The land of fakes

China, as many other Asian countries, has developed to a pace where culture and tendencies have a difficult time to catch up in a few years,both old and new generations have been bombarded with new "ways of living" that have put new demands on everyone as they need to live "on the a top of the wave". Of course,having the most expensive Rolex, the latest Gucci or the newest diesel jeans, comes with a price tag. Impossible to pay, for the many. And that is how this culture of the fake articles have developed. And so much, that today is hard to know what is real and what is not. To the point that, while in an airport in Shanghai or Beijing ,you assume that all business men that you see carrying Victor Inox travel bags, made a previous stop to any of the multiple street markets to get their piece on the fast track of the fashion world. But I always found this issue more amusing than interesting. I have never been myself very hooked into this fake world. My collection of fake treasures after several years in Asia is limited to a couple of watches and quite some DVD. So I always saw this world as a distant one.
But last week, reality stroke me very hard. While in Shanghai, I went with some friends to the new restaurant called Thai Gallery. A mix of museum and art gallery. The ambiance was great. Laying in low sofas surrounded by nice plants and pieces of art representing Thai and Buddhist scenes, I felt like at home. But it was not until we left the place that I realised why this homey feeling: there, hanging on the wall was a copy of a painting created by the Australian (semi Balinese, I must say) artist, Andrew Wellman. There were several paintings simulating scenes that he recreated in his Buddha collection and his Ankor Wat representations. So similar that, at first, I believed they were original. But, after I checked carefully the walls of the spacious restaurant,I noticed with amazement a piece that convinced me that all those paintings were copies. And I'm so certain, because the original is hanging in my apartment.
I could not do other thing rather than stand there a smile. The thin line between real and faked is sometimes amazing. Was this a copy or was mine? Good that I got the painting directly from Andrew over a few glasses of wine. Otherwise, I couldn't be certain.
The only certain thing is that, the fast track of the fake world is a sign that the articles are not affordable for that many people.
©ARLOS 06

Indonesia at its best!

When I'm traveling , especially on those trips that I have been longing to do for a long time, I like to do some research: where am I going, what am I going to see, what to bring, what to expect, ect. But I missed all that in my last trip.

A few months ago, my friends Rafa and Mar told me that they were planning to join a diving live aboard in north of Indonesia. And, since I have been longing to do that for a long time, I said:"YES!, IM GOING WITH YOU!"

And so I did. But this time, I did not know exactly what to expect. I just joined knowing that I love diving and that I will have a great time.

We met with the rest of the group in a hotel in Manado: Wee Chee, Angeline and Peter (3 dive freaks with more than 2000 dives all together) , Hanna and Sandra (working in the best resort in Manado and us. A diverse group. But fun!

So we set to travel to the north. The destination: Sangige Island and the famous underwater volcano.

Or at least that is what we thought. We realized very soon that the lack of organization on the boat was extreme. Meals were given in different times. Food was not good. The water tanks were leaking (which forced us to change destination). We got into a storm with 5m waves that broke the boat. The steering wheel got broken and we were drifting for 2 hours. We got water into the boat and all my filming equipment got destroyed. And I could continue for hours...

We took the whole situation with a good sense of humor (killing the captain would have not solved anything, rite?). And after 2 days, we arrived to Siau Island and its smoky volcano.

We got very good diving there , apart from a scary experience of underwater currents that too some of us under 40 m. But the highlight of the diving was the underwater volcano in Sangihe. Gosh! Diving on top of a volcano with hot bubbles coming out of the rocks was a real thrill!!! And the fish seems to like it too,because we saw a lot of stuff.

And to finish a great adventure, that night, the volcano at Siau broke loose, letting go rivers of red lava and ashes and having us on the deck of the sea dancer contemplating mother nature taking to us. Amazing!

So this trip was a bit of an example of what you might find in Indonesia. A lot of improvisation, great people, great nature and a kick on your adrenaline levels to last for a few months!

Try it!

Good Morning, Vietnam!

Well....after months of delays and lazyness , I couldn't escape. Today I woke up in Vietnam. And, not like Robin Williams, I did not say: "Good Morning, Vietnam". More a kind of:"Let's see how this works...".

I have been many times in Saigon. I have met plenty of people living here and I have never met anyone that, after a few months, wouldn't be totally hooked with the city. But I know that this will not be as easy for me as for the others. And this has nothing to do with the city or it's people. But more with myself.

I have been living in a few countries and I have a relative experience in moving from one place to another , changing city, language, currency and so forth. But this is the first time that I move to a country when "I still don't want to leave the old one". And I know that leaving Indonesia will be harder than what I expected. Perhaps not. We will see.

But just in case, and to make the transition easier, next week I'm going back to Bali . YES!

:-)

I don't want to be a Muslim....

For me... starving is not an option. If I don't get something to eat every 3 hours, I get cramps. But probably is even worst not being able to drink for a whole day. And no mentioning not being able to have a beer for a whole month! On top of that, forget about sex (not even talking about it is allowed...).

For this reason, I admire this people. many of them fast for faith. And many others, for social convenience ("since everyone is fasting, I need to do it as well..."). Something similar to the fact , in Europe, that many people get married in the church, even though, last time we went to a church was, if not to another wedding, to our own Baptist.

Nowadays, all this seems very normal. I still remember the first night of Ramadan, 2 years ago, when a mob of people , walking from house to house with drums, cymbals and any other instrument capable of making as much noise as possible, go around the neighbourhood waking up every single one around 3 AM. This so you don't forget to wake up and eat before the sun rises. Of course, no one told me about that tradition. So you can imagine how high I jumped out of the bed. Hearing the crowd getting closer and closer, I thought I heard them saying: " get the white guy", "the infidel...!!!", "the long nose...!!!). Luckily for me, that was just a terrible fright.

But the best moment of the day is around 6 PM, when the sun sets and everyone run to the closer place they find, to grab something to eat. It doesn't matter whether you are driving, in a meeting or directing the traffic. Everyone stops. Last week, I was in a store, and at 17:45 the drum sounded (during this month, everything seems to be related to drums, like in Zambia...) and a store keeper run to close the store (I was still inside), while all the other guys working at the store sat on the floor and took several packages with food that, at the same time they made a small circle on the ground, they opened the boxes and started to eat right there. They offer me to sit with them and share the food, but I just enjoyed seeing them happily getting full. I managed to get one of the to charge my shopping and to open the door, so I could go home. I thought I would spend the night there!!!

Well...another week and this will be over. That, even when I don't fast, I much more fun to share a goo meal and a good bottle of wine, with your Muslim friends.