After returning from Singapore, I spent a few days in Pulau Tioman and I'm now in Georgetown (Penang).
Tioman was relaxing. It wasn't really a white sands island. Beaches I visited were pebbly and since the jungle comes right up to the water, the beaches are pretty narrow.
I made my way through a short jungle trail to a semi-secluded beach where I pranced around with butterflies and frolicked in the calm and clear water. It was magical.
I realized then that maybe nature isn't so bad so I decided to venture furthur through the coastal jungle but I lost my bravery when I stood at the edge of the jungle. A giant monitor lizard stood in the barely visible trail ahead of me. Monkeys started screaming angrily and there was this weird rustling in the plants next to my foot. Suddenly images of snakes, Bigfoot and polar bears popped into my head. I was about to enter Land of the Lost. Alone.
Sooo... I turned back. Maybe that's just a little too much nature for me.
While I don't really regret my decision to travel alone it does have it's drawbacks. Being solo, I'm limited in being able to travel through jungles or taking snorkeling trips when everyone else on the island seems to have arrived as a couple.
In Georgetown, I had a pretty good experience meeting another traveler. We spent a day wandering the streets of Georgetown where after a while we realized that the heat and jadedness started to set in. It's unfortunate but I guess inevitable that each new mosque looks like the last and the next temple seems like something you've seen before. It's kind of weird considering that I just got here but I have been away for two years now. Maybe I'm at the point where home is now the novelty. We ended up at a mall where we played arcade games and watched Inception. It was probably the first time I've been in a movie theater in about five years since movie tickets are so exorbitant in the States so that was fun.
I spent the rest of my time exploring Penang island. I saw Kek Lok Si temple and made my way to the other side of the island to check out a butterfly farm. The butterflies there are so accustomed to humans that they don't flinch you stick a camera literally inches away from them. They are so accustomed that they can be bullies. I must have looked like I lost my mind when I flailing my arms around trying to bat away what seemed to be a giant winged cricket.
After spending the night at the airport (not fun) I flew into Hanoi this morning. The money here is quite confusing. I pulled out 2 million dong (about US$100) and the ATM pushed out a wad of bills that was probably about half an inch thick.
Hanoi is full of frenetic energy. The streets are full of motorcycles, bicyclists and cars ripping their way through the city. After recuperating from a long, sleepless night in the airport, I circled around Hoan Kiem Lake for a bit. The lake is like an attempt at a calm oasis in the middle of urban frenzy. It was actually a pretty enjoyable sight. The elderly practiced their tai chi, kids ran around with whirlers while joggers dodged them. My favorite scene was watching a pair of grandmothers having a friendly match of badminton. All the while, the roar of traffic is just feet away.
After heading back to the hostel, I ran into my new Spanish-speaking Japanese friend and we went out to a street corner for pho and talked in broken Spanglish with the random Japanese or Arabic word tossed in. Afterwards, we wandered to the market and played the night version of Human Frogger.
I'm a little sad to have left Malaysia where I felt like I had an invisibility cloak on. While people on the street aren't menacing, it's quite obvious that I'm a foreigner and quite obvious that people notice.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Islam in Malaysia
Visiting Malaysia is an interesting follow-up experience to my life in the Middle East. Of course, my stay in Malaysia is pretty sure and limited mostly to tourist ghettos so my observations are skewed. While the dominant population of Malaysia is Muslim and there is a sense of conservatism in the atmosphere and the call the prayer can still be heard everywhere, it's totally different from what I experienced in the ME.
Muslim women in Malaysia have more of a presence in the public sphere and in roles that are usually occupied by males. They're behind the counters at the corner 7-11s and other convenience stores. I even saw one woman in hijab who was a bus control (the person who shouts out bus stops and destinations and collects fares). Muslim women even drive motorbikes (you'd rarely, if ever, see a woman on a bicycle in the rural ME.) Gender relations also seem to be more relaxed here. Teenage Malays hang out in mixed-gender groups (perhaps this is just a generational phenomena).
Considering the multiculturalism of Malaysian society, I do wonder about the racial and religious tolerance between the different racial groups here. On paper, it's a pretty tolerant society. You can find a Hindu temple, a mosque and a Buddhist temple all on the same street. A few shops down from an Islamic bookstore is a Chinese-run pub (with a government-posted sign warning Muslims of lashings if they're caught in such businesses). Everyone seems to be able to exist freely in this society though I have heard quiet grumbles from the ethnic Chinese I've spoken with.
Muslim women in Malaysia have more of a presence in the public sphere and in roles that are usually occupied by males. They're behind the counters at the corner 7-11s and other convenience stores. I even saw one woman in hijab who was a bus control (the person who shouts out bus stops and destinations and collects fares). Muslim women even drive motorbikes (you'd rarely, if ever, see a woman on a bicycle in the rural ME.) Gender relations also seem to be more relaxed here. Teenage Malays hang out in mixed-gender groups (perhaps this is just a generational phenomena).
Considering the multiculturalism of Malaysian society, I do wonder about the racial and religious tolerance between the different racial groups here. On paper, it's a pretty tolerant society. You can find a Hindu temple, a mosque and a Buddhist temple all on the same street. A few shops down from an Islamic bookstore is a Chinese-run pub (with a government-posted sign warning Muslims of lashings if they're caught in such businesses). Everyone seems to be able to exist freely in this society though I have heard quiet grumbles from the ethnic Chinese I've spoken with.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Singapore
After my failed attempt to escape from Melaka the first time, I impulsively decided to take a detour into Singapore to try to connect with some family long overdue for a meeting [both mine and others].
Since visiting Singapore was a spur-of-the-moment decision, I didn't know what to expect but I'm pretty surprised at the place. This is not a backpacker's paradise but rather a shopper's paradise. Shopping, shopping, everywhere. If you're not in a mall, you're probably in an air-conditioned underpass that not only connects two malls but looks like a mall. If you happen to be outside, it only takes a few seconds to realized that you're staring at a high-rise mall.
That being said, I was kind of bored in Singapore. If you have the right budget, I'm sure Singapore would be a lot more interesting but I'm not even sure if that's the reason I was bored. It was just so easy. Perhaps, it's the burgeoning psychopath in me, but I've grown used to a bit of chaos; the law, order and automation of Singapore threw me off a little bit.
I recently arrived from a country where under the "No Smoking" sign on a bus, the bus driver is casually puffing away. Human interaction (and usually the necessary language skills) are needed for any sort of transaction and crossing a street is an art form. Suddenly, I don't even have to talk to anyone. Press a button, ticket pops out. No need to play human Frogger because there are designated crosswalks and most of all, signs actually mean something. I do find the abundance of rules rather amusing. On the MRT trains, there's a sign that says "No drinking or eating" and "No Smoking" and "No Flammables" and "No Durian".
(I didn't know you couldn't drink on the MRT. Didn't get caught but I did attract a lot of horrified stares from other passengers when I took a sip from my water bottle - it almost felt like I was drinking a bottle of vodka in the middle of a bus filled with my Arab neighbors.)
I'm pretty grateful for having hosts there (otherwise, I probably would have turned around after a day due to boredom and bankruptcy). It's pretty expensive here and shopping is pretty much the main activity on the island for tourists (and locals) but now having a few days outside of Singapore, I've developed an appreciation for it. After getting uncertain responses from locals regarding boat departures in Malaysia or standing on a street corner trying to understand exactly the public bus system, you tend to appreciate the efficiency and order of Singapore. You might be lost in a seizure-inducing labyrinth of consumerism but signs and arrows are always there to guide you out.
The highlight of my impromptu trip was getting to know family. There was almost this sense of dread leaving Singapore because it was sort of like knowing a home for a few days.
Since visiting Singapore was a spur-of-the-moment decision, I didn't know what to expect but I'm pretty surprised at the place. This is not a backpacker's paradise but rather a shopper's paradise. Shopping, shopping, everywhere. If you're not in a mall, you're probably in an air-conditioned underpass that not only connects two malls but looks like a mall. If you happen to be outside, it only takes a few seconds to realized that you're staring at a high-rise mall.
That being said, I was kind of bored in Singapore. If you have the right budget, I'm sure Singapore would be a lot more interesting but I'm not even sure if that's the reason I was bored. It was just so easy. Perhaps, it's the burgeoning psychopath in me, but I've grown used to a bit of chaos; the law, order and automation of Singapore threw me off a little bit.
I recently arrived from a country where under the "No Smoking" sign on a bus, the bus driver is casually puffing away. Human interaction (and usually the necessary language skills) are needed for any sort of transaction and crossing a street is an art form. Suddenly, I don't even have to talk to anyone. Press a button, ticket pops out. No need to play human Frogger because there are designated crosswalks and most of all, signs actually mean something. I do find the abundance of rules rather amusing. On the MRT trains, there's a sign that says "No drinking or eating" and "No Smoking" and "No Flammables" and "No Durian".
(I didn't know you couldn't drink on the MRT. Didn't get caught but I did attract a lot of horrified stares from other passengers when I took a sip from my water bottle - it almost felt like I was drinking a bottle of vodka in the middle of a bus filled with my Arab neighbors.)
I'm pretty grateful for having hosts there (otherwise, I probably would have turned around after a day due to boredom and bankruptcy). It's pretty expensive here and shopping is pretty much the main activity on the island for tourists (and locals) but now having a few days outside of Singapore, I've developed an appreciation for it. After getting uncertain responses from locals regarding boat departures in Malaysia or standing on a street corner trying to understand exactly the public bus system, you tend to appreciate the efficiency and order of Singapore. You might be lost in a seizure-inducing labyrinth of consumerism but signs and arrows are always there to guide you out.
The highlight of my impromptu trip was getting to know family. There was almost this sense of dread leaving Singapore because it was sort of like knowing a home for a few days.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
The Loud American (or Backpacking While Asian)
I'm in Melaka now which is effectively a tourist ghetto. It has a lot historical significance having been under Portuguese, Dutch and British control. It's quite easy to forget you're in Asia (I like to describe it as a Chinatown dropped in the middle of the Carribean). Colonial architecture lines the river and there are restaurants with Portuguese, Malay and Chinese food. Tonight, the Chinese community burned fake money and incense along the streets to honor the dead.
Being here for a couple of days, I noticed a couple things. There are very few Americans out here (I've run into one). While this isn't that new to me, it is a bit alienating. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by westerners and I still can't relate. The other is that I'm ignored. A lot. Like everything, the third time's the charm. I got caught in a sudden downpour so in an attempt to escape I hailed a taxi. I got abandoned in the rain twice when the drivers could not comprehend that I couldn't understand Malay. The third time, I was ready, map in hand with a clear "Hello! How are you?" (in English) pointing at my destination on the map. The driver then realized that I wasn't local and we started to interact in English.
Same thing happens in restaurants. I wandered into a restaurant and the staff just stared at me. There must have some local protocol that I couldn't pick up on so I left and wandered into a hole-in-the-wall. Usually, these places are happy to help foreigners but again, I don't look foreign and looking like a local female, I suddenly felt out of place in a male-dominated cafe. Third time, I put on the loud American act. "Hello! How are you?" and I got handed the English language menu.
It's kind of ironic. Usually, travelers want to blend in, however impossible the task. They usually want to not be "The Ugly American" and learn a few local phrases. I've contemplated looking up a few greetings in Malay but realized it just might continue to confuse people. So now, I've taken up being the loud American. Well, not that loud.
Being here for a couple of days, I noticed a couple things. There are very few Americans out here (I've run into one). While this isn't that new to me, it is a bit alienating. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by westerners and I still can't relate. The other is that I'm ignored. A lot. Like everything, the third time's the charm. I got caught in a sudden downpour so in an attempt to escape I hailed a taxi. I got abandoned in the rain twice when the drivers could not comprehend that I couldn't understand Malay. The third time, I was ready, map in hand with a clear "Hello! How are you?" (in English) pointing at my destination on the map. The driver then realized that I wasn't local and we started to interact in English.
Same thing happens in restaurants. I wandered into a restaurant and the staff just stared at me. There must have some local protocol that I couldn't pick up on so I left and wandered into a hole-in-the-wall. Usually, these places are happy to help foreigners but again, I don't look foreign and looking like a local female, I suddenly felt out of place in a male-dominated cafe. Third time, I put on the loud American act. "Hello! How are you?" and I got handed the English language menu.
It's kind of ironic. Usually, travelers want to blend in, however impossible the task. They usually want to not be "The Ugly American" and learn a few local phrases. I've contemplated looking up a few greetings in Malay but realized it just might continue to confuse people. So now, I've taken up being the loud American. Well, not that loud.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Chinatown and Fireflies
Today, I wandered around Chinatown a little too early in the morning. I'm still in the mindset where it takes an hour to do anything (i.e leaving your village) so I overestimate the time it takes to do things or go places. With the efficient public transportation in KL, I can arrive at my destination in 15 minutes, leaving me puzzled and wandering aimlessly until things start opening up.
Petaling Street in Chinatown is famous for its counterfeit everything: purses, clothing, shoes, DVDs. I guess the law takes a lax attitude towards copyright infringement as I spotted a few officers also browsing the stalls for genuine imitations.
Sort of on impulse I decided to join a tour group to check out the firefly colony in Kuala Selangor. The trip itself kinda sucked but I'm glad I tried it anyway.
These monkeys hang out in Melawati Hill and have become so dependent on humans for their food because of so much exposure to tourists. Our tour guide, a pretty responsible fellow, basically forbid us from feeding the monkeys.
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| Entrance to Petaling St - The giant flat screen makes it seem like Chinatown from the future. |
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| Random sites around Chinatown |
Sort of on impulse I decided to join a tour group to check out the firefly colony in Kuala Selangor. The trip itself kinda sucked but I'm glad I tried it anyway.
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| Mangrove forest and the Straits of Malacca |
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| British lighthouse |
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| Mangrove forest |
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| Mother and child monkeys |
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| The cute baby monkeys are golden when they're young. |
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| literal street bums |
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| Much to the dismay of the Europeans in my group, we were brought to a fish market. At this point, I really wanted to take a picture of their faces rather than the dried anchovies. |
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| Dinner |
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| And it tasted good, too. |
We had dinner at a riverside seafood restaurant where our tour guide and I compared our Asian heritages (me: Filipino; him: Chinese, Thai, Korean and Japanese) and I tried to explain why I don't have an accent. (This seems to be a really difficult concept to explain.) Anyway, the guy was pretty excited when he learned of my background. I guess there is sort of an affinity between Filipinos and Malaysians as he cried out "Kababayan!" Then we compared my vocabulary of Arabic and my even more limited vocabulary of Tagalog to find shared words in the Malay language.
I also tried 'todee' (palm wine). That and a hot and stifling life jacket do not go together on a boat trip.
Despite it being a firefly tour, the monkeys and the food were the highlights of the trip. The fireflies were pretty cool but it would be pretty impossible to capture it on camera (basically, imagine lots and lots of tiny Christmas lights). I probably won't do an organized tour again. I enjoy myself a lot more wandering the streets aimlessly watching shopkeepers prepare for business than being dragged along with a random group of strangers but I'm glad I tried it anyway.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Bizarro World
Kuala Lumpur is a bizarre place. It's a mix of Malay, Chinese and Indian, Islam, Hindu, Buddhism, towering high-rises, the speed and efficiency of technology alongside tradition. And I've only been here for a day. The juxtapositions are so glaring but maybe because I'm fresh out of the rural Middle East.
Either way, I am enjoying it. For a few hours, it didn't really feel as if I had left the Middle East as Malaysia is an extension of the Muslim world and I've already run into a few Arabs just in the few hours I've been here. In fact, it didn't really feel like I was anywhere new; it kind of felt like I've been here before. Walking among hijabed women, passing mosques set me back in the Middle East. The humidity alongside the sleek city look reminded me of my childhood experiences in Japan and the Philippines. The abundance of mega malls are reminiscent of parts of Orange County and the smells wafting from restaurants brought me back to the our neighborhood seafood market. Everything is so familiar, it's bizarre.
Another aspect I'm really enjoying is the anonymity. Despite my terrible clothing (my legacy from my recent volunteer days), I'm just another Asian strolling down the street. I'm not a foreigner. I'm barely worth a glance - and it is awesome. It's restored my self-worth a little to be in a place where to be Asian doesn't necessarily mean you're someone's servant. I'm just another person.
However, there is an amusing downside to my apparent Asian-ness. I've fooled everyone enough that they're confused with my lack of linguistic capabilities. Even for me, this is a novelty but I guess I've always been that bizarre foreigner. Once I was the lone Asian girl who spoke Arabic (dialect, not Standard like most foreigners) with a horrendous American accent, usually capable of arguing or sweet-talking my way out of exorbitant foreigner pricing. Now, I look like most people but I've become the American that's assumed that everyone speaks English, garnering confused looks when it becomes obvious that I don't understand Malay. On top of that, I seem to fall off westerner's radars (despite the tell-tall backpacker gear I'm hauling around.) I tried to giving that look of recognition to my fellow countrymen but I must have come off as a crazy local who stares too much at white people. That being said, I'm working on my social skills.
No worries. I'm not a mallrat. I just needed something low-key (and air-conditioned) while I recuperated from my flights. More pictures coming soon.
Either way, I am enjoying it. For a few hours, it didn't really feel as if I had left the Middle East as Malaysia is an extension of the Muslim world and I've already run into a few Arabs just in the few hours I've been here. In fact, it didn't really feel like I was anywhere new; it kind of felt like I've been here before. Walking among hijabed women, passing mosques set me back in the Middle East. The humidity alongside the sleek city look reminded me of my childhood experiences in Japan and the Philippines. The abundance of mega malls are reminiscent of parts of Orange County and the smells wafting from restaurants brought me back to the our neighborhood seafood market. Everything is so familiar, it's bizarre.
Another aspect I'm really enjoying is the anonymity. Despite my terrible clothing (my legacy from my recent volunteer days), I'm just another Asian strolling down the street. I'm not a foreigner. I'm barely worth a glance - and it is awesome. It's restored my self-worth a little to be in a place where to be Asian doesn't necessarily mean you're someone's servant. I'm just another person.
However, there is an amusing downside to my apparent Asian-ness. I've fooled everyone enough that they're confused with my lack of linguistic capabilities. Even for me, this is a novelty but I guess I've always been that bizarre foreigner. Once I was the lone Asian girl who spoke Arabic (dialect, not Standard like most foreigners) with a horrendous American accent, usually capable of arguing or sweet-talking my way out of exorbitant foreigner pricing. Now, I look like most people but I've become the American that's assumed that everyone speaks English, garnering confused looks when it becomes obvious that I don't understand Malay. On top of that, I seem to fall off westerner's radars (despite the tell-tall backpacker gear I'm hauling around.) I tried to giving that look of recognition to my fellow countrymen but I must have come off as a crazy local who stares too much at white people. That being said, I'm working on my social skills.
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| Berjaya Times Square - Nine Stories of Shopping. Just one of several mega mall in the area. |
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| Mall madness |
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| I nearly wet myself browsing this store. |
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| indoor theme park |
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Escaping the Middle East
At the airport, I was standing in the immigration line with about 400 people in front of me and 30 minutes until departure. Before I had gotten to this point, I had arrived later than I wanted to and made my through the wrong terminal despite several destination checks by airport staff. Suddenly the minutes that seemed to pass so slowly for two years ticked away rapidly. A bunch of elitist Gulf Arabs kept cutting the line and I was sure that the universe was conspiring against my departure from the Middle East. To make matters even more bittersweet, my host country BFF called. "Take it easy. You can always stay with us!"
It was actually a contingency plan. If I couldn't escape today, what difference would next week make? Having panic attacks at the airport vs spending time with BFF? Hmm. Eventually though, the opened a queue for slacker Dubai passengers and it turns out I wasn't the only slacker. Seriously, I was going to cry when my passport was handed back to me over the counter and I scrambled up the escalator.
I've been a volunteer in a [large American volunteer organization] in a [small kingdom in the Middle East] for the past two years. After a rollercoaster ride of a service and a final few hectic weeks, I'm feeling the unexpected pain of having said goodbye to a handful of people who have made my stay in [small kingdom in the Middle East] not only bearable but worth it. As with most things, they come to an end. Now I'm heading home.. kind of.
I have a rough sketch of an itinerary for the next two months that I hope to record here but I'll be honest. I think I'm going to look for a beach to inhabit until it's time for the final flight home. Next stop: Kuala Lumpur.
It was actually a contingency plan. If I couldn't escape today, what difference would next week make? Having panic attacks at the airport vs spending time with BFF? Hmm. Eventually though, the opened a queue for slacker Dubai passengers and it turns out I wasn't the only slacker. Seriously, I was going to cry when my passport was handed back to me over the counter and I scrambled up the escalator.
I've been a volunteer in a [large American volunteer organization] in a [small kingdom in the Middle East] for the past two years. After a rollercoaster ride of a service and a final few hectic weeks, I'm feeling the unexpected pain of having said goodbye to a handful of people who have made my stay in [small kingdom in the Middle East] not only bearable but worth it. As with most things, they come to an end. Now I'm heading home.. kind of.
I have a rough sketch of an itinerary for the next two months that I hope to record here but I'll be honest. I think I'm going to look for a beach to inhabit until it's time for the final flight home. Next stop: Kuala Lumpur.
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