7/7/07 after canoeing in terelj park

ahey, you look at the date you will also buy lottery. so nice a number, how can you not???

anyway, we just came back from a 2 day canoeing trip in terelj park. it's quite nice. you know, you get to become a tourist, sitting in the lap of luxury with fawning servants who hand you a crystal dish of cool basil lime sorbet when the sun gets too hot... i kid. it's not that extravagant, but it's nice going off canoeing and arriving at the next spot to see your tents all set up, and a dinner all ready for you.

plus, we got to eat sausages and bread!!!! and cheese! and coffee!!! and dried apricots!!! plus vegetables!!!

no more fish and cold bread, sibeh sian. (an adjective in singlish describing extreme frustration at having to perform an action over and over again, ie, very bored of the item/action/person)

but we also saw our friendly canned fish poking their tails at us gleefully. i took my revenge by eating them, except the tails.

the river was quite shallow, and not very fast, although quite a few times our companions ida, else and trina ( from norway, and who took turns paddling in a 2 man boat) capsized or had to run through a tree branch.

before we stopped for dinner on day 1, we got into a little adventure. tree(s?) are often washed into the river as a result of erosion, soil type, heavy rainfall and the work of the ugly beast, man. (this is all thanks to jared diamond, google him). we encountered a swift flowing region of the river, and i start to paddle as much as i can to get to the left of the tree. once i realise there's no hope, one word pops up like a neon red and yellow sign, chock full of mind numbing urgency.

BRACE....

BRACE....

BRACE....

we hit it head on.

and i look under me and mr chew's legs are sticking straight out, right beneath my seat. poor fella popped out of his seat and slid under me.

and the next one, when our guide leaves our canoe to help ida and else with their canoe, starts with k paddling and i steering the canoe. once again, God has a very strange sense of humour and we're left facing a similar situation.

this time, we need to evade a low lying tree, and then another tree straight after it. which means i, a complete novice, seated at the back of hte canoe, has to steer right, then left immediately to gain 50 points and survive the cruel game of Canoeing in Mongolia 2.

so we take it straight on, and i find myself going straight into the thick branches of a tree. mind you, these branches are just skimming the surface of the water.

according to the many eye witnesses, they said that i fed kinyan right into the fire.

according to me, i saw the tree branch, knew that i couldn't steer it, so i was just waiting for the branch to pass through us and the canoe.

according to the many eye witnesses, kinyan was paddling very furiously, while i was just slowly sliding to the safety of the bottom of the canoe.

according to me, i adroitly slid down in the nick of time as the tree branch came to a hairbreadth of us, and with split second precision and accuracy, used my right foot to push the branch well above the canoe.

either way, we survived.

uncle and auntie chew, kinyan is alive, well and kicking. he just had dinner with us, got back, washed up and changed out and is comfortably reading his electronic version of a terry pratchet book on his palm os, or something like that.

btw, about the fawning luxury blah blah of tourism. we thought we were quite fortunate with lunch dinner and everything taken care of, but at about the end leg of our trip, we saw a group of golden oldies (or greying?) at a long table, covered with a long white cloth next to the river, having lunch.

WAH LAU. (a singlish term to express general frustration. in short, a very big sigh)

-l