Going beyond transition

  • Remembering TransPersons
  • About Linus
  • Pix by Linus

Monthly Archives: April 2011

Singapore: the city-state to shop-til-you-drop

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Linus Posted in transgender, Traveling/Work .

Singapore at night (view from Conrad Singapore Hotel)

After the weekend in Sydney, we did our teaches and then left on April 9th for Singapore. Since my flight wasn’t until the late afternoon, I headed down to the Canadian Consulate to drop off my form to vote in the upcoming federal election in Canada (May 2nd). I have quite a bit to say on that and will in another post but right now, Elections Canada needs to change a policy. Otherwise, I lose my right to vote. Anyways, Sydney was definitely interesting and I have to say that I like Australian Rules Rugby. Definitely faster and more impactful than American or Canadian football. Even hockey pales a bit in comparison.

Lamborghini outside the hotel

I had flown Qantas to Sydney and used it to fly to Singapore, a flight that was 8 hours long. It’s definitely far more enjoyable than most North American flights. Now as some of you may know, Singapore culture is more strict and yet, more open. Sex and showing affection doesn’t seem that prevalent although one needs to be careful about the area that one goes to as there is a thriving prostitution trade. English is the first language but many people come from other Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, etc. looking for a better life (36% of the population is made up of “foreigners”). Interestingly, prostitution is legal and prostitutes are required to get health checks but propositions of sex is technically illegal. Additionally, Singapore still uses caning as a form of corporal punishment. I, personally, was on extra good behaviour and wanted to ensure I didn’t violate any laws along the way because I didn’t want to find out how pain that particular activity would have been. That said, Singapore still maintains one of the strictest drug laws:

Say no to drugs or else!

 

Now, Singapore is vastly more expensive than other cities we visited and it showed in the goods that were for sale. We even got to see a store that was selling a watch for $105,000 USD — and there were no security guards or the like. Expensive cars were the norm there including this one to the above. It seemed like everything was expensive in Singapore. As I had mentioned to a colleague, it wasn’t high on my list of places to visit because it struck me as one giant shopping mall. And it definitely lived up to that reputation.

The "Boat Hotel" (it has a pool, bar and restaurant on the "boat")

But it wasn’t just that. The hotels were in competition with each other and with Dubai. There seemed to be this desire to build the highest and most outrageous hotels around. There is actually a taller hotel than the one to the right and another being built to be even more spectacular than this one. Going up is big for Singapore, a place that has a density of 7000+ people per square km (compared to the meager 3.4 people per square km that Canada has!) One thing for sure, however, no matter how humid you may say where you live is you’ve never experienced humidity like Singapore. Every day of the year is at least 80% and the temp never seems to go below 28C/82F — without humidity and early morning. It’s about 35C/95F with the humidity! As we often say in Canada, it’s not the heat — it’s the humidity. I think that should be the motto for Singapore.

One of the students did take us, on the night before we left for Beijing, to the local market and got some durian.

Durian, the King of Fruit

Durian is known as the “King of Fruit”. It’s an interesting fruit to say the least. You’ll pick up on the smell first: very earthy. Now eating it is interesting. He did say that people generally like it or hate it. It’s very creamy in texture and I think I could handle a slice or two each year but beyond that it’d be too much. If you do try durian make sure to get some fresh young coconuts to drink and wash the taste out of your mouth (expect that it will probably stay somewhere in your digestive tract for a day or two). Oh.. and it makes the washroom visits rather.. err.. interesting.

Uh.... Washroom challenges.

Saturday afternoon I headed off for Beijing, very anxious. As a trans person who still has the wrong gender on his passport, visiting places where their cultural and society can make the US Christian Right-Wing look downright socialist is very scary. But, oddly and interestingly enough, I had not one issue. Perhaps a form of male privilege at work?

2 Comments .

April 3rd in Sydney, Australia

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Linus Posted in Traveling/Work .

On Sunday, I met up with a friend and he took me to visit the Blue Mountains, specifically the 3 Sisters. Before I met up with him, however, I went to get a massage. I had pulled a butt muscle. It was too much for me so I figured that a massage would help. It did release some of the pain but not all of it. It is always nerve racking to be somewhere and not know what options would be in place to get help. Hopefully it won’t worsen while on the rest of the trip.

Anyways, I took the train out to Penrith. The train system struck me as the same as Toronto’s GO train system. It was relatively cheap at $6 each way. It took about an hour and a half to get there. When I got there, I saw my friend and he took me to his car, which looked like a Bentley with the license plate of “Bling1”.

Neat coffee swirl!

Totally awesome!

We drove along the 32 to Leura where we grabbed a lunch and coffee. We then continued onwards and stopped in a local park where we visited some waterfalls and got to see the canyon (I cannot find the name of it) before reaching the main tourist area to view the Three Sisters area.

Waterfall before the Three Sisters

We hiked through the area and ended up take the “Brides Path”. When we reached the end of it, the view was awe-inspiring. For me, only few places in Canada reach that kind of beauty. What was really interesting was how few other tourists were around us. In fact, we only saw maybe two other people as we walked through the forest.

 

The 3 Sisters Rock Formations

It was so nice to be in an area where the air was coated in particulates and the only sounds were the Cockatoos squawking at each other. After hiking for a couple of hours, we headed back to the car and headed further up the mountain to the Blue Mountains themselves. At, I believe, Echo Point we found the tourist area but arrived just after the store had closed. But the canyon with the Three Sisters was definitely open. As we walked to the viewing area, I saw Buddhists praying and I could see why, given the beauty and stillness of the area.

The drive back took longer because of construction that reduced the highway to a single lane. On a sunny Sunday, this made it really busy. We got into Sydney around 7:30pm and found a cheap but really good Thai restaurant to have some pad thai (a whole $5AUS — which is about $4.50 USD). He then dropped me off at my hotel and I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

I didn’t get too much time for more touristy stuff for the Monday/Tuesday but on Wednesday my flight wasn’t until the afternoon. My first need was to head to the Canadian Consulate in Sydney to drop off my voter registration so that when I get back I can vote. It was rather rainy but I spent most of my time wandering around bookstores and doing some last minute touristy shopping. I got two official Australian Rugby shirts including a nice “Blacks” one. Australian Rugby is so much more faster than American football and you definitely need to pay attention. I think the next time I go to Australia, I’d like to see a game live.

Wednesday afternoon I took a Qantas flight to Singapore. Although I didn’t sleep on the 8 hour flight, I was thoroughly entertained with all the movie choices. Now, Singapore is very different than Sydney…

 

More in another entry.

2 Comments .

Kinda Wordless Wednesday (or maybe not)

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Linus Posted in Traveling/Work .

I’ve been a bit busy with work for these last two days (it’s Wed, April 6 at 7am right now) but I figured before I head off to the Canadian Consulate (apparently we have an election going on so I have to register!), I’d post a quick post about my visit on Saturday and Sunday in Sydney and surrounding areas. So I arrived in Sydney at 730am on the Saturday April 1. I had lost a day and apparently, my butt pulled a muscle in the process. I get into the queue for Customs, answer all their questions, realize I said yes to everything on the Customs Declaration form (e.g., bringing in wild critters, vegetation, etc.), redid the form and got through to get the luggage. I then got into a second queue where they would go through your luggage to ensure you aren’t violating any laws or such. As I waited in the queue a woman came along and asked me if I had any of the offending plant-life or other items. I said no and got a pass to leave the airport.

I headed off in search of a taxi and found one. Apparently the most well-known hotel chain isn’t that well known. I had to give my taxi driver directions to a hotel I had never been too.

Thank god for Google Maps!

I got to the hotel and checked in. It was interesting that my boss had told me that if I had Gold or higher status with Hilton that I’d definitely need to check out the Executive Lounge. I thought I had silver since I got a new card in the mail recently from Hilton that indicated as such.

Nope.

Me in front of the Opera House

I have Gold Status. Although my room wasn’t ready, they did give me a card for access to the Executive Lounge if I wanted to hang out there later in the afternoon. I left my luggage with them and went wondering through Sydney. I walked down to Circular Quay and found a place to have breakfast. Once refreshed, I then headed out to find the infamous Sydney Opera House. It was packed with tourists (big surprise, I know) and once I had seen it (and the bridge, although I never did get a chance to walk it), I decided to head through the Botanical Gardens. One reason was so I could see what was unique in Australia but also I was in a hunt for a cigar. What I didn’t know at the time was that Sydney has enacted even stricter anti-smoking laws than Ontario or California. I can certainly understand some of the reasoning for it but.. well, that’s more for another blog.

Anyways, I decided to head through the Gardens. And oh, what sites (see below):

 

Fountain near the Opera House

 

 

Big Ass tree (the trunk is 4 times as wide as me)

 

Another Big Ass tree (only about 3 times as wide as me)

 

 

Known as Flying Foxes, there are tonnes of these -- and they are ruining the Gardens (so says a plaque)

 

Once I had walked around enough in aimless searching, I decided to head back to the hotel. When I got there, the room was nearly done and so I headed up to the Executive Lounge to check it out. Free snacks, water, soda and juice with a view of the city that was incredible. I got into my room and was treated to a small but well designed room. And once my luggage arrived, my first thing to do was take a nice, long hot shower. Never had that felt so good.

I did a quick email check and then headed out to wander some more, this time in search of dinner. I nearly ended up in Sydney’s Chinatown but found a nice little place called the Pepper Lunch for a cheap but good dinner. I was intrigue by the things that looked familiar (e.g., Hungry Jack’s logo is actually the same as Burger King but a copyright name conflict prevented them from using “Burger King” as the name) and yet, were so different. The one thing that is apparent is that Sydney is truly a melange of Asia with accents and dialects of various languages from all over.

I managed to arrange to meet up with a colleague the following day so I figured time for bed…

More later (I’m seriously going to have to catch up soon or I’ll miss stuff!)

Leave a comment .

The 3 Sisters

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Linus Posted in Uncategorized .

The 3 Sisters Rock Formations

3 Comments .

March 31 takeoff, April 2nd landing

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Linus Posted in Traveling/Work .

To say that I’m excited is an understatement. I turn 41 today. In some ways, this is a very scary prospect. I’ve achieved middle-age and as we all know, one doesn’t get younger (yes, an obvious statement but still, sometimes we need to say it)

Way at the back of the plane

Today I go on my first international flight since I was 9 years old (and I traveled alone then too!). I remember flying Lufthansa to Germany to visit my step-father’s parents. Times have changed for international flying.

The takeoff had to be the longest takeoff I’ve ever experienced. And to make it more fun I decided to take an aisle seat at the back of the plane. The very back — row 88, the last one. The plus is that I’m beside the washroom and the self-service bar. The downside is that I’m near the washroom and the self-service bar. I did take some melatonin and a sleeping aid in hopes of snooozing through the maority of the flight. I’m avoiding caffeine as much asĀ  can so that I won’t stay up. I’m also drinking more water.

Because of the height this plane ends up at (nearly 39,000+ feet), the humidity is way low and thus, water is something that I will constantly want to have.

I did luck out, however. Even though I’m in coach/economy/cattle car, the plane isn’t full and I have an empty seat beside me so I stretch and don’t to worry about someone crawling all over me.

LOL. The pilot came on to tell us to change our watche to Australian time and that apparently they will go back Sunday morning.

So I lose a day but gain an hour.

Did I mention that it was exciting?

Oddly enough, I did manage to get some sleep.

 

More later…

Leave a comment .

Pages

  • Pix by Linus
  • Remembering TransPersons
  • About Linus

Blogroll

  • Arwen's Website
  • Linus’ Flickr
  • Me in Claiming Masculinity Project

Other Stuff

  • Cigar Newbie

Queer Links

  • Butch Femme Planet
  • Joe. My. God.
  • Polymatchmaker
  • Queer Canada Blogs
  • Queers United

transgender

  • FTM Mentors
  • Just Another FTM Chronicle
  • Laura’s Playground
  • Les said, the Better
  • Questioning Transphobia
  • TransCanada
  • TransGriot
  • TransGuy Mapping Project

Recent Posts

  • Day 105: Whiskey Aging… DONE!
  • Aging Whiskey (day 7)
  • Aging Whiskey (day 0)
  • Small House Idea
  • Tiny steps still move us forward (long post)

Archives

  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • July 2013
  • December 2012
  • July 2012
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008

Pages

  • Remembering TransPersons
  • About Linus
  • Pix by Linus

Archives

  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • July 2013
  • December 2012
  • July 2012
  • September 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008

Categories

  • Buddhism (4)
  • CIGARS (9)
  • Daily life (61)
  • Dreams (1)
  • Finances (19)
  • fitness (18)
  • Gratitude (22)
  • hate crimes (19)
  • LGBTQ (38)
  • Life (104)
  • Novel writing (2)
  • photo blog (15)
  • Politics (25)
  • Polls (5)
  • recipes (7)
  • trans activism (25)
  • transgender (69)
  • transition (72)
  • Traveling/Work (53)
  • Twitters (9)
  • Uncategorized (108)
  • vegan stuff (16)

WordPress

  • Log in
  • WordPress

CyberChimps WordPress Themes

© Going beyond transition