Monsieur OO travel adventures

2009-05-06T07:15:00.001+08:00

2009-05-06T07:10:00.001+08:00

Borneo mon amour 3 - Kinabalu park

2008-03-02T10:36:00.007+08:00

more than 1500m above sea level, the Kinabalu park seems untouchable and yet very welcoming. despite colder temperatures, we decided to have a go at a few trails.
relaxing is probably the best thing to do in such a place, and if you go there, plan a whole week, so you can hike the mount Kinabalu !

Borneo mon amour 2 - our jungle trip

2008-03-02T10:24:00.007+08:00

In January 2008, down in the Kinabatangan jungle, two Europeans were talking to monkeys and listening to birds. Crocodiles and snakes were also part of the everyday life.

Borneo mon amour 1 - our lodge in Sepilok

2008-03-02T10:19:00.004+08:00

Thailand - Krabi - Elephants

2008-01-24T20:55:00.000+08:00

elephant "trekking"

Bangkok - Temples, Shopping centres, train to Surat Thani

2008-01-24T20:39:00.000+08:00

we just bought a memory card, hence the first pics taken on day 3...

Thailand - Krabi Ao Nang and Phra Nang Beach

2008-01-24T20:26:00.000+08:00

Hi Everyone/ Bonjour tout le monde

no time to write about Thailand, so watch the pics. we'll tell you more later.
enjoy

Peu de temps pour ecrire des textes esoteriques, mais promis, on vous en parlera un jour!
Et voila !

a BIG thanks to Flo

2007-04-24T13:11:00.000+08:00

Hi all

everyone needs to know about it : Flo have been a very good host in Shanghai...come and visit him!!

had a room for myself, a bed, and even his computer !

Just a few pics to show you the view from my room, which is quiet amazing : People's Square from the 12th floor. Perfect location, in what is probably the best Chinese city to visit right now.

Well done, and thanks Flo.

see you soon, as back in London on wednesday 25th...hopefully (flying with Aeroflot via Moscow, and landing at Heathrow must not be the easiest way to get back home though).

Oliv

Yangshuo - Bike trip & sunburning lesson

2007-04-21T12:41:00.000+08:00

River Li boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo

2007-04-21T12:29:00.000+08:00

Beijing 798 District - the pics

2007-04-21T12:17:00.000+08:00

what we read in the press

2007-04-15T18:11:00.000+08:00

Time out in Beijing is FREE!!!

i read an article about clinics to help internet addicts to overcome their problems with the internet. apparently, most 15-20 years old in Beijing spend more than 38.5 hours a week on the internet...which led the almighty government to take drastic decisions like
- some internet cafe are actually "18+"
- no more internet cafe to open in Beijing !
- cafes need a license to be opened after midnight...

A striking figure : the average 15-20 y.o have 6.7 msn-like accounts, which makes they number one in the world. from 137 million users to an estimated 190 million by the end of the year...

Olivier

a note for my darling

2007-04-15T18:10:00.002+08:00

I miss u !

and dont worry about the fact that i meet a lot of chinese girls, they actually are much more friendly and less interested than men. and so much nicer to talk to (they only spit once in a while).

Miss u !

Olivier

Beijing - it's bigger than big

2007-04-15T17:47:00.000+08:00

Hi all !

train to Beijing
1st class is really nice, and there is no use saving 5 quid to travel 2nd class...easy to get anywhere from the train station in Beijingm its just a dew miles away from Tiananmen sq.

Forbidden City
WOW
the busiest place on Earth? full of Chinese tourists with megaphones, red or white caps, and camera always on (are they only looking with their eyes?).
Actually must be a very nice place to hang out when empty. it's really clean, and well restored. indeed, half of the most beautiful temples were covered by ugly green plastic , because they are cleaning everything for the olympics.

The youth hostel
I was lucky enough to find a devoted but decided Chinese girl at the train station, who helped me to find a hostel, in the hip part of Beijing. indeed, the city is so big, that to cover 2cm on the 30cm map, we had to take the tube for 30 minutes, and then walk for 45 minutes! "but Hey ! thats Beijing " she told me..."ok no worries, i like to walk"...
the hostel is in ChaoYang (East), and i m very surprised to find a very clean place, with hot water 24/7...
roomates : a chinese student...he s just spending 10 days in beijing to study, but i couldnt figure out what , or why he spends his day in the room, writing what seems to be millions of pages, at an incredible speed...

On my first night in Beijing, i was introduced to Sinlutan, the hippest place to party...lots of white people of course...was a last minute split decision, because 3 australian girls arrived at the hostel at 11.00pm. one of them was welcoming here friends, and as she s been living here for a while, she knew where to go.

Sinlutan : chinese cheesy music, with half naked singers (who actually cant sing, but you know, it draggs white male in...)...
BUT behind the scenes, or should i say in a very close street, you can find the most crowded place in town . from 12 to 4pm, i had approximately 12 drinks (shots included)...and had lots of fun. even met a british guy who worked in the city (finance of course), and is now travelling in china because he can live on the interest of his capital invested (smart enough to be retired at 30).
anyway, in a few words, its a matter of luck in Beijing. you meet people, or you speak chinese. if you cant manage any of that, please, dont come to china.

Got lost in Beijing during these few days, took pictures with my brand new (fake) disposable kodak camera, and could eventually buy a charger for my sonyericsson yestrerday, and could take 100 pics today.

798 ARt district

huge artistic place, where you can find every kind of art you are looking for. everything is made in china of course, except a few exhibitions.
you actually cant think about a better place to be creative. this is a sort of ex-fatory site (or is the factory still working?), which must easily cover 5 sq km (not joking). about 150 galleries i would say, but i could only visit 70-80 in my 7 hour trip.

i met a group of chinese art students there, and thank God, they spoke English.

thats it for today, the keybord is awful (forgive my typing, can barely read the letters on the keybord, and the space bar is working once in a while - been writing for 30 minutes now, for 20 lines!!!)
flying to Guilin tomorrow morning, early start, plane at 7.25 am !

see ya!

oliv

People everywhere - the perfect tourist trip

2007-04-10T22:38:00.000+08:00

Flo fighting an invisible shaolin warrior - or communicating with Nature...Kung Fu Master he is !

People's Square - Flo's neighbourhood

2007-04-10T22:03:00.000+08:00

a surrealist picture. the Radisson

Another building

From People's square, looking North

well, a tower

A mother and her child

first shot of the day...screwed up with the camera

Hong Kong Plaza - Huai Hai Lu

2007-04-10T21:42:00.000+08:00

People's Square - afternoon rush

2007-04-10T21:38:00.000+08:00

Near Huai Hai Park, bikes everywhere

2007-04-10T21:35:00.000+08:00

Picture

2007-04-10T21:30:00.000+08:00

Some pics of the City centre

--
Olivier

quick update - good time in Shanghai and travel planned to Beijing and Guilin

2007-04-10T19:22:00.000+08:00

lots of things to say, not much time to write...

Yesterday - Monday sometime in April
Meeting with LinLin at 3 pm Hangpi Lu station. Easiest for both of us.
Then been on a trip to Jigan Si - a temple in Shanghai - and wandered around the small streets of the old French Concession.
dinner at a very good Korean restaurant, and visit of the renovated district in the city centre, where the communist party declared they will rule the world (that was sometime in the old 20th century)...
Then went to Babyface on my own at 10pm, had a drink - a mixer of JD & Coke, for 40RMB - and came back home.
Flo was not inclined to any conference call or whatever, but chilling on the sofa...we had another drink then...

Today - 10th April
Wow, jetlag and stupid cold (hopefully not a certain kind of flue) , I wake up feeling weird. On holidays, but already so busy. Need to meet LinLin at 12 somewhere in Pudong. Quick shower, a croissant and pint of water, run to peoples square tube station to jump on a Line2 service, to Gongchang Road in the heart of the new financial district, on the other side on the Bund. (those who know, know. but this 'new' city, is absolutely gigantic. Spaceships-like buildings surround huge roundabouts, where walking is like fighting for your rights. you re alive, so prove it! If you cant cope with the morning train fight in London or Paris, dont even think about it here...
ok, so then, visit of the Central Avenue Park (at the end of the 'highway' which crosses the new city). An old park apparently, a communist oldskool one, which was actually quiet classy, with many employees working hard, very hard. a lake, birds everywhere, a 1ha yellow flower field...
back to Shangxi road, to finally go to Starbucks because the place where they made fruit juices was closed.

And its 8 oclock now here, we will probably have some quick and cheap food at the Megabite (no thats not a Virgin company) , watch a DVD and get a massage.

See ya all, take care of your neighbour, love your family, peace and equality to all,

Olivier - 10th April 2007

Hangzhou

2007-04-08T13:37:00.000+08:00

We woke up quite early today, to go to Hangzhou (south of Shanghai). As we couldnt book any ticket yesterday, we decided to go to the train station and buy our tickets for the same day. took a vert modern and efficient tube (I reapeat to TFL attention, Very efficient and very moder, ijn China), litterally visited the brand-new-spaceship 'South railway station'. Reached the ticket office, and faced 2 typical traditional social dilemma:
- 'the art of queueing'
- 'how to talk to a civil servant'...in Chinese!?
what matters if you want to manage effectively these situations: just dare - do it! if you think too much, they already take advantage of you. Fast and straight to the point, always check that they understood what you said. It's not about being British here, politeness is quasy non existant. they are not that much into empathy.

Back to the train story -
Unfortunately, there was no tickets left for the train back on the same day. We had to call someone to help us - a hotline for expatriates, where someone can translate for us, or even talk to the Chinese host.
it turned out that the only alternative was to stand in the train, what I didnt want to do with a running nose, and a feeling that I m ill...but Mum, dont worry, I took a little pharmacy with me, and already feel better!

Therefore we went shopping in the old colonial district of Shanghai, where churches rise high, and fakes are originals.

Flo is resting now, I might take a nap as well, because I m on holidaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy !!!

A bientot !

Olivier

Shanghai - the way of life

2007-04-08T13:04:00.000+08:00

the hot spot of Asia
I dont know why, but Shanghai sounded like a good spot to hang out with my mate Flo. , a place to feel Asia like a modern dandy - not like the white shark waiting to grabb a piece of the cake.

eat a lot
my days are once again a deep reflection of my way of life in Western Europe. Shopping, eating out (who wouldnt for a massive meal with drinks @ 2 pounds each)...testing as I much as I can local food.

chill out and walk fast at the same time, your steps between typical "watch cheap, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren good price for you" and "lady bars, come on, lady bars"...the almighty capitalist spread has brought glass buildings, 30 storeys high LED and LCD screens, the Audi A8, and indeed Mc Donalds.

What a contrast
What we read in the papers
Staring at the economics of China a few weeks ago..."why not" was my first thought, the figures do never lie. It is said that China is experiencing what the old world had experienced 100 years ago. Today, we can read that people leave the countryside, to live in industrial cities; that Americans, French and English are driving the 'comptoirs' as it used to be...etc...

My first impression
"really looks like the States" - really heavy customs procedures (including queueing for a Visa in London ), people who make no effort to understand you, very heavy pressure on the tourist (in all fairness, much more in China!!!)

Lost
In Shanghai, I do actually get lost all the time. and 48 hours after touching down at Pudong, I can barely take the lift to the 3rd floor of my where Flo lives.

Before I forget
Foot reflexology is fortunately one thing which ticks all the boxes: very relaxing, useful, traditional, cheap, convenient, 24/7...for RMB38 (2.5 pounds) you get 45 minutes, a hot tea.
And by the way, "blind people do it better".

Talk to you tomorrow

thanks for coming. be my guest

2007-04-08T13:03:00.001+08:00