The 9 to 5 Alternative

And jet lag strikes again. Even though I’ve been on the road for over a week, my body is still slow to adjust to the 12-hour time change. I have to say, despite the bouts of fatigue each afternoon (and, as a result, sleeping through dinner), it’s kind of nice being wide awake so early in the morning. No coffee necessary!

Over the next few weeks, I will be traveling through Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Thailand in search of prices of items like spark plugs, women’s undergarments and iodized salt. Exciting stuff, folks. I still can’t believe I get paid to do this.

Before I write about my first destination this trip–the tightly regulated, gastronomic paradise of Singapore–I’d like to give a few shout-outs to some of the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet in Boston over the last couple of months:

• In the final leg of an all-you-can-fly Jet Blue trip, Sean Ogle took me up on an offer to host him for a long weekend. Sean is an interesting guy–after quitting his job as an investment analyst, he moved to Thailand for several months to hook up with the guys at TropicalMBA.com. He has since moved back to Portland, Oregon and recently launched a product of his own, Overcoming the Fear of Uncertainty. Sean, great to meet you and pick your brain. Next time you feel like a round of parkour, give me a call.

• Nate Damm came down from Maine that same weekend. Nate, a long-time friend on the Interwebs, joined me for a killer hike in the White Mountains earlier in the summer. In March, Nate will take off on an epic journey and walk across America. Nate, you’re a legend-in-the-making. Hope I can join you for part of the walk!

• Elisa Doucette, a comrade of Nate’s in Maine, also came down and hung out for a day. She is a freelance writer and dare-I-say hilarious person to have around. Elisa, when you’re ready to romp around the jungle gym, you know where to find me.

• Nate, Sean and I were fortunate enough to spend a night out with Shannon Whitehead, a socially-minded entrepreneur who, just last week, left for Latin America to set up her own fair-trade clothing business. Shannon, look forward to following you and Kristin’s updates from Guatemala and Nicaragua!

• Joining Sean, Nate, Shannon and myself were Matt Kepnes (AKA Nomadic Matt) and Kate McCulley (AKA Adventurous Kate), two world travelers from the Boston area. Great to meet both of you in the flesh. Next time you’re in town and feel like a night of dancing and tequila, you know how to reach me.

Nice to hang out with all of you! I trust our paths will cross again.

Singapore

Things to know about Singapore; it’s hot. It’s very, very hot. It’s an ultra-modern, ultra-convenient city with an absolute minimum of social problems. They’ve figured out everything here. No traffic, no litter, no drug problem, no violent crime. I mean, it’s a kind of benevolent, kooky, neo-totalitarian thing going on here. I’m an all-time Lefty, and yet, I’m ashamed to say this..I kind of like it here.

Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations

When my colleague and I landed in Singapore, a faint-white haze hung high in the air. Seasonal bush fires in Indonesia will sometimes yield that effect, I was told. This particular smoke was coming from a forest fire in Sumatra, hundreds of miles away.

Singapore, relative to the region, is like an Asia-for-beginners. The streets and lawns and buildings are immaculate. Taxis are everywhere, and prices are posted and tightly monitored. Orchard Road, one of Singapore’s main tourist attractions, is flanked by multiple mega-malls and international chains like Starbucks, Borders and 24-hour McDonald’s. It’s a shopping playground. 42% of the population is foreign workers. English is the dominant language. Singapore’s market-based economy is one of the most open, innovate and business-friendly in the world.

And did I mention the food?

Chinese, Malay and Indian cuisines. Ambrosial spices and noodles and strange, exotic combinations of seafood and local fruit and curry sauces. Here were my favorite dishes:

Char Kway Teow. A heady mixture of flat rice noodles, eggs, prawns and cockles. Sweet, salty, crunch and chewy.

Laksa. Smooth rice noodles in a robust spicy gravy, topped with prawns and cockles. A Malaysian specialty.

Barbecue Stingray. Stringy in texture, and tasting like a kind of weak chicken. You know, the one that was always picked last in gym class. Quite tasty, though.

Crazy Laws

You can’t sell chewing gum in Singapore. It’s illegal. So is bungee jumping, peeing in an elevator and pornography. Oh, and don’t spit, feed the birds or forget to flush the public urinal. You might get fined.

Are these the kind of laws that help foster such a clean and “staunchly non-corrupt” society? I wonder.

Interestingly enough, in the four-odd days I spent wandering Singapore’s streets, I can’t recall seeing a single police officer. The system is so effective, it governs itself!

It has been exactly 9 months since I outlined my goals for 2010. Time to review my progress!

—FITNESS
Completed Goals:

• Hold breath for at least 3 minutes.
• Be able to fall into a push up from standing position.

Uncompleted Goals:

• 1 mile in under 5:30.
• Run a half-marathon.
• 200 squats in a row.
• 25 pull-ups in a row.
• Cycle 100 miles in one day.
• Be able to hold an L-position for 30 seconds.

*Hmm. With only three months left, I’ll have to hustle to complete the rest of these goals. Trying to cycle 100+ miles over the weekend. Fingers crossed.

—BLOGOSPHERE
Completed Goals:

the9to5alternative.com

• Redesign and rethink my vision as a blogger.
• Write at least 15 guest posts.

thecurryproject.com

• Write at least 20 reviews.

Uncompleted Goals:

the9to5alternative.com

• Get at least 500 subscribers.
• Post consistently, at least once a week on Tuesdays.
• Develop a cost-of-traveling blog widget.

nepalprints.com

• Redesign and find a cheaper host.
• Sell at least 5 prints.

thecurryproject.com

• Get at least 50 subscribers.

*The 9 to 5 Alternative v2.0 is underway. At the beginning of the year, I was keen on redefining my online presence. Most of my posts have been travel reports, and while it’s fun to write about the world, I needed a more sustainable, fulfilling and community-enriching purpose. Enter my new About page, which explains where this blog is heading. This shift will become more apparent on January 1, 2011, when I will publish a whopping post on goal-setting. Through calculated goal-setting, I believe we can all live more eclectic and fulfilling lives.

A note on the redesign–for many reasons, I decided not to pursue the face-lift that many of you may have noticed over the last several weeks. Sticking with this layout for a while!

*Nepal Prints no longer exists. Since I still own the domain name, the site redirects back here. Soon I’ll be adding a photography/video page within this site to supplement my travel reports.

*The Curry Project is going well! I haven’t been marketing it, but Wandering Earl, Thomas, Erin and I have enjoyed putting up reviews of the wackiest and most remote Indian restaurants in the world.

—LIFESTYLE
Completed Goals:

• Put together a long-term goals/bucket list.
• Buy a keyboard.
• Hike the Presidential Traverse in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
• Make at least $500 in supplemental income.
• Reread I Will Teach You To Be Rich and restructure and optimize my finances.
• Track all my expenses. To the penny.
• Finish the 21-day No-Complaint Experiment
• Score at least $15,000 on Jeopardy! using the Coryat method.

Uncompleted Goals:

• Read at least 15 more books on the Personal MBA reading list.
• Score at least a 700 on a practice GMAT and then take the real thing.

*Need to read 5 more books on the Personal MBA list.

What goals are you working on in 2010?

A little known fact; for foreigners, Luanda is the most expensive city in the world. While most Angolans live in poverty, expatriates pay upwards of $15-20,000 a month to rent a 3BR house. A moderate dinner typically costs $100 per person, and a 3-star hotel room will run at least $300 a night.

Yikes. When I wasn’t waiting in traffic, I spent most of my time in Luanda marveling at the prices. Of strawberry jam, of meat and toilet paper and motor oil. All very, very expensive.

I wish I knew more about history and economics to be able to explain why prices are so high. I read that during the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002), families thronged to Luanda. It was farther away from the fighting. The large surge in population put stress on the city. The government–getting rich from oil and diamond revenue–has since heavily invested in Luanda infrastructure. Like Dubai just a few years ago, cranes poke out of the skyline. New roads are lain, even a new airport is under construction. Unlike Dubai, however, Luanda isn’t nearly as organized. There’s government corruption. Many of the buildings are broken. Sidewalks are puddled and attract malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Street Entrepreneurship

The traffic is abysmal. Not as bad as Lagos, Nigeria, but close. Idled in the city’s cramped streets, a thick layer of carbon monoxide hangs in the air. Hawkers meander from car to car, selling anything and everything. Mouse pads, air freshener, cold sodas, clocks, mini-violins, toilet seats, hats, socks and pirated DVDs. Hustling in the finest sense of hustling there is. It’s a wild scene. Just off the streets lie barbed wire, scaffolding, dust, trash and exposed sewers, indicators of a city that’s running too fast for it’s own good. In the distance, ratty soccer goals line the sandy shore. At the end of Ilha de Luanda, a skinny and posh peninsula that juts out from the center of the city, an oil rig stands tall.

More Bribing

One afternoon, I helped my driver pay off the police to get out of a traffic violation. Not as good as some of my other bribing stories, but an interesting experience nonetheless. You can read more about it in this Flightster post.

Side Trip to Soyo

This particular cost-of-living study required a few nights in Soyo, a small city at the northwestern-most part of the country, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Accommodation at one of our client’s oil camps had been arranged. The first afternoon, I was asked to participate in a mandatory site orientation. Ben, a large man who spoke in a slow, southern drawl, outlined the camps facilities. “They have a big incinerator there, sometimes it work, sometimes it don’t.” Ben mentioned that over 1,000 snakes had been relocated from the camp over the last year. Forest and black spitting cobras, gaboon vipers, and Jameson’s mambas. Not to mention the killer bees, wasps, scorpions and spiders. I made sure to stay on the path.

I was escorted around town by several of the expatriate wives. They’re probably the most hardcore foreign workers I’ve ever met. These women have lived all over the world, for years, in places like Kazakhstan and Nigeria. One of them took me through Soyo’s largest outdoor market.

At first, Angola was slow to issue me a visa–my first passport picture was deemed too “inappropriate.” (I had apparently exposed too much chest?) I’m glad they decided to let me in. What a week.

In the heart of downtown Windhoek, two streets intersect at a large roundabout that houses an old Lutheran church. It’s an otherwise normal, nondescript arrangement, save for one small detail. Now, I’ve seen some goofy and funny street names in my day, but this pairing has to rank as one of the quirkiest; Fidel Castro Street and Robert Mugabe Avenue, named respectively after Cuba and Zimbabwe’s iconic dictators. Apparently, Namibia’s first president had befriended the two during the country’s struggle for independence. An interesting tidbit, I thought.

Some other fun facts about Namibia:

• Behind Mongolia, it is the world’s least densely populated country.
• A third of the population speaks German.
• Mining accounts for 25% of the economy. Currently, it’s the world’s fifth largest producer of uranium.
• The Namib Desert is the oldest desert in the world.
• The Namib Desert is home to the highest sand dunes in the world.
• Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, the daughter of Brad and Angelina, was born in Namibia.

Disclaimer: the learning of interesting and awesome things is good for your health.

Crazy Meat

Vegetarians beware; Namibia is a nation of meat eaters. One place in particular, Joe’s Beer House, is notably light on the vegetables. A large, quasi-outdoor expanse just outside of Windhoek’s city center, Joe’s Beer House is the place to go if you’re looking to expand your culinary repertoire. Check out the menu!

I opted for the Bushman Sosatie, a “variety of ostrich, crocodile (when available), zebra, kudu and chicken meat, served with corn fritters, sour cream and salad.” Each meat had it’s own unique flavor. The chicken tasted like chicken, of course. The zebra was light and flavorful, the ostrich rich and beefy. The prices were surprisingly reasonable, the beer cool, the atmosphere inviting, just the kind of place I feel good about recommending to a fellow traveler. I must say, though, that I went almost an entire week without meat after that meal. It’s an overwhelming experience. Be prepared.

Sandboarding

Always in the mood to escape city life and thrust myself into Mother Nature’s open arms, I traveled five hours outside of Windhoek to go sandboarding. From Rhino Park in Windhoek, I paid about $15 to ride in a fifteen-passenger van. It was nice, not as crowded as I had anticipated. Cruising down the B2 highway, we passed Karibib and stopped in Usakos, where I bought three samosas, a coke, some juice, a Nestle bar and some chocolate covered raisins. I like to travel in style, folks.

As we entered the desert, the landscape became more distinct; distant and undulating hills, sun-bleached shrubbery, the occasional craggy outcropping. Termite mounds, reaching up from the cracks like long, skinny fingers, sporadically spaced out amongst the brush. It was ragged, dusty, seemingly endless, Namibia’s own sandy heart of darkness.

The van stopped again in Arandis, a small town adjacent to a much larger uranium mine. The driver, who had been towing some luggage behind the van, stopped to unload some items; two tires, a mattress, an HP printer, and three very large, industrial-size bags of clothing.

We arrived in Swakopmund just as the sun was setting. Due to the location of the shoreline–where the Atlantic’s cold water reaches Africa–there’s often a thick fog that covers the road, but that evening it was clear and temperate.  I checked into the Desert Sky Lodge and ran down to the beach.

It was a Sunday night and the city was quiet. I found a German pub, had some beer and fish and walked back to the guest house. The next morning, I was picked up at 9:30a by Alter Action, a Swakopmund-based adventure company. I hopped in a van with a guy from Portland, Oregon and was soon joined with a group of overland travelers from the U.K. and Australia. Fifteen minutes later and we were on site, at the base of the dunes.

Instead of traditional sandboarding (standing up on a waxed snowboard), I opted to lie down on a flexible wooden sheet. I was told I’d go faster, be able to ride longer dunes and, since I’m not too comfortable on a snowboard, I’d have more fun! It was fun indeed; on the steepest run, I reached a speed of 74km/hr (46mph). This is what it looks like.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of morning. That afternoon, I found another passenger van that drove me back to Windhoek. I arrived just after dinner and went back to work the next morning.

Haircut

The summer of 2008 was the last time I paid for a haircut. I was in Istanbul, traveling with my brother and some friends, and a guy named Mustafa worked his magic. I looked all slick and European. I miss that haircut. Since then, I’ve had this routine of letting my hair grow long, buzzing it, letting it grow long again, buzzing it, etc. Back in Windhoek, in an unseen dash of spontaneity, I walked into a German hairdresser and got myself a haircut. The barber did a much better job than I’ve been doing the last couple of years. Maybe it’s time to stop buzzing my head.

Have any of you gotten your hair cut on the road? Any interesting or funny experiences? After reading my friend Earl’s tribute to underarm shaving, I wonder how many more wacky stories I might be able to round up. Care to share?

I landed in Gaborone sans luggage for the second time this trip. Such short layovers in Johannesburg will do that to a traveler, I guess. With no scheduled down-time, only three days in the city and required presence at customs to pick up my bag, I was pressed for time. Fortunately, I made the retrieval the afternoon before I left for Namibia. While my luggage has seen better days, this particular trip pushed it over the edge. One wheel had fallen off, the zipper had been ripped open and all of the trinkets I had bought in Zimbabwe had been stolen.

Oh, Africa.

Developmental Success

In the realm of international development, Botswana is one of the world’s great success stories. Botswana is a small, landlocked country, and after independence from England in 1966 it was one of the poorest countries in Africa. In the 40+ years following its independence, Botswana has made remarkable improvements. It’s now one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Seretse Khama, Botswana’s first president, has a lot to do with the positive turnaround. In the 70s, he instituted strong measures against corruption and helped turn the country into an export-based economy, built around diamonds, beef and copper. Unlike other newly independent countries in Africa, Botswana was governed well, under market-friendly policies like low, stable taxes, liberalized trade and non-racialism. All of the money generated from increased economic activity was reinvested into countrywide infrastructure, health and education costs. Currently, the country’s standard of living is compared with that of Turkey and Mexico. It’s an amazing case study in successful developmental practices.

photo credit to kirakar

That being said, Botswana still has a long way to go. Income equality is incredibly high. It’s a middle-class country but maintains a large, poor population. Approximately one out of every six Batswana has HIV, giving the country the second highest infection rate in the world, behind Swaziland.  There are still many improvements to be made.

Idle Travel

I enjoyed my short-lived experience in Botswana. Rather than bounce around town, looking for any and all tourist opportunities available (the Kalahari Desert occupies 70% of the country!), I decided to keep my travels within Gaborone. Lazy and idle, a special kind of travel, slow, the kind that lends itself to reading, long and engaging conversations, cups of coffee, thinking, appreciating, catching up. I’m reminded of a quote from celebrated writer, Alduos Huxley.

Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure.

He’s absolutely right, you know.