8 August 2008, 19:07 in Martial Arts
Singapore training trip
This year in May I spent a week in Singapore with Brandon and Troy for a martial arts training holiday. We did some training in Tabimina Balintawak under Sir Bob Tabimina himself, and we trained some knife combatives with Charley. I also got to meet Richard and some of the other guys from Singapore for the first time.
Balintawak is a family of combat systems developed in the 1940s by Grand Master Venancio “Anciong” Bacon in the Philippines. A single rattan stick is used as the primary training tool, but it is not just a stick fighting art. Tabimina Balintawak is Sir Bob’s own variation of the style. The philosophy is to end the fight expediently; it is counter-offense system with emphasis on strong impenetrable defense. This contrasts with most other weapons based styles which focus on the long range and offensive elements.
Tabimina Balintawak focuses on the development of appropriate reactions, timing and speed. This can be applied to a variety of weapons (stick and knife) or bare hands fighting. The approach is very different to most martial arts where the focus is initially on techniques or applications, and the timing and reactions which actually make those techniques work come later. Tabimina Balintawak is about the development of appropriate reflexive response under pressure in real time.
The movements are simple and efficient, nothing fancy. The emphasis is on gross motor movements such as waist turn, hips, and legs, rather than on fine motor movements with the hands. The idea is to zero your mind and use your reactions and reflexes, rather than cognitively think about what is happening and how you are going to react (which is too slow).
The training is done one-on-one with the instructor personalizing the training for each student. The instructor “feeds” the student attacks and the student defends and counters. The instructor always keeps the student just above their comfort zone, continuously pushing them by increasing the speed or intensity, varying the tempo, introducing new attacks, or increasing the level of deception. While the training is not physically hard, it is tiring due to the psychological pressure and overloading of your brain.
Sir Bob is a true martial arts master, as opposed to someone with a day job who does martial arts as a hobby, or a business man who uses martial arts to make money. He is also a very interesting person with a warm heart. It was an honor to train under him. He may be old, but I wouldn’t want to cross him!
On most days we did do two training sessions, one in the early afternoon and one in the evening, each for 2 hours. We also did some knife combatives training under Charley, focusing on how to escape from some common knife hold up situations from both in front and behind. One night we visited the local BJJ club, run by Jason. Troy took the class, focusing on hip movement. We had a wrestle with the guys and then went out for a meal after.
This was my first time in Singapore (outside of the airport) and I really enjoyed it. The weather was warm, the food was tasty and cheap, the people were friendly, the shopping was good, and the training was awesome. It was a much needed break from work and the Perth winter.
Going overseas to train is something I definitely want to do more often. Being in another place and culture, away from the distractions of every day life, and surrounded by other people with a passion for martial arts was a fantastic experience.
6 August 2007, 00:12 in Travels
Canada update #2
I’ve been back home in Perth for over a week now and have finally gotten around to uploading the rest of the photos and writing about the remainder of the trip since my last post.
After a few days in Elkford, where we had visited two coal mines, it was decided that we’d go back to the Vancouver office to get organised for the final site visit. We already had a hire car so we decided to do a road trip west through the Rocky Mountains and back to Vancouver. Our journey took us from Elkford to Cranbrook, then through Radium Hot Springs to Banff, then to Vernon, and finally to Vancouver.
For a map showing the approximate journey we took, click here. We traveled a total distance of about 2000 km.
As you can see the scenery was amazingly beautiful… I couldn’t believe how much fresh water there is everywhere! Driving was a great way to see the country.
The weather was surprisingly warm. It was summer after all, but for some reason I expected it to be colder and mainly packed warm clothes. It got up to about 36 deg C! The days are long here in summer; it stayed light until about 10pm.
Once we got to Vancouver we stayed in a hotel on Granville St which is kind of like the night-club and pub district. We were waiting to go on site once various red tape cleared, so we did a bit of preparation and work and met up with the guys from the office, but had to be ready to go to site at short notice. We got free memberships to a nearby gym and it was good to do some exercise.
In Vancouver people are generally pretty trendy; a lot of guys obviously work out, and restaurants and bars seem to employ only attractive girls. Vancouver is very multicultural, like Perth. There are a lot of homeless people around (way more than in Perth).
In any shop or restaurant, prices do not include tax. I find this pretty annoying because you never know exactly how much something is going to cost until it’s time to pay. At restaurants and bars it is expected that you tip. Apparently 10% is a good guide.
We ended up staying in Vancouver for about a week and I spent a large amount of money on food and clothes… had to buy some stuff to suit the warm weather!
To get to site we flew from Vancouver to Yellowknife via Edmonton. Yellowknife is a small isolated town on the northern side of Great Slave Lake. We stopped off there for one night and the annual folk festival happened to be on so we went down to that. Had a dip in the lake, met some friendly locals, and almost got eaten alive by swarms of mosquitoes.
The mine site visit was quite an experience. The site is very isolated (300 kilometers north of Yellowknife) and the geography up there is quite interesting, with small islands scattered amongst copious amounts of fresh water. Being so far north, the days were incredibly long… Dusk was at about midnight and the sun would dip below the horizon while the sky still stayed light, and then by 3am the sun was coming up again.
Being a diamond mine, and also highly safety conscious, there were a lot of rules and procedures to follow! People on the site were very friendly and helpful and the food was great.
Due to the delays getting on site, we had a very compressed schedule as a result we really worked our asses off! Running on a few hours sleep every now and then and working almost non stop, it was kind of surreal… towards the end I sometimes looked at my watch and didn’t know whether it was AM or PM. There were a lot of hurdles and obstacles in our way but we worked hard and did our job well.
The site visit was a good learning experience for me. I went for some rides on haul trucks and saw mine other equipment in operation, and gained some understanding of how mines operate in general.
Due to a misunderstanding, we were late to the check in for flying off site, and our luggage was not allowed on the plane. We had to grab a few items to stuff into our hand luggage and travel light for the rest of the journey… Really annoying! Our luggage is getting sent back to Perth and will hopefully arrive soon.
By the time we left site we were sleep-deprived zombies and I was definitely ready to go home. We stayed a night in Yellowknife, a night in Vancouver, and then I was back home to Perth. Jules went straight to Europe where he had further travel plans.
The trip was an awesome experience with lots of good memories and funny moments. It was a pleasure traveling and working with you Jules!
12 July 2007, 16:42 in Travels
Canada update
Jules and I have been in Canada for some time now and seen and done a lot, so it’s time for an update! In this post I won’t cover everything that we’ve done up until now, but I’ll make a start. Note that some of the photos that appear below are mine and some were taken by Jules.
Jules captured some great photos of the views from the flight over from Australia to Canada.
Despite a long time flying we arrived in Vancouver at the same time and same day as we departed Sydney, due to the 15.5 hour time difference…
Initially we were in Vancouver for a few days. It’s a beautiful city and I think it has a similar kind of feel to it as Perth, being of an open kind of design, located on the water, and very multicultural, although it is a lot bigger.
We met up with some of the people from the office over here, including Joe, John, Steve, Alan, and Janine. Alan and Dan from the Perth office were also currently here in Vancouver. John had us over for a BBQ at his place, and we had an absolute feast!
From Vancouver we flew to Edmonton where we had some contacts. We didn’t get to see a lot of Edmonton because we were staying in an industrial area near work stuff. However we did check out the West Edmonton Mall which is said to be the largest mall in North America! We both went on a bit of shopping spree there and spent a lot of money!
The main purpose of being in Edmonton was to visit a coal mine which was about a 3.5 hour drive away in the mountains. On the way there we saw plenty of pen meadows and plains, lush green forest, and fresh water lakes and streams. The minesite was located in the most beautiful spot in the mountains with breathtaking views.
It turned out that the haul trucks on site were not of the correct type to allow us to perform our testing. It was arranged for us to visit another minesite located near Elkford, which is a small town in the Rocky Mountains. We booked a hire car and drove south from Edmonton down past Calgary and then west into the Rocky Mountains, to the tiny town of Elkford. Our hire car was a Mercury Grand Marquis, a kind of retro luxury V8 saloon car. While the mechanical design and technology is primitive and it handled like a boat, it had a nice interior and was a good comfy cruiser for eating up lots of miles.
After around 8 hours of driving, with some spectacular clouds and a beautiful sunset along the way, we arrived in the tiny mountain town of Elkford. We arrived there late on a Friday night, and it happened to be the Canada Day long weekend, so we were greeted with fireworks upon arrival!
Elkford seems to exist mainly to serve the nearby mine sites. There was a softball tournament on in Elkford so half the people there were softball players. The main restaurant there is Chinese, so for a couple of nights we ate Chinese food in a remote town in the Canadian Rockies of all places! In the rural areas, just about every car on the road is a big Ford F150/F250/F350 or Dodge Ram 1500/2500/3500.
We drove out to two nearby coal mines, again located amongst the most beautiful mountains.
As you can see from the photos, the forests and mountain scenery around Elkford are stunning. The weather was warm and sunny and it was nice to have a bit of time to just chill out.
On Canada Day (July 1st) we went down to the pub where a Queen cover band from Germany was playing. They were called MerQury and they were really good! Had a bit of chat to them in broken (drunken) German. Let’s just say I had a bit too much to drink that night and someone’s sink ended up clogged… Jules also had an interesting experience but I will let him tell you about it.
All the photos so far have been uploaded to the gallery. More will be added over time.
I have lots more to write about the rest of the trip so far, and will do so soon!
23 June 2007, 05:44 in Travels
Canada!
I just arrived in Vancouver with my friend Jules, after a looooong time traveling. We are here on a work trip for a few weeks. I wrote some software to talk to the on-board computers on haul trucks, based off some spec documents, and so my goal is to try the software for real and make sure it is working properly. The plan is to stay a few days here in Vancouver, then a few in Edmonton, and then up to Yellowknife and spend some time on a mine site.
So far I love Vancouver… It’s a beautiful city with a similar feel to Perth in that it is clean, open, not too dense, next to water, and the people are friendly. We met up with some of the guys from the office here and went out for dinner and drinks which was fun (despite being incredibly tired and jet lagged).
Hopefully we’ll finish up on the mine site early enough to have a bit of time to explore Canada before we have to head home.
6 April 2007, 14:11 in Travels
Some observations about Japan
Here is a list of some random observations, and things I’ve learned about Japan from my trip.
- There are vending machines everywhere, which sell almost anything. Most sell drinks, including soft drinks (such as Grape Fanta), varieties of green tea, beer (often big 500mL cans), coffee (hot or cold), energy drinks, and so on.
- It is a very cash-based society. Most places prefer you to pay cash although major credit cards seem to be accepted at a lot of places too. It is considered normal to walk around carrying large amounts of cash. I was able to cash out from my ATM card at post offices.
- Shoes, and the floor in general, are considered very dirty. In clothing shops, you are expected to take off your shoes before entering the cubicle. In any traditional place, such as an onsen or ryokan, there is usually a certain point (designated by a step or line on the floor) where you take off your shoes and put on some sort of house slipper instead.
- There are very few bins in public. I don’t know what people do with their rubbish, but I found it really annoying to buy some food or drink and then have to hold onto the wrapper for half an hour while walking around before finding a bin.
- The food is amazing. There are awesome little restaurants everywhere and the prices are very reasonable too. Most restaurants have models of their food on display in the windows, along with prices, which is useful. A lot of restaurants specialise in one type of dish (such as ramen or okonimyake) and most regions also have a typical dish so you will find lots of that type of shop there.
- You can buy beer almost anywhere from vending machines or little shops. Most restaurants sell beer on tap.
- I came across both western-style toilets and traditional squat toilets. All the western style toilets have a panel with several buttons, with features such as water spray and heated seats. It is useful to know that the flush is usually not located on the panel, instead being a physical lever of some sort mounted elsewhere.
- Despite the high-tech toilet gadgetry, many of the public toilets (such as in train stations) lack any form of soap to wash your hands, and also lack a hand-dryer or paper towels. Apparently a lot of people carry around a little towel and a bit of hand wash.
- The level of service at shops and hotels is really high. Staff are very alert, polite, and formal, and seem to take their jobs very seriously. There is none of the disgruntled or bored attitude that you often get from shop assistants in Australia.
- People seem very quiet and reserved. No one seems to be loud or boisterous. Apparently it is considered rude to talk on trains and buses; everyone is in their own little private world playing with their mobile phone, reading a magazine or book, or sleeping. No one seems to show public affection; couples don’t hold hands or kiss in public. Despite alcohol being available almost everywhere, I didn’t see any people abusing it.
- Most of the cars I saw were of the practical variety, such as little hatches or big people movers. I saw quite a few Toyota Chasers/Mark IIs/Tourer Vs/Aristos, and Nissan Stageas. There was a lot of other cool cars such as the Nissan BB (a cute boxy hatch), and the Nissan Gloria. I did see Skylines, RX-7s, Supras, and so on, but not as many as I would have thought.
- There is some really cool guys fashion but the sizes are very small, so a lot of larger guys will have trouble finding stuff that fits.
- There are a lot of taxis everywhere. Almost all the taxis are black Toyota Crown sedans. They have their rear-vision mirrors mounted forward above the wheel arches, and they have automatic doors for the rear. It seems customary to sit only in the back of the taxi, and not in the passenger seat next to the driver.
- There are a lot of people employed in strange little jobs. At some of the major tourist attractions in Kyoto, they are two police officers (or similar) regulating traffic and helping people cross the road safely.
That is about all I can think of at the moment.
3 April 2007, 22:48 in Travels
Japan trip
The Japan trip was awesome! I’ve been back for over a week now but it’s taken a while to get all the photos sorted out and so on. Karen had already experienced a lot of Japan so she planned an itinerary that focused on the good bits to make the best use of the time we had. We did our best to follow the itinerary and I was quite exhausted by the end of the trip which took us to Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Himeji.
I flew into Osaka where I got straight on a limousine bus which took me to Kobe where I met Karen and we spent the first day. We walked to the base of Mt. Rokko and took a cable car up to the top. We caught a bus to Rokko Arima ropeway and then took another cable car to Arima, a little town famous for its Onsens (natural hot springs). We bathed in an onsen; the water was surprisingly hot. It is a really relaxing experience once you know the etiquette of getting changed, washing, etc.
Later on we went shopping in Kobe Sannomiya and I bought a new camera. Kobe at night is a buzzing metropolois! We met up with a few people including Tori, Brendan, Angela, Amy, and some others I can’t remember at the moment. They are all Australians who are also living in Japan and teaching English. We all went an English pub and then had dinner at a hambaagaa place where they served 1L glasses of Hoegarden. :)
Nara is a beautiful place with lots of parks and tame deer roaming around. We walked to the Giant Buddha which was very impressive. The deer can get quite pushy when they see you have food! In the afternoon we met up with Yoko and her two sisters. We stayed the night in a Ryokan (traditional guest house). This Ryokan was in a modern building like a hotel but the rooms and service were traditional; we were served delicious food in our room. It also had a rooftop (outdoor) onsen, with a view of one of the temples we visited that day, and the cold air and hot water were a nice contrast. What a great way to relax before bed!
Kyoto is one of the more popular tourist destinations in Japan. We stayed there for two nights in a really traditional and beautiful Ryokan with a top level of service and formalities (and price!).
We saw the temple Sanjusangendo and also Kiyomizu-dera. Two helpful uni students who were keen to improve their English volunteered to guide us around for free. It was incredibly cold out there with the wind blowing and we were thoroughly chilled by the time we got back to the Ryokan. We went back to Kiyo-mizudera at night which is an awesome sight all lit up. We both managed to take some cool photos. I went in the onsen at the Ryokan again before bed.
We stayed a second day in Kyoto; on the second day we first saw Nijo Castle which had beautiful gardens. We then went to Kin Kaku Ji (the Golden Pavillion Temple), which is actually made with real gold. Nestled amongst the trees on the edge of a lake, it was a sight to behold. Our last destination for the day was Ryoan-ji, which is a traditional Japanese rock garden and temple.
Hiroshima was our next stop. It is located further south and was noticeably warmer than Kyoto which was very welcome! Hiroshima was the only place on the trip where street trams seemed to be a primary mode of transportation. We looked at an exhibition at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art which had some really interesting works. Karen had been telling me about a Japanese dish called Okonomiyaki , and KZ had enjoyed it too when he was in Japan, so we had a meal at an Okonomiyaki restaurant. Okonomiyaki is a kind of Japanese savoury pancake with heaps of stuff in it. The one I ordered contained noodles, prawns, oysters, scallops, pork, egg, and a few other ingredients. It was delicious and very filling!
Hiroshima is well known for being the first city to ever have an atomic bomb dropped on it (in World War 2). We went to the A-bomb Dome which stood directly 600m under where the bomb went off on 6 August, 1945. It was one of the only buildings left standing after the blast and has been kept in the same state as a reminder. Nearby is a museum dedicated to the atomic bomb and the effects it had on Hiroshima. Seeing the dome and the museum displays had a powerful effect on me; it was overwhelmingly sad but definitely worth seeing.
Next day, still staying in Hiroshima, we took a ferry across to Miyajima Island for a day trip. We walked around the walkways near the water amongst deer, food stalls, souvenir shops, and lots of people. We saw the big red Torii gate which sits out in the water, and witnessed a Japanese wedding. Then we walked and took a couple of cable cars up Mt. Misen and hiked (and jogged) around some of the trails up there. Monkeys and deer roamed free and the views were simply breathtaking! Unfortunately I’d forgotten to recharge my camera so it ran out of batteries, so we ended up sharing Karen’s camera. When we came back past the Torii gate in the late afternoon, the tide was really low so we walked out and saw lots of locals digging for shellfish of some sort. This day was one of my favourite parts of the whole trip.
That night we went to an internet cafe that was a lot better than anything I’ve ever seen anywhere else! You get your own booth containing a PC with a 19” LCD monitor, a PS2, headphones, a massage chair with five pre-programmed modes, a safe, etc. There is an entire library of DVDs and magazines, and all-you-can-eat/unlimited soft-serve, soft drinks, coffee, tea, and so on, all included in the price. How cool is that!? At something like $12 for 3 hours, the price wasn’t bad either.
Next day we caught a JR train to Himeji, which is the nearest city to where Karen lives. We met up with Mika and went and saw Himeji Castle which was very impressive. We browsed the shops and that evening I participated in one of Karen’s Taekwon-do classes. It was very different to my BJJ and other training but the people were great and I had a lot of fun! Thanks to Kadono-sensei, Arima-sensei, and the others for having me!
Next day Karen had work (school). I slept in and then walked to the school and met some of the teachers and students. The students were shy and it was really funny. That afternoon we caught a train back to Kobe. We did some shopping and then met up with some of the Aussies again. This time I met Ryan and his Japanese girlfriend Yuki. We had an amazing meal which included Japanese marbled beef. Finally we caught a delayed and thus overcrowded train back to Osaka for me to stay my last night.
Early next morning I caught the subway back to the Osaka airport and flew off to Kuala Lumpur. I stayed the night there due to my flights not connecting up, then back to Perth the next day.
I’ve uploaded heaps of photos to the gallery. Not all the photos in this post or in the gallery are mine; Karen took many of them.
The weather was pretty cold; quite a difference to warm old Perth! I was usually wearing jeans, t-shirt, jumper, and jacket over the top, and was still freezing, especially when there was some wind. It was warmer in the south in Hiroshima, where I was comfortable with jeans, a t-shirt, and an open jacket.
Overall it was a really enjoyable trip. It helped immensely that Karen is able to speak Japanese, is familiar with many of the customs, knows about the transport systems such as buses and trains, and knows her way around a little.
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15 March 2007, 12:51 in Travels
Off to Japan
I’ve taken some time off work, and will be heading off to Japan this afternoon for a short holiday to see Karen and explore. I’ll try to get online every now and then to check my emails and so on. I’ll also try to take lots of photos! I’ll be back in approximately nine days. Now, back to frantically packing and getting ready…
6 August 2006, 13:08 in Travels
Back from Brisbane
I spent last week in Brisbane with Karen, staying at her parents place. It was good to see her again! I was very lazy and slept a lot, watched TV and movies, ate, and did a bit of clothes shopping (Karen is my fashion consultant). The local baker there makes a really nice Dutch loaf; it tastes so good with Vegemite or marmalade… Mmmm!
Here’s a pic of Karen in the garden, and one of her wearing her Yukata:
And here’s the Samurai sword (replica) and Jimbei that she got me:
We got back from Brisbane on the evening of Friday the 4th. Now Karen is in Perth for about a week before she goes back to Japan.
Update 10/8/2006: added photos.
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