GUEST BLOG : MOONTREKKER (HONG KONG)...

"The final part of my October adventures was to take part in the Barclays Moontrekker. This is a 26km or 40km Endurance Night Hike which takes place every year on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Barclays is the title corporate sponsor with funds raised for the charity partner, Room to Read. Room to Read started in Nepal in 2000 with books donated to rural communities (such as the village school I visited in Katunge earlier in October) but is now a ‘global organisation dedicated to promoting and enabling education through programs focused on literacy and gender equality in education’. Additional to the entrance fee each participant had to donate at least HK$500 to Room to Read with many raising much more. Unfortunately due to other commitments I have not yet been able to do any additional fundraising but I am collecting second hand books and intend to hold an Afternoon Tea & Book Swap fundraising event in the New Year.

The trek itself was one of the hardest physical challenges I have undertaken. I have previously run a marathon and this was much harder. In part this was due to lack of proper training – given Singapore is so flat it is hard to train for such an event and I had only done one 10km hike in the dark to practice with my head torch – but mainly it was just really, really hard! The event started at 11.20pm near the Mui Wo ferry pier and my route finished 26km later at Cheung Sha Beach taking in Lantau’s 934m peak during the final stage.

The course was split into 5 stages of roughly 5km each with each one getting progressively harder. The first stage was relatively easy allowing me to practice using my head torch, but with all the participants bunched together on a narrow path it was rather like a long snaking slow moving queue, although seeing everyone’s head torches stretching out in the distance was a lovely sight. My friend Alex was with me for this stage but unfortunately had to drop out at the first checkpoint due to an ankle injury so for the next 21km (and more than 7 hours) I was on my own.  

The second stage started with a steep uphill climb before levelling out onto a flat but rocky track allowing me to make up time and over take quite a few people. The third leg was long and repetitive, ascending gently and crossing a number of small streams and waterfalls. The participants were more spread out by this stage but I had to concentrate hard as the path was strewn with jagged rocks. I saw several people who had tripped over and had to pull out.

Things got interesting in fourth stage when the really steep inclines started. This section first went downhill for about 500m before heading back up again to the Po Lam Zen Monastery. Luckily where the course got really steep it was on Tarmac path so I was able to just focus on climbing up without also worrying about the placing of every footing to avoid tripping over.

I reached the start of the final leg at around 4.40am so had plenty of time to ‘beat the sunrise’ (getting to the Summit of Lantau Peak before the official sunrise time of 6.20am). However, little did I know how hard it would be! Luckily my lack of preparation paid off as I hadn’t studied the course route and did not know what was ahead…had I done so then I may have been tempted to pull out! The next 1km was a virtual vertical climb up steep rock steps. I am only 5ft tall and some of the steps up were almost half my height! I had to go on all fours and haul myself up. When I looked up all I could see rising vertically above me was a seemingly never ending string of headlights taunting me! It took me 1hr 10mins of strenuous effort to reach the Summit. Nearer the top the participants were so spread out that I found myself totally alone, in the pitch dark with the wind howling. It got very cold and as I was in the cloud line the air was very wet and the wind biting. I was so relieved to reach the Summit before the sun rose! But by then I just wanted it to end so I didn’t wait to see the beautiful sunrise and instead just powered on through to start my descent. It took me another 2hrs to climb down with every step jarring my knees and the soles of my feet. Somehow I still managed to find the energy to sprint the final 100m and across the finish line in a time of 8hours 22mins and 20seconds.

Taking part was certainly an achievement I was proud of, and I have so much admiration for the winner who completed it in the amazing time of 3 hours 39mins and 48 seconds, less than half my time. And the 40km winner who did it in just 4hours 4minutes and 50seconds! I just cannot imagine how they achieved that. Running 40km (2km short of a marathon) in 4hrs would be a good time but to do it in the dark, on rocky trails and climbing up hill is remarkable!

I got back to my hotel room around 9.30am and spent the day resting. And that evening my lovely friend Alex treated me and my mother, who had flown to Hong Kong to meet me, to a delicious dinner at The Bostonian at The Langham Hotel in Kowloon, where I enjoyed a much deserved Bostonian Sundae!"

Victoria

GUEST BLOG : FUTURE VILLAGE (NEPAL)...

"My second volunteer experience was in October when I spent 10 days in Nepal with the Future Village Foundation visiting schools in Kathmandu and the small mountain village of Katunge in Dhading Province. I was able to get involved with this organisation through a work colleague, Jessie Lai, who first visited Nepal to go trekking in 2010 and has since been back 4 times to do volunteer work at schools, has set up Future Village Foundation (an Australian registered charity which aims to ‘to support the education of impoverished children in rural Nepal’), and now sends 4 teams of volunteers each year.

We were a small group of only 5 people (4 from Barclays) and although we didn’t know each other at the start we soon became close friends. Prior to our trip we spent time both fundraising and preparing teaching materials. Back in the UK my mother held a fundraising lunch in our village hall and raised £1,057.50 and I was able to make a surprise visit back to the UK to attend. It was a lovely day and great to see so much support back home. In Singapore we spent the weeks before planning our lessons. Luckily one of team, Lisa, was not working and she did an amazing job planning themes and putting together packs of materials and games for us to play with the children. We were very concerned about the content of what to teach but having now visited we realise that just spending time with the children, playing with them and helping the older children to practice their English was hugely beneficial.

We started the trip in Kathmandu and after a day of sightseeing spent 2 days at Snowlands School. All the pupils at this school come from the very remote Himalayan areas of Mustang and Dolpa.  Once they come to the school (some as young as 3) they do not return home until they graduate. The conditions of the school, which is run by a Buddhist Rinpoche (holy man) who is based in Taiwan, was very basic – sanitation was a huge problem and we later were told some horrific stories of corruption and abuse of the children – however our first impressions were that the children seemed very happy and well educated. We were incredibly impressed by the level of English and general knowledge at all levels and the ambitions all the children had. However, sadly, despite their hard work and abilities few of them will fulfil their ambitions to be doctors, engineers and pilots. We spent time one to one with the oldest children and one of them told me how he wanted to be a writer but would most likely be a trekking guide – still an ambitious and sought after job in Nepal.

The second part of our trip took us to Future Village in Katunge. Future Village was founded in the early 2000s by Christy Lim, a Hong Kong graduate student who was carrying out her PhD field work in the area, and a local trekking guide, Dambar. It is a ‘learning enrichment centre’ which provides additional schooling before and after the children attend the government schools. The journey there was a lot less arduous than we had expected. The first 2-3 hours drive from Kathmandu were along the main road to Pokhara (Nepal’s second largest city, base for trekking the Annapurna ranges and home of the Ghurkas) which although well maintained was pretty hairy due to our driver’s extreme haste and refusal to give way to on coming vehicles while going round blind bends. At Dhading we changed into a four wheel drive jeep for another 1.5 hour trip up into the mountain. Previous groups have been larger and so driven up in open backed cattle trucks which have a tendency to break down but we were lucky and our journey was bumpy but relatively comfortable. As we drove higher up the mountains the beautiful Dhading Valley opened up below us and the Himalayas were clearly visible in the distance.

We spent 3 days there teaching lessons in the early morning (starting 6.30am) and early evening. On one day we visited our guide’s family home where goats and oxen wandered around the courtyard which formed the main living area of the dwelling and another day we spent in the library of the government school with each class visiting us in term. The library was well stocked with books supplied by Room To Read (another international organisation supported by Barclays) and decorated with murals painted by volunteers during Jessie’s first visit in October 2010.

The children we always full of energy running to Future Village from as far as 2 hours away while still getting there to start lessons at 6.30 just as dawn was breaking. They particularly liked music and dancing and physical activities so we taught them some dances and one particularly successful session was themed around the Circus. We had spent the evening before cutting out animal shaped masks which the children coloured in and then danced around wearing and making animal noises and actions. Another hugely popular activity was playing with the ‘parachute’ Lisa had brought. This is a large round piece of fabric made up of coloured triangles (like Trivial Pursuit pieces) which you float up and down and run underneath etc. It gave hours of fun and is also a useful tool to teach colours, numbers, teamwork and coordination. On our last morning we were treated to some traditional dancing and sent off with flower garlands and tikka dots on our foreheads.

Once back in Kathmandu our team dispersed. Lisa & I stayed on for a few days around Kathmandu and re-visited Snowlands School where we met an Australian group who also support the school who unfortunately told us of their concerns about corruption, poor sanitation and abuse showing us that while on the surface Nepal is a beautiful country and the Nepalese a friendly and welcoming people there is a darker side underlying the country which has only recently emerged from a decade long civil war and is one of most impoverished nations in the world.

Lisa and I finished our trip by spending 2 days in the tranquil Kathmandu Valley at Paulines Guesthouse. Although only 9km from the centre of Kathmandu we were surrounded by beautiful farmland and backed on to the forests of the Shivapuri National Park. The guesthouse is in a converted farm built in a traditional style and run by a French lesbian couple (both called Pauline) who cook the most fantastic French food (a welcome change from a week of very bland Dhal Bhat (lentils and rice)). It was the perfect place to relax and unwind after our hectic week at the schools although we did find time on the afternoon we arrived to go into the fields surrounding the farm to help the local families with the harvesting and threshing. We were kindly given some of their rice beer to drink which, although I don’t usually drink, was relieved to find tasted very fermented as it is made just from the dirty river water so at least the alcohol killed the bacteria and we were free of stomach problems!

It was a wonderful trip and an amazing experience. I will definitely be maintaining my links with Nepal and Future Village and will be doing more ‘voluntourism’ holidays as it is a fantastic way to experience aspects of a country you would not otherwise be able to and make great friends along the way."

Victoria

GUEST BLOG : HABITAT FOR HUMANITY (BATAM BUILD)...

The next few "guest" blogs are from Victoria, who has recently been involved in several volunteer and charity initiatives across Asia. I asked her if she would write a few pieces for my blog to share these experiences as they are pretty incredible... I hope you enjoy!

"I have been fortunate to be involved recently in several volunteer and charity initiatives across Asia. Each of these experiences has allowed me to learn more about the countries that surround Singapore, meet the wonderful people who live there amid both beauty and poverty, while making great friends and taking away fantastic memories.

The first was the Habitat for Humanity: Batam Build in September. Habitat for Humanity (HfH) is a non-profit organisation founded in the US in 1976 with a mission ‘to eliminate poverty housing worldwide by building simple, decent houses with the help of the homeowner families themselves and volunteers’. It now operates internationally and since 2004 has had a presence in Singapore sending volunteers ‘for building projects and disaster response to…China, Mongolia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand’. The organisation does not believe in simply handing out money with ‘home partners’ providing both financing for the building materials and their own labour. HfH provides logistics, additional volunteer labour and affordable no-interest financing.

Together with a group of 10 colleagues I spent a day helping Mr. Dominikus Jawa build his house in Batam. Having done this before in March 2011 I was prepared for the conditions but it was still a shock to see such poverty only 45mins ferry ride from Singapore’s Habourfront terminal. Batam is part of the Ruiau Islands Province of Indonesia. Not as well developed as it’s neighbour Bintan, which is a popular luxury weekend get away from Singapore, it almost exactly the same size as Singapore and home to around 1.2m people. In the 1970s it was extensively deforested and became a shipbuilding and electronics manufacturing centre due to its proximity to the international port of Singapore. This has led to widespread economic migration from elsewhere in Indonesia causing a housing shortage and the buildup of slum housing.

My colleagues and I spent the day building the lower part of the walls for the Jawa family home. HfH has recently started using a new type of brick which is a little bit like a Lego brick. The bricks are easy to stack and have holes running through them which can then be filled with an iron rod and cement for strength. Compared to the building materials we are used to in the West this is very primitive but allows for homes to be built cheaply, quickly and with unskilled labour. Previously Habitat volunteers could only clear land and prepare building sites but now are able to do a lot more. First we took delivery of the bricks and using a human chain unloaded them into piles. Laying the walls was quick and easy and the boys were very enthusiastic at mixing the cement but filling the holes was rather tricky given the tools we had – only 3 trowels between 10 of us – so we resorted to cutting water bottles in half to use as funnels which proved much more efficient. Although we started early (leaving Singapore on the first ferry at 7am) as the climate is hot and steamy we were soon streaming with sweat and exhausted from even the lightest manual labour.  It was a real eye-opener when you consider the construction workers who toil in 24hr shifts to build all of Singapore’s impressive sky scrapers or those in the desert heat of Dubai who during the month of Ramadan are not allowed even a sip of water. By the end of the day we had built up the walls up to around 1m and could really see the house taking shape. Although small for a family of 4 (around 5m square) it is fantastic to know that we were able to help provide safe housing for a family and some financial security as they will own their own home."

Victoria 

SUSHI AIRWAYS 寿司航空 SUSHI BAR...

After Jay's recommendation the creative team from work recently visited Sushi Airways for a first class flight on board the newest Sushi bar in town...delicious! 

"Climbing the short flight of metal plated stairs, lighted to resemble the boarding staircase to an aircraft, one is greeted on board by smiling friendly stewardesses. Designed and conceptualised by Singapore based OO Studio, Sushi Airways was made to closely resemble the legendary 1930s Douglas DC-3, an American fixed-wing propeller-driven chrome plated aircraft. Taking an unconventional design approach for a Japanese restaurant and bar, patrons will be surprised by actual aircraft gallery meal carts and storage boxes, overhead compartments, characteristic aircraft lighting and rounded panoramic aircraft-like windows overseeing Kampong Glam (super for people watching). Be home away from home as Sushi Airways take you away on this gastronomic journey." *

* For more information visit www.sushiairways.com

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...

Can't quite believe that Christmas is just around the corner and I'm not sure where this year has literally disappeared to. I will be spending my first full Christmas in Singapore this year, after spending 2010 in Thailand and 2011 in Wales it will be, I'm sure, a great time. 

We're lucky enough to be able to get real Christmas trees from Ikea here! So, here are the Holmes & Marchant design team with our work sprucey....  

...and here is the sprucey that Betsy and I have got at home! Decorated in our favorite colors turquoise and pink of course with plenty of fab pressies underneath it from home! 

MOGANSHAN ROAD (M50)...

50 Moganshan Road 莫干山路50号 or M50 is a contemporary art district in Shanghai that houses a thriving community of more than 100 artists whose studios are open to the public. Whilst in Shanghai several people had mentioned it to me, so on the last weekend I was there I gave it a go! It is often compared with New York's SoHo and Beijing's 798 Art Zone and has become a popular cultural attraction for local and international visitors. As it was named among the top ten things to do in Shanghai by Time Magazine it would have been a shame to have missed it. Even better, it is located conveniently close to downtown Jing'an District, which is where I was staying during my visit! 

Moganshan Road did not disappoint! Full of art and culture it is like a maze of galleries. The best place to see modern art in the city and one of the only places where you can see graffiti and street art on a large scale along a large stretch of wall leading up to the entrance to M50. Graffiti is illegal anywhere else in Shanghai so they really go town here! It sure is great graffiti! I read online that the wall is rumored to be demolished by the end of 2012 so if you get the chance to visit Shanghai before then you really should head to M50.