Monday, November 1, 2010

Adventures in Art, Alogonquin & Asia

This month certainly seems to have been a very busy one indeed. It started off with a University of Leeds Alumni reception where I enjoyed canapes, Prosecco and reminiscing in the company of the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael Arthur. Sadly, I have since heard that one of my former colleagues, Susan Clayton, died unexpectedly this month. I dedicate this blog to her memory as she was always asking me about my latest travels and (mis-)adventures. She was a wonderful lady and will be missed greatly by both her colleagues and family.

Nuit Blanche At the beginning of October, my friend Zahra and I hit the streets of Toronto for a night of art. Nuit Blanche began at 6:57pm and ran through until sunrise. Being a light-weight, I only made it until around 2:00am. At various points around the city, art installations were staged and most allowed the public to interact with them.
My highlights this year were the 29 voices singing in 29 different languages but all at the same time in XXIX. I also enjoyed visiting Toronto's secret subway station, not used officially these days but sometimes used as a film set. Here, there were some fibre-optic 'flowers' that seemed to light up and jiggle according to the amount of noise the audience made. I also thought Auto Lamp and Endgame were both interesting pieces. The city was buzzing and, despite long lines to see some of the pieces, it was great to see so many people appreciating the artworks.

XXIX - Laurel MacDonald from Becky Smith on Vimeo.


Autumn, or Fall as it is known in Canada, is now here. There have even been reports of snow flurries in Toronto. Along with my friend, Janet, I decided to experience the fall colours in all their glory over the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. We hired a car and headed about three hours north of the city to the edge of the Algonquin Provincial Park. We spent four days exploring this stunning area on foot and by canoe along with a few other intrepid voyageurs. Unfortunately, we didn't see any moose, bears or wolves but we did see evidence of them on our hikes. The log cabin we stayed in was gorgeous and we were fed extremely well during our stay. I particularly enjoyed our sunrise paddle and campfire breakfast but the night-time fireworks and star-gazing came a close second in terms of my favourite activities. Sitting on the dock watching the sunset was also a delight.



Having hardly been at home, it was time for yet another overseas business trip. This time to Thailand and Vietnam. I managed to tag a few days of vacation on to this trip and had a super time exploring the ruins of Angkhor Wat in Cambodia with my friend Peter. The temperature and humidity were very high but we had a great time exploring the various temples spread across the ancient Khmer lands. We also visited Tonle Sap lake and saw a floating village complete with floating churches, schools, basketball courts and pig pens. As the water levels shift, so does the village. This year, the rains have been heavy and the water levels were very high. We saw a great deal of flooding on our overland journey from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) to Bangkok, via Cambodia.



I had some meetings in Bangkok but managed to squeeze in some fun at the night-market, where I experienced a fish pedicure. Possibly the best, yet strangest, pedicure I've ever had. I placed my feet and legs in an aquarium full of tiny Garufa fish who for twenty minutes feasted on my dry skin. The result was silky smooth skin and, despite my fears, the experience was pain-free. It actually feels like tiny electric shocks and I was quite relived it wasn't too ticklish. However, I was quite panicked as I withdrew my feet from the aquarium only to find one little fishy still munching on my toe. As he realized he was no longer in his usual watery environment, he took a leap and landed on the floor between the floorboards. Fortunately, the owner of the 'fish salon' managed to rescue the little fishy who was safely returned to his fold and a fishy death due to my vanity was averted!

I was in Vietnam for a full week of education events hosted by the Canadian Embassy and enjoyed seeing snippets of Hanoi and Saigon again between various exhibitions, school visits, receptions and agent meetings. Hanoi was celebrating is 1000th birthday so was decked out with lanterns and looked very pretty. I managed a quick side-trip to the Mekhong Delta and spent the day observing the river people's way of life. We enjoyed a short cycle-ride around the villages and saw people fishing, producing honey, growing fruit and manufacturing coconut candy among other things.

I'm now back in Toronto and happy to be home. It's been a busy month but thoroughly enjoyable!