K&W in SL — Windows Live

I've added 4 new photo albums: trip to Kuala Lumpur with 25 business students, the ANC business club launch event, the NAWA Mardi Gras Ball, and a recent visit to the Colombo Swimming Club.

12-16 April: Wonda and I took 25 students to KL for visits to 5 organizations. This is my attempt to open up the eyes and minds of the students. Hopefully they'll be inspired to dream big dreams. On the Saturday, we had a trip to Genting Highlands included in our tour package. It's an interesting attempt at a theme park. The most interesting thing about it is the fact that it sits atop a mountain at around 6000' above sea level.

20 April: The Business Club (which I started working on in Sept'05) finally had its official launch. The students invited execs from local large companies (garment manufacturers, CocaCola, banks, consultancies) to attend a forum where we discussed how the students and corporate community could work together. I facilitated the discussion.

21 April: The North American Womens Association (Wonda is a member) had its annual Mardi Gras Ball (forgive the timing, but it made sense with SL holidays). It is the best event of the year and we had a BLAST! Home at 4AM... the photos speak for themselves

22 April: We became members of the Colombo Swimming Club on 1 April. It provides a much needed retreat from the noise and grime of the city. It also gives us access to a beautiful old building, a big swimming pool by the ocean, and an excellent gym. Our French friend, Benedicte, joined us.

Enjoy and let us know if there is anything you'd like to see about life in SL... temples, tuk-tuks, telephants?

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2006/11/25

EGYPT 1-16 Sept 06

we spent the first 2 weeks of September in Egypt. we met up with Ken's mom and her husband. ken and i organized the 10 day tour filled to the brim with all the ancient sites, cultural events and breathtaking scenery that we could fit in. of course this means we saw the pyramids and other ancient sites around Cairo. then we cruised for 3 days on the nile which was incredible. we chose a small vessel and there were only 8 of us on board.

we traveled to all the ancient sites along the nile as our little group of 8 and enjoyed each others company. there were actually more staff than passengers and we were very well taken care of. they even threw us a party with local music and the staff got us all dancing.

after the cruise we went to the red sea which is actually crystal clear green and deep blue. we stayed at a resort with all the typical luxuries and swam in the bathwater warm sea. we took a boat trip to do some snorkeling and fishing. the lunch on board was surprisingly feast like coming out of a tiny galley.

we spent our last few days together in cairo and did a dinner cruise complete with singers, belly dancer, whirling dervish (and the video to prove it). we wandered through the market bargaining for small treasures and visited a very old church and the beautiful mohamed ali (no, not the boxer) mosque. of course we went to the egyptian museum and had a good guide to show us around. the time at our hotel in cairo was good too. we stayed at the marriott on zamalek island that incorporates an old palace. the time with ken's folks was great... as usual! The folks and our guide from the cruise and the egyptian people in general made it a really special trip. we waved goodbye to ken's folks and took a train to alexandria on the mediterrenean sea.

the people in alex were even friendlier and even stopped us on the street to say hello or welcome. the women, although all wearing headscarves, dress in many bright colors in their own attempt at some sort of fashion. still no skin showing, but obviously having a lot of fun expressing themselves. the city is densely populated- right up to the road that runs along the seashore. we relaxed, read a lot (yes, it was for work/school) but it still felt great to just sit and read and watch people walk by. we indulged in the many food treats and sweets. we visited ruins here (there everywhere in egypt!). we also visited the very new and architecturally amazing new Alexandria Library.

we came back to sri lanka rested and ready to go again.

for those of you who we will see over Xmas, we've got more photos/videos. if you're interested, just ask.

16:27 | 添加评论 | 固定链接 | 写入日志 | Travel

2006/5/26

Biz Club Exec Retreat to UdaWalawe

This past weekend, Wonda and I took 7 Northwood University students on a retreat in the Uda Walawe game preserve in southern SL. These students are on the executive of the business club.

We presented 6 sessions in which the exec experienced teambuilding, personality testing, and communication skills training. After they experienced the training, we worked with them to understand what they experienced and how to use it back in the 'real world' I think they really enjoyed it.

BUT IT WAS THE LOCATION THAT MADE IT GREAT!!!

We stayed in a bungalow inside the park. Each morning we were awakened by the sound of elephants eating just outside of the bungalow!!!

We had to hire a Land Rover jeep at the park gate and stuff in 11 people (9 of us, a driver, and a tracker) plus our gear.

We travelled maybe 10-12km to the bungalow, but it took over an hour because of stops to look at elephants and a top speed of 20kph. The bungalow was next to a 'tank' (a reservoir) and lots of animals came down for a drink: boars, spotted deer, water buffalo, eagles, egrets, and of course ELEPHANTS. We weren't allowed to walk around at all because the wild animals are everywhere and not very friendly.

Ever looked eye to eye with a bull elephant?

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2006/3/20

Galle Face Green Kite Flying

I remember daydreaming in the summer of 2004. Northwood University was thinking of hiring me for the job I have now, but it would be another 6 months before that came true.

In my daydream I was living in Colombo and trying to fit in to the Colombo lifestyle. One way I was ‘sure’ I could do that was to fly a kite with everyone else down on Galle Face Green where the wind off the Indian Ocean offers surefire kite flying enjoyment. The daydream was thick with detail: the heat from the sun, the smell of sea spray, the Sri Lankans gawking at a foreigner with a sport-kite, and a cold beer afterwards at the Galle Face Hotel.

When I came to Sri Lanka in February 2005, my luggage was stuffed to the gunwales with essentials like books and Gillette razors (had no idea they were easy to find here).

Therefore, it fell upon Wonda to pack my sport-kite… You know the kind; it has two strings, not one, and as you tug on one or the other you can ‘fly’ the kite and do neat tricks like dives and figure-8’s. I bought it a few years ago at the SuperStore for about $10 and had spent many an hour in spring, summer, fall, and winter flying it in the yard at the Old Homestead in Chaswood. Why do I so enjoy such a simple toy? No idea, except that it’s wonderful to work with the wind, wonderful to see the kite dance in the sky, wonderful to hear it r-rr-rrr-rip through the air.

Unfortunately, the fibreglas rods for the kite were over 1-meter long and simply wouldn’t fit in Wonda’s luggage. I told her to cut the three long rods and bring it to me in SL. I’d figure out how to fix them later… You may recall a blog posting from last year when I went to Pettah market looking for replacement rods… it was fun, but no rods.

It wasn’t until I returned to Canada at Christmas and went to a hobby shop that I found metal sleeves that I could use to rejoin the 2 cut ends of each rod. And, after more than a month back in SL, I finally put the rods and the kite together last week.

Yesterday (Saturday, 18 March), I could wait no longer and headed down to the Green around 2:30PM. I had WAY too much fun. It was almost spiritual in intensity because my daydream came true! The wind and spray off the Indian Ocean. The fascinated Sri Lankans… one guy, Marimythu, chatted with me for a while. When I offered to let him fly the kite he jumped at the offer. His first attempt was short lived. But after getting the kite back up in the air, he was off to the races. It gave me a chance to share my hobby and take some photos.

I should also mention the shorter man in the photos. He sold pinwheels to children. You might see the pinwheels lying on the ground. He was my launch master. The two or three times I crashed and the one time I got tangled in someone else’s kite, he would go and straighten things out and launch the kite for another flight.

At 4PM I was toasted red by the sun and my neck was cramping, so I packed up and walked to the Galle Face Hotel for my daydream beer. It sure tasted better and colder in real life! Enjoy the photos and more blog entries coming soon… Ken -------------<>***

21:24 | 添加评论 | 固定链接 | 写入日志 | Hobbies

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