The Unjaded World of Neuva

White Ribbon Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 22:01:00 +0000

Stop Violence Against The Marginalised!

Diary of a Sell-Out

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:09:00 +0000

I perceive myself as an individual who relies on her own taste despite how disastrous it may be. In my teenage years, I had preference for cut-off jeans over pretty dresses. Now a grown woman, I can proclaim that I am a proud owner of a well-travelled pair of thongs given the number of clubs as well as restaurants they have visited thus far, as I frequently find myself in a foreign city/country with no other footwear option aside from my dirty hiking boots.

Indeed, I also have no issue wearing clothing items purchased in some markets for less than 5 bucks or buying clothes that are displayed in some high street/high end shops bearing the brands my peer lust for. If I like it, I buy it, and I wear it with pride. It is quite satisfying telling people that the dress I wear was purchased for $3. You can’t even buy a cuppa Joe for $3 here in the Land of Oz.

Further, I opted for good street food as opposed to ‘hatted or starred restaurants’. My ideal first date would be trying out food I am not accustomed to with my date in a low key restaurant/food stall that serves insanely cheap and great meal to break the ice. A dude answered the challenge years ago unknowingly; I reciprocated his gesture for our following date. The result: I fell for his laid-back and down-to-earth disposition. Years on, people still refer to us as a couple and we know we still and will enjoy each other’s wackiness and quirkiness for a very long time.

However a wind of slight change has blown over. I used to love roughing it when I travelled. It became such as an accomplishment for me to follow Lonely Planet Shoe String collection to a tee. There is something about travelling in the off beaten tracks and witnessing people’s expression when I tell them what I have been up to during my travels in these regions. Now, I need a bit of ‘home away from home’ experience that entails private bathroom and snugly fresh linen every so often. I exposed myself on my personal travels to the world of starred hotels and restaurants to balance my street food and cheap hostels fetish. I have even used my suitcases for my personal travels in recent years as opposed to using Cassie, my ratty backpack.

Unfortunately it did not stop there; it is a common knowledge among my friends that I have been staying clear from Social network hype such as Facebook, My Space, you name them. I thought I was already hip enough when I created this blog after completing my studies. To my surprise, the other day I found out that I have been a member of Hi5 for some time. How did that happen? I have absolutely no recollection of joining it, better yet, I don’t even know on how to disjoin it.

Now, let’s talk about a world phenomenon namely Facebook. Since the first wave of Facebook hit our shores, all my friends raved about it and convinced me to create an account. I thought it was not for me, they understood and left me alone. Recently, one of my BFFs moved to a complete opposite time zone from our previous places of residence following her nuptial to a lovely gentleman I now call my new bestie. Her move somewhat has reduced our frequent gossip sessions. To overcome this, she again convinced me to create an account by using her Mum’s positive Facebook interaction as an example to get me started. Yes my lovely Monique, I got the hint.

Subsequently the gorgeous Novi who shares her city of residence with me pointed out the amount of Indonesian catering businesses in our city that can be found in Face Book pages only. Thinking of my old time favourites such as ayam betutu, I now am seriously thinking about joining Facebook. The matter has escalated to a new level, satisfying my belly as opposed to staying true to my unsupported as well as unjustified principle.

Yes, I just realised that I am more mainstream than I initially thought of myself. Or maybe I am even a sell-out, but I sure know where my priorities lay; comfort, good feed and friendship. Sufficed to say; Facebook, here I come!

The image was taken from been good considering.

The Human Condition: Impact of Human Trafficking on an Individual's well-being

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 10:31:00 +0000

Abstract

This paper will examine the experiences of Ning, a Thai woman who came to Australia as a victim of sex trafficking in the year 1995. Ning was only thirteen years of age when she was found in a Sydney brothel by a team of immigration officers and two police constables. She was deported back to Thailand just five days after her capture, mainly due to the non- existence of anti-trafficking laws at that time. Ning, now 25 years old, lives in Thailand with her husband and her son. She is the first person in Australia to be compensated as a victim of sex trafficking, after recently having her case before the court.

Introduction

The main role of this paper will be linking the key concepts of individual well-being to the case of the young woman in question. The various factors which have impacted, both on her childhood in Thailand as well as during her forced stay in Australia in 1995, will be described and examined particularly in terms of how they have intertwined and impacted on Ning’s well-being. A definition of what constitutes the well-being of a Thai individual will be included, as well as a reference to present day as Ning tries to rebuild her life. Using a multidimensional approach, a discussion will also take place which explores the cultural, social, gender, family, structural issues and biological time dimensions which have played a role in the circumstances surrounding Ning’s situation and life.

In a Thai study conducted by Thumrongwarangkul et al. (2000), a measure to assess the well-being of people in the Isan region of Thailand was developed. There were eight indexes used, which were: “life security, good physical and psychological health, good relationship within the family, strong community, good environment, freedom, pride and living together virtuously” (as cited in Jongudomkarn & Camfield, 2006). As will be detailed in this paper, several of these well-being measurements are relevant to the circumstances surrounding Ning’s life.

Born on August 21st, 1981 in Isan, an economically disadvantaged province in Northeast Thailand, Ning was the eldest of two girls. Her mother died in a car accident when she was only two years old. As pointed out by Goldman (2004), the death of a parent can be the cause of secondary losses, such as the loss of friends, a home, neighbourhood and routines. In Ning’s case, after the death of her mother she was taken care of by her paternal grandmother in the poor farming village. This arrangement not only changed her routines and neighbourhood, but also her family’s structure. Her father Sumrit, a labourer, visited his daughters infrequently despite the fact he lived locally.

Losing her primary care-giver at a very young age did not seem to affect Ning’s well-being immensely as she grew up. One of the reasons for this may be related to Buddhism, which is the core identity of Thai people. As explained by Ratanakul (2004), a Director of the College of Religious Studies at Mahidol University in Bangkok, death in Buddhism is deemed to be one of the fundamental causes of the suffering of human existence and it must be confronted. Melancholic reaction to the loss of a loved one is frowned upon in Theravada Buddhism. Hence, the meaning of death must be understood and coped with in an intelligent and realistic manner. Also, life is seen as a journey, and death is regarded as being the next step on the way to enlightenment, as the BBC (2007) describe.

At the age of thirteen, Ning’s life was similar to that of her peers. She attended junior high and she was an exuberant girl with many friends. In a research study conducted by Casas et al. (2006), in adolescent years, having more friends means better quality relationships and frequent social interactions are inclined to be associated with higher scores in measures of life satisfaction. The term ‘adolescent’ is defined as the stage of development which is generally known as the ‘teenage years’, as Wyn & White (1997) indicate.

In an attempt to conform to her peers, Ning joined them by attending a friend’s birthday party and did not return home until the next day. This infuriated her father, and although he did not live full time with Ning, he still had a strong patriarchal influence in her life. As pointed out by Speilmann (1994), in Thailand the father is regarded as the head of the family, and in addition, a Thai child is expected to be obedient and submissive towards their parents, showing loyalty and compliance from an early age.

It was while Ning was at the party with her friends that a significant incident occurred which later placed strain on the father-daughter relationship; Ning lost her virginity. Being a thirteen year-old girl, Ning’s sexual awareness had emerged; and as a result she may have wanted to experience her first sexual encounter. As Wallmyr and Welin (2006) point out, “adolescence and early adulthood is a time for exploring and discovering sexuality, both alone and with others”.

When Ning confessed to her father that she had lost her virginity, her father disciplined her through physical punishment. In most Asian countries including Thailand, as Brown (2000) explains, when a girl has lost her virginity outside of marriage, she is considered to be ‘damaged goods’. This obsession with virginity is related to “the concepts of honour and position within male power hierarchies.” Hence, a woman’s demeanour, her family’s ability to ‘look after’ her and her effort to be a respectable and good wife are associated with the status and power of males within that family.

Soon after the party incident, Ning’s father suggested she work overseas as a nanny. She was promised 500,000 Baht, which is the equivalent of $16,000 Australian; sufficient money for her to build a new home for her family. In accordance with Theravada Buddhism, being a daughter means that Ning is compelled to look after her parents in order to make religious merit, as Brown (2000) explains. Furthermore, Bhassorn (1995), specifies that a daughter is expected to repay the debt of gratitude through working for her parents, by looking after them, supporting them financially, marrying a man who possesses resources which may be used to support her parents, and to obtain a bride-price which is valued as a payment for the mother's milk. According to a study conducted by Jongudomkarn and Camfield (2006), having a good family relationship, being obedient to parents and owning a house to live in are seen as being key values of positive well-being in Thai society. For this particular reason, Ning accepted the work offer as a nanny overseas as it could play an essential role in her attaining healthy well-being.

In Trafficked (2005), a documentary film depicting Ning’s life as a human-trafficking victim in Australia, her father later revealed that he asked Ning to work overseas due to the fact that he was struggling to find work and experiencing financial difficulties. Also, the woman who approached him regarding this job for his daughter had promised him that nothing bad would happen to Ning. Accompanied by her father and the traffickers, Ning crossed over to the Malaysian border, awaiting onward transportation to Australia.

During her fifteen day stay in Australia, Ning was placed in a brothel and was told that she had a bondage debt of $35,000, or in other words, she had to ‘service’ 650 clients before the debt would be cleared. In cases of violence committed against women, such as when being forced or coerced to work in the commercial sex industry, there are various implications for the physical, emotional and psychological well-being of victims. It is important to remember that these negative effects occur not only when the person is being held captive, such as when forced to work in the sex industry, but also for years afterwards when the person affected is trying to rebuild their life, as Project Respect (2007) explain.

As Hodge & Lietz (2007) discuss, there are various strategies used by traffickers which “increase the victims’ isolation and dependence”. The isolation experienced by Ning, as well as the techniques used to ensure she complied with her captor’s demands to engage in servicing clients has had a considerable impact upon her well-being, both at the time when the incident occurred as well as present day. When Ning was transported to Australia, she was taken away from her familiar support networks, such as her family and friends. This loss of support networks then increases the isolation and vulnerability experienced by Ning. As outlined by Brill (1998), a person without family ties or peer group identification, is often unable to function well, which in turn would have a considerable impact on Ning’s well-being.

As the nature of human trafficking and forced sex work is situated very much in a context of violence and trauma, the effect on the physical and emotional well-being of an individual is significant and can involve many different responses. As Ning has mentioned, the conditions she endured when in the brothel in Sydney as a young girl, as well as the forced separation from her family and friends in Thailand and her struggle to cope with those issues in adulthood, have driven the psychological trauma and depression she speaks of. As Project Reach (2007) explain, people who become a victim of human trafficking often may have “experienced a number of traumatic experiences”, such as separation from family and homeland, the loss of family members, as well as physical violence and sexual and psychological abuse.

The depression experienced by Ning, as she spoke about in a recent interview, can have a major impact on the well-being of an individual. As Charlton (2000) points out, depression is regarded as being one of the most common “formally diagnosed psychiatric illnesses” and depression is so frequently diagnosed that it is a “substantial element in the human condition”. As Charlton (2000) elaborates, conditions such as depression can have a long-lasting effect on individuals and may affect various aspects of their family, working and social life. The ability to “sustain human relationships” can also be a result of depression, and in Ning’s case, this issue has played a role in various ways. For example, up until the year 2005, Ning had not told her husband anything about what had happened to her in terms of being trafficked and forced to work as a sex slave.

It has been highlighted by Project Reach (2007) that people who have been trafficked also “often lose their sense of identity and worth” and “may lose their sense of self and their will to resist” as they are treated as a commodity, rather than a human being (p.4). Evidence of the multitude of effects the ordeal had on Ning’s emotional well-being are detailed in an article in which Ning expresses pain for her broken spirit which was caused by “grief for her lost innocence” as reported by Lang and Parry ( 2007).

The impact on Ning’s life before, during and after her experience of being a victim of human trafficking has been influenced in various ways, and many of which are still affecting her in young adulthood. As Flannery (1994) discusses, in order to ensure the healthy physical and mental health of an individual, “there are three domains” which are vital; those being “reasonable mastery, caring attachment to others and a meaningful purpose in life”. In terms of reasonable mastery, which is the ability of the individual to “shape the environment to meet one’s needs”, in Ning’s case, her ability to do this when she was trafficked was non-existent. It is only now, in adulthood, that Ning is able to exert some control over her life, particularly in terms of her marriage and subsequent motherhood.

After her repatriation to Thailand, a shameful and depressed Ning was placed in a children’s home operated by the Child Welfare Department in Bangkok, as depicted in Trafficked (2005). After three months in Bangkok, Ning called her father and asked him to take her back to Isan. Despite the strained relationship with her father, Ning still respected him. As analysed by Vichit-Vadakan (1994), family and kinship is fundamental in Thai culture, and it provides psychological and moral support. During her stay in the children’s home, Ning was suicidal and had attempted to cut her wrist. According to Stillion & McDowell (1996), there is growing evidence to suggest “sexual abuse is an environmental stressor which may affect suicide risk among adolescents”.

Back in Isan, the full extent of Ning’s ordeal was becoming evident as she tried to recover from what had happened to her. Her extroverted personality and good social skills were not sufficient enough to act as protective factors. Her social support provided her with negative influences instead of positive, and as Ning discussed in Trafficked (2005), “they gave me drugs…they helped me forget”. As Frost (2002) notes, the link between sexual violence and substance abuse has been highlighted in various studies. This substance abuse, and other risk-taking behaviours can be viewed as being a coping mechanism which is used by the individual not only to deal with emotions associated with the trauma they experienced, but also as a way of regaining some amount of power in their life.

In an interview conducted in Trafficked (2005), ten years after her ordeal Ning seemed to be coping quite well according to the interviewer, Chris Payne. This may be a result of her relatively young age, because as stated by Harms (2005), young people are believed to manage trauma better due to their natural resilience and capacity to bounce back. In terms of her gender, being a woman Ning may have been advantaged in terms of her ability to communicate her emotions to her support network, in this case, her friends, grandmother and sister.

Ning’s spiritual needs have also been fulfilled to a great extent by the birth of her son. As expressed by Ning in Trafficked (2005), her son saved her and without him, she expressed she might have died long ago from drug use. Motherhood in Thailand is highly regarded, and love, comfort and nurturing are associated more with mothers than fathers. Additionally, Theravada Buddhism deems that women have lower karma than men, and the only way to attain extra merit is through having a son, as described by Vichit-Vadakan (1994).

In conclusion, the overall well-being of Ning has been significantly influenced by various events since her early childhood. From the loss of her mother, the relationship she had with her father, the trauma she experienced as a victim of human trafficking to her present day situation with her husband and child, the effects of the various events in her life still play a major role in how she functions as an adult.

REFERENCES

Bhassorn, L. (1995). Families in Thailand: Beliefs and realities. [Electronic version]. Journal of Comparative Studies, 26 (1), 67.

Brill, N. I. (1998). Working with people: The helping process. New York: Longman.

British Broadcasting Corporation (2007). Theravada Buddhism.

Brown, L. (2000). Sex slaves: the trafficking of women in Asia. London : Virago Press.

Casas, F., Figuer, C. Gonzales, M., Malo, S., Alsinet, C., & Subarroca, S. (2006). The Well-being of 12 – 16 year- old adolescents and their parents: Result from 1999 to 2003 Spanish samples. [Electronic version]. Journal of Social Indicators Research, 83 (1), 87-115.

Charlton, B. (2000). Chapter 8: The Malaise theory of Depression. In B. Charlton (Ed.), Psychiatry and the Human Condition. Oxford: Radcliffe Medical Press.

Craig, N. (2007, May 29). Sex slave victim wins abuse claim. The Age.

Flannery, R. (1994). Psychological Trauma and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder:

A Review.

Frost, R. (2002). Substance Abuse, High-Risk Sex, and Sexual Violence: What’s the Connection?

Goldman, L. (2004). Counselling with children in contemporary society. [Electronic version]. Journal of Mental Health, 26 (2), 168-187.

Harms, L. (2005). Understanding human development: A Multi dimensional approach. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.

Hodge, D. & Lietz, C. (2007). The International Sexual trafficking of Women and Children: A Review of the Literature. [Electronic version]. Affilia, 22 (2), 163-174.

Jongudomkarn, D. & Camfield, L. (2006). Exploring the quality of life of people in North Eastern and Southern Thailand. [Electronic version]. Social Indicators Research, 78(3), 489–529.

Lang, J. & Parry, J. (2007, March). Sydney brothel scandal: I was a teenage sex slave. Marie Claire, pp. 50-56.

Project Reach. (2007). Working with survivors of Human Trafficking: A brief manual for Social Service Providers.

Project Respect. (2007). About trafficking. Retrieved on May 21, 2007 from http://www.projectrespect.org.au/index.html.

Ratanakul, P. (2004). The Buddhist concept of life, suffering and death, and related Bioethical issues. [Electronic version]. Journal of Asian and International Bioethics, 14, 141-146.

Spielmann, S. The family in Thailand and drug demand reduction: problems of urban Thai society in transition.

Stillion, J. & McDowell, E. (1996). Suicide across the life span: Premature exits. London: Taylor and Francis.

Vichit-Vadakan, J. (1994). Women and the family in

Thailand

in the midst of social change. [Electronic version]. Journal of Law and Society Review, 28 (3), 515-524.

Wallmyr, G. & Welin, C. (2006). Young people, pornography, and sexuality: Sources and attitudes. [Electronic version]. The Journal of School Nursing, 122 (5), 290-296.

Wyn, J. & White, R. (1997). Chapter 3: Youth Development. In J. Wyn & R. White (Eds.), Rethinking Youth (pp. 51-71). St. Leonards: Allen and Unwin.

Zammataro, S. (Producer) & Acquisto, L. (Director). (2005). Trafficked [Motion picture]. Sydney: Film Australia.

How do you...?

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 22 May 2011 06:35:00 +0000

How do you say ‘I’ll call you’ to someone without knowing her new phone number?

How do you say ‘I’ll see you later’ to someone whom you will not be able to see for a very long time?

How do you say ‘I’ll visit you’ when you know for a fact it may take a life time for you to visit her at her new address?

How do say ‘I need you’ to someone whom you know is leaving you for the better?

How do you say ‘I’ll miss you’ to someone whom you are not sure whether she might hear you when you whispered those words out loud for the last time?

How do you say ‘I love you’ to someone who will no longer be able to crack into a huge smile and held you close to her in response?

How do you say ‘Thank You’ to someone who has given you her everything and more than what you could have asked for; a person who has shaped you to be the woman that you are today?

How do you say ‘farewell’ to someone who is your everything, your world, your best friend, your confidante?

Now please tell me;

How can I ever tell her I’m sorry for all the woes I have ever caused her?

How can I ever share her all my happiness and worries, definitely I will not be able to update her with our two-hour weekly chats ever again?

How can I stop to feel as if a part of me is missing?

How can I start to feel complete again?

Lastly, tell me, how can I be able to change my grammatical tense from present tense to past tense when I talk about her?

One thing I know, there might not be any future tense for both of us here onwards, but for as long as I can feel her presence around me, I will always use present tense just for her, for a very long time.

Adieu Mamma! I love you, I will chin up and I can’t wait to see you, no matter how long it will be.

Difficulties Faced by the ASEAN Free Trade Area in Reaching a Similar Level of Economic Integration to that of the European Union

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 14 May 2011 08:29:00 +0000

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and evaluates the possibility of AFTA attaining a similar level of economic integration to that of the European Union. A comparison between AFTA and the EU highlights various requirements which are necessary to enable a political and economic environment which facilitate the creation of a large, intra-regional economic zone. Although both regions do share similarities which are conducive to some level of economic integration, research conducted draws attention to various issues which are currently hindering progress towards integration in the ASEAN region; such as the lack of a common currency and considerable differences between the economic structures of countries such as Singapore and Myanmar. The paper finds the prospect of AFTA reaching a similar level of economic integration to that of the European Union to be unlikely; particularly given the general lack of political commitment shown, the considerable economic disparities which exist between the financial systems of nations, the existence of non-tariff barriers and the lack of any real progress towards the creation of a unified monetary system for the region. It is recommended that political leaders across the ASEAN region demonstrate greater cooperation and commitment in order to fully realise the benefits a high level of economic integration can bring.

Introduction

This paper will argue that despite efforts within the region over recent years, it is unlikely that AFTA will achieve a similar level of economic integration as the European Union in the next decade unless several important political and economic issues are addressed. Included will be an examination of these issues, as well as a discussion of the similarities and differences between these two diverse regions which impact upon the possibility of economic integration within a broader geographical region.

The European Union – Past to Present

The current member nations of the European Union (EU), Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, form the world’s largest economic zone. Within this region, which covers a human population of almost 500 million, the ability of Member States to compete economically on a wider global scale has been greatly enhanced; due largely to the increased opportunities which have resulted from an expanded internal market within the Union (European Commission, 2010 ).

One of the key factors contributing to the success of economic integration in the European Union lies in the fact its origins began some fifty nine years ago, when what was known as the ‘European Coal and Steel Community’ was formed by the original six member states; France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands. Whilst one of the main aims of the European Union originally was to unite countries and ensure stability and peace across the region, it was also hoped that if nations could be brought closer together in both economic and political contexts, trade and commerce ties could also be strengthened (European Commission, 2010).

The ASEAN Free Trade Area - Past to Present

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations was established in 1967 with the signing of the ASEAN declaration by Indonesia, Thailand, The Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. The aims and purposes of ASEAN are to “accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to promote regional peace and stability through the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter” (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2010). In 1984, Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN and during the mid to late 1990’s, ASEAN expanded to ten, with Vietnam, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia becoming Member States (ASEAN, 2009).

Prior to the establishment of ASEAN, the Southeast Asia region was divided by war, ideological conflict, territorial disputes and racial tension, and China had also adopted a policy that supported a number of communist revolution movements in the region. In an effort to address the spread of communism in Southeast Asia, ASEAN was formed (Lim, 2004, 11). Whilst initially ASEAN focused on the promotion of peace and security in Southeast Asia, in 1977 focus shifted to economic collaboration through the signing of the ASEAN Preferential Trading Arrangements (PTA); a framework for promoting trade between ASEAN countries through preferential tariffs and treatments.

In the period from the late 1980’s to the early 1990’s, ASEAN 6 Member States were experiencing high economic growth following a shift to becoming export-based economies. The World Bank officially recognised the exceptional economic growth that was occurring in East Asian countries and the ASEAN 6 region, proclaiming it as an ‘economic miracle’ (Ritchie, 2004, 96). With this economic expansion occurring as a result of the export-led policies adopted by most of the ASEAN 6, the IMF and the World Bank constantly pressured ASEAN to liberate their trade and adopt a free market strategy. Using the Preferential Trading Arrangement as a framework, ASEAN Member States established the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement in 1992. To augment ASEAN competitiveness in the world market, it was envisaged that the elimination of tariff barriers among ASEAN members and the transformation of ASEAN economies into a single production base would result in the creation of an ASEAN economic community of 500 million consumers, with increased levels of economic integration and foreign direct investment (Cuyvers et al., 2005, 4).

Issues Impacting Upon Economic Integration in AFTA and the EU

The goal of achieving a high level of economic integration within regions such as AFTA and the EU is one which presents numerous barriers which must be addressed in order to ensure realisation of a single market place. In the case of AFTA, significant differences in the structures of national economies, the lack of a unified currency, large economic disparities between nations, a lack of political commitment and the existence of non-tariff barriers are factors which have restricted progress towards an integrated economic zone.

Foreign Investment and Monetary Integration

Both AFTA and the EU share several commonalities in terms of historical, political and economic contexts. For example, Southeast Asia and Europe have traditionally been open to foreign trade and investment. Foreign direct investment (FDI) was at relatively high levels in the Southeast Asia region in the early 1990’s up until the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997; particularly in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand (Wu et al., 2002). As Brooks et al. (2003, 7) point out, the implementation of policies that have included tax concessions and export subsidies to encourage foreign investment greatly contributed to the inflow of investment across the region. Likewise in the European Union, where from 1982 until the early 1990’s, the level of FDI in Member States such as Denmark, France and Belgium increased considerably (Economists Advisory Group, 1996).

A decision in 1999 by sixteen Member States of the EU to adopt the Euro as their only form of currency attracted further foreign investment and facilitated wider economic integration. The introduction of the Euro was a catalyst for significantly reducing transaction costs and eliminating volatile fluctuations in exchange rates which made trade between businesses in the EU region more uncertain (Collignon and Schwarzer, 2004, 101-102). Furthermore, to protect the monetary systems of nations in the EU with robust economies against the weaker economies of nations being integrated into the EU, the introduction of a single currency helped reduce the risk through the “convergence or the adaptation of less-developed economies to the European standard and structure” and as a result, the relinquishment of their own currency in favour of the Euro (Carmen, 2009).

Although ASEAN has raised the possibility of adopting a common currency by the year 2020 to stabilise the regional economy as well as generate a more conducive business climate, there are various factors which have slowed this process and consequently, makes the likelihood of monetary integration within this timeframe highly unlikely. Issues such as “diversity in the level of economic development across countries, weaknesses in the financial sectors of many countries, the inadequacy of region-level resource pooling mechanisms and institutions required for forming and managing a currency union, and a lack of political preconditions for monetary cooperation and a common currency” make the possibility of a single regional currency remote, as (Madhur 2002, 5) notes. A strong political commitment and cooperation amongst governments is a pre-cursor to the integration of a unified monetary system and as (Ramayandi 2005, 14) argues, although regional monetary cooperation would incur some costs to nations, further harmonisation of monetary policies is essential if a sophisticated level of integration is to occur.

Economic Disparities

The existence of economic disparities between nations is evident across both AFTA and the EU, with some countries having different levels of economic development; however it could be argued economies in the EU are more homogenous, whereas the disparity between members in AFTA is more pronounced. An example of this is a highly developed economy such as Singapore which has a per capita income almost 300 times to that of Myanmar; an economy based on more traditional, rural-based structures (Madhur, 2002, 5). Furthermore, as Kelley (2010, 1) argues, “less economically developed states may have less administrative capacity, or their economic or political fundamentals may not be conducive to stable coordination with other states in the region”.

Regionalisation and Globalisation

The sometimes disadvantageous forces of economic globalisation also help to highlight the ambition both regions share in relation to better managing its impact upon national economies. This impact was observed in the various financial and currency downturns over the past decade - such as currency crises in Indonesia and Thailand in 1997 (Diehl & Schweickert, 19-20), and the ramifications experienced by many European financial institutions as a result of them purchasing mortgage-backed securities in the United States (Whelan, 2010, 4 ). In his paper discussing the relationship between regionalisation and globalisation, Rosamond (2002, 4) makes note of the regional cooperation pursued by European states to address “the interrelated consequences of increasingly mobile capital and an emergent transnational production structure”.

Removal of Tariff Barriers

Economic integration across Europe has been made easier in part due to cooperation between Member States in regard to the removal of various barriers which otherwise would make trade between nations more difficult. As an example, economic growth within the region has increased as a cessation of taxes, such as customs duties, has been introduced; allowing for the stimulation of economies due to increased trade and “joint control over food production”. In essence, this has helped create a large, common regulatory space which has enabled widespread economic integration to occur, thus helping the EU to prosper as a regional economic block due to considerable increases in financial and trade flows. Further regional policies relating to increasing employment and improving infrastructure and the introduction of a Single Market have helped address issues which once restricted the free-flow of money, goods, services and people across borders (Europa, 2010).

In the AFTA region, similar efforts to increase trade have been made; such as the introduction of preferential tariffs (PTA) in 1977. The impact on ASEAN economies has been limited however as most nations have not been ready to liberate their economy. Instead, they have chosen to adopt an import substitution strategy that emphasises the reduction of imports by stimulating local production for local consumption. Consequently, the products that were eligible for preferential tariffs were not classified as significant imports and the tariff reductions for these products were too low, as Cuyvers et al. (2005, 3) point out.

The AFTA agreement also encompassed reducing intra-regional tariffs through the utilisation of The Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) Scheme which was applied to manufactured and semi-manufactured products, including capital goods and processed agricultural products that either originated from, or had at least 40% ASEAN content (Cuyvers et al., 2005, 4). Through the CEPT scheme, ASEAN member countries have significantly lowered the intra- regional tariffs down to a 0-5 percent tariff range. In 2010, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Brunei Darussalam are expected to achieve a zero percent tariff rate, with Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos PDR hoping to accomplish this objective by 2015; thus creating one single market for these nations by 2015 ( Hapsari and Mangunsong, 2006, 5).

Whilst the AFTA agreement has been a significant step towards economic integration, several factors impact upon the possibility of it being fully implemented across the region. For example, rice is still excluded from the agreement and this has contributed to restrict full implementation of the agreement. Furthermore, some countries such as Malaysia continue to levy tariffs on certain product groups related to the automotive industry, primarily to protect their own interests (Cuyvers et al. 2005, 6). One of the biggest problems, however, is the under-utilisation of the CEPT scheme for intra-ASEAN trade, which currently only comprises 5% of trade within ASEAN. This is largely caused by “the lack of clear and transparent procedures as well as an absence of credibility and mutual trust between the countries that provide and receive preferential tariff treatment under AFTA”. In addition, AFTA has directed significant attention to the gradual process of eliminating tariff barriers without adequately addressing issues such as non-tariff and other trade barriers (Rajan and Ronggala, 2008, 220-221).

Private Sector Involvement in AFTA

The emergence of regionalism in ASEAN was in large part driven by the private sector in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98. Led by Japanese multi-nationals, as well as South Korea and Taiwan, the production activities of many businesses were moved to the ASEAN region, mainly because of the abundance of cheap labour, as discussed by Lasserre and Schutte (2006, 5-7). As a result of this emerging intra-regional trading led by the private sector, it was decided there was a greater need for more formal cooperation and increased economic integration (Soesastro, 2005, 5). Whilst the private sector has had a significant impact on driving trade within the region, its influence at the policy level in terms of decision-making processes concerning economic integration has been less influential. Furthermore, an all too often lack of commitment amongst governments who are more concerned with their own political agendas has restricted cooperation and further impeded the likelihood of economic integration within ASEAN (Akrasanee & Stifel, 1992, 30).

Conclusion

Despite some progress being made over the past decade, a range of factors have combined to substantially limit the level of economic integration across the AFTA. Until governments in the region show greater commitment towards addressing a number of complex issues, the possibility of a fully-functioning economic zone becoming reality is greatly reduced. Fast-tracking the unification of monetary systems, seeking greater involvement from the private sector in decision-making processes at the policy level, and focusing more attention on the creation of a single market which will aid the flow of commerce across borders is essential if all components of the AFTA agreement are to be fully implemented in the region.

References

Akrasanee, N. and D.Stifel. 1992. The Political Economy of the ASEAN Free Trade Area. In AFTA: The Way Ahead, ed. P. Imada and S. Naya., 27-52. Singapore: Institute of the Southeast Asian Studies.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 2009. Finance Cooperation.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations. 2009. Overview.

Australian Government Department of Foreign Affair and Trade. 2010. Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN).

Brooks, D., E. Fan, and L. Sumulong. 2003. Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Asia: Trends, Effects, and Likely Issues for the forthcoming WTO Negotiations. Manila: Asian Development Bank.

Carmen, S. 2009. Possible Implications of Adopting the Single European Currency for the Romanian Economy. Annals of the University of Oradea : Economic Science, 3 (1): 328-335.

Collignon, S. and D. Schwarzer. 2003. Private Sector Involvement in the Euro: The Power of Ideas. London: Routledge.

Cuvyer, L., P. De Lombaerde, and S. Verherstraeten. 2005. From AFTA towards an ASEAN Economic Community and Beyond. Centre for Asian Studies.

Diehl, M. and Schweickert. 1998. Currency Crises: Is Asia Different?

Economists Advisory Group Ltd. 1996. Foreign Direct Investment.

European Commission. 2010. The Policy.

European Commission. 2010. Enlargement.

Europa. 2010. The History of the European Union.

Hapsari, I. and C. Mangunsong. 2006. Determinants of AFTA Members’ Trade Flows and Potentials for Trade Diversion.

Kelley. J. 2010. The Role of Membership Roles in regional Organisations.

Lasserre, P. and H. Schutte. 2006. Strategies for Asia Pacific: Meeting New Challenges.3rded. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Lim, C. 2004. Southeast Asia: The long road ahead. 2^nd. Ed. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Pte Ltd.

Madhur, S. 2002. Costs and Benefits of a Common Currency for ASEAN. Manila: Asian Development Bank.

Rajan, R. and S.Ronggala. 2008. Asia in the Global Economy: Finance, Trade and Investment. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Pte Ltd.

Ramayandi, A. 2005. ASEAN Monetary Cooperation: Issues and Prospect. Canberra: Australia Japan Research Centre.

Ritchie, John (2004). Accountability in the East Asian economic miracle, crisis and recovery. Competition & change, 8 (2), 91-104.

Rosamond, B. 2002. Globalisation and the European Union. Canberra: The European Union in International Affairs. National Europe Centre Conference.

Soesastro, H. 2005. Accelerating ASEAN Economic Integration: Moving Beyond AFTA. Jakarta: Centre for Strategic and International Studies.

Whelan, K. 2010. Global Imbalances and the Financial Crisis. Brussels: European parliament.

Wu, F., P.T. Siaw, Y.H. Sia, and P.K. Keong. 2002. Foreign Direct Investment to China and Southeast Asia: Has ASEAN Been Losing Out?

Brisbane Flooding 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:44:00 +0000

Today is my second day back to work after spending a nice time in the Coral sea. This morning, I dragged myself out off the bed, cursing at the rain as I was not looking forward to travel to work in wet weather. The day before we heard our colleagues' devastation in Toowoomba and how the aftermath had crippled the businesses and the livelihood of the residents of Toowoomba.

I went about my business and started my day at work as per normal. It was out of the ordinary to see a few girls in the CBD area opted for their gum boots as opposed to their usual heels teamed up with their business attires. At work, everyone in my floor was rather jumpy and kept glancing to Brisbane river to check the unusually high water level. Then the news broke, the banks of Brisbane river have been broken in several places. The mood of the office was very low. Within a few hours around lunch time, I was one of the many workers joining the mass exodus to get out of Brisbane CBD. It was surreal to see hundreds if not thousands of these workers pouring the streets of CBD during lunch hour en route to their homes, meanwhile shop keepers and restaurant owners were preparing to shut their businesses. Normally lunch time is one of their busiest time. I have been in mass exodus when we were in Phuket trying to get out of Thailand in 2008 but today there was a pang of helplessness I did not feel before. I was able to go home to a dry home and go about my business when there are tons of people out there who have lost their homes and even their loved-ones. I was wet and miserable but I know I have dry clothes and tons food waiting for me at home. When Shane went out to take these photos in CBD, I was watching the devastation of other Queenslanders from the comfort of my dry couch, awaiting what nature may have in store for us tomorrow. This is madness and never in my life I feel so helpless and edgy. I wish I could help, but I am not a trained SES officer. I have no knowledge at all on Disaster Response. However I am able to offer my deepest sympathy to my fellow Queenslanders and Brisbanites out there. Stay safe, we will make it through!!!

From The Coral Sea: Happy 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:38:00 +0000

Happy New Year! Another year has gone past and another candle will be added to my birthday cake mid year. Maybe I should start notifying my local fire station before lighting an open fire such as these candles that will represent my years on the planet this year, eh!

How was 2010 treating you, fellas? 2010 has been a year full of turmoil for me personally. Okay, maybe I am being a tad over-dramatic and chose the most extreme word to describe it. Let's just say I had a hard time toward the end of the year. Hence I am fortunate to have my loved-ones around me when a dear loved-one is struggling with her health. My support system, here in Oz as well as in the old country and other corners of the world, have been amazing. Yes, you know who you are and I am forever grateful for each and everyone of you. Extra credits are given to my always supportive other half, Shane, and my level-headed brother, Tio. You guys are the rocks that a gal needs.

I am raising my flute, " Happy New Year, may 2011 will be the year where all your dreams come true!". Feel free to update me with your mischiefs. Last but not least, "Mum, beterschap!"

Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 09:08:00 +0000

Yes, I know, I have disappeared from the face of the earth. The reason? Nothing too dramatic, just pure sloth combined with busy schedule. I am guilty as charged. I must say, after spending hours in front of the computer at work, it is quite a chore for me to spend extra quality time with my PC at home. However I am willing to transform and an overdue update will soon be addressed. After all, I still have to reveal my China Escapade as well as my trip to the South Pacific which was mind blowing. I have also been up, close and personal with the Southern Humpback Whales as well as my breakfast in the process on one morning at a rough sea. It sure is my version of " the Old Man and the Sea" or should I re-phrase it to " the Old Woman and the Sea"? To top it up, I bet you are all interested to hear Shane's night out a la Port Vila. I'll let the man himself spilling the beans for us.

In the mean time, let me entertain you with this song that has been stuck in my head the whole day.

Yes peeps, I love it when it rains. Now together;

Rain drops falling of my head....
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed

Tell me good people, does this song stuck in your head as well?

A Meal Worth Waiting For

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:40:00 +0000

Envision this:

A Michelin starred restaurant that is prominently sought after by the punters and has received rave reviews from numerous newspapers articles, in addition to positive food guide critiques from all corners of the world.

How do you associate this type of establishment?

A Maître D’ naturally; expensive glistening silverware, crystal glasses, fine white china and of course, crisp white linen. This then will be followed closely by exorbitantly priced dishes with the necessity for one to leave a handsome tip for the wait staff. Of course I can’t omit another factual requirement, such as meeting a certain dress code that is pivotal for prospective diners to gain approval of entrance from the aforementioned Maître D’. Is that correct?

Now picture this:

A pair of keen travellers; backpackers, who have just graduated to flashpacker category; given their recent demographic changes. However, they still love reliving their old backpacker ways and refuse to be categorised as posh packers, hence their motto “good feed equals food stalls and Imodium in addition to undertaking preventative measures by religiously having cholera vaccines”.

This pair have crossed the time zones not once, but twice out of their choice, with their very limited outfits to fit their medium sized suitcases in order to cover all types of weather and travelling scenarios.

Your task:

Combine all the facts above. Now truthfully answer this question;
Are you able to visualise these two travellers in the abovementioned Michelin starred restaurant?

Do I hear a YES? Or was it a NO?

You who said NO, sorry mate, you have just lost your bet. Cough up the cash please! The answer is YES, as this Michelin starred restaurant I am referring to is a canteen style establishment - lovingly dubbed by SMH as “A Hole in the Wall” .

February 2010. Hong Kong. Lunch time.

My other half and I found ourselves shoving a piece of paper with a restaurant’s address written in Cantonese (courtesy of Google) to our courteous taxi driver. Within minutes we were there, no hassle. We had no idea that it was so conveniently close to our Nathan Road hotel. We were greeted by our fellow Dim Sum lovers who were loitering in front of Tim Ho Wan, the place we were looking forward to eating at after reading about it in our Australian newspapers. Peak lunch hour crowds, we thought, as we decided to join the crowd to wait for the next vacant table, when a group of young people noticed that we definitely did not look like locals and gave us a pointer that we should get our number for our table and then wander off and come back in an hour or so. We were given number 200 something and these guys were given number 90 something. As we skipped breakfast that morning, opting for a long sleep in instead, we were ravenous.

Unfortunately, despite the presence of a Maître D’ of some sort and a long waiting period, Tim Ho Wan, unlike its other Michelin Starred counterparts, does not have a full bar service while you wait for the next vacant table. Instead, you have to be exposed to the outer elements right outside its door until a lady who acts as a Maître D’ calls out your number in Cantonese. Worry not; as they also have a notice board written in Roman numeric to let non-Cantonese speaking people know whose turn it is to be enticed by the exotic world of dim sum. Or if you can’t see this board through the ocean of people, just ask the person next to you who will gleefully let you know exactly what’s going on. After all, a good feed is universally binding as per the UN Declaration of Human Rights (2010 revision by NRS).

Lunch time it was. We had a restaurant booking for our lunch, we were physically in that restaurant but we would not see food for at least an hour. This situation we were in was more complicated than the love life of Paris Hilton. What to do?

We decided to take our new friends’ advice and went for a bit of a wander around the block and ended up in another tiny canteen chomping our pre-lunch lunch, 3 shops away from the place where we initially planned to have lunch at. When we got back to Tim Ho Wan, it was our new friends’ turn to be escorted to their table. They were smiling with joy after such an emotional wait for nearly 2 hours; witnessing the lucky ones before them being ushered to their tables. We knew exactly what they were on about as we became green eyed, wishing it was us as opposed to them. We took off again and wandered around the Mongkok markets, determined to sample Tim’s signature dishes and restrain ourselves to not buy more food whilst waiting for our table.

Eventually it was very close to our turn after nearly 3 hours waiting. It turned out to be a very poignant experience. We listened to disgruntled diners who had been waiting for hours and ditching Tim Ho Wan for not having a takeaway service. As mentioned before, a good feed is universally binding (as pointed out by NRS) hence the long wait had given us all a sense of unity and camaraderie. We struck up conversations with those around us who were nice enough to ignore our incapability to speak Cantonese or Mandarin and let us get away with English. We told them as to how we knew about the restaurant and they told us a story of Tim Ho Wan’s chef who was previously a dim sum chef at the Four Seasons Hotel and how the dim sum are all made fresh as we order unlike other dim sum restaurants who made their Dim Sum the day before.

When I eventually found a menu written in English, everyone wanted to chip in with their opinion regarding our ordering process, advising us what to order and giving us reviews as a food critic would about a dish. I had to politely refuse a few times regarding not to ticking the box next to the chicken feet dish that looked 'sublime', as unfortunately I suffered from a severe chicken feet allergy. The other diners nodded their heads to express their sympathy for this poor foreign gal’s health restriction with regard to a certain dish. Interestingly, all agreed in unison that we had to order Tim’s famous signature dish, baked BBQ Buns. I was quite apprehensive about this dish as BBQ buns or char siu bau are usually steamed, definitely not baked.

Then it was our turn. The Maître D’, who knew us by then, turned around to us smiling and said a sentence in Cantonese that we thought might be somewhere along the line of, It’s your turn now! Woot Woot! I could not help smiling from ear to ear as we were walking away from our comrades after saying our thank yous and goodbyes. I was trying my best not to do a victory dance in front of them à la Nelson of The Simpsons, who uttered his famous line; HA HA!!!! Seriously that moment was very poignant. We waited for 3 hours and we had been emotionally toyed with by Tim Ho Wan, thinking; is it our turn yet? How long is it before it is our turn? When we learnt it was not ours yet, we had to swallow the bitter reality and keep waiting whilst the lucky ones gleefully clutched their by then crumpled looking order list as they were ushered to their table, followed by envious looks from those who were left behind. More than once we asked ourselves if this was worth waiting for and if we should continue to wait or leave, as so many other brave diners did before us.

Now I am glad we endured the hardship and stayed put. Let me tell you, the meal was so frigging worth waiting for. As we were inside waiting for our order to be brought to our table, we realised as to why it took forever for each prospective diner to be called in. The place has only 7 or 8 tables and it is so tiny that you can touch the walls with your hands (okay I am exaggerating but it sure is tiny). The food however is GRAND with a capital G, if you are up for the wait. However, if you are a single diner, there is a much bigger chance for you to enter the joyful world of Tim’s Dim Sum a lot sooner as then you are able to join other single diners, which in turn significantly decreases your waiting time.

We were glad to listen (actually to let the other local diners to decide what to order for us) to our new foodie friends outside as the baked BBQ bun was superb. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside with the sauce and the meat creating a fiesta in your mouth. Everything we tried was fabulous. This was the best Dim Sum I have ever tried, and mind you I have a vast repertoire for Dim Sum or Yum Cha (as we incorrectly refer to this type of dining here in Australia) restaurants in different places of the world . Yet Tim Ho Wan has brought my Dim Sum experience to a whole new level without setting me back financially. It cost us less than AUD 25 for all those dishes we had ordered.

Waiting for our table at Tim Ho Wan has not only taught me what a good Dim Sum is all about, it also given me a deeper understanding of how a sense of camaraderie can develop as a direct result of waiting for a good feed and how it can be a very emotive experience for a grown woman such as myself. It was even better than one of those psychological self help books. I am now contemplating writing to Daniel Coleman, the key thinker of EQ, to establish a new psychological test to measure an individual’s EQ by taking them for a meal at Tim Ho Wan (I might ask him for only 30% profit, a fair share in my opinion considering my background in Psychology).

I personally found my dining experience to be very rewarding; emotionally, psychologically and physiologically. How, you ask? Well, in a space of 3 hours, I was reminded of how to deal with disappointment, how to be patient and how to sharpen my social skills. I was forced to revisit my decision making skills as well as reiterating my previous knowledge that perseverance and determination were essential attributes to have for one who is working toward a goal. Last but not least, how to deal with my contentment without having to put it out there to those who are less fortunate than I was by not turning to the waiting diners and doing my victory dance while screaming at the top of my lungs; It is my turn now dear people, watch me eat and weep!

The writer of the entry above will publish another un-acclaimed blog entry that is self-prized and is given a dubious five stars titled: "The Etiquette For Long-Awaited Dining Experience".

Around the World in 4 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:13:00 +0000

‘Around the World in 80 Days’, the classic adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne tells the tale of an attempt by Phileas Fogg and his French sidekick to circumnavigate the world in, as the title would suggest, 80 days or less. Now, whilst my trusted travelling sidekick and I have not attempted this mind-boggling and awe-inspiring feat (as yet), on our most recent escapade we did manage to give the concept a good ol’ nudge; by covering about 42,000km in less than 4 days! Whilst these figures are not nearly as impressive as Fogg’s (N.B our mode of travel also did not include hot air balloons or steam trains), travelling these 26,000 miles in such a short time-span did, at times, have us feeling like we too were living the trials and tribulations of one of the literary world’s most famous (and 19th century version of today’s modern backpacker) travellers.

The reason for such madness and tom-foolery was our decision to briefly interrupt our travels throughout China and Hong Kong to fly all the way to Perth for a 2 hour concert performed by the one and only Mr. Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, otherwise known as legendary British pop star, George Michael! Well what’s the big deal I hear you say?! Well, for starters, Perth just happens to be the most isolated capital city in the known universe. To give you an idea of how isolated it is, it is almost quicker for someone living on the east coast of Australia to fly to an Asian locale than it is to fly to Perth and it is most certainly a much shorter distance to fly to NZ than to the west coast of Oz. Secondly, the expense factor. I won’t go into specifics here (I am still trying to suppress the exact amount it cost us to achieve what in our more darker moments seemed like such an hallucinogenic drug-inspired idea), but suffice to say the total costs were not equivalent to which one might describe as minor. Last and by no means least, why the heck would we travel all the way from Hong Kong, via Singapore, to Perth and then back again in the middle of our month-long holiday in China all for the sake of 2 hours of music? Well, my friends, you have you answer right there! In spite of the damage done to our bank accounts, the weariness resulting from the number of flights and distance flown, and our less than ideal physical and mental well-being at the time, the performance by George Michael in Perth that night is one which neither of us will ever forget – particularly as the both of us (well especially my good self) had waited to see this man perform for more than a decade!

With our exorbitantly priced yet completely justified seats ‘right next to the catwalk’, we were literally not much more than 1 metre away from one of the world’s great performers/singers/songwriters. With a musical catalogue spanning more than 25 years of hit songs, we were amongst a crowd of 20,000 who stood for the entire duration of the show; as to sit down would be impossible given the catchiness and toe-tapping melodies from this amazing artist. Even in the heat and non-air conditioned environment of the arena in Perth, to be fans standing so close to a musical idol such as George Michael was pure and unadulterated delight and virtually every song was akin to a walk down the memory lane of those angst-ridden teenage years.

Now while our adventure across 4 countries in little more than a weekend may not have contained such hair-raising moments as being pursued by a Scotland Yard detective, being stranded on a train attacked by Sioux Indians, or caught adrift on a steamboat slap bang in the far reaches of the Atlantic Ocean as Fogg was, the memories we gained from our continent crossings were no less memorable and unforgettable to us. While the story of those 4 days we spent crisscrossing one part of the globe is most likely never to make its way onto the bookshelves of adventure lovers any time soon, for us it was a weekend etched into our memory like words on the pages of our life. Do we regret our decision to engage in such a hair-brained scheme? Not on your life! Would we do the same or similar thing again? Hmmm, let me get back to you on that one as soon as we find out what time the next hot air balloon departs for Bombay!

* This entry is written by a travel enthusiast who is also my loyal sidekick, SDW.

Eh...Yeah, I am back!

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 06:46:00 +0000

Yes I am back in Brisbane. Yes now I am back to work. Yes I am suffering from severe traveller blues. And yes, I believe that it is contagious.

I bet you have read numerous articles on how to combat that nasty traveller's blues. Some writers advise you to make yourself busy with work and friends whilst other writers swear that designing another holiday immediately after you get back from a holiday is the best cure. I have tried both and let me tell you, none of them are as effective as I want them to be. I now come to a conclusion that traveller blues can only be cured with an imminent travel that is already confirmed. What am I on about, you ask? I am saying that another confirmed travel with an imminent date of departure is the only effective cure to combat this nasty baby. Yes, this method works just as effective as the highest grade/dose of antibiotics. Of course for some people including myself, this cure is not always accessible due to other reasons such as work commitments that I really do not want to commit if I have a choice. Hence, on a Monday morning I had to put a brave face and headed to work after convincing myself that jumping out of a high rise building the night before would not make me feel any better.

There I was on a Monday morning, armed with my packed lunch on one hand and my work bag on the other that was chock-a-block with my medication from the bug I had caught overseas;I promised that today I would bury myself with work and once the day was over it should be okay. WRONG!!!!!

I started the day with the wrong foot. First thing first, I nearly missed my bus before succeeding in scoring the last empty seat in the bus. Then when we arrived in the city, as I walked out of the bus, I spotted a wet patch across the front of my light brown skirt smelling of Apple Cider vinegar from the pickled cucumbers that I thought would be nice to have with my sandwich. I had to walk across the city centre with a wet patch on my skirt to find the closest toilet to dry it. Trust me it was hard being an adult walking with a wet patch at the front of your skirt, pretending as if nothing has happened. People must have questioned my mental age and uttered the million dollar question, "did she or did she not?"

Then it was home time after a much less dramatic day, I walked to my usual bus stop only to realise that evidently my super rich city council had decided to beautify ( the exact word they use) the area where my stop was located; effective from that Monday until end of June. The problem is, it was already beautiful even before this up-grade plan. This plan did not only throw me back as a commuter but also my Bus driver who had no idea that he had to stop in our temporary bus stop, causing me to wave an arm like a mad woman( and a leg if I really had to) to stop him. Not a good day for me.

However just to make y'all jealous, yeah...we had the bestest time of our lives. I will reveal of my adventure in due course.

Catch ya peeps!

Disruption at the Orient

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:10:00 +0000

Woo hoo, we have less than 600 hours to go before our long awaited trip commences! This is my first ever trip that is planned well ahead of the D-Day. Being constrained by time, we only had limited options with regard to choosing our destination as I refuse having to combat nasty jet lag 2 days before resuming work on a Monday. Indeed, places such as South and Central America, in addition to South and North Africa were out of the list for this year. Oceania is simply too small for us to gallivant about and Russia is definitely a no no at this time of the year as I doubt that I can survive a Russian winter even with the massive help of our little friend; Mr. Vodka.

Then I remembered a place I have always wanted to visit but for some reason I had never gotten around to doing it; mainland China! The more we talked about it, the more certain we were of our decision. Then one day we were the proud owners of two return tickets to China with a stopover in Langkawi, Malaysia, to thaw out our frozen bones before heading back home to sunny Brisbane.

Of course if you are in China you have to incorporate Hong Kong and Macau into your itinerary as these two places are famous for their eclectic dining options. I am a sucker for good hawker-type food as I have mentioned previously and I have no shame in admitting that my best dining experiences were reaped from basic little street-side food stalls around the globe. Oh come on, how could you say no to cheap and cheerful tucker? Even the Michelin Guide director agreed with me as they have just awarded their prestigious star to this very modest canteen in Hong Kong; dubbing it the most affordable Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. You bet I will drag my other half across Hong Kong just to locate this tiny establishment and I will demand that I must enter the magical world of Dim Sum whilst I am in the area. If you want to be nice to Shane, you'd better spill the address for this place, otherwise, I really hope Shane will bring his comfiest walking shoes with him for this trip!

Amidst the hype of our oriental trip, George Michael released the dates for his Australian tour. He will be in the country exactly during the weeks we will be gallivanting around China. Bummer! We were pretty upset and unsure if the lovely George would consider Japan or Hong Kong as stopping points for a gig or two before going down-under. The prospect of us being able to attend one of his concerts was looking pretty bleak. We had paid for our flights and booked the hotels to avoid any problem that might occur as a result of the busy Chinese New years festivities being in Beijing. Seriously I did not fancy having to sleep in the park in the middle of winter. On the other hand we have been waiting for this life time opportunity to see one of the best performers in the world performing live on stage. Then we did the unthinkable (well, not really as we had mulled it over for a couple of days). We decided we would fly back home to Australia from China for one of the concerts.

Sydney was out of the equation as it was logistically impossible but Perth....Perth is only 4 hours flight away from Bali. It is literally the Australian gateway to Asia. Neither of us have to be at work, in fact the two of us will be away from work for leisure, hence the most natural thing to do was to attend his concert in Perth. After a few online activities, we now pronounce ourselves the owner of flight tickets from HK to Perth via SIN in addition to our 2 great tickets for seats located right in front of the stage. Come on people, how could you pass an opportunity to witness a fabulous performance such as this one?

I admit it, we must have been temporarily insane when we arranged this extra side trip. Who in their right mind would fly back home to Australia to attend a concert which is in a city located on the other side of the country to their place of residence for just a 2-day visit in the middle of their overseas holiday? Evidently the fools happened to be Shane and I.

As I recorded our trip itinerary on the map, I was gobsmacked to discover how erratic our movements will be. Travel Pod deems that we will travel over 42,877 km. God knows how they get this figure but I reckon this is madness! I will definitely need a holiday from my holiday!

If you happen to be at the concert in Perth, by all means, come and say hi. We will be the two people who look as if they need a good night sleep. Better yet, if you wanna, we are always up for drinkies. Be prepared though as we might feel the urge to moan about our "used-to-be efficient" travel routes. I am signing off now. Enjoy the video, folks!

The Start of a New Era

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 12:38:00 +0000

2010. Wow, the noughties has ended so promptly ( in my opinion) and a new decade has just started. How was my New Years Eve? To those who questioned my infamous ability to stay awake on New Year Eve, be ready to eat your humble pie! I made it! Yes, I was indeed awake for the countdown despite the fact that we decided to have another quiet New Years Eve. However, we are consoled with the fact that we will get to witness the Chinese Lunar New Year right from the epicentre of the celebrations. Yes, I am referring to Beijing. I wonder if the celebration will be bigger and brighter than the Vietnamese New Year celebrations that we were lucky enough to experience in Hanoi. Let us see! I must admit I have high expectations for this shenanigans as we are hearing lots of cool stories thus far about how the Chinese in mainland China (particularly in the Capital) celebrate the changing of their calender.

As for the changing of Gregorian calender, I commenced my first day this year by accidentally coming across a lovely, scenic spot in between Tweed Heads and Hastings Point in the far north of N.S.W. Yes, that wrong turn we took at the highway gave us a sneak peek to a lovely fishing town named Fingal Head that is idyllically located at the mouth of the Tweed River. I shrieked as I noticed a sign bearing the words "Dreamtime Beach", reminding me of Dreamland beach in Uluwatu, Bali. It was like a " E.T. call home moment" for me, or at least pretty close to it.

As we were walking in the bush area on our way to a corner shop for a feed of local fish 'n chips I nearly stepped on a snake (luckily my other half pushed me aside just in time to avoid the head on (at least for the snake) collision. Having lived in Australia for years, I am fully aware that of the planet's top ten most deadly snakes, Australia has pretty much the lot of them. Man, I had no idea who was more scared at that time, me or the snake. It was looking at us, sticking its tongue out to size up the situation; on the other hand I was shocked and unsure if I should run or cry or both. Obviously the snake could sense that we were nothing but harmless beach bums, hence it decided to ignore us and continue about his/her business. Shane Attenborough, who is in no way related to David Attenborough as far as I know, quickly seized this opportunity for an 'award-winning' (at least in his own mind) wildlife shot. As I have a phobia of snakes, I steered well clear from its path and stood a good 200 metres away waiting for the Mr Attenborough wannabe to capture the moment for all to see.

Two hours later we found ourselves moaning and blaming each other for letting each other eat excessively (ahem, on the previously mentioned Fisherman's Basket of crumbed seafood goodies). Just like my best friend, the snake we had encountered previously, I curled up on the picnic rug in a comfy position, ready to have a bit of shut eye when Shaney poked me rudely and suddenly, pointing towards the vast blue ocean and yelling " look out there, it's a pod of dolphins!" Being as blind as a bat, I squinted and attempted to see where his finger pointed. Eventually I spotted the glistening bodies of dolphins bobbing up and down in the water. It was magical. If we were not high up on a cliff, I would have jumped into the water and attempted to swim closer to them for a better view. I immediately think of Bob, a dolphin my colleagues and I christened whom I used to occasionally see bobbing up and down in the Brisbane river from my old employment building. Only in Australia can you be in the middle of an urban jungle and yet you get to see a variety of wildlife from the comfort of your air conditioned office. It is so surreal.

Judging by how I commenced 2010, I really do think this year will be a year full of adventures for me. What can I say; Bring it on!

Nevertheless, there is an old saying that stated; Your Merry Christmas may depend on what others do for you. But your Happy New Year depends on what you do for others.

Happy New year everyone, may you have a wonderful year ahead of you!

'Tis Is The Season To Be Jolly

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:37:00 +0000

With such a high risk of sounding like the Grinch, here comes nothing: I am sooo not into this Christmas / holiday season thingy.

Yes, I am fully aware that I have voiced my sentiment about this time of the year previously and indeed my sentiment still stands firmly. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas grub and I love buying presents for my loved ones in addition to receiving them. But really these present-buying business means performing my Christmas shopping at the end of November, well before The Myer Centre in downtown CBD came up with a decision in regard to their Christmas theme decoration for their shop windows. The sole reason behind this act is not organisation at its best; nu-uh! It is simply my hatred to be squeezed among bunch of eager holiday shoppers who tend to saunter the shops for those special presents/ bargain or whatever they are after.

This year is even worse for me as I literally work within close perimeter to the most famous shopping strips in Brisbane. A simple trip from my work to grab some lunch became a tiresome chore. I could not walk in peace without at least bumping into a group of clueless peeps, unsure of which shops they would spend their hard-earned money at.

Adding to my misery is the fact that I have to take public transport due to the fact that Brisbane parking fee is exorbitant and my current job title did not come with an extra perk such as my own parking spot. My employer who is huge with its Think Green philosophy, always encourage us to resort to the mercy of Brisbane City Council Buses and/or the lovely people at QR. In order to assert their seriousness in reference to this matter, they have the most minuscule parking area ever. Consequently, the girl who used to loathe public transport with passion, had to swallow her pride and waved the white flag to the council buses.

Last week as I was walking from my stop to the building, at barely 8 AM in the morning, I was confronted by a group of painfully cheery people singing Xmas carols. Yes, it was not even 8 AM and I was not even fully caffeinatedTM as yet. What a torture! The worst part was, I could not get rid off the super catchy tunes out of my head the whole day and Irene, my colleague, starting to question my sanity after humming the tunes for a good half an hour whilst typing furiously on the keyboard.

Interestingly being exposed to the supposed festive season up, close and personal this year without the haven that my car normally offers, I became less and less sceptical. I must admit that Evan, Met's 1 year old and a bit son, plays a pivotal role in assisting me to appreciate the holiday season; referred by Met as "Gift Giving Holiday", a bit better. How could I not spoil this gorgeous boy across the globe ( literally) rotten. The holiday season is one of my excuses to send some cute pressies his way. Thus this year, I have decided to write to Santa and asked him to bring me a bag full of positive attitude and a bucket of patience to deal with these super keen shoppers.

And guess what, I will put this request to the test a mere 2 days leading to the D-Day. How will I do that, you ask? Simple, I will brazen myself a wee bit and yes, I will go to my local shopping Centre that opens 36 hours just 2 days before the holiday period. Is it suffice to say that I shall see you at one of the coffee shops at 2 AM in the morning? Guess it is! Catch ya later at 2 AM guys!

Dining Experience At Its Best

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 06:55:00 +0000

I have reiterated in numerous occasions as to how much I love good feed. I am more than willing to sample food from renowned restaurants with glowing reviews from prominent food critics to the small food stalls at the corner of some alleyways, providing they are clean. In summary, if rumour has it that they have great food, I will be there, ready to chomp everything in sight.

And I have just done so, for the past couple of weeks. Yes, I have been eating my self silly; not only to the grief of my wallet but also to the chagrin of my expanding waistline. As my commitments have somewhat lessened a tad, I found myself a bit confused with the extra time on my hands.You bet my imminent desire to play harder has increased immensely as a result of this. My other half and I have been designing a plot to keep us busy for the summer or at least until we leave for the orient for a month in February (more on this topic in due course).

Out of these gastronomy exposures, there were 3 separate occasions that made me go; "Hmm...heaven!" Interestingly these places have one thing in common, Asian cuisine. I reckon a certain someone is feeling a tad homesick. What do you think?

Many moons ago, when I was a fresh face gal who was new in town, I paid a visit to this restaurant namely Bali Grill . With the name alone, I was already sold. I was very happy thinking that I would get to taste Lawar, Timungan, Bebek Betutu and maybe if I were lucky Jukut Ares . I was in a fit of nostalgia thinking of the food that my Balinese posse used to prepare for us. Needless to say that visit was not a great success as I was confronted by a bitter reality that the the restaurant did not solely dedicate itself to Balinese dishes as what I had hoped for. It took me nearly 7 years to return. When I did return, boy, I shifted my opinion 180 degree, to the better. I had no faintest idea what I was thinking initially. The dishes at Bali Grill are very eclectic teaming up the best of both worlds where the West meets the East. I gasped with delight as I perused the menu and found my old time favorite, Sate Languan or fish satay, this dish is originally from Klungkung but can be easily found in Gianyar, my hometown, due to the proximity of these two regencies. I was in heaven. One of the dishes we ordered was Banana leaf Sambal Chicken and man, it had a great punch to your throat and nostril, it was super spicy hot and we loved it.

Then one day, yours truly found a review of a restaurant at the coast on trip advisor website. It sounded so good to be true. Hence as you do, armed with google and a phone, I called the place to make a reservation only to be told that they were solidly booked for the next 2 months for dinner but they were able to fit me in for lunch at 2.30 PM in 2 weeks time. Without any hesitation, I grabbed this window and off we went to Spirit House on a Saturday afternoon. Please see a video review from a very impressed punter.

Interestingly in this place I met two acquaintances who turned out to be parts of the restaurant. What a coincidence! I strongly recommend this place if you are overwhelmed by the city and you are looking for an alternative to get out of the rat race without having to submit annual leave form to your place of employment.

We concluded our foodie blast at the capital of Asian Cuisine off Brisbane CBD, in a suburb called Sunnybank. Two colleagues of my other half who notably are of Asian descent, have been talking his head off and commanding him to take me to some of their favorite eating places in Sunnybank. Eventually we took their advice and found ourselves sitting among other patrons in Lai Lai, sampling a bowl of conge that is supposed to be very authentic. As we had no previous encounter with conge, we were not all that excited. However the rest of the spread were abundance and very mouth watering. The whole mayhem set us back $ 14 for two. Yes, you heard me, $7 per person for a buffet style brunch. Hey, I am not complaining!!!! Are you?

If you happen to know a nice place to eat that is worth visiting, by all means, give me a holler. My waistline might be expanding especially with the numbers of candles I had to blow off in my last birthday cake. But what can I say, they are worth it. Bon Appetit!

From the Land Down Under to the Roof Top of the World

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:09:00 +0000

They call it "Traveller's blues", I call it torture. You know, that longing feeling you experience when you wish to be anywhere but here. The feeling that is so strong and it makes you wish your next holiday is anything but 3 months away from now. You count the days, you re-live your previous holiday experience and then...bam, without any further notice, you start travelling down that memory lane. Subsequently, your second sentence will quote that 'funny' anecdote from your previous holidays that are no longer seemed to be funny for your friends who have listened to the stories a bit too often for their liking. The polite ones will hint you by stating that they remember your stories very well or the not-so-polite ones would snap at you and say: " Cut the crap, dude! Don't you have anything else to talk about!"

For some unbeknown reasons, you don't really feel like reminiscing your holidays stories with your significant other as he or she was present throughout your time away and you both have reminisced together about your recent holiday for a good solid month as a coping process to ease your way in to the daily grind together ( reason # 1). Beside you fear that they might dampen your nostalgic moment a tad, after all your extensive developed selective memory will be questioned by them within second ( reason # 2). Yes, we all know you did not willingly wake up at the crack of dawn in such joyful mood to start your trek in such steep ascends and descends, ( Oh mercy!), bright and early.

I have been feeling rather melancholic , yet nostalgic about my latest getaway. I had so much fun being away from Brissy for months, living off Cassandra, my back pack. Doing what I know best, backpacking. Well actually I should say flashpacking as we have graduated to this type of travelling few years back subsequent to our release from the institutions we were at for 6 -7 years ( although some people refer to these places as universities). In addition, we were both on sabbatical (unemployed more like it for me; as I left my previous job without having any solid foreseeable future employment up my sleeve at that time). Consequently, on one morning when a colleague of mine asked me what Nepal, one of my favorite destinations in the world, was like; you bet I could not shut up the entire time and felt a pang of melancholy. I started to reminisce those softly spoken and happy-go-lucky people along with the food and the colour of the nation. I really wished I was there, just like last year when we had the chance to travel the country far and wide. I was in need to have a slice of Nepal. Thankfully, Australia as whole and Brisbane in particular can boast about having a multi cultural society as I do not have to travel far to get a taste of Nepal.

That very evening, I found my self sitting opposite my other half, perusing the extensive menu of Tibetan Kitchen, in our attempt to re-live our Nepali escapade. It was great to see so many familiar sounding food on the menu, such as Momo, Thukpa and the ever so famous Dhal Bhat. Unfortunately Tibetan Kitchen does not have this bread we had for breakfast at one of the tea houses near Poon Hill. Our guide said that it was a Tibetan breakfast consisting of a fried bread with this yum dried potato curry dish and a hot boiled egg. It was one of the best breakfast I have ever had; setting us back us not more than $1 for the dish. I asked the wait person if she knew this bread but she looked at me as if I had lost it. Any of you know the name of this bread? It looked rather similar to Naan, but I don't think it was baked in a Tandoor oven or any oven in that matter. Peeps, if you know what I am talking about, by all means, tell me where can I get this bread? Yeah you've got a desperado here!

Namaste!!!!

My Boss the Rock Star

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 02:21:00 +0000

Have you ever had the feeling that you are in the presence of greatness? That the person besides you on the street or maybe even a colleague at work was somebody other than just the usual ordinary Joe Blogg?

What if I tell you the person whom you respect (due to his or her capacity as your leader in a major government department and who obviously has a higher rank than yourself) was the up and coming, leather-clad, David Bowie rival/wannabe from the unforgettable or maybe make that the forgettable 1980's.

Whilst Simon Le Bon may have been sitting in his Soho apartment quivering in his shoes at the very thought of this young, upstart Aussie band knocking Duran Duran off the top of the charts, watching a video clip of The Promise and their hunky lead singer may have had others wandering down memory lane in fits of nostalgia. Let's face it, some peeps just aren't quite ready to throw that tight, fluorescent red muscle shirt in the St Vinnies bin just yet.

Even though the promise of this almighty rock band may have not been completely fulfilled (well at least in a musical sense) at least one member has gone on to forge a successful career in the most unlikely of places - the public service! Yes that's right! The lead singer, 20 years down the road, is now in a very highly ranked position within a government department. So now, instead of pushing off hordes of estrogen-charged teenage female groupies, he is pushing off hordes of intellectuals, academics, business types and politicians for the greater good!

So that's right, that nagging, annoying and demanding boss of yours may not have always been such a boring grump. If you are ever trolling the annals of YouTube, keep a close eye out as you never know who might pop up - complete with the big hair, spray on stonewashed jeans and dodgy 80's dance moves. It just could be your boss!!!

Dust Storm, Hay Fever , Steak and I

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:12:00 +0000

If some one asked me as to how I described my day yesterday, I would say "Dust storm, hay fever and steak". It might sound pretty random to an average Joe but let me tell you, this phrases summarise my day perfectly.

I started my Wednesday as I normally do on a week day: watch breakfast tv show whilst having my super thick black coffee before heading to work. The highlight of yesterday's morning show was Sydney's dust storm. I symphatised those Sydneysiders, but Thank God, we were fine here in Brisbane, or so I thought.

Walking down from Central station towards my building, I could not help noticing bunch of professional-looking photographers and camera people setting their uber expensive aparatus next to the entrance of my building. Obviously, I had no idea what mother nature had in store for us for the day. In my humble opinion as I was walking down, it was a lovely morning with fresh wind blew rather strongly, cooling the temperature down. In short, it was a perfect spring morning.

As the morning progressed, and being a hard worker that I am, ahem, I did not even notice how eerie it looked outside, until one of my colleagues brought my attention to what was happening outside our windows. As I looked away from my computer screen and walked closer to the glass window, to my dismay a dust storm had deposited fine red dust onto Brisbane . It was an impossibility to see the building next to ours. We could not see the building next to us, ket alone the river underneath us from my office's windows. I have never experienced anything like it before despite the fact that I have been pronouncing myself a Brisbanite for years.

Of course being allergic to dust and pollen, yesterday was the most uncomfortable day ever for me. Suffering from lightheadedness and rhinitis, I could not breathe and I felt like there was this huge cloud stuck on my head. I felt like that Allergy guy on TV ad. It was terrible; as a result my mood plummeted. Boy, was I irritable, yesterday?

In the late afternoon, gale force wind brought more red dust from the desert and it looked like it was adamant to stay here in Brisvegas. There was no other way to avoid it. I felt more misearable by the minute for not being able to breathe through my nose freely. The solution for this according to a certain Health Scientist was a nice pint of beer and steak from a pub in the Valley. I did not say my allergy dissapeared into thin air after this meal, but hey don't they have a saying that everything is always better with full tummy? It worked for me!

The morale of the story, when you are down and unhappy, the pub is always there, even if Claratyne fails to do its job. Rumour has it that this Saturday the 26th of September, we might be confronted again by a repeat episode of Dust storm. Oh gosh, does anyone know a pub with fantastic deal of happy hour? Pass me the wisdom, peeps!

Things That Make Me Go Ewwww!!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:14:00 +0000

I am assuming that Rene Descartes might sue me for plagiarism if he was still alive, but really what can I say in regard to travelling, other than ...I live therefore I travel! For me travelling entails not only adventure but also sussing out exotic cuisine and delicacies in the countries I happened to be in . I just love walking around and finding out what people label as food or delicacies. I might refuse to have some of them anywhere near my mouth but it does not stop me marvelling at how exotic they can be.

Once in Cambodia whilst travelling from Siem Riep to Phnom Penh, we were confronted by stacks and stacks of fried tarantulas offered to us through the bus window. Obviously prior to arriving in the country, we read about fried spiders being a Cambodian delicacy, yet looking at stacks of them on a tray being shoved to us by a female seller was pretty surreal. A mere 3 weeks subsequent to our encounter with the tarantulas, in the neighbouring country of Laos, Shaney was adamant he wanted to taste Cobra Wine of all things just to get a bit of an adrenalin kick. I was mortified as I refused to have my holidays in Asia shortened. The stall keeper was no help either as he started pouring a shot glass of wine for Shaney to try. Eventually I relented as we hit the night markets of Thailand by letting Shaney have a ball sampling those fried crickets, bugs, caterpillar, bamboo worms and other creepy crawlies. I joined in as well by making the most of my index finger by pointing and requesting stuff of which I had no idea what they were and frankly, I didn't want to know either.

My favorite country with regard to extra ordinary delicacies is Vietnam. I remembered sitting in a hip looking cafe in Hai Phong perusing their thick menu and nearly falling off the chair. The cafe had such an extensive menu listing not only animals I don't associate as food but also the variety of their parts. They listed snake, turtle, pig blood soup aside from boring culinary items such as fish and chips and fried beef steak floating in a deep plate full of oil with a sorry looking chicken or duck egg placed precariously on top of the beef 'steak'. I looked around, I didn't see anyone game enough to order snake head soup or ox testicle stew. Vietnam is also the place we learnt about the existence of squeezle or porcupine as a delicacy. My other half was entertained by a university in Hanoi at a restaurant that served squeezle as their specialty. Each of the Australian delegates looked at each other and wondered, " what on earth is a squeezle?". On the safe side, they just ordered fish. Toward finishing the lunch, he was challenged to eat the fish's eye balls. Not wanting to be outdone by his Vietnamese counterpart, he scooped the eye and swallowed it in one foul gulp. To the moment, he is still living the moment by stating " I ate fish's eye ball!" every time we have fish.

I am not that adventurous in terms of trying exotic food. The most exotic food items that have passed my mouth would be the chicken feet my friend Jacqui convinced me to have during a Yum Cha lunch. Even then I could not stomach it. I put my best attempt at having black pudding, Balinese blood sausage and Vegemite come near my mouth. It took me 5 years of Aussie residency to stomach Vegemite; even then the ratio of Vegemite and butter on my toast is like 1:3 after all these years.

What are the strangest foods you have tried? Care to share?

Testing Your Relationship: Travel Together!

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:14:00 +0000

In my travel experience, I have met numerous types of travellers, those who travel with their significant others, those who travel with their besties or family members, those who travel with a group that they happened to be stuck in, not by choice; such as a tour group ( oh I shudder at the very thought of being stuck in this type of travelling scenario), or those who travel with total strangers they have just met in a hostel or hotel of some kind. I could easily tick all of the above, including the tour group type as a few times I have joined day tours to get around a foreign land cheaply. It is a no brainer that these types of travelling put such heavy strain on human relation as I bet you wanted to kill that person or persons whom you were with at that time for things that you might find irritating. Travelling with someone for a certain period of time is worse than moving in with that person as literally you are living in each other's pockets. You wake up, have your meals, sight see and even make decision on how to spend your day with that person TOGETHER. It sure is a shortcut to disaster.

I have met couples who parted their ways mid- travel or two friends who refused to ever talk to one another again. Given your relationship history with that person, regardless, you are bound to have that moment when you are contemplating a third degree murder, featuring your travel partner as the victim. And of course, a few screaming matches are unavoidable an din fact they have taken placed already.

On my last adventure, I walked out of a restaurant and wandered the poorly-lit streets of a foreign city on my own after telling my other half to shove it to the area where the sun does not shine. All this drama was for some silly reason as he forgot to bring enough cash to the restaurant, of course I forgot to take into account the cash we had on hand might not be sufficient for dinner for two in Brisbane, but it sure was sufficient for a nite out at that country. I felt sorry for those punters and wait people having to see our "days of our lives" moment, okay it was overly exaggerated considering the fact that we tried to keep it down a notch and hissed at each other like a threatened snake.

This great Swiss couple who was on a one-year round the world trip and they have been together since childhood admitted to us that they had their moments when she told him to leave her alone for an hour to breathe. The old feller and I only had a quarter of their time to travel, yet I thought I was losing my identity. Is it harder to travel with your significant other than to travel with your friends or strangers? After all you have been together for years, you have been through thick and thin together hence, you have no reservation for him or her. Is that the case?

Looking back, maybe it is, at least for me. I remembered hooking up with some girls at a hostel for drinks one night after a familiar chit-chat at the communal room that very afternoon and ended up being one of the drivers of a van owned by one of the girls the next day, heading to another city. It was one of the best travel I have ever had and we didn't even have any spat that was caused by personality differences despite we were on such a confine space and came from different corners of the world. My bestest friend Monique, whom I travelled with in late 2008, told me that she experienced quite a strain in her friendship with one of our mutual friends whom she travelled with early this year. She said, it was hard trying to reach similar ground in terms of what to do and where to go each day as each individual has different interest and budget. Monique and I were lucky though as she literally left it up to me to entertain her and we had the greatest short holidays together and had solid quality time to catch up the lost time due to our places of residence.

If you think you are ready to test your relationship with that person to the next level , I strongly recommend you to travel with that person for at least 10 days to a place outside your comfort zone. You might be impelled to decipher that person's emotion and to utilise your inter personal relation skills to the very maximum. If you are still on speaking term with this person after the initial holidays: Congratulation, you got yourself a keeper, may he or she be your other half or your bestie.

Dare enough to give it a go?

Women's Movement : Revisited

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Women in the early 20th century fought for their right to vote and simply to be acknowledged as female.

In the 60-ies, women campaigned for their rights to be treated as equally as males, highlighted by the alleged bra burning incident.

In 2009, women re-established their rights by taking the opportunity to celebrate their womanhood by entertaining the bored sheep in the paddock with their essentials.

Some of the photographs were taken fromLOLstory " Commedio Retardio and Artemisia.

Desperately Seeking Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 10:49:00 +0000

I know I just had a mini break a couple months ago but I am already sick and tired of the daily grind. I am desperately in need of a good dose of holidays. Feeling the warm sunshine on my skin and the smell of the ocean with the water temperature no less than 23 degrees and top notch marine diversity. I am also happy to settle with a great hiking adventure with such breath-taking mountain views or even just gallivanting about a foreign city, soaking up the smells and the sights with my every senses. Yes, I am in NEED of a bit of adventure.

Unfortunately, I have to wait for 6 months until our next trip can eventuate. This is the longest I have ever been in between holidays. I am sinking!!!!!

Do tell me, why do we have to wait eons to accumulate decent annual leave from work? Ah well, at least this thought will keep me going. In the mean time, why don't you tell me your recent escapade, at least I can live vicariously.

Coupling

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 06:06:00 +0000

I was net surfing in my endeavour to get the latest news ( read: gossip) from the old country on a fine Saturday morning when an entry in a blog caught my eye. It was a very intriguing title in my opinion; How to Get a Bule Man . Naturally I clicked the link and read it intently, wanting to know what it was all about. After perusing the entry for a good few minutes, I got the gist of it. The author was pointing out a new book offering pointers to Indonesian women on how to bag that special someone who is not another green passport holder; i.e. foreign men. How intriguing! Without a doubt, performing some googling activity to search for a book review was imperative in order to get a better understanding of this book, as obtaining a copy was not feasible at that time.

I was gobsmacked once I found and read Erlinawati's masterpiece online. I am fully aware that looking for that special someone entails a lot of compromise and luck, but I failed to see that love for a certain race, in this case European men, is worth more than your love for any other men of any other race; in this case Indonesian/ Asian men. One of the main reasons as to why Indonesian women favoured the foreign man according to the author is simply because Asian men tend to see their women as their subordinates, not their equal. This notion was a legacy from the olden times that have in fact been carried on until today. My argument here is the fact that she failed to see even in European culture, women have also been seen as the second class for a long period of time. Plato once placed us, women, in a position that was only just slightly higher than beasts on account of our reproductive organs. In medieval Europe, despite being bestowed by nobility, the female courtiers had to adhere to several rules made by men for them. Centuries later, this legacy can still be witnessed in today's society in many Western countries, including Australia, where women are confronted by a patriarchal society. So indeed, the subject of womens' equality is not quintessentially Asian or Indonesian in particular, but rather an issue faced by women worldwide. I therefore think this is not a solid argument to favour one race over the other in terms of suitable partners.

The next question is, why foreigners? Why not your own fellow country men? I do believe the answer to this question is simply; boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love and live happily ever after until one calls it quits. Love comes in many facets and it is hard to pinpoint to explain. Two explanations I can think of are personal preference and opposites attract. If you ask any red-blooded Aussie males, their preference in females would fall under two categories; those who favour blondes, red heads and brunettes ( i.e. Caucasian girls) and those who favour dark girls ( I am expanding the category by including Asian, African and South American girls). Secondly if you ask them about their fantasy they would all tell you about their desire to hook up with some foreign girls' as however opposites attract.

Of course aside from the issue as explained previously, we also have to factor in economic issues. Women from certain cultures have been conditioned from an early age to marry well, with emphasis on marrying someone with good means who will be able to support and attend her every need. Interestingly, this conception is believed by so many cultures across the globe. A Psychologist, Collette Dowling, coined a phrase that explains this yearning for some women to be well-taken care of as the Cinderella Complex .

In short, for some women, love is not the sole reason to start a relationship with a man, as these women have somewhat succeeded in inter-relating love with their desire to be supported financially by their men. Hence, in Russia, women are flocking to workshops and seminars such as Vixen academy in order to conquer the hearts of rich men; may they be fellow Russians or foreign men . In her 2-episode documentary, Monica Garnsey has highlighted this complex issue faced by women in two different locations, Venezuela and Thailand.

Has love evolved from a simple boy meets girl phenomenon to something more complex where other life aspects such as economic and societal issues must be taken into account? Maybe it has. Maybe that is why love and relationships can bring so many feelings to a person, in addition to it being the muse for numerous great literary works.

Goa: The Ultimate Indian Riviera

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 08:08:00 +0000

Foreigners have flocked to Goa since the 15th century, pioneered by the Portuguese in their quest for spices. Centuries later, in the 1960'ies Europeans and Americans who were inspired by the rejection of capitalism and Christianity by Kerouac and the Beatles, came to India from Europe and America in their Magic Bus searching for adventure, enlightenment and a better world. The pristine beaches, lush jungles, the exotic land and the lovely nature of the Goans have made Goa a prime destination for these flower children . In the late 80'ies, Goa has somehow extended itself to a different type of crowd; the new age and the ravers. In the late 1990's, Goa has emerged to be the epicentre of techno music with its trademark, Goan trance.

Unable to identify ourselves to one group without having to reject the other; we were two of Goa's outcast visitors, so to speak . I have always been fascinated by hippie culture. Two of my dreams are to travel overland from India to Europe or vice versa and attempt to re-live the traders' silk road journey. Yet at the same token, I love to make myself look like a real idiot by dancing to dance music, as I am the product of 90's pop culture. Thus, when we set our hearts on a South Asian trip in an attempt to do the hippies trail as well as the trekking trail, I asserted my desire to Shaney to include Goa on our "must-visit destinations" list. In the end, we spent most of our time in Goa during our Indian travels. Despite its proximity to Mumbai, India's largest city, Goa does give you a feeling of it's separateness to the whole country due to its strong Portuguese catholic influence, its hospitable people and its serenity in comparison to other Indian cities.

Arriving from Delhi, we were relieved to leave behind the chaos, frustration and suffocation as a result of our encounter with India thus far. We shrieked with joy at the sight of swaying palm trees and the smell of sea air as were driving from the airport to our hotel in Anjuna Beach. Naturally a set of wheels was paramount and we resorted to a teeny scooter for maximum Kerouac and Moriarty moments. Our days consisted of feasting on the local food, dips in the pool and ocean, soaking up the rays along side the cows on the beach, exploring the sights and finding ourselves the best beach for that ultimate Goan experience; a pristine beach with aqua blue water and swaying palm trees. Shaney was in heaven when we met this dude selling sugar cane juice in equipment that looked rather ancient by the side 0f the road. I was so glad we did not have to resort to our stack of imodium the next day considering the water he might have used to produce this juice.

It is interesting to see how some parts of Goa have ditched their hippies-esque culture and opted for the hip Goa instead. Every inch of Baga beach was filled by Indian tourists with their budgie smugglers who were pampered with luscious massages by their masseurs. Even in the supposed quieter Anjuna Beach, being female I was subjected to Indian amateur photographers attempting to take my pic getting out of the water despite my best attempts to be modest. Our new friend (with a small fruit orchard that was attached to her head) was a wealth of information in particular when she noted many young males travelled hundreds of kilometres in order to capture photographs of female tourists in all their glory for their own personal gain.

As you do, a visit to Anjuna market was in order, not that we had to sell our possessions as yet to extend our stay, although if we stayed a day longer in Goa, we might have to do just that. The market was great, everyone told me that they had met me on the beach the day before although we mostly spent our days in the deserted Mandrem beach in the north of Goa. They were such characters and I let those cute gals convince me to buy a fraction of their jewelery, hey...I am a marketer's dream after all as Shaney has reiterated on so many occasions.

I say Goa will always be an attractive destination, even if you do not fall under the 'hippies' or 'ravers' category, providing however you are a keen traveller with an open mind and a desire for a l'il exoticism in your life. Just imagine, you, your significant other, a teeny set of wheels, and a packet of Kreteks. Hey, I was sold, bet you will be too.

From the Roof Top of The World: Namaste!

noreply@blogger.com (Unjaded) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Really, who would have thunk it, I was the one who made it first to Nepal despite Revan, my brother having dreamt of conquering the roof of the world, the great Mount Everest. Well okay I didn’t really go to Mount Everest per se, but hey at least I was at the world’s third highest mountain; within the vicinity of Mount Everest and in the Himalayas. Not bad for a girl whose fitness regime consists of an occasional set of tennis every now-and-then. Underline the word ‘occasional’ of course. In my dictionary, vigorous exercise translates as exploring my super huge local shopping centre from one corner to the other, in my attempt to do my grocery shopping followed by my usual checking-out-the-shops-for–new-collections ritual after work on my heels.

When I broke the good news of my Nepal travels to my brothers, they laughed in my face, well over the phone actually, and asked me if I was aware that this trip we were planning entailed walking for long hours each day for a period of at least one week. They must have thought I was demented or something. Well, I must admit I am not the sportiest person around, but hey I am not that bad; after all I have won a few sets when I played tennis against Shaney and even my dad. Come on, people, admit it, my forehand is GREAT! Even my childhood tennis coach agreed with that, but of course, it was sport and I begged my dad to let me out of the class. However, I could see their point crystal clear. I am more of a water sport girl, a few dips in the pool or in the ocean followed by prolonged sun baking with a great book in one hand and a glass of a cute coloured concoction teamed up with a tiny parasol on the other. Now, that IS my favourite sport EVER!!!!

As my South Asian escapade was getting closer, I was getting worried of my fitness level. I finally relented to an exercise regime Shaney prepared for us; hiking up Glass House Mountains and friends. In my attempt to achieve maximum results, I did a bit of collaboration between his regime with my very own; which was wandering at the local shops for hours on my heels for endurance. The result; I was able to finish the trek in one piece. The only casualties were my baby cows, i.e. calves (get it?) that were in pain for 2 solid days. Even our guide and porter, who were Sherpa, complimented me on my endurance and speed sans trekking poles which were highly favoured by those European trekkers. Every so often you would encounter these groups of young males dressed to the nines with their recent raid from the closest mountain equipment shops, grunting and pushing their way in such a tiny trail, only to be caught up again by us, highly dosed- up on Berocca and Dhal Bhat.

Those days on the trek were AMAZING. Being so up close and personal to rural Nepal and its people was priceless. Never again in my life, by choice, would I resort to ‘stair masters’ at the gym as I personally think it is nothing but a mean mockery to all those stairs I have endured in the Annapurna.

I fell in love with Nepal the minute I arrived in Kathmandu. I found the Nepalese to be very striking in terms of looks and they were very soft spoken and open to visitors such as us. Just a mere few days preceding our initial visit to Nepal, a new Royal Kumari was chosen in Kathmandu Valley. Mum, who has caught a show on this living Goddess on cable, instructed me to visit her palace and take as many photos as I could. Too bad, I did not get a glimpse of her to report to Mum.

We had a great month gallivanting about the country, living precariously (sorta) to be pertinent to our 2008 campaign title. Loading ourselves up silly with Dhal Bhat and German pastries easily obtained from numerous German bakeries. Can someone please explain as to why there are so many German bakeries, literally in every corner of Nepal?

The last place we visited was Royal Chitwan National Park where we were so eager to meet tigers and/ or Ganges Dolphins, instead we met new great friends whom we traveled across to India with, on top of the bus amongst the luggage. Oh man, that was exhilarating. I had no idea how I managed to hang on to my dear life, still alive and kicking to tell the story. Chitwan was quite interesting to put it mildly. We thought by staying right bam in the middle of the jungle would give us the upper hand to encounter wildlife. In reality, it was. We were amazed at the bio diversity of this place that offered us a jungle experience. The chicken, rats, giant snails, caterpillars and willy wag tail (or disco dancing bird as evidently they are referred to in Nepal) were in abundance. We did not even get to encounter a rhino or two. It was quite a downer, but hey…the best highlight of Chitwan for me was when Shaney and some other peeps tried to wash the elephants in the supposedly croc-infested river with elephant feaces lying a mere 30cm away from SDW ha ha…

Without any doubt, Nepal is definitely on my ‘must re-visit’ list and hopefully when I do, I will be able to do some humanitarian work there in my attempt to give something back to these gentile people as my token of appreciation. Namaste!