Lao Now!

Mr. Lao - Des Teso
A fleet of Tuk Tuks at the ready.
My shaky ride.
Nice quiet streets.
Not very commercial.

A quiet monastery.
Kids at play.
Nice Buddha
Doors and walls tell the story.
Golden repose.

Studying with the master.
Beautiful ironwork.
Mmmmm - hot soup.
No traffic jams here.
A market.

Local delicacies. Love the sticky rice!
Best fried frog skin....ever... (click on picture to enlarge).
Not the locals.
Beer Lao can't be beat.

That Dam (Black Stupa) is said to sit above the cave of a dormant seven headed dragon.

Approaching the Arch.
French with many Asian accents.
Entry to That Luang, the Golden Stupa.
The national symbol of Laos and the most religious site in the land.
Where Des is establishing himself as the number one singles player in the country.

From poor Kraft employee to wealthy ore baron.

By Tod Gimbel

I've been on the road a lot recently. The past few weeks I've been to Laos, Taiwan and Indonesia. Finally have a few minutes to do an update. I will debrief....

I had the opportunity to travel to Laos on a business mission in association with the annual meeting of the Director Generals of Customs of the ASEAN countries (basically all the countries of Souteast Asia http://www.aseansec.org/Bulletin-Jul-08.htm ). Of course I do spend much of my work life dealing with tariff and trade issues here in the region so I had a very legitimate reason to attend. I also wanted to add another country to my running visit list and link up with my friend and former colleague Des Teso who had just left Kraft to take a job with a mining company in Vientiane.

Laos, or the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country stuck between Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia and China. I notice that when a country has the word "Democratic" in it's name, it usually isn't. This is the case in Laos. It is ranked among the lowest counries on lists of personal freedom and economic conditions. Bombed heavily during the Vietnam War, Laos is known to most people over 40 in the US who have memries of the 60s and 70s.

Here are a few of the rankings:Organisation
Survey
Ranking
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal
Index of Economic Freedom
149 out of 157
Reporters Without Borders
Worldwide Press Freedom Index
156 out of 167
Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index
111 out of 163
United Nations Development Programme
Human Development Index
130 out of 177

So basically, its kind of a throwback communist country still waiting to break out and enjoy the growth that neighbors like Vietnam and Cambodia are enjoying.

Despite all this bad stuff, or maybe because of it, Laos is a very nice place to visit. The big city, Vientiane, isn't too big. My hotel, at 13 floors, is the tallest buiding in the country, there is no sign of Prada, Louis Vuiton, GAP, Fendi, Starbucks, McDonalds and all the other signs of sameness found in virtually every other place in the world. There are some very nice humble people, lovely old temples, colonial buildings from the French days, some really good food both local and international and prices that will make you smile.

I was only there for a few days but with Des as my guide I got to see the sights, taste the tastes, drink the good local brew and even meet few of the natives.

The Don Chan Palace Hotel http://www.donchanpalacelaopdr.com/(the skyscraper) is a 5 star (but more like 3) behemoth on the banks of the Mekon. It is big, relatively new but already old and empty feeling. The view of the river was nice. Lots of open space, cows and goats grazing, a few wooden boats floating by and the flickering lights and small building across the way in Thailand. Yes there was hot water, cable tv and even a balcony but I was a little afraid if I stood on it it might crumble and I would plummet 10 floors to an anonymous death.

They did have a very happening indoor/outdoor club where after 11PM the beautiful people and wannabes could drink Beer Lao and dance to the latest US, Thai and Lao hits.

A note about Beer Lao http://www.beer-lao.com/ . It seems every country in Souteast Asia has a really good local beer. Chang in Thailand, Tiger in Singapore, Bintang in Indonesia, San Miguel in the Philippines, Angkor in Cambodia, to name a few. Beer Lao is a very good one and appears to be one of the few big local compnaies in Laos. Hangover inducing but very easy to drink.

So night one Des took me to a very cosmopolitan restaurant/ pub right in the center of town called Khop Chai Deu. http://www.khopchaideu.com/ It's in an old colonial house and is kind of a modern day Rick's Place. Expats mingle with local drinking beer, playing pool, listening to music eating bar food with local and international tastes. One of Des' friends opened the place 10 years ago and it keeps growing and getting more popular. I just noted on the website that in addition to many daily specials, every night is insect night!

By day I attended meetings (a necessary evil of actually being there for work) but I also managed to walk around and look at some of the temples, shops, markets and peek into the daily life of the city.

Night two Des took me to a very local restaurant for dinner. We feasted on Tom Yam soup, Lao style, bbq beef tongue, crushed beef, fish, veggies and my new favorite dish - fried frog skin. Everything was tasty and spicey and the frog skins were delicious. We later stopped at a very local bar where there was a live band playing some great music. The beat was great, the musicians were good and everyone seemed to know the words and the special dance staps. Kind of like being at secret society where I wasnt in on the secret.

The next morning, on the 15 minute ride to the airport, Des showed me all the historic sites - an Arch de Triomphe type place donated by the French, the Golden Stupa, The President's house, the Legislative buiding and the Vientiane Tennis Club.

I would love to go back.

Riding in East Coast Park

Yours truly on the move.

The nautical theme runs through Marine Parade HDB complex.
Another sign that Singapore is a "fine" city.
Early morning campers starting to stir.
Chinese music blares as the Tai Chi clan does their routine.
The yellow shirts do their thing a little farther down the way.

As always the horizon is full of ships waiting to load, unload or just waiting...
With all those boats around, not sure I would dip into the waters here.
Singapore Seafood Centre - home of the famous chili crabs.
Where to go?
The jetty - long wide and not very pretty.

Out early, or maybe all night, the young folks love East Coast.
Caught one. Pretty tiny but I think that's what they are after.
Not quite up yet.
Yertle my turtle friend.
The universal sign for bike path - but keep left in this part of the world.

Now that we live away from the center of the busiest part of Singapore I have finally had my bike fixed up and am ready to ride. For the last two years my old wheels sat on our laundry porch decomposing. First the seat deteriorated away from the sun and heat and then the tires went flat and the rubber started to disintegrate.

Fast forward to our new place on Chapel Road. We are now a mere few blocks from the underpass leading to Singapore's premier outdoor living venue - East Coast Park http://www.nparks.gov.sg/park11.asp . The park covers a 15 km expanse of waterfront. There is a bike trail, a foot trail, rental places for skates (in-line, not ice), bikes, pogo shoes and more. there are bars, restaurants, BBQ pits, fishing jetty's, fitness path, a turtle pond, a cable ski lake, hawker centre and even a foot reflexology path. It's a waterfront city of it's own.

A local Uncle fixed my bike - new seat, new rims and tires and I'm good to go!

It's always crowded, even in the very early AM when Myrna goes jogging. People pitch tents and have a great time as camping is allowed. It is also usually about 5 degrees cooler then the rest of the island. I like to ride about 7AM, if I can drag myself out of bed.

Anyway I thought you might enjoy the photos taken during one of my recent rides.

Noah Hits Singapore

There he is, the man behind the glass.
The long, long trip ends with a brotherly reunion.
Singapore's Gimbel population up 33%.
The summer hostess gets in the act.
"Hi Dad....get me outta here!"
A visit to Temple (Hindu that is) is a good way to shake the jet lag.
The best briyani hands down.
Made in giant batches, when its gone its gone.
Clean shave and a full stomach.
Breakfast of champions.
Blessed with a dot before starting work the next day.

Noah, the youngest Gimbel brother, arrived last week for an exciting summer in Singapore. The lanky Georgetown University rising junior is doing a summer stint at the American Chamber of Commerce, Singapore. He is a guest at the Singapore Gimbel estate.

With little fanfare, but an excited welcoming committee of two, the bearded vagabond landed at Changi airport almost two Saturday's ago. With his headphones on and guitar case over his shoulder he looked like a guy ready to backpack across Asia. After coming to the house, unpacking and showering he looked more like the happy college student we know and love.

The first night we took him on a tour of the neighborhood ending up dining on the most famous of Singapore dishes - Chicken Rice. In no time he was getting into the local groove. By the time he headed to his first day of work on the bus he was already speaking pretty good Singlish, "Uncle, does this bus go by Orchard lah?"

We also got him to Little India for his first Mutton Briyani and Mango Lassi breakfast.

More to come.....

The Lord Vinayagar Temple

The impressive entrance.
A busy place guarded by Ganeshas.

Looking forward to the next phase.
Nice carvings.
So true in English and in Tamil.
A line of pachyderms.
Removers of obstacles.
And a good little vegetarian place across the street too!

Now that we have been in our new place for a few weeks we are beginning to explore the area. The neighborhood is bordered by several well known streets - Joo Chiat, Marine Parade and East Coast road. Each has it's own interesting local attractions and flavors.

I am sure I will write a number of entries about the various sites, sounds and sensations of the area. Today I will talk about our local Hindu Temple.

One of my favorite things to do here in Singapore is to wander in to the many Hindu and Buddhist temples as well as the Muslim Mosques. the closest Temple to our new place is the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple.

http://www.senpaga.org.sg/ This Temple was founded more then 150 years ago by a Tamil from Ceylon. Vinayagar is one of the synonyms in sanskrit for Ganesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh. Of course Ganesh, the elephant deity, is one of the most recognizable Hindu Gods.

I have visited several times and have observed a number of different ceremonies.  All very mysterious to me, but not so to followers.  I love the music.  Tabla, horns, bells and even the sounding of a sea shell horn on one visit.  also the rituals involving offerings of food, oil, milk and fire all make me want to learn more.

The Gimbel Passover Tradition

The Seder plate, albeit a little picked over already.

The "kids" table starts to take shape.
Elijah highlights the well worn Haggadah as well as his shiny braces.
Cousin Dana gets the honor of holding up the Passover symbols.
"The Last of the Gimbels"
The girls sing the four questions

Now it's the boys turn.
Doctor Barry - ace cardiologist and family prescription drug dispenser.
Uncle Seymour dispenses the gelt to the kinder.
In order of importance - Aunt Sara (the Chef), her world famous pickles........................................................................... josh.

Uncle Seymour and Aunt Sara have been hosting Passover since the mid 1960s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder Prior to that I believe it was held at my Great Grandmother's house for many years. Other then a vague memory of that house basically all of my Passover memories have been created at Seymour and Sara's.

Each year the ritual is the same. Starting out with a Kosher cocktail, usually some special Passover vodka, Grey Goose it's not.... followed by the Seder service.

For many decades the service was led by my grandfather Harold. His style was a blend of Jackie Mason and Don Rickles. We miss him and think of him every day, but even more so on Passover. After he died uncle Jack took the reins, known for speeding through the service in about 30 seconds, he too is gone and not forgotten. Other beloved family members who brightened up the holiday have passed on but are never forgotten including my Grandma Virginia, Uncle Stanley and Aunt Marion. The new young leader of the Seder is Uncle Seymour. Known as "the last of the Gimbel's, not only because he is the youngest of his generation, but because it is said he is the last Gimbel man to actually have some control over his wife and family. All of the subsequent Gimbel men are said to have had the special operation which results the ability to only nod yes when told what to do by their wives. While my brother Josh would like to believe he is actually the new "last of the Gimbel's"....he's not.

The Passover service is set out in a book known as the Haggadah. There are a myriad of Haggadahs available from short to long, old to new. http://www.slate.com/id/2139601/ The Gimbel family follows tradition. We continue to use a 1950s era Hagadah, most likely given away for free in 1960. These well worn blue covered pamphlets are a short a sweet version of the Seder service, yet it covers all the bases - explaining the symbols of Passover, the story of the Jew's exodus from Egypt, a few prayers, the famous four questions (always asked by the youngest member of the family who is up to the task), singing the Dayanu (where God's miracles are recounted) song (always best when cousin Jeff is in the house), setting up the various drinks of lovely sweet Mogan David Wine, eating matzo, eating chorosus (a tasty mix of apples and honey)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charoset and eating Seymour's famous home made head rush and eye watering horse radish. We always snicker during the Haggadah text praying for the removal of the "iron curtain" as the curtain was actually removed before most of the attendees were even born.

After the service we enjoy Sara's superb gefilte fish, matzo ball soup and a great dinner. Her home made pickles are also a feature not to be missed.

This year I was lucky to attend as my schedule worked out just right. The family has spread out a little over the years with people living in Chicago, Cleveland, Connecticut, Florida and me in Singapore. It was a light crowd as my Dad was in Florida and many of the other out of towners had recently been in Milwaukee for the wedding of Brandon Gimbel. there is also a healthy influx of kids - Josh and his two, Seymour's kids Adam, Andee and Debbie and their 6 or 7 offspring and with newlywed Rachel and Brandon (not to each other!) probably more to come.

Needless to say it was a perfect Seder and a continuation of perhaps the most enduring tradition that keeps the Gimbel family together.

La Chaim!