Mom and Rocky, originally uploaded by teesa124.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Holiday Season
On the way back home from class, I found a card with a few words I thought were sweet. A bit corny, but sweet nonetheless.
"There are many people who come and go in our lives. A few touch us in ways that change us forever, making us better from knowing them. You have made a difference in my life, and for this I am grateful."
Monday, November 12, 2007
the contents of a wallet
I stood in the rain for over four hours last night. It was an anticipated football game, and the fans (me included) willingly put on 5 layers of clothing and arrived 1.5 hours early to get the good seats. After awhile, my body began to feel the wetness seep through the layers.. chilling. Upon arrival, we willingly shed our wetsuits of drenched sweatshirts, jeans, etc. in exchange for warmer, more cozier options. I threw my soaked purse and wallet aside, too grossed out by the wetness to deal with anymore at the moment.
After a day of just letting a soaked wallet sit on my desk being disgusting, I couldn't take it anymore and opened up to dump the dampened contents out to dry. Out went the wet receipts that stuck together, the coupons and clip outs, the notes with quickly jotted down phone numbers, the eye prescriptions, the mess of ID/credit/debit/supermarket savers/business/other random cards...all tumbling out of my red wallet onto the table.
As I slowly began to peel through the receipts and lay things neatly spread out on the desk for it to properly dry, it dawned on me that i am not only sorting out the contents of an old wallet, but my life as well. A complete stranger, even with a tiny plum for a brain, could take a look at the contents sprawled out on the desk and have an idea of the kind of person i am. I wondered what kind of person they would guess. If I had to guess what kind of person i was from just looking at the contents of my wallet, here is what I would have came up with:
The eye presriptions for both eye glasses and contacts would mean that I probably won't be seen in glasses, and that my eyesight was actually pretty bad. The coupons, all for this local place called Papamingos, would show that I must be really into frozen yogurt, and the healthy kind for that matter. The phone numbers listed on the folded up notebook paper show that my immediate contacts are evenly spread between both guys and girls, and from their area codes, one can tell that I know people from all over California. The single dollar bills show that I don't carry much cash, and probably use card often. The walet pictures would show that most of my close friends are asian, but not all chinese. The sticky photos, since they are so poorly done, imply that it must have been only a one time thing. The receipts show that I am an apple ibook owner and therefore is probably 1. not up to date with the latest technology and 2. that i probably don't care about technology or know how to use it too much anyways, that I am preparing for work by buying work clothes but do not have the money to spend it at more lavish places, that I have recently worked on very arts and crafty projects that involved sewing, painting, and decorating, that I have recently made attempts to keep in touch long distance with people by buying a web cam, and that i must live in a cold area since i recently bought a coat. The dated information about studying abroad implies that i must have rcently been out of the country. The different kinds of coins that were in the change pile should confirm that I did indeed leave for a bit, and to asia. The cards among other things show I work for the university, that i am an organ donor, that i must like libraries a lot, that I'm probably a fan of saving money at supermarkets, and that i'm legal. Lastly, the 37cent stamps show that I am not much of a by hand letter writer, as those stamps are outdated. Pretty damn accurate.
So there everything was, my life, on the desk. It was a lot of things, not everything, of what I have been "caught up with" recently. It was an interesting feeling slowly organizing it, picking out what would be thrown away (maybe the coupons that were too soaked to be any good), and what should stay (like the silly sticky photos, reminders of the culture gap only a few miles can make in an asian american experience). It's been awhile since I've sat back and really thought about what I'm caught up with, but it's all dumped out there and staring back at me, it was hard to avoid it. So in a way, despite the drenchfest that was dealt with the entire bunch of Cal football season ticket holders, getting soaked to the bone was good. Peeling away the layers afterwards and revealing what is there feels good. A clarity kind of goodness.
After a day of just letting a soaked wallet sit on my desk being disgusting, I couldn't take it anymore and opened up to dump the dampened contents out to dry. Out went the wet receipts that stuck together, the coupons and clip outs, the notes with quickly jotted down phone numbers, the eye prescriptions, the mess of ID/credit/debit/supermarket savers/business/other random cards...all tumbling out of my red wallet onto the table.
As I slowly began to peel through the receipts and lay things neatly spread out on the desk for it to properly dry, it dawned on me that i am not only sorting out the contents of an old wallet, but my life as well. A complete stranger, even with a tiny plum for a brain, could take a look at the contents sprawled out on the desk and have an idea of the kind of person i am. I wondered what kind of person they would guess. If I had to guess what kind of person i was from just looking at the contents of my wallet, here is what I would have came up with:
The eye presriptions for both eye glasses and contacts would mean that I probably won't be seen in glasses, and that my eyesight was actually pretty bad. The coupons, all for this local place called Papamingos, would show that I must be really into frozen yogurt, and the healthy kind for that matter. The phone numbers listed on the folded up notebook paper show that my immediate contacts are evenly spread between both guys and girls, and from their area codes, one can tell that I know people from all over California. The single dollar bills show that I don't carry much cash, and probably use card often. The walet pictures would show that most of my close friends are asian, but not all chinese. The sticky photos, since they are so poorly done, imply that it must have been only a one time thing. The receipts show that I am an apple ibook owner and therefore is probably 1. not up to date with the latest technology and 2. that i probably don't care about technology or know how to use it too much anyways, that I am preparing for work by buying work clothes but do not have the money to spend it at more lavish places, that I have recently worked on very arts and crafty projects that involved sewing, painting, and decorating, that I have recently made attempts to keep in touch long distance with people by buying a web cam, and that i must live in a cold area since i recently bought a coat. The dated information about studying abroad implies that i must have rcently been out of the country. The different kinds of coins that were in the change pile should confirm that I did indeed leave for a bit, and to asia. The cards among other things show I work for the university, that i am an organ donor, that i must like libraries a lot, that I'm probably a fan of saving money at supermarkets, and that i'm legal. Lastly, the 37cent stamps show that I am not much of a by hand letter writer, as those stamps are outdated. Pretty damn accurate.
So there everything was, my life, on the desk. It was a lot of things, not everything, of what I have been "caught up with" recently. It was an interesting feeling slowly organizing it, picking out what would be thrown away (maybe the coupons that were too soaked to be any good), and what should stay (like the silly sticky photos, reminders of the culture gap only a few miles can make in an asian american experience). It's been awhile since I've sat back and really thought about what I'm caught up with, but it's all dumped out there and staring back at me, it was hard to avoid it. So in a way, despite the drenchfest that was dealt with the entire bunch of Cal football season ticket holders, getting soaked to the bone was good. Peeling away the layers afterwards and revealing what is there feels good. A clarity kind of goodness.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
halloween
Yesterday was Halloween, quite possibly my favorite holiday in my favorite season of the year. I find it fascinating how the meaning of Halloween changes for people with age. When parents still had to hold our hands to each doorway down suburbia lane, it was a time when we could be something adorable and fuzzy like a rabbit. Not playboy bunny, but full on fuzzy suit rabbit. Or maybe a ghost or a witch, both legit and popular costumes of choice. And also just the concept of trick or treating, knocking on stranger's doors, people you wouldn't normally see or talk to, and demanding (sometimes even yelling in their face "trick or treat!" ...give me candy, bitch. or else I'm going to trash your home. What other day can a person say something with those implied meanings and not get slapped in the face, but be warmly greeted by the homeowners who are happy that little children are stopping by.
I always thought of Halloween as the one night of the year where a person can be someone/something/hybrid of both else. It's so interesting then, to see people, especially women, increasingly choose costumes where they can yes, be someone else and also showcase their sexuality/skanky or more wilder side. What age did Halloween change from being nights of witches and bunnies and fairies to playboy bunnies, French maids, and policewomen? Not going to deny that if done right it's pretty hot, but it's interesting to see Halloween turn into the night where a person can slut down.
I always thought of Halloween as the one night of the year where a person can be someone/something/hybrid of both else. It's so interesting then, to see people, especially women, increasingly choose costumes where they can yes, be someone else and also showcase their sexuality/skanky or more wilder side. What age did Halloween change from being nights of witches and bunnies and fairies to playboy bunnies, French maids, and policewomen? Not going to deny that if done right it's pretty hot, but it's interesting to see Halloween turn into the night where a person can slut down.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
tracked in life
My roommates constantly surprise me with new thoughts to keep my mind occupied. It can happen at the most random times too. Contrary to the idea that higher education opens doors to greater opportunities, we suggest that it leads not to greater but to different paths, and possibly limiting ones career choices. Even though one has attained a level of education high from a decently known institution and probably has access to pursue many different avenues, the pressures coming from friends, family, and the greater social network and also the culture, the "air that we breath" does not support this free for all environment. Factoring the expectations that come attached with one seeking to attain a higher degree, I feel that one is also gathering cultural capital which invovles ingraining a set of values of what is appropiate and what is not. Maybe it comes from the family, who have probably invested a lot of resources to help the child reach the place where he is presently and expect high returns. Regardless perhaps there is this invisible tracking that so many of us are experiencing. Dustin mentioned last night that we never really get out of highschool. Are we tracked throughout life? Also, my memory is fading but was everyone tracked in our pre-college institutions? I remember that there were programs for the so called "smart" kids and then a number of outreach programs for the "at risk" population. I don't remember there being significant efforts to direct those who were at the middle performance level. They were the people who passed the classes, maybe with a C but they made it through and that was what mattered. If one then wants freedom from being tracked in life, then is the answer to be mediocre?
email to home from singapore
On Jan 19, 2007, at 1:20 AM, Teresa Chan wrote:
Hello and greetings from Singapore!
I think it is about time I got my act together and write to people at home before you all forgot who I am. Actually, I had started at least five or six drafts but it seems like every time I revisit it, something becomes inaccurate because the past couple weeks has been a constant parade of readjusting and getting settled in, being exposed to new things, etc. So this time even though stuff might change later I really need to just send it out.
So I have been having a great time in Singapore and southeast asia! I definitely am very satisfied (so far) with choosing to come here. Like the night before leaving I was like….what am I getting myself into going to a country right on the equator to a room with no air conditioning. I was kind of lonely on the plane because I didn’t know anyone but a plethora of movies kept me occupied. But right when I got off the plane (totaling about 20 hours) some of the other people that were studying abroad from other UCs approached me. So in retrospect, I really lucked out in always having someone there who was going through the same thing. If I didn’t run into them I would have had to chill at the airport for 6+ hours, luckily we found this neat little hostel to stay at for the night! When I first stepped out of the airport the humidity was so bad I felt like I was breathing in water, and it felt like that for the first couple days but now I’m used to it.
Then the next week was spent playing tourists and getting to know the others in the group. The food here, or a good amount of it I think, is amazing in both quality and quantity. Except for chicken rice, which is sort of like their signature dish, I haven’t had the same thing twice yet. They have these places called Hawker centers, where its an area than all these food vendors congregate and sell cheap good food. Most the food here is a Chinese, Malay, and Indian food because those are the three biggest populations here. Side note: apparently, Mc.Donalds (they call is “Macs” here) and other western fast food restaurants are treated as a luxury so only people that are slightly better off eat there because one meal S$~5-6 dollars is twice the amount of a meal in a hawker center. Also my new favorite drink is now soursop guava- soursop is a kind of fruit? Maybe it was in the states before but I just discovered it now. Amazing.
But okay, besides eating tasty food all the time, we visited a ton of places around Singapore like museums and different ethnic areas like Little India and Arab street. One memory that is a bit traumatic happened by the mosque. We had some time before this Malay performance so a couple of us wandered around to the mosque because a festival was happening. I had expected to see like, people dancing or whatever but instead saw four sheep getting their heads chopped off! I felt like throwing up. And the sheeps’ blood was running like a river down into the streets. On that lovely note- we continued to do a massive load of culture intake and to be honest it was a bit too museum-ish for me. We did go to Sentosa though, which is like Singapore’s resort island. Actually, we went there once in the daytime and the other was for this foam party for new years, which was right on the beach and definitely rocked. I remember all these people dancing in the sand and in the foam pit getting absolutely crazy, and us doing the whole countdown soaking wet! There are pictures posted on facebook, but I will try to post more of them. Our batch of UC students, I think, are a lot of fun and I love hanging out with them. It works out really well too because when it comes to traveling, a lot of them know the languages of other Southeast Asian countries so navigating just got that much easier. Oh, and people here love to shop. It amazes me how a population that lives primarily in flats in super tall high rises can accumulate so much…stuff. I’m getting a bit tired of seeing malls left and right. One of my friends here, Jenny, put it quite nicely by saying Singapore is made of up 75% shopping malls, and the remaining 25% is food.
The people here are quite nice and once the ice is broken they actually do talk a lot. I’m having an incredibly hard time remembering/pronouncing people’s names because a lot are names like Sze Le or Jia Mai. I think the girls here are really pretty. A lot more feminine than America in how they act and dress. A good thing about Singapore is that because its so damn hot here, every day can be a let us dress cute and summery day- even when its thunder storming its hot! So as a result I think a lot of girls look classy cute when going to school. The guys…well the guys here are two years academically behind the girls, because when they finish high school, they have to go serve in the military for two years. It’s mandatory and I guess a lot are bitter about it, but I think it’s comforting to know that the guy sitting next to you in class knows how to operate a tank and kick someone’s ass if something was ever to come up. But uh… physically I think Americans guys look more the part than the Singaporeans. =)
One thing I really really love about Singapore is how incredibly safe it is here, it’s a huge change from Berkeley. I went from being too freaked out to shower at night because of peeping toms at Cal to an open dormitory where when I walk outside of my room it’s the outside and people go running at like 2 in the morning around campus. Because the punishments here are quite severe, most of the people, or at least the student population and other locals I have met, are really good. Apparently when everyone is a kid, the schools take them to the prisons to show them the caning room and the gallows (yeah the death penalty is carried out by hanging still). And in one of the shopping malls there is this huge stern looking man printed on cardboard with a caption that says (in regards to shoplifting)“A moment of greed, a LIFETIME of regret!” Its also amazing how clean it is, and its true that even though gum is allowed now, people don’t really chew it and as a result it isn’t on the streets.
This totally was not the case when I traveled to Malaysia this past weekend, which was awesome but in a different way. We first went to KL, short for Kuala Lumpur, their capital. It didn’t impress me incredibly to be honest- it was hectic and dirty with crazy taxi drivers that tried to rip us off, but if you look at it another way it was way more representative of asia than Singapore was. We saw the Petronas Towers (well now the tallest twin towers in the world). It’s quite beautiful, and I really like it because its perimiter is modeled after one of the main muslim symbols. To be able to integrate culture that well with building a skyscraper definitely impressed me. But my favorite part was going inside their national mosque. I never thought I would go into a mosque! We put on these robes that looked like moo moos and got barefoot and then proceded to walk inside and saw the big room where all the men prayed in 5 times a day. Really serene place and we learned a little about the Muslim faith. At night we just kicked it back at the hostel with some guys from Illinois and ate more dirt cheap yummy food. Then we headed to Malacca, which is still in Malaysia but a smaller, historic port town. Loved, Loved, Loved my time there! i think some of my favorite moments so far happened there. We stayed in Malacca’s Chinatown. This was like…hardcore Chinatown, all the buildings were the original ones with the open drains for everything out in the front, with narrow winding streets and bikes everywhere. The bottom were shops selling stuff like herbs or trinkets while the top floor was where the shopkeepers lived. It was really cool because I think it was how my family back in Asia used to live so it was awesome to get a feel for what it was like. At night we went to their night market, which is basically what the title says it is- a bunch of vendors selling stuff at night with more food. The cool thing was by the night market there was this open karaoke stage where anyone could go up and sing, and so all these old people were lined up to sing their fav. Chinese oldies while chairs were set up so others in the community could hear. It was so effin awesome just to like…sit their with them and chill and be and enjoy life with the locals. I have a few pictures but it really doesn’t capture the feeling. Later that night we went to a live music bar and they played some American oldies so our entire group just like got up and went crazy and provided some high class entertainment for the locals that were there haha, and later we ended up partying with this local old man who basically still had the spirit of a 20 yr old & told us about his life n stuff! The whole night was just so…I dunno… chill and fun! I definitely loved it. But the next day we visited a church which was just as amazing. It was on top of a hill and was a pain to walk there but it was definitely one of those places where you walk in and this feeling just comes over you. Well at least it came over me. It was actually church ruins, and inside the deteriorating structure was this man who was singing and playing guitar. The music he was playing really hit the spot and just made the moment of standing in the old church something I won’t be forgetting for a while. Then he played a song for me! I was really happy.
I am leaving out a lot of stuff because this is already page three and if you bothered to read this far, well, thanks for being curious but I am afraid of boring you more. Oh! I’ve been going clubbing a lot so that’s a bit of a change for me! Every Wednesday it is ladies night so they lift the cover charge and at some even the drinks, so it’s a sweet deal and everyone goes out on this night. Apparently it’s part of the government’s initiative to get people to procreate. Just what I heard! Last night one of the locals who lives below me took a couple of us out to Zouk, which is like their most famous club aside from this one called Ministry of Sound- which I will check out on my birthday. Zouk was quite nice- it’s actually a complex of 3 or 4 clubs grouped into one so there were several types of music to choose from throughout the night, I tried a flaming lamborguini for the first time and was freaked out because it was on fire- haha I didn’t know it was actually supposed to be! Even though the drinking age is 18 in Singapore, turning 21 is still a huge deal. I asked why and everyone was just like, just because!
So something that has randomly happened is that I joined my hall’s volleyball team! They needed some extra players so I was like hey why not let’s do it. The dorms are really spirited here and so it was kind of nerve- racking when everyone was like cheering and yelling for their hall. But the best part is that they coach and communicate in Chinese mostly and I have no idea what they are saying! But the girls have been really nice about explaining stuff. Another thing- I had picked Singapore because I thought the people spoke English. They do but it’s a differen’t kind of English that took some time getting used to. (ie, they stick “la” at the end of a lot of their words, like “ok-la!”). And much of the spoken daily language is a mixture of Chinese, English, and Malay to varying degrees. I think its called Singlish.
I am leaving so many things out! Oh, classes started. Um…so far I think they are o.k. I’ve heard that people here are really competitive because everything is curved even the arts. We only meet once a week for classes though, so that was a nice surprise upon arriving here! I’m just continuing to take sociology classes and a class about Singapore…because I feel like since I’m here already, I should learn something about it right? Yeah.
With generally speaking favorable exchange rates, I am pretty excited to travel around southeast asia. My trip to Malaysia this past weekend cost less than $100! I want to go to all these places! But with the bombings and kidnapping, etc by the local terrorists groups here- several of the countries are out of the question. It’s actually really scary to be so close to the stuff that is happening.
Overall I really like it here and in Asia! There are these subtle differences that make it different that I am not mentioning such as eating places not providing napkins, half the toilets being squatting toilets (so like even girls pee standing), using a small plastic bag for take away drinks instead of a cup (it’s not “to go” here- it’s “take away”), the obsession with Milo (which is a chocolate milk kind of drink, they also sell it in the states but it consumed like water here) but all these small differences are adding up along with the bigger ones like culture and values which I am constantly learning a lot about. Having a group from CA really makes it a lot more fun because they are going through the same thing with me. It’s definitely making me realize and reconsider how Asian, or not Asian I am though!
Despite having a really good time here, I must say that I do miss home and Berkeley at times. Definitely felt that winter break was too short and that I was being hurled into something new without having enough time to relax and chill at home. Now that school has started again, I definitely miss hearing the Campanile concerts, boba runs, and the formal dinners at the theta house, just to name a few! I think on New Years I broke my camera- so I haven’t been being a diligent picture taker, but am working on getting it fixed soon. I definitely feel like this email isn’t doing Singapore justice but I just need to send one out! Okay and if you have the time, write back and tell me how your life is going too! =) I would love to hear from people back in the states, even a short paragraph would be awesome and appreciated!
Missing you and much love,
- Teresa
Hello and greetings from Singapore!
I think it is about time I got my act together and write to people at home before you all forgot who I am. Actually, I had started at least five or six drafts but it seems like every time I revisit it, something becomes inaccurate because the past couple weeks has been a constant parade of readjusting and getting settled in, being exposed to new things, etc. So this time even though stuff might change later I really need to just send it out.
So I have been having a great time in Singapore and southeast asia! I definitely am very satisfied (so far) with choosing to come here. Like the night before leaving I was like….what am I getting myself into going to a country right on the equator to a room with no air conditioning. I was kind of lonely on the plane because I didn’t know anyone but a plethora of movies kept me occupied. But right when I got off the plane (totaling about 20 hours) some of the other people that were studying abroad from other UCs approached me. So in retrospect, I really lucked out in always having someone there who was going through the same thing. If I didn’t run into them I would have had to chill at the airport for 6+ hours, luckily we found this neat little hostel to stay at for the night! When I first stepped out of the airport the humidity was so bad I felt like I was breathing in water, and it felt like that for the first couple days but now I’m used to it.
Then the next week was spent playing tourists and getting to know the others in the group. The food here, or a good amount of it I think, is amazing in both quality and quantity. Except for chicken rice, which is sort of like their signature dish, I haven’t had the same thing twice yet. They have these places called Hawker centers, where its an area than all these food vendors congregate and sell cheap good food. Most the food here is a Chinese, Malay, and Indian food because those are the three biggest populations here. Side note: apparently, Mc.Donalds (they call is “Macs” here) and other western fast food restaurants are treated as a luxury so only people that are slightly better off eat there because one meal S$~5-6 dollars is twice the amount of a meal in a hawker center. Also my new favorite drink is now soursop guava- soursop is a kind of fruit? Maybe it was in the states before but I just discovered it now. Amazing.
But okay, besides eating tasty food all the time, we visited a ton of places around Singapore like museums and different ethnic areas like Little India and Arab street. One memory that is a bit traumatic happened by the mosque. We had some time before this Malay performance so a couple of us wandered around to the mosque because a festival was happening. I had expected to see like, people dancing or whatever but instead saw four sheep getting their heads chopped off! I felt like throwing up. And the sheeps’ blood was running like a river down into the streets. On that lovely note- we continued to do a massive load of culture intake and to be honest it was a bit too museum-ish for me. We did go to Sentosa though, which is like Singapore’s resort island. Actually, we went there once in the daytime and the other was for this foam party for new years, which was right on the beach and definitely rocked. I remember all these people dancing in the sand and in the foam pit getting absolutely crazy, and us doing the whole countdown soaking wet! There are pictures posted on facebook, but I will try to post more of them. Our batch of UC students, I think, are a lot of fun and I love hanging out with them. It works out really well too because when it comes to traveling, a lot of them know the languages of other Southeast Asian countries so navigating just got that much easier. Oh, and people here love to shop. It amazes me how a population that lives primarily in flats in super tall high rises can accumulate so much…stuff. I’m getting a bit tired of seeing malls left and right. One of my friends here, Jenny, put it quite nicely by saying Singapore is made of up 75% shopping malls, and the remaining 25% is food.
The people here are quite nice and once the ice is broken they actually do talk a lot. I’m having an incredibly hard time remembering/pronouncing people’s names because a lot are names like Sze Le or Jia Mai. I think the girls here are really pretty. A lot more feminine than America in how they act and dress. A good thing about Singapore is that because its so damn hot here, every day can be a let us dress cute and summery day- even when its thunder storming its hot! So as a result I think a lot of girls look classy cute when going to school. The guys…well the guys here are two years academically behind the girls, because when they finish high school, they have to go serve in the military for two years. It’s mandatory and I guess a lot are bitter about it, but I think it’s comforting to know that the guy sitting next to you in class knows how to operate a tank and kick someone’s ass if something was ever to come up. But uh… physically I think Americans guys look more the part than the Singaporeans. =)
One thing I really really love about Singapore is how incredibly safe it is here, it’s a huge change from Berkeley. I went from being too freaked out to shower at night because of peeping toms at Cal to an open dormitory where when I walk outside of my room it’s the outside and people go running at like 2 in the morning around campus. Because the punishments here are quite severe, most of the people, or at least the student population and other locals I have met, are really good. Apparently when everyone is a kid, the schools take them to the prisons to show them the caning room and the gallows (yeah the death penalty is carried out by hanging still). And in one of the shopping malls there is this huge stern looking man printed on cardboard with a caption that says (in regards to shoplifting)“A moment of greed, a LIFETIME of regret!” Its also amazing how clean it is, and its true that even though gum is allowed now, people don’t really chew it and as a result it isn’t on the streets.
This totally was not the case when I traveled to Malaysia this past weekend, which was awesome but in a different way. We first went to KL, short for Kuala Lumpur, their capital. It didn’t impress me incredibly to be honest- it was hectic and dirty with crazy taxi drivers that tried to rip us off, but if you look at it another way it was way more representative of asia than Singapore was. We saw the Petronas Towers (well now the tallest twin towers in the world). It’s quite beautiful, and I really like it because its perimiter is modeled after one of the main muslim symbols. To be able to integrate culture that well with building a skyscraper definitely impressed me. But my favorite part was going inside their national mosque. I never thought I would go into a mosque! We put on these robes that looked like moo moos and got barefoot and then proceded to walk inside and saw the big room where all the men prayed in 5 times a day. Really serene place and we learned a little about the Muslim faith. At night we just kicked it back at the hostel with some guys from Illinois and ate more dirt cheap yummy food. Then we headed to Malacca, which is still in Malaysia but a smaller, historic port town. Loved, Loved, Loved my time there! i think some of my favorite moments so far happened there. We stayed in Malacca’s Chinatown. This was like…hardcore Chinatown, all the buildings were the original ones with the open drains for everything out in the front, with narrow winding streets and bikes everywhere. The bottom were shops selling stuff like herbs or trinkets while the top floor was where the shopkeepers lived. It was really cool because I think it was how my family back in Asia used to live so it was awesome to get a feel for what it was like. At night we went to their night market, which is basically what the title says it is- a bunch of vendors selling stuff at night with more food. The cool thing was by the night market there was this open karaoke stage where anyone could go up and sing, and so all these old people were lined up to sing their fav. Chinese oldies while chairs were set up so others in the community could hear. It was so effin awesome just to like…sit their with them and chill and be and enjoy life with the locals. I have a few pictures but it really doesn’t capture the feeling. Later that night we went to a live music bar and they played some American oldies so our entire group just like got up and went crazy and provided some high class entertainment for the locals that were there haha, and later we ended up partying with this local old man who basically still had the spirit of a 20 yr old & told us about his life n stuff! The whole night was just so…I dunno… chill and fun! I definitely loved it. But the next day we visited a church which was just as amazing. It was on top of a hill and was a pain to walk there but it was definitely one of those places where you walk in and this feeling just comes over you. Well at least it came over me. It was actually church ruins, and inside the deteriorating structure was this man who was singing and playing guitar. The music he was playing really hit the spot and just made the moment of standing in the old church something I won’t be forgetting for a while. Then he played a song for me! I was really happy.
I am leaving out a lot of stuff because this is already page three and if you bothered to read this far, well, thanks for being curious but I am afraid of boring you more. Oh! I’ve been going clubbing a lot so that’s a bit of a change for me! Every Wednesday it is ladies night so they lift the cover charge and at some even the drinks, so it’s a sweet deal and everyone goes out on this night. Apparently it’s part of the government’s initiative to get people to procreate. Just what I heard! Last night one of the locals who lives below me took a couple of us out to Zouk, which is like their most famous club aside from this one called Ministry of Sound- which I will check out on my birthday. Zouk was quite nice- it’s actually a complex of 3 or 4 clubs grouped into one so there were several types of music to choose from throughout the night, I tried a flaming lamborguini for the first time and was freaked out because it was on fire- haha I didn’t know it was actually supposed to be! Even though the drinking age is 18 in Singapore, turning 21 is still a huge deal. I asked why and everyone was just like, just because!
So something that has randomly happened is that I joined my hall’s volleyball team! They needed some extra players so I was like hey why not let’s do it. The dorms are really spirited here and so it was kind of nerve- racking when everyone was like cheering and yelling for their hall. But the best part is that they coach and communicate in Chinese mostly and I have no idea what they are saying! But the girls have been really nice about explaining stuff. Another thing- I had picked Singapore because I thought the people spoke English. They do but it’s a differen’t kind of English that took some time getting used to. (ie, they stick “la” at the end of a lot of their words, like “ok-la!”). And much of the spoken daily language is a mixture of Chinese, English, and Malay to varying degrees. I think its called Singlish.
I am leaving so many things out! Oh, classes started. Um…so far I think they are o.k. I’ve heard that people here are really competitive because everything is curved even the arts. We only meet once a week for classes though, so that was a nice surprise upon arriving here! I’m just continuing to take sociology classes and a class about Singapore…because I feel like since I’m here already, I should learn something about it right? Yeah.
With generally speaking favorable exchange rates, I am pretty excited to travel around southeast asia. My trip to Malaysia this past weekend cost less than $100! I want to go to all these places! But with the bombings and kidnapping, etc by the local terrorists groups here- several of the countries are out of the question. It’s actually really scary to be so close to the stuff that is happening.
Overall I really like it here and in Asia! There are these subtle differences that make it different that I am not mentioning such as eating places not providing napkins, half the toilets being squatting toilets (so like even girls pee standing), using a small plastic bag for take away drinks instead of a cup (it’s not “to go” here- it’s “take away”), the obsession with Milo (which is a chocolate milk kind of drink, they also sell it in the states but it consumed like water here) but all these small differences are adding up along with the bigger ones like culture and values which I am constantly learning a lot about. Having a group from CA really makes it a lot more fun because they are going through the same thing with me. It’s definitely making me realize and reconsider how Asian, or not Asian I am though!
Despite having a really good time here, I must say that I do miss home and Berkeley at times. Definitely felt that winter break was too short and that I was being hurled into something new without having enough time to relax and chill at home. Now that school has started again, I definitely miss hearing the Campanile concerts, boba runs, and the formal dinners at the theta house, just to name a few! I think on New Years I broke my camera- so I haven’t been being a diligent picture taker, but am working on getting it fixed soon. I definitely feel like this email isn’t doing Singapore justice but I just need to send one out! Okay and if you have the time, write back and tell me how your life is going too! =) I would love to hear from people back in the states, even a short paragraph would be awesome and appreciated!
Missing you and much love,
- Teresa
Monday, October 29, 2007
About the past 4 or 5 previous postings
So the last few postings were email excerpts about my trip earlier this year. They are choppy, convoluted, and terribly incomplete. Yet, it makes me happy to remember that I recorded some of the experiences down. Maybe the job isn't to accurately record every aspect of an experience, but remember the ones that meant the most and were occupying my thoughts during those days and moments. Therefore, they would essentially be pieces, with many of its counterparts missing in print and only in my mind, of what made returning to Asia such a special time in my life.
Cambodia memories
oke up at 3:40am today to get to the airport to take a flight into Cambodia! in cambodia, we took taxis and tuk tuks around everywhere trying to get the vietnam visa settled. My passport is now full of lovely stickers from everywhere =) We ate at this place that was run by an NGO today and all the money they earned went towards this charity for running a home for street children that was write behind the restaurant. And the waiters and chefs were the older streechildren who were being trained to work in the future. How cool is that? the food wasn't bad either...we had this kind of food called tapas and its basically like a bunch of small snacks like sun dried tomato hummus on wonton chips...stuff like that. It was yummy! Reminded me a bit of hte food i eat in california
Thailand Memories
Bangkok so isn't what I expected it to be, it is REALLY smoggy and I think my lungs must be black now. But I saw the future king today! That was after almost getting heat stroke from waiting at the palace in the sweltering heat for what seemed to be a lifetime. And afterwards I saw an old man feeding pigeons and it made me happy, way more happy than the king did actually.
Today was a lot of fun! A van picked us up in the morning along with, surprisingly, other people who were from America. It was a bit refreshing just randomly meeting people who was from the same country in such a far away place. Together, we drove into the jungle and first stopped at an elephant farm. The elephant's skin felt a bit like dried up mud or rough paper with bristles sticking out! We rode one around the hill, but my favorite part was the end when we got to feed them bananas. The elephants grabbed bananas with their long noses and put it into their mouths beneath. It was so cool! Might have actually been my favorite part of the day. Then we headed further up the mountain and neared the river. We boarded bamboo rafts and then went down stream. It was a peaceful, tranquil ride that was often interrupted by families and children wading in the water and engaged us into water warfare. Needless to say, we were completely soaked (once again!) After grabbing a quick but delicious lunch of thai food, we went hiking in the hills and I made the stupid mistake of going most of the way in flip flops. But it's all good, I changed into sneakers and made it to the waterfall which actually wasn't all that impressive but the exercise was good. What I really liked though, was walking to through the countryside to visit two villages. One of the villages specialized in making cloth, and there were roosters and pigs running freely around. I bought a bracelet from this little girl because she made it, hopefully it won't break!
For dinner, I had a bowl of noodles close by to the hostel because we didn't want to travel far. The food tastes a lot like Chinese food actually. Tomorrow we are heading up to some cities north of Chiang Mai, and maybe even go into Myanmar! Not sure about that part though.
It is now early morning in Chiang Mai and we are waiting to go on our trekking adventure into the hills! Yesterday was so much fun as it was Thai New Year and they celebrate it in a festival called Songkran. They were not kidding about how wet and crazy it gets, we got soaked to the bone several times ALL DAY LONG as the streets were packed with people throwing water on each other in super soakers, hoses, buckets, etc! Food is delicious as well. We happened to find really good cheap restaurants for Thai food in beteween walking around the city and looking at the Wats (temples). So gorgeous they were too!
Oh, you should see these pants that I bought. They were called fisherman pants, but I call them grandma fat pants. I'm wearing them right now because they are super comfy, and it is a shame they make me look like an auntie. I think you will laugh if you see them! But I like a lot.
Today was a lot of fun! A van picked us up in the morning along with, surprisingly, other people who were from America. It was a bit refreshing just randomly meeting people who was from the same country in such a far away place. Together, we drove into the jungle and first stopped at an elephant farm. The elephant's skin felt a bit like dried up mud or rough paper with bristles sticking out! We rode one around the hill, but my favorite part was the end when we got to feed them bananas. The elephants grabbed bananas with their long noses and put it into their mouths beneath. It was so cool! Might have actually been my favorite part of the day. Then we headed further up the mountain and neared the river. We boarded bamboo rafts and then went down stream. It was a peaceful, tranquil ride that was often interrupted by families and children wading in the water and engaged us into water warfare. Needless to say, we were completely soaked (once again!) After grabbing a quick but delicious lunch of thai food, we went hiking in the hills and I made the stupid mistake of going most of the way in flip flops. But it's all good, I changed into sneakers and made it to the waterfall which actually wasn't all that impressive but the exercise was good. What I really liked though, was walking to through the countryside to visit two villages. One of the villages specialized in making cloth, and there were roosters and pigs running freely around. I bought a bracelet from this little girl because she made it, hopefully it won't break!
For dinner, I had a bowl of noodles close by to the hostel because we didn't want to travel far. The food tastes a lot like Chinese food actually. Tomorrow we are heading up to some cities north of Chiang Mai, and maybe even go into Myanmar! Not sure about that part though.
It is now early morning in Chiang Mai and we are waiting to go on our trekking adventure into the hills! Yesterday was so much fun as it was Thai New Year and they celebrate it in a festival called Songkran. They were not kidding about how wet and crazy it gets, we got soaked to the bone several times ALL DAY LONG as the streets were packed with people throwing water on each other in super soakers, hoses, buckets, etc! Food is delicious as well. We happened to find really good cheap restaurants for Thai food in beteween walking around the city and looking at the Wats (temples). So gorgeous they were too!
Oh, you should see these pants that I bought. They were called fisherman pants, but I call them grandma fat pants. I'm wearing them right now because they are super comfy, and it is a shame they make me look like an auntie. I think you will laugh if you see them! But I like a lot.
Southern China memories
I FINALLY found an internet place
(after like 2 days of looking around) that has a WEBCAM and was really
excited. Should have been good news right? Except one problem persists:
the entire computer and all its programs are in CHINESE and I cannot
understand any of it! Could barely make it onto the web and for some
reason the Yahoo site is blocked. And I don't think it has Skype or MSN
messenger! aiiyiah. Anyways, by now you
probably guessed that I have made it safely into China, right now I am in
this city called Guilin and just left another city called Nanning. It
kind of sucks not knowing Mandaring because there is absolutely NO
English! Just tonight a group of guys (the taxi driver, security guard for
the hotel, and other rickshaw drivers) were laughing at me in a circle
when they found out I couldn't speak Chinese. I was like um...thanks guys
for making me feel welcome. But it's true when i say that I will be
totally lost here if it wasn't for my mom who knows at least enough to get
around. The scenery again is really beautiful though. The past two days I
spent many hours on a bus and enjoyed looking at the passing
countryside/rice patty fields/mountains/vilages/rivers/lakes/etc. The city
of Nanning looked actually a lot like Singapore to me, except a dirtier
and more chaotic version. Guilin...hm...i don't know how it looks like yet
because by the time we got here it was dark.
(after like 2 days of looking around) that has a WEBCAM and was really
excited. Should have been good news right? Except one problem persists:
the entire computer and all its programs are in CHINESE and I cannot
understand any of it! Could barely make it onto the web and for some
reason the Yahoo site is blocked. And I don't think it has Skype or MSN
messenger! aiiyiah. Anyways, by now you
probably guessed that I have made it safely into China, right now I am in
this city called Guilin and just left another city called Nanning. It
kind of sucks not knowing Mandaring because there is absolutely NO
English! Just tonight a group of guys (the taxi driver, security guard for
the hotel, and other rickshaw drivers) were laughing at me in a circle
when they found out I couldn't speak Chinese. I was like um...thanks guys
for making me feel welcome. But it's true when i say that I will be
totally lost here if it wasn't for my mom who knows at least enough to get
around. The scenery again is really beautiful though. The past two days I
spent many hours on a bus and enjoyed looking at the passing
countryside/rice patty fields/mountains/vilages/rivers/lakes/etc. The city
of Nanning looked actually a lot like Singapore to me, except a dirtier
and more chaotic version. Guilin...hm...i don't know how it looks like yet
because by the time we got here it was dark.
Hanoi, Vietnam memories
We got stood up at
the airport by this hotel that was supposed to be there and pick us
up...so we had to scramble to find another one and by the time we got
there it was pretty late. I am in Hanoi, Vietnam right now! Haven't seen
ANY of it yet, because it is still evening we spent yesterday getting
there. The buildings here are very narrow and tall though..something about
the property tax being based on the width of the building..not sure. The last day in Cambodia was uneventful, as my mother and I are
both down with colds we just spent it hanging around the hotel and
somewhat walking around the town for a bit. There is this store in
Cambodia that especially sells crafts that are made by disabled people
from villages, which I thought was cool. Actually another cool thing I
really liked about Cambodia in general was the amount of NGOs that are
there to help out the country. We ate at this restaurant called Friends,
which was a restaurant where they trained street children to work in the
restaurant business so they were the waiters, hostesses, and even the
chefs who created the menu! Bought a used book called Lord of the Flies to
read...it was highschool reading but I never did it so I figured now might
be the time to catch up. So far it hasn't been bad but I think there is a
lot of symbolism in there that I am not getting yet.
Well the reason why I didn't write yesterday was because it was spent
dealing with the chinese embassy bureaucracy which wasn't too fun. Today
will be about the same as we have to go back there again, after spending
this whole morning there as well. Anyways, so I have just been spending
online looking for jobs and what I could possibly do when I get back home.
It's starting to hit that perhaps I am way too idealistic for my own good.
Maybe it's time to buckle down and accept reality you know? Kinda
realizing that I need to learn a lot more about the real
world/business/etc if I'm ever going to really get somewhere. I guess just
having dreams isn't good enough if there is no way for them to ever become
concrete hehe! Hopefully I can find a way to integrate my dreams with
reality...i think that will be my goal. One of my fears though is that
after begining working, I will just let my dreams go and just fall into
the cycle of wake up, work, go home, eat, sleep, wake up, etc.
Overall, I like the city of Hanoi, Vietnam. There are a lot of cafe's
everywhere as well as art galleries. At the same time, there at A LOT of
motorcycles! I'm starting to master the art of walking across the street
while motorcycles come roaring by and around me, because no one seems to
care much about the stop lights.
Today we got in a minivan and it drove us to Halong Bay in
Vietnam. Then we got on a boat and cruised around it...and it was
gorgeous! Love love loved it, there were just many many lush green islands
all around us and the water is really calm and the sky was blue and the
whole ordeal was just so nice and peaceful! Got a bit of a sunburn though
i think. And on the way to one of the bigger islands there were a lot of
the fishing "kelongs" you told me about...like the ones we saw at Palau
Ubin. I bet they catch the fish we ate on the boat. It is actually a
decently popular option to spend the night on the boat out in the bay. My
mom and I decided to spend it on the island instead, but I think a night
out on a boat in the bay would have been really romantic for couples...the
sky would have been amazing to say the least! Can you imagine all the
stars that a person would be able to see while lying on the deck of the
boat at night? Some trouble...i was having issues trying to find Orion's
Belt tonight in the sky. There were too many stars so I could figure out
which one was what!
I'm back from Halong Bay now, and am now back at the
hotel in Hanoi. Halong Bay is truly a gorgeous place, I would definitely
reccomend it to you if you were ever feeling the want to travel to
Vietnam. Another part that was cool about the past two days was that I got
to meet other travellers from Malaysia, Denmark, Italy, Australia, and
Holland! It was cool how people all over the world, who on most other days
live lives thousands of miles away from each other, come together all on a
boat to experience one of the wonders of nature. Today was a bit more
cloudy than yesterday, but I liked how the photos looked more today for
some reason. I told the other travellers a lot about why I liked Singapore
and I think they are more interested going there now!
the airport by this hotel that was supposed to be there and pick us
up...so we had to scramble to find another one and by the time we got
there it was pretty late. I am in Hanoi, Vietnam right now! Haven't seen
ANY of it yet, because it is still evening we spent yesterday getting
there. The buildings here are very narrow and tall though..something about
the property tax being based on the width of the building..not sure. The last day in Cambodia was uneventful, as my mother and I are
both down with colds we just spent it hanging around the hotel and
somewhat walking around the town for a bit. There is this store in
Cambodia that especially sells crafts that are made by disabled people
from villages, which I thought was cool. Actually another cool thing I
really liked about Cambodia in general was the amount of NGOs that are
there to help out the country. We ate at this restaurant called Friends,
which was a restaurant where they trained street children to work in the
restaurant business so they were the waiters, hostesses, and even the
chefs who created the menu! Bought a used book called Lord of the Flies to
read...it was highschool reading but I never did it so I figured now might
be the time to catch up. So far it hasn't been bad but I think there is a
lot of symbolism in there that I am not getting yet.
Well the reason why I didn't write yesterday was because it was spent
dealing with the chinese embassy bureaucracy which wasn't too fun. Today
will be about the same as we have to go back there again, after spending
this whole morning there as well. Anyways, so I have just been spending
online looking for jobs and what I could possibly do when I get back home.
It's starting to hit that perhaps I am way too idealistic for my own good.
Maybe it's time to buckle down and accept reality you know? Kinda
realizing that I need to learn a lot more about the real
world/business/etc if I'm ever going to really get somewhere. I guess just
having dreams isn't good enough if there is no way for them to ever become
concrete hehe! Hopefully I can find a way to integrate my dreams with
reality...i think that will be my goal. One of my fears though is that
after begining working, I will just let my dreams go and just fall into
the cycle of wake up, work, go home, eat, sleep, wake up, etc.
Overall, I like the city of Hanoi, Vietnam. There are a lot of cafe's
everywhere as well as art galleries. At the same time, there at A LOT of
motorcycles! I'm starting to master the art of walking across the street
while motorcycles come roaring by and around me, because no one seems to
care much about the stop lights.
Today we got in a minivan and it drove us to Halong Bay in
Vietnam. Then we got on a boat and cruised around it...and it was
gorgeous! Love love loved it, there were just many many lush green islands
all around us and the water is really calm and the sky was blue and the
whole ordeal was just so nice and peaceful! Got a bit of a sunburn though
i think. And on the way to one of the bigger islands there were a lot of
the fishing "kelongs" you told me about...like the ones we saw at Palau
Ubin. I bet they catch the fish we ate on the boat. It is actually a
decently popular option to spend the night on the boat out in the bay. My
mom and I decided to spend it on the island instead, but I think a night
out on a boat in the bay would have been really romantic for couples...the
sky would have been amazing to say the least! Can you imagine all the
stars that a person would be able to see while lying on the deck of the
boat at night? Some trouble...i was having issues trying to find Orion's
Belt tonight in the sky. There were too many stars so I could figure out
which one was what!
I'm back from Halong Bay now, and am now back at the
hotel in Hanoi. Halong Bay is truly a gorgeous place, I would definitely
reccomend it to you if you were ever feeling the want to travel to
Vietnam. Another part that was cool about the past two days was that I got
to meet other travellers from Malaysia, Denmark, Italy, Australia, and
Holland! It was cool how people all over the world, who on most other days
live lives thousands of miles away from each other, come together all on a
boat to experience one of the wonders of nature. Today was a bit more
cloudy than yesterday, but I liked how the photos looked more today for
some reason. I told the other travellers a lot about why I liked Singapore
and I think they are more interested going there now!
Myanmar thoughts
Greetings from Myanmar! I think out of all the countries I have visited in southeast asia...this one was the biggest culture and standard of living difference that I have experienced. The men here all wear towel like skirts called longees and so do the women and the cars are all 20 years old it seems. There are no big shopping malls or chain stores/restaurants and poverty is everywhere. It is seriously like stepping back 50 years. But we went to a temple today and it was the grandest most beautiful untouristy thing I have ever seen.
I haven't been eating
a lot lately because my mom refuses to eat at places that are outside or
the local food stalls by the road...something about food poisoning.But
honestly if like 95% of the population eats at those places it can't
possibly be that bad. It probably is where the best food is too! But in
Myanmar about 95% of places are like that, so it might become an issue.
However, I'm excited to see more
of Myanmar though! It's a good place to do some soul searching and just
reflecting about life as we know it...because it is SO differnet here it
seems. I'm heading back to the airport and flying to a different part of
Myanmar in a couple hours
so I am in another part of Myanmar right now...my mom and I were
supposed to rent a boat today and go out to this lake...except I got
really sick and had to spend all day today in bed! Doesn't that stink? May
have spoken too soon about the food hehe. I have a fever and just spent
today reading The Da Vinci Code while everyone else at the hostel went to
the lake and had fun. It's a pretty good book though I must say.
Yesterday I was freaked out on the plane
because it was a propeller plane and I have never taken one that small
before. The airport we landed in was literally in the middle of nowhere,
as it was just a house surrounded by grassland...it took an hour on a
sketchy taxi ride to get to this lake! But it was cool as we got to pass
through villages and see oxen pulling carts and the like.
I was literally in bed the entire
day and night! well...besides the hour when I was put into a jeep and sent
to a doctor in town. I haven't been this sick in a while actually. This
doctors office, let me tell you, is like nothing you have ever seen before
(at least I haven't seen it before). It was about the size of two of your
rooms, and on the dirt caked walls were hanging cobwebs. It was dark and
all the tools like thermometer and scissors and whatnot were just strewn
across this old wooden table. I really hoped he cleaned the thermometer
befor he stuck it in my mouth...it wasn't a disposable one and can you
imagine all the mouths it has b een in? The doctor himself was just in an
undershirt and didn't know English that well. But whatever he gave me some
medicine. I took the medicine later that night and it made me puke!What
kind of medicine does that? so sketch. Aiyyiah i think i just have to wait
this one out. but the cool thing was riding in a Jeep..that was fun,
despite feeling sick, riding in a jeep is almost always a blast. So today
I just spent it again resting and started on another book, The Life of Pi.
It's quite famous in the states and pretty good so far. It's about a boy
who is stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a hyena and a
tiger.
Yesterday though still weak in the stomach I climbed into a speedboat and
went around a beautiful lake which was pretty awesome. It was huge,
serene, and filled with...floating tomato gardens and rice patties!
Surrounding boats around us had fishermen and people picking seaweed. We
stopped at several markets and some factories that showed us how cloth,
cigars, and umbrellas were made (a bit random but it was pretty
cool...seeing things transform from raw to good). But my favorite part was
just cruising around the lake and wishing you were there too. I think you
would like it...the water was blue and calm and clear so you can see the
fish and seaweed below if you look hard enough, and the skies had birds
with funny yellow beaks... and people waved as they passed by on other
boats. The village probably has some of the nicest people on the face of
this earth...when it was time to leave i was so sad to leave the
guesthouse because they treated us like family there!
I'm so sorry about the internet situation... it takes literally one minute
to get a page to load! I don't know what to do about it. Hopefully when I
leave Myanmar in a few days and go to Cambodia, it will be different.
The lake where I was at and actually Myanmar in general has probably been
the country most different to what I am used to.
Today I woke up at 620 to catch a plane and now I am back in the
capitol...it's much more crowded, dirty, and overall poor than the village
but our hotel is right smack in the center of everything so it's nice. My
mom read an article about people here using fabric dye instead of food dya
in the food and it is making people sick or something. So now i have no
idea what we are going to eat!
Well
like i said, I just got back from Myanmar and am back at the same hostel
in Thailand (if you ever find yourself in bangkok... i have a good hostel
for you) i hope that we will be able to use the webcam soon...as soon as i
find an internet place with one and figure out how to use it...my face
will be in that cam before you can say cheese! hopefully it will work =)
are webcams hard to set up?
Myanmar overall was the most different experience...it made me really miss
the luxuries of Singapore and home...just simple things like having
consistent electricity (i was showering and everything just blacked out!)
or having internet that works and a workable infrastructure...i definitely
appreciate those things a lot more now.
I haven't been eating
a lot lately because my mom refuses to eat at places that are outside or
the local food stalls by the road...something about food poisoning.But
honestly if like 95% of the population eats at those places it can't
possibly be that bad. It probably is where the best food is too! But in
Myanmar about 95% of places are like that, so it might become an issue.
However, I'm excited to see more
of Myanmar though! It's a good place to do some soul searching and just
reflecting about life as we know it...because it is SO differnet here it
seems. I'm heading back to the airport and flying to a different part of
Myanmar in a couple hours
so I am in another part of Myanmar right now...my mom and I were
supposed to rent a boat today and go out to this lake...except I got
really sick and had to spend all day today in bed! Doesn't that stink? May
have spoken too soon about the food hehe. I have a fever and just spent
today reading The Da Vinci Code while everyone else at the hostel went to
the lake and had fun. It's a pretty good book though I must say.
Yesterday I was freaked out on the plane
because it was a propeller plane and I have never taken one that small
before. The airport we landed in was literally in the middle of nowhere,
as it was just a house surrounded by grassland...it took an hour on a
sketchy taxi ride to get to this lake! But it was cool as we got to pass
through villages and see oxen pulling carts and the like.
I was literally in bed the entire
day and night! well...besides the hour when I was put into a jeep and sent
to a doctor in town. I haven't been this sick in a while actually. This
doctors office, let me tell you, is like nothing you have ever seen before
(at least I haven't seen it before). It was about the size of two of your
rooms, and on the dirt caked walls were hanging cobwebs. It was dark and
all the tools like thermometer and scissors and whatnot were just strewn
across this old wooden table. I really hoped he cleaned the thermometer
befor he stuck it in my mouth...it wasn't a disposable one and can you
imagine all the mouths it has b een in? The doctor himself was just in an
undershirt and didn't know English that well. But whatever he gave me some
medicine. I took the medicine later that night and it made me puke!What
kind of medicine does that? so sketch. Aiyyiah i think i just have to wait
this one out. but the cool thing was riding in a Jeep..that was fun,
despite feeling sick, riding in a jeep is almost always a blast. So today
I just spent it again resting and started on another book, The Life of Pi.
It's quite famous in the states and pretty good so far. It's about a boy
who is stranded in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a hyena and a
tiger.
Yesterday though still weak in the stomach I climbed into a speedboat and
went around a beautiful lake which was pretty awesome. It was huge,
serene, and filled with...floating tomato gardens and rice patties!
Surrounding boats around us had fishermen and people picking seaweed. We
stopped at several markets and some factories that showed us how cloth,
cigars, and umbrellas were made (a bit random but it was pretty
cool...seeing things transform from raw to good). But my favorite part was
just cruising around the lake and wishing you were there too. I think you
would like it...the water was blue and calm and clear so you can see the
fish and seaweed below if you look hard enough, and the skies had birds
with funny yellow beaks... and people waved as they passed by on other
boats. The village probably has some of the nicest people on the face of
this earth...when it was time to leave i was so sad to leave the
guesthouse because they treated us like family there!
I'm so sorry about the internet situation... it takes literally one minute
to get a page to load! I don't know what to do about it. Hopefully when I
leave Myanmar in a few days and go to Cambodia, it will be different.
The lake where I was at and actually Myanmar in general has probably been
the country most different to what I am used to.
Today I woke up at 620 to catch a plane and now I am back in the
capitol...it's much more crowded, dirty, and overall poor than the village
but our hotel is right smack in the center of everything so it's nice. My
mom read an article about people here using fabric dye instead of food dya
in the food and it is making people sick or something. So now i have no
idea what we are going to eat!
Well
like i said, I just got back from Myanmar and am back at the same hostel
in Thailand (if you ever find yourself in bangkok... i have a good hostel
for you) i hope that we will be able to use the webcam soon...as soon as i
find an internet place with one and figure out how to use it...my face
will be in that cam before you can say cheese! hopefully it will work =)
are webcams hard to set up?
Myanmar overall was the most different experience...it made me really miss
the luxuries of Singapore and home...just simple things like having
consistent electricity (i was showering and everything just blacked out!)
or having internet that works and a workable infrastructure...i definitely
appreciate those things a lot more now.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
ha so looking back on this...blog that I have so enthusiastically started in the spring months, I now regret not continuing it. I am a writer of the blog either during moments of emo-ness or sentimentality, neither of which I really felt until AFTER leaving Asia. And now I am emo because I wasn't emo enough to record my memories in a sentimental manner, thus leaving me with pictures sans words. Great.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
SINGAPORE: Adventures in the red light district
Since I wrote my research paper on Singaporean sex work, it was only natural to pay a visit to their red light districts. I went with one of my white male friends, so it was also only natural that the men thought he was my client. Oh... the things I do for sociology. Love it.
The district was what you'd expect a redlight district to look like. Dim, sketchy, and skillfully hidden away from the general view. One has to duck into small alleyways, observe a little closer, and it is like a whole underworld opens up. From one view, the street looks like any busy street filled with coffee shops and outdoor restaurants with people. However, take a closer look... the women standing on the street would occasionally pull a male passerby close to her and whisper ($90?yes?), in the coffee shops you could see that a group consists of a group of old men and one young female, in front of what looks like regular condos are numbers painted red (signifying they are indeed brothels). After awhile you could distringuish who were the guys out for sex, and those who were selling the sex to the guys.
Taxi drivers are worth dedicating an entire paper, as many night shift actually are the pimps of the brothels!
We visited two of the districts, though there are more. The first one catered to the wealthier classes, while the second clearly was for the lower classes as one could tell by the deteriorating architecture, and the men that were there.
We also discovered the hang out night spot for the migrant malay workers that night as well, coincidentally (or not?) located right next to the red light district.
You would think that a country that historically banned gum and so many other things would ban sex work. Nope. Maybe it's banned in the law books, but the enforced policy is one of containment, and not of abolishment.
Overall though, this is 10 times tamer than what I saw at Patong Beach, Thailand.
The district was what you'd expect a redlight district to look like. Dim, sketchy, and skillfully hidden away from the general view. One has to duck into small alleyways, observe a little closer, and it is like a whole underworld opens up. From one view, the street looks like any busy street filled with coffee shops and outdoor restaurants with people. However, take a closer look... the women standing on the street would occasionally pull a male passerby close to her and whisper ($90?yes?), in the coffee shops you could see that a group consists of a group of old men and one young female, in front of what looks like regular condos are numbers painted red (signifying they are indeed brothels). After awhile you could distringuish who were the guys out for sex, and those who were selling the sex to the guys.
Taxi drivers are worth dedicating an entire paper, as many night shift actually are the pimps of the brothels!
We visited two of the districts, though there are more. The first one catered to the wealthier classes, while the second clearly was for the lower classes as one could tell by the deteriorating architecture, and the men that were there.
We also discovered the hang out night spot for the migrant malay workers that night as well, coincidentally (or not?) located right next to the red light district.
You would think that a country that historically banned gum and so many other things would ban sex work. Nope. Maybe it's banned in the law books, but the enforced policy is one of containment, and not of abolishment.
Overall though, this is 10 times tamer than what I saw at Patong Beach, Thailand.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
SINGA: My 21st Birthday! woohoo!
It's January 24th and I am 21, in Singapore! That was super sweet. I was a bit sad at first to not be at home because all my birthdays have been awesome, and I wasn't sure how this one was going to work out. It was also Donna's birthday, and Wynn's was just around the corner so it was like a party x 3!
We kicked off the night eating Muslim food at a favorite hang out place for students here, The Cheese Prata Shop. Later, we had a scrumptious mango cake.
Prior to getting into the taxis, we had a little photoshoot. I was excited to see what this place looked like!
I'm feeling loved =) These girls are awesome!
The gorgeous girls!
Beauty on the outside, pain and blisters on the inside. So worth it though.
We arrived to the club and explored. I liked this club because similar to Zouk, there were differnet rooms playing different genres of music with the appropiate decor. We started in the 80s, but then went over to (what i think) was the gay scene, then found this all white room complete with white beds and chairs where people were lounging on, then found the hip hop room downstairs. We didn't make it to all actually, I think there were several more.
This was the gay scene room. I liked the dancefloor in this room
Check out these hanging chairs and my first cosmo =)
And with that, I am now officially 21!
We kicked off the night eating Muslim food at a favorite hang out place for students here, The Cheese Prata Shop. Later, we had a scrumptious mango cake.
Prior to getting into the taxis, we had a little photoshoot. I was excited to see what this place looked like!
I'm feeling loved =) These girls are awesome!
The gorgeous girls!
Beauty on the outside, pain and blisters on the inside. So worth it though.
We arrived to the club and explored. I liked this club because similar to Zouk, there were differnet rooms playing different genres of music with the appropiate decor. We started in the 80s, but then went over to (what i think) was the gay scene, then found this all white room complete with white beds and chairs where people were lounging on, then found the hip hop room downstairs. We didn't make it to all actually, I think there were several more.
This was the gay scene room. I liked the dancefloor in this room
Check out these hanging chairs and my first cosmo =)
And with that, I am now officially 21!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
SINGAPORE: clubbing fun-the discovery of ladies night
Due to the declining population, Singapore has instituted a procreation policy to increase their numbers. One aspect of this policy is the implementation of ladies night, meaning that all the ladies get in free to all clubs on Wednesday nights. At any other time, alcohol is incredibly expensive (we are talking about $6 for the most basic beer at the supermarket), but on Wednesday, there is free flow going on at a lot of the clubs as well.
As a result, Wednesday is the coveted day for going out. This works out pretty well, since Singapore has some spiffy clubs.
Pretty ladies ready for a fun night out!
Nights at Dbl-O! This is usually the place where people begin their nights, because the alcohol is free. Usually known for having more international people than locals, the nights where we went were very representative of that. I don't really like their music though, it's not becuase it isn't the top 40 or whatever, but it's a bit too techno for my liking. I found a picture of their bar online though, we had a lot of good times right there!
Zouk- is actually a complex of several rooms each playing a differnet genre of music. Upon walking in it looks like an ice cave because there's this whole antartic theme they put on it seems. We went during their "mambo night" which was super fun and had a great selection of stuff from the 80s. The reason why it is called mambo night is because there are guys dancing on raised blocks doing all hand motions to the songs, and the crowd is supposed to follow it.
Amy, Jenny, and me. Good times!
Butter Factory- we went here because it for a hall function. It was a great location though, located right next to the river. Hm...i don't really have much to say about this place, but it was fun clubbing with people who lived in my hall. I remember a lot of dancing on the stage. Why is it that everywhere we go we always dance on the stage? The club itself had really weird decorations....like cartoons and masks plastered all over the place, a bit like Chuck-e-cheese. I found it a bit tacky and an attempt to go back to childhood memories? Why would you want to think about being a kid while at a club? Maybe that was what they were going for.
Anyways, the theme was Fight Night...so check out our toughest fight pose! haha just kidding. Jenny seems to have chosen peace over war. Smart girl!
It is so much easier to go clubbing in Singapore because it's like 10 times less sketch than America. Instead of needing guy friends to block off other guys, mostly everyone is really just out to have a good time with their friends. And you taxi all over the place, no need to figure out the driving/parking situation.
The club I liked the most actually is the Ministry of Sound, but I will talk about that in the post about my 21st birthday!
As a result, Wednesday is the coveted day for going out. This works out pretty well, since Singapore has some spiffy clubs.
Pretty ladies ready for a fun night out!
Nights at Dbl-O! This is usually the place where people begin their nights, because the alcohol is free. Usually known for having more international people than locals, the nights where we went were very representative of that. I don't really like their music though, it's not becuase it isn't the top 40 or whatever, but it's a bit too techno for my liking. I found a picture of their bar online though, we had a lot of good times right there!
Zouk- is actually a complex of several rooms each playing a differnet genre of music. Upon walking in it looks like an ice cave because there's this whole antartic theme they put on it seems. We went during their "mambo night" which was super fun and had a great selection of stuff from the 80s. The reason why it is called mambo night is because there are guys dancing on raised blocks doing all hand motions to the songs, and the crowd is supposed to follow it.
Amy, Jenny, and me. Good times!
Butter Factory- we went here because it for a hall function. It was a great location though, located right next to the river. Hm...i don't really have much to say about this place, but it was fun clubbing with people who lived in my hall. I remember a lot of dancing on the stage. Why is it that everywhere we go we always dance on the stage? The club itself had really weird decorations....like cartoons and masks plastered all over the place, a bit like Chuck-e-cheese. I found it a bit tacky and an attempt to go back to childhood memories? Why would you want to think about being a kid while at a club? Maybe that was what they were going for.
Anyways, the theme was Fight Night...so check out our toughest fight pose! haha just kidding. Jenny seems to have chosen peace over war. Smart girl!
It is so much easier to go clubbing in Singapore because it's like 10 times less sketch than America. Instead of needing guy friends to block off other guys, mostly everyone is really just out to have a good time with their friends. And you taxi all over the place, no need to figure out the driving/parking situation.
The club I liked the most actually is the Ministry of Sound, but I will talk about that in the post about my 21st birthday!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
MALAYSIA: Melaka town love!! Amazing place
So... if city experiences could be graded, this one would be off the charts.
But first, come to think of it, I seriously have the worst luck with hostels. This one I booked for the group, looks quaint and rustic outside right? Total DUMP inside. Looked like a place where dead bodies could have been stored underneath the rotting floorboards. We rejected it.
To look on the bright side however, it forced our now homeless selves to look for another hostel, which we eventually found in the heart of Chinatown. Thank God we found it there. Spending a night in Malacca Chinatown = a-w-e-s-o-m-e.
Chinatown. I love it! My mom said this was how life used to be like back in Asia for our family. This is quite awesome, because I honestly have no idea how life was like for my family back then and if this comes close, then major snaps to that.
When night falls, the night is nowhere near over. It actually is just beginning! We, like the rest of the locals, wandered out for the night market, an entire street closed off for cheap vendors and food stalls selling the most delicious and unhealthy chinese food imaginable.
The best part of the night market was at the very end, where a OUTDOOR KARAOKE stage was set up and where old Chinese people got up on and sang to their requested song to the others in the community sitting in red plastic chairs. We sat and chilled amongst them and listened to Chinese oldies being sang. One of the most chill, amazing cultural experiences ever to just soak in the small town, simple village life, Chinese culture around us.
Tired from walking, we ended the night chilling at a live music bar, where out of drunken fun we wrote on the walls (don't worry it was encouraged there) and danced/sang obnoxiously loudly to the Beatles that the band was playing for us. We met two locals there and this old man is passing 60 and still parties hard every night. Right on.
The next day, we visited the ruins of the first church in Melaka. It was on top of a big hill and what seemed a thousand steps (k maybe hauling a heavy backpack and killer heat added to the steps). The space and atmosphere amongst these ruins was so serene and wonderful, one of those places where the past and present meet and I was right there experiencing it. There was a man playing guitar, who played a song just for me. He first sang an incredibly moving song in Tagalog, and then the next one in Chinese for me. I didn't want to leave!
And this has been great times in Malaysia, so far. I hope to go back at least one more time before leaving Southeast Asia!
But first, come to think of it, I seriously have the worst luck with hostels. This one I booked for the group, looks quaint and rustic outside right? Total DUMP inside. Looked like a place where dead bodies could have been stored underneath the rotting floorboards. We rejected it.
To look on the bright side however, it forced our now homeless selves to look for another hostel, which we eventually found in the heart of Chinatown. Thank God we found it there. Spending a night in Malacca Chinatown = a-w-e-s-o-m-e.
Chinatown. I love it! My mom said this was how life used to be like back in Asia for our family. This is quite awesome, because I honestly have no idea how life was like for my family back then and if this comes close, then major snaps to that.
When night falls, the night is nowhere near over. It actually is just beginning! We, like the rest of the locals, wandered out for the night market, an entire street closed off for cheap vendors and food stalls selling the most delicious and unhealthy chinese food imaginable.
The best part of the night market was at the very end, where a OUTDOOR KARAOKE stage was set up and where old Chinese people got up on and sang to their requested song to the others in the community sitting in red plastic chairs. We sat and chilled amongst them and listened to Chinese oldies being sang. One of the most chill, amazing cultural experiences ever to just soak in the small town, simple village life, Chinese culture around us.
Tired from walking, we ended the night chilling at a live music bar, where out of drunken fun we wrote on the walls (don't worry it was encouraged there) and danced/sang obnoxiously loudly to the Beatles that the band was playing for us. We met two locals there and this old man is passing 60 and still parties hard every night. Right on.
The next day, we visited the ruins of the first church in Melaka. It was on top of a big hill and what seemed a thousand steps (k maybe hauling a heavy backpack and killer heat added to the steps). The space and atmosphere amongst these ruins was so serene and wonderful, one of those places where the past and present meet and I was right there experiencing it. There was a man playing guitar, who played a song just for me. He first sang an incredibly moving song in Tagalog, and then the next one in Chinese for me. I didn't want to leave!
And this has been great times in Malaysia, so far. I hope to go back at least one more time before leaving Southeast Asia!
Monday, January 15, 2007
MALAYSIA: Chaotic Kuala Lumpur capitol
Singapore was fun, but come mid- Janurary, it was time to get out and start exploring the other countries. Malaysia was by far the easiest, as it require no plane, but just a 6 hour bus ride to reach its capitol, Kuala Lumpur. Unlike Singapore where most people speak either English or Chinese, the majority in Malaysia is Malay.
"Selemat datang!" (thank you...or was it welcome? i can't remember)
Although Singapore and Malaysia are neighbors, they are completely different from each other. Right after crossing the border, we were surrounded by miles of rainforest, and just as many miles of rubber plantations. The ride was long and the movie that was playing was in Malay and basically had a crying baby through the entire thing, horrible! Thankfully, Emily was there and we stayed entertained.
- Oh, and a lot of toilets in asia are SQUATTER toilets, meaning there are no seats, just a hole in the ground (but flushes)! I was like this isn't possible. But it is.
Finally we reached the Kuala Lumpur!
Three differences that are immediately noticed are the following;
1. dirtier- but any country is dirty after living in Singapore, no joke.
2. chaotic- it was bustling with people, taxi drivers yelling at you, jam packed streets- it got me very stressed out!
3. way more laid back
My experience in Kuala Lumpur could be summed up to the following: crazy taxi drivers, risking my life jay-walking across highways, eating CHEAP and DELICIOUS food, visiting inside a mosque, and the Petronas Towers (now, the tallest twin towers in the world).
It was time to explore!
haha yeah right, we were so going to eat first. See this street? It was lined with the restuarants serving mainly Chinese and Malay food, and also typical of what many of the streets look like in Kuala Lumpur. During both of our trips to Kuala Lumpur, we ate there. La-la, a favorite, are stirfried shells/mussels. Delicious! Don't forget chicken/beef satay either.
Okay, now we will go exploring.
In order to enter the mosque, it was required that we wear a robe to cover our bodies and a bonnet to cover our hair. However, as the picture reveals, my hair was not being very cooperative. Nevertheless, we entered the marble floored mosque and it was awesome. In sacred spaces such as these, there is a feeling that engulfes people. Sociologist Emile Durkheim might say it is sense of the separation between the sacred and profane that I felt. There were definitely physical markers between the sacred and the profane. wow. The muslin star symbol was everywhere, we had to enter barefoot to protect the cleanliness of the area, and even then we were not allowed onto the actual worshipping grounds. How fab that sociology theory is entering into my travels!
The Petronas Towers is known throughout the engineering world as one of the greatest structural building feats ever to be done. It really pays to have engineering friends, definitely made the trip of going up a tower much more interesting than just...taking an elevator up and taking some pictures. Jenny explained that it was the bridge connecting the two towers that was super hard to complete. Something else about the shape too I think (it's built bottom to top in a Muslim star shape). Whatever, I felt enlightened during the moment when it mattered.
Since we were nearly getting run over by cars and dealing with crazy taxi drivers, we needed time to chill back at the hostel. Thank God for times like these! This is my favorite pic taken in Kuala Lumpur.
Overall (and since I am writing this at a much later time after doing traveling to other places), Kuala Lumpur is not a favorite. It was still cool nonetheless. Onto Malacca now...which part of my heart might have been left at.
"Selemat datang!" (thank you...or was it welcome? i can't remember)
Although Singapore and Malaysia are neighbors, they are completely different from each other. Right after crossing the border, we were surrounded by miles of rainforest, and just as many miles of rubber plantations. The ride was long and the movie that was playing was in Malay and basically had a crying baby through the entire thing, horrible! Thankfully, Emily was there and we stayed entertained.
- Oh, and a lot of toilets in asia are SQUATTER toilets, meaning there are no seats, just a hole in the ground (but flushes)! I was like this isn't possible. But it is.
Finally we reached the Kuala Lumpur!
Three differences that are immediately noticed are the following;
1. dirtier- but any country is dirty after living in Singapore, no joke.
2. chaotic- it was bustling with people, taxi drivers yelling at you, jam packed streets- it got me very stressed out!
3. way more laid back
My experience in Kuala Lumpur could be summed up to the following: crazy taxi drivers, risking my life jay-walking across highways, eating CHEAP and DELICIOUS food, visiting inside a mosque, and the Petronas Towers (now, the tallest twin towers in the world).
It was time to explore!
haha yeah right, we were so going to eat first. See this street? It was lined with the restuarants serving mainly Chinese and Malay food, and also typical of what many of the streets look like in Kuala Lumpur. During both of our trips to Kuala Lumpur, we ate there. La-la, a favorite, are stirfried shells/mussels. Delicious! Don't forget chicken/beef satay either.
Okay, now we will go exploring.
In order to enter the mosque, it was required that we wear a robe to cover our bodies and a bonnet to cover our hair. However, as the picture reveals, my hair was not being very cooperative. Nevertheless, we entered the marble floored mosque and it was awesome. In sacred spaces such as these, there is a feeling that engulfes people. Sociologist Emile Durkheim might say it is sense of the separation between the sacred and profane that I felt. There were definitely physical markers between the sacred and the profane. wow. The muslin star symbol was everywhere, we had to enter barefoot to protect the cleanliness of the area, and even then we were not allowed onto the actual worshipping grounds. How fab that sociology theory is entering into my travels!
The Petronas Towers is known throughout the engineering world as one of the greatest structural building feats ever to be done. It really pays to have engineering friends, definitely made the trip of going up a tower much more interesting than just...taking an elevator up and taking some pictures. Jenny explained that it was the bridge connecting the two towers that was super hard to complete. Something else about the shape too I think (it's built bottom to top in a Muslim star shape). Whatever, I felt enlightened during the moment when it mattered.
Since we were nearly getting run over by cars and dealing with crazy taxi drivers, we needed time to chill back at the hostel. Thank God for times like these! This is my favorite pic taken in Kuala Lumpur.
Overall (and since I am writing this at a much later time after doing traveling to other places), Kuala Lumpur is not a favorite. It was still cool nonetheless. Onto Malacca now...which part of my heart might have been left at.
Monday, January 01, 2007
SINGAPORE: New years foam partay!!
New Years soon came up and we were like hm...what to do, what to do...
I was sad that I would be missing spending New Years
We didn't have to think long before arriving to the conclusion that we should go to Singapore's Sentosa Island's Foam Party on the beach!
I almost killed my camera because everythng was soaked and foam was flying everywhere, you couldn't even see, I fell at least 10 times. But it was so much fun dancing the night away with newfound friends and then doing the countdown to 2007 on the sandy shores of a resort island!
(This was taken during the countdown! yay to celebrating the new year halfway around the world!!!)
(foam flying all over the place!)
(can you find me?)
(new friends Samantha, Jenny, Cassy, and Kyle!)
And with that, we were ready to kick off the new year
I was sad that I would be missing spending New Years
We didn't have to think long before arriving to the conclusion that we should go to Singapore's Sentosa Island's Foam Party on the beach!
I almost killed my camera because everythng was soaked and foam was flying everywhere, you couldn't even see, I fell at least 10 times. But it was so much fun dancing the night away with newfound friends and then doing the countdown to 2007 on the sandy shores of a resort island!
(This was taken during the countdown! yay to celebrating the new year halfway around the world!!!)
(foam flying all over the place!)
(can you find me?)
(new friends Samantha, Jenny, Cassy, and Kyle!)
And with that, we were ready to kick off the new year
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