Another Kodak flashback

Time for another traunch of Kodak-era memories. I've published a few more posts on some of my earlier adventures. This includes my first time in China, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Read and enjoy.

• My first time in Beijing

• Exploring the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City

• My first visit to the Great Wall of China

• Winter on The Great Wall

• Visiting Bintan, Indonesia for business, twice

• A weekend in Taipei

Posts covering my first time in Beijing are particularly special to me. My trip, in 1998, occurred at a pivotal moment in China’s economic transformation. At the time, much of its original Mao-era infrastructure was still in place. As a result, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a China that’s long since vanished.

In the mid-1980s, while still at University, I recall a lecturer talking about China’s ambitious 30-year plan to transform itself into a developed nation. This extraordinary timeline involved growing its GDP by ten per cent or more each year. Incredibly, China achieved much of this growth in the time allotted, successfully averaging growth of 9.5% annually between 1978 and 2013. I was fortunate to see the last vestiges of the old world before it was gone. 

Next up on my list of retrospective posts are stories about my first time in Prague (I took my parents there in 1996), plus holidays in Seattle, Las Vegas and Japan during Sakura season. At some point, I’ll also capture my experience of backpacking through Europe for five months in 1990.

An Indonesian passport stamp or two

Time for another retrospective post. I’ve visited Indonesia three times over the years. Twice on business and once for pleasure. Both business trips were made to the island of Bintan, while my leisure trip took me to Bali in October 2017.

Bintan was a classic tourist destination. The island is located less than 130km north of the equator. As a result, dozens of tropical retreats and resorts are scattered along its coastline. It’s also easy to reach, thanks to a 45-minute transfer by high-speed ferry from Singapore.

My first visit took place in May 2000. At the time, I was the Managing Director of Text 100’s Australian office. Every year country managers from across Asia Pacific (APAC) came together for an annual offsite. Bintan was chosen for our first gathering of the new millennium.

I flew into Singapore late on 23 May and made my way to the Westin Stamford, the tallest hotel in Singapore (and the world’s tallest when it opened in 1986). Much to my surprise, the hotel upgraded me at check-in. As I recall, the fully booked venue had reassigned my room thanks to my late-night appearance. 

However, the upgrade was spectacular. I was assigned the Presidential Suite at the top of the building. It featured a separate dining room, dressing room, walk-in wardrobe and balcony offering unrivalled views of Singapore. It’s the only time, despite decades of business travel, that I’ve been upgraded to the hotel’s most opulent suite.

We caught an afternoon ferry from Tanah Merah wharf in Singapore the following day. I vividly recall its location, less than 500 metres from the southern threshold of Changi Airport’s eastern runway. You take a road to reach it that skirts around the airport’s perimeter fence. It’s one of those "behind the scenes" routes the locals use, rather than the arterial roads visitors take from the airport into town.

My passport reveals that we docked at Bandar Bentan Telani on the northern coast of Bintan. We spent four days on the island before returning to Singapore on 27 May. The following day I flew home with Singapore Airlines. 

At the time I was a dedicated Star Alliance member. I loyally flew Air New Zealand, United and Ansett Australia whenever I could. However, following the collapse of Ansett in September 2001, I gave up my Gold Status and joined the OneWorld alliance. These days I'm a lifetime Qantas Gold Member and have almost continually held Platinum status for two decades.

I honestly recall very little of my first time in Indonesia beyond a round of golf we played on the final day. We stayed at Angsana Bintan, on the island’s north coast. It features an 18-hole golf course, designed by Greg Norman, that’s popular with day-tripping golfers from Singapore, as well as those seeking a semi-luxurious golf break. 

I returned to Bintan in 2004 for another APAC Country Manager’s offsite. However, this time I was returning as Regional Director. My new HR director, Steven, decided an offsite in Bintan was an ideal way to curry favour with the troops following my promotion.

This time we stayed at Club Med, located on the northeast coast of Bintan. The resort is located next to another of the island’s renowned golf courses, this time designed by Jack Nicholas. Once again, we caught a ferry from Singapore and stayed three nights from 21-24 March 2004. I recall several memorable moments during this second trip to Indonesia. 

For example, I’d recently returned from overseas and found myself battling some kind of bug soon after arriving. Or at least I thought it was a bug. Years later I discovered that I was chronically lactose intolerant. As a result, in hindsight, it was highly likely I was simply suffering from a lactose overload.

On our first day, we gave everyone the afternoon off to rest and recover before we kicked off the event with an evening welcome. I spent much of the afternoon in and out of the resort’s pool. Foolishly I neglected the sunscreen and managed to give myself an appalling dose of sunburn. I spent the next three days sore to touch and looking as red as a beetroot.

I also recall wandering down to the beach several times. On my first visit, I was shocked to find the sand stained by tar-like blobs of heavy oil. These sticky blobs were everywhere and quickly made a mess of anything that came into contact with them. I later discovered that resort staff came down before dawn each day to rake them off the beach before the guests awoke. Of course, the surf soon dumped a fresh load along the shore.

Swimming in the sea inevitably resulted in exiting the water covered in black streaks. Sadly, the resort was prepared for this. It had buckets of chemical wipes in sealed foil mini-packs along the beach ready for swimmers to de-grease themselves. Needless to say, I only swam in the sea once. 

I never discovered the oil’s origin. At a guess, ships purging their ballast tanks before entering Singapore harbour were the likely culprit. Alternatively, the area may have experienced a minor oil spill shortly before our arrival.

My final memory of this trip to Bintan was the team-building activity we enjoyed one afternoon. Club Med offers guests an in-house circus experience. This included an outdoor flying trapeze where you can practice swinging from one trapeze rung to another. Your safety was always assured thanks to training staff, a body harness and an enormous net strung several metres above the ground.

Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos during either offsite. As a result, I’ve illustrated my Bintan adventures using images ripped from the web.

The best and worst of Bali

Garry has added another country to his list.  We’ve just returned from a week in Bali, Indonesia.  Sadly I’ve previously visited Indonesia for business so no new stamp for me. However, it was the first visit to Bali for both of us, so we were curious to see if it lived up to its sordid lager lout reputation.

The vacation was a last-minute decision.  Much to our surprise (and delight) we were offered a week’s free accommodation in a luxurious private villa by an industry colleague.  Fiona’s original travel companion had cancelled at the 11th hour and she was keen to share the experience with others.  In the end, we simply paid for our flights and within weeks found ourselves flying out of Sydney one Friday evening.

The villa itself was a gem.  Four individual rooms (complete with ensuites) encircled a kidney-shaped pool and private gardens.  The center of the villa features an open-air kitchen and living area that opens out onto the pool deck.  Two in-house maids kept things running smoothly behind the scenes, while a local masseuse and driver pampered and guided us each day.

Garry thoroughly enjoyed lounging by the pool all week while I took time out to explore a couple of local tourist venues.  In between our indolent moments, we continued to run our business remotely.  This all worked superbly until a systems upgrade by the local telecoms company left us without reliable internet access for two days.

The villa’s location in Sanur ultimately proved to be both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing because it was located on Bali’s eastern coast well away from the crass and infamous backpacking paradise of Kuta.  A new, modern supermarket was also available just a couple of doors away.  The local beach was rarely crowded.

However, we soon discovered that Sanur was also a long way away from many of the island’s best shopping, bars and restaurants.  This meant that dining out often involved a mind-numbing commute in slow-moving traffic for up to an hour in each direction.  Yes – you can dine like a king for half the price of a premier Australian venue – but only if you’re willing to run a daily gauntlet of noise, clutter and chaos to get there. For me, this stressful book-ending experience spoiled the entire evening.  

We were also reminded that Indonesia is a developing nation when I picked up a nasty bug and enjoyed 24 hours of diarrhoea. Despite these setbacks, we enjoyed a superb Sunday brunch at the W Hotel in Seminyak. We returned to Seminyak later in the week for a memorable dinner at nearby Meera Putih.  This restaurant’s interior in and of itself was worth the trip. Soaring white light-clad pillars capture your eye the moment you enter the dining hall; each surrounded by full-size (artificial but incredibly life-like) palm trees.

We also discovered Mandailing Estate Coffee quite by chance while shopping in a local mall.  This is certified Wild Kopi Luwak; the world’s rarest coffee.  I recall seeing news stories when we were living in London about cups of this coffee being offered for £50.00 each.  We bought ourselves a 180gm bag, enough to make 4 cups of coffee for five days, for less than $20.00. 

This coffee is famous for its origin.  It comes from the remote highland regions of Sumatra.  Here wild Palm Civet cats (they look like a very furry mongoose) feast each night on ripe Arabica coffee cherries growing in the local coffee plantations.  The coffee beans ferment as they make their way through the animal’s intestinal tract. This process neutralizes the coffee’s natural acidity. 

The coffee bean skats are then collected by the locals. Once roasted, the final result is a smoother drinking experience.  Personally, without an acidic edge, I thought the brew tasted more like instant coffee.  However, experimenting with double shot variations resulted in a satisfyingly strong but less bitter cup.

Our culinary adventure was somewhat soured a few days later when we discovered that less scrupulous farmers cage the wild Civets and force-feed them cherries to create an industrialized version of this famous coffee.  We found two such creatures in barren wire cages while visiting a local tea sampling venue.  While our coffee was the real deal it seems that many others are not.

When we did venture out the local sights were a little and miss. Fiona and I spent an afternoon exploring the verdant rice-terraced valleys in Tegalalang and a thundering waterfall in Tegenungan.  The terraces were superb.  They were the real deal albeit enhanced with paths and stairways for easier tourist access.  I spent more than an hour wandering the hillside soaking in the vista.  It was wonderfully refreshing to see something green after days of urban clutter and concrete.

Fiona and I also visited the Uluwatu Temple.  This Buddhist temple sits precariously on the edge of a plunging rocky cliff face.  Sadly, the idyllic location didn’t live up to its Tripadvisor rating.  We found a dusty, dirty and decaying temple complex overwhelmed by busloads of selfie stick-wielding Chinese tourists.  They blocked every path, crowded the stairways and constantly waved their sticks around like deadly Jedi light sabres.  The temple’s most iconic buildings were also out of bounds to all but the most fervent local worshipper.

Garry and I concluded it was worth taking time out to experience Bali.  We also agreed that if we were to return we’d base ourselves on the opposite side of the island and hide away within the walls of an appropriate five-star resort.

One final highlight: One afternoon, we drove past a store selling inflatable pool toys. The following day, we passed the store again and decided to stop and decorate our villa pool. This kicked off a ritual of random purchases whenever we encountered inflatable toys for sale. The giant turtle ultimately made it home with us, but not much else. Probably not the most eco-friendly habit.