Singapore

Disclaimer: I really enjoyed Singapore, this post will mostly glorify things that seem normal to most western countries. This, in turn, is likely due to the amount of time I have spent in Vietnam/Cambodia. Those of you who have been living in Asia will probably appreciate the differences I mention more than our western counterparts who are used to the following benefits of living in western countries and who have yet to live abroad.

We took a bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore and once again, the bus was luxurious making for a smooth ride, even for Sophea. Crossing into Singapore highlighted the technological advances between the previous three countries of the trip (Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia), there were scanners for an individual to use for their passport if they were Singaporean, allowing for more efficient border crossings. Also, the really nice thing about both Malaysia and Singapore is they only put in a small stamp in your passport, they do not take up an entire page like Vietnam and Cambodia. Lastly, they also did not charge a fee for the travel visa, an unexpected benefit for me, though we knew for Sophea it would be free since these countries are part of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Arriving in Singapore, we saw clean streets, clean buildings, less car and moto fumes, and sidewalks! Yes, there were also sidewalks in Malaysia too. In Vietnam there are sidewalks, sometimes, but usually they will be littered with motos, or sellers with their trinkets, making it impossible to walk without having to watch your next step. Constantly going back and forth between street and sidewalk until you get tired of it and just accept defeat and stick to the street. Nonetheless, I appreciated the ease of walking on the sidewalk.

There was also a subway which reminded me of my days at UC Berkeley taking the BART. I was happy to learn the subway in Singapore was much faster and more efficient than the BART, with the longest time he/she would have to wait for a train being a long 3 minutes (hope you catch my sarcasm). These 3 minutes were far better than the 15 to sometimes 30 minutes at the BART. It was Sophea's first time in a subway, so after the first day I explained it to her and showed her the map. By the second day she was able to navigate our way back to the hotel which included transferring trains as well. She also appreciated the subway as much as I did since usually she will get bothered by traveling in taxis.

One more great thing about Singapore, at the subway and at elevators, people actually stand on the sides of the doors, wait for people to exit the train/elevator, and once all of the passengers have finished exiting, only then do they board the train/elevator. Those of you who live in Southeast Asia know what I'm talking about. For example, today I was going down my elevator to go shopping and I reached the ground floor. The door opens and before I can even get out (there were only two of us in the elevator) people are coming into the elevator, blocking my exit. I do enjoy learning about other cultures and agree to following the majority or 99% of the customs of that country while in it. However, as time goes on I am learning there are certain differences that can become an annoyance after a while.

Streets had lanes. Most of the time, cars and motorbikes stuck to the lanes and followed the traffic laws. People obeyed red lights and green lights. In the near future I will highlight some of the annoyances and benefits of living in Vietnam as I am noticing this is becoming a recurring comparison throughout this blogpost.

Now, for the best of all. And I mean, THE BEST of all comparisons. Are you ready for it? I hope so. Drum roll please .................................................................... Da Ta DA!!!! There's soap in all the restrooms!! Even in the public restrooms there was soap!! I had never been so pleased with a restroom experience before in my life. I knew I could count on each restroom having soap. When I went to a restaurant, I knew I could rely on washing my hands there, no reason to ponder in thought when the last time it was that I washed my hands and what I had touched since then. No calculation had to be made guessing whether I'll get sick if my hands touch my food. Also, as a side note, there was toilet paper in each stall as well. It was not the kind of toilet paper that will make you regret your use of it, it was quality toilet paper. Though, I have to admit I no longer prefer toilet paper, "the shooter," as I like to call it, is much more efficient. Alright, that's enough bathroom talk if you're not grossed out already. Onto the trip.

The first day we took the subway to the marina and downtown area. We walked around, went into a mall and later ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant on the 60th floor. The restaurant had nice views but our table was not near the window. Despite this we still enjoyed our meal with some spicy food and fresh green tea poured in a unique fashion, take a look.

We both felt pity for this guy as nearly everyone in the restaurant had tea and this guy was the only one refilling it throughout the place. He certainly was an expert of his trade, we never got splashed with hot water. It was interesting to watch his accuracy as he had to place the spout near the edge of the tea cup because the speed of the water is much too fast to go into the middle, otherwise it would splash out. He had to carefully place the spout so the steaming water would swirl around in the cup.

After dinner we walked around the Quays which was the historical colonial trading center that the Singapore river ran through. Now it is a pristine area with tons of restaurants and bars. At night the lights of museums and modern buildings make for a pleasing sight to see. While walking along this area, these are some of the things we saw.

After walking around we decided to head over to Clark Quay for a drink at Brewerkz. It's a microbrew and I was really excited because my travel book said they sold an India Pale Ale. IPAs are indeed one of my favorite types of beers, and I have not had one since moving to Vietnam. The beer choices in Vietnam are the following: really bad lagers, drinkable lagers, and somewhat satisfying lager on a hot day. Stouts are available if you go specifically to a foreign brewery, I've been to one for my school's first happy hour, but the stout there was rather weak and disappointing. Take a look at the next picture to see how pleased I was upon sitting down at Brewerkz:

That's right, they had Stone Beer!! For those unfortunate souls who have yet to experience any of Stone's beer, they are a microbrewery in San Marcos, California which is about 30 minutes north of where I grew up. Stone makes amazing beers and I never imagined they would pop up in Singapore, but sure enough they were there. There were two sections on the menu dedicated to American beers, I wish I had the time and stomach to enjoy them all, but we unfortunately had only two days/nights in Singapore.

This is a picture of a happy man.

(It's rather dark, but Sophea was also happy with her frozen margarita, she was disappointed with the cocktails in Malaysia, but she was able to get her best frozen margarita of the trip at Brewerkz as well)

The following day was New Years Eve. During the day we took the subway and used our legs to see a Chinese temple, Thai Buddhist temple, Hindu temple, Fort Canning Park, the Quays, and Marina.

Hindu Temple

Fort Canning Park

(At the Quays)

(By far one of my favorite photos of the trip. This salmon was amazing, melted in your mouth and had a great barbacue sauce. Made me miss your home baked salmon Dad and Sheila!)

Sophea's favorite, salad. If she could, she'd eat salad every day.

This bridge eventually led to another bridge where we would enjoy fireworks after the countdown.

Our dinner for the night. As a precaution for anyone buying fresh seafood who is not accustomed to doing so, ensure you read the price of how many grams and how many kilos your seafood is. I'll just say I met an unwelcome surprise when I got the check and learned my lesson the hard way.

Happy New Year 2012!

And that my readers, was our New Years trip. New Years Day we took a bus from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur where we caught our flight to Phnom Penh. I spent half a day in Phnom Penh and went to Bak Kaeng, the place where he/she can eat on a mat overlooking the mekong river and can relax in hammocks. At 3pm I caught my bus back to Saigon.

Coming up soon, two weeks vacation in Cambodia. Also, if readers have any requests/questions please feel free to send them, happy to change things up or make relevant blogposts to reader's interests.

 

Malaysia, Overdue

Sorry for the lapse of time since writing. Rather than making excuses, I'll jump right to it. For Christmas and New Years Sophea and I went to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore. We had 9 days for vacation. The departure on December 24th turned out to be a lot more rough than I was anticipating. I took the usual bus ride from Saigon to Phnom Penh and we stopped at the same routine bus stop restaurant on Cambodia's border in Bavet. I ate chicken curry with rice as usual. While on the bus ride, my stomach wasn't feeling the best, but I've become accustomed to occasional stomach aches. I figured it was nothing. Sophea meets me at the bus stop and we head straight to the Phnom Penh airport to catch our flight to Kuala Lumpur. While at the airport, my stomach continues to worsen. Then, about 10 minutes before we board, I have a run in with the toilet and learn I'm sick. I return to board and while in line, it gets worse. Instead of the usual sickness, it turns out to be really bad food poisoning. I'm sick all along the flight, visiting the restroom throughout the flight to purge and remove anything remaining in my system. Stupidly when packing I thought, "Hey, I'm going to Malaysia and Singapore, they are both more developed than Saigon, so I shouldn't get sick. I won't need my medicine."

Eventually we land in Kuala Lumpur and have to walk for what seems to be a mile before we can reach the baggage claim and restroom. We get our stuff and hop into a taxi. Hugo, my friend who we also met up with in Ha Noi, told us to meet him at his place. The taxi takes about an hour to get to downtown Kuala Lumpur, I asked the driver to please take us to a pharmacy since I'm as sick as a dog. Thankfully, he takes us to one that's nearby Hugo's place. I have never been so grateful to see a pharmacy. I get some medicine and we rendezvous with Hugo. He is prompt and ready for a night out. Sadly I have to tell him a night out with me will just be a night with the toilet Gods. He understands and I take the medicine as quickly as I can. It's only 9pm, not very late, but I know that we will be taking a 4-5 hour bus ride the next day and I don't want to be sick on the bus. Sophea and I stay in for the night and enjoy the views of Hugo's place.

The next day we take a bus to Penang, an island on the western side of Malaysia. I was hoping for a nice vacation on a beach with a lot of relaxation as that would be ideal after the last 4 months of nonstop work. However, Hugo told us the nicest beaches are on the east coast which is completely flooded at this time since it's monsoon season. We settle for Penang which is a historical island with its capital city, Georgetown. The bus we take is luxurious compared to the buses I take to and from Cambodia and Vietnam. The seats are large, only one row of two seats and another row of one seat. The seats can recline and they also have leg rests that can move. The air conditioning works constantly and can easily be adjusted. Sophea, who usually gets sick from bus rides, got some medicine from the pharmacy for this ride, and luckily she does not feel sick the entire ride. We arrive in Georgetown at a mall and get to our guesthouse. The guesthouse was a place recommended to Hugo by some of his coworkers. The place is interesting, our room has an air conditioner and bathroom included. No refrigerator or TV. The walls are made of the same "walls" used to make cubicles. Thus, hearing your neighbors was not uncommon. We wouldn't spend much time in the room anyhow. This was really our first day out in Malaysia and I was surprised to see the diversity.

Being in Vietnam the last 5 months, I became accustomed to seeing 99% of people looking Vietnamese, with the other 1% being expats, or travelers. However, in Penang from what I saw it seemed predominantly Indian and Chinese. Malays are Muslim and I didn't see many of them at the outset for when we arrived in Penang. Having these three groups of people gave me a reminder of what it's like back at home, though there is much more diversity back at home. We walked around Georgetown for a bit and eventually ate some pretty good Indian food. Afterward, we went to two bars that were Bob Marley themed and we planned what we would do for our weekend in Penang. This day was also December 25th, Christmas back at home. I didn't really get a feeling like it was Christmas, the usual humidity and heat was in Penang, though it did feel 1 or 2 degrees cooler than Saigon.

The next day we rented motorbikes and took ourselves on a tour to see a Mosque, two Buddhist temples, one Thai, one Burmese, two beaches, a national forest and hike, plus Penang Hill (more like a mountain). It was actually a lot of fun to drive the motorbikes in this city we had never been to. Hugo had a map and we eventually found our way to all of our destinations without many problems. Here, most people obeyed the traffic laws which made for safer driving.

At the Thai Buddhist temple, first stop.

Next stop, the Burmese Buddhist temple. It was a very long trek to get there, we had to cross the street (kidding).

Next stop was the Mosque. This Mosque was called the Floating Mosque since it is placed over water, as you'll see in the photos. Hugo warned Sophea she would have to cover up her hair. Sophea didn't believe him when he said it. I ensured her he was serious and so she reluctantly covered her hair. Hugo said the Malays in the east are more strict, and she may not have been allowed if she wasn't careful. Then Sophea began making jokes about herself, calling herself a Muslim girl.

During this trip Hugo told us of a story when he was haggling for an item. He was trying to buy something from a Chinese market. He was asking for a lower price and the seller told him the product was high quality because it was an original, an original copy. Throughout the trip we would make jokes about original copies.

Next stop was a beach we saw from the road where we would go to eat lunch, sitting in the sand.

While at this beach we saw Malay women going into the water fully clothed, some with head scarves as well. It was pretty interesting to see that. No, we did not ride the jet skis. We did have lunch there and a short nap in the sun, well Hugo and I did. Sophea did her best to hide in the shade, in fear of her skin getting dark.

Next, we continued our drive to the national forest where we hiked about a mile to a secluded beach that was inhabited by hundreds of sandcrabs.

After our hike to the beach and swim, we headed back to our motorbikes. The plan was to get back into town and drive to Penang Hill which is really a mountain. There, they have a cable car that takes you to the top of the mountain. The mountain has really great views of Penang and you can see across to mainland Malaysia. The drive to get there turned out to be a long arduous one as there weren't easy signs to follow. After about an hour of driving in different places and asking a local or two, we eventually made it to the base of Penang Hill.

There was a Hindu temple at the top.

The next day we had half a day to explore more in Georgetown. We visited some Chinese temples dedicated to the long-time Chinese families who worked as merchants in Penang for over a century. We also saw a mosque, it wasn't open or did not allow access for visitors at the time.

I never see payphones anymore so I thought it was worth a shot.

That night we returned to Kuala Lumpur. Hugo had to return to work so Sophea and I spent a full day walking all around Kuala Lumpur, visiting the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the Petronas Towers, and a few shopping malls.

The shopping malls certainly displayed the Christmas spirit. Though it was more of a consumerist notion.

Hungry for an Iguana?

The view from the Kuala Lumpur tower.

No, the snowman wasn't made of real snow. We were very disappointed.

Petronas Towers, Petronas is the name of the national oil company. Hugo told us the towers don't have many businesses in them because the rents are too expensive, so the building is mostly vacant. Speaking of the Petronas Towers, Sophea told me a funny story about people visiting Kuala Lumpur. So there's two tourists who want to go to the Petronas Towers and they want to find out how many floors there are in the tower. They walk to the towers and begin counting how many floors there are. A security guard comes up to them, "Hey! What are you doing?" The tourists respond, "We're counting how many floors there are." The security guard says, "Well, you know you have to pay $10 per floor you count, so how many floors did you count?" The tourists answer, "Only 8 floors." The security guard puts his hand out for the money, "That'll be $80 then." The tourists walk away and talk amongst each other, "We fooled that security guard, we counted all of the floors, there's 88!" The security guard walks away and mumbles to himself, "Stupid tourists, why would you have to pay to count the floors?" I told this story to my 5th graders, but they ended up arguing over who was the fool in the story and didn't enjoy it as much as I did. And no, we did not encounter a security guard trying to take money from us.

All of that walking made me hungry...

The bears are actually an effort by UNICEF to raise money for children. They are called United Buddy Bears and there's a bear representing each country. An artist from each country painted a bear to symbolize their nation. These were placed outside a large mall and they wrapped around the sidewalk.

After our day of touring Kuala Lumpur we went out with Hugo and his roommate for drinks. We went to two bars and had a good evening out. The next day Hugo was flying out to Perth, Australia for New Years. Sophea and I then made our plans to go to Singapore for New Years. The next day, Hugo flew out while Sophea and I took a day trip out to Malacca, a small historical town along the beach. The beach wasn't much to see as it was mostly used for commerce. We walked around the town, had some really good Chinese food, visited an old Portugese and Dutch fort that still has its canons. We also had some really good ice cream on a hot day.

This is the popular bicycle rickshaw of Malacca, the drivers would blast and I mean blast pop music to tones that let the entire neighborhood know the rickshaw is on it's way. We chose not to partake in their offer for transportation, our legs are much more quiet.

See the resemblance?

See the Tiger? Tiger beer is all over Asia, especially in Vietnam. When Hugo, Sophea, and I went to Penang. Hugo tried to order a different beer and the waitress came back and gave him a Tiger beer. He said, "She knew I wanted a Tiger. I didn't know I wanted one, but she knew."

(This picture is for you Mom, hope you're reading) To let the rest of you know, my mother has an obsession with anything that has to do with cows. She has three wooden cows in the front yard of her house, and no, she does not live on a farm, but in suburbia. If you try counting the number of cow items there are in the house, you'll likely lose count before you reach the end, that is, if you reach the end.

This boat on the left is the museum we would go inside next. It was supposed to be a replica of an old shipping boat from the colonial period.

Captain Jack Sparrow didn't pop out anywhere, though we kept an open eye out for him. He was probably busy commandeering a more mobile ship.

I've decided to make the Singapore trip into its own blogpost. This Malaysia one is much too long. Singapore will be here soon.