Leaving Sydney ...

I am pleased to announce that I succeeded, finally, with my goal to meet a kangaroo in Australia

who gladly was happy to pose for the camera. I am now satisfied that I may leave Australia

with this task accomplished and set my sights ahead for new experiences and the delights of New Zealand.

After Newcastle, my journey took me to Byron Bay which I cannot record with photos because

my camera phone was lost in the sand somewhere on the beach. I have only myself to blame and

can only put it down to being too care free and detached from all forms of reality as I

soaked up the sun on the pleasantly golden beach of Bellongi. Byron Bay is a surfers paradise but

also a very alternative hangout for health-conscious people. It had a hippie vibe about it

without being overly run-down. I thoroughly recommend the Beachhouse youth hostel where

I happily and, by pure coincidence, met somebdy I know from Aikido in Holland, Rens from Rotterdam.

I have to thank Rens for helping me out with getting some money from Holland while I was ordering

a new credit card (aso lost with the camera phone).

Byron Bay is laidened with shops, cafes and restaurants and, unless you live there and work there

I would say it's a good place for a short rest but I would get out before the wallet gets

sucked up by high prices.

Back in Sydney for my last two days of the Australian experience and I enjoyed a relaxing stay at the

Railway Square YHA. Friendly staff, good facilities and good connection to the airport.

I have been practicing Bikram yoga every day for the past four days and my body is now feeling its

effect. As a consequence, except for one time in Byron Bay at the beautiful dojo/buddhist temple,

I didnt practice Aikido since last week when I was at Bill's dojo.

I will be arriving in Auckland to an anniversary Aikido course with the group of

Rosso Fernandez, 6th dan, who is inviting the Japanese Master, Takase, 7th dan. Tomorrow, there will

be a full day of about 6 hours training so I guess I will make up for the lack of Aikido earlier in the week.

Until the next post!

Sydney and Beyond!

I thought I was an alien until I met this guy.



Bondi Beach.


Taxi Boat (Left: opera house, Right: harbour bridge).

View of the Opera House from the Taxi Boat

G'day people! I'm in the land of the roos, but have yet to see

a kangaroo or a wallabi. This is my mission while I am in Australia.

Meanwhile, I arrived in Sydney after a night flight from Singapore on the 16th of October,

and reached my hotel wearily as there was not much sleep during the night flight.

My whole day was thus taken up sleeping and not seeing much of Sydney.

When I did eventually wake up (the next day), I stepped out to bright sunshine and Sydney's

Darling Harbour was litterally footsteps away from my suitably located Holiday Inn.

I spent the morning touring around on a boat taxis and taking photos of the famous sights of the harbour (the Sydney Opera house, the Sydney Harbour bridge, etc). The night was alive and kicking with drunken Australians and tourist all over. It was, to my liking, a bit too chaotic.

So, the next day, I headed for somewhere more peaceful after a swim and coffee at Bondi beach.

In the afternoon on Sunday, I took the train 3 hours north of Sydney to Hamilton, Newcastle, where Darius awaited me and took me to my sleeping quaters for the next few days, at the Aikido dojo where he teaches. I was lucky to meet a wonderful group of Aikido people and we already had some nice lessons today in the morning and in the evening. We finished the day with a tastey and inexpensive Japanese take away.

I feel comfortable and welcomed in this remote but pleasant dojo away from Sydney.

In the next days, I plan to tour around a bit and see if I can find one of those roos somewhere.

Hopefully I'll be able to train a couple more times with Darius before I head for Sydney on the weekend.

Last Day In Sigapore

I am very pleased that my first impressions of Singapore being a shopping mall paradise

have some what diminished as I managed to get about and observe the beautiful sites
that this amazing city brings together with the shopping package.

Be aware, though, Singapore is not a place for the totally liberal minded person. No chewing gum, no eating on the trains. You have to be a model citizen in Singapore!
All that said, Singapore has its own modern beauty and, complementing the high-rise buildings, and busy roads, the botanic gardens are to be found in the heart of the city.

Except for the shopping, the four major attractions are:

1. Sentosa Island (10 minutes train ride).

Sentosa beach for chillin, Sentosa Imbiah for a nice walk and spectacular views...

2. Botanic Gardens.

Check out the orchids and amazingly well preserved tropical plants ...

3. Crab restarant.

We had white pepper and chilli crab at the restaurant "No Signbord" in Vivo.

4. Zoo. Night Safari (the world's first night safari).

Unfortunately no photos could be taken during the night safari as flash lights would have disturbed the sensitive animals.

Indeed Singapore is not just shopping malls.

However, shopping is high on the list of priorities for most people visiting and, well, this photo just about sums it up ...

My next stop is Syndey, where I'll be discovering new Aikido friends
and exploring the natural beauties over there. Until the next post!

Welcome to Paradise: Rawa Island, Malaysia

After 4 hours drive and a night at the port,

the white sand, sun, fun people and a completely relaxing time were waiting for me ...

Singapore

Thursday 8th of October

My first impressions of Singapore are that it is a city of shopping malls.

I hope that this impression will wear off as I get more impressions over the next week.

With a last minute dash to the gate, I just made

it for departure of the flight to Singaporeafter an abundance of distractions in the departure hall

shops.

Bangkok to Singapore is just a two hour flight and, with minimal turbulance, it proved to

be a very comfortable and painless journey.

On arrival in the afternoon, I was advised to reach the home of Serge Beraud, the Aikido instructor of the club who had invited me to train with them. This invitation came about due to

the common link of Japanese shihan, Yamashima sensei, 7th dan Aikikai.

Upon arrival at Serge's house, he welomed me warmly and helped me wash my gi before the

class that evening. I immediately felt comfortable in his house as I noticed a whole array of

guitars lined up in his office.

Just on time before the class, Olga (who kindly accomodates me during my state) arrived, my gi was almost dry and I got the brief opportunity to introduce myself to Serge's wife and daughter.

The group of Serge is a young group of Aikido students from different styles, experience and Aikido backgrounds. After about 6 months, Serge has already accomplished the commendable task of orchestrating those people and forming a synergy of movement, allowing for the Aikido

learning experience to be optimal.

The training was exceptionally instructive during the class, and the social drink afterwards was equally rewarding and satisfying.

I welcomed a good sleep that evening and took a dip in the pool at Olga's residence for

a refreshing wake-up the next day.

The pool at Olga's residence.

Saturday 10th of October

I had the pleasure already to train three times with Serge's group (Thursday evening, Friday evening and Saturday morning). The Saturday morning class was exceptional in that it took place in a part of the park which faces the presidential palace. The participants wear only normal comfortable clothes rather than a gi for the purpose of practicing Aiki-jo/bokken.

Being in public, we could enjoy not only the 7 kumi-jo of Saito sensei, but also the curious and

entertained looks of the onlookers relaxing in the park.

Yesterday (Friday), I had the opportunity to roam around the city in Singapore and explore the areas famous for their markets and shopping (Little India, China Town and the various malls located around the centre) and stroll along the harbour.

Chinatown.

Chinatown.

At the harbour.

After the after-training social event, I continued with Olga to a wonderful cafe called Quarubar, in the currently hip area of Dempsey hill, where some of her friends were paying good quality

jazz music.

Dawn Ho, the lead singer of the band, came over and chatted with us during her breaks and gave some advice where I can find a bikram yoga class.

At cafe Quarubar, with Olga and her Jazz friends.

Saturday morning Jo practice in front of the presidential palace.

In the afternoon on Saturday, after a late breakfast with the Aikido gang, I took the opportunity to get away and find out what's outside of Singapore. So, I headed for Malaysia, Johor and beyond. After a 4 hour taxi ride (for just 150 singapore dollars, which is a bargin if you think about it), I arrived at Mersing, the port from which the next day I will embark on the ferry going to the small island of Rawa.

Tuesday 6th of Otober

With a recently built airport (just three years old) and

an ultra modern public transport system, Bangkok's infrastructure

is developing rapidly and successfully.

I arrived in the evening, and Yehuda called me to ask how

I am managing my accomodation. Eventually I found a very reasonably priced

hotel for three nights in the Sukhumvit 26 area of Bangkok which is coincidently

very close to the dojo of Fukakusa sensei, who's dojo I was hoping to visit.

Tuesday 6th of October

The hotel St. James, where I stayed, is a very nicely furnished 3 star hotel.

For three nights and breakfast included, the total price was 7600 Thai Bam (about

150 euros), quite a deal. Included in this price was also a tour guide service.

My guide, Nancy, waited the next morning for me at the hotel and took me to

some of the buddhist temples in Bangkok. Bangkok is covered with these temples and

it is clear to see that the predominant religion is buddhism.

Later in the afternoon, after a jet-lag recovery snooze, I woke up to prepare for meeting

Fukakusa sensei and his dojo members. The Aikido group is mixed with different nationalities training together but also people of different Aikido origins, not only aikikai , were there.

These made the atmosphere of the training environment very open and friendly and

I felt immediately welcome as I entered the dojo. What was very noticeable in this dojo

was the respect that Thai people have for their royalty as the portraits of the king and queen

of Thailand were adjacent to the portrait of O-Sensei at the kamiza.

After the training, Yehuda and his son (who is also practicing Aikido) took me

to their regular pizza restaurant and Fukakusa sensei joined us later for pizza and beer.

Wednesday 7th of October

In summary:

A visit to the market.

A traditional Thai massage.

A ride on the Tuk Tuk.

More training with Fukakusa sensei followed by beer.

Bangkok is exciting, fun, interesting, full of history, the place to be in Asia!

Many thanks to Yehuda and Fukakusa sensei for the invitation to train and socialise with them.

Amusing sign boards in Hong Kong

Of some amusement to my sight seeing were

some of the sign boards which were on display.

First Stop. Hong Kong (4 & 5 October)

With a very short stay in Hong Kong, I nevertheless

managed to get around quite a lot.

I arrived in the morning and took the express train to the station

followed by the taxi to Robinson Road (in the mid levels of Hong Kong)

where Aikido friend, Justin, was waiting to receive me at his

appartment with quite a view of the city.

Left: Yukrai, Right: Me

After freshening up a bit, we headed for the center, along the way

picking up another Aikido friend, Yukari. Together, the three of us walked through

the streets as Yukari, having lived in Hong Kong for 10 years, provided us

with some information regarding the sights and brought us to a buddhist temple,

fuming with insense.

Hong Kong has a rather convenient escalator system, which is supposed to be the

largest escalator in the world. It runs all the way from the central station up to the

top of the mid-levels area (about 1 kilometer). Nevertheless, we still did quite some walking that day since the elevator only moves in one direction (down in the morning, up in the afternoon).

By about 4pm, it was already time to head for the Aikido dojo, where Edmund Wan, was

giving the class. Edmund sensei, a pleasant, good humoured man from Hong Kong, provided a technical and energetic lesson of bokken and jo followed by Aikido. In true Aikido tradition, the class was followed by a social gathering of eating and drinking as we headed for the hot pot restaurant. Returning to Justin's home, we decided to get a different view of Hong Kong by

taking a tram. The trams are double-dekker and tall and thin, looking like they could easily topple over if it would be windy. Luckily it was not windy that evening :)

Joining the Aikido gang for hot pot.

Left: Me, Right: Justin

The next day, I still had a bit of time in the morning to take a stroll through the park, visit the zoo and take the peek tram to the highest point of the island for a magnificant view before heading for the airport and my next destination, Bangkok.

Park of Hong Kong

View of Hong Kong from the peek, high up on the hill.

Lawrence's Mini World Trip Oct & Nov 2009

For the two months that I am away travelling, I decided to record my

journey with this travel blog. Along the way, I'll be publishing some photos

and keeping record of the Aikido places I have gone to as well as

some sights visited so that friends and family can keep up to date with my

goings on!

Itinerary...

3 - 5 October. Hong Kong

5 - 8 October. Thailand

8 - 15 October. Singapore

15 - 30 October. Sydney

30 - 20 November. Auckland

20 - 23 November. Los Angeles

23 - 30 November. Montreal

30 - 5 December. New York

6 December. Amsterdam