Singapore is a "FINE" city

Two days before the New Year, after Lin joined us in KL, the three of us took an overnight train into Singapore. It was also hot and humid there but unlike all of Malaysia, there was even less to do in Singapore. We spent an entire afternoon at the zoo and then went on a Night Safari. While the zoo during the day was very impressive (we saw polar bears, pumas, cougars, Bengal tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes, apes among a ton of others), I was largely disappointed by the Safari. First of all, the admission price was extremely expensive. Secondly, the line at the Safari was extremely long. Thirdly, being able to see more than just the silhouette of the animals was extremely difficult. Fourth of all, many of the so-called nocturnal animals were still asleep or inert and extremely boring to watch. Have I already mentioned that I was disappointed by the Night Safari? Lin, on the other hand, enjoyed it very much. She can sing its praises on her blog.

We spent the few days in Singapore mostly eating and walking around. I had wanted to visit Singapore because I was fascinated by its “rags to riches” history that occurred in a very short span of time as well as its reputation for strict laws and fines (for example, the ban on chewing gum which was recently overturned) and cleanliness. The city reminded me of Hong Kong with its western influences, trendy fashions, and bustling commercial activity.

As I had been told on several occasions, the main thing to do in Singapore is to shop until your wallet turns inside out, but I found the prices of consumer goods to be far more expensive than that of any other Asian country. Meals, on the other hand, were still reasonable compared to that of American, European or Australian standards, so instead of shopping we ate till our faces turned blue.

Lin slurping dessert

And that’s how we spent our time in Singapore.

AND THAT CONCLUDES MY SOUTH EAST ASIA TRIP! BOO-YA!

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Here’s a tip for those traveling through South East Asia on a shoestring budget: If you fly on Air Asia, a low cost carrier, you should know that this airline does not pre-assign seats. Therefore, expect to be elbowed and shoved around by other passengers jockeying to get on the airplane before you, and in the name of self-preservation, prepare to elbow and shove back. I should have realized that it would be a free-for-all when I saw that my boarding pass didn’t have a seat number, and because other passengers kept trying to cut in front of me in the queue at the check-in counter, I should not have been surprised that this phenomenon would repeat itself at a larger scale during boarding at the gate.

Before boarding, don’t bother to bring a lot of carry-on luggage with you – it’ll just slow you down – unless you know how to wield it to your advantage. It also helps to have young children traveling with you – or at least claim to have young children traveling with you – as you can get priority of first seating. I’ve never seen adults so adamantly associate themselves with wild-haired, sticky-faced midgets before in my life – “Yes, I have children! Lots of them! (While shoving them through the throng of people) Now let me on that plane!!”

As soon as the boarding announcement was made, the masses descended upon and swarmed the two Air Asia employees at the gate. Restoring any semblance of order was futile. All the passengers began to squeeze into each other. I became wedged in the center of the herd and it was so tightly packed, I lost sight of my own arms.

One of the airline employees began to shout, “FORM A SINGLE LINE PLEASE! If you do not get in one line, YOU WILL NOT GET ON THE PLANE!” But everyone turned a deaf ear to his request.

While the airline staff continued to bark orders and make empty threats to little avail, one woman who was standing next to me huffed very loudly, “This is so insulting! They’re treating us like we’re barbarians! Like animals!” All the while she was expressing her disdain, her husband was slyly pushing me aside so he could step in front of me AS IF I couldn’t feel his bony elbow in my abdomen. Any little sympathy I had for her – or anyone else standing there for that matter – quickly dissipated from that point on.

Once I fought my way onto the aircraft I had to overcome the obstacle of finding a seat. People who were there before me had placed clothes, bags, whatever they had on hand on empty seats to save them for others who were still waiting to board. I had to rely on my cat-like reflexes and quickness to plant my butt in an unclaimed seat before someone else threw a handbag on it.

From the frantic chaos that ensued, it was nothing less than a miracle that the plane managed to take off with all its passengers in tow and land at its destination on time. While the flight itself went relatively smoothly I’m still bamboozled by the airline’s dreadful free-for-all seating process. I reckon that you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who actually finds it to be a pleasant experience.

At the Kuala Lumpur airport, it was so oppressively humid when I stepped outside that it felt like someone had smothered my face with a hot, wet towel. It was the kind of weather that put my entire being into a stupor. Just breathing caused me to break out in sweat. As a result, I spent much of my time in Malaysia doing very little but eating quite a lot as Indhu’s grandparents made excellent Indian food.

Highlights of the trip included:

• seeing fireflies at night by small boat outside of the city
• having dinner and catching up with Hani, a good friend of mine from high school whom I hadn’t seen in over five years
• exploring KL and eating great vegetarian food
• going up the KL Tower
• visiting a temple set within a cave
• watching a terrible Malaysian film during which Lin fell asleep because it was so bad
• spending time with Indhu’s grandparents whom I call Grandma and Grandpa.

Grandpa was our chauffeur for much of the week and his driving is nothing I’d ever seen. At the hearty age of 80+ years, he drove like a maniac with the aggressiveness and impatience of a sixteen year old. The most frequent phrase I heard while sitting in the backseat was, “C’mon lady, make a move!” before the tires would squeal and our vehicle would swerve violently around the vehicle ahead of us. I finally had to learn to stop looking out the front window and just prayed that we got to wherever we had to go in one piece. But it sure made KL ever the more exciting place to be.

Next (and final) stop – Singapore!

Trekking in Chiang Dao - Day 2 & 3

After a night of interrupted sleep from crowing roosters and a snoring volume of inhuman magnitude of one who shall remain anonymous, we packed up our things, ate a filling breakfast, and set out for another day of hiking through the mountains.

After an hour or two of hiking through the steep mountain side, we took a break for hot tea and listened to Thai men converse animatedly with each other.

We then explored another cave and paid a short visit to a monk who lives there with his many cats.

Afterwards, our guides prepared a delicious lunch. Instead of carrying bowls and utensils with them, the guides cut bamboo stalks from which they fashioned sturdy bowls and chopsticks for us to use.

In the afternoon, while taking another brief rest, Giles convinced me to engage in some “martial art” choreography with our bamboo walking canes. It was all fun and games until someone (i.e. me) got whacked over the head with a stick. Ouch.

By late afternoon, we hiked to the village where we were to eat dinner and spend the night. Upon setting our bags down in our hut, we walked around to familiarize ourselves with the place and meet some of the villagers.

As we passed by a group of villagers, one of them called out to me. “Hi, my name is Joe.* What’s your name?”

*Not his real name (because I don’t remember what it really is).

Me: “Hi, I’m Christina.”

Joe: “Are you Mary?”

Me: “Um, no. I’m Christina.”

Joe: “Are you Mary?”

Me (really puzzled): “Am I Mary? No… I said I’m… Oh! Am I married? No, I’m not married. (Awkward pause). Are you married?”

Joe: “No.” (intense stare)

Me: “Oh ok. Well, see you later!”

Later that night, after dinner as we were all sitting around the bonfire, I watched our guide Ah-Mi and Joe engaged in what appeared to be a very serious discussion. Finally, Giles asked Ah-Mi what they were talking about.

“Oh, we’re talking about marriage,” Ah-Mi replied with a smirk. Then he asks me, “How old are you?”

When I told him, he gave this look that I interpreted as “What, that old and not married off yet? Must be damaged goods.”

He turned to Joe and said something in Thai. I looked at Joe. He looked at me. I averted eye contact and then stared blankly at the fire. This continued for a while. I tolerated so much awkwardness before I eventually stood up and retired into my hut for the night.

Joe is the dashing male on the right

And what a miserably cold night it turned out to be. I found it impossible to stay warm in my thin sleeping bag despite wearing all the clothes I brought with me plus Henry’s vest. In addition to the cold, all through the night, Henry kept digging into his bag – which was right next to my head – like a squirrel scavenging for nuts in a pile of dead leaves. He claimed the next morning that he was looking for an extra layer to put on but somehow couldn’t find it in the first six attempts.

At one point in the night, I sat up for no good reason. Realizing what I had done, I laid back down and in the process of doing so, I reached out to locate my pillow but found Charlotte’s head instead. Still groggy, I didn’t recognize what it was right away. So for a good ten seconds, I groped Charlotte’s face, confused as to why my pillow was no longer soft and cushiony. Yep, that made some awkward conversation in the morning.

Following breakfast and before we set off again, Joe came by with a plastic bag of hand woven clothes and bags. He said they were made by his sister. Out of guilt, I offered to look at his wares. He sat and watched as I feigned interest in each item I pulled out. In the end, I bought the cheapest thing there was – a small, purple shoulder bag. I felt like I was buying myself out of a marriage deal. (This special bag has since been sent to a very lucky person for her belated birthday.)

We were told by the guides that our third day was to be the easiest – a short walk to a pick-up point followed by an elephant ride and bamboo rafting. But that “short walk” turned out to be a forty-five minute uphill steep climb. My body was both burning from exertion and drenched in cold sweat. If I hadn’t had Henry to talk to on the hike to distract me, I probably would have wanted to give up.

We arrived at our end point a little early and the guides built a fire to keep us warm while we waited to be picked up. When the truck came, we said our farewells to Ah-Mi and headed back to tour headquarters where we met our third and final guide.

At headquarters, while we were lounging in chairs on the lawn and rubbing our sore feet, our guide he came over to my chair and introduced himself.

Guide (in one breath): “Hi I’m Eddie your guide are you married?”

These Thai men wasted no time beating around the bush. Great, I thought, What do I have to buy this time? Although a bit odd, Eddie was mostly harmless, but best of all, I didn’t have to use my wallet to bribe my way out of a marriage proposition!

With the exception of another long walk, the rest of the day was relaxing as promised. We rode elephants (it was very bumpy... you can check out a video of it here) and then glided on rafts on a small waterway. Sitting on the raft and looking at the beautiful scenery was the most peaceful I had felt in a long time and a wonderful way to conclude our trek.


The tour company dropped us back at our hotel in Chiang Mai where we all spent our last night together. The next morning we all parted ways and I headed off to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to join Indhu, her grandparents, and Lin.