Monthly Archives: August 2007

Harbour View cafe closed

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I noticed the Harbour View cafe has now closed its doors, so that’s one less Thai food outlet in town. It was confirmed to me that it closed finally on Thursday.

Although I rarely went there, it did have a good outlook over the harbour – if a bit noisy from traffic at times. I know that one other restaurant is looking for new premises – I wonder.

Addendum : I am told that a major factor in the closure was hassles from the IDP camp next-door. Hassling the owners for food and perhaps making customers nervous. With the closure of the Little Padang restaurant just down the road, that means there are now no “by-the-roadside” eateries on the seafront from the Palacio east to Pig Bridge. Of course, there are Hotel Dili (a personal favourite) and Hotel Turismo but neither restaurant has a view.

Coffee season away

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The new coffee season is underway and local supplies of the good stuff are coming through now.  Due to late rains, the production this year is down around 30% over 2006.

When you consider that production was down last year by a similar 30% due to the security troubles, if the rains do the right thing this year by falling in October/November , then 2008 could be a bonanza year.

Quality is said to be up and despite the doom and gloom presented in a recent ABC radio piece, ongoing staged pruning and other measures are expected to lead to increasing quantity and quality of future crops.

Meanwhile, if you are here, just enjoy.

A dengue fever heads-up

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A dengue fever outbreak is spreading throughout SEAsia.  TL is at the southern end of SEAsia and currently in the dry season unlike some of the other more northern SEAsian countries.  However, outbreaks in Indonesia are expected to double the number of cases this year.

Maybe TL will be spared during the dry season but later in the year when the rains come, it could be interesting.  I admit to becoming a bit complacent with the application of repellent which is a bit stupid when not so long ago, you have seen an acquaintance leave the country after contracting dengue.

Government – a work in progress

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A few deadlines seem to have come and gone and a new government is slowly emerging. The new parliament sat on Monday and a new president of parliament (think speaker in the Westminster system) was elected by the new parliament.

Voting went according to party lines. That is, pretty much Fretilin/Kota v. the rest. The rest won as expected with the presidency going to the Democratic party’s Fernanda “LaSama” de Araujo. That leaves CNRT and ASDT/PSD to take up the other senior positions if everything goes along similar lines.

So maybe this Friday, we might have a new PM. I presume that there will be the decision then the official appointment then a bit more negotiating while Ministerial positions are sorted.  So it could still be weeks before a settled government is in place and then there are appointments of civil service department heads to be sorted.

I have been sunk low for a few days with giardia where the porcelain has sustained a savage beating. I once thought I had iron guts but I have my doubts.  My hobby of licking Dili restaurant toilet seats is over.