Flunky Ponders Contrasts

After a bewildering few days in Angola which you can read about here and here, I sat at the airport lounge in exhaustion, thinking about my Angolan adventure. 

My little flunky brain could not comprehend how the 2nd largest oil producer in the continent, had multiple power cuts in their capital city everyday; how public roads with massive potholes led to sprawling mansions; how 40% of the population could live below the poverty line when it was consistently one of the top 10 diamond producers in the world; how public infrastructure in the city floundered while Chinese construction companies could be undertaking massive projects in the outskirts; how people still washed their clothes in the brown river, while a little way down the river, expats and top businessmen crowded into expensive waterfront modern restaurants. 

Expensive waterfront dining

Doing laundry in the brown river water

Beautiful buildings in the city

Homes of the locals just outside the capital

Traditional markets

Floundering public infrastructure

My thoughts didn't venture far before I noticed that the buses that were bringing people to board the plane were turning back and we were told to stay in the lounge. 

In uncertain Africa, a range of scenarios ran through my mind- terrorists, fire, riot, coup.

Thankfully, it was none of the above. Someone had pulled open the emergency door latch during boarding and the emergency slide had inflated. 

Over an hour later, we were on the plane, all hoping that the clown who opened the emergency door was offloaded. So we ventured onward to South Africa for our next adventure. 

  




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at 10:51 AM

Traveling Solo Is So Overrated

Recently, traveling solo has been trending.

The virtues of doing so have been glamourised- finding yourself, absolute freedom, meeting amazing people, falling in love. Sounds absolutely wonderful right? It tempts even the most homebody, group-loving souls to grab their passports and catch the first flight out to start their solo adventure.

Well, I've been there, done that, and I really don't think traveling solo is all it is made out to be and here's why.

1. Lost photo ops. When travelling alone and wanting to be part of a photo, the solo traveler has several options:

ONE: Take a selfie. Result- big face and small background. Something like this. Not too pretty.

That's me at Tian An Men Square on a stormy day

TWO: Use a selfie stick. Result- Well, smiling at a stick. 'nuff said.

THREE: Search the area for a person who hopefully will not run away with your camera, look friendly and approach said person to take photo, try to pose in a non-awkward manner, hope the person is decent at taking photos. Most of the time, they aren't. Result- Lost photo ops like these.

Random stranger probably thought the shadows were beautiful

Sigh. The only photo of the Lady Liberty and I...

2. Freedom from friends, bondage to bags. Traveling solo means that your bags follow you everywhere you go, or you risk losing them. The number of times I have had to squeeze my luggage, duffle bag, handbag and shopping bags into tiny toilet cubicles while trying to ensure nothing touches the grimy floors is depressing. How I longed for friends during those times.

Forever chained to my luggage

3. Sharing is caring. Traveling with others means you get the benefit of economies of scale. Splitting cab fare, tour/audio guide costs, and accommodation costs with a fried would definitely save a pretty bundle which could be used on sharing a good meal which you can share and be able to sample a range of different food with all in the party.

Individual Portion

Shared feasts

4. Strange bed/seat-fellows. There have been too many times I have had to sit next to inconsiderate people who seem to spill over onto my already tiny economy class seat, resulting in terribly unbearable flights. Thankfully, I'm small. But it gets worse when they insist on talking to you with their mouthful of bad breath. Yup, too many unfortunate solo flights. And then there are the strange people you have to share a room with at hostels. I agree that some may be pretty cool. I've had the benefit of meeting a Syrian refugee in Armenia and a climate change activist in China, but my list of cool people I've met at hostels is pretty short, compared to the number of hostel roommates who are noisy, smelly, hostile, or just plain unfriendly. In those times, I always remember that some people travel solo for a reason. Maybe they just don't like other people, or maybe other people just don't like them.

5. Facing the big, bad scary world together. Like the night my best friend and I were hopelessly lost in a residential neighborhood in China with no taxis, or any other public transport in sight, even after walking for an hour, apart from a boat operator promising to take us back to civilization on a boat that did not even have any lights on it. Getting on the boat, we were convinced that we would end up as illegal immigrants somewhere 3 weeks later. But at least we were together.

The dodgy boat. My nervous hands don't take very good photos

6. Finally, I think everyone would agree, that any travel adventure is always a gazillion times more incredible when shared with people you love.

With all that said, every opportunity to travel is a privilege. So go forth and explore!

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at 1:40 PM

Day 40 and 41: Jubilation

We were jubilant as the final plenary session was called to a close. The long days and endless circular arguments were over. It would soon be time to head home.

My outfit:

Salmon pink cardigan from Giant (who says you can't find nice stuff at such places?)

Grey shift dress from Nex 

Belt came free with a pair of pants

Angeline's outfit: 

Black blazer form Zara

Dress from Primark

Burgundy shoes from New Look

Since it was going to be our last night in Bonn, we decided to treat ourselves to some good food.

The top rated place according to TripAdvisor was fully booked so we chose to dine at Gasthaus Reduttchen. I'm so glad we did.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, I liked it already. It's essentially a little cottage next to a park.

The whole setting was beautiful and charming. Everything from the cushions to the bread basket exuded a homely atmosphere. The service was impeccable too. The waiter recommended that we get the set menu with between 3-6 courses. And he also offered great wine recommendations. The dishes are innovative and I'm told it changes with whatever is seasonal. I chose a lamb dish which was yum. The dessert was a little strange though. The herb sorbet tasted like medicated oil. Lol. 

On the whole, it was a great experience. If you ever are in the Bonn, you should head here for a nice night out. Take the set menu with the wine pairing. Great value for money.

~

I woke up with a great sense of anticipation on Saturday as it was the day we were headin home. All our bags were packed and we were dressed for the long journey back. A taxi ride to Siegburg train station, a train ride to Frankfurt, the a 12 hour flight home.

My outfit:

Tank top from Mauritius

Jeans from Mango

Ombré purple scarf from my mom

Angeline's outfit:

Burgundy cardigan from Uniqlo

Stripey boat neck tee from Zara

Mother's scarf and pants

Bye bye Maritim Hotel. Someone aptly described it as "That 70's Show meets the Soviet era". But I'm grateful that we were staying there as I would have been frozen if we had to make a commute. It's also a very functional hotel with the basics. The best part is I could go up to my room to charge my laptop instead of lugging the charging cables around all day. 

Till we meet again. Auf Wiedersehen.

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at 11:31 AM

In Search of Deer- Wildpark Venusburg Bonn

Having been to Bonn many times, I am usually at a loss for what to do on our precious 1 day off.  I've just been going down the list of things to do and places to eat on Tripadvisor. This time, I chose to check out Wildpark Venusburg, based on the 1 review on tripadvisor that I could read.  Getting there: Take bus 603 from Bonn Hbf (the main train station and the centre of Bonn). The journey will take about 40minutes and takes you through the residential outskirts of Bonn. Get off at the last stop which is Waldau.  What to do:  If you have young kids, they will probably love this place. There is a huge playground made of wood. We don't get such playgrounds in Singapore any more :( Sorry I didn't take a pic. I was actually expecting a deer park like the Nara Deer Park in Japan, with the deer roaming free. So upon reaching there, we headed into a wooded trail to look for my deer. So we walked...

And walked....

And walked...

And saw nothing but trees and grass.

A look out point. But we weren't sure what we were looking out at apart from grass

Finally, an old man taking his walk in the park stopped to help us and told us that we were walking in the totally wrong area. 

So learn from my mistake. When you get there, walk straight in, then turn left. Walk past the large play ground, then the wildboar and deer enclosures will be on the right. 

The wildboar enclosure. I was sure glad they weren't free roaming

After wandering in the forest for over an hour, I finally found my deer!

While I was slightly disappointed that the deer were not free roaming, what I really liked about the park was that the enclosures were huge! Which means the deer can run around freely :)

I could not see the end of the deer enclosure

I was really happy to find the deer. It was a really warm day (36 degrees celcius!!) So the large deers with their majestic antlers were hiding in the shade.

After the max zoom on my phone

We were really tired from walking by then, so after gazing at the beautiful animals for awhile, we took a walk back to the bus stop and took a bus back to town.
On the whole, I'd say the Wildpark Venusburg would be worth a visit if you have little kids with you or if you have to be in Bonn over a Sunday when everything in town is closed. 0 comments

at 11:06 AM

A Bonn Bonn Walk In The Park

As mentioned in my earlier post, we got out of the Maritim before sunset on the last day (Sunday), so after packing my bags, I rushed out for a little walk in the park (Freizeitpark Rhienaue) which was close to the hotel to enjoy the bright sunshine, blue skies and green inviting grass. Armed with a book and a bag of chips, I was hoping to find a nice spot on the grass to read something other than negotiating text or submissions for a change.   I was surprised to find that the usually quiet park was abuzz with activity. Families were having BBQs, teenagers were playing frisbee and little kids were running around with glee. As I walked towards the open field, there seemed to be some carnival going on. Turns out, there was a balloon festival at the park that day. So this is what Bonn residents do on Sundays when everything else is closed. I have always wondered where everyone goes when I wander the empty streets of Bonn central on our Sunday off days.  Looked like a whole lot of fun for the kids. I really wouldn't mind living in Bonn if I had little kids. Since all the signs were in German, I had to ask around to find out what was happening. Finally, one of the staff told me that it was a hot air balloon festival and the balloons would be taking off in an adjacent field at around 7.30pm. I convinced my friends to ditch our initial dinner plans and found a nice spot on the grass with some currywurst to watch the balloons. It was an amazing experience that I was glad to ditch dinner plans for. I have never seen hot air balloons before and I found that they were much bigger than what I had imagined. As we sat there, we thought about how we would never see such a festival in Singapore. And laughed over the number of government agencies that would have to give permission to hold such a thing. lol It was almost 9.30pm by the time the last balloons took off and only then was the sun about to set. So glad to have stumbled upon the festival. It was a wonderful walk in the park :) 0 comments

at 1:58 PM

Back from Bonn Bonn

I'm back from climate change land.

It is a mysterious land where we celebrate the birthdays of negotiating groups. It was a majestic party with many Parties. 

The negotiations on my end went largely smoothly, even as I was co-Chairing one of the agenda items and running from room to room trying to catch up with the clashing tracks that I was also supposed to cover. As always, what made the demanding negotiations bearable and sometimes even enjoyable were the awesome people and for each one of you I am thankful. 

The excellent co-Chair, Parties and Secretariat

The ones who make everyday entertaining

The ones who entertain my request to go see balloons

The ones who keep the spirits up

The ones who love the island life as much as I do, and fight for their survival

The foodies

The delegation that became family

Bonn had been kind this time around. For the first time, the negotiations did not go into overtime and we managed to step out of the Maritim when the sun was still shining. It probably helped that the Bonn summer meant the sun only set past 9pm. Thank God for His little blessings. 

I sure made the most of every minute of sunlight I got this time around. I'll be blogging about more of that a little later. Watch this space.

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at 9:51 AM

All Roads Lead To Rome

My life's road led me to Rome last week. As they say, all roads lead to rome right? I was on a work trip, which meant we hardly had any time off the demanding schedule as usual, but the beauty of the city was unavoidable.
At every turn, we were greeted by an old church, a beautiful ruin or a quaint street. Each whispering of their glory days past.
We walked on paths that gladiators once strode through. We passed the corridors of emperors. We touched walls that witnessed the rise and fall of empires. While streets were filled with tourists, the air was thick with history.
We made the best use of whatever time we had to see the city. Which included walking to our destinations instead of taking a taxi, and brisk walking around the Coloseum just before closing time.
But at the end of the day, while all roads may lead to rome, my heart will always lead me home. And while im grateful for the amazing opportunities I have to see the world, I'm glad to be back where my heart belongs. 0 comments

at 6:56 PM