Life is Like a Dream

Life is like a dream, or even like a dream in a dream
Ancient Chinese proverb

Last November, a year ago, in Vientiane, Laos, I sat on the terrace of a bar on the banks of the Mekong river and watched the sun set over Thailand. It was magical. Not just stunning-view magical. It was soul-touching magical. I had never dreamed that I would ever be in that part of our world. Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

My dreams are bigger now.

The more I have seen, the more I want to return. That old expression seems to be in play right now: I go as far as I can see – when I get there I can see further.

Our holiday trip to Laos approaches. The Boys arrive soon, then we’re all off to Bangkok for a brief stopover then on to Vientiane. Four days there including Christmas, then on to Vang Vieng by road, for a two night stop in cabins by the river, where we will perhaps kayak, raft or tube our way along what has been described as among the most beautiful land in southeast Asia, “stunningly beautiful limestone karst terrain”. Then on to Luang Prabang for six days including New Year. I have my eye on a cooking class by the river and a day boat trip up the Mekong, among many other things.

Back around January 5th.

Happy holidays, my friends.


Photo of sunset over the Mekong in Vientiane by Jacek Piwowarczyk
Tree by Trey Ratcliffe

Charice

Sweet dreams are made of this.

A young fifteen-year old Filipina girl with an amazing talent went directly from YouTube to Oprah Winfrey. She's performed on Ellen, NBC as well as in opening stints for big names in Las Vegas and elsewhere and people are going gaga over her.

Oprah calls her "The Most Talented Girl in the World" and has been introducing to those who will help launch her career. Lucky gal as well as outrageously talented. Everyone takes a call from Oprah.

Check it out.



She also sang a duet with Celine Dion at Madison Square Gardens. Well she sang and Celine more or less watched, and she had the entire Gardens audience on their feet. Amazing. Video at Charice and Celine at Madison Square Gardens.

An Out of Body Experience

In Ilocos Norte, the province in the north where Ferdinand Marcos came from, there is quite an amazing sight. In a large shrine, encased in a glass box, lies the body of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. This is seriously weird.

Marcos was first elected President in 1965, then re-elected in 1969 (the first President ever to be re-elected), but then in 1972 I guess he didn't want to leave after the mandatory two term only rule because he proclaimed martial law, citing the Communist menace, and ruled as a dictator for the next 17 years. He got a piece of everything that was going on in the Philippines, accumulating huge wealth that is still a contentious issue here. Attempts to get it back are still going on, with little success. The U.S. lost its case against Imelda.

In 1986, after an attempt by Marcos to steal a snap election and huge street protests, the Americans finally withdrew their support of him and he was forced into exile in Hawaii. He was a very sick man and died in 1989.

At first, the new President, Cory Aquino, refused to allow his body to be returned to the Philippines. The next President, Ramos, finally agreed. However, Imelda wanted him to be buried in the Manila Heroes Cemetery and I guess no one since has agreed because there he lies, encased in glass. For all these years Imelda has been making her political statement.

The body itself looks like something from Madame Tussault. The story is that his face and hands, at least are covered in wax. There's big discussion among visitors about whether this REALLY is his body.

By the way, he's not the only famous person to be displayed for at least a period of time in public. He joins the ranks of Eva Peron, Ho Chi Min, Mao Zedong, Abraham Lincoln and Nicolas II (bones).

Ilocos Norte is Marcos territory, the base of the Marcos family's support. After Marcos died, his son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., also known as Bong Bong, became governor of Ilocos Norte. His daughter Imee became a Congresswoman. When Imelda was allowed to return to the Philippines she ran for office as Congresswoman and won.

By the way, Bong Bong, now a Congressman, lives in my building up on the top floor with his family when in Manila where the government is. They lived in our apartment before they moved upstairs and when we were apartment hunting they were still here when we looked at this place. Family pictures out and all.

To many people, Marcos was a bad guy who was pushed out by a popular people's revolution they call People Power. Or EDSA 1, referring to the name of the road they gathered on during those days. But In Ilocos Norte, he is still popular. He is "Apo" Marcos. Godfather. They say he did a lot for them and it's very true. They make no secret of their feelings as you can see on signs all over his hometown.

There was part of the story of Marcos that made me feel a little sorry for him as we drove around this countryside between the mountains and the sea, enjoying the fresh air and scenery. When the Marcos family and a few others were airlifted out of the palace in Manila by the U.S. military, they were led to believe they were being taken "home" to Ilocos Norte. Instead, it was a huge shock when they were removed to Hawaii and exile. (They still believed that President Reagan was his buddy). I can just imagine that scene on the plane.

World Heritage Sites

Last week I had to cancel all plans and spend three days in bed with a bad cold. As it turned out, there was a definite silver lining to this scenario.

Propped up in bed with my laptop, I spent hours reading about Laos, in anticipation of our trip there in four weeks. I found tons of blogs and websites and had a great old time. One of the places we are going in Laos is Luang Prabang, which is always mentioned in print as being a “World Heritage Site”.

Lots of places we have gone to or are planning to go to have this designation, so I was curious. What really does this mean?

Apparently, for the last 37 years, UNESCO has been designating some 878 sites around the world as “World Heritage Sites” – 679 cultural sites, 174 natural sites and 25 mixed properties. The World Heritage Convention, ratified by 183 countries, is there to assure the preservation of the “patrimony of mankind”. There’s a phrase that was thought up by committee if I’ve ever heard one. In any event, once a site is protected, the host country is supposed to abide by a number of conditions to make sure the site is conserved. The World Heritage Center is not a funder, the countries themselves fund all the maintenance and preservation, but the bonus to the countries is that these sites become in some cases major tourist attractions.

It’s not always smooth sailing of course. I was reading about how it is sometimes difficult to reconcile the requirements for preservation with the need and desire to modernize. This would be a particular problem in the case of Luang Prabang where the whole town is designated a World Heritage Site, but unlike a monument this is a living place where people work and live. There was a case where the monks in a temple wanted to build a new bathhouse and they made plans for a modern, concrete block-looking structure. The beleaguered guys at the UNESCO field office, with no resources other than the art of persuasion had to convince the monks to build something more in keeping with the wood architecture of the temple. Also the Laos governments don’t always have the resources or ability to impose building construction regulations in a timely manner and sometimes stuff just gets built without it.

This weekend we’re going away to visit one of the Philippines’ World Heritage Sites, the old Spanish town of Vigan up in northern Luzon.







Here’s the list of Canadian World Heritage Sites on the UNESCO website. Most are news to me.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Historic District of Old Québec
L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site
Old Town Lunenburg
Rideau Canal
SGang Gwaay

Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Dinosaur Provincial Park
Gros Morne National Park
Joggins Fossil Cliffs
Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek
Miguasha National Park
Nahanni National Park
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
Wood Buffalo National Park


Road trips!

Let Them Fly Commercial

I follow the news to some extent, reading the International Herald Tribune every day, watching BBC World and CNN News in the morning and reading the Philippine Inquirer cover to cover for my daily hit of the local political soap opera. But my real source of news is my "favorite fake news show", The Daily Show. This past week there was a riotous report on the appearance of the heads of the U.S. "Big Three" automakers before the House Financial Services Committee. They were asking Congress to give them $25 billion to bail their companies out of the ferocious mess they are in. (You can view the clip on www.thedailyshow.com - November 20th broadcast).

Well most of the Congressmen were not all that keen on responding favourably to the carmaker's requests, at least not in current form. But things went further south when it was revealed that the CEO's had travelled from Detroit to Washington to plead their case in their private jets. Oh the symbolism. Many Congressmen, even those who had been inclined to favour a bailout, expressed outrage:

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo," said Rep. Gary Ackerman, a Democrat from New York.

It provided a perfect opportunity for some grandstanding...

California Democrat Representative Brad Chambers Sherman asked the CEOs if they were willing to sell their jets on Wednesday and fly back to Detroit on a commercial flight. "Let the record show no hands went up," Sherman said.

Ron Gettelfinger, head of the United Auto Workers union, also testified at the hearing but flew a commercial flight to Washington. "I got a plane to catch, you know what I mean," Gettelfinger said to reporters when leaving the hearing room.

The sight of the suits lined up side by each, being chastised by the Congressmen was priceless.

As of now, Congress has refused to give them any cash without some serious conditions being placed on the money. GM says they won't last till the end of the year. Like everything else it seems, things are going to hell in a handbag.
Hearing about the troubles of the U.S. automakers reminds me of a time several years ago when I severed my relationship with one of those Big Three - fired them. I had been a customer of **** for many years, had driven several of their cars. The very month the last car went off warranty, the problems began. One thing after another, one visit to the service department after another and many many dollars spent. I was SO frustrated. For me, car trouble ranks right up near the top of the list of life's aggravations.
The last time the car broke down was the last straw. When the service manager called me to tell me how many more hundreds of dollars I had to give him to fix it I had a complete fit. I told him I didn't want the car. He wasn't sure what I meant. "I don't want the car", I repeated. I told him that I had been a customer for many years, had had this one and that one over all the many years I had been giving them my business, but this car was a complete dud and I was finished paying for repairs. This was the end of the line. I wasn't giving them another cent. "I don't want the car".

I also told him in no uncertain terms that the Japanese were cleaning their clocks, that all they had left going for them were the trucks and they were going to lose them too. I then told the service manager that he should get out now and go find another job because they were doomed.

I think he really didn't know how to handle someone telling him essentially to take the car and shove it. The upshot of all of that was they repaired the car for free, at least enough to make it go; I then drove it down the street to the Mazda dealership where I immediately dumped it as a trade-in and got a new car.

I wonder if that service manager, who had to live through my meltdown, took my advice.

Happiness is a Rubber Slipper

Magandang gabi
Good evening

Today was my Tagalog lesson. However we got distracted and spent the entire hour and a half speaking in English about my teacher's (guro) plans for the Christmas holidays.

For the past few years, my teacher has been Santa in a village back in his home province of Quezon. Every year he goes there with gifts for the children. Throughout the year he finds support for other projects, like school food programs. His interest and focus is on education for the children as he believes that without it the Philippines is going to remain poor and a "third world" country.

The village is in a very poor rural area of eastern Luzon which is hard to reach for a number of reasons including the mountainous terrain. Getting there is a 13 hour drive from Manila, part of it on winding switchbacks through the mountains. The terrain is very rugged, dotted with isolated valleys and there is no dry season. The area is hit on a regular basis by heavy rain and typhoons. It rains 285 days of the year. Here the poverty is extreme.

The local school had an extremely damaged roof leaving the building open to the elements so my teacher offered to help to put one up if the parents would agree to provide the labour. A school with no roof does not help the children learn. When it is rainy which is much of the time, the kids can't be in a class virtually outside so they don't go to school. Likewise in the summer when it is very hot and sunny they can't sit and learn exposed to the sun.

He portrayed a feeling of abandonment in this area. It is up to individuals to build or repair schools or find supplies. In this village, the children are taught by a few volunteers, a retired high school teacher among them. The Department of Education can not provide a paid teacher. Even if they came up with the money no one wants to go and work in this place. Among the reasons - they are afraid for their lives.

This part of the country, with its inhospitable terrain is the stomping grounds of the Communist rebels, called the NPA, the New People's Army. Other people call them bandits. My teacher is very frightened to make the trip every year, with a vehicle filled with boxes of things for the children and medicines. On that 13 hour, treacherous, winding, isolated road he is almost always stopped, at least once, by armed men. They question him and his motives. Why is he bringing this stuff to the village? Where did it come from? Did it come from the government? Why is he doing this? Does he want to be the next mayor? He is scared, even in fear for his life, but he goes anyway because the thought of the children pushes him on.

These armed men, and sometimes children, are as poor and perhaps desperate as any of the other inhabitants of the region. Probably even worse off as they live by force, from time to time pursued by the military. They terrorize people, exacting tribute and tax, blowing up property where extortion has not worked (recently a cell phone tower was blown up with the company refused their demands for money). The women of the banditos are called Amazonas. One day my teacher's brother, who is a doctor, was kidnapped by a bunch of these armed men. He was blindfolded and taken on a boat trip for two hours. He had no idea why or where or when they were going to kill him. At the end of the trip he found himself facing a pregnant Amazona who was having a difficult labour. They had to kidnap a doctor in order to seek medical assistance.

On his Christmas visit my teacher distributes pan de sal (a white bread roll) and pancit (noodles) to the children. He brings some toys and umbrellas. But the most precious gift he brings, that the children appreciate most, are what are called rubber slippers. Sandals, thongs or flip flops. You see, these children don't have shoes and for some, who live in the mountains, where existence is the most marginalized, when they do go to school, it can be a 2 hour walk through rough country. Bare foot. A half inch piece of rubber makes all the difference and makes them happy.

In the Philippines people have to pay to send their kids to high school - in a public school, about 18,000 pesos, $375. Out of reach for so many. My teacher and others who are helping are sponsoring 5 kids, who are now in their 3rd year of a 4-year program; he's going to see how it works out. He hopes that if it is successful and the children go on to find employment, they will in turn sponsor others, "pay forward" he calls it. He also wonders about college. Do they need to be responsible for that? Even factory jobs in Manila ask for "college".

My teacher is 34. His parents were convinced of the value of education and worked very hard to pay to send him and his brother to a convent school run by Italian nuns. He went on to the University of the Philippines and now makes his living teaching Tagalog to expatriates. He spoke with sadness of the poverty in this country. He says if only everyone would do something, anything, to help the poor, to give them information, to educate them, to help, the Philippines could pull itself up. He wishes the President, Gloria, would come to the village and see for herself. Other than that, he doesn't see the government doing anything at all to help or to solve problems. Politicians and government officials are more interested in acting (as in putting on a show), accumulating power and feathering their own nests, than anything else. Corruption in the Philippines is the worst in east Asia.

My teacher describes himself as not being a religious man. However, one night in 2002, he had to run out to the ATM to get some cash to pay his cook. There on the ground, on a low trolley under the ATM, was a pregnant woman giving birth at that very moment. Outside, on the ground. People were gathering around her. He ran home, nearly panicky, and with his yaya began frantically gathering things up. The only drugs he had were 4 paracetemol but he put that together with some food and water and some cloths and blankets in the bag and the yaya ran back to the ATM. He said at that moment he knew he had to do something to help others in his country. That was the beginning of his work to provide aid to the village.

He says he's not a religious man, but he also says that it might be possible that the hand of God did, at that moment, come down and point the way for him.

Rebirth: New Shanghai

From the invasion of the Japanese of the city proper in 1941 (the Japanese actually had invaded in 1937 and controlled much of the rest of China), Shanghai never really recovered to its previous role, that is until recently. Soon after the end of the war with the Japanese, the Chinese communists won the civil war and took over in 1949. Since then, through all the upheavals, nothing was done to grow the city.


By the way, even though the rest of China had been invaded, Shanghai, or at least the International and French Concessions, which were under their own foreign-backed governance were therefore "protected" as diplomatically off limits to the Japanese invaders. Shanghai was not taken over by the Japanese until Pearl Harbour when all bets were off and all hell broke loose. There's a great scene at the beginning of the Spielberg movie Empire of the Sun, when the little boy runs across a field past the end of the garden of an expat mansion, where a posh costume party is on, up over a ridge to charge smack into a Japanese military encampment, where the soldiers were sitting around waiting. Waiting. Waiting for Pearl Harbour and the signal to "go". The sense of tension between the invasion threat and the on-going privileged existence of the expats is compelling.

Anyway fast forward to the 1990's. Mao is out and China is opening up. Fast. With the whole Hong Kong thing, the Chinese government was keen to establish another modern Chinese city, which would be an international financial and business centre. They decided it would be Shanghai and embarked on a massive building and modernization transformation of the city. It doesn't hurt that the very top leaders of the Party are former mayors of Shanghai.

Amazing energy.


At one point, during the 1990's according to Lonely Planet over half of all the world's construction cranes were at work in Shanghai. (Would love to know how that was calculated.) Over 30 square km of shikumen neighbourhoods like the one we stayed in (see earlier post) have been razed to make way for huge apartment and office buildings. These folks are serious! Shanghai now has the fastest train in the world, the tallest office building (for the time being) and the longest arched bridge in the world. They plan to build the world's largest ferris wheel in time for the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.

This stuff is in the way. What do you wanna do?
Make way for progress!

Our landlord in Shanghai was talking about our neighbourhood. Our little hotel was in the villa that his grandparents built in the 1930's. He said that it was a great neighbourhood for the old people. They had lots of friends around, the market was across the street, they knew the neighbourhood and all the people, they played mah jong in the courtyard - it was a good life.

I asked him about all the neighbourhoods that had been made gone by the high rises. Including all those we could see on the next block from our terrace. How did people feel about that?

He said people were just fine with that. Modern buildings, modern plumbing, modern electricity, modern design, modern world. What's not to like?

Just so long as there remains space for old ladies and mah jong and bad habits.

That's all I'm going to want, ultimately.

Shanghai artist Liu Bao Jun

Happy Birthday Abie Baby

I spent the morning of my birthday watching the U.S. election returns, as it was Tuesday night across the Pacific.

What a fine birthday present!

Later that day I told my Tagalog teacher that I never thought I would see this in my lifetime. That night I saw the newsclips where Oprah Winfrey and Jesse Jackson were quoting me.

After 9/11, as events progressed, I announced that I was not going back to the States until the government changed. There was lots of joking about which state voted Democrat and could there be exceptions for those and on and on. Well, all joking aside, as it turned out, it's been a very long time since I was there.

Now I feel like a huge cloud and persistent sense of dread is lifting. At last a feeling of hope.

Couldn't have wished for a happier birthday.


Lyrics to Abie Baby... from the musical Hair

Happy Halloween

Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing, For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double
toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.


























Happy Halloween

War on Drugs

The city of Shanghai originally developed because of a war on drugs.

Prior to 1832 foreign trade with China was very restricted. The Chinese only allowed foreign ships into one port, Canton, and entry was very regulated. After stopping in Macau to pick up a Chinese pilot and written permission to enter Chinese waters, all ships proceeded to anchor at Whampoa, an island 13 miles south of Canton. Hundreds of boats would be at anchor, loading and unloading cargo, which would then be taken on smaller boats to the warehouses in Canton. Sailors with rare exception were confined to the ships. Those officers who were allowed to Canton, were restricted to certain parts of town. No firearms were permitted to be carried by foreigners in the city and foreign women were forbidden from entry. Back in the Whampoa harbour, where the sailors were stuck on their ships, brightly decorated Chinese Flower Boats traveled the waters carrying Chinese ladies of pleasure, some with musicians playing Chinese music.

However, the foreigners were not happy with all the restrictions. While they were very keen to get the silks, spices, tea, cotton and ceramics in great demand back home, the Chinese were not particularly interested in what the foreigners had to offer. This frustrated the foreigners as silver flowed into China and balance of payments were, well, unbalanced.


The British came up with the bright idea of drug dealing. Something addictive, so the Chinese would come back for more. Both the British and the Americans started bringing in opium from India and Turkey, which was much better than the Chinese home grown. Opium was illegal in China and had been since the 1790's but by the 1830's, the foreigners were bringing in 1400 tons a year. When the Chinese government, concerned about the huge number of addicts among their people, tried to shut down the opium trade, seizing and burning 20,000 chests of opium owned by the East India Company, the British went to war over it for two years, to keep the right to bring the drugs into the country.

Eventually the Chinese were defeated by the British and The Treaty of Nanking was signed in 1842, opening key ports, including Shanghai to foreign trade. The United States and France were close behind, negotiating their own treaties and by 1849, Shanghai was divided into districts each with its own administration. Thus was formed the International Concession, settled and governed by the British and Americans and the French Concession governed by the French. These areas of Shanghai were occupied by foreigners for the next 90 years.

The second half of the 19th century saw the rapid growth of a new city, incorporating foreign influence and money. Shanghai flourished.

Old Shanghai

"It took more than one man to change my name to Shanghai Lily."

Shanghai was a legend in the 1920's and 1930's. Through the early 1900's the city was known as the "Pearl of China". As a matter of fact Manila pre-war was also called the "Pearl of the Orient". Lots of "Pearls" until the Japanese destroyed it all. When a lot of the world was in a depressed state in the years leading up to the Second World War, Shanghai was a happening place and rolling in money. It had the highest skyscrapers outside of North America, a port with 50,000 junks at the wharves and a waterfront of impressive art deco buildings, mansions and hotels. It attracted thousands of developers and investors and well-heeled tourists made it a destination. It was the most modern city in China.



Shanghai was an open port, meaning anyone could go there with no restrictions, and became home to thousands of refugees from Europe. Over forty thousand White Russians escaped the revolution through Siberia and settled in the city, bringing with them new music, dance, theater and energy. Many formerly wealthy Russians arrived with next to nothing and were forced into work they would never have imagined in their former lives. In the thirties, boatloads of Jews escaping Nazi Germany, turned away by other countries, settled in Shanghai. It was a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, at least the parts of it that were run by foreigners were.

Sin City it was called, or, as some wag labeled it, "The Whore of the Orient", and, in addition to the righteous citizens, was populated by gangsters, warlords, spies, gamblers and tourists. Money was to be made and spent. Big money. Those with, or following the money spent it in the nightclubs, dance halls and at the races. There were hundreds of brothels and maybe 100,000 prostitutes.
I picked up a Shanghai tourist guide that was written in 1934. It describes the city nightlife like this:

What odds whether Shanghai is the Paris of the East or Paris the Shanghai of the Occident?

Shanghai has its own distinctive night life, and what a life!

Dog races and cabarets, hai-alai and cabarets, formal tea and dinner dances and cabarets, the sophisticated and cosmopolitan French Club and cabarets, the dignified and formal Country Club and cabarets, prize fights and cabarets, amateur dramatics and cabarets, theatres and cabarets, movies and cabarets, and cabarets – everywhere, in both extremities of Frenchtown (French Concession), uptown and downtown in the International Settlement, in Hongkew, and out of bounds in Chinese territory, are cabarets.

Hundreds of ‘em!

High hats and low necks; long tails and short knickers; inebriates and slumming puritans.

Wine, women and song.

Whoopee!

Let’s go places and do things!

Famous writers, actors, and socialites of the day came to visit or to stay in Shanghai, including Dame Margot Fonteyn, Noel Coward and Charlie Chaplin.

Wallis Simpson was one of the first celebrities to be skewered by the tabloids in the 1930's when she snagged the King of England, who then abdicated his throne to be with "the woman I love". Later in their lives together she was known to say, "You have no idea how hard it is to live out a great romance."

One of the rumours had to do with her trip to China and stay in Shanghai in 1924, when she was separated from her first husband. She went over there to try a reconciliation (he was a drunk and an abuser), but the reunion didn't work. So she had some fun. Some said a LOT of fun. The story was she hung around brothels (ran out of money?) and learned some nifty tricks with which, according to the tabloids, that foreign bitch seduced the poor King Edward who was helpless in face of her wiles. (The actual trick was the "Shanghai squeeze", which I have no idea what that might be, do you?). All of this was supposedly chronicled in MI6's China Dossier, the existence of which has never been determined.

According to a diplomat in China at the same time she was, Wallis was an enchanting conversationalist. Only in English though it would seem, as the only Mandarin she learned was "Boy, pass me the Champagne".
The life, and the lifestyle, came to an end, as it did throughout so much of Asia when the Japanese invaded. After the war Shanghai never really recovered and in 1949 the Chinese Communists took over. For forty years, the city had virtually no development.

Until the 1990's when the second renaissance of Shanghai began...

Many of these images came from a great website Tales of Old Shanghai.

"They all look alike to me"

From yesterday's Financial Times...

A blunder by the Philippine president last week over an alleged World Bank contribution to an Asian rescue package has partly been attributed to difficulties in distinguishing between western officials.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last week surprised financial markets by announcing that the World Bank had agreed to inject $10 billion into an Asian fund to help recapitalise ailing banks and take over bad debt. But the World Bank was quick to deny such an offer, turning what Mrs. Macapagal (sic) had hoped to present as a Manila-led rescue initiative into an embarassing gaffe that also implied Asian banks were in more trouble than had been assumed.

Mrs. Macapagal's blunder set off domestic criticism of her apparent inability to understand the structure of international lending. She had made her announcement after receiving a text message from her finance minister, Margarito Teves, relaying from Washington the apparent Bank offer.

Ralph Recto, another Filipino minister at the meetings, later said the misunderstanding had partly come from an inability to tell his interlocutors apart, because "they're Caucasians and they look alike". Mr. Recto said the identity confusion was exacerbated by the seating arrangements.

Both Mr. Recto and Mr. Teves also said the World Bank had overdone its denial, since one of its senior officials, Michael Klein, had talked about such a fund. Mr. Teves said the Filipino mistake had been to interpret Mr. Klein's comments as a reference to an Asia-specific plan rather than an existing global facility. Mr. Teves also said Manila had mistakenly later dragged the IMF into the saga because it had been unclear which institution Mr. Klein was representing given his seat allocation.

Shanghai - The 'Hood

We’re not in Barrhaven anymore, Toto

On our recent trip to Shanghai, my first visit to China, we stayed in an amazing little hotel in the French Concession. One of only a very few small “boutique” hotels (so far), it was originally a villa built in the 1930’s and was the home of the grandparents of the current owner.

To reach it, you walk through the gates from the main road, where you find yourself in one of the neighbourhood enclaves called shikhumen, or lane houses. Walking down the alley, you pass the homes where the locals live, some with communal sinks and water taps outside, and laundry hanging everywhere. To my great delight, being a recent huge fan, one day I watched a group of ladies play mah jong, along with several others sitting beside them observing.



Unlike in the Philippines, where the universal norm is that if you make eye contact you are greeted with a smile and a “Good morning ma’am”, the Chinese are not as forthcoming (don’t know anyone else quite so open and friendly as the Filipinos are). However, armed with one of only two Chinese words I know – ni hao (hello), I went nee howing my way through the alley, and always got greeted and smiled at in return. To the consternation of the hotel manager, who apologized profusely, our visit was unwittingly timed to coincide with major construction in the laneway, replacing pipes, so navigating our way to the end of the alley was also an adventure.

At the end of the alley is a tall gate and behind it is the house and garden of our little five room hotel. The garden, shady and a little overgrown, is filled with sculptures, many of Buddha, peeking through the shrubs and vines. Walking in to the building you are in an art filled lounge and bar area. Climbing the stairs to the third floor, we had an entire “penthouse” apartment to ourselves. Living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom and bath as well as two terraces looking over the trees and roof tops. Breakfast was served in the garden – a typical Chinese breakfast of greens-filled pan-fried dumplings, or noodles with bok choy, or a thin crepe-like omelette, along with a clear soup with tofu and bok choy, fruit and great coffee.

Cooler than Pluto.



Back out on the main road, the street life was amazing. Across the road was an indoor wet market, with piles of fresh vegetables, buckets of crabs and other squirming somethings. Walking along the street you pass little shops (about 8-10 feet wide) – dry goods, noodle shops, smoke shop, wine store (yay), CD/DVD’s, clothing, tea shop, you name it. In the backs of the shops invariably a television set would be on and kids and adults would be eating a bowl of something. Hanging on bamboo poles or any available hook of wire is laundry – all over the street, out of windows, in passageways. People are napping, playing some kind of checker game or cards and generally living lives right out on the streets. A few walk around in pajamas. I mean real pajamas, with fuzzy wuzzies all over them!


One day, we were walking past a group of people hanging out on the sidewalk very close to our gate. Among them was a little girl about 3 years old, so I paused and did my “nee how” thing. Her Dad or uncle or whoever prompted her to say “hello”, after which every time she’d see us she’d jump up and down and get excited “Hewoh, hewoh”. Fun. - Cars, bikes, scooters pass by along with some finding creative ways to transport large loads of scrap metal or wood.




This is still a neighbourhood where life goes on in the shikumen as it has for generations. It was a blast to call it our own for even a few days. Who knows how long these will remain as they are. Because this is not what modern Shanghai is all about. Shanghai is changing. Rapidly.