Around the world in one day and the amazing botanical gardens of Singapore

I distinctly remember it was a close humid night in the summer of 1992 when I first set foot in Singapore. Part of a very young and energetic UCD soccer team I had just recovered from breaking my left tibia and with butterflies in my stomach, beads of sweat congregating on my brow I remember taking to the field at 7.30pm in 37 degrees hoping I wouldn't encounter any testing tackles. All turned out well I was accredited a goal in the local press which i didn't score and I came through the last 20 minutes of the game unscaved and had myself some Tiger beer that night with the boys to celebrate and a plush meal at the cricket club with our hosts!

Now I was back 17 years later. The beads of sweat quickly congregated again and I tasted the same cocktail of excitement knowing this time unlike the last I had build into my visit an entire day from which I could do what I pleased to check out this beautiful city state.

Singapore is an island microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres (85 mi) north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. Singapore is only one of four remaining true city-states in the world. It is the smallest nation in Southeast Asia and after two days of training the South Eastern Microsoft team I was looking forward to inserting my trusty 5 giant learning sponges into my 5 senses and then hit the road to harvest some new experiences to add to the database :)

The adventure for me started with the world famous night Safari. I'm not a big fan of zoo's but I decided to give this a go. It was big, very big and it holds over 1,040 animals of 120 species, of which 29% are threatened species. You can walk the park which I was told takes about 3 hours to peruse or you can take the train that sees it all in 45 minutes. I went for the latter and with the aid of an excellent guide got to see and hear about the lives of some animals I had never seen before. The mighty lion and tiger. The scavenging ant eater and the greedy hyena just to name a few. I enjoyed the trip and it would be perfect for my niece Ellen. I could see her being captivated by the clever design of the zoo and the huge variety of specimens for me though I wouldn't really write home about it! Zoos are innately sad for me and no matter what excitement I felt seeing the magnanimous animals my excitement was dampened my knowledge that they were living outside their natural habitat, despite the obvious ingenuity with the comfortability on show. It was voted as one of the top ten family experiences in the world in 2006 so it might be something you want to explore.

After 8 hours sleep I then checked out the little city. The targets I circled with the concierge in the Intercontinental hotel were: little India, little China and Arab street. Then the final destination and the one I was looking forward to the most the famous botanical gardens and the famous orchid collection.

Arab street was nearest to the hotel so after a hearty breakfast including guava juice and croissants I took my map, put on my shorts and Brazilian haviannas and went searching. Sprinkled with little shops of all sorts the area consists of 3 or 4 streets all close to the very busy Sultan's mosque which was a hive of activity when i was there. I took a few quick snaps bought a magnet for my fridge collection of Singapore flag and white glow in the dark white target and then sat it out during a down pour to take in some of the local activity over a can of coke.  From there it was off to India town at a fruit and vegetable shop that was enveloped by the classic gold jewelery stores that are everywhere in India. This really was a microcosm and mirror image of the real thing. Serais abounded in their multitude of colours. The colours walked around and were spotted by thick, curley proud moustache wearing men proudly selling all kinds of nicks and nacks that included the latest Indian news and film magazines to ornate furniture shops that sold giant wodden statues of their elephant god. After another mnsson like down pour that cleared up after 5 minutes I headed for China town. I landed outside the impressive Sri Mariamman Temple which is Singapore's oldest Hindu temple and right in the middle of the Chinese district. The front entrance door with it's numerous bells and then giant centre piece cradles of hundreds of small statues was worth the visit alone. After that it was "take me down to China town" and the shopping began. Unlike me, I bought like crazy. Mostly, gorgeous Chinese wodden boxes and silk pillow cases! It was a great day and it wasn't over.

We all know about orchids. Delicate, sublimely formed and cradles of awe and admiration. What most of us probably don't know is there are between 25,000 to 30,000 species. I remember encountering my first wild orchid in Brazil when I hiked in the Champada Dimentia national park in Bahia, Brazil. After one and a half days of walking I remember turning a mountain track and seeing two yellow orchids standing tall and proud bobbing and oscillating in the gentle frigid wind. It flowers could warble. This was the nearest thing to it. If they could smile these were beaming. Two tall slender twinkles of joy. As I jad my photo taken by some kind Korean tourists at the placard entering the botanical gardens I remembered the Brazilian orchids and I was very much looking forward to now seeing some of the best examples of them the world had to offer. The rest is in the pictures, here. 

Beijing and the curious incident of the teacher in the square

I’ve been in Beijing for 2 days and soaking it all in. I’m here to train 30 recruiters from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzen and Taiwan how to use internet technologies to source but have arrived here 3 days early to check out the city and get on the same time zone.

So far I’ve revisited the Forbidden City of the Ming and Qing dynasties, see photos here, and this time it was not being renovated for the Olympics so I got to see the inner and outer area, the house of harmony and the amazing gardens with a little bit of extra high definition.

After the city I joined the crowd in Tenemana Square to watch the removal of the flag at 6pm in front of the huge bright world famous portrait of Chairman Mao. In a group of well over 1,000 people myself and Cristine my Microsoft colleague stuck out like soar thumbs and garnished a lot of attention. Photos were taken with babies and a very inquisitve older women who had very broken English and claimed to be an English teacher, which I’m sure she was, despite her 5 year old English standard, politely and very humbly asked us some questions:

“Where are you from?” To my surprise, she knew Ireland was beside England and small. Nothing else.

“What is your name?”

“How big is your family?”

“Why are you here?”

“What is the differences between Ireland and China?”

“Would you like to meet my son? He is my only child and studying law in Beijing University?” She then beckoned over a 6 foot tall, duffle coat wearing, muscular young man, who bowed his head courteousfully with a huge smile peering out of his round rimmed skinny spectacles.

The genuine inquistiveness continued...

“What do you eat?”

“When are you going home?” When I told her a week. She burst into laughing.

"What is your name?"

"Welcome to China!"

The brief interlude lasted about 6 or 7 minutes but it gave me a stark but clear small insight into the hunger for knowledge and self introspection that we take for granted in Ireland and we reciprocate ourselves. This women was warm and kind and wanted to know about my world. She was loving and caring and wanted to make me feel secure and at home. She wanted to share and to learn and with a beautiful smile and wonderful head bowing gesture explained to me with an invisible loud speaker the sacred words that I have learnt on all my global voygerism... my Ying for her Yang... my Harmony for her Harmony.... "You" and "I" are the same. For reminding me of that which I already knew from my travels but had departmentalised a little deeper than it should have been of late which always happens when you slip back into familarity in Ireland, I said "Bye", "Xui - Xui" and I saluted her as I left. She had reminded of that which I had forever learned in 2004 travelling the world and tatooed on my soul. She and I were the same. For her kind words and bright infectuous smile that nearly knocked Chairman Mao off his red wall I loved her as if she was one of my own.

After a walk around the beautiful square and some quick introspection and then inspection of the guarded Obelisk, the famous workers statues and a gaulk at the outside of the Chinese history museum and government buildings we headed for home which turned out to be an ordeal as if was really hard to flag any taxis down. Before we got one we passed a huge building called the “Book Building”... think of Eason’s on O’Connel street multipled by 4 in size. It was colossal and interestingly at the front of the shop was all communist rhetoric books and the best seller list which interestingly had Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope” and also Warren Buffet’s autobiography. Books very cheap. 3 euros for a book that would cost us 15 at home. The sections were long and diverse. Similar than we had back home but calligraphy, philosophy and the childrens section were noteably much deeper. I had a quick look around and saw a Harry Potter book and a Lonely Planet like travel section but very Chinese like in print and design. I didn’t get a chance to find anything on Ireland but would have loved to. We were in a hurry to catch a meal so we didn’t stay long. As I left we both started a debate about how books get censored in China before they land on the shelf. It must be a rigorous process and something I can try find out today on my travels, especially if I bump into more teachers in squares.

Itacare, Prinha and the Coconut Ring

I could tell the story of Adriano our 18 year old starey-eyed tour guide and the most skillful soccer player I have had the chance to play against. The delicious mangostina fruit that is a cousin of the lychee and is famed for the Queen of England's comments as being the most beautiful fruit she has ever eaten. What about the 250 metre free fall rappelling act over a packed beach of hippies and Rasteferians. My new friend whom I had many interesting conversations about Brazilian politics and soccer, and whom I got to know at our hotel pool bar the Brazilian famous sports journalist Vlair Lemos that is currently working on a new book about the world cup and Corinthians soccer legend Socrates who studied medicine in Ireland before his professional soccer career blossemed (you can check his blog out at: blogdovladir.blogspot.com). Then again, maybe I should talk about the inspirational Dublin doctor who is setting up a charity to help poor favela children in Itacare. We could even chat over an ice cold beer about the 7 coloured exotic bird the name of which escapes me but whom I caught a glorious photo of eating bananas that I'm sure would bring a smile to Gerald Manley Hopkins face as he coined his famous "pantheism" description of God in nature. Or what about the coconut ring that I gave on a gentle breeze overlooking a tourquise sea where the rivers of Chapada Dimentinia converage with the Atlantic ocean showing a steady phalanx of hypnotic ghostly horse waves that constantly form and crash silently in the middle of the ocean.

I think instead I will tell you about the story of Itacare itself and Prinha or "The Tiny Beach" the best beach I have ever seen.

Itacare is one of Brazil's foremost surfing destinations which exists in the state of Bahia a mere two hours drive from Brazil's old capital Salvador and 2 hours flight from Sao Paulo, the latter being the route myself and Camila opted for. After an excellent week in Parathy we had booked a fairly expensive week in a top beach hotel in Itacare through the number one Brazilian toursim company CVC that prepare everthing for you. My style has been mostly doing things myself. Organising my own flights. Arriving in airports taking buses and trains into city centres. Walking around with a Lonely Planet book checking out hostels and cheap hotels. This was the opposite. Buses waiting to pick you up at the airport. Knowledage guides with deep dark choclete skin and flourescent yellow shirts and smiles that would rival any parents' when seeing their childs first steps. All laid out, well prepared and on hand.

What I really liked about Itacare and the CVC company was the variety of excursions or "passeios" on offer for visiting tourists. Our guides were the gregarious Adriano and Samuel. The night we arrived, after a 3 hour powercut which forced us to eat in the restaurent by candle light, they explanined to us for one and a half hours in person with no use of any brochures or laptops, simply colourful stories and loads of laughings all the types of "passeios" on offer. First was a one day canoeing trip by a local fisherman, 6 to a long canoe, along river banks infested with blue and red crabs to a deserted 20 metre waterfall and natural pool. Secondly, was a grade 3 rafting trip which lasted the entire day. Thirdly, was a full morning of -Arvorism- or Tree rappelling which involves walking through a maze of tasks 20 metres high on the tree tops of the local tropical forest that looks over the deep blue coastline. Next on offer was the peninsula jeep ride to the tip of Itacare which involved a 7.30am kick off and an inredibly bumpy 4 * 4 Land Rover ride, the stopping off at a bar of a man who has 34 children and sells coconuts, which ended up in some diving and snorkelling if you wanted it and a dip in a local lagoon lake which had water that was 28 degrees hot. The final two trips on offer was a trip to the famous islands of Morro De Sao Paulo and a visit to the famous "Prinhia" beach. For an amazing 415 reis or 140 euros for both of us. We went for the canoe ride, the jerky jeep ride, the rapelling and the secluded beach. For this unbelievable price, including wake up call, guide and transport, this was phenomenal value. While simple and involving a cheap bus, a lot of walking and our own paddling on canoes the cost alone would have been enough for the detailed history and descriptions we got from the guides about the local flora and fauana nevermind all the other stuff thrown in. This was very much an insider Brazilan trip. We met no other "gringos" or foreigners on our "passeios" and everything was delivered in Portugese or the local dialect Baihanese. While mapping it more difficult to understand it made it all the more authentic and special and I loads of new vocabulary to use back in Dublin with my Brazilian friends or the next time I come back.

For me the highlight was the 30 minute walk through a hilly "fazendo"or farm to the downwards sandslopes that lead you to the beautiful blue, brown and green of Prinhias ocean, sand and coconut and palm
trees. Prinha has been voted consistently by Veja, Brazilians leading political and social magazine as one of the top ten beaches in all Brazil which is saying something. It has never reached the lofty heights of Jericacacoa which is found in the north of the country and seems to be only rivalled by Fernando Del Noronha's famous islands beaches to the east. But for me, it bettered anything I saw in Brazil to date or anything I have seen on my travels anywhere else. Maybe it was the 30 minute hike to get to the beach or the jutting peninsulas on each side of the beach that added to my impression of the place but I think more than anything else it was the ununsual beautiful stand alone cococunt trees, beautifully flat sandy beach and the countless smiles on the super cool surfers who dotted the mains of the white horse waves that crashed with regular batches of 2 to 3 metres waves in the safe warm waters of the 1 kilometre beach that won me over. Im already looking forward to the day where I write about a beach that leaves a deeper impression on me than this one for it will have to be one hell of a beach to win my title for "Best Beach Visited- Ever".

Prinha has thankfully not falled subjugate to the trappings of the mass tousism industry. There is one kiosk that sells water, beer, pineapples, coconuts and soft drinks but there is no other. Unlike countless other beaches that have thousands of yellow umbrellas and yellow chairs dotted along Brazil's 7,200kms of coastline this one has refreshingly none. A few picnic tablets or provided for to sit down on, there is a set of tiolets with some showers to wash off the salt of the sea and the "maresis" salty windy, but that's it. After that you have to try find a cococut tree shade to plop down your towel, you stay in the water to cool off, you join the local guides and surfers on the beach for a game of football which is what I did first, or you take on the sun with it all its shimmering rays and penetrating glistening heat. Either options you can't loose.

I would highly recommend a visit to Prinha and to Itacare. Unlike a lot of surfer beaches I have been to this one has not yet been infested with all the trappings of tourism. It seems to be to be delicately balanced at the moment and could easily turn into a tourist trap like countless others in the near future. While you'll find
plenty of restaurents and bars serving Italian, Japanese and Brazilian dishes thankfully there is no Irish bar or golden arches yet. I would say go here sooner rather than later and keep away from it the week after the Carnival fisnishes as that is when the worlds carnival partiers from foreigners lands envelop the city for a solid week. From New Years to mid Feb is probably the best time to go and make sure to book well in advance as this time is high season holiday time for all of Brazil. Also, don't be afraid to give CVC a go. There cheap, reliable, action packed and great fun. And youll get by even if you dont have the local lingo. For a well organised, easy sit back adventure holidays these guys have it down to a tee.

PS: It was at the convergence of the river and the ocean that I asked the beautiful Camila Monthila De Morales for her hand. With a bended knee and a local coconut ring I found on the beach I closed many chapters of 34 years of colourful rich single life and set out on a set of new adventures which I hope will make me a better man, husband and Rambling Irish Vagabond for many decades to come. For that perfect moment Itacare will always remain one of the most special of special places for the Vagabond.

The BR101 to inspiring Paraty

Gems

*Drinking Calda the Cana sugar cane juice for the first time

*Waterfall surfing with local acrobats

*Playing hand claps with a 4 year old Sao Caetano girl and getting a big sloppy wet kiss off her in the end

*Eating in the Brazilian-famous Marseille creperia in Paraty

*Crab hunting in Trindade

*Visting the amazing Kontiki island restaurent and getting to know a baby peacock

Books

*Dreams from my father, Barack Obama

*Off the Beaten Track, Kathryn Thomas

Accomadation

*Vistamar, 200 R$ per night - 3 star location with 5 star service. Nice spot and highly recommended but a little far at 20 minutes walk to the city centre.

It was a cold, chrome skyed, windy river Liffey that I waited by as I hailed a taxi down for the airport. The night before I had been to Alex Martins infamous UCD, D4, culchie here-and-there annual Christmas reunion and now it was 3pm on the 27th of December 2008 and it was time to get away from recessions, pints of Guinness and wolly jumpers and make the 14 hour round trip down to my second home, Brazil.

BR 101 from Rio to Santos has to be one of the most under-rated car trips in the world. A mixture of the Almalfi coast mixed in with Highway 1 it has dramatic sea views and archipelgo sightings mixed in with hundreds of beachs and miles upon miles of "seras tortuosa", windy roads that cut through the numerous small mountain tops that dapple the entire coast and move steadily inland on their way to Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro. The eponymous Rio-Santos takes about 9 full hours of travel and about 400kms of driving from start to finish alond the coast. After a stomach full of picanha and some cold "Original" beers Camila and I set off on the 29th along BR101 making our way to Paraty, an old colonial town that acted as the end point for the Portugese to transport their gold from the slave mines of Ouro Preto some 800kms away in the state of Minis Gerais just before they set sail to Lisbon with their bounty. Instead of taking the normal road Im used to from Sao Paulo to the coast: Santos Guaruja and Maresis we instead made our way towards Rio and then cut our way down the "seras" to Paraty.

In my minds eye I was expecting a small colonial, neat cobblestoned town centre with maybe 3 or 4 beaches close by that we could lay back and catch some of Brazil's famous rays but instead what I found was a far bigger town centre than expected rich with a very interesting Bohemian culture which had been many years ago found out by some of the most prominent musicians, artists, film directors, adventures and celebrities that Brazil has to offer. The town was inflated due to the on coming New Years Eve celebrations, but despite the activity, it still maintained its charm and intamacy and somehow manages to circumvent the all to often crazy crowds that descend on the small and big costline towns all along BR 101 at this time of year.

After an adventurous first night walking with Havianns along the beautiful cobblestoned interior of the city and tasting some very nice Pizza in an excellent restaurent called Margaretia (that housed a talented long nailed eye squinting Spanish guitar musician al vivo) the next few days we got stuck into the activities all around us. All with Camilas mum Cidinha Chaparau and her sister Carolina and her very erudite curious lawyer boyfriend Rodrigo. First was a boat trip to Ilha Sonos and the smallest fresh fish restaurent you may ever come across on a tropical island. I had a plate full of Dourado and a can of the famous Guarana soft drink for about 10 euros and left with a big smile on my face and a worringly expanding out of control waist line. Secondly, was a trip to Paulo Branco waterfalls where for the first time I saw waterall skiing and got a chance to try it with some of the local acrobatic teenagers which had learned to ski the jutting rick faces with consumate artistery and grace. Thirdly, was a visit to one of Brazil´s hippy and rasta famous beaches which is famous for dope smoking and moonlight beach parties, Trindade. Here we took in some of the amazing views and also went hunting for the very shy siri crabs that live inland in the light forest and at night scurry around the sand on their way to the sea. Next we visited a pinga and cancha distillery and then an old colonial farm that has been preserved in excellent conditions and was a very clear insight into the mining and slavery industries that existed in the 18th century.

While I felt we packed a huge amount in there was loads left we could have done but ran out of time to do. Tree adventure eco-tourism is very popular here and I will have to slide and scale amongst the tree tops next time I am here. The diving is excellent and with nearby Ihla Grande and its famous crashed helicopter dive which I did before in 2004 the location with its over 300 different islands is a serious winnder for novice and series diver alike. Then there is the jeep trips into the jungle and the countless trail bike adventures to mountain tops where you can do some para-sailing at the top.

I´m now back in Sao Paulo resting and getting ready for the next trip - 8 days in sunny Bahia and the surf beaches off Itacare!

Some of the photos can be checked out here.

Where the Hell is Matt

If you haven't heard of Matt and his amazing travels already shame on you? This guy is one of my heros... check out one of his powerful videos!

I love the Indian slide and keep a close eye out for St Stephen's Green in Dublin!

Zhouzhuang town and the temple of two religions

Location: Regal International, Shanghai

Stars: 5
Cost: $140 pernight
Note: Best breakfast ever and excellent Butterfly massage parlour around the corner, excellent 1 hour foot massage for 6 euros!

Just as I remembered from my recent last visit just over a year ago Shanghai was as pacy as the pulsating neon lights that dappled the impressive skyline. The skyscrapers looked taller and prouder than ever and the illuminating light shows were somehow even more sophisticated and far reaching than my minds eye had recalled. A little like meeting a cousin who just sprouted a few inches Shanghai felt as if it had done the same. It was good to be back. It felt like I had landed my natural Asian home. I'm not sure why I felt so comfortable in this massive city! Maybe it’s because I now have a few friends here or perhaps it's because it feels a bit like a racier frontier mixture of Sao Paulo and Hong Kong with a dash of the wild west San Francisco gold rush thrown in for good measure which appeals to me. I'm not sure - for whatever reason it felt great.

In Shanghai the immersion tour took off into another gear and we started by visiting our new 5,000 seater offices which are currently under construction and will be ready next May. Once finished they will be the most modern offices that Microsoft has in its portfolio anywhere in the world. Next was updates from the business from our general managers of our servers and tools division and our MSN Online services. Then lovely and soft spoken twinkled eyed Sophie Xu, a very young local in her mid twenties just promoted to Staffing Manager gave us a very interesting recruitment update on how the recruitment challenges where unfolding on the ground. Overall an excellent update and I now feel a little more assured of my understanding of how Chinese culture and Microsoft’s business is operating in this amazing country. Needless to say words such as “harmony”, “sustainability”, “face” are as important here as “success”, “profit” and “confidence” are in Western society.

On Friday morning we got a chance to  get out of the city an hour and a half from Shanghai and visit the famous “Venice of China”. An old city of canals and waterways quite similar to the real thing in Italy but with much more dilapidated building and far far more less tourism crap that you get all to often everywhere else.  The town itself was called Zhouzhuang and it was famous for its pearl selling, both ocean and river, and also for its fertile farming land mass which spread for many many miles almost as far in as the metropolises borders. While there I picked up 6 single pearls which I had authenticated by one of the local Microsoft staff who seemed to know all there needed to be known about these little beauties and I also picked up a three tubed local bell top flute which I really like.

Probably the highlight of the visit though was a visit to one of the few temples we saw on the entire trip which practiced Taoism and Confucianism. While there I got my fortune told which you can check out in the video.

Great trip and definitely worth a gander if you get to Shanghai.

Duck tongue and dodgy mobiles

Hotel: Shangri-La, Beijing
Rating: 5 star
Note: Excellent joint rooms with a fantastic Chinese garden setting surrounding the back of the hotel.

After a 2 hour delay in Dublin and a 2 hour delay on the runway at terminal 5 in Heathrow I was finally off and on my 9 hour flight to Peking. The reason I’m here is business. Microsoft is having a HR summit in China where it brings a large number of its HR and Recruitment Managers to China for an Immersion tour to learn about China’s culture and business environment and to also absorb as much information as possible about Microsoft’s operations in Peking, Shanghai and Shenzhen on the Hong Kong boarder.

Once landing in China I was met by one of the Shangri-la’s concierge staff who brought me to get my bag and then showed me to my driver who in a quick 40 minutes got me to my hotel. With the delays on route it was 12.40 by the time I had signed in. After a quick shower I then tried to call Patrick Sullivan the Recruitment Director in China, to see where the 35 other MS people were in Beijing. Before I called I looked up the detailed itinerary we had which told me they’d be on a boat ride on the way to the summer gardens. Tired from only getting a couple of hours sleep on route and ready for the bed I tried to find a network on my iPhone to dial for coordinates but to my annoyance the phone while picking up China Mobile wouldn’t allow me dial out. I checked my credit online and I had plenty to make calls for the week but still no dial tone. I tried texting home to say I had arrived safe and sound but “failed transmission” is all I got. So, the wily traveller that I am (or thought I was), and the doubting Thomas I've learnt to be when concerning iPhones I tried by trusty old Nokia and again no luck. Next stop was reception. Not even the super helpful army of receptionists could get through but at least they could call my iPhone so I at least had incoming call ability. I then tried Patrick and home on Skype and that didn’t work either. Weird...  Eventually, I decided enough was enough and hit the bed and decided to give the Summer gardens a miss. Thankfully, I had seen them the last time I was here so no sweat.

I wasn’t going to miss Da Dong’s world famous duck restaurant and I knew from my brilliantly detailed agenda that everyone would be in reception at 7pm and low and behold there they all were. After a few hugs and kisses I was on track again and we were all whisked away to one of the most famous restaurants in the capital. I had recently been to Thorthons on the Green in Dublin and saw how the other half lived and this again was another one of those experiences with a huge variety of care and technique mixed it with consummate professional staff and amazingly fresh ingredients.  There was no set menu simply 15 people around a round table with a spinning white glass in the centre which was laden with oriental riches. To start we had some duck liver enclosed in brown jelly, some asparagus with chilli dips on a bed of crushed ice, chopped bamboo with soya and ginger, gelatine truffles with mango toppings and then some duck tongue with black raisin looking olive type things which I don’t have the faintest idea what they were. Washed down with plenty of local beer I moved onto some of the main course meals which was assortment of fish delicately cooked with a surrounding of peppers, unrecognisable vegetable and some colourful condiments. Then, the army of slicer and dicer duck carving expert cooks came out and in front of us all weaved their steel and blade magic and placed succulent plates of tender pink duck flesh with it fantastic caramelised skin on our spinning glass. I was instructed to dip some in sugar which I did happily and closed my eyes and the lovely taste hit my palette and I remembered eating sugar paper back home in Waterford in the early 80s. We all then, just like fajitas in Mexico were given wraps to put some of the duck meat into and we mixed it with a variety of new condiments ranging from heavy black rich soya sauce to garlic paste, leak and cucumber. Top notch fodder very much appreciated. Finally then came an assortment of fruit and before you could say the “Birds Nest” we were off again on the bus and back in the luxurious Shangri-la. Looking forward to better mobile phone coverage tomorrow and a trip to the local subsidiary to learn about some of the HR and Recruitment challenges Microsoft China has which should be very interesting.

Tuscany

Taking a side step from the world's economic meltdown and a bounce away from my new job responsibilities to fantastic Tuscany was perfectly timed and thoroughly enjoyed. A few days away from keyboard and phone in mainland Europe is always a nice one and this time the trip started off the way I liked - by taking in a curve ball - and going to the coastal retreat of Vilareggio a short 70 euro taxi ride from Pisa that only took 20 minutes. Camila, Fernanda, Carolina, Stephen and I were the travelling cohort and we stayed in a quaint family hotel that had modest 3 star facilities but 5 star friendliness, value and personality.  "Hotel Katy" had an amazingly gregarious and warm hearted older couple running the show with a hilarious Spanish gay chef who wouldn't stop talking to us every time he saw us. It's a long time since I visited a hotel where the breakfast was closed at 10.30am but when we arrived at 11am they simply opened it up again and set the tables! A breath of fresh air - maybe, just maybe the customer service industry is still alive! The town itself was nothing to write home about but it had a cool beach with sun which was more than satisfactory for perfecting the art of lazing about and soaking up some vitamin C. The promenade, dodgy pubs and clubs didn't peak my interest much but some  of the ice cream parlours were cool and I enjoyed a few scoops while the sun did its job. [Would I go back though? Probably not.]

From there we moved onto to the walled town of Lucca,  a place I know well as I buy every its famous olive oil and balsamic oil from Lidl which I like to sprinkle generously on my bruschetta and mozzarella dishes. The city is a old medieval town that has a huge walled fortress surrounding it from all sides forming an uneven but formidable protection against would be invaders of old. The town itself was very small and while thankfully flat was easily walked in 30 minutes. It’s buildings were obviously well taken care of over the centuries and the amazing Piazza Del Mercato in the hear of the town and San Martino cathedral with with its fascinating gabled facade wit three tiers of ornate columns all of which were individually carved demand careful concentration when studying it.

After two nights in Viareggio and the day trip to Lucca it was next to the enchanting town of Florence (or Fianze) as the locals like to call it in their own tongue. There with grammar book firmly in hand and tongue in cheek i tried my hand at plenty of hand gesticulations and dodgy Waterford accent ridden, Portuguese froth, Italian. Surprisingly, the man I asked for directions understood me and I even managed to ask for a recommendation for a nice restaurant for the night which in hindsight turned out to be just what he promised: “Belisimmo”. Unsurprisingly, Italian is hugely similar to Brazilian and Castilliano. The “ch” sounds and the “g” are different but with plenty use of “are’s”; “ere’s” and “ire’s” instead of the more familiar “ar’s”, “er’s” and “ir’s” of Brazilan and Castillano I could form some simple sentences. It may be time to spend some extra lunch time with the Italian’s in work to see if I can pick up some more basic phrases for my next trip to this beautiful country.

We stayed only 1 night in Florence in a strange 3 star hotel where we slept in one hotel and had to have our breakfast in another 5 minutes walk away. Never again. We won’t have taken it only for it was late in the day when we arrived and we had plenty to see before we left early for Siena. The highlights for me was seeing the Duuomo, Campanile and Baptistry in the city center, the Piazza della Signoria with its brilliant collection of huge statutes and of course the Ponte Vecchio or old bridge that was built in 1345 and the only bridge to stay up in WW11. Plenty to see here that I didn’t have to visit and will need another visit.

Next, the beautiful setting of Siena which we arrived into by train as unbelievably all 3 car rental locations we visited in Florence where flat out of cars. Siena, with its vast networks of windy streets is on a steep set of hills and is set off by the fantastically elliptical hollow cobblestones of the Piazza del campo and the over lording presence of the massive Torre del Managia. While there we drank, ate, walked, shopped, ate, drank and watched a beautiful local knight in armor and flag bearing soldier parade. Well worth a trip for those aficionados and gourmets of the palette who want to sample some of the best Italian food and Chinati wine on the planet.

The trip ended with the leaning tower. A weird looking protuberant white snooker table leg type thing that looks like something the cat brought in after a few towers decided to go out on the town and get sloshed. We stayed 10 minutes on the way to the airport and if you ask me while worth a look at 10 to 20 minutes would be enough for me.

And so back in Dublin greeted by the news of the US failing to ratify their 700 billion get out of jail clause for the rich and the Irish government running round frantically to stop the flood waters that once like Florence when the waters of the Arno cruelly burst its banks threatening to destroy all around. As someone quiet rightly put it today “privitisation of the profits and the socialisation of the losses”. One has to wonder how "might" ever became "right" and how capitalism unfettered is as dangerous as a pitfall left in a room with a new born babe.

Next stop China 2 weeks time.

Africa Day in Dublin

 
I'm just back after a flying 4 day visit to Seattle where I was working with a new central sourcing team I will be joining in mid-June. As ever i got a chance to visit Ipanema Grill, my favourite Brazilian chuasscaria outside of Brazil and completely pigged out on picanha and Guarana. I got back on Friday and now it's Sunday and a lot has happened in between...

Yesterday, was the last day's training of a documentary course i've been doing over 4 Saturday's, and 8 mid week Wednesday sessions in The Irish Filmbase. I've shot a documentary called "The Bikeman of Phoenix Park", my first, which is about a guy called Paul McQuiad who was an ex-professional cyclist who is now renting bikes in the park. Yesterday was all the final edit where I was fortunate enough, with the crew, to spend time with Loopline's famous Irish editor Se Merry Doyle slicing and splicing the final reels to produce the 6 minute piece. Hopefully, in about two to three weeks time i will be able to get it up on YouTube for you to check out.

Today, was all about Africa Day in Dublin Castle and it turned out to be a great affair with Kila rockin'the cosmopolitan crowd with uileann pipe, thin whistle, base rifts and bohrain beats to beat the band. At the gig I took this photo of a very cool onlooker who looked like he could smashing open a bottle of JD with a flick of his fag and knock it down in one without a hint of a wobble or the slightest betrayal in coolness. Big Jim! There's a new dog in town.