Tales to Tell
I said I'd write a little about the recent trip to Singapore and Malaysia. So let's get an overview of the trip's logistics in our heads from the get-go, shall we?
Wednesday: Leave Japan (7:00)--arrive in Singapore (1:00 AM)
Thursday: Sleep in the airport. First subway/train of the morning (6:00), then a bus (7:30), next a taxi (9:30) to a port city (11:00) in Malaysia, finally a boat to our island (2:00)
Friday-Saturday: Island Resort Time.
Sunday: Leave the island (boat--taxi--bus), and spend the afternoon/evening exploring Singapore. Catch the last subway/train back to the airport.
Monday: Get up insanely early (3:00), go through security, and board the plane (6:00) back to Japan (2:00)
Here are a few highlights.
*As we were filling out our embarkment (or disembarkment or disembodibarkimentosmentalminniemouse) cards on the airplane to Singapore, we got our first real taste of draconian Singapore, a little message box that read: "-Warning- Death to drug traffickers under Singaporean law." It was a little intimidating knowing we were about to enter a country that likes to brag about killing offending foreigners.
*We got our second taste when we entered the subway system and saw about 20 million signs telling us everything you could do on the subway to earn yourself a fine, including a $500 fine (~350 USD) for eating or drinking anything whatsoever. I guess my brain wasn't working properly at such an early hour because at our second stop I made no hesitation in busting out a piece of candy and popping it in my mouth--to the utter horror of Travis and Denver. Well, it was a piece of hard candy, so swallowing it whole and chewing it were out. And if I had spit it out, I was sure the nearest old lady on the subway would've pulled out a handgun and executed me straight-away, so I had nothing to do but sit and let it dissolve in my mouth, the whole time in utter fear that a police officer would jump through a nearby window, beat me down, and arrest me on the spot.
*When we finally got to the bus stop in Malaysia that first morning, we stood out like a bunch of whities in a country of dark-skinned people. One taxi driver who spoke broken English accosted us immediately, guessed our destination (apparently most white people in southern Malaysia come just to visit the island resorts), and offered to take us for 30 Rng apiece-- thus 120 Rng. He even generously offered to knock off 10 Rng to make it 110. The only problem was there were only 3 of us, and 3 times 30 is 90. I attempted to explain to him his error, but the generally accepted laws of arithmetic apparently have no power over taxi drivers in southern Malaysia, and he wouldn't budge. So after scarfing down some McDonald's, we got in his cab and sat back to enjoy a 100-mile ride.
And enjoy it, we did. Largely because of the personality of the cabbie, that ride turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of the trip. He told us all kinds of things, like learning English from British soldiers after WW2, and how Malaysia is 70% Muslim, 35% Buddhist, a little Christian, and the rest aren't religious at all. We drove past rain forest/jungle the whole time, so he assured us at the start that we might well see tigers, elephants, or monkeys. That kept us awake for most of the trip, but to no avail. But what really got our hearts pumping was when he made a quick exit off the highway, telling us he had to "deliver a package," and taking us down a bumpy road toward a run-down warehouse--in a predominantly Muslim and rather poor nation. As we waited on him inside the car, I went through various mental scenarios, wondering how fast I could jump into his seat, release the brake, and drive his car in reverse back down the dirt road. But he soon returned, and the men with uzi's never left their complex. The other bit of excitement the old guy caused was to pull abruptly to the side of the highway, muttering "tiger area." As he climbed out of the car, we shook off our sleepiness and made ready with the cameras. Unfortunately, either there were no tigers in the area or "tiger area" was code for "pit stop," because all we saw out our back window was an old Malaysian man peeing on the side of the road.
*At the island, our first morning there we had beautiful weather and decided to put it to good use. We went snorkeling and kayaking for 3 and a half hours--and I managed to acquire the worst sunburn of my life, despite applying sun screen before starting out. We should've brought it with us in the kayak, I guess, but who knew the equatorial sun would be so potent? Despite the sunburn and despite being hit-on multiple times by the gay concierge, our time at the resort was great, and we met some interesting people.
*On the cab ride back down toward Singapore, we did indeed see a monkey. It was walking across an electrical wire over the highway.
*Sunday night in Singapore, we stopped at the only church we could see, St. Andrew's Cathedral (Anglican), a national landmark building. We went in to have some private meditation time, but being informed there would be a worship service in 20 minutes and being weary, we decided to stay. We figured it would last an hour at the most. Wrong guess. The sermon alone was 80 minutes. It was given by a man who appeared to be a native Singaporean, meaning he probably spoke English as his native language but still sounded like someone who learned it in a language class: Singaporeans speak "Singlish," and it's difficult to understand. For Gabe's information, this preacher mentioned the problem of "postmodernism" in his sermon, which caused all of us to exchange a knowing glance. Also, there was a band that played at the service, and they were quite good (though I don't have much to compare them with). And it was indeed touching to see so many people of different backgrounds in the middle of Muslim-thick southeast Asia offering sincere praise to the Lord of the universe. That may, quite honestly, have been the most amazing part of the trip.
*Throughout the trip, several people, upon learning we were Americans, wanted to offer us their opinions on US foreign policy. Amazingly, everyone who commented had favorable things to say. Our first cab driver, a Buddhist in a heavily Muslim country, told us he thought we were very smart, very clever, to go in and take down the bad man Saddam before he could get too powerful and control everyone's lives, like the Muslims do. Also, one of the ushers at church stopped me to ask if I pray for President Bush and the troops. I told him "yes." And he said he had heard many people in Iraq were now being evangelized, which he thought was wonderful. (I don't offer these necessarily to start a political discussion on my blog. I just thought it was very interesting that some people were so eager to discussion politics with us while we were so eager to avoid doing anything that would highlight the fact that we were Americans. In fact, in Malaysia, when most people assumed we were from Singapore, we didn't contradict them, and the few who directly asked where we were from, received the puzzling response of: "We're from Japan." Smile.)
That's all! And all too much it is. Good luck making it through the jungle of my experiences. I assure you they were less tedious when lived than are now written. God bless!
P.S. Because of the sunburn, my skin is now flaking off in sheets and I'm afraid may have done permanent damage to my laptop. That's how much I love you people.
Wednesday: Leave Japan (7:00)--arrive in Singapore (1:00 AM)
Thursday: Sleep in the airport. First subway/train of the morning (6:00), then a bus (7:30), next a taxi (9:30) to a port city (11:00) in Malaysia, finally a boat to our island (2:00)
Friday-Saturday: Island Resort Time.
Sunday: Leave the island (boat--taxi--bus), and spend the afternoon/evening exploring Singapore. Catch the last subway/train back to the airport.
Monday: Get up insanely early (3:00), go through security, and board the plane (6:00) back to Japan (2:00)
Here are a few highlights.
*As we were filling out our embarkment (or disembarkment or disembodibarkimentosmentalminniemouse) cards on the airplane to Singapore, we got our first real taste of draconian Singapore, a little message box that read: "-Warning- Death to drug traffickers under Singaporean law." It was a little intimidating knowing we were about to enter a country that likes to brag about killing offending foreigners.
*We got our second taste when we entered the subway system and saw about 20 million signs telling us everything you could do on the subway to earn yourself a fine, including a $500 fine (~350 USD) for eating or drinking anything whatsoever. I guess my brain wasn't working properly at such an early hour because at our second stop I made no hesitation in busting out a piece of candy and popping it in my mouth--to the utter horror of Travis and Denver. Well, it was a piece of hard candy, so swallowing it whole and chewing it were out. And if I had spit it out, I was sure the nearest old lady on the subway would've pulled out a handgun and executed me straight-away, so I had nothing to do but sit and let it dissolve in my mouth, the whole time in utter fear that a police officer would jump through a nearby window, beat me down, and arrest me on the spot.
*When we finally got to the bus stop in Malaysia that first morning, we stood out like a bunch of whities in a country of dark-skinned people. One taxi driver who spoke broken English accosted us immediately, guessed our destination (apparently most white people in southern Malaysia come just to visit the island resorts), and offered to take us for 30 Rng apiece-- thus 120 Rng. He even generously offered to knock off 10 Rng to make it 110. The only problem was there were only 3 of us, and 3 times 30 is 90. I attempted to explain to him his error, but the generally accepted laws of arithmetic apparently have no power over taxi drivers in southern Malaysia, and he wouldn't budge. So after scarfing down some McDonald's, we got in his cab and sat back to enjoy a 100-mile ride.
And enjoy it, we did. Largely because of the personality of the cabbie, that ride turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of the trip. He told us all kinds of things, like learning English from British soldiers after WW2, and how Malaysia is 70% Muslim, 35% Buddhist, a little Christian, and the rest aren't religious at all. We drove past rain forest/jungle the whole time, so he assured us at the start that we might well see tigers, elephants, or monkeys. That kept us awake for most of the trip, but to no avail. But what really got our hearts pumping was when he made a quick exit off the highway, telling us he had to "deliver a package," and taking us down a bumpy road toward a run-down warehouse--in a predominantly Muslim and rather poor nation. As we waited on him inside the car, I went through various mental scenarios, wondering how fast I could jump into his seat, release the brake, and drive his car in reverse back down the dirt road. But he soon returned, and the men with uzi's never left their complex. The other bit of excitement the old guy caused was to pull abruptly to the side of the highway, muttering "tiger area." As he climbed out of the car, we shook off our sleepiness and made ready with the cameras. Unfortunately, either there were no tigers in the area or "tiger area" was code for "pit stop," because all we saw out our back window was an old Malaysian man peeing on the side of the road.
*At the island, our first morning there we had beautiful weather and decided to put it to good use. We went snorkeling and kayaking for 3 and a half hours--and I managed to acquire the worst sunburn of my life, despite applying sun screen before starting out. We should've brought it with us in the kayak, I guess, but who knew the equatorial sun would be so potent? Despite the sunburn and despite being hit-on multiple times by the gay concierge, our time at the resort was great, and we met some interesting people.
*On the cab ride back down toward Singapore, we did indeed see a monkey. It was walking across an electrical wire over the highway.
*Sunday night in Singapore, we stopped at the only church we could see, St. Andrew's Cathedral (Anglican), a national landmark building. We went in to have some private meditation time, but being informed there would be a worship service in 20 minutes and being weary, we decided to stay. We figured it would last an hour at the most. Wrong guess. The sermon alone was 80 minutes. It was given by a man who appeared to be a native Singaporean, meaning he probably spoke English as his native language but still sounded like someone who learned it in a language class: Singaporeans speak "Singlish," and it's difficult to understand. For Gabe's information, this preacher mentioned the problem of "postmodernism" in his sermon, which caused all of us to exchange a knowing glance. Also, there was a band that played at the service, and they were quite good (though I don't have much to compare them with). And it was indeed touching to see so many people of different backgrounds in the middle of Muslim-thick southeast Asia offering sincere praise to the Lord of the universe. That may, quite honestly, have been the most amazing part of the trip.
*Throughout the trip, several people, upon learning we were Americans, wanted to offer us their opinions on US foreign policy. Amazingly, everyone who commented had favorable things to say. Our first cab driver, a Buddhist in a heavily Muslim country, told us he thought we were very smart, very clever, to go in and take down the bad man Saddam before he could get too powerful and control everyone's lives, like the Muslims do. Also, one of the ushers at church stopped me to ask if I pray for President Bush and the troops. I told him "yes." And he said he had heard many people in Iraq were now being evangelized, which he thought was wonderful. (I don't offer these necessarily to start a political discussion on my blog. I just thought it was very interesting that some people were so eager to discussion politics with us while we were so eager to avoid doing anything that would highlight the fact that we were Americans. In fact, in Malaysia, when most people assumed we were from Singapore, we didn't contradict them, and the few who directly asked where we were from, received the puzzling response of: "We're from Japan." Smile.)
That's all! And all too much it is. Good luck making it through the jungle of my experiences. I assure you they were less tedious when lived than are now written. God bless!
P.S. Because of the sunburn, my skin is now flaking off in sheets and I'm afraid may have done permanent damage to my laptop. That's how much I love you people.
posted by Peter Rice at 6:43 AM
2 Comments:
Sometimes when your blogs are extremely lengthy, I either skim or skip them. However, by the time I got to the part about the old cabbie relieving himself at the "tiger stop," I decided to read it all since I laughed so hard I snorted. It sure sounds like you guys had a great time! Glad you three made it back without being mamed.
Peter! Wow, Malaysia...quite the trip. I enjoyed the part about the cabbie with math problems. I haven't talked to you in a while. Drop me a line at paul.weger@oc.edu if you'd like to. Talk to you soon.
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