03/07/2010, Singapore
Here is a short update! During the month of February I have experienced and participated in the Chinese New Year's celebrations in Singapore. First of course I cleaned, in true Chinese fashion, my boat, paid my bills and got ready for the year of the Tiger! On new year's eve I was invited to a family dinner with the traditional Chinese Lao Yu Shen dish. This is a mixture of noodles, seafood, vegetables and sauces. it is all on a big plate on the middle of the table. Everybody gets up and tosses the food with their chopsticks high into the air and mixes it. The result was fantastic and I am going to get the recipe for next year. In Singapore one can buy all the ingredients in one package... well I am not sure whether I will still be here.
After this initial dish, we indulged in al Chinese banquet with lots of dishes. My eternal question is: how come the Chinese in general are so skinny, particularly the young ones and children!
Singapore during the two week holiday season is somewhat chaotic, particularly in the shopping centers. One of the big events I attended was the "Chingay" parade at the Pit building parade grounds. It was fabulous and for your vicarious enjoyment I attach both a small movie.
As for the next couple of months I have changed my plans: instead of sailing to Borneo I will take a land-trip from April 7-29 to Vietnam. I am flying with my friend Vicky to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and then travel up the coast to Hanoi and fly back from there. I hope to share my pictures and impressions with you in my next blog entry.
Have a good year of the Tiger!
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XMAS LIGHTS ON ORCHARD STREET IN SINGAPORE
Time flies! I cannot believe that it is already Christmas again and a new Year is around the corner. I guess the older one gets, the faster the time flies by!
I have been around this part of the world already more than a year and still enjoy it! I really like Singapore, it is a city that offers a lot - concerts, theatres, museums, beautiful parks and particularly my favorite, the botanical gardens. I still have not seen everything and plan a "tourist" month in January to explore all that is still a mystery to me.
As I told you in my last blog, I have got busy with an organization that has for its goal to replicate a kind of On Lok. In view of this I have visited a lot of elderly in their homes, have seen nursing homes, special elderly housing, day care centers etc. etc. Not only am I getting very familiar with the lifestyle of the Singaporeans but I am also making lots of new friends. Well not exactly the usual lifestyle of an 81 year old but I enjoy it and it keeps me going. But inspite of all these land based pleasures, I am still very happy to live on the boat and I have a hard time considering a sedentary life style in Hawaii yet!
I am planning a summer trip to Borneo, Malaysian Sarawak and Sabah and the kingdom of Brunei. I found some people who would like to come with me, so it might become a reality after I haul the boat for the usual bottom work and checkup. But things are never certain with me but planning is fun.
I hope you are all well and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and above all a happy and successful New Year!
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Some pictures of my first trip to Singapore in 1968 and what it looked then and what it looks like now!!!!
(Don't forget that you need Quicktime to watch it (free download from Apple for all computers available).
For the time being "Dessert First on the go!" is "Dessert First resting!"
I must say though that this is true for the boat but not its owner!
As I mentioned in my last entry I was planning a retreat with Vipassana and did follow through. I took a bus to Kuantan (on the East Coast of Malaysia) and found a nice retreat place. It is in a quiet, isolated spot in nice tropical surroundings. There are cottages with comfortable individual rooms with showers. For the exercises there are large retreat rooms and for the meals large separate dining halls for men and women. During the introduction we were reminded there would be no talking among participants during the 9 days of the retreat. Meditation was to start at 4am and end about 9pm with breaks for rest and eating. No music, no books or reading, just deep concentration. Well it all sounded interesting but then came the reality.... I must admit to my defeat. After three days I decided I could not really take it and in spite of much encouragement to stay, I left in disgrace. I rarely give up, but I guess I felt it was better to admit defeat than continue to stare at unsmiling faces and kind of being a museum piece, sitting on a chair in front of the group instead of the floor like everybody else. I still, secretly, hope that some day I might find the courage to reconsider it, now that I know more intimately what it is all about.
After my return to Sebana, I prepared for my short sail to Singapore which I finally accomplished on August 28 with my sailing friends Eleta and Steven. We returned to the One15 Marina on Sentosa Island where I had stayed before. Though it is quite an urban setting after isolated Sebana, it is a nice place with a beautiful pool where I do my daily laps.
As I mentioned in my last account, I had been invited to visit Singapore by a local lady, Jennifer Lee, who knew about On Lok and my work in the USA and wanted to introduce me to her friends who are planning a replication.
Well what can I tell you now: my life has suddenly changed from that of a carefree yachtie to a very busy city visitor. I don't think that I have ever experienced such a warm and generous reception by so many strange people. As it turns out, Jennifer, a trained physician and former hospital administrator, is heavily involved with the Singapore government's health care department. I swear she must know everybody in the government and Singapore and seems quite influential. In addition she is close friends with people who are starting to work with elderly, among others the Tsao Foundation and their president, Dr. Mary Ann Tsao. This family foundation upon Dr.Tsao's grandmother's wish started several years ago to develop clinics and home health programs with the ultimate goal of creating an "On Lok" replication. She had visited On Lok during a visit to San Francisco in the 90ies and found this to be her ideal. Just as I arrived they opened a beautiful "living room" (what we called a day health center). When I thought about our dire beginnings in San Francisco in the early seventies, I was green with envie. (Pictures in the photo album)
Beside having the support of a foundation, they are also trying to get involved with the government. As everywhere else, people are becoming aware of the growing elderly population and so the local government is toying with a "capitated reimbursement " experiment for non insititutional care for the elderly a la PACE. Now does all that not sound familiar?
So is it surprising that they felt that I had dropped into their lap just at the right time. I let you figure out the rest. I am just not sure whether at 81 and after 16 years of sailing I am still up to fulfilling any of their expectations. In any case up to now I have enjoyed some of that volunteer work.
Of course beside all that I have met lots of people, given some talks and mostly enjoyed a city social life. I was even invited to a concert by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra at the Esplanade Concert and Opera Center.
What can I say? The first time I visited Singapore was in 1968...... The little slide show on top is the result of some movie pictures I took at that time and pictures of what it looks like now!! Quite amazing.
Depending on my success or lack thereof with the Tsao Foundations "Hua Mei" project, I will plan the length of stay in Singapore. For about May next year I am still planning on some sailing, perhaps to the Malaysian part of Borneo or Phuket in Thailand. Who knows? My plans are wide open. In the meantime I have rented my condo in Hawaii and am still looking forward to ultimately settle there. I just have a hard time separating from the boat.
In case you want to reach me, please use this email address: mlansak@gmail.com. All the others are not operational at this point.
Have a nice Thanksgiving!
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See photo gallery for pictures of my potential new homes!
Time, as usual, seems to fly! For the last two months I have been visiting the USA and making some major decisions. First I visited all my friends in San Francisco, Portland OR, Claremont Ca, Washington DC and Berkeley and then I got to Hawaii which seemed to present me with the biggest recent challenge: what will the future hold?
While I was in San Francisco I saw a good orthopedic surgeon who told me he could try to fix my knee but it would take about six months till I was fully rehabilitated. In addition I have become aware of the deterioration of my second knee. (So much for skiing all my life) All this can possibly be repaired but it takes time and after all I am just about 81. In the meantime the doctor gave me a good brace and told me to think about it.
So that brought me closer and closer to a decision which I have been trying to put on the back burner: when and where will I spend my final retirement? During my stay in San Francisco I realized that the climate there is not what I have been used to during the past 16 years. This helped me make the decision that I should look for another place. There are many nice places in the world: Malaysia where I am now is good for a retiree's budget and warm and welcoming, In Australia I have a retirement visa which would allow me to stay However, both are far from my friends and few of them have expressed an interest in visiting either place. So all this led me back to my original dream of retiring in Hawaii. I had thought about this during the past few months and therefore was careful to arrange for a flight back to the US via Hawaii!!
My first inclination was of retiring on the boat and I therefore made a reservation at KoOlina Marina on Oahu, a nice new place in a more isolated area on the west coast of Oahu.
Then I thought about a place on land in case I could or would not want to continue living aboard or could not face the hard sail back to Hawaii from Malaysia. My first choice was the big island but local friends convinced me that it would not be the best of choice for a retirement home because of the pollution created by the spewing volcanoes and poor health care availability and general isolation.
So at the end I chose what I never thought I would: Honolulu, near Waikiki of all places! But the more I thought about it, the better it sounded. Close to entertainment, activities and shopping a good beach and health care (in addition to a friend who is a geriatrician for Kaiser and is developing On Lok in Hawaii!!!). So during my stay there I did two things: one make a reservation for the future at KoOlina Marina in case I get there by boat.... the other I bought a condominium (1 bedroom with good lanai and a pool on the roof) close to Ala Moana). Another advantage of that location is that I can easily rent it out while I am still underway. So it seems to me I have found solutions for all eventualities (except the unexpected ones!!!).
Now I am involved in all the shenanigans of the purchase of property while physically far away. It reminds me of 1970 when we were in Canada and bought the house in Mill Valley. In any case I have a good realtor and both the purchase and initial rental should work out.
Now I am back in Sebana on the boat and wonder how I can ever leave my familiar nice home. Next week I will participate in a Vipassana retreat and afterwards head by boat to Singapore for about a month. I will be visiting with people who are interested in starting an On Lok!!! Then I shall sail to Langkawi in the north and see how sailing goes with my nice good knee brace. It might then encourage or discourage me from attempting a sail back to Hawaii.
That trip would either entail a crossing from Japan, a sail through the southern ocean to Tahiti or a trip around South Africa. All major endeavors which would demand good crew. So if you are interested let me know!
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I hope you can all access this little slide show of my visit to Singapore. Don't forget that you need Quicktime to watch it (free download from Apple for all computers avalable).
In March I spent a week on a motor yacht of friends" motor yacht in Singapore. Randall and Ruth Johnson had their beautiful boat "Dora Mac" built in Kwangtung, China to their own specs. It is like a regular home with all the modern conveniences and is even equipped with sails for emergencies. They took the boat from China to the Philippines and ultimately Sebana where I met them. Ruth and I got together because of our mutual interest in learning about watercolor painting.
In any case, in March they invited me to stay with them in Singapore where they were spending some time at One15 marina. Since I really love Singapore, this was a welcome reprieve to the relative isolation of Sebana. Singapore, since my first visit in 1968 has totally changed. It is now what I think a sample of a city of the future. Good planning for a population of about 4 m in a space of 683 sq.km (San Francisco's land area is 600 sq.km with a population of about 800,000 and is considered densly populated in the USA!)) People live mostly in high rises, though there are still some smaller homes, particularly some relics of colonial times. There are plenty of parks and reserves and even in the middle of town plenty of greenery. Though some people of cars (permits are needed since the number is limited) but that is a luxury mostly not needed. Between the subway system and the innumerable buses (and ferries) one really does not need a car. Since I have been here in 1968 Singapore has become very sophisticated. The cultural offerings have increased unbelievably. Today there are concerts, regular and movie theaters for every taste and a host of very interesting museums. What I was particularly impressed with, was the national library. Because of the fairly recent development of Singapore and the very strict controls everything is of a high technological standard. In addition the city is super clean and practically crime free. What else do you want?? Perhaps more individual freedom? Needless to say that one pays a price and many people feel hemmed in by all the regulations. I understand, however, that some progress is being made in this area. I wonder whether they will be able to maintain all the standards achieved with this development looming.
Ruth and I enjoyed walking around the city, Chinatown, Little India and Clarke Quai where we had one of the many ethnic meals with fabulous desserts: this time Italian. Of ourse Singapore is a heaven for shoppers and gourmets. You can get meals from all over the world of first rate quality. Two of my favorite outings were to the National Museum and the Botanic Garden with its orchid garden. At the museum there was a special exhibit on the Kangxi emperor, an outstanding Manchu Qing emperor who lived from 1644 to 1722. I am always again amazed how the Chinese, since my stays in Beijing in the mid eighties
have progressed with their archeological explorations and their interest in showing off their extraordinary history. This was a good example of the latter.
My stay with Ruth has kind of given me a real uplift and since I have returned to the boat I have made it a habit of practicing painting and drawing on a daily basis. Beside painting, reading, working on slideshows, swimming and maintaining the boat, I am so busy that time seems to fly. Now it is barely a month until I will start my trip back to the USA. I will leave on May 8th with a flight that will take me via Tokyo to Honolulu and then San Francisco. While in the USA I will visit friends in Portland, Washington and Los Angeles, so I am sure I will have no time to miss the boat and my life here. I will return to Sebana on July 22 and then head for some time to Singapore and later Langkawi.
Just today I had another rather extraordinary encounter. It is Good Friday and a holiday for Singaporeans. So lots of boats from Singapore have come to Sebana and I got a new neighbor. The lady of the boat happens to be Chinese and we got to talking about my sailing experiences. Finally the talk turned to my work experience. I talked vaguely about working for the Chinese in San Francisco, in a program for the frail elderly. Whereupon she said: was it by any chance On Lok? I could barely trust my earst! Well as it turns out she is involved with an elderly program and has heard all about On Lok. So the result is that I got an invitation to talk to people about On Lok during my next stay in Singapore!!! How small the world is!! One certainly becomes acutely aware of that while sailing the seven seas. Either people know the same people you know or you happen to have been in the same place at the same time without meetings etc. etc. It is is always amazing and interesting.
I will try to keep up with this blog even during my absence from the boat since many of you have told me that you keep up with my updates. So for today: have a nice day and summer or winter as the case might be!
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Recently a friend referred a young Swiss to me for a short stay. He is a member of couchsurfing, an Internet site which encourages travelers to find and stay with local people in various countries.
Well this turned out to be a very educational and pleasant experience for me. I learned more about the Internet and its many secrets than I have in years. The changes in this world over the past thirty years never cease to amaze me. For your enjoyment I include a couple of the sites I learned about in my "links".
I will be going back to the United States on May 10 and returning to the boat on July 22. I hope to see many of you during this trip.
After my return I hope to sail to Langkawi at Malaysia's northern border.
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