The Soul

I’ll never forget when I arrived in Singapore after living in Indonesia for four weeks.

I walked out of the airport into a country which was sanitised and ordered, where simple infringements were met by harsh fines and everything ran like clockwork. The first day I spent there in the CBD I had a deep sensation that something was missing, something not of a physical nature. The city had no soul.

In all fairness to Singapore over the next three days I explored communities which revealed to me the heart and soul of Singapore, the colour and the smells of areas such as Little India and Chinatown which transported you to faraway lands. But it still seemed all too Western.

Growing up in Australia I took a lot for granted, I thought that our way of life was the best in the world. That my house, my car, my top university were the best way to live and that anyone in their right mind would crave that lifestyle but I never realised what I was missing out on. I love the life I lead in Australia however after experiencing a different culture I crave different things.

The moment you step off the plane in Southeast Asia you are suffocated by humidity, it is sticky and quickly draws the sweat to the surface of your skin, making you uncomfortable and impatient until you adapt and adjust to the different climate. This first shock sets the scene until you try to conquer the traffic. While in Asia I travelled by local bus, walking, motorbike, coach, in the back of a cauliflower truck and becak all of which involved the manic battle for supremacy on the roads. Whether your enemy is potholes or the countless other vehicles it doesn’t matter as the goal is simple get to your destination quicker than anyone else. The best way to gain an advantage of course is the use of the humble horn if not to warn traffic then to remind them that you are there. I’ll never forget the cauliflower truck out of all of the modes of transport with 6 of us huddling in the back among the local produce winding past farms and rice paddies among spectacular scenery. The driver slightly amused by the group of muddy Australians who had approached him in his small village at 10am in the morning.

Noise is another thing I had never experienced to such a degree. The call to prayer was a shock at first until it became an integral part of the day, a way to tell the time and a chance to stop and reflect as well as a reminder to get home because you didn’t want to be late for dinner. The same went for the kaki lima, men peddling carts around town selling all types of delicacies some of which were foreign to me but emitting screeching jingles from their carts. People everywhere would greet you with “Hello Mister” irrespective of your gender or simply a shy smile.

A particularly memorable aspect of life in Indonesia was the smell. There was always a scent of something in the air from the downright disgusting and unexplainable to scents which excited the senses, delicious, rich flavours wafting through the air. This, I had never experienced to this degree in the past. It was the single thing that shocked me most of all on my arrival in Singapore, I could not smell anything, it was almost like losing your sense of smell all together,

Throughout Southeast Asia I have found these things, from sprawling metropolis like Jakarta and Manila to the smallest villages whose names I will probably never know. Furthermore between cities and towns these senses differed, each area with its own unique signature leaving a mark on me forever and creating a desire to experience and discover more of these foreign lands. A living soul permeating through every layer of society, not restricted by class or ethnicity, painting a picture for the senses and overwhelming you in every single way.

I am incredibly grateful that I have had the opportunity to grow up in Australia and live the life that I have been given however the soul never leaves you, it lives within you. We try to remember the noise, the smell, the taste of the places we have experienced. We attempt to cook the traditional dishes we sampled in street side stalls or bash away at unusual instruments and scour youtube to find examples of the sounds of these strange lands. We explain these experiences to friends, family and colleagues but deep down one must live them to truly understand them.

These are the things we treasure, hold close to our hearts and never forget. The soul.

Taal- A Filippino Volcanic Adventure

There is something particularly awe inspiring about volcanoes. They are a direct connection to the Earth, playing a role in creating and destroying the world as we know it. Without notice they can change landscapes, wreak havoc on communities and make us realise how insignificant we truly are. Cultures not only fear the wrath of these mountains but worship and respect them as vital parts of their lives and history.

Coming from a country like Australia without any of these living mountains on the mainland, I always took particular interest in volcanoes. I remember first arriving in Indonesia and my friend pointing out the highly active Gunung Merapi of Central Java and watching it puff out smoke and steam and being amazed. This is the first I had seen of these creatures and something I always assumed was a thing to be feared suddenly became an obsession, a love and most of all something I wanted to understand better. When I was asked to go to the Philippines the first thing I did was look on google for any volcanoes close to Manila which I could explore.

Mount Mayon looked amazing, its conical shape considered to be one of the most perfect in the world. However it would require me to fly there which was not feasible in the time that I had. Mount Pinatubo also intrigued me with its ferocious nature. It is the perfect example of a volcano completely reshaping a landscape, blowing out the side of a mountain when it erupted last century. This left one volcano, the closest and most convenient judging on the time we had available Taal Volcano. When I was told that Taal only stood 300 metres above sea level I was quite disappointed, this seemed like nothing compared to the 3200 metre monster I had attempted to climb in Indonesia, however all it took was a photo to convince me Taal was worth exploring. The volcano is situated on an island in the middle of a lake which features a number of active cones under water. It is considered to be the World’s smallest volcano on an island in a lake on an island.

We arrived at Tagatay, a small town on the shores of Lake Taal at around 3pm in the afternoon. This worried me, I had read that it was still at least an hour’s climb to the top and I didn’t want to miss the boat back. We hired two boats which were noisy and blew diesel fumes into the air but provided a perfect mode of transportation to Volcano Island in the centre of the lake. Looking down on Taal from the ridges around the lake there is a prominent cone which one would assume is the volcano itself, arriving on the island we were told this wasn’t actually the active cone which instead could be found to the rear of the island. In the heat and humidity of Southeast Asia we decided that we would hire some mangy looking horses to take us up to the rim of the volcano rather than walking through the dust. As we set off, the air was soon full of dust, getting in your eyes and up your nose which combined with the heat made for a horrible experience however my guide decided that the dust the rest of the group was kicking off was not for us and we quickly took off up the trail leaving the others behind us.

My guide of course had no idea that I was rather frightened of horses and riding them was not particularly a favourite past time of mine so without thinking decided to make the guide rope into a set of reins for me and told me he would run behind me while I rode up the volcano. This made me feel quite anxious which soon turned into a feeling of utter fear when we reached the ridge with steep drop offs on both sides and a two metre wide track. Finally though we reached the top leaving a short walk up the steps, and as is an all too common site in Asia, a battle through a number of people trying to sell you drinks and other useless souvenirs which of course can be bought on the shores of the lake for half the price. Reaching the edge of the crater was spectacular. The volcano came from nowhere and the crater itself probably was at least a kilometre if not more in diameter. The crater itself, was filled with turquoise water, swirling steam at a constantly warm temperature. It was an amazing sight and as the sun was slowly setting, sending reflections of orange and red across the landscape, it really made you feel small, like the World was so much bigger and more powerful than you. It was time to leave to make it back to the boats in time.

This meant that it was time to take the horses downhill which was not a prospect that thrilled me, especially with a guide who thought that I loved to ride. As I got back on the horse he told me that once again, I could ride the horse and he would run along with me. To enhance my experience he seemed to think it was a good idea to keep hitting the horse so we would take the downhill journey at a trot. That said it was not all bad and I did eventually get used to the riding and even start to enjoy it. We tried to converse in broken English and he informed me that my horse was named Likea because he Likea me. I told my guide about horses in Australia and the Melbourne Cup as that is about as much as I know about the equine world. We rode slowly through the small village and stopped at his house where I tipped him generously for helping me overcome my fear of horses and he directed me in the way of the beach.

As I walked across the beach, again bombarded with villagers try to sell me their wares, the sound of cock fights and requests to come and play volleyball. I stepped into the boat and as we took off across the lake in the glowing, setting sun, I looked back at Volcano Island and Taal Volcano and realised that even what may seem small and insignificant can be absolutely incredible.

Update on the ANU Carpark Situation

So after a good month of uncertainty about what ANU were doing with my beloved back science carpark while driving past last night I saw a sign which made me rather happy. The sign stated that the carpark would be opening on the 30th of August with 90 NEW EXTRA PARKING SPOTS!!! Thank you ANU you have made my life slightly easier.

Also this week the ANU elections are on. As per normal I probably won't vote mostly because I know very little about the student union and it's inner workings. This year has been interesting in terms of the elections as I haven't been hassled by student politicians a single time while walking through Union Court and am yet to see any members of the socialist party trying to recruit followers.

That's about it for now just a short update on the happenings at ANU. I'm a bit devastated I forgot that the Asia-Pacific Studies Society had free fried rice today for members so now will have to go forage for food in Union Court.

Untill next time

RIP Car Parks at ANU

I am proud to be a student of the Australian National University and in my two years studying there have had a number of wonderful experiences however I am sick of the constant struggle to find parking every morning of the week.

Frequently I am drawn into conversations with friends and colleagues which inevitably leads to the conversation- "You're a uni student you can't complain. Don't you have 10 contact hours a week and sleep in every day." For the record I have 13 contact hours a week and despite the fact I would LOVE to sleep in, if I don't make it to uni on time I don't get a car park. Every morning thousands of local students face the dilemma of if they don't get to the campus before 9am they don't get a car park. Last semester I didn't have classes before 11am so this was a massive pain and some days I didn't start until 4pm but still I would find that I was unable to find anywhere to park my car. This combined with the Government's love of selling car parks in Civic in order to turn the City Centre into an overdeveloped replica of Sydney while charging exorbitant rates for the parking that remains is ridiculous.

Some may say why don't I just catch public transport. Living in Tuggeranong, a good 25km from university and having to work (night shifts so finishing late) as well as having a number of other committments in Belconnen on a regular basis, I need a car in order to go about my daily business however ANU seems somewhat adamant on not allowing me anywhere to park. Luckily I do have friends living in the inner north which provides me with somewhere to leave my car if I happen to hit traffic on the parkway and arrive at 9:01 however the fact that I have to pay ANU $140 a year for a sticker to put on my car which recently seems to be more of an accessory than anything of any great use is unacceptable.

So how did I feel after 5 weeks of holidays driving through the campus to discover that the carpark I normally park in is fenced off and filled with construction equipment? I hope that this is in order to perhaps make my beloved "back science" carpark bigger however I don't hold high hopes that this is the case. I understand the need for more accommodation for interstate students and know that the University is in a sticky situation after an overwhelming response to their accommodation guarantee. The university needs to remember that a large majority of their students live locally and they should put just as much effort in to cater for the "townie" population of the university.

I love studying at ANU but would love to see some action taken to make it easier for the local students of ANU to park on Campus as opposed to in O'Connor, at the Botanic Gardens or just going home rather than having to pay $10.50 for a day somewhere in Civic.

A new blog will be up this week!

World Cup Fever

It's that time again! My favourite sporting event would have to be the FIFA World Cup. Coming from a family of football fanatics and having played and followed football for a number of years a month of football is a dream come true. So far this world cup has been full of a number of shocking results and a couple of awesome games.

Firstly Australia- Australia has had a bit of bad luck at the cup which has caused a stir back home. The game against Germany was shocking but realistically we were never going to win. I was tipping Germany to win the World Cup before their game against Serbia but now I'm not too sure. The second game with Ghana was alright, the Kewell red card was unlucky but the ref was just enforcing the rules and it would have been a penalty anyway. The Serbia game will be interesting and I hope we win but I'm not entirely sure if we will. Also I hope Ghana beats Germany for our sake.

New Zealand- Shock of the tournament! I can't believe how well the All Whites are going.. Their performance has been phenomenal, I thought they were going to be the worst team at the tournament however North Korea has taken that title after the game with Portugal. I'd really like to see the Kiwis make the second round just for fun.

Best Game- Argentina vs South Korea. So far this has been my favourite game however the goals scored in the first half were very sloppy. I think Argentina could be one of the top teams in the tournament and could possibly take it out.

The best part about the World Cup is there is still another 2 weeks to go. This has definetly inspired me to go and watch the next World Cup if we qualify/I manage to save the money.

That's about it for now my puppy dog is wanting my attention so I should probably play with her

Escaping the Cold

With the June Long Weekend came the perfect chance to escape the cold of Canberra and head up to Brisbane for the Australian Judo National Championships.

When I got to Canberra Airport at 7:30am on the Friday morning it was around -5 degrees.. This of course brought with it a great deal of fog, closing the airport for about an hour and delaying my flight. However once we got on the plane (Virgin Embraer 190) it was smooth sailing up to Brisbane. I love flying Virgin Blue the staff are friendly and the planes are always clean and comfortable. Arriving in Brisbane we got a bus to our team accommodation the Hillcrest Central at Southbank. The apartments were great! We had 2 bedroom apartments with full kitchens, bathroom and balconies. The hotel had a spa, pool and sauna (which was well used by the judo team) and we were a 10 minute walk from the Southbank restaurants in one direction and the Gabba and shopping centre in the other.

View to Brisbane CBD from the hotel

As for what we did while we were up there it was the typical Judo trip meaning 90% of our time was taken up by judo and making weight, that said I managed to get a lot of uni assessment done and watched great movies such as Stick It, Bend it Like Beckham (my favourite movie) and Major Payne. We also went into Ginga a Japanese restaurant in Southbank which is a favourite of mine and the Torikatsu once again was delicious. While I was there I also went for a walk along the river and saw the gallery and theatres, a drive to Southbank turned into a tour of the CBD one night which was quite nice. On the last night we went to a club called the Normanby which was quite amazing due to the sheer size and how busy it was on a Sunday. (Although it was a public holiday which explained how busy it was)

There was some good judo over the weekend with some big ippons and some fantastic results for the ACT team. I wasn't particularly happy with my first fight where I managed to waste the best draw that will probably ever be given to me at Nationals. One interesting thing was that the gold medallists were given pineapples as well as medals which was problematic as you can't take fruit out of Queensland.

Coming home I flew QANTAS which was once again disappointing with service and cleanliness nowhere near as good as Virgin.

Well that's it for Nationals this year. It was probably one of the best Nationals I've been to and next year we are going to Perth which will be interesting.