interview with wholesaler #1

I was really afraid of contacting wholesalers because the supermarket people were so mean to me. But today I conclude that I must have met one of the nicest wholesalers in the business. For so many reasons. The guy I spoke with is english educated. unfortunately he's not the son of the farmer but the partner. Oh well, nevermind. different perspective, same business. At the end, he actually entertained me for almost 3-4 hours and gave me a big bag of vegetables! Unfortunately there was a japanese eggplant in my goodie bag but it rolled out and I think it never came back in my bag again *cry* I really wanted to try it coz I would never have bought it on my own. sigh.

On the other hand, I think theirs is a unique perspective and is good to be so open. He says there are ways to get in without gahmen knowing and I wonder about that. He didn't tell me and I don't want to know but geez, I wonder if it's the same methods as I know. Unimportant though. But as ascertained, they are not interested in "domestic issues" and supermarkets don't care either. And best of all, we don't have the purchasing power apparently. Is not enough priority. Dammit I forgot to ask if they know the source is heavily degraded, would they still import from there. Shit. Maybe I should email him to thank him and then sneak in the question.

He say to treat him chicken rice and I definitely don't mind! Even better yet, I promise I will show him around Cameron Highlands. That is definitely doable. I think I can start a SG-CH tour agency O_O" Not that people feel the need for that right? Hmmm... who knows. Farm stay? :D

I don't want to say this but I wonder if his identity as a christian influences his decision making and makes him different from the chinese-educated wholesalers. I cannot say that until I have met other wholesalers. Is it an education thing or a cultural-religion thing? He speaks perfect english; and cantonese and hokkien and teochew and chinese. I'm sure he speaks malay too.

I don't have other to compare to I think but he definitely feels that it's an integral part of his business. Even the branding and the company name. Of course there is no other comparison other than to the US and again, religiosity I would definitely hesitate to comment on.

oh one important thing, i really don't like how these CH exporters disguise their names every each way. now SFL is called United SFL Plantations?! But they export specially to wholesaler #1. Wholesaler #1 doesn't do the auction deal because they do institutional customers but yet they still do home delivery so what's up with that? SH only supply them with cucumbers. Momotaro is expensive coz seed is expensive. Branding is important. Price can be 100% different pre and post packaging. I think consumer target is different too. the indonesian products because of the air/sea freight(?) are all very professionally packaged, with plastic and box prints. They happen to have the same branding too, unplanned. Their quality more consistent. The CH ones are totally unprocessed. Wholesaler must do QC and packaging. 90% of the ones he get from CH are unprocessed. But of course post-handling are done in CH only if direct to supermarket.

no guts for field work

i'm really not the cold call kinda gal. Yesterday i emailed one of the wholesalers via an email form (gah!) and im just wondering, what if they never reply? Should I call? I want to look for the boss but then I don't dare to call and ask for the boss. Gosh. What should I do? I really need to interview them. Help! I guess knowing the boss' dad doesn't work. :(

when do you think they will call me back? when should i start calling them? omfg nervous!

Please reply me soon! *pray*

Update @ 21 Nov 08 12:31PM
Still no reply from them. If by monday nothing happens I need to execute plan B. oh gawd... :( please please please email me back!

Update @ 23 Nov 08 10:00PM
I got a call from somebody from the company! Don't know if it's the boss or not but I can have an interview on Thursday! HURRAY!

where did all the cameron veggies go?

went to the supermarket just now to do some market research... literally
and lo and behold
all my cameron highland vegetables are no where to be seen!
replaced by genting highlands and thailand veggies!
wtf! so ok, thygrace and grace cup is a repeating feature
ok very very scary
what happen to my other big suppliers?
no kc kwang and sons? no freshever?
well zenxin is out and about so that means it's possible that the veggie is from cameron organic produce but COP is also reducing their exports to zenxin already. gawd i need to interview the singapore importers and this is freaking me out. sigh

This is bad for my research

Expect the Unexpected

For those who might be coming to help out in Cameron, here's the heads up - Expect the Unexpected!

You may need to babysit.


You will need to climb up hills and terraces.


You may see deforestation.


You will cross rivers.


You may need to speak more than 4 languages in one day.

(and be careful not to get pesticide poisoning!)

You might end up on a road trip to KL in a cold truck.


You might eat breakfast with dead rats.

(Ok this is not in Cameron)

You may encounter destruction.


You may see ravines of disposed waste.


You will encounter lots of dogs.


You might have to climb on tractors to hide from rain.

(I had to do that coz we were stuck on eroding hill in the rain and couldnt get down but in turn got a farmer contact w00t!)

Late night Starbucks encounter

2 nights ago, I got a call at 10pm. It was the organic farmer that I was meant to meet the next day.

"Hey we are at Starbucks with a few of the organic guys, why don't you and your friend come and join us".

It was quite unfortunate that my friend was ill and I was worried that they were only interested in meeting her. Still I went and they of course said no problem.

2 of them were farmers and the other 2 were urbanites who have gone into the composting business. Young fellas, with kids the same age as my niece and nephew. They were all about 30somethings like my sisters. It feels all so familiar. Interestingly one of them have the same name as duck! But luckily he felt compelled to distinguish himself by spelling his name with a K. hah!

The organic fellowship. At starbucks! That is the irony. I'm really not a fan of starbucks but upon hearing that theres FREE WIFI at starbucks. Well bing bam boom kabooey! I am a fan. hah! Right that and the fact that they have nice cushy sofas. What I didn't understand is why they need fans and aircon on Cameron Highlands! Probably standard issues with the mold that is global-franchising.

The organic fellas really make me feel right at home on Cameron Highlands. I know it's very foolish of me to want to not be rejected when approaching people for interview but being snubbed hurts. But then the boss says just go get snubb anyways. That makes me wonder if I shouldn't try so hard to persuade people? Confused. Maybe I'll leave the high snub zones to the boys when they come in late July.

Methodologically this is probably all wrong since I should do the survey then choose 30 out of the 100 to do the indepth but now I have to do the indepth as I go along and survey enough to fill in the blanks. It will be hard for me to get 2nd meetings with people unless I have something I need and I'm desperate. Sometimes just getting a 2nd chance to invite somebody out to dinner is difficult. It's hard to draw a clear distinction between social and work when it comes to fieldwork.


Taken 1 month ago, now it's already open for business!
Will remember to take an updated photo

But I'll never forget starbucks. The way I see it now, I will probably focus my thesis on the holistic picture and separately write a paper on organic farming in Cameron Highlands.

Going to KL at 2am

The girls left to go back to Singapore this morning and I met with Mr Ch and had a nice and lengthy interview with him. I'm very pleased. He also gave me a few numbers to call the tomato plantations whom I spotted on the boxes of tomatoes in Singapore.

He also gave me the numbers of several members in the assocation that I hope to call regarding cabbage. Malay farmers next week and indian farmers to follow. There was recently this "expose" on a farm in Cameron Highlands "illegally" clearing land. Gah. There is a lot of loopholes with legality. Either you get away with it or you get pinned down for something you didn't do. Life sucks.

Either way, I was hoping to talk to this farm even before they were featured. Now I just got more work to do to convince them I'm harmless. Damn press. Spoil my market! Fortunately I talked to his consultant yesterday and got the story.

So tomorrow I'm going to KL with the organic farmer to deliver vegetables. I'm excited. We are leaving at 2am. I better go back and nap now.

On the other hand, I was getting very despondent about being rejected but prof say rejected also is a result. So I have to go get rejected 10 times.

10 x Tomato
10 x Cabbage
10 x Big
10 x Small
10 x Chinese
10 x Malay
10 x Indian
10 x Singapore
10 x Non-Singapore
10 x Organic

But so many of them overlap. Does it matter then? I need 15 cabbage and 15 tomatoes total.

I also need to go check out the collectors, exporters, transporters, input sales people - fertilizers, seeds, infrastructure, pesticides shops.

I'm also having serious issues with getting climate data and map. I'm going to try again... wish me luck. Hope they like me. Or I just pay more $$$

Speaking of which I have been wanting to treat my respondents to lunch or dinner but I keep getting treated instead! omfg! First of all, I'm female. It's hard for them to accept being treated by me. Then I'm younger. Then I'm a guest from Singapore. Omfg! I really need to push my way and start treating people makan! It's so cheap anyways. Oh right at least my driver has totally stopped resisting me paying for everything. Gawd the petrol is fucking expensive. More than 100RM for a full tank or something. Sigh. I'm so glad I'm not using the car everyday. I hope I can claim back everything.

Need to ask AVA on what their pesticides list is based on. Do they update their list when there are new pesticides introduce? Why yes, why not? How often? Based on what? Based on who? Whose standards?

And fieldwork begins

The bus was late for 2 hours yesterday but we managed to arrive at Cameron at around 9.15am this morning. Mr C picked us up and we went for breakfast. Gave me a few updates regarding subsidies and TV 3 reporting that somebody was secretly clearing land in the forest in CH! I wonder where I can get a copy of that. There is a department of environment that is supposed to monitor these things but I wonder if I can get them to talk to me. We also talked about soil conservation method - they have an officer in charge of soil conservation and there are vegetative and other methods. interesting. but they are giving away the grass for free because nobody wants! "only when you have to pay for it then people want?" This grass has a 3 meter root that is meant to be planted along the contours of the land to intercept runoff and hold the soil together. Apparently last time the older farms that uses terracing has better drains that is much more effective in terms of soil conservation but then the new concept in the 70s-80s which is to level the land to have a flat ground to plant more, that created a lot of problems. Also it is now technically illegal to use any heavy machinery on anything above 1000m in the whole of Malaysia. But how much of it is enforced? "Being on the take" is still a big issue. We talked about tracing and how the tagging might be a problem if the big boys tag for the small boys and then the small boys say they wanna tag what. So who bears the resposibility? In fact, "making things pass" when demand is short is something both wholesaler and farmers say happens even in the strict condition that is Singapore.

I gave Mr C a list of the farms I spotted at the wholesale center and if he doesn't know them then I will check with Mr Ch.

Interestingly my apartment situation has improved. I get 1 month in my first apartment and only for the last 2 weeks then we need to move. That will be convenient. I tried to get in touch with COP but then sms no reply. Maybe I should call.

I really need to be more prompt with my field notes. I'm sure there are other things I forgot about the chat this morning. crap!

Volunteer Field Assistants Briefing

Yesterday I met with 4 of my volunteer field assistants and the first thing Vyna said to me was, all girls ah? Ah well, girl power it is.

My briefing notes are as follows:

Introduction
Cameron Highlands has 3000 farm families. We are surveying primarily the farms that export to Singapore. Most of the farmers are Chinese, speaks Chinese dialects, Mandarin, Malay and minimal English. There are some farmers who are Indian. Cameron Highlands is located in the state of Pahang, at the boundary of Kelantan and Perak. The farm workers are mostly Indian foreign workers. (I wonder what language they speak.)

There are several towns in Cameron Highlands. The one we will be staying in is Tanah Rata. But we will be surveying farms from all the towns.

Transport
From Singapore, you can get a Konsortium bus direct to Cameron Highlands daily.
Depart: 10.30pm from Goldenmile Plaza
Arrive: 7-8am at Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands

There is a bus from Cameron Highlands to Singapore which departs at 10am everyday from Tanah Rata. It stops at KL along the way but there is no need to change buses.

You can buy a round trip or one-way ticket from Singapore.
June (school holidays) - S$55 (one way) and S$99 (round trip)
July weekday – S$45 (one way) $79 (round trip)
July weekend – S$50 (one way) $80 (round trip)
It may be cheaper to buy return ticket from Cameron Highlands*

Weather
The temperature at Cameron Highlands is High 26C and low 20C. The midday sun can be very hot but the nights are cold. In order to prevent heat stroke, you need to drink lots of water. Because the weather is cool, you may not realize the intensity of the sun till it’s too late. Rain can be expected so be prepared.

Insurance
Please purchase your own travel insurance!

Accommodation
In June, We will be staying at a 3-bedroom 2-bathroom vacation apartment that is owned by the director of the state department of agriculture in Cameron Highlands. There is a kitchen, laundry services* and satellite TV. It is located at Tanah Rata. Each person will get a room to themselves but there are additional mattresses, blankets and pillows.

Accommodation in July is not confirmed yet but will be similar.

*will confirm

Packing List
1. Sweater or jacket is a must
2. Hat
3. Umbrella or poncho
4. Sports shoes or Hiking Boots
5. Washing powders*
6. Mosquito repellent
7. Long Pants
8. Medication (motion sickness pills)
9. Clothes
10. Laptop
11. Camera
12. Stationery

Travel logistics update

May trip
- bus ticket, round trip
- accommodation
- local transport
- insurance
- gift for host (NUS)
- itinerary
- rechargeable battery
- plug adapters
- change money
- claim from department
- pack

Philippines trip
- comment on workshop participants
- air ticket
- insurance
- claim from Philippines
- claim from department
- registration fee
- Andie's letters
- Contact Andie
- hotel at Los Banos
- change money
- pack
- SEAGA presentation

June to July trip
- volunteers
- accommodation
- insurance
- bus ticket
- local transport
- pack
- washing powder
- batteries
- claim from department
- change money
- gift for driver (Chivas)
- itinerary

Transport in Cameron Highlands

I must be the biggest chicken on earth. At least in Singapore.

A few weeks ago, Mr Chua sent me an email asking me to call Mr K to ask him to recommend a transport driver. I thought, omg this is so scary and how am I to communicate effectively, etc.

In the end, I waited till 1 week before I arrive to call.

I was on 96, going to school and decided to call. Phone rang. Oh crap, somebody picked up. Silence. Hello hello hello? silence. Then somebody spoke, "Hello" and monkey went hello is this Mr K? Silence. Hello hello hello?

Sigh, Monkey decided to hang up. I started smsing which I should have done long ago (why didn't I think of it!)

Then suddenly my SMS got interrupted by phone ringing. Eek! Mr K called back!

Ok anyways, the next 5 minutes was the shortest and most delirious moment of my week.

Mr K doesn't speak great English but I said I need a driver and he said when? next week? ok.

Poor monkey still struggling to catch up and essentially, he is going to recommend me a driver. Who? himself!

ahaha I should have called long ago. It was that easy. Will negotiate price when I'm in Cameron so I better bring lots of money. *sigh*

Speaking with a senior who worked in Thailand, S$50/day for car and driver seem to be my best budget for local transport. Oh god, I need funding! I think I will simply have to be subsidized by my stipend. 3 month's stipend will be $4500 and including my $3400 from the faculty and department, I should be able to survive with $7900. But that just means I will not be able to save a single penny for the holidays. I just hope that I can maintain my current savings without going lower than the current. Guess I will wait to change money for my trips after 18 May when I get paid. Hopefully NHB job money will eventually come in. That way it will contribute to my savings. Also, my RA job should give me some pittance of an allowance to work with. Thank goodness my conference funding will cover my philippines trip. Still there is a certain element of payment upfront which makes me uncomfortable.

Managing a research project does allow one to acquire budget management skills.

Cameron May Pilot Survey update

Let's start with the bad news.

1. Mr Chua will not be around in the first 2 days of my arrival in CH. Him and his wife are going for a work trip to China from May 6 to May 22.

2. I have not gotten any transport detail yet.

The good news is that Mr Chua is a saint. He has been helping me so much I feel so bad for not following up.

1. He has contacted the farms owners as well as Mr. C, Secretary Cameron Veg Growers association asking them to give their full cooperation to you when you want to visit their farms. Everybody contacted says no problem. The list of their names and contact numbers I am leaving it with Mr. Karupanan who will be checking you into my apartment. To facilitate logistic he has sketched the farm locations for me and leave then with Mr K.

2. Mr K will check me in at Tanah Rata and he is also the person I am suppose to contact for leads on transport

3. Mary Wong (travel agent) also gave another contact, Mr Chandran

4. Another contact Mr Ravi at CAMERON TRAVEL & TOURS SDN BHD. Emailed him, no reply.

5. The June accommodation has been settled. Thank the lord.

Do I have enough money for all of this?! No news from the funding request. Woe.

Volunteers Recruitment Successful

A few weeks ago I put out word that I needed volunteers via Wilson of ECO and Heather of Food for All. Heather also helped me spread the word to Geogsoc members. I also put it up on Midnight Monkey Monitor and WildSingapore picked it up. I also asked Dawa to send to Honors student and Matthew to send to 3rd year geog students. Ria also asked me to contact Vyna directly and I am so glad I did. (yay!)

Initial stages saw lots of geogsoc juniors signing up. It was very smooth flowing as one of the juniors volunteered to come for a whole month.

Then he withdrew.

That drew the whole thing into chaos and then to make matters worse, some juniors asked if they could come for 2 days! To make things worse, they asked why others were allowed to come for 4 days only. Alright, that made me become very stringent with the volunteer recruitment process from that point on.

Regardless, the recruitment has more or less been completed. Schedule can be seen at the calendar above.

1. Melissa and Heather (geogsoc)
2. Vyna (NHC)
3. Hannah (ECO)
4. Shanjun and Matthew (geogsoc)

I am still awaiting reply from
1. Michelle Ooi (heard from ECO)
2. Peihao (NHC)

Interestingly, I had 1 Indonesian and 2 Malaysians who asked if they could help out. International collaborators! I wish I could bring them on but no reply from the Indonesian when I asked where in Indo he is from as I need to do some work in Brastagi. I would love to have him help out in the Indon leg of the project but it's unfortunate that he did not reply.

A few Malaysians from the USM Environment Club read my blog and asked if they can help but schedules are just not suitable. The President and Vice President of the USM Env Club are my friends so I guess their members have been regularly reading my blog. How nice! :) If I ever am required to have Malaysian collaborators, I know who to find. Hurray!

Actually there are still spaces available for my May recce trip but I would not be able to subsidize the accommodations. Anybody interested?

Meanwhile, the survey volunteers recruitment has been slow. I did manage to get a few:
1. Janelle
2. Le Vu
3. Angeline
4. Perry

Sigh, I really need more people for this. Help! I have emailed Liyan at NJC and she said she's sent it to the classes who need CIP but no news so far. How sad.

I wonder if I can afford to give a small token of $10 kino book voucher to people who help me conduct the survey.

GRSS Funding Received!

17 April 2008

Dear Monkey,

I am pleased to inform you that your application to the above scheme has been approved with the following budgetary allocations:

Overseas Travel - $3000

The amount approved is the maximum limit for Masters student.

Yay hurray! I can start my fieldwork in peace now. However I am still hoping my supplementary funding will come in as this is seriously not enough. What more I am now recruiting field assistants.

So far, I have gotten several geography undergrads who are very keen and I'm so glad. 2 confirmed. 2 more not. 1 nakedhermitcrab keen on coming as well. We'll see how this goes. Glad I don't have to be up in the north alone.

Now I just need to get enough people for the survey in Singapore. A teacher friend of mine in NJC said the research sounds interesting and will send it to the students who need CIP project. Let's hope somebody respond favorably!

On other news, I need to seriously get in touch with the vehicle person in Cameron and hopefully Mr Chua will confirm with my query for June accommodations favorably.

I am actually disturbed by something in the funding letter but cannot write about it.

To focus or not to focus

That is the question.

I just spoke with my supervisor and was assured by the following advice:

1) It's good to have multiple game plan, so take note of the few key focus and go out to explore them all in the field and then just write on one of the focus in the end.

2) It's ok to change topic totally after field work. Be flexible, work around the fieldwork data.

3) No need to survey all 100 farms. Get a few key subjects

4) It's normal to feel you haven't gotten a handle on the literature. But read more!

5) What is your niche? A fertile ground? publish them all! Just use one for master and the rest is free for all.

6) Don't get brainwashed by all the research proposal. There is a real game plan beneath all the administrative bureaucratic talk and proposals.

7) Write your analysis first and conceptualize later. What you go in with now is just a hurdle to overcome. Get to the real crunch.

8) If I don't get A, I can do B. But if A is so good, I can forget all about the rest. Don't even need to do those, can pack up early and come home! w00t!

9) But if A, B and C all don't work I can just do Z. It's ok.

10) All these ideas for narrower focus, keep them. Collect a few. Collect them all! (Pokemon!) During presentation just say that you have a few game plan because you're doing the smart thing. When you write, just write the one you really want to write. No need to write the whole extensive system. Impossible.

I'm a happier camper now.

Cameron Highlands in July

July, it would appear, is a bad time to go to Cameron Highlands. It's peak season and EVERYBODY wants to go there.

Mr Chua replied me via SMS today that the apartment is already booked from 1st July onwards. The very day I was hoping to go to CH to begin my fieldwork. I think I'll have to do 2 weeks in June, and find alternative accommodations in July and possibly August as well. I'm waiting for Mr Chua to get internet access again to see my email.

I've also been checking out the budget hotels in Cameron Highlands. Cameron Highlands Online is a fantastic resource page and seems quite well updated.

Considering my extremely tight budget, I really must stay in a cheap cheap cheap place. I wonder if this monkey can survey 1 month of staying in a dormitory... I might disintegrate. But for the cheap rate of 10RM per night I wonder if I am willing to rough it out. Not forgetting I need to pay about 100RM per day for the vehicle/driver. Woe!

Good Friday Trip to Pekanbaru

Tentatively, if I manage to get my ass off the ground and contact the AVA people, the logistics for trip to pekanbaru over good friday weekend is as follows:

20 March (Thursday)
- skip Bahasa Indo class
- take 8am boat to Batam
- transfer boat to Pekanbaru and pray we don't get lost
- check into guest house

21 March (Friday)
- visit Pekanbaru farm

22 March (Saturday)
- go Bukit Tinggi?

23 March (Sunday)
Option #1
- 3pm AirAsia PKU to JKT (5.25pm arr)
- 630pm AirAsia JKT to Johor (9pm arr)
- 9pm crawl our way home from Johor
Price: Approx 150-200SGD
Pros: Cheaper
Cons: Burn the whole day and might miss flight
Option #2
- 5pm Garuda PKU to SIN (7pm arr)
price: $239 SGD (incl tax and zuji svc)
Pros: more time
cons: burn money
Option #3
- 8am take slow boat back to Singapore
Pros: cheaper and take same amount of time as AirAsia

Optimistic Total budget for the trip, including lodgings = SGD$400

How to go to Pekanbaru / Bukit Tinggi

We are seriously suspect that the farms are not in Pekanbaru but in nearby Bukit Tinggi. Till we find out, it'll be best to find out how exactly to get to Bukit Tinggi and Pekanbaru.

Here's some pretty detailed instructions from ISMIL 9:

"From Singapore, the default route is Singapore-Batam-Pekanbaru-Bukittinggi. From Singapore, take a ferry from the World Trade Centre to the Sekupang terminal on the island of Batam. A variety of companies run mostly super-modern ferries which leave every few minutes from around 0730 until around 2130. The crossing takes about 40 minutes, and gets you in to Sekupang about 20 minutes before you left Singapore, since there's an hour's time difference between Singapore (GMT +8) and Western Indonesia (GMT +7). If you're aiming for an immediate onward connection out of Batam, you'd be well advised to take the first ferry out of Singapore, which will pretty much guarantee an immediate connection. Once you've cleared Indonesian immigration and customs in Sekupang, step out of the terminal and turn right, avoiding the touts who will inevitably pounce on you, and head for the domestic terminal right next door. Most or all boats to Pekanbaru leave between 0800 and 0900. Basically there are two ways of getting from Sekupang to Pekanbaru. Since 2003, there are one or two direct boats, which go up the Siak river all the way to Sungai Duku, the boat terminal just outside Pekanbaru. The "older" route involves a boat to Buton, which is just a transfer point on the Sumatran mainland, from which a bus takes you to Pekanbaru, all on the same ticket. Either route is fine, though if you have a choice, the direct boats are more convenient plus the river trip is quite pretty. Whichever route you take, you can expect to get in to Pekanbaru around 1600 - 1800. A word of warning: if you choose to sit on the rooftop to enjoy the view, be sure to cover your head, however overcast and cool you may think it is. The tropical sun can shine through both clouds and hair, and fry the top of your head without your noticing until it is too late.

From Pekanbaru to Bukittinggi, the heavily travelled road trip takes 4-6 hours. Ordinary busses leave from the central bus terminal called Loket. If you arrive in Sungai Duku, a taxi to Loket should cost you 20,000 Rps (about 2 Euros), and a shared oplet (minibus) much less. If you're coming from Buton, ask to be let off at Loket. Most of the busses are night busses, so, if you so desire, you should be able to make an immediate onward connection. Some of the night busses have the rather irritating habit of stoping in the middle of nowhere for a few hours, in order for you to arrive in Bukittinggi at the crack of dawn rather than at, say 0200.

Alternatively, just about any taxi or oplet driver anywhere in town, including those at Sungai Duku, will be happy to drive you directly to your hotel in Maninjau, at any time of the day or night. The "official" rate for the journey is 500,000 Rps (about 50 Euros), but with bargaining you might be able to talk your driver down to 400,000 Rps, or even less, if the vehicle is sufficiently dingy. If you're travelling in a group, this can work out quite economical. There are some spectacularly good roadside Padang restaurants along the way; ask to stop at one (and it's customary to pay for your driver's food and drink)."

Fieldsite Recce: Pekanbaru 20-24Mar 2008

My second field site is in the capital of Riau province, Pekanbaru. Planning a Good Friday weekend trip to recce the place with a few friends.

Itinerary
20 March (Thursday) Depart Singapore-Batam-Pekanbaru by boat, check in to poppies homestay
21 March (Friday) Fieldwork
22 March (Saturday) Bukit Tinggi
23 March (Sunday) Boat back to Singapore

Alternate Itinerary
21 March (Friday) Depart Singapore-Batam-Pekanbaru by boat, check in to poppies homestay
22 March (Saturday) Fieldwork
23 March (Sunday) Bukit Tinggi; flight back to Singapore on Air Asia (PKU-JKT-JB-SIN)

Currently the "team" stands at:
1. Monkey
2. Duck
3. Fish [unconfirmed]
4. [unconfirmed]


A view of pekanbaru - where are the farms? Photo by adibs

"Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau, a province in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra. It has an area of 446.5 km² and population of over 793,000. Located on the Siak River, which drains to the Strait of Malacca, Pekanbaru has direct access to the busy strait and was long known as a trading port (the city name is derived from the Indonesia words of 'new market', "pekan" meaning market, and "baru" meaning new). It is the home of Element One team member Renaldo Rasfuldi.

A settlement has existed on the city site since the 17th century. In the late 19th century, the city developed to serve the coffee and coal industries, and the Dutch built roads to help ship goods to Singapore and Malacca (now Melaka). After oil was discovered in the region in the 1930s, Pekanbaru's economy has depended heavily on oil revenues and made the city with the highest per capita income in Indonesia.[citation needed] Most of Indonesia's petroleum is produced in Riau, and much of Pekanbaru's economy is based on the petroleum industry. International oil companies, such as Chevron from US, as well as other Indonesian companies, have established their offices in the region. This location for oil has proven to be one of the best money providers in the world. However, the local government being so currupt, the US company Chevron only receives 10% of all the money made at the camps. The The city is connected by road to an oil refining and exporting port at Dumai. Many facilities, including an airport, three stadiums (buildig a fourth), swimming pool, one of the two bridges that cross the Siak River near the city, the roads in Rumbai area, and also the road to Dumai, were partially or fully financed by oil companies working in the area." - source: wikipedia

The city also has a website but is not particularly informative.

There is also a Riau University in Pekanbaru, possible contact. A very good collection of photos by Pekanbaru Photo Collections and here's another person on Flickr who's apparently from Singapore but traveled at PB.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures

Was supposed to go Cameron with Duck and Evie on wednesday but then Evie suddenly may have to withdraw and now I'm desperately short of traveling companions.

In fact I was so desperate that I'm harassing Huaqin, posting on facebook and emailing toddycats!

I am conducting a recce field trip to Cameron Highlands (CH) for my research and fellow toddycat, Marcus Ng, will be driving us up to CH.

Dates: 26 - 28 September 2007 (wed - fri)
Cost: Approximately SGD$200.

We are looking for somebody to join us. Sorry for the late notice but we suddenly had a last minute change in crew and now we have vacancy for 1-2 persons to join us. Cost will be lower if we have more people.

You are not obliged to follow me around on my field work and can feel free to explore CH by yourself. But if you are interested to come along, I will be going to vegetable farms as well as the 3-4 towns around CH. Of course Marcus is dying for his tea and scone at the Lakehouse. http://tinyurl.com/2uhl4k

Itinerary

Wednesday
930am Depart from NUS
1130am Arrive JB
730pm Arrive Cameron

Thursday
Recce Cameron!

Friday
9am Depart Cameron after breakfast
12nn Lunch at KL
7pm Arrive in Singapore

Accommodations
Bala's Holiday Chalet
http://www.balaschalet.com/
3 persons in 1 room or 4 persons in 2 rooms

Transport
We will be renting a car in Johor Bahru and driving up to CH.

I need to confirm urgently so please let me know within the week by Sunday 23 September. Email me at guanacomonkey at gmail dot com