Enron: The Smartest guys in the boardroom
I saw the new
documentary about the Enron collapse today. It was really good and thought it did a good job of revealing alot of general information to people who probably aren't as familiar with the story. It's really amazing yet quite simple how they did it. But all it would have taken was for a a few people to look a little deeper and harder at the financial statements and ask the right questions. The only reason that Enron looked like they were making as much money as they said they did was simple accounting practices. What really struck me though was just how ruthless and scrupulous the main figure heads were. (Here is the preachy party) They really didn't care who they stepped on, who they screwed or how much they hurt them just as long they got their money. But I guess that's what greed drives you to do. For example, the California energy crisis was not an energy crisis at all. It was simply the Enron energy traders getting plant operators to shut down and then the traders would drive up the price. Ruthless!!! Anyways, I'd def. recommend the movie to anybody who is interested in trading, corp. accounting or just plain fraud :P
Hong Kong
So you thought I was done 'eh :P.... Well not quite. There was actually one quick trip after Singapore. My return flight was on
Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong. Cathay is such a fantastic airline they let me stop over in HK for a couple of days for no extra charge :D And who am I to say no to anything that is free ;)
Anyways,
HK airport is pretty nice and is actually buitl on an island!!!
So after clearing customs and putting my luggage in left luggage I headed to the city. I checked into a guesthouse in the area of Kowloon. Luckily my guesthouse was really close to the pier where one can see the AMAZING skyline on Hong Kong island.
This is Spencer. Spencer was staying at the same guesthouse as I.
Afterwards Spencer and I walked along the pier which has now become HK's Walk of Stars (think Hollywood Walk of Fame).
HK is a VERY bright city. Lots of life and ver vibrant. My guesthouse was along Natahan Rd. which has alot of shopping along it. Here's a couple of pics at night.
The next day I walked around and explored again. I ended up at a market... it was like Chinatown within a Chinese town :P
HK has some pretty good food, so I decided to try some. I don't know what I ate though :P
Next I ended up at the Goldfish market where there are a number of stores that sell goldfish (and other ass'td fish). Kind of cool.
And then from there it was the flower market. Guess what they sell there...
And right beside the flower market a bird market.
Next I went to HK island with the intent of going up to Victoria Peak (to get a bird's eye view of the city). Unfort. it was pretty foggy that day so I didn't get a chance :( But I did get some good photos from the ferry.
HK Financial District has some pretty cool buildings. This is the HSBC building.
Bank of China building.
HSBC again.
HK also has some funn signs.
I guess nature better have call waiting.
The world's longest escalator is on HK island. But man was that thing hard to find!!! Ended up going through the botanical gardens though.
and learning who the real enemy is...
But finally the escalator was found.
And so was a little reminder of home :)
Next we went to a temple, simply for the sake of going cuz it was close. But they had alot of insense there...
Can anybody tell me what's wrong with this?
Nothing you say... are you sure???
Just outside my guesthouse. Actually alot of HK was like this.
Anyways, HK was a really cool city. Lots of life and energy. But after spending 4mnths in SE Asia it was a little pricey :S Bt it is definately a shoppers paradise. Any designer brand you can think of has a store there. Hopefully one day I'll go back... w/ money ;)
Last day
The last day was obviously a bit of a sad one. The first order of the day was to clean out my rez room. In case I haven't put it up before this is what my room looked like.
Now I actually spent the last night at the Orchard Hotel in Singapore, one of many posh/swank hotels in Singapore in the main Orchard Rd. Shopping district. The room came courtesy of the generosity of Robyn. She told Camilla, Sandra and myself to join her for a last night together. It was VERY VERY sweet of her.
In the end though we had to say goodbye :(... by pure coincidence we were all leaving on the same day. My flight was first so we all headed to the aiport @ about 9 in the morn.
(Last brown man shot in SE Asia).
Robyn, Sandra, myself and Camilla.
Singapore was great. I had an AMAZING time there. Met sooo many great people, who I hope to continue friendships with. For four months I was in a different part of the world experiencing different cultures and I hope to think that those experiences have made me a better person. So Singapore (and the rest of SE Asia) to you I say Cheers...
Cambodia
So the biggest, bestest and boldest trip was saved for the end. After my exams, and a couple of days of goodbyes :( , Camilla and I embarked on a backpacking trip across Cambodia. Our plan... well we had none. We booked a return ticket to Bangkok (because it is easiest and cheapest to get to Cambodia from there) and literally on the plane decided where to go first while reading through a Lonely Planet Guide.
As was the case with Vietnam this trip began with free alcohol at the duty free shop. First a sample of the new Absolut Raspberry
And then a sip of some cognac.
So the first place we decided to go to was a beach town called Sihanoukville. To get there though was a bit of a task. We grabbed a bus in Bangkok @ about 10:30pm. From there we went to a town called Trat. We arrived in Trat at about 3:30 in the morning and waited for a minibus till 6 in the morning which would take us to the Thai-Camboida border. Along the way we met a guy named Stefano who has been living in Taiwan for 15yrs. He is originally from Italy though. He bought us some tea in the morning :)
(You tend to meet a lot of nice ppl while backpacking)
Anyways, so this is a picture of the Cambodia side of the border just before it is about to open.
Crazy 'eh. Lucky for us it wasn't that hectic on the Thai side so we glided on through in no time. At the border we got swindled. It costs either 1000THB (Thai Baht) or $20USD to cross. Now considering that the 1USD ~= 38THB it's obviously better to pay $20USD. Unfort. the officers wouldn't let us get away with this and charged us an extra 200THB. Plus they charged us an extra 100THB for some BS free of SARS/quarantine form. But hey can't really argue w/ border patrol now can you.
Anyways, from the border we had to catch a 4hr ferry to Shianoukville.
Gave us a chance to snap a few more photos
Once we arrived at the port we randomly chose a hotel from the LP Guide grabbed a couple of motorbikes...
And headed to the hotel. We only payed $6USD for the room :D Not bad.
So here's a couple of quick shots of the town.
It was pretty quiet actually. Didn't see many other touristst there (which isn't necc. a bad thing). Now Sihanoukville is good for two things: 50cent draught beer and renting motorbikes!!! For only $4USD Camilla and I rented a motorbike!!! Huzzaa finally my dream come true. The entire time I was driving I kept singing 'Born to be wild' :P Although she was the real bad ass... she actually went over 30 km/h :P
But hey, I was still proud of myself.
The next morning we got up early to catch a bus to
Phnom Penh. Along the way we got some good pics of rural Cambodia.
Once we arrived the book said to go to an area beside a big lake because that is where all the cheap guesthouses are. So away we went. It was a pretty dodgy looking area, but it hadits charm I guess.
On a side note, traffic in Pnomh Penh (and pretty much most of SE Asia) looks something like this.
Now for the lowlight of the trip.... remnants of the
Khmer Rouge regime. The first place we went were the
Killing Fields. This place is quite sad and a gruesome reminder of the terrible attrocities that humans are capable of. It is a mass grave where the Khmer Rouge executed and buried alot of their victims. As you walk along the trails you see bones and skulls sticking out along with rags. As you enter there is a stupa that is probably at least 10m high filled with skulls that were dug up. Def. a sobering experience.
Our next location was again a artifact of the Khmer Rouge's regime: Prison Camp
S-21. Another gruesome sight. There are still blood stains on the wall. As you enter you can see, what seems like, the photo of every prisoner that was kept at S-21. Mathematical formulas are scratched into the wall everywhere because the people were trying to perserve the knowledge the Khmer Rouge were trying to wipe out. And what is terrible to think is that this all happened barely 30yrs ago. And yet we learn so little about it out west. I think all my travels in SE Asia (esp. while in Cambodia) helped me to realize that in the west we are quite ignorant of alot of the culture and histor in SE Asia. However I think it is imporant that we learn about those things to understand some of the reasons why history has taken the course it has in that part of the world.
Now there are some nice parts to Phnom Penh as well, namely the Grand Palace. However we were told by a few ppl we met that going inside wasn't very exciting and it's much better to just take a few photos from the outside. So we did :)
After that we just went out for dinner and then went to bed so we could get up early for our bus to
Siem Reap.
Now pretty much ANYBODY that goes to Cambodia goes for one main reason:
The Temples of Angkor. With some of the temples having been built over 1000 years ago these amazing monuments are a source of immense national pride for the people of Cambodia and are a great testament to some of the great architecture and engineering skills of the Khmer empire during its rule.
Because the temples are all seperated and spread out you can't walk to them without taking up ALOT of your time. So instead it is better to hire a tuk-tuk for a couple of days. We hired one for 2 days for $20USD. Trust me, considering how much driving the guy did and how much he waited around for us that was a steal. This was our driver
Now rather than try and explain all the photos and temples and try and describe how utterly impressive these structures are I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.
(Props to Camilla for taking most of the photos though)
(Below is the main Temple,
Angor Wat)
So can anybody tell me what is funny about this picture?
(Recognize her?)
Ppl, if you ever get the chance to go to the Temples of Angkor... GO!!! They are even more impressive in real life. It's quite amazing and awe-inspiring what impressive structures we were able to create way back when. We spent a good 2 days in Angkor Wat.
Now for the fun story. Our flight from Bangkok back to Singapore was on Sunday which meant Saturday was spent getting back to Bangkok. Boy, what an experience that was. The cheapest way to get to the Thai border from Siem Reap is in the back of a pick-up truck. So being cheap Indians.... err, daring and avid arventurers we decided to take that route. So went to the gas staion early in the morning where the pick-up trucks usually hang out to take people. We negotiated a fair price ($9USD for the BOTH of us) and hoped in the truck. We sat down in the cab but then the driver told us to sit on the edge. Hmmm... ok that was a bit weird considering there was lots of room. Well, only for 2 more seconds. Next thing you know Camilla and I are in the back of a small pick up (we are talking like Mazda not Ford) with 30 (yes that is THIRTY) other people and their luggage... and 1 chicken... for 5hours.... 2hrs of which is along unpaved red dirt road.
Two people to Bangkok in the back of a pick up --> $9
Hanging on for dear life in the back of a pick up truck for almost 5hrs --> Priceless!!!
We didn't get our cameras out cuz we were afraid they might fall out while driving, but this is what we looked like afterwards...
In other words... CRAP!!!
Some of us were upset...
But others didn't mind getting a little dirty...
I swear when i took a shower (for almost half an hour) the water was constantly red for almost 15mins. My hair looked like I had dyed is :S But trust me it was fun.
All in all Cambodia was GREAT!!! It was so nice and so refreshing to have a completely unscripted on the fly trip. Seemed like more of an Arventure. Plus Cambodia is quite a nice country just beginning to find it's footing after going through (literally) hell. The people are friendly; ALWAYS so smiles on their faces which was a pleasant surprised. I guess it's a testament to the resilliancy of the Cambodian people.
Personally the trip was good for me because I learned to just go with the flow. One doesn't have to plan every single detail of a trip to make it fun. Plus I ran away from a group of Monks... but that's another story ;)
