How Jackson Sees Singapore

Final Words

2011-08-23T12:38:00.001+08:00

It’s the day before my 8-month adventure in Asia ends.

How do I feel? Well, it’s hard to put into words.

These last 8 weeks in Hong Kong have been amazing. At home I cemented my relationships with my family, both extended and immediate. My work inspired me and I committed life goals I will achieve. I made new friends, I experienced China, and I rediscovered this city with the eyes of an adult.

The entire exchange experience has been the best time of my life. I cannot remember a time when I have been happier. Travelling made me realize how fortunate I am to be free. I realized the power of courage, the importance of standing up for what you believe in, and the challenge of turning values into action.

Most importantly, I found my self-worth. I *am* good enough for all life tosses at me. Haters gonna hate. Get outta ma face.

Some people may say it must be hard to end this incredible time. It’s difficult to return to a schedule. Back to the grind. Back to books and routine and exams and obligations.

But I say it doesn’t have to end. I can still make each new day exciting. I can learn new things. I can still live “This is It”.

Just because the travelling has stopped doesn’t mean the learning will stop.

I will travel again, that’s for sure.

But the learning? Well, that’s going to be a lifelong thing.

“Life is no brief candle to me.
It is a sort of splendid torch
Which I’ve got a hold of for a moment
and I want to make it burn as brightly
As I can before handing it on to future generations.”

- George Bernard Shaw (from Supercamp Staff Manual, 2011)

Highlights of Vietnam: May 28 - June 13

2011-06-16T23:47:00.001+08:00

getting nearly run over by a motorbike the first night in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) aka Saigon. If I hadn't jumped back I would have seriously been injured. Only my dignity was bruised this time around.
tunnels of Cu Chi - leading the way in a tunnel with a bat in the cave with two girls behind me. I used my flashlight to scare it away but I then just forced my way through, knowing full well that the flying rodent is above me.

Imma catch y'all later. Jus gonna disappear in this tunnel here.

seeing how people collected rubber from hundreds upon thousands of rubber trees at a plantation

meeting the Chilean Priscilla, Swedish Jacky, Korean Heej, British Sarah, and German Phillip, then traveling with them. My original partner in crime, Caroline, is Dutch, and I'm Canadian, so we had a super ultimate multicultural thing going on.

Just a few from our multicultural crew!

Mekong Delta tour - seeing a bee farm, drinking honey tea, carrying a python around, seeing coconut candy being made, being carted around in tiny boats, and singing the Canadian anthem in front of our entire tour group. And the clincher: killing a king cobra by snipping its head off, drinking its blood with alcohol (for male potency, supposedly), and then eating the meat.

Eating king cobra. What.

*Click on these pictures to enlarge them!

The legendary night busses: people snoring like chainsaws, crammed between local Vietnamese, horrible, horrible choreography and music videos, honking and driving like a maniac (the driver), pop tunes blaring from the speaker in your face.
Nha Trang - beach: Muesli and ice cream and suntan

Diving in the South China Sea - highlights included trumpetfish and sea slugs

Hoi An: food was superb - distinctive cao lao thick noodles, hoanh thanh wontons, white rose dumplings, banhxeo pancakes. We took a cooking class in Hoi An also which was great!
Old Quarter in Hoi An was absolutely beautiful. Quaint pale yellow houses, no cars allowed in, antiques and tailors everywhere. Very nice.

Beautiful Hoi An.

Nestled in the back of a statue shop.

Yeah locals.

playing the piano at A Dong Silk tailors (quite a posh place) to the delight of the managers and saleswomen--consequently getting my tailored sports jacket bargained down from $75 to $45. I also sight-read the Vietnamese song "Que Huong". First time I played the piano for any sort of gain! :)

The beautiful Binh Jessica Le helped me get the perfect tailored sports jacket.

There is a beautiful beach (in my opinion, better than Nha Trang) just 4km east of of Hoi An. I biked there the second day (very do-able) and then I decided to explore 2km more south, escaping the crowds. I found a beautiful deserted stretch of sand where I took a long walk on the beach. It's cheesy and they put it up on dating websites and stuff, but seriously--long walks on the beach are awesome. So is running on the beach, which is also what I did here in Hoi An. :)

Hue citadel - lots of Chinese influence, which surprised me but I suppose it's not that surprising, considering the proximity, and the fact that the Chinese took over North Vietnam for a while. There were a few Vietnamese speaking Mandarin and Cantonese to me.
Hanoi - people were always trying to rip us off - walking around confused at the train station, eating lavishly at the restaurant, running around in the rain, and fighting to get a metered taxi.
hilarious water puppet shows...it was probably supposed to be serious, but we found it sooo funny.
beautiful Halong Bay - sleeping in a boat, swimming and kayaking in the Bay's emerald waters. But sometimes it was quite dirty, so beware.

Locals were like: "I <3 Saigon"? And I didn't have the heart to tell them "Singapore" so I rolled with it.

Sunset at Halong Bay.

rushing around Hanoi to find train tickets to leave the night of!
taking a sleeper train in a 6-person cabin shared with 4 other locals. Being paranoid that they will take our stuff, so hugging absolutely everything when I fell asleep
motorbiking up and down mountains in Sapa--teaching Caroline how to bike!
trekking with Geoff and Jennifer...two fellow Canadians for 2 days over rice paddies. Working in rice paddies, chewing water out of a stalk of corn plant, taking rice wine shots, blasting out tunes at night with karaoke.

Oh, plant them rice.

So that Roxy polka-dot backpack was borrowed from the front desk of my hotel.

Yeah rice planting.

Highlights of Cambodia: May 24 - 28

2011-06-02T12:28:00.003+08:00

We flew through Cambodia doing the "must see" tourist places, but if I had more time, I would have traveled more to the north and into the countryside, and probably Sihanoukville, the beaches of Cambodia. Alas, we wanted more from Vietnam, so we just raced through this time around!

Highlights of our 4 day trip:

Border crossing from Bangkok to Arayaprathet to Poipet to Siam Reap (literally "Thailand Defeated") - not too bad at all! Provided, after hearing stories from other travellers and me printing out a ton of pages of what to do, who to believe, where to go, etc., we were armed with information. Knowledge is power.We fiercely avoided the touts telling us about the silliness of getting a visa away from the border, and got our way there, and through with no problem. We made the mistake of trusting one man who took us to a bus station after Poipet in the middle of nowhere where we were forced to pay ridiculous prices to get to Siam Reap ($9 for a bus that only went when full--aka two hours later). We should have just gotten a taxi straight out of Poipet, and not have taken the free shuttle. Though, along the way we met a bunch of people doing the border crossing with a tour group (lots of Canadians), and I was proud Caroline and I were able to do it completely on our own.

Bought one day ticket for Angkor Wat - we thought it was enough. We also hired a tuk tuk for the day to take us to see all the main must-see temples. After all the temples in Myanmar, I was like, meh, but these are more like ruins overgrown with vegetation, so it's a different feel. You spend the day impersonating Indiana Jones or Lara Croft...but the place was crawling with tourists. I serendipidously ran into my friend Antoine from France--we met in class at NUS, and we looked at some temples together. We finished off the day with watching the sunset from one of the temples after I finished sipping a coconut. Overall, I liked the Terrace of the Leper King the most.

So Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) was filmed here, eh?

Siam Reap was cheap food, cheap housing: We slept for $2.50 a night, eating for a dollar or two.
Taking the bus from Siam Reap to Phnom Penh and getting stranded on the side of the road with other travellers for an hour because the bus "broke". The scam is that we arrive late in the city so more of us will take the hotel they offer to us (no doubt on commission) than finding our own housing. No matter though -- we just went on our own way and found our own housing.
Phnom Penh - Tuol Sleng Museum and Choeung Ek Killing Fields - that is a novel in itself. The converted school at Tuol Sleng was quite graphic and made me sick. We didn't have much appetite for lunch afterward, but trudged on to see the Killing Fields after a brief drink and rest.

This was at the school-turned-to-torture-prison in Tuol Sleng.

Click to enlarge and read. Viewer discretion is advised.

Enjoyed a blind "seeing hand massage" in Phnom Penh - it was one of the best massages I've had (supposedly Japanese style) in a long time! I've been collecting massages since India, so I've really been enjoying myself. It's so much cheaper--only $5 - $10 for an hour compared to at least 10x that back home in Canada!

My masseuse. Magic hands. :)

Taking a bus in the countryside to Vietnam and seeing the endless rice paddies and swaying sugar palm trees. Absolutely beautiful to watch as the sun sets.
Finding out that my mother (and several of my aunts) was born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. :)

I wish we had more time in Cambodia. The people were really warm and friendly, surprising you often with a spirited, unexpected smile. It is a country racked with grief - you see people without limbs because of the mine explosions. They sit by the temples playing instruments, or by restaurants, dragging themselves along the ground on a board with wheels, struggling to earn a living by selling counterfeit books. The aftermath of the Khmer Rouge is still seen - there are very few elders around because of the massacres. The people are proud--but perhaps proud is not the right word--they want foreigners to see and understand the terrible things that have happened to them only 30 years ago. But amidst the terror, the despair, the destitution--there is hope in the eyes of young children playing in the streets. Bright skyscrapers are beginning to line the horizon in Phnom Penh, and industry is starting to flourish again. And when you speak with the people you learn of their desire to travel, to see the world and to share of their experiences.

This is Cambodia, a country with a history both "inspiring and depressing", an enchanting land where Angkor Wat, the ultimate expression of Khmer genius and the 8th Wonder of the World, comes "bundled with trauma, poverty, corruption, and deforestation." The people have a spirit quite unlike any other population I've met before. I could definitely come back to see more.

Highlights of Bangkok: May 18 - 24

2011-06-02T11:50:00.001+08:00

I tackled Bangkok alone for the first few days. I met up with Caroline Kamps on May 23rd, and then we went to Cambodia and Vietnam together.

Prior to Bangkok, I was quite sick from Myanmar so I decided to try and get to the region with the most hospitals according to my Lonely Planet guide: Silom. According to the book, this is supposed to be the "financial district:"

Turns out this is also *the* infamous red light district of Bangkok.

Highlights of my 6 days include:

scouring and bartering Patpong's Night Market for a bag while avoiding all the people waving "Pussy show" or "Sex DVD" signs in my face.
entering a bar and a show in the district for the price of drink - and emerging a changed man
navigating the bus and train system all by myself
Spending time at Bangkok Christian Hospital to treat my diarrhea.
Visiting Chinatown in Bangkok and finding my way back home through the narrow alleyways
Meeting a nice lady who knew Cantonese and instructed me about what to do in Bangkok. She was Thai but grew up in Hong Kong. She paid for my lunch, and showed me pictures of her kids. :)

Tourists asking me for directions, me being able to confirm where they needed to go, and locals speaking to me in Thai
Chatuchak Weekend Market - 15,000 stalls, supposedly the largest open air market in Asia, where they sold everything. Literally. In fact, cute bunnies being sold as pets were kept within 4 feet of kebab barbeque stalls, and live grubs and crickets were scooped up with bare hands and put into bags, sold like beans.

Legendary Thai Massage at Healthland Massage and Spa - the tiny Thai lady threw me around the bed and pressed again and again on the most painful points--but it felt so good the next day. It was a great venue, and we paid only $15 for two hours. :)
MBK, Siam Paragon, Arts and Cultural Centre (where I watched some Thai mimes), Jim Thompson's house

Gorgeous Sky Bar at Vertigo, The Banyan Tree. Overlooking the entire city of Bangkok 69 floors up, this chique environment required long pants and closed toed shoes. There were people in cocktail dresses up there, and there was I in my hiking zipper pants and my hiking boots. But the view was spectacular and the waitresses didn't seem to mind. There was no cover but you are obligated to buy a drink.

Awesome time in a great city. I avoided the temples and palaces because I had just come from Myanmar, but those are rumoured to be awesome as well!

Next: Cambodia!

Tips and tricks

2011-06-02T11:23:00.001+08:00

More of a personal note for myself to research - things I picked up throughout the year from other travelers

www.hostelworld.com

http://www.couchsurfing.com/
http://www.proxymice.com/

Teaching English in

China

: Aston: http://www.astonrecruiting.com/

Around the World tickets (can only go east, valid for one year)

Stand by tickets = you need to know a plane employee

Internationaler bauarten

-together with people your age

-free accomodation, food, cheaper transit

-buidling camps, construction

-great opportunity to travel Europe for cheaper

Highlights of Myanmar: May 6 - 18, 2011

2011-06-02T11:16:00.005+08:00

Traveling with Sabine Mueller through Myanmar for nearly two weeks. It was amazing. Here are just some of the highlights

having (free) tea at lots of tea shops

Myanmar food - 12 treasures soup, mohinga fish soup, Burmese "curries" (essentially little meat drowned in oil)

learning German from Sabine

speaking to a man for hours while we were resting at a temple in Mandalay - this highly educated man talked to us about the government, his views on the Lady's family (there's apparently a Thai movie that's quite gripping about it? I should look it up)...all the while looking over his shoulder and shutting up when anyone came close. It's a story in itself. Remarkable, inspiring man. He could have gone to jail if someone knew about this, and he has a wife and kids. He told us that while we were in Myanmar, as foreigners, it is likely that we were followed at some point without us even knowing it. Here's a link to Myanmar's Iron Lady, Aung San Suu Kyi.

listening to lots of Burmese dubbed English songs on the streets, on the bus

golden Shwedagon Paya in Yangon

"Oh my Buddha" - Min-in, our horse cart driver through the temples of Bagan. Definitely one of the best days of my life

sunrise to sunset climbing temples without tourists, all alone, then cycling through a plain the size of Manhattan but squished with 4400 temples (Bagan)

women have painted faces with thanaka, traditional make-up from tree bark. One of the Burmese women painted our faces with it too, and we spent the day wearing it around. Lots of giggles from the locals

making friends with monks eager to learn English at Mandalay Hill

*note to self: I should send my pictures with them to Tim at timpdo09@gmail.com (DONE)

motorcycling for the first time around the countryside around Mandalay--it was also a standard bike, not automatic, so I learned to shift gears for the first time also.

We stopped at a side street to eat lunch, and my flip flops snapped again. I thought I would have to go the rest of the way around Mandalay without shoes, but then the restaurant lady disappeared for a while, and reappeared with several pairs of flip flops! Apparently she had gone to the shoe store and got them for me. I bought the only pair that fit me (I'm only a size 10, I'm not Sasquatch I swear) and was happy to be on my way.

*note to self: Fortune Teller on U Bein's bridge, the world's longest teak bridge at 1.2 km in Amarapura, Myanmar. My fortune was read from my palms on 11-May-2011, in no particular order:

poor gastrointestinal system - I should drink more milk (shown by thumb)
my name "Jackson" - means I should live close to the water - I will be happier--forest and mountains are not so good
I should wear a ring on my left ring finger that is of white metal because my left hand is "bad" compared to my right. In the case that I have a choice, I should always go with right--airplane seats, seats on the bus, etc.
live over 75 years old (wrists = 3)
healthy, wealthy, travel a lot, good education, high effort (shown by the single line on my left hand)
one parent will die when I am 25-30 years old
I will get married between 25-30
first marriage may be happy or unhappy but it will not last
I am unlucky in marriage-will marry 2 or 3 times
will have 2 - 3 kids
will be happy in a relationship with a "good girl" something about my past life being a woman and my next life being a woman so a good girl, not a bad girl is a better partner? I actually have no idea what he was saying at this point...
don't give too much money to the first marriage
career - I'm social and not brave, gentle--avoid careers like army, police, spies; concentrate on jobs like education, arts, and economics
strong "foreign" sense - marry someone away from native country, I will be happy living away from my native country (so away from Hong Kong and Canada, I suppose!)
first child will be a boy
sex life is great (sweeeeeeet)
your sibling will support you when you are older

All this from looking at my hands, and asking me to say my name a few times! :S

Mahumani Paya in Mandalay - every morning at 4:00 a.m. monks lovingly washed the giant golden Buddha's face. We got a free ride there and back from a friendly local named Kway, who accompanied us when we visited the world's longest teak bridge the day before. We paid him for his trouble of course, but the Burmese are truly so nice. At the temple, the monks bottled the run-off from the wash as holy water, and one monk offered it to us to wash our faces with-for free-for luck.

Kalaw to Inle Lake Trek with Harri Singh

*note to self: send pictures with lady in the rainstorm by post to

Harri Singh
Golden Lily Guest House

5/88 Natsin Road

Kalaw Myanmar
Tel: 081-50108
aung.harri@gmail.com (email him to let him know the pictures are coming--pictures will take an hour to load on the computer, so just send them snail mail instead)

Exploring Kalaw:

Bamboo Buddha

Caves *filled* with buddhas and carvings

Kid at a Nepalese restaurant

I enjoyed learning at a monastery with kids about half my age.

During the trek, we saw a beautiful rainbow around the sun

housed during a rain/hail storm by a Burmese tribeswoman in traditional wear. She served us tea, and furtively looked at me all the time. Then she told our guide I looked like a Chinese celebrity from her soaps she saw on her TV. Our guide tolder her I *was* that actor, and then she got all flustered and wanted to take a picture with me and touch me and all this. So now I'm supposed to send her the pictures. :)

Taking tribal medicines in powder form from a shaman - the only one left in the area. Hundreds of herbs, literally, were used. Everything from black opium and marijuana to tumeric and anise. And we tried them all. Yes mum, I ate black opium and marijuana. Apparently they're good for digestion. With all the meds we consumed, we should be "superhuman for a whole month".

buying a bracelet from the shaman with ancient Sanskrit pounded into it on aluminum plates to ward off black magic evil spirits. Worn on the right hand for males, on a wool string.

Diarrhea chills and fever for three days, then messy stool for about 10 days in total. I eventually rested and went to a hospital in Bangkok, but when I was in Myanmar, the last few days were quite rough. Harri our guide was really nice and gave me medicine and fare to get into town earlier in Nwangshwe.

Finishing the book "Outliers - The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell and (sigh) Stephenie Meyer's "New Moon" because I became ill. It was the only book that was in English that was available, not coming apart, and seemed vaguely interesting.
Seeing the moon festival in Nwangshwe - drunken men dancing: pulling me up to dance along with them in the parade; little girls all made up and dressed up dancing around the entire town.

Getting a Burmese Massage where the lady stepped on my legs, cutting off the circulation and then letting it go again. Then a friendly, chatty man massaged my hands, back, and feet.
Funky one legged paddle on the Inle Lake.
Meeting a fellow Hong Kong born Canadian, and a Swiss man who had been traveling for 16 months! It was great chatting with them and traveling with them for the last little bit. We were also joined by a friendly Burmese man: Nin-in.

All in all, I have to say Myanmar has been my favourite country so far. Aside from the diarrhea, which is really my fault for not taking care of what I was eating, the whole country was beautiful, the people spectacular, and my experience was remarkable. Highly recommend it!

Photo credit: Sabine Mueller

May 2 and 3: Philippines - Flying Squirrels and Rooftop Bus Rides

2011-06-02T10:23:00.002+08:00

I woke up after the girls and took my time to get up those dreaded stairs. After breakfast we headed out to Loboc’s Eco-Tourism Adventure Park, where we ziplined like flying squirrels over a deep river gorge 200m below for 350 pesos. It was fun, but it really didn’t last long enough, even though it was a back and forth journey. We stopped by the washroom there though...hands down the best washroom I’ve seen in the ‘pines so far. Air conditioned, clean ... it was definitely comparable to a Western hotel’s toilet. I would have slept there if I could.

Actually, the toilet back at Nuts Huts was so gross I hadn’t bothered to shower yet, and it would be three whole days before I would step into a shower again back in Singapore. When we left the park, we boarded a bus heading into the town of Loboc. This time we were literally hanging out of the door, but thankfully it was only 30 minutes into town. Once we got there my flip flops snapped and I had to go to this ridiculously touristy place to get the only pair of flipflops of the town in my size: 300 pesos. Warg.

We then found the Organic Bohol Bee Restaurant, where they grew their own herbs and had amaaaazing food. There was complimentary bread with pesto butter spread and honey butter spread. I got this heavenly soup with slow cooked chicken, okra, lemongrass, shredded ginger, chili powder, celery herbs, and topped with basil. Unf.

It was soo good. The squash muffin that came with it was also delicious. Kathleen got this fruit and nut salad and couldn’t stop moaning in food-gasmic pleasure throughout the entire meal. Karen got this beautiful salad topped with Filipino flowers and honey-mustard dressing. It was too good...*too* good, and at a much better price and quality than the Nuts Huts food we were getting. We only at there because it was so secluded and there was really no where else to go. Bleh. *I* could have done a better job with the food in less time than those guys. The thing I’ve found about the ‘pines is that they take forever to prepare the food. It’s ridiculous. Do they have to catch the chicken and slaughter it before cooking it?

After our fantastic meal, we wandered around the tiny town, enjoying the quaint countryside life ... a man walking his bull, a radio playing pop tunes softly in the straw hut (them Filipinos love their pop tunes), clothes swaying gently in the breeze to dry ... until we nearly passed out from the unbearable heat. We staggered to a shop that sold ice cream and we ate an entire tub of Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces ice cream between the three of us. So good. We were swarmed by flies but it was still a very good time.

We did some more aimless walking around, ate some casava/coconut/sugar/margarine cake bought on the street for 5 pesos, and then got on the bus headed back to Nuts Huts. This time it was so overloaded that we had to climb up over everyone and get out onto the roof, where there were no seats, and bicycles strapped on half-hazardly by bungee cord wires.

As the bus took off, the dude on top told us to to “Watch out for the wires”. I looked at the cords holding the bikes down and was wondering if it would snap back at us... when suddenly a branch smacked us in the face and whole forest starting whizzing by with electric wires overhead. I spent the rest of the trip lying down, dodging wires, and praying I wouldn’t get completely clotheslined...and beheaded. We got back to the Huts eventually, and in one piece, and just rested for the rest of the afternoon. I finished “Catcher in the Rye” and mostly just went to bed.

May 3: Return to Singapore

The next day was spent just getting back to Singapore. We had some great laughs, ate some authentic Filipino food, explored SM mall in Cebu, and smelled like crap ‘cause none of us had showered for the past three days. We took a taxi back to campus, and slept like babies. :)

Alas...my time was fantastic, but I will have to go back to the Philippines! Boracay is a must for next time, and I want to go to El Nido on Palawan Island, and also Donsol to dive with whale sharks. Lots more to see!

May 1: Philippines - Chocolate Hills of Bohol

2011-05-28T13:42:00.007+08:00

We woke up, ate a Filipino breakfast, then argued tricycle driver Albert’s price down from 800 pesos to 500 pesos to get to Loboc.

Along the way, we got hit by this massive rainstorm that got my pants completely soaked as I was riding sidesaddle behind Albert. Then the trike decided to stop working in the middle of a bridge, during the storm and all these huge semis came roaring past and splashed my already soaked body.

When Albert finally got the thing up and running again, I was drenched from waist to toe. Pretty soon he dropped us off at the entrance to Nuts Huts, and he refused to drive in because it was “too dangerous”.

Great.

So the ladies and I get off and start trudging the muddy road down to Nuts Huts. Man. It was totally soaked—and it was along. About 20 minutes after we left the main road, we got to another sign pointing down a million stairs. We stumble down to the halfway point, trying not to slip, fall, and kill ourselves—all the while avoiding the giant bugs on the bamboo hand rail. There was a quiet Filipino lady waiting for us, and we realize Nuts Huts is a collection of bamboo huts nestled in a jungle valley overlooking a jade green river. We settled into some mosquito net protected beds and then Karen and I went out to find the legendary Chocolate Hills. March to May is supposed to be the driest season in this region, but because of the weird rainstorms lately, we were just crossing our fingers that the Hills really WERE chocolate.

Karen and I walked all the way up those stairs again to the main road, where we eventually got onto a bus overloaded with locals headed in the direction of the Hills. Along the way we saw several rice paddies and sang along to some sappy 90s love songs blaring over the loudspeaker, much to the locals’ delight.

The bus system here in the country is interesting. Aside from the random man cradling a chicken in his arms, there were schoolchildren, elderly citizens, and average middle aged people riding the bus. The vehicle was maintained by a young man sashaying around the bus collecting fares with bills tucked between his fingers, and another few young men hanging out the door yelling or whistling at the driver to stop whenever they noticed someone needed to get off or get on. They were really helpful—when we said “Chocolate Hills” they gave us an understanding nod and waved us on.

After an hour’s journey, we stumbled off the bus and were called over by some dudes on motorbikes. One of them offered to take Karen and I up the mountain (we would have to walk otherwise, and we were short on time -- 4:30 p.m. as the last bus back) so we took his 30 peso offer and rode up to the viewpoint, after paying another 50 pesos as an entrance fee. Once up there, we followed a gaggle of Filipinas up another huge flight of stairs (ugh) and finally saw the Chocolate Hills in all of its glory.

It was actually pretty cool. Apparently geologists of today still cannot understand the origin of these over-1000 interesting formations, and the Filipinos attribute them to the tears of a heartbroken giant. Sounds pretty legit to me.

Karen and I snapped away while the Filipino women did some jumping pictures on a broom. Some dude had brought a broom up the hill and was charging people to take a jumping picture with it. A good way to make money, but really silly.

On the way back down, we just hitchhiked on a van going down at the same time, and just caught the bus heading in the direction of Nuts Huts. Once we got back, we chilled and ate dinner with Kathleen, who had rested, and then I had some good times playing in a hammock...

"The hammock that makes men pregnant"

...while the girls laughed at me. When it got pitch dark we felt our way down the stairs to our bamboo hut, and fell asleep to the cries of frogs, crickets, cicadas, geckos, large lizards, and tons of other unnamed insects. It was really loud!

April 30: Philippines - Diving at Balicasag Island

2011-05-28T13:30:00.002+08:00

We started out the day with a few taro and chocolate buns from the convenience store, which were delicious, and then got ready for some awesome scuba diving. It would be 2650 pesos for two dives, including equipment and the boat. Our dive master was Ian, a thirty something man with a pony tail. He was really nice and so were our companions on the boat – a few Germans, an American, and an Israeli.

When it was time to dive though, the sun magically disappeared behind dark thunderous rainclouds and it started to pour cats and dogs. Visibility decreased, but it was still breathtakingly beautiful. It was also kind of cool going down into the calm underwater with a storm above your head.

The first dive at Black Forest – named so because of the ebony corals 60m below the surface – I petted a seaturtle 1m long, and saw another two swimming away. We also saw jellyfish, grouper, a huge school of jackfish, and countless beautifully colored starfish and sponges. There was a very strong current though, and even swimming against the current I couldn’t move. I could only slow the inevitable direction of movement in the other direction.

The second dive was at Sanctuary. There was literally a WALL of soft coral with fish darting in and out of the crevasses. Huge branches of delicate flowery coral jutted out at me and there was such a vastness to the number of small colourful fish surrounding me—it was simply unreal.

On the way back on the boat, the American man described his dives from all around the world and said this spot was by far the nicest. I’m totally spoiled—this being my 6^th and 7^th dive—ever. He also suggested diving around the main Hawaii island to see shipwrecks, manta rays (my favourite animal) and sharks. When we arrived back onto Panglao Island, I ate the Filipino dish Adobo at Trudi’s Place. We then took a nice nap and went out for some dinner.

Karen wasn’t very happy with our red snapper – it still had scales on it, and management refused to let us go for free or give us another one. They insisted we pay 50% of the asking price. So, we left without a tip.

I wandered with the girls on the beach under the starry sky with the water lapping at my feet. Kathleen found some “cute Filipino boy” and although we tried our best to get him to kiss her, nothing went down. In the end, all I got was my corn-on-the-cob-on-a-stick”. Apparently, I got lots of people thinking I was Korean, and Karen got lots of “Filipino!”, while Kathleen got “Fil-Am” which means Filipino-American. Also known as biracial. Unf.

We had a great time trying to convince people Karen and I were siblings, or were married and Kathleen was our daughter. The lights went out completely along the entire beach a couple times, but it was all fun with people clapping, cheering, and the live bands continuing to sing. Karen and I got giant coconuts at this one stall and we eventually made our way to a fantastic live band. They took requests and were so good—from Aerosmith’s “Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” to Bryan Adam’s “Summer of ‘69”. They had it all and were awesome at it.

By the beach, under the stars…we sipped our rum and cokes, and Filipino beer, which is the best I’ve tasted in SE Asia thus far—much better than Tiger.

And then we crashed. I decided not to shower because I was lazy. And I would be lazy for the next few days.

April 29th: Philippines - Filipino massage and eating under the stars

2011-05-26T23:51:00.003+08:00

The next morning we left the hotel and took a cab to the port where we wanted to go to Bohol. BUT there were no more ferries until 1:30 p.m. and we were there at 8:30 a.m.

BLAH.

(inserted by Kathleen)

But I was with two hot girls so it was all right. We busted hip thrusting moves with Max Surban at the Music Museum, mostly to escape the heat.

(back to Jackson)

Yeah after we found out the ferries weren’t leaving until much later, we ate some breakfast – discovering that banana with rice was a really good breakfast material – and then we just wandered around downtown Cebu until it was time to board, since Pier 1 was so close to the downtown core area. We apparently went up and down Colon Street – the oldest street in the Philippines – while visiting a bunch of Catholic churches. We mostly sweated and visited shops. We went into Chow King’s restaurant for some relief—and also where we had our first halo-halo.

This colorful, delicious Filipino dessert with 14 different ingredients was so nomz.

There were security guards at literally every entranceway though – they all had guns or rifles and were super intimidating.

We finally went back to a little coffeeshop with air conditioning and drank calamansi (lemon) juice with honey until it was time for the ferry.

It was a two hour ride to Tagbilaran, Bohol. We lucked out with front row seats. They were showing Rush Hour 3 on board but we all just crashed when we sat down. The Filipinas behind us were really getting into the movie though. Ho man.

They would talk to Jackie Chan as if he could hear them:

“NO JACKIE! DON’T GO THERE!”

It was a little bit annoying.

When we arrived we bartered with some tricycle drivers after waving off the countless touts following us to get the price to Panglao Island down from 300 pesos to 220 pesos.

Kathleen sat side-saddle behind our driver Ricky, who had waist long hair and missing teeth. Nevertheless, Kathleen was unabashedly hot for him and was pretty much fully in love by the end of our journey.

Bohol was more of what I enjoyed…a nice countryside road, cows, goats, chickens, grass huts, over a beautiful bridge, waving to locals on bikes or families sitting under their grasshuts. It was really nice. Then we arrived at the relatively touristy Alona Beach. It wasn’t as bad as Krabi or Kho Phi Phi but it was close. The beach wasn’t spectacular but people come here for the “unbelievable diving” – in fact, as we would soon find out from a diving veteran, one of the best in the world.

Alona Beach was lively – had a nice bustling family atmosphere to it. It took us a while to fina decent place to stay – the most bang for our buck – but in the end we stayed at Walk Inn Haven for 1000 pesos between the three of us.

Once we got settled we found a nice restaurant with a beautiful view of the ocean, and I ate grilled rabbitfish, veggies, and other food on the beach, under the stars, lit by Survivor-esque torches, and listening to live music.

The girls kept whispering to each other about all the older white men and the younger Asian women couples, but I didn’t really see cause my back was to them. I guess there were a lot of them dining with us that night.

I also chatted with a couple from Hong Kong in Cantonese—I think I surprised them a bit because the guy caught me looking at them first, and then I suddenly asked—“So you’re from Hong Kong?” in Cantonese, and they weren’t really expecting it I suppose.

Anyway they were super friendly and the woman gave me some advice on lowering the price of the seafood and how you could bargain it down. The guy talked about the best place to dive in the area – Balicasag Island – and encouraged us to go. Then I received a 1 hour Filipino massage for 250 pesos. The lady, named Beblita, was really good and it was clear the traditional Filipino massage was different from the Balinese massage. It was still only a rubdown though – I’m looking forward to the legendary Thai massage where they step on you and contort your body into ridiculous positions. Then I took a bath from a bucket at our hotel and went to bed.

April 28th: Philippines - Flip flop dodgeball in Manila!

2011-05-26T23:34:00.003+08:00

The night before my amazing friends from Sheares Hall all packed into my room for an intense webcam photo-taking session. They are the best friends in Singapore I could have ever asked for and I am so happy to have met them. I am the luckiest guy in the world.

I left Sheares at 8 in the morning to get to Singapore budget terminal. I was a little late so I had to take the taxi to Buona Vista MRT station where I was to meet Kathleen a friend from my CE3115 class and her friend Karen. I hadn’t met Karen yet but she was super nice, Canadian born Malaysian and had a look that had everyone from every Southeast Asian country asking if she was of their nationality. Haha and as Kathleen insists, she was hot. But really…she was.

The lovely ladies I went to the Philippines with.

Like many trips before, we took the MRT all the way east into Changi Airport. It’s a trip that costed me about the same as my trip from the bus stop outside my Hall to the Buona Vista MRT station by taxi. It’s crazy how cheap rapid transit is in Singapore—all thanks to the government’s effort to lessen traffic and encourage public transit.

When we arrived we were 5 minutes late and the lady at the check in counter had to call the people on her walkie talkie to “hold open the gate” for us. Karen was busily admiring the budget terminal.

Karen: “I like the way this looks”.

Kathleen: “I think we should run”.

We all look at each other and start mad dashing to the gate—only to find a queue of a hundred Filipinos in front of us. There was definitely no need to be so rushed. Blast.

The flight to Manila was fairly uneventful. The airplane’s roof was spewing mist like a fog machine but other than that, it was a pretty standard flight. We met a few other Canadian travelers on the flight – they were also boarding late as well – and one girl had interned at the Filipino embassy for the past four months and gave us pretty stellar advice on where to go and where not to go. She suggested Palawan, and El Nido, but with only 5 days in the ‘pines we were really short on time and had to skip out on that to pursue our more concrete goals of Chocolate Hills, ziplining and scubadiving.

Oh, and Cebu Pacific is officially my new favourite airline. Move over Westjet. On board, they played awesome hip hop music and halfway through the flight they called for everyone’s attention and played a trivia game.

“The first person to show us a picture of their mother-in-law gets this exclusive pouch from Cebu Pacific”.

I won a pouch (only 1 of 3!) when they asked for “footwear—something everyone has to board the plane with”. It’s black and pink. So cool.

Once we landed in Manila we ate a light lunch and went on the hunt for icy treats. We found this little McDonald’s stand that sold ice cream including strawberry dipped cones and hot caramel sundaes. Nomnomnom.

Strawberry ice cream from McDonald's stand at Manila airport

With these snacks cooling us down we wandered across the Manila airport parking lot searching for something to do for the next few hours during our layover. We walked for quite a ways under the blistering sun and came to a big traffic circle. We were thinking about crossing it, but then this shiny neon colored horrendously decorated truck (we later found it’s called a jeepney) came rumbling in front of us, and several Filipinos piled in. Curious, we followed suit not knowing where it would take us. The truck shuddered around the circle and deposited us on the other side—for free! Score!

These are jeepneys on that traffic circle.

We found a 7-11 but the slurpee machine was broken. Sadfaced, we left and wandered around what seemed like a typical Manila neighborhood – if I may be so bold to say because there were families, tricycles, dogs, and flip-flop dodgeball. To be honest to live this close to the airport it was probably quite a wealthy neighbourhood and we could see the gated houses. However there were also some run down shacks interspersed between stalls selling food and shops advertising for services. I bought some sort of a banana spring roll at one of the stalls on the street and devoured it.

Bought that fried banana and ate it.

Then we meandered back to the 7-11. The slurpee machine was fixed and running now thank goodness, so we poured ourselves a cup of grape and Mountain Dew and drank to our hearts’ delight. Soo good.

Apparently in the Philippines you’re supposed to buy the cup first and then go get your drink. We got really confused but they were nice and cut us some slack because we were so clearly backpacking, sweaty frazzled student tourists. Pity is a good thing.

Buzzed from the incredible sugar high we swaggered back to the airport where I napped for a couple hours and the girls shopped in the comfort of the air conditioning. And then it was time to leave for Cebu! *side note: THEY TOOK MY UMBRELLA because, as they pantomimed, I could break it in half and stab someone with it…?! So irritated. It was a good umbrella.

It was quite dark when we arrived in Cebu. Kathleen had eaten a lot of peanuts and shared some with us…I ate some of my granola bars, and we taxi’d it over to the hotel Karen had booked for the first day. It was very nice and high quality—but in the middle of nowhere.

We also found something comforting--Our taxi driver had only started 5 days ago. Kathleen kept trying to hit on him, but he was clearly just focused on the task at hand. We were pretty exhausted so we crashed early after karaoking it up to some music videos, including one that would stay in Kathleen’s head the entire trip: “Love the Way You Lie” by Rihanna.

Some other pictures of Manila:

Flip flop dodgeball.

April 19th and 20th: Bali, Indonesia - Last days

2011-05-23T03:45:00.001+08:00

The next morning, Ben, Mark and Dylan left for Kuta because they loved it. Sam went on his own temple adventure, and Sarah and I went to the marketplace, where I practiced my bargaining skills. I usually bought things for 1/3 of the asking price--so I was pretty happy about that.

Sam serendipitously met us at the marketplace, and we chilled in town, ate dinner, and slept. Ubud is super relaxing and the Balinese people are the friendliest I've met on my journey so far.

***

This last day in Bali was absolutely splendid. Sarah and Sam left for Nusa Lembongan (which, after speaking with them upon our return, is amazing) at 9:00 a.m. and I had to finish their breakfasts. Nomnomnom. After they left, I packed, took a quick shower, and went on a solo adventure around town.

I didn't have very much money left, so I wasn't planning on buying anything. I wandered into a beautiful homestay where the Balinese actually live. A man showed me his paintings and explained a little bit of the balance of life that they believe in. In his paintings, he shows Balinese women worshiping and giving offerings to both the good spirit and the bad spirit -- in order to "keep them happy".

Indeed, something remarkable about Bali is the preparations they give everyday to their Hindu gods. When I went back to my hotel, I ended up having an hour conversation with the hotel manager about her life, and her beliefs. She talked about how Bali is unique in its Hindu traditions in Muslim Indonesia, and how it's different still from India's Hinduism. There is an emphasis on balance -- that we all have darkness and light within us, and we follow the darkness when we are stressed and the light when we are happy. It is completely natural.

The daily offerings of crackers, rice, flowers, and coconut are to remember to be thankful for life, for everything that has been provided for us. She told me about reincarnation -- about how it's usually family members that are reincarnated into children. For example, her daughter is her grandfather's reincarnation, she says, and that is determined by a priest when she was just one month old. And Nuna (that was her name) says her daughter truly exemplifies a lot of her grandfather's qualities: stubbornness, wanting to stay at home, presents tomboyish characteristics. Really neat stuff.

Anyway, I continued along my way exploring and stumbled into two elementary schools with beaming children and excited waves. After observing the kids, I bought some food from the local snack bar at the school, much to the vendors' (or cafeteria ladies') delight.

I also went to a Balinese bank, where they all looked at me funny before a man broke the silence and told me I was handsome. I blushed and complimented all of them in return. I made my way to the marketplace once again and found a little food stall that I missed on the first day. I went up to eat the cheap and delicious food, and then it was time to leave.

After chatting with the hotel manager, I took the shuttle van with a Scottish bloke to the Denpasar airport, ate some lunch, and got into the plane. I really enjoyed listening to all of my TEDtalks to kill the time.

Incredibly, I ran into my French friend from the first day and we exchange Bali stories. I also made a Filipina friend who was sitting next to me. She encouraged me where to go on the next trip to Cebu--where arts and culture abound, and to Bohol -- the tourist Mecca of the Philippines with its tarsiers and chocolate mountains, and to fly to Puerto Princesa, with its beautiful beaches and incomparable dive spots. I can't wait, I can't wait!

***
In other news, I got my job in Hong Kong! I received the news right when I got back. It looks like I'll be working there for the summer-- super excited to be part of the summer camp life again!

April 18th: Bali, Indonesia - Climbing volcanic Mt. Batur

2011-05-23T03:15:00.002+08:00

We woke at 2:00 a.m. with virtually no sleep. Our sleep cycles were so gone. Anyway we met the driver at 2:30 a.m. outside our inn and then we were on our way. He drove constantly in the middle of the road at a ridiculously high speed, and at one point, we swore we saw him hit a dog.

He didn't even slow down. He stopped of course, apologized, inspected his car, and then went on his way. Wow. That definitely woke us up. I hope the dog was all right. Jeez, Louise.

It was still pitch dark when we arrived at the site. As we were in the countryside, lots of stars were shining overhead. Beautiful. And then we hiked 1000m up this active volcano. It was not an easy gentle hike either. It was pretty much 45 degrees the entire time, and the way up was incredibly dark. Luckily I brought my own flashlight and the guides had a few of their own. I thought NUS's stairs had prepared me for the climb, but I don't think any of us were expecting it to be so steep and over such uneven terrain.

At one point we were walking on soot and ash. I felt most sorry for Sarah, who just had on a pair of flip flops. That must have sucked--I have no idea how she managed. When we got up to the top though, it was really beautiful--although it was still black as anything. We ate our breakfast while watching the sun rise from the peak. On the way down, we saw tomatoes and chilis growing on the vine and we passed by a reice terrace on the way back to town. We crashed until the afternoon, ate, used some interwebz, and Sarah, Dylan, and I went to get another massage. It was truly spectacular. That evening Sarah and I had another heart to heart. This is getting regular.

April 17th: Bali, Indonesia - A day to relax in Ubud

2011-05-23T03:05:00.002+08:00

Turns out the guys had a really rough night and didn't get to bed until 7 a.m. I won't get into all the details, but let's just say there was a fair bit of vomming in the morning.

Sarah went into angry mom drill sergeant mode and literally pulled the guys off of their beds, while I passively found cheap tickets to Ubud. After breakfast we got into the van and found ourselves driving along the highway for 1.5 hours. As usual, the driver offered to take us to a "silver city", describing it as pivotal to Balinese culture. So we agreed...and were driven to a place where they sold silver chains and he would obviously get a commission out of it if we bought anything. So we politely and briskly walked the perimeter of the store interior, and insisted to leave. He didn't catch our hint, and asked us if we wanted to see "Balinese paintings", but we refused any more stopovers.

When we arrived in Ubud, we checked out a few inns and decided on the cheapest option: Argosaka Inn, and crashed for the whole day.

In the evening, we booked a trip up to the active volcano, Mt. Batur, the next day. I'm really liking the bartering culture here--it's so much fun.

Reminder for myself--google tips and tricks to barter properly!

***

Offer 25% of the asking price. go up in small increments to bring them closer to the final price which should be 40% to 50% of where you started.Obviously keep in mind the value of the item to you in terms of your home price.

Keep smiling and enjoy the ride. Never show anger that loses face for all concerned.If they will not acept your final position thank the vendor with that everlasting smile and start to walk away slowly...you will be called back with an acceptance on many occasions. If not they have reached their limit and then you can decide if you want to pay the price.

If the barter has been fun I often pay a little more than the agreed price and that is always greeted with the biggest smile.

***

My tip for a real bargain, learn the basic numbers, and try to barter in that language- when I did, 90% of the time they accepted my first offer.

***

China Tour

If you expect to succeed when haggling with the Chinese vendors, you will need to have patience and a sense of humor. They will sense your spirit and the more lighthearted and friendly you are, the most at ease and friendly they will be to you. Do your best to be likeable.

It has been said that the true at of haggling lies in your attitude and actions. Start by being careful not to express too much interest in the items that you have your eye on. Pass over the vendor or shops items, browsing more than the few things you really want to purchase. Then casually ask the purchase price of something you wish to bargain and note in an uninterested fashion that you think the price too high or that you would consider a lower price more reasonable.

At this point most Chinese vendors will knock 10 or 20% off the asking price, but if you still shake your head that it is too high and head toward the exit, you will almost always earn yourself the discount that you desire.

The vendors will do their best to get the highest possible price for their goods, but even though they may appear unwilling to drop their prices, you will find that they will usually sell for up to half of the asking price. Even if there is a sign noting a refusal of bargains, it never hurts to give it a shot.

***

Best prices can be found at the beginning of the day (the first sale brings luck and they'll tap a lot of their goods with the money you gave them) or at the end.

Try to casually look as though you are very familiar with the value of things

***

Barter in Thailand

In terms of cultural faux pas, you want to stay away from bartering in department stores, malls, grocery stores, or for scheduled buses or ferries. If you are dining at a restaurant by yourself or with a small party, you will not want to barter.

There are a few exceptions, however. If you are eating with a large party, you may negotiate the rates before you eat. If you do it after, you will be looked upon as very cheap or unknowledgeable. You may sometimes barter the price for high ticket items in a department store, such as jewelry, or when you are buying an item in bulk. You may also offer to pay cash for a discount. Some stores will take off five to ten percent if you use cash instead of a credit card, but this is far from universal.

***

Finally:

"My 8 best negotiation tips" - not just for bartering

Negotiation is a part of life we all have to deal with. Being able to do so successfully can make a big difference to our outcomes. Here are eight tips that have helped me.

Be willing to negotiate in the first place
Some people are too shy to talk about money. Others think it's rude or demeaning. And in many cases they're right. However, when it comes to doing a deal - and we all have to sometimes - being unwilling to engage in "money-talk" can be a very expensive business.

There are a lot of experienced negotiators out there. If you're buying a house or a car, or taking a new job, you can be sure you'll have to deal with such a person. If they can see you're timid about the whole business, many will take advantage of that fact.

You also shouldn't be shy about turning something that may not immediately appear to be a negotiation into one. If I'm buying a few expensive things from the same store, I'll often ask them to throw something in for free or reduce the price. Just because there's no sign saying you can do that, doesn't mean you can't. Often, simply by asking for something extra I'll get a better deal.

Don't get emotionally involved
One big mistake many amateur negotiators make is to become too emotionally attached to winning. They shout, threaten and demand to get their way. This is all counter-productive.

Most deals are only possible if both people feel they're getting something out of it. If the person across the table feels attacked, or doesn't like you, they probably won't back down. Many people hate bullies, and will be more willing to walk away from a transaction if it involves one.

Keep calm, patient and friendly, even if the other person starts losing their cool. Make sure you leave any pride or ego at the door. You're much more likely to do well that way.

Don't get suckered by the "rules" trick
When someone sends me a contract to sign, if there's something on there I don't like, I'll cross it out. I'm also happy to write things I want added in if I think they should be there. Sometimes, the other party will come back to me and say "You're not allowed to make changes to our contracts like that".

Oh really?

Since I'm the one signing the thing, I'll make any changes I want, thank you very much. There's no law that says they're the only one allowed to add things to a contract. If they're not happy with my changes, let me know and we can work it out, but don't simply tell me I don't have permission.

This highlights a common tactic used by experienced negotiators such as real estate agents, employment agents, car salespeople and the like. They know many people are sticklers about following rules. So they'll make up official sounding pronouncements and insist that "this is the way it's done" or "you're not allowed to do that". If someone starts trying to box you in by adding rules to the deal, ask them to provide proof that such rules really exist.

Never be the first person to name a figure
This is an expensive lesson to have to learn, but a good one. I do a lot of contract work, and one of the first questions I'm usually asked is "What's your hourly rate?". This is a high pressure question, and I often found myself blurting out a figure that was lower than what I really wanted.

These days, I've learned the importance of getting the other person to say a number first. Now, I respond to that question by asking "What's the budget for this contract?". Often, I'm surprised to discover they're offering me a better deal than I thought they were.

Ask for more than you expect to get
Once the other person's given their figure, even if it's much better than you expected, say something like "I think you'll have to do better than that". Don't be arrogant or aggressive. Just say it calmly.

When they enquire about your expectations, ask for more than you expect to get. Few people will walk away from a deal once it's commenced, and you can let the other person feel as if they're winning by lowering your "unrealistic expectations" a bit at a time.

Let them believe the final decision doesn't rest with you
Once a negotiation starts, most people want to get it over with as quickly as possible. Let their impatience beat them. One great way of doing this is to let them believe the person they're negotiating with isn't actually you, but some other "authority figure".

Say something like "Well, I'll have to talk it over with my boss / spouse / partner before I can give you a definite yes".

A skilled negotiator will always want to talk to the person who has the final decision, but don't let them do it. Say the person with the authority over the deal wants you to sort things out but still needs to have the final say. Tell them you'll discuss it and get back with an answer tomorrow. Ask them to make sure that's their best offer you can take to your "authority figure".

This is also a great strategy for preventing people rushing you.

Don't act too interested
Just giving the impression that you're willing to walk away can do wonders for getting a better deal. Always play the reluctant buyer or seller.

Don't leave the other person feeling as if they've been cheated
Many people try to screw every last drop of blood from any negotiation. This is a mistake. If the other person feels they've been cheated, it can come back to bite you. They may not fulfill their part of the deal, or refuse to deal with you in the future.

Most negotiations should leave both parties feeling satisfied with the outcome. Be willing to give up things that don't really matter to you in order to create a feeling of goodwill. For example, if I'm renegotiating my rent downwards, I'll often offer to sign a longer-lease. That way, the landlord knows his property will have tenants for a longer time, and I get a cheaper rent.

April 16th: Bali, Indonesia - Balinese massages without the happy ending

2011-05-23T01:54:00.001+08:00

The next morning I was roused from my king sized bed (yes, I don't remember the last time I slept in a king sized bed all by myself) by a sharp rap on the door. Turns out Sarah found the inn!

After breakfast, Mordekhai and his friend taught us all how to surf. I got a repeat lesson and I definitely got an edge in the water as I'd already been surfing a whole day before. Everyone else did really well though and stood up by the end of the morning. At one point I was able to do some 180s on the board, and my other instructor taught me to surf with TWO people on the board! He stood up on my board, and then I stood up too. This sounds incredibly simple and dumb, but I assure you--it was extremely complicated and was totally awesome.

Sadly I broke some fins off of my board -- I guess I surfed too close to the sandy shore -- so I had to pay a little bit more. Oh well, stuff like this always happens.

That night we went out for a few drinks and Balinese massages. All the while we were joking about whether or not to get a "happy ending", and in the end we didn't. :)

Mark, Sam, and Dylan seemed to really like Kuta, but Sarah and I really didn't. I was itching to go, as I was already there a full day before them, and there was so much of Bali to see. Kuta is a big party town and had lots of drunk Australians. The locals were used to foreigners messing everything up so they'd gotten hard and were quite tough in return. Sarah and I were anxious to get away, so we slept early, had a little heart to heart, and prepared to leave for Ubud next day, which is more towards the middle of the island.

Block C and Block A - Sheares Pride. :)

April 15th: Bali, Indonesia - Becoming a surfbum

2011-05-23T01:37:00.001+08:00

The next morning, I ate the complimentary breakfast--I chose banana jaffle, because I didn't know what it was. Turns out it's cooked banana between two pieces of toast. Pretty good, actually.

After breakfast I asked around to surf--one of the biggest reasons I had come to Bali. There was a young fellow at the front desk who forwarded me to his friend, who knew someone else who could take me surfing on Kuta Beach.

Mordekhai is his name and surfing is his game. I spent the rest of the day with him, renting a board and rash guard to protect my skin. I stood up on the board after just a few tries--he was a good teacher, and I think the conditions were really good. He said it also helped 'cause I was so skinny. He asked me to add him on Facebook, and I happily took down his contact info.

When I went back to the hotel in the late afternoon, I met up with the German girls in their room. We went out for a cheap dinner ($2SGD!) and then went to all of the big surf stores that seem to run abundant in this little surfer town.

Billabong. Ripcurl. Roxy. To name a few.

I found some cheap internet also, and gave Sarah and her friends my contact information in hopes that they'll find me in Kuta tomorrow.

April 14th: Touchdown into Bali, Indonesia

2011-05-23T01:31:00.001+08:00

On the plane, I met a French girl and two German girls, who I quickly befriended. It was all of our first times in Bali, and when we arrived, the two German girls shared a cab with me to get to our hotel. When we touched down, we got our entrance visa for $10 USD.

I had done some previous research into finding a place for us to stay the night, but once we got there, it was nearly midnight, there was a giant traffic jam, and the driver told us to walk the remaining distance. "It was close", he said.

Well, needless to say we refused, but I did get out to find the hotel, mostly because the driver was getting pretty furious. After being bombarded my touts and requests for "massages" by heavily made up women creeping out of alleys, I found the place with the help of a friendly local. But it was dark and no one answered our calls of "Anybody home?"

Instead, I found another inn across the street and decided to stay there for the night. The German girls met up with me (the driver had finally kicked them out) and we got rooms adjacent to each other.

Krabi, Thailand: April 7&8 - Climbing over big rocks, mango pancakes, and ladyboys

2011-05-22T01:40:00.001+08:00

I woke up bright and early to take the bus to Changi airport with Jonas, Alex, and Shana. Love our shenanigans despite our early morning. Alex had brought her fancy camera, and she's an amazing photographer. I've got to give her credit--basically all the amazing pictures in this post are hers, and everything that's not, are mine.

No, we weren't alone on the plane. I was just really tall.

When we arrived at the airport, I met Alex's friend Adrian, and his friend Flo from Germany. They were coincidentally also going to Krabi for the weekend. We made it to Krabi, no problem, except for the fact that we were realizing it was horrifically touristy. I'd say 3/4 of Krabi are tourists. It's insane.

In the immigration line, we watched two 3-year-olds roll on the ground and run around without a care in the world. Oh--to be young and free again.

Outlook on this trip: Awesome

We were flagged down by touts offering us a taxi ride to our hotel, which turned out to be on another island altogether.

So the man just dropped us off at this restaurant/dock.

Remember: you can click to enlarge all of these pictures!

From there, a longboat waited to take us over to Aoyang Island.

The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.

Once we arrived at Aoyang Island, we found the Yaya resort we were supposed to stay at. It was quite nice, but it was full of bugs.

Then we went exploring the island after having a light lunch of pad thai.

In Alex's words: "I could have pad thai every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it." I concur. It's delicious.

After lunch, we followed signs to the viewpoint, which turned out to be this massive climb up a very steep and slippery cliff with a knotted rope dangling off the side. Being the daredevils we were, we decided to go up.

"Let's just go up these with flipflops, shall we?" - Alex Petre

Following a fair amount of time and some groping to find hand-holds, we managed to get up to the top with our bags and our flipflops. The view of the island was *so* worth it. Absolutely gorgeous.

We took many pictures and found another path that led us down a much more difficult climb to what promised to be a lagoon. I was really uncertain because my rock climbing skills are so-so (I've done it before, at sports camps and stuff, but mostly on walls) and I really wasn't sure about this. But, Jonas was an expert and I thought to myself that I only lived once so I was going to try it. I went down, very carefully, testing the holds several times before moving on, and always holding on with at least three points of touch.

And when we finally got to the bottom (with Alex clamoring up to give us encouragement), the lagoon was absolutely insanely beautiful. You could wade out into the middle of it and above, surrounded by vines and brush, was an eye-shaped piece of clear blue sky. You could just float there and watch the clouds pass by. It was incredible. I took a swim around the perimeter of the lagoon, and I noticed people before us had made little sculptures out of the sand and left them along the lagoon shore to dry. Little bunnies and elephants. Nice.

The climb out of the lagoon and down the cliff was relatively uneventful as we were fairly confident we could do it now. I took off my now-brown flip flops and tossed them in front of me before climbing to get them again.

After a very lengthy shower and board short scrubbing session, we went out for dinner at a beautiful restaurant and I enjoyed the most amazing Masaman curry I have ever tasted.

Then our group sauntered to the beach where we drank beers around a dying fire, and wrote our names using light, capturing them using the large exposure function on Adrian's camera. I've always wanted to do that, but never got the chance.

After our beach session, we went to see some Muay Thai boxing at this super hippie bar -- everyone had dreads and were smoking weed. Hilarious and super chill place--before the fight there was a firedance, a man played the didgeridoo, and the boxers did a little ritual of their own.

Muay Thai, from what I saw, is like boxing but it includes kicking and there's less holding. Pretty interesting--but I was exhausted so I headed home with a few others to sleep before the match was finished.

***

The next day, we ate breakfast and got ready to go to Kho Phi Phi on the big boat. The ride there was beautiful and was prime suntanning time. When we arrived there were all these signs saying there's a fee to pay for preserving Kho Phi Phi's waters? Most of us paid it, thinking whatever, but Adrian just walked through and no one stopped him, which made me wonder how legit this "fee" really was.

Once we arrived--I thought Krabi was bad for tourists, but Kho Phi Phi was even worse. There were topless women (sighhhh Europeans) sunbathing everywhere, and we walked quite a ways to find a semi-deserted spot on the beach. It was quite nice, and we took a lot of pictures. We mostly spent that day on the beach goofing around and relaxing.

In the evening, we took the boat back to Aoyang Island, and then back to Krabi, where we had a lot of time to kill before our early flight at 7:55 a.m. the next day. Being cheap, we thought we'd just sleep at the airport. We were just in time for the sunset, and I have always wanted to run along a beach, especially at sunset, so that's exactly what I did. I even wandered into the water for quite a ways too, and came back running with a dog playing at my heels. This is the life.

I toweled off, and realized we had a long night ahead of us. We wandered around Krabi town for a bit--eating ice cream, looking at shops, eating delicious mango pancakes drizzled with chocolate syrup--we headed to a live music bar where the ladyboy waitress thought we were couples. I guess with two guys and two girls it makes sense.

But the band was really good and the music they sang were favourites from the 90s, so we happily stayed until the shop closed. Then we found a taxi to take us to the airport.

When we arrived, we found the airport dark and deserted. Apparently not all airports are 24/7?! There were a few security guards there, and our taxi driver took off, so we had to negotiate with the guards. At first they wanted to keep our passports as collateral for sleeping inside the airport for the night. We told them definitely not and eventually we gave them our student cards from NUS. They're worth $12SGD, and a little bit of a hassle. Not a big deal, but of course they didn't know that. Teehee.

So we slept in the airport that night. I was glad I was prepared. Alex at one point giggled and asked if I was building a tent. I just like being prepared--but I was sad I didn't bring socks. That would have saved my feet from getting bitten by all the mosquitoes.

After a restless night, we groggily flew back to Singapore, made it onto the bus, and got home. It was such an adventure. Wonderful times. :)

So...are you rich or something?

2011-05-21T18:30:00.001+08:00

Everybody asks me how I can afford all of this spending and travelling. And no, I'm not rich. Or anything.

My dad cuts hair for a living, my mom doesn't work as a nurse anymore, my brother goes to a private school, and I'm enrolled in engineering at one of the most expensive universities in Canada. How does it happen? Well I am pretty broke now, but I have been lucky to get some scholarships and bursaries that helped fund my education and living expenses since the beginning of university...and then there is that chunk of Alberta and Canada student loans I've taken out. But in terms of simply traveling, I've just mostly spent about what I made at AMEC last summer and at the University of Calgary the summer before that I saved. I don't have a lot of money to travel--but I can go to all these places 'cause I'm cheap. Like, cheap as in European-backpacker-smart cheap, not Asian cheap. Yes, there's a profound difference, and I'm still learning to be more of the former.

Canadians are pretty decent travelers, and live up to the stereotype that they're "nice and open minded". My other nationality, Hong Kong (HK), is what I usually tell the locals after I tell them my nationality is Canadian and they give me a confused look.

"But...you look Chinese."

"Yes, I was born in Hong Kong." But I feel more Canadian than I feel like a Hong Kong citizen, probably because I've lived in Canada for 17 of my 20 year old life. And when I meet Canadian and HK travelers on the road, I definitely identify more with the Canadians. Although Hong Kongers and I can speak Cantonese together, culturally--we are leagues apart.

The far and few in between HK travelers turn out to be wimps. Unfit, avoiding the sun like the plague, big spenders on food and transportation. For example, they won't take the overnight bus 'cause it's "uncomfortable". Sure, it's 16 hours through a winding mountain road filled with bumps and people vomiting and sitting in the aisles, with no toilet and screaming babies and sometimes no A/C--but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than to fly ($7 versus $70), you get to live as the locals do, you save time (8 hours sleep), you get to see the countryside, and you save on a night's hostel rent. So you learn to take the public transportation, ask the locals for directions, read a map. You avoid all the touts, never take a taxi, and be your own guide. You're willing to eat food you've never seen before, adopt the skills to barter ruthlessly with a smile on your face, and get lost in the middle of the wilderness somewhere. And when I stay at places--it's cheap. I compare hostel after hostel for the best price, and that is less than $10/night at most. Some times I've slept in a bamboo hut with a mosquito net all around me and the night was vibrating with catcalling animals--other times at a family's rural home: essentially a box, where the toilet was a hole in the ground with two planks placed about a foot away from each other, and a bucket with water in it to wash away the evidence. Often there's no hot water so I just don't shower for days. In the city--dorm rooms in hostels with communal washrooms usually fit the bill.

I'm a hippy, what can I say? And most HK tourists are such pansies they would never survive this backpacker lifestyle. I suppose comparatively to their native lifestyle, the food here is still cheaper, and they are here on vacation. But I, and many Europeans are also on vacation--the difference is, we want more of an experience, and thus, we can take it. I live more as a local by paying like one. The only bad thing really is you can get sick--like I am now. After trekking through the wilderness eating god knows what in Myanmar, I went to the hospital here in Bangkok and found I had a bacterial infection in the intestines. For the past six days I've had diarrhea and can't really eat much. So that's kind a bleh, but life goes on.

My two week trip to Myanmar, with food, souvenirs, travel expenses, sleeping--everything included, was less than $300 USD.

Most weekends I took away from NUS cost from $100-$200, with the exception of events like my scuba trip where I got licensed and dove five times.

I'm cheap. I like being cheap, because it means I get to travel more on the money I've got. I wash my clothes in the sink with my body wash, and then hang dry them in my room. I throw useless things out of my bag because I don't want to pay the airport check-in fee. I sleep in airports.

I know there is a limit and you can get pretty intense into this--but I have yet to truly feel completely out of my comfort zone, where I had to put my foot down and say I will not do something. I'm cool with a lot of things. And I still have a lot to learn about being street smart and cheap the backpacker way.

Finally, I do apologize for the hibernating state of this blog. I've written everything down--I just haven't had the time to put them up yet. I will soon though--I promise! And then there will be pictures also, once I get back to my laptop.

February 23rd and 24th: Bangalore University, Government School, and Kovalam Beach

2011-05-05T15:59:00.004+08:00

When we woke up in Bangalore, there was a little disagreement as to what to do that day. Islam and Jackson wanted to go visit some Bangalore Universities and maybe check out the Google place (Islam used to work for Google). I wanted to see the gardens and get a pedicure. I don’t really understand why Islam and Jackson wouldn’t want to go see more botanical gardens and get a pedicure with me but they didn’t so I decided that I would go on my own.

***Jackson takes over now:

Islam and I took a rickshaw out to Bangalore University. It turns out that there are two campuses—one in a rural area and another more in the city. The first one we went to was in the rural area and the first stop was civil engineering! So we go inside, talk to some professors who showed us their hydraulic lab (v-notch weirs ftw), and looked around. Then we took another tuk tuk to the university in the city because Islam wanted to see software engineering stuff, and the prof told us that department was in the city. Well, he didn’t know what he was talking about because the department in the city only had math, chemistry and a few arts courses—the other campus was where all the engineering went down. I dunno…well anyway, we did some more exploring and though we wanted to sit in on a lecture the Indians were having their holiday so we couldn’t. Instead we talked to more department heads and fancies in their offices and then decided to move onto Google.

Islam was somehow convinced he could march right into the Google office after telling them he was a Google employee, and I somehow believed him. Of course when we finally arrived at the place they wouldn’t let us in without consent from someone on the inside, and neither of us really planned on that, so we just chilled outside, ate at the nice food court and I bought “Catcher in the Rye” to read. The business sector here was actually quite nice. There were quite a few Caucasians around also.

Then we more or less met up with Katie again, had supper, exchange day stories and went to bed. We fly tomorrow!

Next day: February 24th

We were up at the crack of dawn obviously because the Bangalore airport was like a million and a half miles away so we go to check out of the hotel and they try to charge us for a bed that we already paid for so we yelled at them and they stopped. And by we I mean I sat on the couch and stared out into space while Jackson and Islam yelled at them. We got into our taxi and were off to the airport. Jackson demanded that Indian music be played over the radio again—Islam still hadn’t heard that Bollywood song he set out to find in India. We never heard it, but we sure heard the honks from the traffic outside. Traffic in Bangalore is so ridiculous. We got to the airport and there was something wrong with Jackson’s and Islam’s tickets so they had some trouble getting into the airport because security guards check your tickets before you can even go into the airport. And they’re not nice about it. Silly Injians you’re supposed to be jolly! They eventually got in and they had to leave right away which meant I was left alone to wander around the Bangalore airport and get stared at etc. etc

***Jackson takes over

Our flight down to Trivandrum was all right. Katie continued onto Chennai where she was going to live with her best friend’s Brahmin grandparents. Our 14-hour stopover in Trivandrum turned out to be awesome. After visiting a small rural temple, we passed by a government run elementary school, and obviously I want to go in. This time though, Islam and I used our remaining money to buy some snacks and pens for the kids, and walk in just before lunch time. One of the teachers beckoned us to the Principal’s office, where we sat around waiting for them to decide what to do with us. Eventually one of the teachers told us to come with her and we got a personalized tour of the entire school. She explained the different grades, what the kids were learning, how the government level schools are underfunded and how Indians look down upon them because they’re not private schools, and all sorts of other fascinating information. Whenever we walked into a classroom the kids would all stand up and say “Good morning sirs!” or something like that. So cute. Then we would ask them the same questions: “How do you like school? How are you? What are you learning? What are your names?” And they would go around and answer. It was really sweet.

Then in the afternoon we found a beach nearly along the Arabian Sea called Kovalam Beach. It’s by the Lacadive Sea and we played in the waves with the locals and just had fun chatting with them and swimming out, reading, and relaxing on beach chairs. It was a great way to end the vacation.

February 22nd: India - Maharaja's Palace, Sleeper Class, and Cockroaches

2011-05-05T14:45:00.002+08:00

We woke up late the next morning because we were tired and I got ready (I had to skip breakfast since I was traveling with boys I tend to take much much longer than them to get ready). Islam wakes up at 7 a.m. to pray and I have no idea how he does it. The man is a robot. But by the time I got ready it was lunch time so we went to a little bakery that Islam found and got some snackzzz--baked goods are super cheap, like 8 rupees for a bun, and 32 rupees were enough to fill you up. Then we were harassed by another rickshaw driver who said that the palace was closed till two o’clock because of some "Maharaja festival anniversary family"--that's all I could understand. I was pretty sure it wasn’t closed till two o’clock but I figured this guy would know better than I would. Anyway he offered to take us to this huge market that I had read about in my book that I wanted to see for 20 rupees. So he took us there, and it was pretty cool! Tons of fruits and vegetables and fish and meat and all sorts of things. I bought a garland of jasmine flowers which smelled wonderful. Then he took us to an oils place. We had gone to one in Cochin where I spent like 10 bucks on four different presents for my family but here one bottle of oil that was smaller than the one I bought in Cochin was like 15 bucks! So we sat there in what basically looked like a crack house with these people trying to sell overpriced items to us and I was like ok screw this. I’m not spending all of my time in Mysore on another one of these stupid rickshaw adventures. So I told the driver to take us to the palace. So he took us to a craft store so we could buy knicknacks. We refused to go into the store and I told him to take us to the palace. He was like “But it’s closed!” but by this point I didn’t believe him anymore. So he took us to the palace and said not to go up to the ticket windows until 2 pm and it was 1 pm, but we ignored him and went up to the ticket window and guess what?

The palace had been open all day. Ugh. Oh well the rickshaw drive was worth it to see that market so whatever. Take that rickshaw driver--he probably gets a commission off of everything we buy at these stores, so he'll just cart us around for real cheap hoping we'll buy stuff. The Mysore palace was definitely my favorite part of the trip. Admission was 200 rupees, but the palace was soooo beautiful it was worth it. I wish I could have taken pictures inside because it was simply amazing.

The Palace grounds were immaculately kept and was huge. The Palace itself was gorgeous--every pillar, literally, was carefuly carved, each cieiling piece was intricately placed, and the gradeur of the Halls was the most I've ever seen.

I could totally see myself living there. Anyway so of course we’re in this absolutely beautiful palace and what is everyone staring at? Me. Ugh. Anyway we got some audio tour headsets (free for foreigners) which walked us through the entire Palace with musical accompaniment and listened to that--very interesting. We walked around the outside of the palace and took some pictures, Ugh it was so nice. I’ve decided when I travel I like to see palaces and gardens. Omg my kids are going to hate me. They’re going to be like mooooooooom why do we have to go see all this boring craap. And then I’ll hit them and tell them to be quiet. :)

So after I pooped my pants for like 2 hours at the palace we decided it was time to head back to Bangalore. We went to the ticket window and asked for three tickets to Bangalore. I asked the lady what class we would be traveling in and she just shook her head. And then I was like NO. WHAT CLASS. And she waved her hand at me and handed me the tickets. The tickets cost three dollars all together. Uh oh. We get to the train and my worst fears were realized; we were riding in sleeper class. You know when you watch Indian movies and you see all the people hanging out of the train? That’s the car we were riding in. I was upset. Sleeper class is gross. IT’S SO GROSS. It was dirty, the seats were hard, there was no AC, and… AND THE WORST PART. There were so many COCKROACHES. Jackson and Islam were totally happy to be in sleeper class because there is something wrong with them but I sat there sad the whole time.

(Jackson's note: We desperately wanted our own seats so we put our bags everywhere and snarled ferociously at anyone passing by, and we got the seats to ourselves. Halfway through the journey we were joined by a solitary Indian man who gave us lots of room and was quite nice. It was seriously not that bad--Katie's just a spoiled princess. It was actually my favourite ride 'cause you could stick your head out the window and watch the countryside go by, smelling the scenery as it whizzed past. It was a super experience. We passed hundreds of palm trees, grazing cows, and curious village people peering into the cabin. There were beautiful plantations and fields of crops, and we saw dozens of workers bending over and picking up the crops in the setting Indian sun. This journey from Mysore to Bangalore was absolutely beautiful.)

Katie tried to kill a couple cockroaches but then she says she got bored because there were too many to kill. And now back to Katie:

Seriously can you imagine? It was awful. I will admit it was nice to sit by the window and breathe in the air but not when cockroaches were running across the window sill. Gross gross gross GROSS. Finally we got off that retched train and were in Bangalore. We were staying at some Hotel Nandhini that I picked out and it was pretty nice. It took us a while to find it because there was a restaurant and a hotel with the same name and we went into the restaurant first and they were like what? Get out of here. lol so then we found the hotel and all was good in the world. Then we collapsed into bed.

Yay!

February 21st: India - Mysore Temples, Bus Ride of Death, Cows, and Getting Blessed by Priests

2011-05-05T09:22:00.002+08:00

Our flight to Bangalore left at 6:40 am which is too early. However in order to catch the flight we had to be up at 3 am. I thought I was going to die. Anyway we packed up from Leelu’s homestay and got into the taxi. It took us an hour to reach the airport. I tried to sleep but the road was bumpy and everytime I managed to sleep for a second or two we would hit a bump and my head would slam against the window. This just added to my already depleted amount of brain cells. We got to the airport and apparently in India you have to show your ticket before you even allowed in the airport. I, being dumb, couldn’t find my plane ticket because of the fact that I am not able to read. I went up to the security guards and whined and pouted but they just yelled at me. Ugh. So dumb. Anyway once I regained my literacy skills I realized I was holding the ticket in my hand and gave it to the security guards who looked at me like I was a tard. We got into the airport and checked in to our Air India flight. The flight was super smelly, the plane was old, it was dumb, we were delayed getting off the ground. But whatever it was only for an hour so I guess I can’t really complain…and they included food which was a pleasant surprise—curry chicken puffs. So far, though we’ve seen western places like McDonald’s and stuff we’ve only eaten Indian food. Love it!

We get off the plane and land in Bangalore and the airport was awesome. So clean and everything, I was like oh crap I’m going to love Bangalore if its anything like the airport. Well it's not. But I liked Bangalore none the less. We took a bus to the train station which took an hour and a half (I think) and went into the train station. It was a good thing we ignored all the touts and taxi drivers shouting at us—they would have made a fortune out of us because of the early morning traffic jam. When we arrived, Jackson and Islam wanted to buy tickets back to Singapore. We wanted to reserves seats for a train down from Bangalore to Trivandrum, after we were done in Mysore. Turns out it was a huge difficulty and we were running up the freaking stairs and waiting in lines that were getting us no where. Ergh.

While they went around trying to figure out how exactly one purchases tickets at an Indian train station, I stood by myself off to the side with my bags behind my legs willing my cell phone to work. Which it of course didn’t because why would my cell phone do anything I ever want it to? People walked past me giving me the usual “omg what the heck is that” look and some security guards asked me if I was lost and I said no so they wiggled their heads and wandered away. Keep in mind I had been awake since 3 am, I was starving by this point. The boys came downstairs and said they needed to wait in another line so I left my bags with them and hunted for food. Seriously India makes me feel totally inept, I walk in, try to order one place, they told me to go to the other side of the room so I went there and then they were determined to not give me three plates of idlies because they thought I only wanted one for me but I needed three for three people. I begged them to give me three even though they were like “why do you want three plates of idlies? You only want one. You can’t eat three plates! Each plate comes with three so you’re wrong. You only want one. Three people? I only see you! Where are your friends?” Lol so FINALLY I score some idlies out of them and then after I managed to convince them that I did in fact have friends they were like ohhh where are you from? Where are you going? Where are you staying? What are you going to do there? So many questions.

Finally the idlies and I escaped the crazy brown men and I went off to find Jackson and Islam. I couldn’t find them where I left them and I was kind of confused so I just started wandering around until I ran into Islam (see it was very easy to find the members of our group, especially me, because we were the only whites/yaysians (hehe Jackson) there. Actually I’m more or less convinced I’m the only white person in south asia. Anyways poor Islam was searching for his camera which we think was stolen out of his pocket at the train station. :( But we all grouped up and went to the platform 7 where we were supposed to be. Suddenly we heard over the intercom “Shatadbi Express to Mysore, now departing from Platform 5”. The train we were supposed to be on was on a completely different track so we booked it up and down a ton of stairs over to the other track to finally get on the train. A British couple was laughing at us when we got on board.

Our tickets had us in different cars so I was sitting by myself and I had a whole row of chairs just for me! The Shatadbi Express was by far the nicest train I’ve been on in India – it had “helpers” that distributed free bottled water, meals, and appetizers. I didn’t expect it to be that good. The lunch was really yoghurty and flavorful. Islam and Jackson exchanged life stories, and then we slept and read and watched the country side and finally we were in Mysore! Jackson and Islam hadn’t booked their tickets back to Trivandrum yet so they tried to book it at the train station but it was going to take way too long and problematic so we ended up just going to our hotel instead. They just booked a plane ticket back for about $70 USD—a little pricey, but they didn’t care. We (Jackson and Islam) wanted safety, security, and comfort at this point—and Islam, with his freshly stolen camera was originally the most adamant about taking sleeper class for 16 hours but now decided on just sticking with the comfort and safety of an airplane. Next to our hotel was an “internet café” which was actually just some dude’s office with an archaic computer charging us 50 rupees for ½ hour on his internet. That’s where we booked our tickets.

The hotel we were staying at was super close to the palace which was really nice. We had been traveling for what felt like forever so Jackson and I crashed while Papa Islam roamed the city hahaha. We decided that we would see the palace the next day and go to Chamundi Hill to see the temple once the sun went down. We searched for a place to eat and ended up finding a vegetarian restaurant. Did you know the restaurants are split up between just male diners and family diners? So basically if you have a woman with you, you have to go eat in the family section. Not only that but when you go through security at the airport there are separate lines for women and men. Which I actually like because there never seem to be as many woman travelers as men. Anyways I had a dosa and it was soooooo good. Mmm dosa. I ruv me some dosa. So afterwards we headed to the bus station to get up to the hill. There was an ac bus that looked like a nice clean bus or a non ac bus which looked like a rolling coffin. After pouting and whining at the boys we decided to take the ac bus.

Let me just say the bus ride up the hill probably took 10 years off of my life. Oh my god. The bus driver whipped around the curves like he was driving a fucking sports car. Except he wasn’t driving a sports car. He was driving a GIANT INDIAN PUBLIC BUS. I’m slamming into the window and into Islam when Islam and I decide to discuss what the worst possible out come of this situation could possibly be. We made it to the top of the hill (thank GOD) and we immediately ran into some cows. Cooooooooows. I ruv cows. There are cows all over India. We (and really by we I think it might have just been me) decided to go play with the cows because cows are so cuuuuute and these cows looked marginally less dirty then the cows we had been seeing on the street. So while we decided to harass a sleeping cow by taking lots of pictures of it, another cow walked up to me and demanded pets. Yaaaaaay cow was so cute. I pet its nose and it wanted more pets so I kept giving it more pets and then the cow tried to give me kisses but I wasn’t about to kiss and Indian cow (though if the cow had been clean you know I would have been all about that) and then the cow started to eat the buttons on my shirt. Awwwww cooooow. I called my parents yesterday and realized that this was about the millionth time I had told them about the cow. Oops. I ruv cows.

Anyway Jackson and Islam eventually stopped me from playing with the cows and we walked up to the temple. There were two temples so we went to the small one first. It was so peaceful. The stars were so bright there, we stared at the stars for a little while. It was nice to wander around in the cool night air with no shoes on and the smell of incense wafting through the air… That kinda sounds like it belongs in a book huh? Anyway it was just lovely. So we left and wented to the big temple (Sri Chamundeswar) and waited in line with all the other indians to go inside. Of course the security guard spotted me and was like ohhh where are you from what are you doing do you like it here? Then he told me to get blessed by the priest. That made me nervous so I ran past the priest only then be stopped by another who got me. Haha so now to add on to the fact that I already stuck out I had a smudge (of plaster) on my forehead. Jackson and I both got it and we were lookin rull indian. Mmmm gurl.

So we decided to wandering down into the residential area where some boys were making fun of Jackson and Islam (not me. I’m SPECIAL.) And then we left and got back on the bus to go home at rollercoaster speed. Some indian men asked us for pens (why does everyone want pens?) But I had given all of mine to the little kids so I didn’t have anymore. We made it back (this driver was a little less excited than the previous one) and went back to our hotel.

February 20th: India - Elephants, Muslim Orphanage, and Ayurvedic Massage

2011-05-05T08:58:00.001+08:00

The next day we decided to go see the elephants. I was SO excited. I love elephants and I wanted to pet one. Our taxi got there at 6 in the morning so we had to get up really early. Wahh. I got into the taxi and immediately fell asleep for the hour journey. I even slept through the crazy Indian traffic and bumps and all of that. We passed plantations, and swerved to dodge cows in the middle of the street. We got to the elephant place which was an hour away into Kerala and it was so beautiful. We walked down to the river and the elephants were already laying on their sides in the river being scrubbed down with coconut shells. Omg they were so cute. They came out of the water a bit and I took a ton of pictures with them. One of the elephant keepers took a liking to me and kicked everyone out of the way and then pushed me into the elephant saying “get closer!” so now my entire body is pressed a clean elephant and it’s whacking me with it’s giant ears. So great. I petted it’s trunk and it’s ears and I wanted to take it home but I had a feeling it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase. It was a little sad though—they were beaten with sticks and forced to stay down or to get up, and they had chains around their feet. As if “they couldn’t feel it” because their hides are too thick. We find out later that they were temple elephants used in parades mostly. Anyway that’s all there really was to do so we went home and the driver had the Jodhaa Akbar Bollywood soundtrack on which Avanthi know by heart hahahha. Some of these songs last like 15 minutes. We also passed by some pineapple farms and rubber plantations.

We got home at around 11 and had some lunch, after booking train tickets for Mysore from Bangalore—they charged 50 rupees commission. At our restaurant, we observed Indian food takes a while to get to you…or maybe we’re just really hungry all the time. Jackson had fish wrapped in a banana leaf. Then we decided to walk all the way to the Dutch Palace and Jew town which was a pretty far walk in the hot sun and by this point I was grossly red from Trivandrum and the previous day. Jackson found a Muslim orphanage and we wandered around inside for a while. I felt bad for all the kids in there, they were so adorable and staring at me with their big eyes (though it was probably because everyone stares at me). Again they asked for pens, and then asked for our names and where we were from. We disturbed the class but the teachers were really happy to see us, wagging their heads synchronously. Girls were on one side and boys on the other—but there were much more boys than girls. We had interrupted a competition of some kind—one of the questions was “what was the head of the United Nations”. I don’t even know that and these guys are like 10 years old. Anyway we left and got to Jew town and there were no Jews to be found. None! I didn’t see a single loud and proud Jew. Maybe I’m not used to having to look very hard for Jewish people but I didn’t see any anywhere. After being harassed by shopkeepers for a little while we decided to head home. The Dutch Palace was also pretty boring, and we skipped going in altogether. By the time we got home I was so tired that I fell asleep and when I woke up it was time to get an ayurvedic massage!

So Jackson and I go to the massage place and they bring me into a room and the lady tells me to take my clothes off. Does the masseuse leave while I’m changing? Nope. So I get down to my bra and underwear and she’s like keep going so ok fine I take off my bra and try to hide myself but then she motions for me to keep going. Crap. Ok fine so there I am standing there completely naked and the lady ties a paper thong on me and tells me to hop up on the table. I should mention that this kind of massage is supposed to use herbal oils or something which is probably why I had to wear a paper thong. So I waddle over to the table with my paper thong on and absolutely nothing else and try to lay down face down like you would for a normal massage but oh nope had to lay face up. Awesome. There were three other ladies in the room too which was awesome because the only thing better then having to wear a paper thong is having multiple people there to witness it. At this point I am awkwardly trying to cover myself because oh I don’t know I’m naked. Well that was useless because the lady came over and ripped my hands off my boobs and put them on the table. So there I am, lying naked on a table in front of a bunch of women when she starts pouring oil on me. Remember how when I was in Singapore I narrowly escaped getting a boob massage? I was not so lucky this time. Imagine having an old Indian woman rub your boobs with oil in a room full of women. Good times right? Oh well. As a reward she played with my hair and then I was like putty in her hand. Yaaaay hair playing! :) Afterwards she had me take a shower out of a bucket. I’ve gotta say I kind of like showering out of a bucket. You should try it sometime. (PS: same thing happens for Jackson, and there was also another Indian man getting a massage in the room, like four feet away from my massage bed. Oh, and there’s also some old German guy who’s apparently “apprenticing” in ayurvedic massage so all he did was watch while I got naked and had oil rubbed all over my body. Do I feel violated? I think so. My masseuse called my thong a “napkin” and indeed it was little string with a napkin about 4 inches by 24 inches. You put the napkin over your crotch and the other guy tears it from your hand, bringing it under the family jewels and tucks it in the back. The massage itself was awesome though—after lathering my whole body with herb infused oils, he massaged literally my entire body excluding my nubile parts. He did this thing where he quartered my chest and massaged it in one fluid motion. They he did my legs---oh man, it was so good. When he did my shoulders I felt the tension leaving my body. And finally at the end there was a really perfect face massage. Though I just paid for 60 minutes for 1000 rupees, my guy gave me 90 minutes. So good). After our massage we went out to dinner at this cool restaurant filled with foreigners. None the less it was cheap and delicious. We watched the World Cricket Cup and nommed on some food. Afterwords we headed home and went to sleep because we had to be up early the next day.

February 19th: India - Schools, Spice Markets, Kathakali, and Cooking

2011-05-05T08:29:00.004+08:00

We woke up the next morning at 8 completely frozen. I had been sleeping right next to the ac and ac’s in India work just a little too well. Plus I’d been given literally a sheet as a blanket. Ughhh so corrrd. I hadn’t been able to get in contact with anyone since I got on the train to Cochin so I checked to see if there was wireless and there was! So I went downstairs and harassed some poor kid till he gave me the wireless password. I check my email and I had angry emails from both my boyfriend and my parents asking why I hadn’t bothered to contact anyone. Oops. :) I tried to explain that it wasn’t my fault but since neither my boyfriend nor my parents love me they didn’t care. Hehe jk folks.

Anyways after that fiasco I went and got breakfast of toast. Yeah this lady went all out for us I know. Totally spoiled us rotten. So then we decided to start out and we see cows and goats everywhere again. There was this idea to ride bikes around but that was quickly thwarted when we realized how uncomfortable that would actually be. Also, Jackson broke his bike, kinda, and the man noticed and was screaming at him so instead we slowly inched away and walked. We found a catholic church St. Basilica where I lit a candle partially because my mom always lights candles whenever we’re in churches and partially because I enjoy lighting things on fire. It was certainly the most interesting church I’ve ever seen. Think traditional Catholic Church with Indian twist. If I remember correctly the inside of the church was bright blue, which in the Catholic faith is not acceptable because blue might make you happy and if you’re going to church then you should be sad for all the sins you’ve committed. Then we walked down the street and found a school. As I soon figured out on this trip Jackson loves children and anytime we came across a building containing children he ran inside. Haha so we went inside the school where the little kids were afraid to talk to me. Some little girls asked Islam what my name was because they didn’t want to ask me. So cute. Then they decided they wanted a pen. I don’t really understand why but I knew somewhere deep in my Mary Poppins bag there was a pen so I searched for it and handed it off along with a lollipop to some little girls. Jackson and Islam played ball with a few of the boys.

Then we left the school and ran into a rickshaw driver. He said his name was Joseph and he said he would take us around the city for 50 rupees. So we got into the rickshaw and he showed us a bunch of places including a Banyan tree, a sleeping tree, some place they did laundry, a curry tree, and a spice market which I had actually seen in a video I had to watch for class. Plus if you’ve ever seen my kitchen cabinets you probably know that I’m obsessed with spices. There was this place where they sifted ginger and tossed it into this huge pile. I was running around like a kid in a candy store smelling all the spices. They are so much better than the shit you get in dc. I think. Well better than the shit you get at safeway anyways. Actually anything is better than the shit you get at safeway. Then the guy started taking us to a bunch of shops which is when I realized this must be how he makes his money. I bought a couple small presents for my family but other than that I wasn’t interested in buying anything because I’m a fucking travel PRO BITCH. He took us to this tacky craft shop filled with useless shit where I was harassed by the shop owners to buy something. I got bored of being harassed so I found a chair in the corner and waited for Jackson and Islam to pick out scarves for their moms. Awww so cute. The guy was trying his best to get them to buy the most expensive scarves, but they bartered it down from 1800 rupees to 1250 for a Kashmir and silk shawl. Jackson wasn’t too happy—he knew he should have bartered for more.

Then he was like madam why don’t you want a scarf? You would look so beautiful in a scarf. Little did he know two years ago when I went to Istanbul I bought a ton of pashmina scarves for way way cheaper then what they were trying to sell them for. So I kept shaking my head and playing with my phone. Finally we made it out of there and headed home. I found a restaurant in my book and we ate lunch which was totally over priced but hey what can you do. They had good coconut naan though. Jackson also ate fish tikka and gobi masala (cauliflower and potato).

Then we walked down to the Chinese fishing nets and looked at the water for a while. It was beautiful. Jackson went onto on of them and went all the way out to the end. After that time though I was exhausted. I was sunburned and sweaty and we had been so busy the day before all I wanted to do was crash.

But we had bought tickets to go see some traditional Keralan dance called Kathakali. Anyways we went down to the theater and it was filled with white people. Old white people. Oh god. What the fuck is wrong with white people who travel to India? Tribal pants, long sleeve cotton shirts, dreadlocks, giant hats, backpacks… Seriously that look should be outlawed. Most people were French or german and they looked like god damn freaks. Yes I’m judgmental get over it. Anyways the men who were going to be performing the dance were on stage putting on makeup. Reds, greens, yellows, it was pretty cool but I was too tired to actually go look. Green makeup meant that he represented the hero, the good character, whereas yellow represented women, or neutrality. Red means the character’s cruel, and finally black means the character is a demon. Apparently that night one of the actors didn’t show up so they had to change the story for the show. Then they had some guy come out and explain what he dancing was going to be like. Which would had been ok if it had been like 1 minute or something. But oh no. This took HALF AN HOUR. Let me explain what was happened in this half an hour. This old man with make up on his face, shirtless and grossly hairy sat in the middle of the stage while a man in the background said different emotions. Basically the old guy looked like he was having a straight up seizure. His body was shaking, his eyes rolling around in his head, running around all over the stage… Um. Ok. I’m sorry it was just bizarre. Then the announcer starts saying different scenarios like “morning” or “slithering snake.” the guy shakes and runs around the stage looking like an absolute psycho until the announcer guy says “mom and new baby” the old man plops down on the bench and starts playing with these imaginary boobs on his chest for like 5 minutes straight. 5 minutes of my life was spent watching an old man fondling fakes boobs. And the worst is I actually paid to see it. He was trying to breastfeed the baby but he was playing with boobs like they were bags of frosting he had to squeeze into the baby’s mouth. Clearly this man had never come in contact with a woman because boobs, believe it or not are not sacks of milk with a thin layer of skin holding them in. I sat there and watched in horror for a little while before I closed my eyes and decided it would just be better if I didn’t subject myself to anymore of this.

We had a cooking class to go to so we eventually managed to escape the man and his frosting bag boobs earlier than the show ended. We got to the cooking class, which was in this seriously adorable lady's (named Meera) house. We made fish molie, erissery with pumpkin, dahl fry and chapatis. Turns out you can use unripe bananas in cooking, the same way you use pumpkin, squash, potato, and other starches. I gotta get myself a Magic Bullet or blender. Also I’m officially obsessed with the idea of coconut oil which I had never heard of before that night. We used fresh curry leaves, which were delicious, and cracked cumin seeds and mustards seeds in the hot oil. The food was all so good. What we normally know as “curry” is actually ANY side dish, where rice/naan is the main dish. The North usually eats more rice, whereas the south eats more breads. The lady and her husband told me I made very good chapatis. What upppp skanks! At dinner we chatted about where they were from – apparently North India’s climate ranges from 41 – 46 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees! They were also having some problems with their interwebz so Islam being the software engineer helped them get their text bigger and encouraged them to get a website going. We also started calling Islam “Papa Islam” cause he’s so Papa like. We ate so much and then went home—there’s this huge fat golden lab that they have in the house and he was the friendliest dog ever. They had had Marshall since the puppy was 15 weeks old. And then we slept.

And that was day 2!

February 18th: India - "So hot right now"

2011-05-05T08:07:00.007+08:00

So the next day we got up and went downstairs for breakfast. Omggg so good. I stuffed my face with idlies and fruit salad and was so pleased. Nom nom nom. Nice hotel, this SP Grand Days. After breakfast we went out into the city. In order to get out into the city you have to take an auto-rickshaw (same as a rickshaw, they just say auto-rickshaw in Lonely Planet), which is super cheap—about 40 rupees, which is less than a USD. See coming from the airport we took a taxi so the rickshaw was going to be… Special. And it certainly was special. I felt like I was in a video game with the way the guy was driving. Weaving in and out of traffic, honking his horn, driving into oncoming traffic to get around a slow car in front of him. Finally we get to the temple area that we were trying to get to and he lets us out into the street. Oh my god so overwhelming. There were like a million people and rickshaws and goats and cows and dogs and bikes and cars and clay pots and bricks (those were for the Ladies/Women’s festival) and Indian music is blaring over loud speakers all of the street. We needed to get to the other side of the street so we basically played a game of Frogger to get to the other side. I just grabbed onto my friend’s backpack and had him drag me across the street. So we start to walk down to the temple and I realize literally everyone is staring at me. Not kidding, everyone. A group of little school-children were walking and I caused like a 30 kid pile up, it was something out of a movie, they would see me and the kid behind them would walk straight into them and then turn and see me and stop and it kept happening. A bunch of little girls saw me, grouped up and pointed at me saying “woooow.” I’d just like to point out that I was wearing clothes. Jeans and a very conservative top thank you. I think it was because I’m pasty white and blonde. Anyways we tried to go to the Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple but since we weren’t Hindu we couldn’t go in. So we found a palace to go see. It was so beautiful—the Putta Malika Palace. If I move to India I’ll probably need to stay to stay in a palace. The tour guide talked about Haruman the monkey which we learned about in SN1101E class, how the city used to be called Thiruvananthapuram but the English folk couldn’t say that so now it’s Trivandrum, and how India had always maintained good relations with China—ever since the Ming Dynasty. So then we tried to get into CVN Kalari, a gymnasium where students trained for an Indian martial art called Kalarippayattu, but it was closed because of the festival.

So then we took another rickshaw to the zoo, which was founded by the Maharaja of Travancore. Yann Martel claimed it inspired his book the Life of Pi. and got some lunch. There was a line for food which everyone cut in front of each other but they served me first because I’m rull white. Everyone got strawberry milkshakes that looked like melted ice cream. Islam and I got biriyani and Jackson got this chili chicken which pretty much killed him it was so spicy.

Then we went to the zoo! We saw a king cobra and some elephants and hippos and a really angry tiger that was roaring. Omg and there were so many bats! Literally they were in all the trees and flying around and it was creepy. By the end though we were so tired and thirsty I thought I was going to die.

Then we went back to the hotel, grabbed our things and headed to the train station. We had seats in 3AC, which isn’t the best seats, but not the worst (sleeper). We got to the train station, I immediately got separated from my group and got lost, then I found them, then we got on the train and someone had taken my seat so I decided I would sleep in the bunk above my seat. I had to spiderman crawl up the wall to get up. They had ladders with no space for your feet so I couldn’t put my feet on the ladder so I basically did a weird wall shimmy plus grabbing onto a bar and pushed myself onto the bunk. This took me a couple tries. Everyone on the train was watching me struggle to get up because everyone in India watches me all the time. I got up there and fell asleep. During the sleep, Islam and the old Indian couple we were sitting with started talking about economics and politics, and Jackson went on an adventure to see the rest of the entire train, jumping from bunk to bunk. He took lots of pictures of this one car with a ton of Indian kids from Chennai.

I woke up sometime later having missed looking out at the country side and sat down with my friends. Then all of the sudden this guy walks past us, sees me, and pulls out his phone and starts taking pictures of me. I look up at him and give him a wtf? Kind of look but he didn’t even notice he just kept taking pictures. I would have tried to hide but there was no where to hide. Then he stops and shoves his phone in my face to show me pictures of his grandkids. Hahaha oh my god. And then Jackson and I read Indian cosmo. There was an ad for purses that said: "So hot right now". That became the mantra of our entire trip. There was a little dinner which was Indian bread with veg. dip, and we learned that there were 26 different Indian languages, but in the southern province of Kerala, “Naani” means thank you.

We weren’t exactly sure which station to get off at but we luckily figured it out. Some old man was getting touchy feely with Jackson and Islam rubbing their backs, trying to hold their hands. We found a taxi and drove to our homestay in Fort Cochin. I had booked this homestay a week in advance which was plenty of time but when we got there the guy refused to let us in! He was like no we didn’t know you were coming this late and I was like well you did because I asked you how to get here from the train station late at night and you gave me directions. Being the savvy traveler that I am I had printed out the email conversation just in case of a situation like this. The lady who runs the place came down and totally gave us attitude about coming in so late and then read the email and got really embarrassed. Apparently her husband does all the email coordination and forgot to tell her we were coming. She apologized and then gave us a weird look because we had only booked one room for the three of us. She was like, are you going to be ok? Haha silly Indians. And thus ends my first night in India.

February 17th: India - "Don't worry, it's non-toxic"

2011-05-04T23:03:00.008+08:00

So India’s blog posts are going to be mostly copy and paste from my friend Katie Morehead’s blog because she’s a much better writer than I am and we’re writing about the same thing anyway. I’m injecting little bits of information here and there, but the tone is definitely Katie’s. She such a funni gurl. No seriously, go read her stuff. She's hilarious. If you don't laugh until you cry reading her entries you clearly don't have a soul.

***

We took a taxi to the airport that Thursday morning and when we go inside what do we see? Brown people. And lots of them. By this point I had been pooping my pants for a week before my trip so my pants were thoroughly pooped at that point. We went through security and all of the sudden I sent airport security off with something in my bag. They pull my bag off to the side and they decide that they need to empty the entire thing. The poor Asian kid starts rifling through my bras and underwear actually dying of embarrassment. He’s like I’m so sorry. I’m so. Sorry. I was just laughing because I didn’t care, I mean I just did all of my laundry anyways so at least everything was clean. Anyway they literally take everything out of my bag and decide that I am clearly hiding a metal cylindrical object. Finally they figure out what it was, my hair straightener. Hahahha the Asian guy then ran away from me and my exposed underwear and shouted sorry at me from across the room. Now we were in! The most dangerous catch was on tv so we and several other mesmerized Indians watched these crazy men catch giant tuna fish. The speakers for the television were located next to my butt which is convenient because I listen to things with my butt. Then we realized they were calling last call on our plane so we went over to our gate and I was literally the only white person on the plane. Yup just me! Well and another girl with dreadlocks but if you’re a girl with dreadlocks then you’ve clearly renounced your womanhood. This is when the staring began. Anyways the flight was rather uneventful, I just read my book for class, harassed Jackson a little bit when I was bored, you know the usual. So we landed in Trivandrum and it hit me:

IM FINALLY IN INDIA!

Before we landed the flight attendants went ahead and spread the entire plane with this “W.H.O. spray – don’t worry it’s non-toxic”. I still don’t know why they do it.

Yay! The airport was rull tiny and I was like fuck yeah. Fuck yeah tiny airports. So we go through customs and my bag had to be checked because let’s be real, I brought a ton of stuff. So we take a pre-paid taxi to our hotel and that’s when I get my first glimpse of India. It’s dirty, there is trash everywhere, stray dogs, women in sarees wandering down the street, shrines, there were all sorts of lights strung up everywhere and Indian music constantly playing which we figured out later was because there was a festival about to begin, but let’s be real they probably figured out the whitest person that ever lived was coming to visit and they were getting ready for me. I was so excited. We got to our hotel in Trivandrum after a bazillion twists and turns in the road. It was really nice mostly because I couldn’t find a cheap one where I could be pretty sure I wouldn’t be sold into white slavery, something which my mom begs me to avoid every time we talk on the phone. Our room was really nice and we watched some music videos before we went to sleep. Something I noticed about the videos on tv is that the girl is always beautiful and the man is always fat and ugly with a giant mustache and looks like a pedophile. No wonder Indians don’t kiss on television, there’s no way I would want to get all up in that nasty child molesting mustache. And they keep changing costumes and backgrounds—from scenes from the beach, to a field of tulips, to waterfalls, to a group of dancing white girls.

Canadian boy says good-bye to Singapore

2011-05-04T22:25:00.001+08:00

So today was really crazy--I picked up my Vietnam visa with Caroline this morning, got a haircut in preparation of the heat for the next 6 weeks, bought a new adapter, changed my camera's warranty to international, and did a bunch of other errands before I packed most of my life away into a single luggage, which my host family is so kind to let me keep at their house.

Prof Toh came by after dinner, offering to take me out to open my first durian, and eat it with him. Naturally, I said yes.

When we arrived and opened the car doors, the pungent smell of the fruit hit my nostrils with a bang. Prof Toh marched up to the seller, conversing in rapid Hokkien. He picked one up and sat me down, telling me it's a fruit from the "King of the Cat Mountain". Apparently it's really good.

He cracked it open, revealing neat packets of durian meat wrapped around a large, hard seed.

"Take a bite. Just put the whole thing into your mouth."

With a skeptical look on my face, I put the whole thing in.

Oh my god. It was incredibly aromatic (English doesn't have the proper word to describe this taste) but slightly bitter, and leaves you craving more.

I ate more than he did. Provided, he kept telling me to eat more, and I eventually cracked one open by myself, but seriously, it was delicious. I think people either love it or hate it. And I, for one, love it.

*Pictures will come later. I foolishly packed my USB cable into the luggage I gave to my host family today, so now all the pictures from Bali and the Philippines, and tonight's durian, as well as all the other pictures from now till June 13th will be staying in memory cards.

He drove me home to Sheares Hall, pointing out the Chinese gardens, the Omnitheatre, the Science Centre, the Snow City. All the places Singapore still had in store for me to explore.

I return to my hall with a smile on my face, joke with a floor-mate about the ridiculousness of exams, and then open my door. On my laptop was sitting this huge orange book.

I walked in, grabbed it, and started flipping through the colorful pages. What. What. WHAT?!

And then Yap, Jacq, and Kevin show up at my door. I start screaming at them.

It's the most beautiful goodbye gift I have ever gotten. I flip through the pages with them and reminisce about the good times with all my Singapore/Malaysia friends. It's so beautiful.

Why does it have to end so soon? I've had such a marvelous time with them, and it's all coming to a sudden stop. I have a few days stopover (June 13 - 17th) in Singapore between Chiang Mai and Hong Kong, but not much, and certainly not enough to adequately provide a goodbye that gives justice to the situation.

They end the book with chalk caricatures of themselves, and several blank pages.

"These pages are for our future memories together. We look forward to your next trip here!"

It's definitely happening. But for now...

Good-bye, Singapore!

DONE THIRD YEAR!

2011-04-28T01:30:00.000+08:00

Finally!

After four exams in three days, endless papers, and professors breathing down my back, not to mention studying for exams THE DAY OF the exam--poor planning on my part--but I am finally FINALLY done!

I'm heading out to the Philippines tomorrow, bright and early, so I should get to bed. Just a quick note, and that there's nothing separating me anymore from 4 months of bliss, adventure, and fun!

Soooooo excited!

This is the stuff my dreams are made out of.

2011-04-24T13:13:00.002+08:00

Sketch of Voronoi - wonderfl build flash online

2011-04-09T13:50:00.003+08:00

In spite of all the negativity and all the terrible things that have happened as of late, our Golden Gaels host a lip dub, flash mob, mass Easter egg hunt in one of their libraries, AND a student appreciation day, ALL within one week. Thank you, Queen's, for having the student spirit and passion that led me to the university in the first place.

Cha Gheill!

From slide 97 of my Lecture Notes on CE5887: Fatigue and Failure

2011-04-04T21:21:00.000+08:00

...as if the name of the course wasn't bad enough, tonight, under the unit title:

"Fatigue Life Improvement"

"Incomplete Penetration"

"The main cause...can be eliminated by simply increasing the amperage."
"...causes include too slow a travel speed and an incorrect angle. Both will allow the (up to your imagination) to roll in front...acting as a cushion to prevent penetration."

Oh, civil engineering and your many, many innuendos.

P.S. The prof has labelled diagrams showing "lack of penetration" and "good penetration". How he talked about all of this for 20 minutes with a straight face and a Chinese accent is beyond me. I was trying as hard as I could to keep my immense immaturity to myself, but had to text a few friends to let them know how hilarious my life is.

Pleasant Surprise after a rough day

2011-04-01T19:07:00.001+08:00

Thanks so much. You inspire me and are an amazing friend.
"You're wonderful" too. "Big hugs", Jackson. :)

Host Family Dinner and Durian Ice Cream

2011-04-01T09:49:00.002+08:00

Today I spent about 3 hours trying to find the Vietnam embassy in the sweltering heat at around noontime (biggest mistake of life) and if it wasn't for Elaine Maille, my friend from Queen's who helped me find it over the phone, I would have probably fainted from exhaustion. Lesson of the day: If you're in an unfamiliar area with no idea where you're going, no idea what street you need to get to, and without a map, ask everyone that walks by what your destination is. Provided, I should have been more prepared, but when crisis calls, this is what you need to do.

But finally once I got that settled, I headed back to Clementi Station, where I got a haircut! The cheapest I've ever heard: $3.90 SGD! I really just stumbled upon it--I had just bought some yoghurt bubble tea for $1.80, and then was passing by when I saw a huge crowd inside of a shop. That's usually a good sign...so I look in and there was this amazing promotional deal staring at me in the face.

Ain't bad for $3 CND.

I went home and crashed after that. All that walking totally exhausted me.

Then I got ready for what would be a spectacular evening. As my time in Singapore draws to a close, I feel I will really miss it. There's still so much I would like to do--Pulau Ubin, Night Safari, and Marina Bay Sands' Infinity Pool, to name a few--but there's so little time. Time is always against us.

I've written about my amazing host before, but this time he really outdid himself. He invited me and Sakada, his other exchange student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to his house for dinner!

Sakada and I

Mrs. Toh was lovely and had cooked us all these amazing dishes ranging from curry chicken to shrimp with tomato, and otak-otak.

We also met his niece Lynn, his daughter Jo and her husband Yew Minh, as well as their grandchild Matthew. He is so cute.

At the end of the evening, the girls took us boys out to a neighbourhood ice cream shop called Udders, and I tried my first durian ice cream! It wasn't as bad as I thought at all--in fact I rather liked it! I've never had the real raw stuff from the melon, so I can't wait to try that. :)

Nomnom.

Next week is Krabi, Thailand! Now if only I can get these assignments and essays out of the way first! The end of the race is near, and there is a glorious prize at the end. Strive to finish strong.

Underwater Dream Come True

2011-03-29T00:19:00.008+08:00

I need to have a little blurb here about when I went to Dialogue in the Dark last Wednesday March 23. It was amazing. Being toured around themed rooms of Singapore in the dark by a blind guide was an incredible experience, and we ended off the expedition with a little Q&A with out 44-year old guide in the dark, while eating in the cafe. Along the way, we went through a garden, on a boat, and through a busy marketplace--all the while groping and bumping into each other while making our way through the exhibition. Sarah, Katie, and I pushed our friendship levels to a whole new level.

And now, back to the show.

I am now a PADI Certified Open-Water Scuba Diver!

It was everything I had dreamed it would be, and more. I spent the past week going to two pool sessions where we learned the basic skills to maneuver underwater (mask-clearing, buoyancy control, BCD take-off and recovery, alternate air source, etc).

Passed a skill = fist pump. Yeh.

We left Friday evening and took the bus to Mersing, Malaysia, where we then took a ferry to a jetty at Pulau Dayang. It was nearly 4:00 a.m. when we arrived, so we didn't look around much but just went to bed.

When I woke up, I was met with an amazing sight.

Oh, good morning sunshine.

Bienvenue!

Our little resort and canteen area

Pulau Dayang is *gorgeous*

Jetty in the low sun

The food was spectacular and plentiful, buffet style--much better than I expected for this tiny island in the middle of nowhere.

Dinner Saturday night. Chicken Wings, lamb, and satay kebab. Droools.

"Pulau Dayang is an island off Peninsular Malaysia. It is part of a volcanic island group that is located in the state of Pahang and about 65km off the east coast of Mersing on the mainland."

If you've heard of Tioman Island, Dayang is very close to there. Apparently in October/November, whale sharks swim between the two islands!

Click to enlarge.

The first day, Nazim, our instructor, took us on three dives to a few places underwater to test our skills.

Unimpressed, Nazim.

I noticed these sites were not very beautiful, with dead coral and only a few fish. Retrospectively, I realized that it was because we were such n00bs that a lot of us would kick and kneel on the ground, destroying the coral and the natural life around it. I was so glad we didn't go to any nice places.

UNTIL THE SECOND DAY.

Most of Nazim's dive group

The second day, we started the day off with an early morning dive and we saw sting rays, sea turtles, giant blue starfish, giant sea urchins, and hundreds of beautiful, tropical, colourful fish in live coral. I also played with some clownfish (Finding Nemo!) in their sea anemone home. The anemone was kinda sticky, and the clownfish kept dancing around my hand. :D

We started our last dive very casually and very uneventfully. Alas, Murphy's Law proved to be true for me this last dive. When I entered the water and started swimming towards the dive spot, my tank gave a huge sputter and water was suddenly bursting everywhere. The instructor immediately swam towards me and tugged me back to the boat. Turns out my O-ring had snapped.

They replace my tank, and I jump in once more. I get down to where everyone is, and suddenly Jill (Jie Ling) starts nudging me and pointing at my BCD (Buoyancy Control Device). I look behind me to see a trail of bubbles rapidly erupting from my back. Nazim has noticed by now and motions for me to signal my air. I look at my SPG, and I sign: "1-5-0".

You start with 200bars of air, and I had been down less than a minute.

Nazim's helper takes me back to the boat again, and we find that my regulator hose has a hole in it. I sit down again, and my change my regulator and get the tank on again, only to find it sputtering. We realize that this second O-ring has snapped also, and they have to replace it again!

When this is all finally done, I jump back into the water and follow Nazim's helper back down, where the group has already finished the compass exercise and are looking at nice corals. Oh well. At least I have a really full tank of air now.

Wake of the boat as we leave Pulau Dayang

And that was the end of a spectacular weekend! I had burned my arm with some cooking oil two weeks before, and the sea water did miracles healing it up. I also made a bunch of sweet friends, played some beach volleyball, and ran along a beach with beautiful sand. Life is great!

Representing the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, and the Philippines. :)

Baking Cookies in Sheares Hall

2011-03-18T01:32:00.006+08:00

A few weeks ago, I bought the ingredients for making cookies. Yesterday I went to Disney's Lion King at Marina Bay Sands Theatre and it was amazing. Today I wanted to bake and so I did.

Coooooookies.

However, I couldn't find measuring cups for the cookies, and after searching the entire kitchen, I gave up and improvised with a water bottle with millimeter markings.

"So, I need 2 cups of brown sugar for one batch of cookies. This package is 1kg. 1kg of brown sugar equals 5 cups of brown sugar. 1 cup equals 200mL. Therefore, I need to remove 200mL of the brown sugar using this water bottle so I can make two batches of cookies. (pauses) Darn, the mixer is only big enough for one batch. I need to split the remaining 800mL of brown sugar in half, but I've found that pouring sugar into a water bottle proves to be inaccurate and time-consuming. (pauses) If I am careful with the measurement, I can separate the package into half and use the first half for one batch, and the second half for the second batch. Success."

I guess engineering has taught me more than just plugging in equations after all...

Repeat for butter and flour. All with different measurements. I thought the butter would be better, because it's usually got little tick marks on the package. But the tick marks were in grams...and it didn't really measure up and there suddenly wasn't enough, and then I was subtracting fractions to make ends meet.

Don't use baking powder or vanilla. Use self-rising flour (I've never used that in my life) instead. Bake without greasing or flouring because there's only aluminum foil and no parchment paper. Also I was out of butter. Use brown egg yolks that come in a carton of ten, not a dozen!

Then find out your block's oven is broken, so you have to move to another block and use their oven. Pack everything up, and relocate. I'm pretty good at that, actually.

Finally, bake in an unfamiliar, sketchy Hall oven which uses Celsius. I didn't even know how to turn it on--I had to flag down someone in the block to teach me. No oven mitts or coasters, so just use towels. One wet, one dry.

First batch. I semi-burnt the bottom. And they were really flat. I might have added too much butter--not really sure, with the water bottle and everything.

So I lowered the heat by 10 degrees, brought the cookie tray to the highest level in the oven, and prolonged the time for a few minutes.

After a couple more tries, I got a fairly consistent result.

"This tastes like a Subway cookie."

That's not bad. Not bad at all.

Made some new friends (if only I can remember their names), and strengthened some old relationships.

People kept asking me: "Why are you baking?"

Well, I usually just told them that I wanted a study break. And it's true--I do.

But I also realized that I only have five more weeks in Singapore, and I'm starting to miss it already. I know I will miss the locals quite a bit. Some good people, I've met.

*sigh*

Make the most of it lah.

Oh, and for those of you who wanted the recipe, my friend Danielle gave it to me, and then I usually tweak it a bit. Here it is in its raw unedited glory:

· 2 cups brown sugar

· 2 ½ cups flour

· 1 tsp baking soda

· ½ tsp salt (optional if using salted butter)

· 1 tsp vanilla

· 3 egg yolks

· 1 ½ cups butter

· 2 cups choco chips

Mix dry, mix wet

Pour dry into wet while mixing

Bake at 325 degrees for 7-10 minutes

TED talks - Brene Brown: The power of vulnerability

2011-03-13T15:05:00.002+08:00

I had a chat today with my good friend Danielle. She referred me to a video on TED. Truly inspiring.

I'd heard about Brene Brown before and stumbled upon another video before this one, but I had never seen her TED talk. Just watch the video. The below points I typed up, but they're not really all that helpful when read. Her delivery and humor are not to be missed.

"There is only one variable between the people who really felt they had a sense of worthiness--people who have a strong sense of love and belonging--and folks who really struggle for it and always wonder if they are good enough.

That is people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they're worthy of love and belonging. That's it."

She identified these people as "wholehearted"--people who live with a deep feeling of worthiness.

So, what's the theme, what's the pattern?

"What these folks have in common is the courage to be imperfect.
They have the compassion to be kind to themselves first, and then to others because it turns out we can't practice compassion unless we treat ourselves kindly.
The last part - and this is the hardest part - they had connection as a result of authenticity. They were willing to let go of who they thought they should be in order to be who they were.

They fully embraced vulnerability. They fully believed what made them vulnerable made them beautiful. They didn't talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor excruciating as in the shame interviews I did earlier. They just talked about it being necessary. They talked about the willingness to say "I love you" first, the willingness to do something where there are no guarantees, the willingness to invest in a relationship that may or may not work out. They thought this was fundamental."

See more at Brene Brown's website.

To be whole, let yourself break.
To be straight, let yourself bend.
To be full, let yourself be empty.
To be new, let yourself wear out.
To have everything, give everything up.
Knowing others is a kind of knowledge;
knowing yourself is wisdom.
Conquering others requires strength;
conquering yourself is true power.
To realize that you have enough is true wealth.
Pushing ahead may succeed,
but staying put brings endurance.
Die without perishing, and find the eternal.
To know that you do not know is strength.
Not knowing that you do not know is a sickness.
The cure begins with the recognition of the sickness.
Knowing what is permanent: enlightenment.
Not knowing what is permanent: disaster.
Knowing what is permanent opens the mind.
Open mind, open heart.
Open heart, magnanimity.

- Laozi (Tao Te Ching)

"You are a Winner"

2011-03-12T00:59:00.015+08:00

I just spoke through Gmail chat with my mom for over an hour. For free. I love Gmail chat, but I digress. That's not what I'm talking about today.

I tell Mom about how much I'm struggling in my classes--that everything is so hard and impossible and way too difficult for me. I'm talking specifically about my two graduate level classes, but I'm behind in all of them. I'm a perfectionist, you see, so I procrastinate terribly because I'm scared to start. I know that if I start I will spend much too long on the work. I know that if I start, I won't be happy until it is perfect.

I tell her how I've been struggling with insomnia and symptoms of depression. My room is a mess, I haven't been going to class, I'm eating poorly. On top of that people are coming to me for personal help. Me. Pathetic, lost and confused me. I want to help, you see, but what can I say? I can't even take care of myself.

She's called the last couple of nights, worried, and I've just brushed her off.

"I'll be fine,"I tell her. "I always get these phases. It will be okay."

Tonight, and only after she cried and got worried I would kill myself in my funk, did I actually finally open up to her.

Why is it so difficult to tell your parents anything? Why is it that when they try to show that they care, you interpret it as nagging? As the repetitive drone that you've heard before?

She asked if I had any friends I could talk to. I told her I had one: the person's great, and never judges me about anything. She then asked how that person deals with stress--if it's in a healthy manner.

"You see Jackson, there are some people who are marvelous to talk to. There are others who are good to de-stress with, in a healthy way, and still others that you can rely on in order to get your work done. Sometimes you luck out and some of these people overlap. But you often need to find different people you can do these things with in a manner that fits you."

I tell her I don't know--but deep inside, I do. We change the subject to jobs and this summer.

I tell her about how I'm scared I won't find a job this summer, and all these what-ifs. She asks me when I'll be done gallivanting around Asia.

Then I tell her the trips I've got coming up.

Pulau Dayang, Malaysia: March 25 - 27 (scuba diving license)

Krabi, Thailand: April 7 - 10 (cheap food, beautiful islands, beaches galore)

Bali, Indonesia: April 14 - 20 (surfing, volcano climbing, only Hindu island in Indonesia)

Cebu, Bohol, and Puerto Princesa, Philippinfaes: April 28 - May 3 (scuba-diving, Chocolate Hills, zip-lining)

Myanmar/Burma: May 6 - 18 (trekking)

Cambodia and Vietnam: May 18 - June 14 (tentative)

...And then, if I hopefully find work in Asia, work until the end of August.

Mom then scolds me for the first time. Well, not really scolds, but more like rebuke?

Basically, she's shaking me awake from my slump.

"Jackson! How can you be so down now? You have so much to look forward to!

You are a winner, my son. You set out to finish this semester and get an extraordinary experience. You're getting the experience, but you're questioning the semester! Don't lose sight of what you set out to do in the first place. It's not worth your time.

You're going to be having the time of your life in a few weeks. How can you stand *not* working hard until then?"

I made her tell it to me twice. And now I'm writing it down. It's only when I can help myself that I can help others too. She ends the talk with two suggestions: exercising, and enjoying the fresh fruit in Asia.

I tell her I'll try. She giggles and asks to pray for me.

Okay, so I might be Mommy's little boy. And she knows just what to say to cheer me up.

But hell, I *am* a winner. I can't lose sight of that.

***

Update:

Once I realized I needed guidance, I sought help from the Counseling and Psychological Services from the National University of Singapore. They are wonderful—a service already paid for by my student fees, and an emergency psychologist was on call to see me immediately. I have been seeing this psychologist for the last 3 weeks, and will continue to see him until the end of term. He diagnosed me with clinical depression, and is working with me to control my emotions and maintain motivation so I can complete this semester. He has also referred me to a psychiatrist, and I have been taking anti-depressants pills in an effort to get better. I am trying to do all I can to get back to my normal mental state, and let me tell you—it *is* getting better.

For those of you who are avoiding meds because you might become dependent on them, or are not sure of the side effects, I need to tell you something as someone who is going through the process. By the way, there’s a trial period that the psychiatrist completes with you to make sure the meds are working properly and are suited for your individual case. I haven’t even experienced any side effects, and he says few people do.

I was scared to take medication too. I come from a family of addictions and, as I would later find out, mental illness. From my Protestant Christian family, there’s also this idea that if you depend on God enough you can get through it without the meds. But I tell you—and I am only speaking from my perspective—that this is ludicrous.

Mental illness isn’t just some figment of your imagination or something that changes on account of your mood. There is something physically wrong with the way chemicals are being processed in your brain. Just as a person with diabetes has to take insulin to function properly, a person with mental illness has to take anti-depressants to live normally. When you see it in this light, it’s not about becoming dependent or being concerned of the side effects. It’s about having the courage to face your mental illness and asking yourself: “What do I need to do so I can get better? How I can keep living as the best human being I can be?”

Sure, you can go to counseling sessions, eat better, exercise more, and live a healthier lifestyle. You can try to deal with it on your own, without meds. I did, and I tried for a while. But if your brain is hardwired to be down all the time, you end up blaming yourself for not having a healthy lifestyle, and then you feel even more down, and then you end up not doing anything. It’s cliché, but it’s true—a vicious cycle.

I tell you this not to scare you--that if you go on exchange you’ll become depressed. That’s preposterous. I suspected my mental illness long before I came to Singapore. But, I never acted on it, thinking I could solve it myself.

I don’t hesitate in saying exchange has been the *best* time of my life. When you’re on exchange, you are free from all external obligations to do your old duties and you are free to seek resolve with who you truly are. This opportunity for self-growth - free from the expectations of people on the other side of the world is the reason why I love exchange so much. That, and the obvious opportunities to travel all the time. I wasn’t comfortable with my mental illness before, but now I’m accepting that it’s part of who I am.

As fellow student Mira Dineen of Queen’s University wrote in “A Note on Mental Health”:

“I’ve concluded that opening up about your own struggles (academic, personal, family issues, mental health issues, etc.) is one of the best ways to slowly chip away at our society’s stigma against acknowledging we aren’t perfect and reaching out for help. In my experience, doing so encourages your friends to feel more comfortable sharing their struggles and experiences with you.”

I’ve been there. “Mental health issues” seems like such a daunting term, but off the top of my head I know of at least 6 people who have been “there” in their own way, whether it was due to, as Mira writes:

“family issues, an unhealthy relationship/breakup, mental health issues, struggling to stay on top of school work, dealing with learning disabilities, feeling lost and out of place at Queen’s, coming to terms with their sexuality, sexual assault, physical health issues, a combination of these issues, or more.”

I’m echoing Mira’s words because I feel like it speaks from my own soul.

“Challenge yourself and your assumptions about mental health issues. And, if you feel comfortable and are willing, try opening up to those close to you about your own experiences.”

Thanks to all the people who’ve opened up to me, I now have the strength to open up to others. It's so important that we don't struggle alone.

With a happy heart,

Jackson