Food poisoning

Posted on September 5, 2007 by rob.dejonge

Some of the best food in Thailand I have had, was bought from a roadside stall and in those cases more often than not eaten while sitting right beside speeding motorcycles. I guess the exhaust fumes add an extra dimension to the food. Surprisingly enough, at least to some, is the fact that I have never gotten sick from eating streetfood.
I’ve never really worried about hygiene when eating in Thailand, I simply adhere to a few simple rules when buying streetfood but when it comes to restaurants I generally don’t worry. I have this theory that you will only get sick when you start to worry about getting sick. This point was proven when I first went to India and got quite sick following that visit, from a 5 star hotel no less. I was carefull during the entire trip there about food hygiene and ‘worried’ about it. And indeed I got sick. In a place like Singapore, I would never worry about food hygiene. Imagine my surprise when I got sick during this trip.
There is this Chinese snack, no idea what its called but it is minced meat pressed into ‘coins’ using some kind of glazing that makes the whole thing taste sweet. I love eating it when I get the chance, could blindly walk you to a shop selling just this in Hong Kong. So when I saw it in Singapore, I got myself a handful and happily munched on them walking down the street. No harm done. But a couple of hours later at the dinner table, I wasn’t feeling all that good. I just thought it was hunger. But a few bites into the dinner, I started feeling a bit sick. I’ll spare you the details, but I made it back to the hotel. I went to bed, shivering and waking up all through the night. The following day one of recovery, but soon back up to speed.

Nonetheless, food poisoning for the second time in one year. Neither of them in Thailand.

Posted in Life in Asia, Singapore, September 2007 | Comments Off

What do you mean a single entry 3 month visa?

Posted on September 4, 2007 by rob.dejonge

The reason for this trip was to get a new visa. After the trip, many people told me I can actually get the visa I need in Thailand. But our lawyer told me I have to fly abroad to get the visa I needed (non-immigrant multiple entry business visa, a mouth full) and so I flew down to Singapore.

Click here to magnify this photo
In front of ‘my’ embassy in Singapore

All the paperwork was put in a neat little folder and all I had to do was fill a form at the embassy and wait 2 hours in line to submit my application. Submitting it took the whole of 10 seconds, including waiting for the change of the 40 euro application fee. I was told to come back the next day to pick up my visa. And that is what I did, only to find a single entry visa valid for only 3 months. A bit surprised, I enquired about this and the embassy lady told me the Singapore embassy does not issue one year visa. Nothing personal, just didn’t happen. The lawyer acted a little surprised, but I guess simply had outdated information.

Back in Thailand, a lot of people told me they simply got their visa in Bangkok. So I was relieved. A bit annoyed that the company had incurred all those expenses for no good reason really, but relieved things were looking on the upside and I didn’t have to travel somewhere else to try and get the visa there. So the ball started rolling and preparations being made, until it turned out that for certain legal reasons I would not be able to get the one year visa I needed inside Thailand. Great, all this clarity.

Still unclear what the outcome is, I have a visa for the next three months and so I have a while to get this mess sorted. Or rather, my boss does and he is working several different angles. I might be able to get one in Tokyo during my upcoming visit. Who knows … visa tales to be continued.

Posted in Journal, Singapore, September 2007 | Comments Off

Singapore, boring Singapore

Posted on September 2, 2007 by rob.dejonge

Just about exactly 6 months ago I was in Singapore for the first time and encountered a city which I thought was a bit boring. This was really confirmed on the weekend. I arrived in Singapore a few days early for some fun and games.

So what does one do for fun and games in Singapore? One goes shopping. I think the Singaporeans have an even greater love of shopping malls than the Thai do, plus the expendable income to spare. And so on Saturday afternoon I joined the masses (and I do mean masses) going in and out of shopping malls. My Airport Express wifi base station recently died due to a power surge in my condo and so I waited with buying the new Airport Extreme for this trip as it saves me 20% from the Bangkok price. I was also very happy to find Gap stores in Singapore and got myself a new pair of jeans there.

What else is there to do in your spare time in Singapore? Sentosa! The people of Singapore complained to the government that there was nowhere in the city to really kick back and relax. And so again, in its typical manner, the government designated an island as ‘recreational’ and built a Disneyland like holiday experience. It was fun to sit on the cable car onto the island, see the big Merlion, see a 3D movie, etc. but it was all so … organised.

“Yes, but Mr. President, we don’t even have our own soccer team to cheer on!”, is what the people said. And so Singapore formed its own soccer team. They imported talent from all over the region and on tv they have this commercials promoting the soccer team. Like I said, ultra organised.

And it is exactly that over-organisation that puts me off about Singapore. My first impressions of Singapore last year were pretty much underlined during this trip. I do enjoy the shopping a lot more than I do shopping in Bangkok, because I’m not perceived as a ‘farang-have-big-money’ here. And walking around the streets everything is really well organised. It is easy to get around, everything is up to standards, everything works, etc. I wouldn’t go as far as calling Singapore itself a Disneyland experience, but it does have certain similarities in that it is one single type of feeling throughout the whole place. What really gets to me is even when I want to get a taxi I have to cue up!

I guess I prefer in a place that is a bit more dynamic. Thats probably why I love Hong Kong (its been a while, I should go visit soon) so much – it does have all the comforts that I so much appreciate. But it also has the back alleys and weird places and odd experiences that I so enjoy in for example Bangkok. Singapore is completely void of that experience.

Posted in Journal, Singapore, September 2007 | Comments Off

Tiger Airways, not recommended

Posted on September 1, 2007 by rob.dejonge

Found myself at the airport again this morning. It was about 24 hours since I arrived back from Delhi and I’m now heading towards Singapore for a few days. I booked a ticket on Tiger Airways, one of those low-cost airlines here in the region. First time. Last time.
Upon check-in I requested, as I always do, a seat with some extra space for my legs. Either exit or bulkhead, whatever, I just need somewhere to put my knees. “Sorry Sir, all full, I cannot give you”. Ok, well, my own damn fault because I didn’t show up early enough. These things happen. (What sucks more is that when you do go to the airport on time, you do get assigned an exit seat, you happily spend those hours at the airport and then it turns out not to be an exit seat – happened to me on the flight last night). Anyway, a rather rude check-in staff was the first indication.

Then I got to the gate, boarded the plane and …. damn, how much seats can you cramp into one plane. I know I’m not ‘Asian size’, but this is ridiculous. I simply could not sit in the chair. I had to sit sideways but the armrest in the middle had to be moved down as well. Basically, the lovely ladies of Tiger forced me to do circus acts. As soon as the ‘fasten seatbelts sign’ had been switched off, I shoot to the first row. Because guess what, only a handfull of seats on the entire plane were taken. The exit rows were empty and the first row was empty. What the hell!
So I sit down, happy as a boyscout on summercamp, comfortable seat for the 2.5 hour flight! Great. What sandwich do I want? Um, I don’t know, I’ll have this one. Oh I have to pay? Thats okay, forget it. I have a sandwich right here, I was planning to eat that before boarding but I ran out of time due to the immigration holdup. What do you mean I can’t eat it, why not? Excuse me, because its “not fair to the other passengers”? You mean its not fair because you wont make any commission, right? I don’t have an issue with having to pay for food onboard an airplane. I do have an issue with not being allowed to eat my own food. But whatever, its a budget airline and a 2.5 hour flight. I’ll have a coke. And I’ll pay USD 2 for that.

I sort of wanted to ask if it was okay for me to use my laptop, as it might not be fair to the other passengers that I have one and they dont. But I decided not to act like a disgruntled kid and just be quiet. I did ask for a pillow, which makes working a bit more comfortable. They didn’t have them.

So, Tiger Airways? Not recommended. I’m happy I’ll fly back on another airline. My previous experience with AirAsia was bad too, but mostly due to the other passengers and not the staff itself. I paid a bit extra for priority boarding on the return flight, AirAsia does not do assigned seating so being (one of the) first on board will give me a better chance of a good seat. Ah, the perils of being a tall frequent traveller, am I boring you?

Posted in Journal, Singapore, September 2007 | Comments Off

From car to plane

Posted on August 31, 2007 by rob.dejonge

Every time I leave Delhi I have to make my way through the very old and painfully dying Delhi airport. It always surprises me how things work there and how many people must be working at this airport. I’m flying back to Bangkok (home, sweet home) as I write this, so for your but also my own entertainment, here is a rundown of the interactions I have with people on my way from the car to the plane.

I’ll thank Mandeep for his services and give him a tip, which differs depending on the number of days I have been in Delhi. It took quite a while to find a driver with whom I am happy, most of them either spoke zero English, would continuously burp while driving (I’m not kidding, two of them did!) and be one of those honking Delhi maniacs. Mandeep speaks English, is a kind and gentle person, never honks, picks up my routines without me even telling him, etc. So I’m settled on him. See you next time, Mandeep!

And into the first queue I go, to be allowed into the actual airport building. As I wear a suit, I’ll be hassled by two or three unofficial people who try to make themselves look official by wearing tags. Business class, Sir? Business class? I made the mistake of saying yes once, which made them take me out of the line and walking me to do ‘business class entry’ where I could enter without lining up first. For a fee, of course. Tricked, again! At the door of the airport building, my passport and ticket will be inspected by a government official to see if I have any business at the airport at this time. As I always have e-tickets, which I generally forget to print, I sometimes open up my laptop and show the guy the email containing the e-ticket. Works for him too.
I’ll line up for check-in and be approached by a lady from the airline who will hand my luggage tags. As I painfully learned about the tags1 on my first trip, I know I should accept them. I then talk soft and sweet to the check-in lady, as she determines how good a seat I’m going to get on the flight. Thank you this, thank you that, if at all possible, whatever you can do for me, you’re so kind and thank you so much. And off I go!

Next step is immigration. This goes in two steps, the first line is always ridiculously long and will take you half an hour to get through. And this line is there because they employ a guy (two, actually) to check if you have filled out your departure card and hold a boarding card and passport. After having done that line once, I’m now a complete asshole and fill out the card on the tables at the front of the line and then simply sneak into the line. Nobody ever says anything, and then I wait in line for my departure stamp (which I get in exchange for a departure card from the immigration people). It is here that I regularly see the flight crew of KL872 pass by on their way to work. There are usually a lot of KLM boarding cards around me in these immigration lines too. A little home away from home. Or something.

Then I line up for security. Here there is a guy who checks if you have a boarding card and passport. Again. Then there are the regular security people checking your bags, the guys who are checking the guy who checks your bag, the guy who frisks you, the guy who is checking the guy who frisks you, the guy who stamps the luggage tags when they are cleared and the station manager who checks the guys who check the guys who do stuff. I am NOT kidding.

Then comes boarding time. There will be the lady, often two, who stand along side the queue to make sure everybody is holding their boarding card but is not holding their passport. Because the passport is no longer needed after this point, thank you! Then there is the lady who checks if you have actually put away your passport but are still holding your boarding card, then there is the government official who checks if the tags on your luggage have actually been stamped, then there is the government official who is chatting up the airline girls, errr, who is there for security. Then there are the ladies who take your boarding card and give you the small part back and then there is the airline duty manager who oversees the ladies who take your boarding card and give you the small part back.

And then, sawadii kaa, welcome on board sir.

  1. On my first trip to Delhi, I lost an iPod because I was sent back to security while I tried boarding the plane. In the rush to make the flight, I grabbed all my bags from the scanner but forgot the iPod which was still in a tray inside the scanner. By the time I realized this, it was gone. With another traveller or with a security person. The latter was impossible, they assured me. Sure. I had to buy a new one, it was not my iPod.↩

Posted in Delhi, multiple visits in 2007, Journal | Comments Off

Katoey in India

Posted on August 29, 2007 by rob.dejonge
'Lady Boys Mambo Show Thailand 2' by zaphodsotherhead on Flickr, click to magnify
Lady or ladyboy?

In Thailand, transexuals are called ‘katoey’ and are a very common sight. They are accepted within society, not fully but definitely to a certain degree. Department stores for example will knowingly hire them to man (har har) the make up counters, as they can be absolute experts in this field for obvious reasons. In some cases it is really obvious she used to be a guy, but all to often the surgeons have done an incredible job and it is hard to pick them out. Give aways are the size of feet, hands, adams apple, the way they walk, talk and act, but by no means should one ever consider to be able to positively identify all of them.

Arriving to our Indian office today, I was faced with a different practice. Not at all accepted within society, they have resorted to extortion for their income. City blocks are assigned to groups of these katoy, in Punjabi referred to as khusra, and several times a year they will visit all business in that block and ask for money. They will dance in front of the office building, if that does not help dance within the office and if that does not help start stripping. They will not leave unless one pays. The same applies to marriages, babies being born, etc. Security will not stop them from going into a building because they will get beaten up, police will not come because they will get beaten up or are perhaps on their payroll, so a company is left with no option other than just paying.

What was the most amazing part was intelligence collecting. These groups have such detailed knowledge that they for example know we rent out a room on the top floor of our building to a small company and they will not leave until that company has also paid them. They will know when you are getting married, even if you got married in another city. The way they collect their ‘intel’ is by using communal sources. Indian communities for example have someone who does the laundry for everyone in that community, these are usually the people who get paid a small fee for providing the right information. In the case of how many offices in a building, I assume the chamber of commerce would be a reliable source of information. They will even know that, as is the case with us, the basement and 2nd floor are the same company but the first floor is a different company. Incredibly detailed information, the CIA could probably learn a trick or two from them!

Whenever intelligence comes in, the group will act on it and start negotiating a fee with whomever is the leader. The father of the groom, the head of a business, etc. When they reach an agreement, money exchanges hands and everybody packs up and leaves. As I was outside the office watching all this and talking to someone in our company, allof a sudden the music stops, all the ‘ladies’ pack their stuff and walk away and 5 or 6 ladies walk out of the building with the money and their accounting book in hand.

Big business, no doubt about it.

Posted in Delhi, multiple visits in 2007, Journal | Comments Off

Back in the old airport

Posted on August 25, 2007 by rob.dejonge

When I first came to Thailand, the plane landed at Don Mueang airport. The last time I had been there was when I landed at the airport on September 6th, 2006 when I was moving here. Shortly after, the new Suvarnabhumi airport was opened. The new airport was a project that had been in the works for quite a long time and was actually already known to be too small in the very near future when it opened. The old airport closed when Suvarnabhumi opened.

For a while anyway, because a few months after the new one opened it already started showing signs of wear and tear. The new airport has been struggling with criticism from the very first day (or actually even before) it opened and for a while there, the daily newspapers had a new thing to report on every day. The one I will never forget was the article which explained why the runway had started cracking under the weight of heavy planes after only a few weeks of being used – it was the result of poor quality work, due to the workers ‘being tired’. Only in Thailand.

After a long and public debate, it was decided to re-open Don Mueang. I think it was actually those cracks that lead to the decision of re-opening the old airport to reduce the load on the new one. Despite it having been re-opened for a long time, I had never been back. Despite being a frequent flyer with an average of about two trips per month, all those flights left from Suvarnabhumi. But today I had to fly up to Chiang Mai for a meeting and my flight up left from Don Mueang.
It is closer to my home, but because it was Saturday with the Jatujak market not far from my home, traffic was hell and so it took me as long to get there as the other airport. Being back at Don Mueang was kinda nice. Recognizing things I had noticed on the first arrivals in Thailand, those first impressions that will stay with one forever. Breezing through procedures and having to walk the whole of 100 meters from the taxi to the plane. It being a much more ‘Thai’ experience than the big business Suvarnabhumi airport – which, as much as I like it, is just another one of those glitzy shopping mall airports. It was all a very pleasant experience.

If you fly within Thailand, Don Mueang I think is a much better option than Suvarnabhumi. No high tech, big bucks, glossy shine. But real soul.

Or maybe i’m just being sentimental for no reason.

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A day in Khao Yai

Posted on August 18, 2007 by rob.dejonge

When I was having dinner with friends earlier this week, they invited me to join them today to go up to their new plot of land. I did not have to think about it very long, the plot was right at the edge of Khao Yai national park in the middle of nowhere but fairly close to Bangkok.
We drove up for about an hour and a half and within minutes after we turned off the highway we were in rural Thailand. Little roadside stalls selling fruit, small businesses and eateries and most of all – the relaxed vibe of outside-the-big-city. You relax right away with the change of scenery from endless streams of brick buildings to beautiful lush green roadsides with the occasional house built far away from the road.

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Those mountains will be their view, a stunning view indeed!

My friends had bought a 12 rai piece of land (approx. 5 acres, 2 hectares) to build a weekend retreat. There is nothing there yet, but they needed to go there for some paperwork and just wanted to have a look how the result of the first stage was holding up. They had commissioned local builders to take out some vegetation for two driveways and two flattened plateaus and wanted to see if the soil was settling the way they expected it to. Once it has, they will first build a small guesthouse and later on on the other will build a larger house. Long term project, but you can imagine how incredibly jealous I was. Go to the site to see the photos, it is absolutely stunning and breathtaking!

Click here to magnify this photo Click here to magnify this photo
Lunch at the vinyard, buying fruit on the way back.

After doing the paperwork and inspecting the work, we went for lunch in a local vinyard and on the way back to Bangkok stopped for coffee at a little place suggested by a local to have good coffee. Not the case at all, their cheesecake however was quite good. So I was a happy little boy.
It was a great Saturday and they invited me to come up again with them soon, perhaps staying a bit longer and exploring the area a bit more. I will certainly be game for that!

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Lots of traveling

Posted on August 17, 2007 by rob.dejonge

This morning I walked into the office sipping my coffee and as I walked past our office manager, I asked her to confirm the ticket to Tokyo she had reserved for me, to book me a ticket to Delhi for a week and a half from now and a ticket to Singapore right after that. Delhi will be another business trip, Singapore is combined business and tourism.
Tokyo is obviously the trip I look forward to the most, but being 9 weeks away it feels like an eternity for me. Putting down the actual number of weeks though, makes me wonder what I will be doing when I am there. I previously wrote that I might make it part to be a scouting trip as it is not a destination I will visit very often for quick trips in the future. I’m certainly going to enjoy stuffing my face with sushi every meal of the day. But other than that, I really should set aside some time to figure out what else is worth doing there.
Lots of travelling ahead of me, but that seems to be the norm rather than the exception this year.

Posted in Delhi, multiple visits in 2007, Japan, October 2007, Journal, Singapore, September 2007 | Comments Off

The secret password

Posted on August 14, 2007 by rob.dejonge

One of the movie trailers currently doing the rounds here (maybe its already playing?) in Thailand is for Rush Hour 3, the third part of an incredibly stupid movie series, and shows the following dialog:
Cop: I’ll be asking the questions old man. Who are you?
Old Chinese Guy: Yu.
Cop: No not me you!
Old Chinese Guy: Yes I’m Yu!
(see IMDB for the full exchange, which also includes a guy called Mi, har har har)
Imagine how stupid I just felt when I sat down in a cafe advertising free internet access and asking for the password, as the network was password protected. The conversation went something like this …
Me: you have wifi?
Waitress: wifi?
Me: yes, wifi?
Waitress: internet?
Me: yes, you have?
Waitress: yes, have
Me: do you know the password?
Waitress: password
Me: yes, password, do you know it?
Waitress: yes, password
Me: what is the password? do you know?
Waitress: yes, password
Me: what is it?
Waitress: password
Me: the password is password?
Waitress: yes
And indeed it was. Now before you start writing me off as a complete idiot, you should know that a habit of the Thai is to repeat what you have just said to show that they have correctly received your words. This does not mean they actually understand what you’re talking about. So these kind of interchanges are quite common and not at all as frustrating as one might think, I always try to see the humor in them. I’m sure the waitress just thought I was incredibly stupid.

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