Some Pre-Images

Here we go: For some of the impatient guys of you, I collected a couple images from Biggi's Digicam for you! Just in case you cannot await my slide images from the trip to "Khmer-Land", which are counting 15 rolls so far...

So I guess it'll take a while until everything is developed properly. So, thanks for the pics by now!

Enjoy!

small guy-big root...(Ta Promh Temple/Cambodia)










They are not afraid of the next Tsunami, no! They just like to travel cheap!






Backcountry of Bokor. Ghosttown on top of the hills. Here: former French colonial meeting house, Hotel, Casino and also prison in the past (Kampot/Cambodia)



...exhausting trip, that's for sure! getting up at 4.30am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat...my Dad would be proud of me! :-)However, you can see the result and that it was really worthy to get up in the middle of the night in the next picture below...





...hmmmmmm...sunrise at the end of the world as we know it...just enjoy the mood...





All pics were taken with a Casio Exilim Z-series (5MP)

I'm off the land of the stupid!

Cheers and goodbye from the most disappointing last week here in Singapore! I really have to switch off my brain to not get mad at everybody! But to NOT use your brain in Singapore is a common way of doing things here, for that reason nobody will know...

Well, I am also not quite in the mood to write the final story about the trip through Cambodia and everything that happened over there, if there is an interest in that, just read "Biggi's Blog" (link is on the right side)!

Now I am here at my office packing my stuff, throwing useless things away and wait for all the paperwork that has to be done...

Whatever, I will continue this Blog in the next couple of days when it is going to be better!
Until then I wish you a great time and enjoy ... whatever you just do!

Cheers

PS: I'll be back home at the 2nd of May, i.e. next weeks Tuesday.

Karaoke Torture...

Hey guys!

First of all, as promised in my last Post, some warm greetings from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh!
Actually, it doesn't seem to be a capital city at all. Perhaps it is because I already associate skyscrapers with capitals. Well, I am here right now and I can say that what I see is so different to the places I have been before...

Ok, let's start with some facts about the way to PP and today, the 20th of April 2006:

Yesterday-Karaoke-Bus-Inferno

Actually, at this day it wasn't that much going on. After another very earlier wake up, we decided to take the first Bus to Phnom Penh to not loose too much time in our tight 10 day time table. Hmmm, but then it seemed that the bus driver did not agree with our plans at all and came one hour too late! Ok nevermind-he came! Hey, but six hours of hardcore karaoke directly in front of our seat is just too much!!! Oh, I forgot: One "ancient" and worst dubbed Jackie Chan movie ever was in between the four karaoke DVD's! And additionally, we booked a more expensive bus with air-con to not sweat like hell all the way long, but once again felt a little cheated myself by the bus company while having almost 45 degrees inside the cabin...

Well, we survived and after a couple of hours we finally reached our destination Phnom Penh.
Due to the fact that it was already afternoon and we really enjoyed the shower after the bus trip very long, it was almost too late to see anything at PP. We just had a walk through the old town and the former french district with its old colonial buildings-very beautiful...

Today-some depressing impressions

I know that two days are simply not enough to find out about the way of living in PP, but we had to try to see as much as possible in a few hours. Well, and what to see in PP? I guess the same what comes into your mind when you think about Cambodia for the first time!
We took a Tuk-Tuk for a whole day ride around PP and had our first stop at the "Killing Fields", which are, in my opinion, at least one place you have to see when you are in Cambodia. Although it sounds quite like a greed for sensations when you hear about the places of death and torture which are offered in tourist tours, but it really is a thing you have to do during your stay to find out about the cruel history of Cambodias former Pol Pot regime. And believe me it is really hard to describe or even to understand when you visit those places-especially when you see the peaceful countryside that surrounds the mass graves...

After that we went to the Toul Sleng Museum which actually is a former High School and was 'mis'used as a prison and place of torture during the Red Khmer regime. Hard to desribe...really hard!

,,,

Well, I need to take a deep breathe and will let this day go by, before we head to Kampot and Bokor National Park tomorrow!

See you then...

Ahhh - btw, HAPPY NEW YEAR...once again:-)

hahahahha...for all who like to party a lot-here another HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow, this is actually my third new year celebration for this year...hehehe...didn't even know that this is possible!

This time it is Khmer New Year with lots of incence-consuming and hardcore-picknick! Well, that's fun-next year I'll have one of those parties at home including an handmade authentic 'ancient-temple-cake' with incence in it and 50 picknicking Cambodian tourists around...:-)...and of course a group of a least 20 Korean tourists with funny hats and life vests....hahhahahah

Cambodian Tales...and other stuff

I just want to use this little free time this evening to say 'hey' to everybody I left behind-either in Singapore or you guys back in Deutschland!

This trip, one of the crudest ever in my time travelling, brought me (and my fantastic company:-)) to Siem Reap, Cambodia. After a couple of days of intense 'travel-research' (that's actually the way I'd like to call it...hehe), it shifted us to this amazing country...

First plans, which included Mount Kinabalu at Borneo, the Perhentian Islands at the Malay mainland, Mentawai at Indonesia and finally the Philipines were cancelled due to high cost of hiking equipment, to be bored of hanging around at beautiful beaches the whole week or just because of the lack of time that really bothers me!

So we ended up here.

Well, today was stuffed with impressions and I must say that this is surely one of the most stunning things I've ever seen! Siem Reap, which is located in the northern part of Cambodia near the famous Angkor Wat temples is our first destination and brought us, of course, to the plenty of ancient temples. Five in the morning is surely NOT the time I usually like to get up, but Angkor Wat and the sunrise there is one worthy reason to do it anyway!

It quite hard to explain it here on that Blog...well, I guess you will see some of the pics here soon! And after a few weeks of laying around, my camera was glowing today once again! Day one of three brought me seven of the finest slide films full of impressions. I just had to leave my digital toy back in Singapore! I mean switching between all lenses the whole day, rewinding films and make the right choise for either black'n white or colour slide is very stressful, but ten times worthy if you can finally hold the 50 to 60cm copy of the pictures in your hands. Yeah, that's one of the things I am really looking forward soon!

...

Well, right now I'm sitting at one of the most hateable places during travelling-internet cafes! I cannot tell you how much I hate that! I mean, I have my nice company sitting next to me, but...it's just...it really doesn't fit into that place at the end of the world! Everybody, even those Hippi guys are trying to be so unique with their style of travelling and so, but at the end it's all about 'WWW'! Shit...
Hmmm, this time it was necessary for me, especially to keep in touch with my boss who actually does not know where I am right now...hehe! I know, I know...but you guys might not believe what I all have done for them already with no appreciation at all! So, it is also the reason for me to cancel that job offer that they gave me a few weeks ago...I just cannot work with those guys anymore! It is not a matter of, let's say personal things-no, absolutely not, but very more a matter of the way of thinking and how they do things! It is just too hard for me to get along with this 'work style'.

I don't wanna say that this is my last Post at this Blog for the time I am in South East Asia, but surely of the last! I guess I will have to have a final summary or something like that...we'll see.
And as most of my Blogs, this is once again one of those with some images that I had kept in my mind and needed to be written down...and it feels better now after sharing it with you!

Also 'sorry' to everybody expecting more pics! There is no slide film development available in Singapore-or probably they just forgot that they have:-) I'll take all that stuff home with me...and it is time coz my fridge is overflowing with all those films...

...

In two days we will head down to Phnom Penh and some National Parks in the south. After that maaaaaybe go for the last dive trip or to Thailand...

The latest on next Tuesday where we have to be in Bangkok anyway for our flight back 'home' to Singapore...

That's it for today...I'll get back to you soon! Enjoy your time and just...CHEERS!

very short update...

...it's boarding time! again...hehe

so far for my spontanious travel adventures-once again i'm at changi airport waiting for my carrier...

...will get back to you guys in the next couple of days! This time from Cambodia!

Cheers

Progression Sessions-part nine in the series

Or should I call "Regression Sessions"? I really do not know! I tell you what, I have probably seen Bukem around ten times, starting back in 1997, at the most exceptional places – but I have never seen such a strange mixture of everything like yesterday night.

Well, there have been some facts that made this event to that what it was. Anyway, the musical experience was incredible again, like it is all the time, but it just took a while to get started. Actually, this time I was a little concerned about the time they start the show, but in fact it was too early when we arrived. Next to us, most of the very few people who were there ‘round 10pm were thinking for what the hell ever they paid 30 bucks…you could see it in every new face that stepped into HOME!

Of course, that was my turn and surprisingly I was supposed to have more company this time-company that really appreciates good music. Like every time the guys are spinning, it is so hard to convince people to come over and listen to good stuff. Especially at this event when Bukem came in around 1am and started on one of the worst sound-systems that I heard him spinning onto. And people use to get turned off very easily. Well, I guess two third of the "first-time" Bukem listeners did not really like the music. If you did not like this-forget about DnB!

He started, while preparing all devices, with really mellow tracks which were definitely the wrong choice for HOME or such an event in general. Absolutely no melody, no atmospherical background- I guess that is what they call “fresh” for some weird reason. People really had to try hard to get into the right mood. But at 2.30am it finally started like it was supposed to be!
Absolutely new tracks, never heard before…all like in the good times with a huge crowd. I do not know who of you has one of the last recordings of Bukem, either from "Detonate" in "Rock City" Nottingham or the Sheffield stuff, but these had a few amazing remixes, or let’s say samples added to.
"A tribe called quest"’s song remix, as well as the intro from LL Cool J’s “doin’ it” were used for samples that time. But now they topped everything again! One of the best songs I heard from him so far! It was a mix of Goldie’s “Inner City Life”, which is absolutely-definitely one of the best DnB tracks ever; mixed, with the same voice, into Rony Size’s "Lucky Pressure". The result was a perfect tune called "Inner City Pressure"! So good-I can tell you…

I am not quite sure if they really recorded the album (in fact they were supposed to!), coz of the bad set up of speakers and turntables. But if yes-be prepared for one of the best set-ups ever!!!

So far so good…let me have some shout-outs again to the people I had around me yesterday. At first, of course, Kelvin from Homeclub for bringing along Bukem&Conrad! Simon for company! What a pity that you had to leave so early-teaching on Sundays sucks!:-) Anyway, next party is definitely at the Upper House in UK… hehe!!! Also thanks to Christian, Bong and Roland to have the patients for this very different musical experience!  The guy outside of HOME for trying to give me answers to all my questions concerning the little-big world of Singaporians….hahhaahah-was a really interesting conversation!

And of course, Hui Tze for torturing herself while being around on high-heels! Hope you probably liked it at least a little!? I guess that also was one of our last clubbing nights together… (and visits at the 24-hour prata...yummie!)

Well, I hope I forget no one and ...hmmm, what else to say? Time is running by so fast...and soon everything will be over! So I guess I have to enjoy my last days ‘till I head back to Europe to see frustrated people!

Cheers

And by the way, MC- ing with Singaporian slang does not really work pretty well!