Interesting Weekend

Saturday, the wonders of fine weather in Eastbourne.


Sunday, the national Barista Champs Wellington heat. And an awful game of 5-a-side. Let's blame the heat for that, though...



As has been pointed out to me, there is no text around these things, so I shall attempt to add some colour. Hmm.
Eastbourne was great. Just a fine place to go to enjoy the sun.
The Barista champs were good fun. A friend was down from Auckland to check out the opposition with a couple of guys who will be competing next week. These fellows really know their stuff, and I felt typically ignorant. Nonetheless, the atmosphere was excellent, the coffees looked and (in the case of the simmering nectarines especially) smelt wonderful. And L'Affare was in fine form with the drinks we could obtain there. The winner, from Feilding, was probably the best presented, for me, which might argue if the quality of coffee made that much difference, if I were the cynical type. Ahem. I'd also guess that the judges didn't see him remove the hair from his speciality drink... 15 minutes to make 4 espressos (espressi?), 4 cappuccinos(cappuccini?) and 4 of the speciality. Tough task! The guy pictured above was probably my pick, but he did run over time quite a lot.

Phoenix 3 - 0 Newcastle Jets

Good atmosphere, rubbish opposition (they should have won comfortably instead of this apparent hammering), fortunate Phoenix and dreadful refereeing. I have no real comprehension of what happened. One good goal, 2 poor ones (although the actual penalty kick was very well taken) and some great saves from what should have been simple finishes for the Jets.

So confused I'll just have to write more later.

Manchester City 0 - 3 Nottingham Forest

We're going to be on the news everywhere today! And for the good reasons, too.As an aside, when I arrived in Singapore it was late and I turned on the telly. Flicking through a few channels I got to a sport one, and there was Joe Garner's 30 yard chip. The fact that it was followed by a home spanking by Doncaster and the predictable sacking of a likeable but somewhat ineffectual manager meant that it couldn't really be viewed in hindsight as an omen... until now!

Yay!

Bintan

No piccies, sorry. Actually, there are a few, but my travelling companions took them, so it is up to them to show them if they wish. Nur nur ne ner nur.

Sleep, swimming, sunburn and a good book, with fun cocktails and some general pampering went a very long way. Well, not that far, but far enough. And the New Year's Eve party was awesome. A good band (despite a simply dreadful Simply Red cover, and an almost unrecognisable "Come On Eileen"). Even I danced. And, no doubt, sometime soon my knees and thighs will recover from the unaccustomed activity.

Melaka/Malacca

Let's not talk about the immigration and border controls. Or the traffic. Instead I'll mention an odd reminiscence. Maybe it was the shape of the streets, or the smell (subconscious), but Melaka reminded me of Nanjing. There are several peculiar things about this: I didn't especially enjoy NJ at the time, but in hindsight it has really been rather stimulating - some of my more vivid and positive memories of China came from there. Melaka is a fraction of the size and has a stronger western influence (having had Portuguese, Dutch and British colonial influence) but something about it or me triggered memories. I'm sure it wasn't just the stairs. Although the stairs would probably be a factor... 

Johore Baru

And, just as a bonus... photographic evidence

The Sultanate of Johore Baru's gardens.

(just a statute - I saw no crocs)

But some weird, alien tree parasite...

The building on the right is the old British colonial administration apparently. I found it a very interesting style of building.

Orchids

Growing outdoors at the botanic gardens were some of the most lovely blooms I have ever seen.