The Future Colombo Port City

 

Day 55 - Next to historic downtown Colombo, China has been working hard for a few years to create new land. A master plan for development started with land reclamation. Just a hint opened today to take the pressure off the fact the country has no dollars left.  This will help to keep people talking about something else.  We'll be just like Singapore or Dubai.  And everyone in the world will be using Renminbi in a few years anyway.

 

"Never mind you haven't the cash," says China.  "Remember when you didn't have the cash for the grand southern port, we built for you.  You can just sign it over to us for the next 99 years.  We'll both benefit."

Packing Will Soon Commence

There is debilitating pressure or tension that is best avoided; however, there are also many types of enjoyable stress. For us, getting ready for winters away can be classified as the latter.

   

We have little to disrupt our attention and have adequate time to get ready for our winter months away. Packing is just a way of getting ready for a fun and enjoyable time in new environments.

Reservations for a Boutique Hotel in Galata

It is always exciting seeing the complete details of a trip flesh out. 

We knew, when buying tickets on Turkish Air for this winter, that we'd stopover in Istanbul on our way back. The city is not unknown to us as we have been there a number of times in the past. Turkey was a cheap, close trip during our years in the Persian Gulf. The trips from Bahrain and the UAE were breaks in the academic year; meaning, they would have always been during winter. 

Now, we are really looking forward to our next, six-night stop-over in the fascinating city. We made hotel reservations today, although we'll be staying in the city which bridges Europe and Asia at the end of March 2022. After our stay there, our flight back to Vancouver will fly directly from Istanbul.  

This scanned photo is over 30 years old. (That's why I forced it into b&w!)

 

Three Temperatures Today

This is where I am today. 

In New Westminster, BC the temperature reached a high of 

9°C.

 

This is where I'll be next week.  

Today's temperature in Dubai, United Arab Emirates was

24°C.

 

Then, we'll return to Sri Lanka from mid-December until spring.  

Today, the weather in the capital of Colombo pushed the mercury to  

28°C.

I took all three images on November 9th but in different years.  The first was just a few hours ago.  The second was shot in the year 2015.  The final one was from 2019.   

The latter two will become our winter.  Need I say more?

The Sun is Visiting!

Weather blogging? Surely, THAT must be a sign there's not much going on!

Actually, I was happy just seeing blue sky patches today. October has been pretty gloomy. During the first part of the week, we went without even a hint of sun. A few days of clouds prompt joy as sun rays dance on familiar objects.

   

This looks like the lead-in to a fantastic weekend. There aren't many free weekends left before we depart for the UAE. On Saturday of next weekend, we have the guys over for dinner. The one after that will involve packing and making sure the apartment is ready for our extended time away. 

It's a shame we haven't planned a driving trip somewhere in BC during the next few days.

What is the Price at the Moment?

Nowadays, buying airline tickets is like shooting craps. The prices change frequently and one never knows what will happen to the online price.  Will it increase or decrease?  Is it better to wait until the last minute or lock-in early?  Each route has its own particular peculiarities.

We have planned one month in Dubai starting mid-November.  We will then proceed to Sri Lanka for a three-month stay.  We'd been holding off buying that round trip section, although we already hold Turkish Air tickets for next month's departure and our spring return from Dubai.  The prices on Emirates seemed pricy as a direct flight is only around four hours and fifteen minutes.  However, we will need to prove a departure date when entering the United Arab Emirates.

 

Suddenly, last night, we saw round-trip fares drop $180 on Expedia for each of us.  We quickly bought them.  Now we are set for the air portion of our entire winter.

How to Dispose of Old Underwear

Our flights to Dubai will take off a month from today. After we hang around the city of the current world expo for a month, we will take 4-hour and fifteen-minute plane rides to Colombo. We hope to spend about three months visiting Jay's two sisters.

It's never too soon to start checking to see what we might stuff into our bags.  Packing for winters away is pretty routine now.  We've always been travellers though.  We are pros at keeping clothes to a minimum, especially since we always head somewhere warm for our retirement winters!

I have years of being used to wearing the rattiest of underwear when travelling, contrary to what your mother may have told you.  Of course, that allows all my ageing garments to get the boot before our return journey.  This, in turn, allows for even more space in which to tuck items when coming back here in the spring.

However, even the cheapest international flight offers a free piece of luggage.  In fact, most airlines allow 30 kg or around 66 lbs when flying into and out of the Middle East.  

 

Therefore, we will have room for some last-minute items to completely fill every suitcase cranny.  Sometimes, they're not items that make a lot of economic sense, but even ordinary items, if imported, carry extra cachet.  We don't mind lugging around edible souvenirs no matter how superfluous. 

Stormy Weather

I'm not Etta James but I feel the climate has been turbulent this week. Perhaps I've forgotten what October storms can be like. 

The weather last night and tonight will head down to low temperatures of 6°C. That is not terribly uncomfortable and this part of Canada is known for its moderate, oceanic climate. 

Still, I'd rather spend winters where it's always room temperature outdoors. It looks as though we're gearing up for just that with a month in Dubai and three, most probably, back in Sri Lanka.

 

Looking Straight Across the Fraser River from our Balcony, Over the Columbia SkyTrain Station in New Westminster, BC

Researching Ourselves

We have our air tickets for a major portion of this winter's travel.  Our flights will depart Vancouver on November 15th.  That got me wondering about our previous retirement winters.  I did remember that Jay and I were a little late for our very first winter as we flew on US Thanksgiving day.

So, I had to do a bit of sleuthing to see on what date we left on our subsequent winters.  I had to look up the details right here in my eJournal and images.  Of the six winters of travel, it appears only one started in October on Halloween day.

On some of the trips, we lost a day because of the International Date Line but gained the lost time back when returning in the spring.  At other times, we headed to the airport late because our flights were in the early hours of the following morning.  On a few occasions, the initial flight was simply a stopover destination on our way to where we'd spend the bulk of the winter.

November 27, 2014

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

 

November 4, 2015

Dubai, UAE; Luxor, Egypt; Tunis, Tunisia

(Jay's bypass operation meant our winter 2016 departure was replaced by a Mediterranean cruise the following summer and one from Vancouver to New Zealand in the autumn.)

 

November 30, 2017

Hong Kong, China; Penang, Malaysia; Siem Reap, Cambodia  

November 12, 2018

Taipei, Taiwan; Bali, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  

October 31, 2019

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Colombo, Sri Lanka

November 6, 2020

Playa del Carmen, Mexico; Mazatlan, Mexico

Back for a Visit in November

 

Thirty years ago this month, I arrived in the city of Dubai from Manama, Bahrain. I went to teach at a campus of the Higher Colleges of Technology and stayed for five years. 

In all the years since then, Jay and I only visited the UAE once. You see, during our second winter of early retirement, in November 2015, we had a five-night stopover on our way to Luxor, Egypt.  So we've already seen the world's tallest buildings, man-made islands, and a few megamalls.

Expo 2020 has been delayed due to the global pandemic.  However, the city is finally throwing its large party from October 1st through March 31st.   So, we have decided to make the Dubai Expo a part of the upcoming winter.  We plan to 'stay put' a little bit longer than during our previous stopover in order to make ample use of free, senior season passes.

 

Türk Hava Yolları

For seasoned travellers, there's a measurable bit of gratification simply holding newly-confirmed reservations on an international flight. This afternoon, we got a step closer to starting our winter away. It's like our world has suddenly thrown open a great big doorway to future adventure.  

We will be going into our winter with as much flexibility as we did last year. We have got the time and resources to work around COVID-19 restrictions on the fly, so to speak.

   

This 30-year-old photo was scanned earlier this spring. We were on the airline a number of times when we worked in the Gulf. This winter, Turkey won't be our final destination because it's too cold. However, we did include a six-night, Istanbul stopover during our spring return.

This is Time ...

From the day I discovered that Dubai was finally putting on the delayed Expo 2020, from October 1st until the end of next March, I've been extremely curious. I've been wondering whether it can be a part of our annual winter outside Canada. COVID-19 has meant we are still not completely set on what we might do during the upcoming November through April. We cannot quite figure out if tourism will be an option in Sri Lanka for us. 

This music video hit YouTube a few days ago. Our time in Dubai doesn't seem like a long time ago to us. However, my five years of teaching at the Higher College of Technology started in 1991. That means if we make it there this year, it'll be akin to a 30-year anniversary.  How fitting to have a World Expo in commemoration!   Many of my fresh-faced, eager Emirati students are now, most probably, grandfathers. Oh my!

 

Proof

British Columbia's COVID-19 Vaccination Passport

More Than Roses are Red

I was thinking of how flexible we are being about our plans for the upcoming winter. Of course, this flexibility is born of the fact we have the necessary time and means to do so. 

Our plans are still open but we could end up in Mexico again or as far away as the other side of the earth in Sri Lanka. It all depends on the continually changing aspects of the COVID-situation and whether travel restrictions are imposed and / or reimposed.  I sort of like this feeling of being up-in-the-air.  It harkens back to our pre-Internet era travels.  We couldn't know many details before departure; we just went and had to wing it.

The following visual analogy in today's photo seems to match.  

During our three summer heatwaves, lots of plants went without water.  Many simply had to make do during the times of drought.  These potted flowers on the roof of the mall were no exception.  Last month, the leaves were brown and the flowers all dried up.  Now, after just a bit of rain and perhaps some water from a hose, they look amazing.  Being flexible is really good.

 

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Graphics Make Complex Data Easier to Digest

A cool wind was blowing today. That meant during our walk around Moody Park, we noticed a lot of leaves falling from the trees. 

That observation, in turn, forced us to think a bit about what will happen this winter. Save for the year of Jay's heart surgery, we have gone away for winters since early retirement in 2014. It's still not easy planning exactly where we want to, or even can, go. 

Jay came across this neat graphic mashup between joinsherpa.com and Air Canada.  Click this static map to visit the site for an up-to-date one.

 

This shows where Canadians can visit with absolutely no restrictions.  Many destinations require a valid COVID test.  However, we have never seen a situation where almost all of Asia is completely off-limits.

For Us Normality Means Travel

 

Week by week, life seems as though it's getting back to a new normal. Yesterday, Jay and I had our second COVID vaccinations and although ours won't have completely kicked in yet, when others catch up, it may help lock in the feelings of normalization. 

We can already explore BC again and that was not encouraged last summer. 

I'm not so sure what will happen this winter. Many times, by this point in the year, we already have flights and Airbnb reservations. However, when we first plunged into early retirement in October 2014, we didn't have definitive plans. And last year, pretty much at the last moment, we ended up fairly close in Playa del Carmen and Mazatlan, Mexico.

So for the winter of 2021-22, we are pretty sure we will be able to pick up and go whenever and wherever we wish. That is surely a sense of freedom some never get the opportunity to experience.