To Veil or not to Veil?

Such a deeply personal question, and not really one that I want to wade into blindly, but after reading this article on the BBC site, I thought about my experiences in Asia, and in particular, Kuala Lumpur.

I was thinking about when I first encountered the niqa-b how intimidating/confronting it was. It really was a bizarre thing to feel, but in a hotel lobby in KL around school holiday time for the Arab states, KL is a holiday destination for many of the arabic population, the initial 'fear' that I felt of these people, clad from head to toe in black; a very slight slit to reveal just a touch of the eyes. Was a very strange emotion.

In some respects I think it was fear of the unknown. I couldnt get an emotional 'gauge' - was she happy, sad, pissed off. And that was very un-nerving.
Kinda like that blank face you encounter at a presentation, but worse, cos blank gives you something to work with :)

On another level, I thought what a totally impractical dress routine for this climate...full length, jet black, and its 30+ degrees outside?! Are you insane?!

The more and more I visited KL, and the more I encountered the niqa-b, hija-b or burqa on the street, in cafe's, hotels, cabs, the more I became used to it. However, I still have a somewhat slightly un-nerving feeling when confronted with a niqa-b.

Now obviously practices of thousands of years aint gonna change to placate Simo's 'fear of the dark', but if I feel this way, many more must do. And I wonder how many people who would normally not be in any way predjudiced might act slightly differently when confronted by this 'dress'.

Its an interesting thought.

Heavy man!! On a lighter side, I was once staying in the Darby Park Apartments in KL, on or around the 10th floor.
So one morning I wake up and the sun is piercing through the windows, and its only 6:15am.
I get up, make a coffee, flick on CNN and think about the day.
Head out to the balcony and hear all sorts of laughter and activity in the pool area below.

So I look down at the strangest and most bizarre sight.
Approx 12 ladies & girls dressed head to toe in niqa-b & hija-b IN THE POOL!!!! Clothed head to toe. Chuckin beach balls, running and jumping all dressed in the full nine yards black dress.
For me growing up in a culture where poolside clothing was a pair of boardies for guys or for ladies a one, two or no piece (!!) costume, this was an odd one!!!
So I had a chuckle and wandered back inside to CNN normality...hmmm, that doesnt fit!!

Jet Lagged

So, its 6:15am on a Monday, and I havent slept overnight. My body clock is all outa whack and its been 4 days since I got back from Europe.

I had a great trip out to London last week.

Both professionally and personally had a great time. Met with a few design firms that service one of my clients through Europe.

Shared some great ideas and came back with many an action point!!!

I also met with Nikkei Business Publications representatives and have been invited out for dinner in Tokyo when I'm up there towards the end of December :) Free dinner...woohoo!!

I had an opportunity of catching some friends that I hadnt seen for sometime and a BIG bonus was the treat to get out to Fulham vs Everton @ Craven Cottage...a big treat for a soccer nut!!
The game ended in a loss to the toffees, but hey, I got in a game :)

After the game spent an hour or so wandering along the Thames in Fulham. What a beautiful part of London. And the weather was fantastic.
Saturday afternoon was spent catching up with more friends and colleagues, and Saturday night was spent preparing for Monday meetings.

On Sunday I went and ran around a bunch of the sights of London. Regent Street, Apple Store, Piccadilly Circus, Nelsons Column, National Gallery, Covent Garden,
Harrods and everywhere inbetween. After that, it was an early dinner, followed by a pint in the pub with a few colleagues, and finished with prep for Tuesday's meetings. (and a night of work for a Singapore client :( )

Here are a few photos from the whistle stop tour of London.


This sign was a few hundred metres up the road from my hotel, right near Russell Square - the site of the London Terror attacks in 2005. When I last lived in the UK, I spent quite a bit of time in this part of London, but it really hit home that Russell Square, the tube station and the surrounds were significant parts of my life back then...this combined with missing the second Bali bombings by a few days really made me sit back and think.


A beautiful cold dusk in London, looking towards Harrods. That store is AMAZING!!!
I bought my Mum's and sisters birthday presents in there. And the wrapping service was awesome!!



A true national treasure. I could have spent the week in the National Gallery. Sadly a few hours had to do.


The Apple Store in Regent Street. Wanted to see an official Apple Store, and it didnt disappoint!!! Bought a Nike+ sports kit as its not available in Singapore yet. Its absolutely awesome.




OK...best I try and get an hour or two in before work or I'll be a grumpy bugger at work today.

Pulau 'Paradise' Pangkil

So as a thank-you to all the office staff for the efforts put in to-date, Nick (Creative Director/Owner) decided that we should go away to a private island in Indonesia as a group!
Now who am I to say No Thanks, thats not needed!

The island is called Pulau Pangkil Kecil and is located south of Bintan Island, south west of Singapore.

The trip to get there was pretty straightforward and it took about 3 hours all up. So at 9am a ferry from Tanah Merah ferry terminal from Singapore to Pasir Pinjang, the southern port of Bintan. From here, a coach ride to some remote location to catch a local Indonesian boat across to the island.

The effort to get there was well rewarded. A beautiful island in the middle of nowhere. over 12 private beaches, wonderful 'driftwood palaces', food drinks, snorkelling, kyacking, and the old school pasttime of chilling out.

It was just so relaxing and one of the best work related thank-you's I've ever had.
The work crew (and additional friends) were super cool. Was a perfect way to meet my new work colleuges away from work.
The food was magnificent. The Bintang's went down a treat, as did the late arvo scotches!!

We played scrabble, cards, bocce, and hung-out poolside...yep! A fresh water pool on the island too!
Here are a few photos.



Naz doing her mermaid thang!



The main house on the island...how cool is that!



Arriving...or leaving. One of the best 'hotel' lobbies I've ever seen!



Some of the crew enjoying sunset on one of the many beaches.



These amazing rocks on the northshore of the island. There are some rocks further inland that form a little grotto leading to the pool. I have some video that I'll stitch together and upload later.



There are a family of HUGE lizards living around the pool area. This is jnr taking a morning swim. My 'Driftwood Palace' overlooked the pool and was simplyy outstanding!!!! Can you tell I liked the island!



My palace...overlooking the pool. We spent quite a lot of the weekend hanging around here. Had laptop, itunes, and the 'house' speaker system...we rocked!!



Sunset....ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.



Nick & co just having a refresher.



Homeward bound...the instigator & all round great guy, Nick.



Get that beer into ya son! Slog aka MrLederhosen aka Mr Warner looking a little hesitant over that beer. Twas around 10am. Lightweight ;)



One of many statues around the island. Beautiful.

And last but not least. One of my favourite shots. Taken by MrLederhosen of Steve, a good friend of my work colleagues. I heavily touched it up in Photoshop - love my saturated colours...can ya tell?!



Now Nick....that conversation about next years trip...;)

Contribute 4

OK...So its been a topsy turvey kind of month. Been a bit ill, been flat out at work and all in all,  zero time to blog!

I've just in stalled a piece of software that I've used before (many times) called Contribute...only this new release supports direct blogging to Blogger and other blog services! So here we go!

I'll let you know how it works out, being the first post using Version 4 of the software, I'm gonna try out all the 'fruit'!!

Bye Bye Miss Scarlet

So as mentioned earlier, my Scarlet Hotel stay is well and truely over!! And not before time!

Dont get me wrong, the place is fabulous, but I'm SOOOO much happier now I have more than 4 walls and a bathroom to hang out in!!

I thought I'd better post a few photos from my stay at the hotel...just to close that chapter.

So here are some really great staff that I spent and still spend some time with.
Happy & Akbar (yes, her real name is Happy, how cool!!!...and she is pretty much always happy!)


And Farid & Arman. Awesome bunch of people and always had a smile and a kind word.




And I thought I'd better place a few photos of the room too. So here goes.

The Scarlet Hotel is a boutique low-rise hotel in China town. Its basically a row of shop houses that have been gutted and tarted up!
The really did a great job. Thsi photo shows the street, Erskine Road, and the hotel occupies the whole street across the whole second floor. Below the hotel is a row of shops, gift store, florist etc etc.

So there ya go! If you're ever in Singapore, go say hi to the guys at the bar, grab a Sinagpore sling and chill for an hour.