Beautiful Bali!

We just got back from a week's holiday in Bali. Cambodia was celebrating Water Festival and the population of Phnom Penh doubled from 2 million to 4 million! It would have been great to share in the festival but the Global Citizens Conference in Bali presented an opportunity to holiday and acquire some PD so we made our way to Indonesia for the break. The pictures speak for themselves. We spent our first three nights in a place called "Temple Lodge" in Nusa Dua. It is owned by an Italian couple: she is a health conscious individual who cooked the most fabulous and nutritious meals (we also attended one of her morning yoga sessions) and he is a 60 year old surfer who loves to bring harmony and balance between nature and the lodge.

Our room was something else and the view was unbelievable! As for the conference, it inspired us and reinforced our strong belief that teachers today need to educate our students to become informed, purposeful and active global citizens. Of course, living in Phnom Penh is more convincing than any conference will ever be (read our entry below to learn more). The school is almost entirely made out of bamboo and has virtually no ecological footprint. It was very cool indeed!
So if you have not yet read our Phnom Penh update, please take a moment to do so. We'll see you all at Christmas!!!

There is no Place like (P)h(n)ome Penh!

As the sun sets over the Phnom Penh sky, so too does our honeymoon phase of relocating to Cambodia. It is now officially 3 months since we arrived at Pochentong Airport - this time not for a week stay - but for a 2 year stint working at the International School. With a multitude of reasons drawing us to Cambodia, we happily packed up after 2 great years living and working in the comfort of Singapore to come to a country and people that are recovering from decades of civil war and unrest.

As we’ve experienced in every trip to Cambodia, the locals are friendly, helpful, and despite the poverty for many, they are always smiling.

Since we were last here, there has been a significant development boom. In fact, we are living in a small two bedroom modern mid rise apartment- and at 11 storeys it is the tallest building in our city district (BKK1- also known as NGO land). Like many developing countries the rich and the poor live right next to each other and it is not without some guilt that we leave our apartment every morning, only to be greeted with smiles by the male tuk tuk drivers who have spent the night in their tuk tuks. On the riverfront there are chic, classy bars and restaurants and deeply impoverished women and children begging for money from tourists.

A tip about begging: It is the general consensus amongst informed NGOs that a tourist should never give to beggers- particularly children. When we give to children we teach them that begging is an alternative to education. Those cute, young children, however, will become teenagers whose begging does not pull on tourist heartstrings. These teenagers often turn to theft and prostitution- which is not surprising since they will not have obtained an education due to years of begging when young.

Fortunately in Cambodia there are many organizations reaching out to street children and informing tourists on how to act responsibly.

Some would even criticize that there are too many NGOs and that Cambodia is dangerously becoming dependent on aid. This is a reasonable criticism but as long as organizations like Tabitha exist, teaching people to fish rather than giving the needy fish to eat, we think the aid is productive.

This past weekend we got out of the city and went to the former capital, Udong, for a day trip. We enjoyed the fresh air and saw century old pagodas. After touring we enjoyed a meal with our friend, Craig, and driver, Pov. Pov ordered for us- at a VERY local restaurant- a fish, chicken and greens. Happily there were no bad bellies in the following 24 hours!
Speaking of food, Cambodia wins, hands down, in terms of culinary delights that tickle our taste buds- and at a great price too! We haven’t had a bad meal yet- and we haven't dared to eat the fried cockroaches, larvae, or the likes photographed above. Everything is fresh and we’ve enjoyed food ranging from Cambodian curries and fresh Thai spring rolls to Spanish tapas and authentic Italian pizza and pasta.

As for school…work is work no matter where you go (we’ve learned that now having worked in four countries!) but fortunately the students and staff at ISPP are great. We work with some very talented, good-hearted people and we’re teaching and learning from some super friendly, outgoing students.

There is so much to say…we look forward to sharing more stories about Cambodia when we’re home this Christmas.

Good Morning VietNam - April 5 to 15

On a number of recommendations, we decided to travel to Hanoi and northern Viet Nam over our 10 day Easter break. Aside from the less than ideal weather, the recommendations were all well founded and we had an excellent trip. Hanoi is a very dynamic city with close to 5 million people, and an equal number of motor bikes (or so it seemed). We were told that the actual numbers of motor bikes in the city is about 3.5 million, all with their own distinctive horn noises - sort of like a motor bike symphony (which isn't as charming as it sounds!). The traffic is an organic entity that is in one sense chaotic while in another orderly in that as you wade into the streets, the drivers simply avoid your path and other drivers avoid them and so on and so on and so on so that your entry into the traffic organism eventually leads to safe passage to the other side of the road.

Hanoi is well traveled as you couldn't help but notice many Western tourists. Probably the largest number being French speakers due to the fact that Viet Nam was once a French colony.

We stayed in the Old Quarter of Hanoi where every 3rd building was a hotel, every 3rd building was a cafe and every 3rd building was a tailor. Due to how taxes were levied - the government taxed on the frontage of the buildings facing the street - each building is therefore very narrow and long. It seems that no matter where we travel or live, people inherently distrust their governments and always look for loopholes or schemes to pay the least amount in tax - despite all governments good intentions :). In the centre of the Old Quarter lies the refuge of Hoan Kiem Lake where you will find many locals and tourists taking some time to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city.

We spent three days in Hanoi before heading on a night train to the small village of Sapa not far from the Chinese border. Sapa is located in a mountainous region northwest of Hanoi about 1600 m above sea level. It is surrounded by a number of ethnic minority villages who have lived near Sapa for centuries. You can't help but be in awe of the beautiful mountains, the countryside and the ingenuity of the people to live and farm in this area. Rice terraces fill your view in every direction. However, capitalism and the free market have hit Sapa as the town is inundated with members of the surrounding ethnic villages to sell their crafts and products to the growing number of tourists. We shared in many discussions surrounding the positives and negatives or tourism - and it is very easy to see both sides of the coin when visiting Sapa and the enthnic villages. That being said we left Sapa a little more knowledgable of the people's history and their way of life while hoping to support their culture and economy in a positive way.

We then headed back to Hanoi again on the night train and were reaquainted with the smells, noises, hustle and bustle of a city of 4 million plus people. The following day we were off on our final destination - Halong Bay. A Unesco World Heritage Site, Halong Bay is filled with literally thousands of Limestone Islands. It is a breathtaking area which only recently (within the last 20 years) has become a tourist hotspot. Amongst the islands of Halong Bay, which is about a 45 minute boat ride from the mainland, are several fishing villages built on the water protected by these craggy uninhabitable islands. There were 14 of us on the boat and we were treated regally and fed very well by the staff while getting to know one another and hear about each other's travel hi-lites and recommendations which is a common past time when travelers meet.

We will look back fondly on our visit to VietNam and the beautiful sights we were fortunate to see. We met some great people on this journey we won't soon forget- in fact, one such traveller, a Canadian named Wendy- stopped into Singapore last week for a night. We went to dinner and she spent the night at our place.

Another great trip! Thank you for taking the time to read the blog and learn about our adventures in Singapore and South East Asia. We will see you soon!

Peking at Beijing!!! December 15-18th

Our Christmas vacation started off with a stop in Beijing, the capital of China, on the way back to Canada. Beijing is a large and amazing city with much history- much more than we had a chance to discover which is why we will probably return this summer. During our short 3 day visit, the original plan- which included a day trip to Simatai, a small town about 4 hours from Beijing (Simatai is home to one of the few relatively untouched and accessible portions of the Great Wall)- had to change because it was SO UNBELIEVABLY COLD!!! We didn't realise that going from 30 to -5 degree celsius (a 35 degress change) would be so painful. It's embarrasing to admit but it was far too cold to travel out to the exposed countryside to explore the Wall, knowing full well that we'd never be able to last longer than 20 minutes. We decided we would return to the Wall under more favourable conditions and enjoy it rather than spending quite a bit to journey out there only to freeze to death. We're certainly privileged to have the luxury to make a decision to see the Wall another time.

The cold, however, didn't stop us from trekking through the city, stopping into shops to browse and for Chinese tea when we could no longer stand the cold.

On day one we hit a market first thing and bought brandname- okay, knockoff- winter coats, hats and gloves for a ridiculously low price. Although it took a bit of time to warm up to, we loved haggling and bargaining with some of the sales people- several of whom had a good sense of humour and enjoyed the "100 Yuan", "20 Yuan", "85 Yuan", "30 Yuan", "70 Yuan- sir, I couldn't possibly sell it for less", "40- last offer"...in the end just turn your back and if they can afford to make the sale they'll make it- "Fine 40, but this is a very bad deal for me. You drive a tough bargain sir". All the while we were smiling and laughing with one another. It was good fun. The Chinese local currency is the Yuan or Rmb and currently trades $1 Cdn = 6.6 RmB.

Okay, so we got all bundled up- we were literally wearing two layers of pants, socks, tops and then our winter gear- and we headed off to Tianiman square and the Forbidden City- both of which are very impressive.

The square is alive with history and it really is huge- hence why it's the largest public square in the world. We returned on day two- nice and early so I could beat the crowds- to vist the Memorial Hall of Chairman Mao. Craig waited for me patiently (carrying our backpack and camera- which are not allowed in the Hall- while I lined up with a bunch of others (primarily Chinese paying respects) who quickly and silently filed passed Mao's corpse under glass. I found it to be a unique experience and have since had many discussions with students asking them to explain the Chinese wonder, awe and reverence for a man who is said to be responsible for the deaths of 38 million Chinese. Visit http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/mao.html to learn more about Mao and the changes (for better and for worse) that came to China under his leadership.

The morning before we left, we walked through the Temple of Heaven,located in Tiantan Park.

The park was beautiful, particularly because it was busy with locals practicing Tai-chi, playing board games, cards, and chess. We even came across a large group of locals singing Chinese opera. It was so much fun to see such a sense of traditional community.

We were reminded of our own family and community of friends back home and before we knew it, we were on a plane, flying to Canada to surprise our families! We had what will go down in history as one of the best Christmas breaks ever!

And to add to the excitement, mom Snell flew back to Singapore with us and visited for four weeks. We stopped in Hong Kong on the return flight and the three of us tore up the city. More on Hong Kong and mom's visit in our next blog. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Beijing certainly left a lasting impression and it looks like we may be returning this summer- and we won't pass up visiting the Great Wall twice!

Klimbin' in Krabi! November 10 - 12

Krabi offered a weekend of incredible scenic views, challenging rock climbing, and afternoons lounging by the pool. The best part is that we enjoyed all of this with our friends Nelson, Ted and Meghan, and Mitch and Leah.

We woke up to beautiful clear skies Saturday morning. After a short walk along the beach and a quiet breakfast we headed out and spent the afternoon rock climbing.

As neither of us have climbed in years, we started on a lower rated climb, but quickly caught up with our more experienced friends and attempted to tackle more challenging climbs- sometimes with success, sometimes…not…but always trying with a determined smile! My advice- never look down! You really don’t realize how high the climb is until you near the top. Just keep scrambling upwards, take rests when necessary, and always listen to the advice of your guide (who knows the wall like the back of his hand).

It was a very exciting afternoon and we now have a new interest that we plan to pursue while traveling (sorry mom- but rest assured, we’ll always do so responsibly).
We spent the rest of the day lounging by the pool (which looked over the beach), playing frisbee and as the day passed to evening, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset.
After a late night out, we were slow to rise on Sunday and decided against the original plan to rent a kayak. Instead it was back to the pool and to the salon for a neck, shoulders, and back massage.

The rain rolled in during our last two hours in Krabi- couldn’t ask for better timing- as we browsed local souvenir shops.

No doubt we will return to Krabi again and again for the beaches and climbing while we’re in Singapore.

Shanghai Surprise!! - October 27 -30

The weekend after Jay and Jackie left we headed to Shanghai for an IBO conference on MYP training courtesy of CIS. This was our first trip to mainland China and it definitely was much different than expected. It seems that capitalism has hit the People's Republic of China in a big way with large skycrapers, large shopping malls, and large amounts of pollution. Traffic is a huge problem associated with the large population - recent statistics has Shanghai over 14 million people within the official city limits making it the highest (known) populated city. The three most populous cities in the USA- New York City at just over 8 million, the city of Los Angeles at 3.9 million and Chicago's population around 2.8 million - are equivalent to the population of Shanghai.

The Government has systmatically removed large historical sections of the city and replaced them with large commercial and residential buildings with unique architecture and attention to detail. Truthfully, we did not have a lot of time to explore the city and supposedly there are a number of interesting areas and gardens within the city and a beautiful countryside beyond the urban area. The bulk of the time was spent at the conference in an area called Pudong. Both Angela and I agree that we learned a lot from the presenters and our peers during the sessions. However, it definitely is a challenge when the teacher becomes the student as our attention span waned near the end of each 90 minute session and towards the end of the day.

The conference ended on the Sunday and our flight wasn't scheduled to leave for Singapore until Monday afternoon. So we took the opportunity to do some shopping and seeing as 80% of all goods are produced in China (a bit of an exaggeration) we were told the prices are very reasonable and you can bargain for even better prices. We were there with two other colleagues and between the 4 of us we brought back to Singapore 5 sets of Calloway golf clubs complete with bag, umbrella and travel bag. A single set cost $230 SGD - about $170 Cdn. The clubs look and feel pretty close to the real thing as I compared them to a local shop.

Singapore Slinging - October 23 - 25

The week beginning Monday October 23 saw us receive our first visitors from Canada - Jay and Jackie. They are on an around the world trip starting with WWOFFing on New Zealand's South Island, and culminating with their wedding in Santorini - one of the Greek Islands. On their way to New Zealand the duo booked a two-day stopever for a quick visit. It was great having friends from back home visit but we really must learn to get the dates right as we mistakenly anticipated their arrival on Sunday morning at 1 am instead of Monday morning at 1 am. Fortunately, Singapore had a National Holiday to celebrate Hari Raya (Eid) during their time here so we were able to do a few local attractions with them. Seeing as Singapore was in a very festive mood our first stop was Little India and once again dinner at the Banana Leaf Apollo. This is our third time at this acclaimed restaurant and as expected it did not disappoint. To quote Jay "This is the best meal ever!!!" and to quote Jackie "You say that all the time!" They are the two most enthusiastic individuals and their wonder and awe with Singapore helped to remind us why the occassional homesickness is worth it. Little India was lit up with lights strewn across the streets as Diwali celebrations had just past. Literally, once you arrive in Little India you feel like you are teleported to the streets of Delhi, Mumbai, or some other Indian city.

The next day we decided to take a walking tour of the River and the Quays. For energy we visited our local Dim Sum eatery only to find half of Chinatown with the same idea for brunch. We patiently waited to be seated and the food was well worth the wait. As the only non-Asians in the restaurant we were treated very well and served up a delicious assortment of dumplings, seafood and crisp green vegetables (thanks to Angela and Jackie). From Brunch we wandered through Clarke and Boat Quay and into the Theatre District. Because of the Eid Celebration, the area was busy with local Revellers picnicing on the waterfront. Interestingly, Jay and myself were asked repeatedly to be in pictures with a variety of Malay women. One woman actually asked Angela "Can I borrow him (meaning me)?" as she excitedly grabbed my hand and prepared for a picture. We were all laughing so hard. Eventually we made it to Raffles where we celebrated Jay and Jackie's engagement and year long trip with our first Singapore Sling at the Long Bar!! Definitely a cool vibe, the Raffles Hotel and the Long Bar is a throwback to the colonial era in Singapore. We had one last celebration on a very busy Tuesday as we enjoyed an authentic Thai dinner with Ted and Meghan along with Jay and Jackie. Jay and Jackie departed early Wednesday morning for their nine hour flight to Auckland. We wish them safe travels and are looking forward to spending more time with them in the near future!!!

House Building in Cambodia - Oct 7 to 15

Our trip to Cambodia involved both sightseeing and community outreach- a special combination that made for memorable, dramatic, and unique experiences. Prior to our trip we had several meetings with colleagues and parents to discuss the itinerary and to come up with fundraising ideas for the charities we went to support such as Tabitha and Maryknoll Aids Orphanage. The high school campus (with a total of 200 students) raised $700 in one day of fundraising!
The first stop on the itinerary brought us into Siem Reap for some sightseeing. A small town (by Asian standards) of nearly 1 million people, Siem Reap is the closest city to one of SE Asia's greatest tourist attractions and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ankor Wat, in addition to a number of other Temples built by the Khmer empire. The temples were astounding and we took a number of pictures both at sunset on the day of our arrival, and the following morning at sunrise.
The temple with the trees is Ta Prohm and was used as a set in the movie Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie. It literally is set in the jungle and is quite a remarkable site as you view the trees growing over and around the temple buildings.

One of the more surprising things about the trip was the food. It never occured to us that it would be so good! Influenced by the Colonial French, and neighbouring Thailand and Viet Nam, the Khmer take great pride in their cooking. One of their local favourites is the Amoke (seen here, being eaten by Angela) - a curry dish served in a young cocunut, with a variety of local vegetables and a choice of chicken, fish, or pork.

The following day after touring Ankor Wat and a few of the other temples, we flew to the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Pehn (pronounced nom pen or panom pen) where we met with Tabitha and a variety of other NGO charities. The Khmer Rouge came into power on April 17, 1975 - following the end of the Viet Nam/American War - and were responsible for the genocide of nearly 3 million people over their period of power which lasted until they were overthrown by the Vietnamese Army in 1979. Civil war and unrest persisted from 1979 until 1998 when the Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot finally passed away. His death provided little comfort for the Cambodians, however, as the international community never held him responsible for the genocide that occured under his rule.

In fact, anti-communist sentiment and refusal to recognize the Vietnamese government in Cambodia, led to Khmer Rouge members retaining official seats in the United Nations. Needless to say, the failure of the international community to bring the war criminals to "justice" has impacted the psyche of many Cambodians (if no one felt it appropriate to punish the bully, than maybe they deserved their fate?). Visit the link to learn more about the Khmer Rouge, "Year Zero" and the poitics involved in Cambodia's dark history.

One of the primary purposes of our visit, along with 17 other staff and parents was community service in the form of house building - with Tabitha. This brought us from Cambodia's past to its present. With the money raised through the three CIS campuses, along with help of many family and friends with their generous donations, we managed to raise enough money to build 10 homes for rural Cambodian families.

When we arrived to build the homes, the foundation and frames were already constructed. Here you can see the contrast between the wooden homes we built compared to the grass huts they were currently living in. In total our group built 10 houses for the village - 6 on the first day and another 4 the second day. Suffice to say swinging a hammer for 8 hours a day is a lot different than what we we're used to. Luckily Angela comes from good genes - as she quickly became adept at hammering in the boards.

The official handing over of the homes to the families, symbolized by giving each family a blanket made by Tabitha, at the end of the first day proved to be an emotional moment for all involved. A few tears were shed by both the villagers and our group. The house building experience was truly humbling. The children played and laughed with one another and with us during our breaks. They loved getting their picture taken as they primped themselves prior to the picture and then rushed to see the picture on the digital screen with the excitement of a kid opening presents on Christmas morning.

After the house building we headed back to Phnom Pehn. We were scheduled to visit the two People Improvement Organization (PIO) schools and and the Maryknoll and New Hope Aids Orphanage over the final three days. The first PIO school is a small, one room school housing about 50 children aged 4 to 16. It was situated in one of the poorer areas of Phnom Pehn and the walk there brought us through dilapidated apartment buildings but also through a busy, vibrant and friendly community who all took the opportunity to say 'Sok Sabay' or 'hello' and gently greeted us - a simple head bow with their hands raised together by their heads - as we made are way to the school. Garbage was collecting in the area adjacent to the school house and the heat along with the recent rain provided smells that we won't soon forget. The dump by Rick Hansen SS has nothing on this school. The kids were extremely excited to see us and sang us both songs in English and in Khmer. We played games and did crafts giving them a break from the tedious math problems that were on the board when we arrived. The second PIO school was much bigger with three classrooms and a total of about 150 kids. However the school was situated in the shadow of one of the large city dumps. The drive to the school was literally through a road of sludge - the runoff from the dump due to the rain and into the neighbouring community where these kids live and go to school. The kids go to school for half the day and pick garbage in the aternoon to earn money for the family. Families are encouraged to send their kids to these schools instead of having the kids working all day, by being given incentives by the PIO organization such as a kilo of rice per month. Through our fundraising efforts we were able to make monetary contributions as well as provide school resources and new uniforms for the students.

We ended our trip with visits to the two orphanages and AIDS Hospices - Maryknoll and New Hope. In many cases these children are orphans who have lost their parents because of AIDS. The majority of these kids find themselves very sick and on the brink of death when they arrive at the orphanages. The kids are provided with resources such as safe and healthy foods, uniforms and school supplies, an avenue to obtain the Anti-Retral-Viral (ARV) drugs and a caring environment that will enable independence as the children enter adulthood.

The country is in great need in so many ways and hopefully our week in Cambodia helped to ease that need for some. We learned so much on this trip and went to bed every night discussing values, priorities, human nature, humanity's capacity to love and hate, heal and destroy, etc...

We extend a sincere invitation to anyone who would like to visit us in Singapore and include Cambodian community outreach in your trip. We will likely make two trips again in the next school year (fall 2007 and spring 2008). All the arrangements will be made, you just need to come with an open heart, a warm smile, and spirited energy to share with grateful Cambodians.