So far away

After a suspenseful period of finding ways to purchase a plane ticket and a nerve-wracking wait for our South African visa, we finally went to Johannesburg, South Africa on the evening of Sunday, April 6 to attend a workshop under the auspices of the World Bank Institute and the Technical Support Facility (TSF) of UNAIDS. Ted and I arived in Singapore’s Changi airport at half-past 9PM. We spent the next five hours accessing the free Wi-Fi service that the airport offered. I checked my emails, logged on a short entry in my multiply blog, and browsed. But I got tired of surfing so I decided to leave Ted in the internet lounge and wandered around the terminal, since it was my first time in Singapore.

Changi airport was a very modern terminal, but it was eerily quiet for a supposedly busy hub. It made me think of the airport in Stephen King’s novella The Langoliers, a space literally caught between time, between the now and the next moment. An hour before we boarded Ted and I ate some noodles. This 2AM trip to South Africa was my first time to fly outside Asia. This is also the longest flight I had taken so I was a bit apprehensive about sleeping (because I snored). I, however, realized that there were others who snored loudly than I did and nobody seemed to care because almost everyone was asleep also. Nevertheless I spent most of the trip watching the inflight movies.

We arrived in Johannesburg at around 7AM. We were also a day early for the official arrival of the workshop participants so we immediately went to the tourist information counter at the airport and asked for affordable lodgings. We were referred to a guest house located in Kempton Park, which was supposed to be close to our hotel for the workshop. After resting in the morning, we were taken to a ‘nearby’ mall to have lunch and do a bit of strolling. Another guest was with us, a guy named Pierre who lost his luggage and passport so he couldn’t leave as scheduled.

We were overwhelmed by the size of the servings at the fast food joint we went to. We bought some provisions: bottled water, bread and fruit for dinner, and a local SIM card. Back at the guest house Ted and I worked on some work that we brought with us, to meet some deadlines. One thing that I didn’t anticipate was the coldness. Our travel advisory said that temperatures in Johannesburg was about 22C, which I felt I could take. What it didn’t mention was at night, this temperature plunged to about 10C. Ted came with a jacket and sweat shirt while I only had my scarves. Fortunately I could tolerate the cold quite well, but still…

The next morning, after a huge breakfast of eggs, sausage, toasted bread, an unknown dish made of minced meat and bell peppers, and fruit, we were driven to Birchwood Hotel, the workshop venue. We met up with Ms Ruthy, my mentor/friend and the other delegate from the Philippines, called Dune, and Soe, our guy from the TSF. We were still a day away from the workshop so once we have settled into our own rooms, we met for lunch and decided to take a half-day tour of downtown Johannesburg.

Johannesburg is really a huge place. I just couldn’t imagine going around it because there is no clear public transportation system. And then there is the high crime rate. Our travel advisory was very explicit on the lack of safety and security in the streets. This was, of course, downplayed by our tour guide. Our group went to different places of interest in downtown Joburg-as it is called by many (decided largely by the tour guide, of course): the business district, the national museum, the former house of Nelson Mandela and the supposedly tallest building in the city, which provided a magnificent 360 degree view of the city in its viewing deck. On the way back to the hotel we noticed that the streets were empty. And it was just after 7PM. We realized the truth in what was written in our travel advisory.

The next day was the official start of the workshop. Around 60 people participated: independent consultants mostly from Africa, South America, and Asia. There were also people from bilateral and donor agencies, and from international NGOs working in the region. The workshop was hectic: we would start at 8.30AM then end at around 7PM. On the second day of the workshop, the facilitator admitted that they compressed a 5-day workshop into 3 days. That explained the schedule but it did not give us any comfort.

When the workshop wrapped up on Friday, April 11, I said my good-byes to Ms Ruthy, who was flying back to Manila the next day. Ted and I decided to stay a few more days to see more of Johannesburg, specifically the wildlife. We booked a tour to the game reserve in Pilanesberg, a northern province outside Johannesburg. Two other people from the workshop (Juan from Peru and Olena from UK) went with us. At 6AM Saturday, we travelled to the national park. Our tour group was joined by a Korean, a British girl of Indian descent, an Arab, and 2 Irish girls who didn’t stop talking to each other the whole trip.

Pilanesberg National Park covered a land area of 55,000 hectares and home to many wild animals, including the Big 5 (elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, leopard and lion), which I guess to be the top 5 animal attraction of South Africa. I had wanted to see gorillas but I learned they were native in Eastern Africa, not the South. We spent 3 hours driving around in its expanse, where we saw a variety of animals (pictured). However, of the Big 5, only 2 showed up: the elephant and the rhinoceros. The reason: it was autumn, and at this time, there are plenty of places to forage and drink water so the animals were happy under the foliage, so to speak.

It was also difficult to photograph the animals that were visible because my camera was a point and shoot, with limited zoom lens. The photos I took were so-so, I must admit. After the national park, we were then taken to Sun City. I remember Sun City as the venue of the Miss World pageant on the year Ruffa Gutierrez placed third (though she felt and acted as if she won the crown). I didn’t realize that it was just basically resort blown out of exaggerated proportions. many of us in the group felt this was a waste of time; we would have rathered to stay in the national park.

After that we were taken to a crafts market where our patience was quickly tested by an unscrupulous vendor. Ted and I ended up buying almost nothing. That evening, in the hotel, Ted and I realized that there was nothing left for us to do in Johannesburg. We decided to leave a day early. After breakfast on Sunday, April 13, we went to the airport to have our flights rebooked. Fortunately, the ground staff of Singapore Airlines was able to book us on the 13th. This is where I committed my biggest blunder.

I mis-read the departure time of our flight. The flight was supposed to leave Johannesburg at 1.15PM and somehow I got it in my head that the flight was 11.15PM. Ted relied on my opinion because I had better vision than him. We rebooked our flight at 9AM, and instead of checking out when we got back at the hotel, we checked out at 1PM, put our luggages at the concierge then went to the mall, watched a movie (Horton Hears a Who–wonderful movie, by the way), and shopped for more souvenir items. When we got to the airport at 9PM, we couldn’t find our flight anywhere on the board.

Ted went to the airline office and came back to me shocked. Fortunately we were rebooked to our old schedule. I called the guesthouse we first stayed in and luckily the owner was in the airport. So in the end, it was like a circle: we were back in the guest house where we first stayed. I couldn’t sleep that night; I was so ashamed and embarrassed. How could I have made such a mistake? Even if Ted told me to stop thinking about it and let it go, I felt that he was still mad at me. And with good reason.

The flight to Singapore was not fully booked so Ted and I were able to transfer to aisle seats of our choosing. We arrived in Singapore at shortly before 6AM, on Tuesday, April 15. We stayed in Ted’s sister’s house in Petain Road. Sandi’s house was in a row of shophouses whose front were decorated lavishly with tiles that showed flowers, fishes and other details. Pem, Ted’s older sister, was also there, along with Verse, another consultant based in Phnom Penh.

We went to a mall in Little India, where we found the incense holder we’d been searching for in its supermarket. We also went to the mall where there were many Filipino-owned shops. I bought dried squid, danggit, and Choc-Nut. We also went to Kinokuniya where I purchased 3 books. Three new books that I’m enjoying now here in the boondocks!

Ted and I called up Danica, a mutual friend who’d been in the city for 4 years. Together the 3 of us went to dinner and to the different gay bars in Singapore. During the day, Ted and I slept and worked on the stuff that we needed to finish before Pem went back to Cambodia. Abdul, my Singapoeran friend, was a no-show, in spite of making arrangements to see me. As another gay person uttered in indignation said, "These Singapore gays! Hmp!"

On our last day, Danica, Ted and I went to lunch before the two of us headed to the airport. My impression of Singapore? It was very beautiful, but it felt artificial also. It was like this huge, manicured garden. I wouldn’t mind seeing it again, but I don’t think I want to live there.

When we checked in at the airport, we discovered that because we didn’t show up for our flight in Johannesburg, our subsequent booking from Singapore to Phnom Penh was cancelled. The lady at the check-in counter was fortunately helpful in putting us in the flight. By 7PM on Friday, April 18, I am back home in Phnom Penh.

My trip of firsts, suspenseful anticipation, nerve-wracking waiting, and huge bloopers finally behind me.