Floating on the Mekong
Two days floating on the Mekong...no Blackberry access, no cell signal, no phones whatsoever - just a vast expanse of green hills ("on your right is Thailand, on your left is Laos"), very fast-moving brown water and outcrops of rocks. And every few kilometers a village on stilts on the hills.

It was a really weird feeling to get used to. My friends came to visit me from NY and we decided to go to Luang Prabang in Laos. And not the fast, direct way by plane. Nope - we decided to go to the Thai/ Lao border in Chiang Rai and take a slow boat down - going South, and then East.

http://www.asian-oasis.com/Luang.html

At first I felt really restless. Two days on the boat? What was I thinking when I booked it? (Overnight in one of the Luang Say hotels - but still, no phone signal whatsoever) I was really looking forward to getting back on land - going to Luang Prabang, a National Heritage Site where there'd actually be things to DO. But as I got used to it - sittin' on the chaise longue or a chair on the boat, talking to the other, very cool, very interesting passengers, the wind blowing in our faces, and all that open space around us ... that turned out to be the best part of the trip.

At Luang Prabang we alternated between visiting temples (14th century), and visiting rural villages.. Our itinerary included visiting a waterfall in the countryside - lush green vegetation punctuated by brilliant red flowers, and crystal clear, blue/green water. Hard to reconcile the quiet tranquility of the place with the violence and turmoil of the seventies there, and the extreme poverty there today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1154621.stm

Back in Singapore now... last night. Ian McKellen and Royal Shakespeare Company performed King Lear to a full house at the Esplanade. The scene in which the Earl of Gloucester's eyes are violently gouged out brings a collective gasp from the audience. My first thought - thank goodness we're not living in the 1500s.

But later, I was thinking...who am I kidding - sixteenth century...twentieth century...greed and lust for power are still very much part of our make-up. We haven't gotten any wiser, merely more technologically advanced.