalt columns (like those at Reynisdrangar), but the interior looked newer, and had a stark, spartan feel (Lutheran church). It was commissioned and designed in 1937, but work only began in 1945 and it took 38 years to build! There's an interesting back story about how Iceland converted from Norse paganism to Christianity in ~1000AD. The King of Norway kept sending people over to convert them, and of course, the way to convince people in those days was to kill anyone who disagreed with you. In a final arbitration, everyone agreed to listen to Thorgeir Thorkelsson, a pagan priest. And he decided that Iceland should convert to Christianity, but the people could continue their pagan customs in private (i.e. eat horseflesh and kill unwanted babies by exposing them to the cold). Eventually, even private customs were banned, but not till Christianity and churches had gained a foothold. [This is a fantastic strategy, and totally transferrable to getting medical devices approved by the FDA. First, get it approved for a very safe indication. Then just make a series of minor modifications which will pass very easily, until you get to the one you really want.] Wikipedia also has an article on religion in Iceland.
The waterfront, where the viking ship sculpture resides, has a great view of the mountains. One can see all the way to Snaefellsnes. Reminds me of Seattle, but even better, because there are more mountains. Went to an art gallery nearby, which had an exhibit of photographs from the 1920s. Divided roughly into studio portraits (grim looking, well dressed people), and fishing village pics (grim looking, wizened fishermen). There was also some modern art. One large piece had a bunch of green, brown and red, which I am convinced (after all the vampire movie discussions), depicts a zombie attack. I think modern art is like Harry Potter's Room of Requirement. It should be whatever you need it to be at that time. That being said, I'm not sure how to interpret my zombie attack imagery...
Lunch on Jan 7th was at Mamma Stein's, which claimed to serve traditional icelandic home cooking. We had fishcake (tasted like sotong ball, with texture of croquette), and lamb soup (lamb and celery, potato, carrot, leek). The lamb soup tasted like something Seok would make, but saltier. SW and I had an epiphany: throughout the trip, we'd been enjoying icelandic home cooking by Seok! We are convinced that she could've set up her own restaurant, and put Mamma Stein out of business...-----------------
Jan 8th: Amsterdam! We spent our 8hr layover taking a canal tour, and going to the flower market. The city started from the 13th century as a small settlement on the banks of the river Amstel. As it expanded, concentric rings of canals were planned and built.
Canal tour was interesting. Learnt stuff like1) Houses are taxed based on their widths. Hence, they became narrow and deep.
2) Because of the narrow frontage, furniture don't fit through the doors, staircases and lifts. Instead, stuff is moved in through the windows. A hook is provided near the roof for this purpose. Houses also tilt forward to provide more clearance.
Smell of pot everywhere. Walked into a mushroom and pot store at the flower market, which sold supplies for the home grower, and cannibis lollipops for 1 euro each =).
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Iceland 4: Ice Paradise, Skaftafell
Vatnajökull is the big white patch which lies slightly off center in every map of iceland. This 'Glacier of Rivers' is Europe's largest ice cap by volume. There are 2 major volcanic centers under the surface of Vatnajökull. When the volcanoes erupt, they cause massive ice melt, and the subsequent flood is called a jokulhlaup. Frequent eruptions made it really hard to farm the land around Skaftafell, and the 2 farms in existence today are mostly for tourism. Interestingly, since sheep stopped grazing at Skaftafell, vegetation is starting to colonize the glacial deposits. (refs: iceland on the web, wikipedia)Jan 2: We drive on the Ring road from Kirk to Skaftafell, and the first sight of the 3 outlet glaciers is, quite simply, stunning. The glacier tongues unfurl from jagged mountains, marching inexorably down towards the coast.
Soundtrack: anything from Lord of the Rings, or Italian tenors.
Our ice caving expedition was somewhat underwhelming. The 'cave' wasn't very deep, more like a hole, really. Still, fun to walk a little on the glacier, admire the blueness of the ice. (Water preferentially absorbs all the wavelengths of visible light, except blue. But bubbles or cracks in the ice make it appear white due to the internal reflections.) Ice caves are unstable structures: the roof is liable to collapse, and the entire cave moves as the glacier advances. Some nice pics here. Basically, the bluer the ice, the thicker and stronger the structure.
--------
Jan 3: Next morning, we set off at 6am to the Jökulsárlón (glacial lagoon), in hope of seeing the Aurora Borealis. The sky was clear, but solar activity low (1). Managed to see shooting stars! And another beautiful sunrise. But no luck with the Lights. FYI: Jökulsárlón visitor center only opens at 10am... We spent about 1.5 hours in near complete darkness at the parking lot, staring at the Christmas lights adorning the roof of the center...The glacial lagoon is at the end of Breiðamerkurjökull glacier, which breaks off as a series of icebergs as it caves into the lagoon. The icebergs supposedly float in the lagoon for 5 years, before melting, or exiting in a stately procession out to the ocean. A bunch of movies have been filmed there, notably Tomb Raider and Die Another Day. The black sand beach at the outlet of the lagoon is festooned with stranded icebergs of all shapes and sizes. We spent many happy moments trying to capture these photogenic crystals. SQ declared at one point that he never wanted to leave =).
Jan 4: stormy, so we had another lazy at-home day. Managed to work the DVD player. Watched 'Milk'. Did not watch the other available DVD, by the makers of 'The Urethral Diaries'. Attempted to dine in kirk, but NOTHING was open except the gas station. Dinner was a comforting though somewhat... awkward... combination of herbal chicken, herbal corn and herbal spinach.
Entertaining post-dinner session of scattergories. Note to self: 'bottle' is a very useful word.
-------
Jan 5: drive back to Reykjavik. Stopped at Vik for souvenirs, nice church, and sunrise at the beach. The sunrise looked especially good when framed by the long grass growing at the beach. Actually, everything looked better when framed by the grass. It's like ketchup... everything tastes better with ketchup. (Seok suggests Worcestershire sauce as a superior alternative. I will withhold judgement till faced with sufficient evidence.)
Also saw many traditional turf houses, which looked like they were buried in the hillside. Turf is composed of plant roots and sand. Strips are cut and dried, then used like bricks to construct the house. Apparently the final consistency is similar to cork. This website is a little too comprehensive, but has interesting pictures.
 |
| Photo credit: Julia |
Northern Lights tour: wild goose chase around Keflavik. Felt like a lemming. Or a domesticated grazer. Herded together with a bunch of tourists. It was a bit of a shock to see so many tourists, because we had seen so few throughout our vacation.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Iceland 3: NYE, and Golden circle to Kirkjubæjarklaustur
Dec 31st: Side trip to Geysir and Gullfoss on the way back to Reykjavik (it's amazing how quickly my fingers have adapted to typing the word 'Reykjavik'). But first, we had to survive another crazy mountain pass with 20m/s gusts, and horrible, horrible snow drifts. Visibility less than 10m!
Gullfoss is truly deserving of its name: Golden Falls. It is Europe's most powerful waterfall, where the mighty glacial river Hvítá falls in 2 steps into a narrow canyon (following a fissure in the lava). From the top, it looks like the entire river disappears into the earth.
The geysirs at Geysir were fun to see as well. Strokkur is supposed to erupt every 5-7min. But we definitely waited more than 10min for the eruption in this video, and less than 1min later, it erupted again! I like how the water wells up like a massive bubble/lava lamp, before shooting skywards. It feels... alive.
Back at Reykjavik, explosions filled the air. I thought S. America had crazy fireworks. I was wrong. Fireworks in S.America are like brief sputtering candles, compared to full scale WWII in Reykjavik. Surely, the entire armament of WWII's gunpowder was spent from 4pm-4am that day. Hard to believe they were all personal backyard fireworks. Peak in activity at 12mn, even the ships in harbor joined in with their foghorns.
Went to a bonfire. Too early to go to bonfires at 10pm. Mostly tourists there. But there was a group of icelanders who appeared at 10.30/11pm, singing what sounded like a traditional icelandic song. The Iceland Nat'l Museum has a fairly comprehensive section on Icelandic Christmas traditions. Yes, yes, Dec 25th is over. But festivities last till Jan 6th (Twelfth Night). Interesting that Christmas for them is not Hallmark Cards and frenetic shopping, and is instead family, Yule Cats, and the disruptive Yule Lads. Although since 1746, by public decree, Icelandic parents are prohibited from scaring their children with fiends and monsters such as the Yule Lads. I wonder what would happen if we tried to pass a similar public decree in S'pore...
For me, the passing of 2012 brought mixed feelings. Strange to be in Iceland, wearing pjs, watching fireworks outside and Flash Gordon (and later a similarly retro movie) on TV. But beyond that, not sure what 2013 will bring for me, when I've always been sure before.
-----------------
Jan 1st: drive to kirkjubæjarklaustur. Nothing was open that day, except a gas station midway. Massive grocery shopping occurred the day before. But considering the dismal 'grocery store' at kirkjubæjarklaustur, we should have bought a whole lot more.
Stopped at Seljalandsfoss for an official group photo. Picturesque. Pity could not explore the path behind the falls due to snow/ice.
Dyrhólaey arch and Reynisdrangar sea stacks: black sand beach, seagulls, beautiful basalt rock formations shrouded in just a smidgen of fog. Life is Good.
Cabin on the lake at kirk. Sleeping in the loft with SW, YR and S! Challenging to maneuver in tight, low space. Also challenging not to think about the 9 barbie dolls watching us sleep from their dollhouse.
Dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, while watching ballet and Vienna Philharmonic on TV. The cabin only had one working TV channel, it must be some Icelandic cultural + gameshow channel. Eventually, we gave up on the TV, and watched futurama episodes on SQ's iPad.
9.30pm: more fireworks. I had a good view from the window in the loft. This show was definitely professionally choreographed. Nicely done. (I am now a fireworks connoisseur.)
Gullfoss is truly deserving of its name: Golden Falls. It is Europe's most powerful waterfall, where the mighty glacial river Hvítá falls in 2 steps into a narrow canyon (following a fissure in the lava). From the top, it looks like the entire river disappears into the earth.
The geysirs at Geysir were fun to see as well. Strokkur is supposed to erupt every 5-7min. But we definitely waited more than 10min for the eruption in this video, and less than 1min later, it erupted again! I like how the water wells up like a massive bubble/lava lamp, before shooting skywards. It feels... alive.
Went to a bonfire. Too early to go to bonfires at 10pm. Mostly tourists there. But there was a group of icelanders who appeared at 10.30/11pm, singing what sounded like a traditional icelandic song. The Iceland Nat'l Museum has a fairly comprehensive section on Icelandic Christmas traditions. Yes, yes, Dec 25th is over. But festivities last till Jan 6th (Twelfth Night). Interesting that Christmas for them is not Hallmark Cards and frenetic shopping, and is instead family, Yule Cats, and the disruptive Yule Lads. Although since 1746, by public decree, Icelandic parents are prohibited from scaring their children with fiends and monsters such as the Yule Lads. I wonder what would happen if we tried to pass a similar public decree in S'pore...
For me, the passing of 2012 brought mixed feelings. Strange to be in Iceland, wearing pjs, watching fireworks outside and Flash Gordon (and later a similarly retro movie) on TV. But beyond that, not sure what 2013 will bring for me, when I've always been sure before.
-----------------
Jan 1st: drive to kirkjubæjarklaustur. Nothing was open that day, except a gas station midway. Massive grocery shopping occurred the day before. But considering the dismal 'grocery store' at kirkjubæjarklaustur, we should have bought a whole lot more.
Stopped at Seljalandsfoss for an official group photo. Picturesque. Pity could not explore the path behind the falls due to snow/ice.
 |
| Photo credit: YH |
Cabin on the lake at kirk. Sleeping in the loft with SW, YR and S! Challenging to maneuver in tight, low space. Also challenging not to think about the 9 barbie dolls watching us sleep from their dollhouse.
Dinner of spaghetti and meatballs, while watching ballet and Vienna Philharmonic on TV. The cabin only had one working TV channel, it must be some Icelandic cultural + gameshow channel. Eventually, we gave up on the TV, and watched futurama episodes on SQ's iPad.
 |
| Photo credit: YH |
 |
| what animal did this skin belong to?? |
Monday, January 21, 2013
Iceland 2: Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Dec 29: Our landlady declared yesterday, in her grim icelandic accent, "NObody is going ANYwhere tomorrow."
I thought she was going to lock us up and swallow the key. And then add us into a winter soup for her children.
Turned out she was merely informing us about the weather report: 30m/s gusts of wind = unsafe to drive. 30m/s! Insane! That's 108km/h. The Wind howled all night. I'm beginning to understand why Iceland has so many stories about trolls and ogres.
We dutifully stayed indoors, except for a brief walk to the Bonus supermarket and harbor. By 'brief walk', I mean 'epic struggle to attain desired displacement while fighting errant gusts of 20-30m/s wind'...
It was nice to see the advent candles lighted up at every window. I felt they were standing vigil over us, the foolish tourists out on such a day.
----------
Dec 30th: The storm is slightly abated. Safe to explore the peninsula. Enroute, we drive on a bridge across a lake/lagoon. Big black birds flying overhead. Very Alfred Hitchcock. Along the coast, we see wind-battered barns and houses. Everything blanketed in snow. Seok kept mentioning some movie in which an isolated village was in the path of ravenous vampires...
Kirkjufellfoss. Very pretty waterfall, with kirkjufell (mountain) in the distance. Some icelandic ponies grazing atop a knoll. These horses are tough! We see them out in the scrub/fields everywhere. Wikipedia says: "There are about 80,000 Icelandic horses in Iceland (compared to a human population of 317,000), and around 100,000 abroad... Some horses are bred for slaughter, and much of the meat is exported to Japan. Farmers still use the breed to round up sheep in the Icelandic highlands, but most horses are used for competition and leisure riding... no livestock of any species can be imported into Iceland, and once horses leave the country they are not allowed to return... As a result, disesase in the breed within Iceland is mostly unknown. Native horses have no acquired immunity to disease; an outbreak on the island would be likely to be devastating."
Well... the good news is that the icelandic horses abroad would presumably still have a pretty pure gene pool. If anything happens, can repopulate from those.
Lóndrangar. Didn't see very much of the basalt volcanic plugs, but the lighthouse was extremely photogenic. The Wind was a constant presence that day, swirling snow drifts across the road (severely limiting vision at times). One memorable gust had the car sliding a little, evoking a response from the otherwise unflappable Seok.
Cemetery at Stykki: lighted crosses at every tombstone! Gave the place a cheerful aspect. Later, we realized that practically every cemetery had lighted crosses. Am trying to figure out why. One website said it's so the dead can celebrate Christmas. Another said it looks nice and is a good way to find the grave in the dark. erm. I guess they are probably all true to some extent.
Church at Stykki. I like the exteriors of the churches in iceland. Even some random seaside village will have a simple, minimalist, but beautiful church.
I thought she was going to lock us up and swallow the key. And then add us into a winter soup for her children.
 |
| SW, all wrapped up against the Wind. Note the candles. |
We dutifully stayed indoors, except for a brief walk to the Bonus supermarket and harbor. By 'brief walk', I mean 'epic struggle to attain desired displacement while fighting errant gusts of 20-30m/s wind'...
It was nice to see the advent candles lighted up at every window. I felt they were standing vigil over us, the foolish tourists out on such a day.
----------
Dec 30th: The storm is slightly abated. Safe to explore the peninsula. Enroute, we drive on a bridge across a lake/lagoon. Big black birds flying overhead. Very Alfred Hitchcock. Along the coast, we see wind-battered barns and houses. Everything blanketed in snow. Seok kept mentioning some movie in which an isolated village was in the path of ravenous vampires...
Kirkjufellfoss. Very pretty waterfall, with kirkjufell (mountain) in the distance. Some icelandic ponies grazing atop a knoll. These horses are tough! We see them out in the scrub/fields everywhere. Wikipedia says: "There are about 80,000 Icelandic horses in Iceland (compared to a human population of 317,000), and around 100,000 abroad... Some horses are bred for slaughter, and much of the meat is exported to Japan. Farmers still use the breed to round up sheep in the Icelandic highlands, but most horses are used for competition and leisure riding... no livestock of any species can be imported into Iceland, and once horses leave the country they are not allowed to return... As a result, disesase in the breed within Iceland is mostly unknown. Native horses have no acquired immunity to disease; an outbreak on the island would be likely to be devastating."
Well... the good news is that the icelandic horses abroad would presumably still have a pretty pure gene pool. If anything happens, can repopulate from those.
 |
| Photo credit: YH |
 |
| YH and the Lighthouse. Photo credit: SQ |
Church at Stykki. I like the exteriors of the churches in iceland. Even some random seaside village will have a simple, minimalist, but beautiful church.
 |
| View of church from our living room. Photo credit: Seok |
Iceland 1: The Land of Unpronounceable Names
27 Dec: SIN-AMS-KEF
I was extremely excited to join SQ's trip to Iceland. Extraordinary country of exceedingly exalting landscapes... no longer exclusively the exorbitant playground of NYC executives...
Arrived Keflavik International Airport at 4pm. The sun had already set. Picked up by a rep from S.A.D. Cars: cheapest car rental in iceland. The guy was really tall. He must be as tall as Yao Ming. Totally towered over SQ. I didn't notice anyone else as tall during the rest of the trip, so it must be an anomaly. But at that time I was wondering whether I would feel like an elf for the next 2 weeks.
Although they called themselves SAD Cars, (indeed the 2 subaru voyagers we rented had been throughly pre-loved) all the essential parts of the cars were present and accounted for. Snow tires. 1 GPS for the lead car. Engine. Wipers. Heater. Windows. Yep, we're good.
Slight confusion driving to downtown reykjavik apartments from SAD. (I was in the car w/o GPS, with Seok, YH, Julia.) Fortunately, I had an offline map from google. Thanks to my father who nagged at me until I downloaded a map. Essential. Note to self for future travels.
---------
28 Dec: Reykjavik-Barnafoss/Hraunfossar-Stykkishólmur
Awoke to scrumptious and luxurious breakfast prepared by Seok. Bacon. Eggs. Tomatoes. Mushrooms. Bread. etc. Clearly, good decision to come to iceland. I never eat so well at home.
10AM, but it looks like 6AM. I'm driving behind Yiru's lead car. It's raining: road is wet but not too slippery. Grey everything. Soundtrack: "Everything's not lost" by Coldplay.
At the waterfalls, it was Cold. And the Wind... I'd forgotten what a Force of Nature felt like, and the Wind in Iceland was a startling reminder. Barnafoss, waterfall of the children, was partially frozen. I liked Hraunfoss better, the rivulets made interesting patterns. The river was an amazing turquoise/azure color, and the whole place felt like a desolate English moor. One almost expects Heathcliff to appear. (Actually, I've never been to an English moor. But in my imagination, it would look like the bleak yellow scrub around Barnafoss.)
We also check out Deildartunguhver thermal spring, Europe's most powerful hot spring at 200L/s of boiling hot water. At that time, I was very COLD. My jeans might have been made out of sponge, the way the Wind tore through them. Therefore I couldn't appreciate the wonder of water heated by the bowels of the Earth. But reflecting upon it now, it's like having a permanent connection to the center of the planet. Awesome. 66% of iceland's energy is from geothermal sources.
At Reykjavik, the hot water smells like rotten eggs. Everywhere else we went, the thermal water is used to heat the cold spring/glacial water, so all the water tastes wonderful-- fresh and sweet. Not possible to find bottled still water at the supermarkets, since tap water everywhere is already the best possible quality, naturally filtered through volcanic rock.
Continue driving to Stykki. It started to get dark at 3.30pm. Then it started to rain. The last 30km was over a mountain pass. Heavy sleet. Slush on the road. Scary gusts of wind-- the rain was 'falling' horizontally! It was pretty tense driving.
So Happy to get to Stykki, and our bed and breakfast at höfðagata. Seok (and dedicated kitchen helper Yiru) prepared a fabulous dinner of oven-roasted lamb and potatoes. I'm already running out of superlatives for the level of food we enjoyed on the trip. S deserves a trophy, or something.
I was extremely excited to join SQ's trip to Iceland. Extraordinary country of exceedingly exalting landscapes... no longer exclusively the exorbitant playground of NYC executives...
 |
| Photo credit: Julia |
Although they called themselves SAD Cars, (indeed the 2 subaru voyagers we rented had been throughly pre-loved) all the essential parts of the cars were present and accounted for. Snow tires. 1 GPS for the lead car. Engine. Wipers. Heater. Windows. Yep, we're good.
Slight confusion driving to downtown reykjavik apartments from SAD. (I was in the car w/o GPS, with Seok, YH, Julia.) Fortunately, I had an offline map from google. Thanks to my father who nagged at me until I downloaded a map. Essential. Note to self for future travels.
---------
 |
| Photo credit: YH |
Awoke to scrumptious and luxurious breakfast prepared by Seok. Bacon. Eggs. Tomatoes. Mushrooms. Bread. etc. Clearly, good decision to come to iceland. I never eat so well at home.
10AM, but it looks like 6AM. I'm driving behind Yiru's lead car. It's raining: road is wet but not too slippery. Grey everything. Soundtrack: "Everything's not lost" by Coldplay.
 |
| Barnafoss |
 |
| Hraunfoss |
At Reykjavik, the hot water smells like rotten eggs. Everywhere else we went, the thermal water is used to heat the cold spring/glacial water, so all the water tastes wonderful-- fresh and sweet. Not possible to find bottled still water at the supermarkets, since tap water everywhere is already the best possible quality, naturally filtered through volcanic rock.
Continue driving to Stykki. It started to get dark at 3.30pm. Then it started to rain. The last 30km was over a mountain pass. Heavy sleet. Slush on the road. Scary gusts of wind-- the rain was 'falling' horizontally! It was pretty tense driving.
So Happy to get to Stykki, and our bed and breakfast at höfðagata. Seok (and dedicated kitchen helper Yiru) prepared a fabulous dinner of oven-roasted lamb and potatoes. I'm already running out of superlatives for the level of food we enjoyed on the trip. S deserves a trophy, or something.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Venezuela #7: Finale
While the Stanford gang spent their last 2 days at a beach (they have crazy stories about a death defying taxi ride down a mountain road, and butt-bruising motorboat ride through a stormy sea), SQ and I went back to Caracas and spent a night at the seaside suburb of Macuto.
Macuto is a beach getaway for the inhabitants of Caracas. It's small town, with crumbling colonial buildings, and beachside cafes. We watched old men play dominoes in said colonial buildings-- it's what I imagine Cuba would be.
People on the beach were obviously on holiday. Ice creams. baseball, racquetball. cheap rum. Every female of every shape and size wore a bikini.
We had the house special from a hamburger stand on the street. Huge bun, patty, ham, omelet, potato fritters, mayo, ketchup and shallots. Shallots add a nice crunch. Very Shiok.
--------------
And then we were done. Off to SF for me. Back to Argentina for SQ.
--------------
I was expecting Venezuela to be weird and wonderful, and it did not disappoint. I was also looking for slightly chaotic and disorientating, and it had that in spades. Lots more stories to tell, but too wordy already. Because we were quite a big group, didn't manage to chat very much with the locals. Everyone we met was friendly (except the confusion with Vene-Suiza). The most unexpected connection was the Venezuelan family who were fellow guests in Merida. They were very excited with our fireworks. The father especially, was giggling like a schoolgirl when SQ let him light a couple fuses. They gave SQ and I each a shot glass the next day, with a Venezuelan flag on it.
The spanish was easy to understand, if you understand spanish. I, unfortunately, have the vocab of a 2 year old. Which kinda added to the chaos and made everything even more fun and hilarious.
I want to go to Columbia next! Or maybe Ecuador! Or er... maybe Malaysia. Am gonna be here in Singapore for a long long time...
Macuto is a beach getaway for the inhabitants of Caracas. It's small town, with crumbling colonial buildings, and beachside cafes. We watched old men play dominoes in said colonial buildings-- it's what I imagine Cuba would be.
And then we were done. Off to SF for me. Back to Argentina for SQ.
--------------
I was expecting Venezuela to be weird and wonderful, and it did not disappoint. I was also looking for slightly chaotic and disorientating, and it had that in spades. Lots more stories to tell, but too wordy already. Because we were quite a big group, didn't manage to chat very much with the locals. Everyone we met was friendly (except the confusion with Vene-Suiza). The most unexpected connection was the Venezuelan family who were fellow guests in Merida. They were very excited with our fireworks. The father especially, was giggling like a schoolgirl when SQ let him light a couple fuses. They gave SQ and I each a shot glass the next day, with a Venezuelan flag on it.
The spanish was easy to understand, if you understand spanish. I, unfortunately, have the vocab of a 2 year old. Which kinda added to the chaos and made everything even more fun and hilarious.
I want to go to Columbia next! Or maybe Ecuador! Or er... maybe Malaysia. Am gonna be here in Singapore for a long long time...
Venezuela #6: Los Llanos
After breakfast at 8am the next day, we set off for the Llanos. We didn't realize that we won't get lunch till 3pm. Minor detail that Alex neglected to tell us. This part of the holiday wasn't supposed to be a hardship journey...
Los Llanos ("The Plains") is a vast tropical grassland/savanna. It floods every year (rainy season from May-Oct), and is host to a vast array of wildlife. Cattle breeding is the most important economic activity in the Llanos, and the cowboys of Venezuela have a fiercely independent spirit, and unique culture and traditions (acc to LP).
Didn't get to talk to cowboys, we were at a tourist farm. But perhaps Senor Ramon, who led our horseback 'safari', was one. He is a stocky, stoic guy. Didn't say much. Looked like a cross between Super Mario and Mr Potato Head. But the laggard horse I was riding swiftly responded to his shouting, with short bursts of speed which bruised my ribs and tailbone, and rearranged all my internal organs. Clar had taken riding lessons, and was having fun with her horse. The rest of us had problems sitting down the next day. But it was fun to be outside, on a horse. On riding tours in the US, the horses are trained to walk only-- pesky safety concerns... In Venezuela, Senor Ramon's mere presence was a signal for my horse to break into a canter. But she totally slacked off the moment his back was turned.
Our horse safari ended at a pond. Since it was dry season, the pond was more like a puddle. And it was stuffed to the gills with pirahna and caiman (~alligator). We enjoyed sunset at the pond, watching a king vulture, lots of little colorful birds, and flocks of ibis (ibises?) flying home to roost. I made sure to keep one eye on those caiman, though Senor Ramon said the only time people got hurt/eaten is when they get drunk and fall into the pond.
Night safari: underwhelming. Caiman eyes that glow eerily. 4 capybara. 1 rapidly disappearing anteater (disappointed. had specifically wanted to see an anteater). The next day was more rewarding: Senor Ramon spotted and captured an anaconda! It was fairly small, maybe about 3ft long. But it had a bump in its belly-- the consensus was that it had eaten a turtle. A turtle! Shell and all.
River safari: sea eagle. kingfisher. heron. comorants. quetzal (rare!). turtles fighting for places on logs. caiman. dolphins! Pirahna fishing. I caught a whole bunch of small ones. Adrian caught a catfish! The only catfish of the expedition. The ones we caught are red-bellied pirahna. They taste good fried. Not firm and oily like the deep ocean fish, but not too flaky either. Adrian's comment on his catfish: "It tastes.... fresh."
I'm trying to find a nice website with wildlife pictures to link to. Couldn't find a good comprehensive one, but I like the pics on this website-- it's from the Pantanal in Brazil/Argentina, but the ecology is very similar.
Conclusions from our Llanos trip: we saw a wider range of wildlife compared to the Amazon tour I took in Bolivia. But that might be because we covered more acreage: van/horse/boat vs boat/walk. The food at the camp was quite good. Interesting mix of tourist food (spaghetti bolognese is the fav thing to cook for tourists) and local touches (eg. side dish of fried banana and yucca). Senor Ramon and the camp crew were obviously quite experienced. Alex I'm sure will get better with time. He can start by making sure people don't go hungry during the long van rides...
Petrol is SUPER CHEAP in Venezuela. 55Litres = less than $1USD. Imagine. full tank of gas for less than a buck. Heavily subsidized by the government. Dunno how long Chavez can sustain this. But there's lots more where it came from, so maybe until it doesn't matter to him anymore.
Los Llanos ("The Plains") is a vast tropical grassland/savanna. It floods every year (rainy season from May-Oct), and is host to a vast array of wildlife. Cattle breeding is the most important economic activity in the Llanos, and the cowboys of Venezuela have a fiercely independent spirit, and unique culture and traditions (acc to LP).
Didn't get to talk to cowboys, we were at a tourist farm. But perhaps Senor Ramon, who led our horseback 'safari', was one. He is a stocky, stoic guy. Didn't say much. Looked like a cross between Super Mario and Mr Potato Head. But the laggard horse I was riding swiftly responded to his shouting, with short bursts of speed which bruised my ribs and tailbone, and rearranged all my internal organs. Clar had taken riding lessons, and was having fun with her horse. The rest of us had problems sitting down the next day. But it was fun to be outside, on a horse. On riding tours in the US, the horses are trained to walk only-- pesky safety concerns... In Venezuela, Senor Ramon's mere presence was a signal for my horse to break into a canter. But she totally slacked off the moment his back was turned.
Night safari: underwhelming. Caiman eyes that glow eerily. 4 capybara. 1 rapidly disappearing anteater (disappointed. had specifically wanted to see an anteater). The next day was more rewarding: Senor Ramon spotted and captured an anaconda! It was fairly small, maybe about 3ft long. But it had a bump in its belly-- the consensus was that it had eaten a turtle. A turtle! Shell and all.
Conclusions from our Llanos trip: we saw a wider range of wildlife compared to the Amazon tour I took in Bolivia. But that might be because we covered more acreage: van/horse/boat vs boat/walk. The food at the camp was quite good. Interesting mix of tourist food (spaghetti bolognese is the fav thing to cook for tourists) and local touches (eg. side dish of fried banana and yucca). Senor Ramon and the camp crew were obviously quite experienced. Alex I'm sure will get better with time. He can start by making sure people don't go hungry during the long van rides...
Petrol is SUPER CHEAP in Venezuela. 55Litres = less than $1USD. Imagine. full tank of gas for less than a buck. Heavily subsidized by the government. Dunno how long Chavez can sustain this. But there's lots more where it came from, so maybe until it doesn't matter to him anymore.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Venezuela #5: Almost the most fun you can have without dying
Alan helped us arrange a canyoning trip on Christmas Day. So after another fantastic breakfast prepared by Ricardo and his wife, we were picked up by our guides Topo (guy) and Milo (gal). They have both had years of experience, and Topo was involved in setting up the route we were canyoning that day-- down the Rio Santa Catarina. I had arranged for canyoning because folks on the LP forum said it was a must-try. I didn't buy a LP, so didn't realize that the guidebook described canyoning as "The most fun you can have without dying." Er. How can going down a river canyon bring one close to death?
I guess we were about to find out.
At the river, we squeeze into wetsuits, put on our harnesses. Wait. Harnesses? No time to think. Start zig zagging on foot across the river bed. The water is COLD. About 16 degrees Celsius. Sensory nerves in my feet complained ineffectually for about 5min, then gave it up as a lost cause. Forest on both sides of the river, very pleasant. River bed slightly slippery, but not too bad. We get to the first waterfall. It's a quick and easy rappel down. Later, some big boulders form a mini-water slide. We sit down, push off, and emerge giggling in the small pool below.
Second waterfall. Much taller than the first, with significant overhang at the lower part. It was slippery too. Really easy to lose one's footing, and slide face first into a vigorous spray of waterfall. This would make a very effective alarm clock. Nothing brings you to full alertness like a constant pummel of cold water to your face.
Whew. Rappel over. Continue down river. More walking. Milo stops at the edge of a cliff.
"Now we jump."
WHAT??!?
We see the river below. It's about 10-15 ft down.
"Sit and jump. Then swim right. Else you get carried down next section. Ok don't think. Bye bye!"
*Milo jumps*
The rest of us stare at each other in shock.
Clar volunteers to go first. (My respect for Clar went up by 100points.) Off she goes, and emerges, spluttering, in the pool below.
I take a deep breath, then push off.
HOLY MOG. What a rush! I bob up, grab a lungful of air, and see Milo. She reaches out and pushes me back down.
WT? The guide is trying to drown me. Oh wait. She's just pushing me into a calmer section of the pool.
Everything else was tamer than jumping off the cliff. Scrambling around the side of the canyon wall with metal handholds-- piece of cake; third and final monster waterfall with impossibly slippery walls-- all in a day's work. But I liked the water slides the best =).
Before we knew it, we were done. Hike back to the van, bask in the warm sun. What a fantastic way to spend Christmas. After inhaling our lunch of fried truncha (Andean fish) at a local restaurant, a deep feeling of peace and contentment descended upon the group.
-----------
Next day, we set off to Los Llanos for wildlife spotting. Tour by Colibri Tours. Our guide, Alex, confessed that this was his first trip to Los Llanos as a guide. Hrm. Did not portend well for the future.
The van stopped at a few attractions on the way. A church, a lake. It's 1pm. Hungry. Alex said another 1hr to Barinas. But we finally got there at 3pm. Stopped at a bakery, Alex suggested we purchase some food. 2hrs more to camp. We had paid for a river kayaking option, and the 'river guide' Antonio said it was ok to kayak. Alrighty. By the time we changed, got to the river, manually pumped up the inflatable 2 man kayaks, it was 6/6.30pm.
I was in the same kayak as Antonio. It was really fun! Especially since he definitely knew what he was doing. Same could not be said for the rest. Water levels were pretty low, and we had to keep rescuing the other kayaks which were stuck on rocks.
It got darker and darker. At one point, my kayak was parked on a beach beside Clar's and Alex's.
Clar: Alex, have you rafted before?
Alex: Yes, but not in the dark.
Clar: How much further?
Alex: I don't know because I cannot see nothing!
In the end we aborted the mission because of low water levels. The two guides went off to find the van. The rest of us stumbled to shore from where we were marooned mid river, blindly dragging kayaks behind us. On the bright side, the stars were very pretty.
Every day brought a new adventure in Venezuela!
I guess we were about to find out.
At the river, we squeeze into wetsuits, put on our harnesses. Wait. Harnesses? No time to think. Start zig zagging on foot across the river bed. The water is COLD. About 16 degrees Celsius. Sensory nerves in my feet complained ineffectually for about 5min, then gave it up as a lost cause. Forest on both sides of the river, very pleasant. River bed slightly slippery, but not too bad. We get to the first waterfall. It's a quick and easy rappel down. Later, some big boulders form a mini-water slide. We sit down, push off, and emerge giggling in the small pool below.
Second waterfall. Much taller than the first, with significant overhang at the lower part. It was slippery too. Really easy to lose one's footing, and slide face first into a vigorous spray of waterfall. This would make a very effective alarm clock. Nothing brings you to full alertness like a constant pummel of cold water to your face.Whew. Rappel over. Continue down river. More walking. Milo stops at the edge of a cliff.
"Now we jump."
WHAT??!?
We see the river below. It's about 10-15 ft down.
"Sit and jump. Then swim right. Else you get carried down next section. Ok don't think. Bye bye!"
*Milo jumps*
The rest of us stare at each other in shock.
Clar volunteers to go first. (My respect for Clar went up by 100points.) Off she goes, and emerges, spluttering, in the pool below.
I take a deep breath, then push off.
HOLY MOG. What a rush! I bob up, grab a lungful of air, and see Milo. She reaches out and pushes me back down.
WT? The guide is trying to drown me. Oh wait. She's just pushing me into a calmer section of the pool.
Everything else was tamer than jumping off the cliff. Scrambling around the side of the canyon wall with metal handholds-- piece of cake; third and final monster waterfall with impossibly slippery walls-- all in a day's work. But I liked the water slides the best =).
Before we knew it, we were done. Hike back to the van, bask in the warm sun. What a fantastic way to spend Christmas. After inhaling our lunch of fried truncha (Andean fish) at a local restaurant, a deep feeling of peace and contentment descended upon the group.
-----------
Next day, we set off to Los Llanos for wildlife spotting. Tour by Colibri Tours. Our guide, Alex, confessed that this was his first trip to Los Llanos as a guide. Hrm. Did not portend well for the future.
I was in the same kayak as Antonio. It was really fun! Especially since he definitely knew what he was doing. Same could not be said for the rest. Water levels were pretty low, and we had to keep rescuing the other kayaks which were stuck on rocks.
It got darker and darker. At one point, my kayak was parked on a beach beside Clar's and Alex's.
Clar: Alex, have you rafted before?
Alex: Yes, but not in the dark.
Clar: How much further?
Alex: I don't know because I cannot see nothing!
In the end we aborted the mission because of low water levels. The two guides went off to find the van. The rest of us stumbled to shore from where we were marooned mid river, blindly dragging kayaks behind us. On the bright side, the stars were very pretty.
Every day brought a new adventure in Venezuela!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Venezuela #4: Butterflies and lightning
 |
| Pic from cocolight.com |
The next day, we set off for Lake Maracaibo with our guide Alan Highton, to look for the Catatumbo Lightning. Prevailing winds blow moisture rich air from the sea across Lake Maracaibo, then is forced to rise over the mountains surrounding the lake. The resulting turbulence results in lightning storms ~300 days/year. Read about it on wikipedia, or watch an ABC special about the lightning's mysterious disappearance in 2010. Alan has made a career out of capturing the beauty of the lightning, and leading tours around the region.
However, even the trip to Maracaibo was interesting. We started with buying supplies at the local market (which had Huge Avocados). And stopped by a cane sugar factory, and a coffee plantation.
Next, motor boat down river and across the lake. Alan is an amazing wildlife spotter. In the two days, we saw howler monkeys, longtailed flycatchers, pelicans, herons, egrets, ospreys, snail kites, river dolphins (a big pod! ~30 of them, but they avoided the boats), and his specialty: butterflies. Alan has described and named 2 new blue morpho butterfly species. Brilliant blue on top and boring brown underneath makes it really confusing for would-be-predators as the butterfly goes in search of nectar and fruit. Alan sets baits: mesh socks full of rotting bananas, tied around low hanging branches. Glamorously named the 'scrotum method', this baiting technique was enthusiastically described and demonstrated. The next day, we found a collection of moths and butterflies feeding at the baits. Moths rest with their wings apart; butterflies with their wings closed.
However, even the trip to Maracaibo was interesting. We started with buying supplies at the local market (which had Huge Avocados). And stopped by a cane sugar factory, and a coffee plantation.
 |
| Live chickens at the market |
 |
| "two-headed" butterfly fools predators |
 |
| Blue Morpho! |
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Venezuela #3: adventures to and in Merida
According to Lonely Planet, the best currency exchange rate in the entire country is found at a particular street corner in Santa Elena. We dutifully head there, and after some negotiation with a guy recommended by our orange juice seller, settle on a rate of 1USD: 8.1 Bolivares. Not bad, considering the hotel rate is 7.5, and the 'official exchange rate' at the banks is 1:4. There's something that feels really shady about receiving 5650 Bs at a Santa Elena street corner. It doesn't help that about 3000Bs was given to us in 20Bs-notes. I had thick wads of cash stuffed in my sling bag, and was counting a stack at a time. I would then pass them to SQ, who would try to remember how much he had in his hand, while trying to look inconspicuous. By the way, it is impossible to look Chinese and be inconspicuous in S. America. In Peru they were pointing at us in the street. In Venezuela they are content with occasional stare.
Finished counting money, continued walking around Santa Elena (dusty border town with mild backpacker vibe). We were looking for Picante de Hormigas (ant salsa), but none of the supermarkets had any. Lunch on the way back from Roraima trek was at a Pemon fried chicken restuarant, and the chili sauce was excellent! Later we learnt that the fiery kick was due to the addition of fire ants. Large scale ant harvesting occurs when the rains flood ant nests, and the virgin queens fly out to mate. It's an important source of protein for the Pemon tribes. Learn more here (for English) and here (for the original website in Spanish. this one has a picture of the ants). Finally found our picante on a table at a roadside restaurant and begged the cook to sell us a bottle.
We were not impressed by the accommodations. The room was small, the place felt old. Next day, we tried to ask the lady sweeping the floor about our tour. She said she was only an employee. The boss and lady boss were not in. Maybe 4pm? But yes, they had tours. Look at these folders.
We go out to explore. The church at Plaza Bolivar (every town had a Plaza Bolivar) had very nice stained glass, and a very haunting statue of Christ on the crucifix. Christ was composed of masses of writhing bodies. Plaza Bolivar also had multiple tables/stalls selling handmade jewelry, local wine/honey/oils, wooden toys etc. Some very unique items. Back at posada at 4pm. Still no boss. 3 kids arrive. They run around shouting. 8pm, still no boss. I take a nap. SQ goes out to explore. 830pm, SQ runs back to room, wakes me up. He found the real Posada Suiza! It's 2 blocks away! It has a Colibri tours sign on it! He talked to the owner there and we still have our reservation! Pack now! Let's go!
Finished counting money, continued walking around Santa Elena (dusty border town with mild backpacker vibe). We were looking for Picante de Hormigas (ant salsa), but none of the supermarkets had any. Lunch on the way back from Roraima trek was at a Pemon fried chicken restuarant, and the chili sauce was excellent! Later we learnt that the fiery kick was due to the addition of fire ants. Large scale ant harvesting occurs when the rains flood ant nests, and the virgin queens fly out to mate. It's an important source of protein for the Pemon tribes. Learn more here (for English) and here (for the original website in Spanish. this one has a picture of the ants). Finally found our picante on a table at a roadside restaurant and begged the cook to sell us a bottle.
Next step: overnight bus to Ciudad Bolivar, then flight C.B.-> Caracas -> Merida. No problem, right? We load up luggage, get on bus (Occidente Express). Very nice reclining seats. Go to sleep. 1+ hour later, wake up to angry shouting. Bus not moving, at the side of the road. EVERYONE was outside. There were a few soldiers with rifles, but the bulk of the shouting was directed at a few ladies wearing red jackets and blue caps. Turns out, they are customs officials looking for bootleg whisky smuggled in from Brazil. They want to search every single bag on the bus. The aunties on the bus are very angry and refuse to be searched. Eventually, the officials agree to only check a few bags. The entire bus follows them to their tent to watch the search. As they pull out a closet worth of clothes from a duffle, the crowd triumphantly announce every non-whisky article. It was fascinating to watch. And pretty fun. I wish I knew some Spanish swear words.
That was not the only adventure to befall our bus. We stopped at least 2 more times due to mechanical problems, until finally, an hour before our destination, it stopped entirely. It is very disorientating to stand by the side of a Venezuelan highway with one's backpack, with little sleep, a full bladder, and a plane to catch in 2 hours. We arrive by taxi to the airport, with 30mins to spare! And found that of course, they did not have our plane reservations. Hm. Turns out our agent issued our 2 tix under one code. This generated an error, which cancelled both tickets. Not a problem. We get tix on the next flight, and can still make our transfer to Merida.
10pm that night, we take a taxi from El Vigia airport to what Google Maps (and LP) tell us is Posada Suiza. (We shared the cab with 2 Germans going to Merida for a wholistic tribal healing conference!!?) The building had a Swiss flag painted on one side. The sleepy guy we woke up said 'Si.' when we asked 'Posada Suiza? Tengo una reservation.' We had pre-booked a Los Llanos tour with Colibri tours, and they gave us a good rate on their guesthouse.
  |
| Mountain village near Merida |
We go out to explore. The church at Plaza Bolivar (every town had a Plaza Bolivar) had very nice stained glass, and a very haunting statue of Christ on the crucifix. Christ was composed of masses of writhing bodies. Plaza Bolivar also had multiple tables/stalls selling handmade jewelry, local wine/honey/oils, wooden toys etc. Some very unique items. Back at posada at 4pm. Still no boss. 3 kids arrive. They run around shouting. 8pm, still no boss. I take a nap. SQ goes out to explore. 830pm, SQ runs back to room, wakes me up. He found the real Posada Suiza! It's 2 blocks away! It has a Colibri tours sign on it! He talked to the owner there and we still have our reservation! Pack now! Let's go!
So confused. We throw everything into our backpacks. We walk out, no one is around. We escape the fake Suiza and practically run to the real Posada Suiza. Apparently, we were at the Posada Vene-Suiza, run by the ex-wife of the original owner, who re-established Posada Suiza 2 blocks away. We encounter the boss of the Vene-Suiza on the street the next day, and he demanded to be paid. We were relieved to conclude that very strange incident. According to the posts online, this has happened before, with Vene-Suiza happy to confuse everyone.
 |
| A Mucuchie, an Andean breed which was a faithful companion to "El Liberator", Simon Bolivar |
While waiting for the Stanford gang to join us at Merida, we took a tour to the surrounding mountain villages and the Merida Observatory (Observatorio Nacional de Llano del Hato). It is the highest major observatory near the equator, at 3600m and 8 degrees north, with good access to both the northern and southern skies. It was cloudy that night, and we nearly didn't get to see anything! Thankfully the sky cleared up later, and they trained one of the telescopes onto Jupiter. Jupiter was very cool. I was surprised to find that it looked exactly like the textbook picture, with cream and orange bands, like an orange-cream flavored lollipop. I saw 2-3 of its moons-- little black dots next to the lollipop. It was very cold up there at night. I don't know why it didn't occur to us that night time at 12,000ft would be cold.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)