More on Cuba

These are a few things that I didn't have time to cover in my radio programmes:

• Raydel is the owner of Casa Obrapia in Havana, who looks like a young and slim version of Jean Paul Gautier. As a requirement to operate a casa particular (home-stay), he has to pay 150 CUC (Cuban Peso Convertible, 1 CUC = 1 US approximately) per room per month to the government, plus a certain amount for the common areas. The water and electricity costs are paid in Cuban peso instead. 

• He has his ways to get what he wants in this country, many of which are considered to be a rarity. He's got a laptop computer with internet connection, facebook-ing, having a gmail account for his business. Heard that it's extremely difficult to get personal internet connection in a normal household. He's even got a smart phone too and let me send an overseas SMS...generous! He managed to get a power generator to cope with the 72-hour black out in old Havana. God knows what kind of connections he has and how much he's paid for that. He's very smart indeed. There's virtually nothing which he cannot arrange I suppose.

• His casa is always filled with young and gorgeous guys, doing different things for him, from renovating the rooms, cleaning the air-conditioners to cooking good household dinner. On the day I left for the airport at 6 am, he just came back to the casa with another yummy guy. What a life!

• When I asked him to arrange a private taxi to take me to the different embassies and wait for me in-between tasks, he quickly picked up his friend, David, to do the job. Charging me more or less the same per journey as a normal taxi (5 CUC), David took me to and from different locations and served as an interpreter in his vintage American car. Initially, I was a bit puzzled how he managed to take this 'job' during normal weekdays cos he did't seem to have to go to work. But then I realized what is the point of going to work for an average income of US$25 per month, when you can make as much as 60 CUC per day by driving people around. His gorgeous wife, who joined in the ride one day, didn't seem to have to work too. I still remember his words of console, "Don't worry. You have purity." "I'm your Cuban friend." Why did I still manage to trust them again? I dunno.

• Met a couple in Trinidad. The husband is a Hong Kong-er who has relocated to Singapore for 20 years and the wife, a Chinese-Singaporean. They stayed with me in Havana after hearing our recommendation of Raydel's casa and we had a jolly time. Thanks to them, I managed to go out and enjoyed Havana at night even after the terrible ordeal. Turned out that the husband is working for the much-regarded travel website for independent travelers. So thrilled to have met them and looking forward to our reunion either in Hong Kong or Singapore.

• Just told by my travel mates that after I left Trinidad, there was another robbery to 4 girls. They fought so the robbery wasn't successful. And also after I left Havana, the city suffered black out again for 20 hours. I was lucky to manage to go home in one piece indeed.

• The HK hotline 1868 is useless in Cuba. Cannot get through. When I called the Immigration Department hotline, the woman only advised me what I've known already i.e. to contact the Chinese and Canadian Embassies, without even trying to ask further my information e.g. HKID number, passport number etc.  Utterly disappointing.