Moscow - Part 3

Thursday, 21 April 2016, 6 pm

I decided to apply Sun Tzu's the Art of War and be extra cheerful to the Russians (do the unexpected), starting with Mr. Doorman. Yesterday I boisterously wished him Good Morning, Hello and Hi every time I passed him. No response at first. Then a slight nod. I'm getting somewhere!

Exploring day. Today I had someone local to take me around The Red Square, where most of the tourist attractions are located. We took the metro. Good time for me to learn. According to the map, the station nearest to the hotel is called Belarushka (but spelt in strange alphabets) and that is on the brown line. To get to the Red Square, we have to change to the green line and get off at the Tretyakovskaya station. Sounds easy enough.

The changing of the stations is done at the Belarushka station itself. It was a series of maze and  I tried to remember the exact route but somewhere in there I was totally lost. I'm not surprised. But I must say, the metro stations in themselves are a sight to behold. The stations are really big, the buildings are pretty old, with large pillars and tiles of olden days, lighted by soft orange lights. Gives me the feeling that I'm in the 1920s boarding the Orient Express at night. Kinda cool. Kinda romantic. And the stations are pretty deep underground, and the escalators are perhaps about 200 meters down. I didn't want to think how I'd go up the escalator if it's not working.

Out of the metro station the first building we saw was the Bolshoi Theatre. This is one of the oldest theatres in Russia, mainly for ballets and operas. The famous ballet 'Swan Lake' is performed here. Russia also has one of the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world - Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera.

On the way to the Red Square we saw the State Duma - Russia's Parliament, the lower legislative house. 

The building opposite the Duma, on the corner of the street used to be a hotel but has 2 distinct designs. The myth or legend was that Stalin commissioned some of the country's best architects to design a hotel in that place. 2 were shortlisted, and when Stalin signed off on the plans, his signature fell on both plans by accident. Too scared to get clarification from Stalin,  the building was built in accordance with both plans. 

Moscow - Part 2

Tuesday, 19 April 2016, 2 pm

Revolving doors at the hotel! How quaint. But of course, this is me. My bag got stuck in the door and while I managed to pull it through, the door was stuck so I just stood in the partition of the revolving door wondering what next. I saw the doorman trying very hard to stifle a disgusted look as he pushed the door to make it move again. I thanked him and got a stare in reply. Things are getting out of hand now.

The receptionists speak English, praise the Lord. Checked in and unpacked a bit, then sent all the 'I have arrived safely' messages to friends and family. It was 3 in the afternoon. Too short to go gallivanting, too long to stay indoors. So I decided to walk around the hotel area. 

Saw Mr. Doorman and avoided him like the plague. Walked for about 5 minutes and saw a church with a golden dome. Many people who passed crossed themselves as they passed it. I wondered if I should do the same. The shock effect. No, not a good idea. A metro station beside the church. Dare I use the metro? We'll see. Not today though.

Walked some more. All the shops are covered. Nothing is out in the open. Most of the glass walls are tinted so I couldn't tell what these shops were until I looked directly into the shop. A cafe. Office. Hotel. Restaurant. In Malaysia you will see the sign for a supermarket a mile away. Here I can miss it if I'm not looking carefully.

Finally a small sundry shop. I wanted water. Beer seemed like a good idea. Russian beer! I tried asking in English. He gave me Hoegarden. Carlsberg. Heineken. I said no, no, no, Belgium, Denmark, Holland. Russia? He brought vodka. Various types of vodka. This would take a while. This is what happens if you don't do research before hand and go in not knowing exactly what you want in a foreign country where no one speaks English.

However, it was a happy ending. I got my Russian beer: Baltikan No. 7. Went back to my room and drank it. It was good. This is the official beer for Euro 2016. They have No. 1 to No. 13, different alcohol content and different tastes from dry to smooth to spicy. Feeling tired, I lay down for a while and the next thing I knew it was 9 pm local time.

Had a shower and accosted the receptionist downstairs (whilst carefully avoiding Mr. Doorman) with a map of Moscow, and I got her to mark out for me all the tourist places that I wanted to go to, and the best way to go there. Looks like I can't avoid the metro. What fun.

Finished the beer which was only half finished as I fell asleep earlier. No need to put in the fridge, the weather is enough to cool it although there is no air-cond in the room. Thought I wouldn't be able to sleep but as soon as I finished the beer and lay in bed with a book I fell asleep again until 4 am the next morning feeling refreshed with no traces of head ache or jet lag.

Moscow - Part 1

Tuesday, 19 April 2016, 12 pm

I'm in the capital of the largest country in the world! Moscow is the capital and largest city in Russia, with a population of over 12 million people. 

After approximately 14 hours of travelling, unfortunately I developed a bit of a head ache I think due to jet lag.

The airport (Domodedovo) was rather small, and I immediately noticed that there were no signs in English, that the Russian alphabet is not Phoenician, and no one speaks English. I know I'll have a blast. 

Having cleared immigration with a lot of hand gestures, I saw a guy holding my name and I excitedly walked towards him, and excitedly presented myself to him. To which he replied with the most expressionless face I have ever seen, "bag please". And that was that. The people here are not the friendliest. Maybe due to language barrier, maybe due to the cold weather. 

He walked extremely fast. I thought he was trying to get away from me, but then I noticed many people here walked fast, I think it's their way of keeping warm in the cold weather. Oh and it was cold outside the airport! I think about 11 degrees Celcius. At first it was nice to have the cold wind on my face, sort of woke me up but after a minute it was too cold for me. Hands in pocket, face down. 

The car was warm, thank God. I tried again. I asked him if he spoke English and he brusquely waved no. My head ache got worse. There were bottles of water in the car and I asked if I could have one (hand gestures) and he nodded so I took 2 panadols and sat back and admired the scenery.

There was something wrong with the scenery but I couldn't quite place it. The head ache was clouding my brain. The journey took one and a half hours, the airport is about 50 km away from my hotel. Can't escape jams anywhere in the world.

Finally the hotel. I thanked him and got a nod in reply. No goodbyes. 

Life is not that short

Life is short. 

So. If I had a choice between being happy doing the wrong thing or being sad doing the right thing, what do I choose?

The problem with this 'life is short' business is, sometimes it's not as short as you would like it to be. Which means that if I do choose to be happy doing the wrong thing, chances are I will have to face the consequences of my choice. 

This is yet again one of those situations where my brain is pulling me in one direction and my heart is pulling me in the opposite direction. I don't know how I always end up in this mess. It sucks. 

"Every nation gets the government it deserves"

When I came back from my soul searching travels, I drove out of my house as usual and became agitated when I saw people driving the wrong way on the road - until I realised that I was the one driving the wrong way, because they had changed the routes to be one way in the opposite direction and of course, nobody told me this and there were no signboards.

Yes, I did see some road works but how was I to know they had changed the direction of traffic?

Anyway, that was in November 2014. It's now May 2016, and the road works are still on going. I really don't know how difficult can it be to change the roads from two ways to one way. And because of the on-going road works, the routes keep changing every so often, which causes massive jams at peak hours. I can only suppose the reason for the one way traffic is to alleviate traffic, but personally I think it's made it worse. 

And people can still ask me why I don't vote.

A funeral

I attended a funeral yesterday. A friend's father.

I don't think there is anything or anyone in the world that can offer comfort or solace to those who have lost a father.

As my friend kissed her father goodbye for the last time with tears of grief and anguish, her face showing the kind of defeat that comes from knowing that you will never know why, I cried too, as only a daughter can for her father. 

My secret

You are the first thing I think of when I wake up. You are the last thing I think of before I sleep. You are the most important person in my life right now. You know every thing that happens in my life. You are everywhere. You are everything. 

You are also my secret. And therefore, I am nothing to you.