Recent Trips

So I did go to Singapore over 4th of July weekend as I mentioned I was going to. Linda came down with me from KL and then stayed after I left and while we were there, we stayed with Gerrit who was getting ready to fly back to Canada. It was almost relieving to be back in Singapore, just a familiar place where I can wear tank-tops and not get stared at too much and we can easily and efficiently get anywhere in the city that we want to in record time. In fact, one of the new MRT (train) lines had literally just starting operating and Gerrit and I arranged one trip home in such a way just so we could ride it and marvel at the new stations. Singapore is always changing and growing (the casino they’re building even had about fifteen more floors than the last time I saw it) - I wonder if I’ll recognize it if I ever come back someday.

In any case, it was fun to catch up with Gerrit and a few other Singapore friends that were around and we went back to our old apartments to eat at our favorite places (the 24-hour prata place guys remembered us and were glad to see us) and reminisce/explain Singapore to Linda. It was really fun.

Saturday was 4th of July and I kept insisting that we do or eat something American (although both Linda and Gerrit claimed that apple pie is Dutch/Canadian respectively – but come on, we all know that true apple pie is American) but it seemed as if the day was going to pass without recognition except by maybe singing the National Anthem to myself. HOWEVER, when exiting an MRT station with a friend, she pointed out to me a sign saying something about a shuttle to a 4th of July party hosted by the American Association of Singapore. I found a guy with a “Committee” badge and asked about the party and if I had to pay or RSVP or what and he goes, “No, no, it’s free and you’re invited! There’s music and fireworks and food. You are going to love it. It’ll make you homesick, though!” It ended up being so much fun. It felt just like the countless carnivals I’d gone to as a kid during an Oregon summer. There were hotdogs and face-paint and an embarrassingly stereotypically-Southern band that had flown in for the event. You could take your picture with an Obama cutout or the American flag. There were little kids running around in red, white, and blue clothing and adults sporting cowboy boots and hats. And there were indeed fireworks. This is something to consider since fireworks are illegal in Singapore except for Chinese New Year (and apparently 4th of July). There was even apple pie. I don’t know if I’d ever felt so American. And here I was a whole ocean away. Basically, it was just a really good night.

The next day, I left Singapore for the last time during a huge thunderstorm. Exiting during my favorite weather was a pretty epic way to get closure with a city that I really loved for a while.

Trip number two was two weekends ago when Michaela and I took off to Terrenganu to visit Becky, an American who is teaching English out there but had spent her school break working with WAO (she’d been staying at my place during that time). Terrenganu is the second most conservative state in Malaysia. Malaysia is a Muslim country and everything but the area that I am in has a split population of Malay, Chinese, and Indian people. Terrenganu, however, is almost exclusively Malay, therefore Muslim, people. Not entirely, but almost. We went to visit Becky and see her school but we were also lucky enough to be able to go to Pulau Kapas (an island) with her on a recreational school trip.

This is where it gets tricky. The islands on the east coast of Malaysia are beautiful (Tioman, where I learned to dive, is also on that side but more south) and attract many bikini/speedo-clad western tourists. However, a traveler that has done research will uncover that the area is still very conservative and out of respect (and/or sometimes concern for safety from radical groups), will think twice about what they wear (or what they expose). Since we were with Becky’s school, Michaela and I were told to pack only long-sleeved shirts and long pants and even a t-shirt and workout pants for swimming in. Upon arrival, however, we discovered that most of Becky’s students were breaking the rules for the weekend and wearing t-shirts with their tudungs (headscarves) and that the island was packed with locals and westerners hardly wearing anything at all. There was no way that I wanted to join the ranks of stereotypical tourists since we were with a group of rowdy and impressionable Muslim teenagers, but it would’ve been a lot nicer (and cooler) if we’d been aware that t-shirts were allowed. As it was, we ended up in a weird limbo of trying to cover-up when around the students and get a little more breeze-flow when around the other tourists. We still swam in our t-shirts and pants and admired the young Muslim women and their ability to snorkel in long-sleeves/pants and tudungs.

The weekend was a good learning experience, to say the least. I enjoyed talking to the students and singing along to Jason Mraz songs with them. One girl was willing to answer all my questions about how girls and boys are allowed to interact (as friends and in romantic situations). She had a very liberal (all things considered) outlook on the matter, but warned me that other people may not agree with everything she said (she thinks it’s okay to hold hands as long as both parties are comfortable and understand the wishes of the other person – however, she does not hold hands or touch any of her boyfriends – romantic or otherwise, but she respects other girls’ right to choose). We also got to take part in a BBQ and open-mic night with the students. The BBQ chicken we had was so good and tasted just like my Dad’s (except without the sauce) and the open-mic night was entertaining but also another indication of what’s becoming my mantra after all these months in SE Asia: people are people everywhere. This may seem obvious, but it was just so interesting to see all these teenagers behaving in the same way that teenagers back home do (and how I did) and yet, these kids have so many religious and, therefore, societal demands of them – even in how they dress. But they’re still curious and nervous and excited by the opposite sex and they rebel in whatever ways they can (some girls who wear shirt-less sleeves under their t-shirts will pull the sleeves down so that a thin line of skin will show between where their t-shirt ends and the extra sleeve begins). It was hard to see this and compromise it with the fact that in school, they’re taught that HIV/AIDS happens by magic because no one who has it has ever used drugs or had pre-marital sex and that sleep is bad for them so they should go to school from dawn (after morning prayer) until 11pm when they’re allowed to go to bed (naps are never permitted). If they break the rules, they’re caned in front of the other students – or worse – and from birth, because they’re Malay, they are automatically Muslim and have prayer everyday, five times a day. It’s not that I think there's anything wrong with praying. What I struggle with is that you get punished if you don’t pray (for example: on Fridays, men have a special, extra prayer. If any Muslim man is seen on the street during the prayer time, he is automatically arrested).
The fun fact that Michaela and I learned, though, is that the Muslim men that wear little flat hats are the ones that have been to Mecca. Now, whenever we see someone wearing one, we point him out to each other and secretly celebrate for him that he has completed the ultimate journey of his faith and now gets to wear the hat proudly.

The weekend ended with us getting to spend some time shopping around for batik (Terrenganu is known for having beautiful batik in plenty) and we certainly had to sift through a lot. Batik is cloth with patterns and colors that are recognizable and clearly batik, once you know what it is. I'd write all about how you make it but this post is a bit long for that. Google! Anyway, I’m excited to bring some home.

Oh! It’s official! I finally have a ticket home! I’m leaving KL on Thursday night, August 27th, and I’ll make it back to Portland (via Tokyo) in the morning on Friday. So I’ll have the whole day to try and stay awake and beat the jetlag…wish me luck!