158 - Travel & Leisure - Dutch Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

An Alternative
Long Weekend Trip
With May 1, 2012 on a
Tuesday and our traditional
Queen’s Day untraditionally
celebrated on April 27 this
year, we decided to go on a short
trip. Where to go? Bangkok? To find
out that Thai people are NOT friendly
and only want to cheat you? Or
to The Philippines for the
umpteenth time, to watch young
Aussies drink beer through their
noses in Bali or maybe lock ourselves in a Malaysian resort again? Tempting,
but no. We found a destination no expat had been to before. My travel agent
said it was the first time in his career he had sold tickets to this place.
So there we were, after a 5,5 hour flight and a 3 hour + time difference. It was
the middle of the night, pitch black outside and we noticed we were the only
foreigners on the plane. On the tarmac we saw some rusty Tupolevs and a
Sikorsky helicopter. Outside it was 5 degrees and we understood why all other
passengers had put on sweaters and coats. The arrival hall was about the size
of my conference room and very cramped. We stood in front of an immigration
officer for about as long as it takes me to read Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’ and
the locals thought this was very funny. Several slams of a chop later, we negotiated
our way into an illegal taxi and drove to the city. On the outskirts of town
we saw a guy lying on the street; it looked like he had been shot through his
head - the excitement about our trip suddenly went up a notch.
For the next two days we roamed this city which has only been open to the
public for twenty years now and we really enjoyed it. People were very friendly
and many tried to help us wherever they could, even though their English
was very limited. The city is built around several bays and on numerous hills.
Some of its buildings were crumbling, but most were painted in nice pastel
colors and the streets were filled with Japanese cars. The great weather also
helped: crisp blue skies and 15 degrees! We frequented many bars. Some
were stuck in the 70s or 80s and others outclassed some clubs here! But the
main difference was the clientele. The men were strongly built and all wore
black leather jackets. The girls were very beautiful, but we also suspected
most to be prostitutes.
While enjoying another plate of great sushi, our friendly waiter covertly whispered
something to us. “Ghello, ies maaybee not vehdy proh-vezsional koowestion,
gyes? Bud, Ghen you ghear ghai ghave ay Ruszian Akzent?” We said
that we could and concluded that this was yet another highlight of our trip to
Vladivostok.
News and Views
By Mark Scholz,
ms@presenttime.com
9