I love Seattle

Click on the photo to see the album

Sybaritic Seattle
& the Charming Critters I encountered there

Seattle 2012

Click on the photo to see the album Seattle 2012

The album cover photo shows the annual Summer Green Lake Contradances, put on for free by a group of musicians. Here is a video:

THE big event for me in Seattle is the FOLKLIFE Festival, every year during Memorial Day Weekend (the last weekend in May), Friday through Monday.
I volunteer for it (this year I helped my friend Beth, who is a festival staff member, in the week before the event, and I worked at Festival Services), but 90% of the time I dance in the Roadhouse (now called Warren's Roadhouse, after a much beloved late organizer).

I want to include Doug Plummer's amazing videos ...

... and dance glimpses filmed by others (I am in the crowd somewhere, but not visible):

This is the Waltz Night:

In my few breaks from dancing, I enjoyed the jamming in the Hospitality Area (for performers and volunteers):

and I watched International Folkdancing:

Monday evening sees another amazing event, the "Folkfloor Party" (again, Doug Plummer):

Beloved Big Island

My first visit was in 1992; I had stumbled on the possibility to be a volunteer in national parks in the Olympic NP, Washington State, and had loved it. When I arrived on the Big Island I marched into the Visitors Center of Volcanoes NP and told the Volunteer Coordinator I was ready to work straight away (just as I had done in the Visitors Center of Olympic NP in Port Angeles). Alas, the same thing happened in both places: they needed volunteers urgently because they were desperately short of staff, and took me on immediately, ignoring all the rules and red tape for volunteer applications...
My second visit was in 1998 - I returned to visit one of my former colleagues, and to snorkel around the island (following "The Ultimate Guidebook: The Big Island Revealed").

Click on the photo to see the album Hawai'i 2012: Big Island, Kona side

This time, latest edition of the same guidebook in hand, I went to revisit favorite places from previous explorations, and to discover new secret coves, groves, and beaches.

As I have been asked by many people about the "Queen's Bath", I have created a separate album for those who do not want to wade through all the other pictures.
I have visited just  four of the many secret ponds in lava fields which are commonly called "Queen's Bath", really just denoting a special place for bathing, although some of them indeed may have been used by the Hawaiian aristocracy.

Click on the photo to see the album

Click on the photo to see the album Hawai'i 2012: Big Island, Hilo side

HAWAI'I: Enchanting Islands

Click on the photo to see the album Oahu part 1:Kaneohe & North Shore

Before and after my visit to the Big Island I stayed with wonderfully welcoming and generous Servas hosts on Oahu: Linda & Ron in Kaneohe (on the bay of the same name north of Honolulu), and Ann in Honolulu, at the foot of Diamond Head. I was also lucky enough to encounter various charming animals...

Click on the photo to see the album Oahu part 2, Honolulu (also contains a video of the dolphins at the Kahala Hotel)

Snorkeling Around the World

Click on the photo to see the album  "Marine Marvels"

 I would like to add a video here that I wish I could have taken myself: the most awesome collection of rays ever!

Vanuatu

“Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going.”
― Paul Theroux

Did I know where I was going when I chose Vanuatu? Yes and no.

My friend Carmen, who has spent ample time in various Pacific island states (http://www.cchph.net/portfolio/eng/personal-e.html), had said "Go to Vanuatu" when I asked her where she would go if she had to choose just one Pacific island. Now I think she said that because she had just recently returned from Kosrae, Marshall Islands, when I asked her - and the food on Kosrae had been so atrocious that she tried to protect me by recommending Vanuatu, as it has better food because of the French influence...

Joking aside: I'll try hard not to generalize - any of my comments are just personal opinions (or stuff stolen from Wikipedia, which I hope is more or less correct).

Carmen, or anyone else who knows better: please don't let mistakes go uncorrected, thank you!

When I got off the plane in Port Vila's tiny airport I soon found out that the 24-hour kiosk promised by www.vanuatustandbyaccommodation.com did not exist (not any more, or maybe had never existed?) - anyway, as I had not made any bookings in advance, I did what I always do in such a situation: ask the taxi drivers. They wanted to take me to town, but I had seen a village near the attractive-looking Hideaway Island from the airplane, and alas, one of the drivers knew a guesthouse there (actually, THE guesthouse, as there is only one).

 Click on the photo to see the album Vanuatu

Here is a video about sand drawing:

Kool runnings in Kiwiland

After a lot of hot weather and wetness (snorkeling and sweating) I was looking forward to cooler temperatures and to a reunion with two cool Servas ladies on the South Island of New Zealand.

Click on the photo to see the album New Zealand

Here is also a short video of the seal pups we saw at Wharariki Beach:

Singapore once more

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From KL to Singapore with Tiger Airlines - cheap and basic; in Singapore I have only 2 days this time, just a prolonged layover, really. I return to the hotel I used when I first arrived from Europe and retrieve some stuff I had deposited there (they had really kept it for over a month!)

Modern Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur

From Thailand's Koh Lipe I took the speedboat back to Langkawi and flew to KL (with AirAsia, very cheap - then I paid almost as much as the airfare had cost me for the taxi to my Servas host's house (but it was worth it, because I did not want to lug my bags around on public transport, in the humid heat, and in the dark).

Click on the photo to see the album

"KL" is what the locals say - "Kuala Lumpur" is for tourists This is a pedestrian crossing at the Masjid Jamek Station: the little green man hurtling along like that made me smile...

Not quite Koh Kradan (see the 2009 blog), but pretty close...

Click on the photo to see the album Koh Lipe, Thailand

Languid Langkawi?

To see the album Alor Setar & Langkawi , click on the photo

Penang

Please click on the photo to see the album!

Mellow Melaka

Please click on the photo to see the album!

More about Singapore: please click on the pictures to see the album!

Singapore: Glimpses of Gluttony

Singapore: Chinese New Year in the Chinese Garden

Sizzling Singapore

Singapore sizzles in more than one way: 1) the climate (yeah, generally hot, but in the range of 'just bearable' - during the day - and 'very pleasant' - in the evening and morning - while I was there); 2) the economy, along with Hong Kong and Shanghai; 3) the food: spicy and ubiquitous.

It's full of jolly eateries and beer pubs

 The Geylang area, situated east of the city center, not very far from
Changi Airport, does not resemble the Singapore cliche of squeaky clean streets and hurrying business people.

This is the lane at the back of my modest hotel (nothing to write home about, but clean and not too expensive); when I passed early in the evening I had the impression people were drinking ample amounts of beer (the bottles being kept cool in buckets of ice water in the middle of the tables); that this impression was correct was proven all through the night by drunken singing and shouting...

Dim Sum being prepared

I thought these were chicken feet for connoisseurs, but

 a knowledgeable friend tells me they are duck feet (I hadn't looked closely enough!)

 

hardware store selling good luck charms for Chinese New Year

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livingroom-cum-shrine, opening directly to the street

colonial building in a curious mixed style

                                                                                                                               

                                  

longans & mangosteens

Back to the food: delicious mangosteens (as friend Jim describes them, "purple outside, slimy garlic cloves inside" - but of course they aren't really slimy, and their flavor is exquisite), plus the famous durian.

mangosteen & durian flesh

The durian is being slandered unjustly, in my opinion. Durians are said to be the worst-smelling fruit in the world, and they are even forbidden in Singapore's metro, but they don't smell that bad, really. Maybe not my favorite smell, but there is worse - and even if they were the champions in bad smell they would still be the champions in delicious taste!

Singapore signs

My visit to the Chinese Garden provided me with plenty of examples for the rules and regulations the city is famous for.

Right at the entrance of the garden visitors are greeted by this:

The poor pets are doubly discriminated against: they don't just have to stay outside, they are also called pests...

The toilets are literally plastered with hints, explanations, and exhortations:

 
And when you are done with your business, you find out you've been using a happy toilet!

 But whatever you may think of it: this toilet certainly had the most striking signs for 'Ladies' and 'Gentlemen' I've encountered so far.

Geylang eatery

This one made me smile...









...this one didn't:

Labrador area power station

I guess even if you do not understand any of the 4 languages and are half blind, you will get the message anyway.

Round the World in the Sixties

My idea for a 60th-birthday present to myself was a trip around the world;

it did not happen last year, but who says that the 61st birthday isn't worth it?

 At 61 you are not old...

1951 Ford

         ...you are vintage!                                
                      
I had been working on the difficult task of balancing my dream destinations with my budget since I came back from Seattle at the end of August (2011); unfortunately I am just a bit short of frequent flier miles for a free round-the-world ticket (I have been saving up miles since 2008, with this in mind - but I don't have enough, even with buying miles, because there is a limit on how much you can buy in one year). So I have to rustle up about $4000 for the ticket (which I am doing by using savings that I had put aside for a rainy day - I've decided this day has come!); financially things are not working out the way I had planned, but it's not a disaster, and the miles will remain for other adventures.

THE ITINERARY

Jan. 25 Munich - Singapore

I've chosen Singapore because I have only been there once very briefly, and because I can travel to various places from there by train or boat (I'm thinking of Malaysia in particular). Originally I wanted to include Sri Lanka as a stop in my RTW-ticket, but it would have made it quite a lot more expensive.


March 4 Singapore - Christchurch - Blenheim, NZ

Blenheim

I'll be visiting two fun-loving Servas ladies - my age - who were my guests in Istanbul. We got on like a house on fire, and I'm greatly looking forward to traipsing around Kiwiland with them (Lorraine has a camper van big enough for the three of us, and Caroline is an avid ballroom dancer: we'll have loads of fun, I know!).



March 18 Blenheim - Auckland - Vanuatu

 

Including this in the RTW, again, would have been expensive - I was hoping for a frequent flier ticket instead, but that did not happen either. (Unfortunately it's not easy to obtain those tickets, because although the airline alliances like to have faithful customers by tempting you with free tickets "anywhere in the world" they make it extremely difficult to actually book one, particularly if you don't depart from your home country).
Vanuatu is one of my absolute dream destinations (because a very good ethnologist friend who has lived and worked in practically all of the Pacific island states, says "If you have the chance to visit just one Pacific island, take Vanuatu" - and I trust she knows what she is talking about). So I bought an extra ticket from Air Vanuatu...

April 1 Vanuatu - Auckland, on to Honolulu on April 3
Fortunately I was able to include my second dream destination in the RTW. I'll spend as much time as possible on the Big Island and go to all the magical snorkeling places (again) that are described in a guidebook I used in 1998 (I circled the whole island, following this guidebook: some of the best snorkeling ever, including the Banda Islands, Indonesia, which were pretty amazing).

  
April 25 Honolulu - S.Francisco - Seattle
4 months (of dancing) this time!
Folklife Festival: contradance   
Seattle parks: Dancing 'Til Dusk  
Century Ballroom: Swing & Lindy

Aug. 26 Seattle - Frankfurt - Munich
I have to report for 'work' on Sept. 1 - I won't actually have to teach, but I have to be present in Austria, for various reasons.

 Home, sweet Home...

                       

Lake Weissensee 

Lake Millstatt

Blossoms in February at my house   

How did I decide on this itinerary? Well, NZ and Seattle are the fixed points - in between I had a long list of places I would like to visit or re-visit, from Mauritius or Maledives to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines, Borneo, etc. etc. - obviously it's impossible (for me, anyway) to "do" all of them in one trip (because I want to spend at least 2 weeks in every place), so I just had to make decisions. Sri Lanka, Vietnam, etc. are fairly easy to reach from Europe, but I don't think I'll be going to the South Pacific or to Hawai'i that often, so I thought I should spend more time there. The destinations are mostly tropical or subtropical, with places for swimming and, most importantly, snorkeling, which is one of my favorite activities.
Another reason for choosing only warm climates is that I want to travel very light, with just a small carry-on and a daypack.

....just a carry-on and a daypack: My Travel Companions

 Essential for me: to be able to carry everything easily and still have both hands free, if necessary.

The backpack, customized by a local shoemaker, has now wheels to be rolled along if smooth surfaces are available.

The backpack can be turned into a bag, with the wheels and carrying straps hidden away to protect them from airport baggage handlers.


Weight: backpack 9.5 kg, daypack 5kg