Not Exactly Adventure Travel - Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Singapore is a large mall inhabited by 4 million people. I mean.... a small island inhabitated by 4 milllion people who apparently love the mall. Singapore is a bit of an economic success story; through a combination of proactive industrialization, investment in infrastructure, and somewhat heavy-handed government, they've created this "little" city in the last 50 years:






When we arrived in India from Italy, I remember thinking there were probably any number of sprectrums you could think of on which Milan would be at one extreme end and Delhi would be at the other. We kind of had a similar reaction when we arrived in Singapore. The city is hypermodern, hyperclean, and hypermaterialist. We actually weren't expecting to like it much - we figured we'd spend a day and move one - but we found it to be much more laidback and less dull and stuffy than we expected. It was almost like being back home (but cleaner and with friendlier people) and we did take advantage of it. A soft bed, safe drinking water, air conditioning, crosswalks and obedient drivers, and not a squatter toilet in sight. Don't get me wrong, I loved India. It's an amazing place. And I'm excited about getting back off the safe-drinking-water path in Laos and Vietnam, but it was actually quite nice to have a couple days to remind us of some of the advantages we enjoy back home.


Singapore originated as a trading colony and has always been very multicultural. It currently has a mix of Chinese, Malay, and Indian residents, with various others from the rest of the world, including quite a few westerners. We visited Little India (significantly calmer than the original article). There's also a large Chinatown, which was the place to be because celebrations are getting underway for Chinese New Year. It'll be the Year of the Rat, by the way. And, in proper Singapore fashion, the branded version of "Chinese New Year" is partly sponsored by Disney, and there were some suspiciously familiar mouse ears on the city's decorations.

Apartment buildings:

Singapore is miraculously clean for a big city. There are some rather strict laws about littering and chewing gum - big fines. Apparently, things have become a bit more relaxed in recent years - we actually saw gum being sold a couple places. But it's still on the Customs list of things you can't bring into the country, right there alongside guns and explosives. Cleaning is taken very seriously in the city. We saw a guy down on his knees cleaning the individual louvres at the bottom of a public restroom door. The subway stations were so clean, you probably could have eaten fish head curry off them.

The other important offering of interest to us in Singapore... food! I love my Indian food, but after six weeks.... I think I've already mentioned I had seen an ad for Outback Steakhouse right after we arrived. Sadly, I must admit, I dragged Ashifa there later that day. It was very sweet of her vegetarian self (although I don't recall much kicking and/or screaming). After the sticker shock (Singapore is probably about as expensive as Toronto, but it seemed exponentially higher after all those $2 meals in India), I dug into treats we hadn't seen since Italy - beef, baked potato (or baked anything), good bread, bacon, cheddar cheese, soft butter, ice water, and bottomless fountain pop.

"Mmmm... meat!":

Singapore still has many traditional dishes available too - some of which we partook in, some not. For example....

Food courts, mostly in the ubiquitous malls, were actually the best places to eat. They had a wide array of stalls offering excellent food cheap, including pigs organ soup:

We did a lot of wandering around the city. We saw the marina, the excellent history museum, and out to a bar. We also came across a goldfish competition in a mall (you see a theme here?). The goldfish equivalent of dog shows is very popular in Singapore. Apparently, there are ways to groom and train goldfish. Who knew.

So, after a couple of days of R&R in Singapore, we headed five hours north to Kuala Lumpur (KL for short), the capital of Malaysia. Some old friends of mine from Denver, Ben and Casey, have been living there for about a year while Casey does research for her PhD dissertation. It was great to reconnect with them and hear their insights on Malaysia.

Us with Ben and Casey, after stuffing ourselves full of Malaysian food:

Casey and Ben have both studied the language and speak Malay quite fluently. They also have alot of Malay friends and alot of interesting insights into Malay culture that we never would have seen otherwise...in addition to day-to-day life stuff they knew all sorts of things that a tourist would never know... from what the fitness centers are like, to how people just drop in on one another's home unannounced and visit for hours (even if its midnight!), how people will always welcome you into their home (even if its midnight!), what the karaoke clubs are like, that badminton is a national obsession...etc.etc.

They also told us alot about local politics. Malaysia is techincially a Muslim country because a large part of the population is Muslim Malays. It is not technically a Sharia country, but for those people who are born muslim, there is a Sharia legal process they must go through instead...and there is a religious police that has the right to raid bars and pull muslims out of them and arrest them (muslims aren't allowed to drink alcohol technically)! And there is a law that allows the police to arrest you at will and hold you without charge for doing things that might not be in the interest of national security or harmony (like the US right now with their "Patriot Act"?)...and that in addition to jail sentence and/or fines you also get "lashings".

We didn't do too much in KL...we were pretty tired and needed some down-time..and since we were living in Ben and Casey's apartment which had a swimming pool outside...it was a bit hard to convince ourselves to go anywhere else...after 2 months of travelling it was quite a treat to stay in a house, and have home-cooked breakfasts, and be able to just chill-out instead of running around town all day. The first day we did go out into town...and obligingly did the tourist trail of the Petronus Twin Towers, the markets, and Chinatown. The second day we were planning on going to some cave temples...and we got dressed and we were leaving the apartment building when we spotted the pool...it looked sooo nice and cool (compared to the sticky humidity in the air)...and it looked soo relaxing...so we ran upstairs and got our swimsuits on and spent the afternoon swimming and reading by the pool! didn't go to the caves at all! :-) But that night we all went to a great Malaysian buffet which also had a cultural show...so that was great.

KL's monorail - each station is corporately sponsored:

Chinatown snacks:

Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur:

So, after five or six days in such luxury, we've gotten soft. It was so easy to travel in Singapore and Malaysia - English is very widely spoken, public transportation is available and easy to navigate, and the tourist infrastructure is just much more in place than it was in India - there are maps, there are street signs. And there are those awesome inventions - crosswalks! So we're off to Laos and Vietnam for three weeks next. We arrived in Laos yesterday, and so far we've fallen in love with the quiet, non-materialistic qualities of the capital city! Off to explore more!

Goodbye, masala

Hi there everyone! Well, we've left India and we arrived in Singapore today...what a drastically different world it is here compared to India! It is so clean, and the public infrastructure seems so well developed - the public transit system is FAR better than toronto and much cheaper also - for Jenny this is an urban planners delight! It is a nice change to be able to cross the streets without fear for your life (compared with India where the purpose of crosswalks are just - to quote Jen - "decorative paint on the road"). Of course, we've only been here 2 hours so these are preliminary impressions. Waiting for our hotel room to be ready, and seeking refuge in the air-conditioned internet cafe (SOO humid here)....so we thought we'd take a moment to share some long-promised pictures from Jenny's "near-death" experience, and other post-recovery adventures! [Hi, this is Jen - just want to assure all parents and other concerned individuals that she is joking about the near-death business!]

Jenny gets an IV in our hotel room - note the highly sophisticated contraption we designed! I never knew that it could be so difficult to poke someone you love with a needle...my hands were shaking so much it took me 3 tries!

I made Dr. MacGyver swear on her life she wouldn't go anywhere near the switch for the fan.

Now.... some pictures from the non-medical part of the trip....

Monkey watching the sunrise over the ruins in Hampi (seriously, an entire monkey-family assembled to watch it and then left once the sun was up!):

Gokarna beach - not your average sight on a Canadian beach, but fairly normal here in India! The woman who was next to us on the beach went for a dip in the water when this wayward cow decided to poke its nose into her bag to look for treats! Fortunately we've developed good cow-shooing techniques and managed to convince the cow to move onto greener pastures.

Colourful market in Mysore:

Traditional Keralan dance - Kathakali. It involves enormous amounts of makeup, very precise eye movements, and exaggerated facial expressions. The dance generally depicts various stories from religious texts such as the Bhagavad Gita:

Moving along to the Periyar Wildlife Reserve... It was nice to get away from the craziness of the cities for awhile and get into peaceful nature. We took a couple excursions in search of animals. Neither was terribly successful, but we had fun. One was a boat ride with a couple hundred of our closest tourist friends. Everyone got all excited at one point - all cameras were trained on a spot on shore... we got excited... and... it was a deer. I'm sure this is really cool if you're from Mumbai or something, but for us, not so much. Our other journey was the day-long trek Shifi mentioned in the last post.

It IS a tiger preserve after all, so one does need to find places to hide just in case! This huge Banyan tree seems to do the trick!

Jenny preferred to hide within the tall elephant grass - named so because it is the staple of any healthy elephant's diet!

The ever-abundant elephant poo...this is what the grass looks like when it comes out the other end:

Elephant foot-prints:

Our trekking group consisted of us, a couple from Germany, two guides, and the guard. Here you see three essentials for any trek in India - the gun, the tiffin of curry, and the teapot!

The mountainous area where the wildlife preserve is located is also known for tea and spice growing, and is actually called the Cardamom Hills (and it smells quite nice for this reason). One day we took a tour of a spice plantation and tea plantation. We also got to tour the tea factory, where we got to see the process by which tea goes from freshly picked (see below) to ready to drink in 36 hours - cut, torn, crushed, oxidized, wet, dried, roasted, sifted, sorted, and packaged.

We spent our last days in India on an overnight houseboat excursion in the area called the "backwaters" near Alleppey. The backwaters are a series of canals off the Indian Ocean. There are numerous small villages strung along the canals and the residents get around by boat only (since we didn't get to Venice, maybe this is a substitute for our first "V"). Despite the presence of a gajillion other houseboats carrying travelers, it was very peaceful and a great way to relax for a day or two. I didn't get a picture of our houseboat, but this one is similar. We had a driver and a cook, lots of areas to lounge around on chairs and cushions, and our own bedroom.

Sunset from our boat:

Who's that hot chick? [She won't let me edit this.]

Cell phones are ubiquitous in India - from the Himalayas to the backwaters:

Our delicious lunch, served on a banana leaf:

Ashifa swims off the houseboat:

Jen "swims" off the houseboat:

The houseboats come home the next morning:

Kerala's streets, shops, and vehicles are full of religious and spiritual icons - just like the rest of India. The main difference however is that Kerala had a strong Portugese influence in the past, and as a result a large part of the population is Catholic. Often times this results in a fusion of religious beliefs. We met a fellow yesterday who explained to us that he is a Catholic who also believes in Hindu reincarnation. It seems to be a common-theme as you can see from this bus - in the window is a picture of a Hindu deity surrounded by flashing lights and garlands. A Christian Cross hangs from the bottom of the Hindu picture, and on the glass barrier to the side of it is a large picture of Jesus. Add to this the sound of the mosques calling for prayer 5 times a day, and you have got a picture of the spiritual energy in Kerala (in all of India for that matter!):

Another major difference in Kerala is their economic philosophy. While the rest of India is unabashedly capitalist, Kerala is proudly governed by the Communist Party of India (CPI). West Bengal is another state which is also communist, however the (positive) impact of communism is seemingly much more apparent in Kerala. While other parts of India see a large number of homeless people, a large number of unfairly paid labourers, a moderate (but rapidly growing) number of middle class people, and a very small but very rich upper class - such disparity is not nearly as noticeable in Kerala. Furthermore, it is reputed to have the highest literacy rate in India - the only place where we saw people like rickshaw drivers and other labourers reading the newspaper. In our week in Kerala, I think we were approached by 2 beggars altogether...to put this in perspective, in Delhi or Calcutta we'd be approached by about 15-20 per day! It appears that people are proud of this heritage and equality (or perhaps the CPI makes it appear that way?) - it is not uncommon to see these hammer and sickle flags flying everywhere - from the tiniest village to the largest urban center:

Kerala was also the first state where we saw beef and pork on menus (although it was still rather rare), given the lack of dietary restrictions of the Christians. I did have beef once, but did not opt for the pork pepperoni at Pizza Hut. Yes, we went to Pizza Hut.... that was my idea. Since being sick I've sadly developed an aversion to Indian masala (spices). Well, for awhile it was any food - I couldn't even think of putting food in my stomach without getting nauseous. Although I was having dreams of burritos and ham sandwiches. I think we probably left India at the right time! I saw a bus go by in Singapore this morning with an ad for Outback Steakhouse, so I'm sure I'll be able to get a comfort food fix here before we move on to Vietnam and Laos.

Elephant Poo

hi there! just a quick note to share some of our adventures in the jungle! We went to the Periyar wildlife reserve in Kerala for a few days...stayed in a hut bordering the jungle and could hear monkeys calling early in the morning...it goes something like "hoooo,hooo,hoohoohhoohooohoohohohohhoho!" ...sounds better when i do it out-loud than when i type it...if you're lucky maybe i'll grace you with my talented monkey-impression when i get home (or would that be if you're unlucky?? hmmm...) :-)

Went on a day-long trek in the jungle (with an armed guard!)..fortunately he didn't need to use his gun, as the most exciting thing we saw was elephant poo! For a while it looked like we might get to see a real elephant...i think we were hot on the trail of one of them...we could tell this because the giant footprints kept looking fresher and fresher and the droppings kept smelling fresher and fresher! but alas we never did see it...however, we did see a bunch of black monkeys, and grey monkeys jumping from tree to tree, a couple of bison, and some "giant squirrels" as well. And of course, lots and LOTS of elephant poo! :-) pics to follow soon!

Pics - Mysore to Kochi

Hi everyone. I am now fully recovered! I have to say, it's quite handy traveling with a doctor. Who else can answer questions like "virus, bacteria, or parasite?" Ashifa did an excellent job of patching me up after an extended bug (the verdict was parasite) had me bedridden for a couple days. After my little illness got to the one-week point and I was still having a lot of trouble eating and drinking and was still losing a lot of fluid, and I swore to her that I could not possibly drink as much water as she said I needed, drastic steps had to be taken.... She decided that if I couldn't put fluid in myself, she would put it in for me - through an IV! In India, you can buy pretty much any medication other than really addictive ones over the counter, so she was able to buy supplies at our local pharmacy. So, I got an IV (fluids because of my dehydration) in our hotel room while watching cricket on TV. Doctor MacGyver had to improvise a bit. The IV bag ended up hanging off our ceiling fan with two clothes hangers (we'll post pics of this later, for sure). I have to say, it was a pretty miraculous recovery after this. Within a day, I was almost back to normal - eating and able to get around town.

Thought we'd share a few pictures from the last couple weeks!

Sarees at a market in Shantiniketan:

One of Ashifa's favorite snacks on this trip - freshly steamed idly:

Chillin' at Lalbagh Botanical Gardens in Bangalore:

Ancient and modern:

Although we haven't been to the theater yet, we've had a little bit of the Bollywood experience. The other day, a TV show was being filmed in our hotel lobby - as we sat there using the internet. A few days ago, as we were visiting a temple in Bangalore, we came upon a film crew shooting either a TV show or movie. Some actors primping before the shoot:

Downtown Bangalore - a bit more modern than the cows and rickshaws we're used to:

Hindu temple at Chamundi Hill near Bangalore:

Wide load:

Carvings at an ancient Hoysala temple at Somnathpur:

What's the most important part of an Indian car? The horn, of course. It is simply not possible to drive without one. Ours broke, so Ashifa's dad and our driver had to do some electrical work:

My shoes did not survive the Singalila trek very well, so I had a little repair work done. For about $1.25 I got both shoes sown up nicely. Ashifa also got this guy to make some much-needed repairs to her backpack. One nice thing about India, if you need something done, anytime, anywhere, you can usually find someone to do it.

Monkeys at Badami snacking on flowers: However....

We later saw a couple monkeys breaking into a school bus and munching on a bag of rice. Some school group was going to be hungry that night.

The rock-cut cave temples at Badami:

It turns out January is a popular month for India schools to take field trips, so a lot of the sites we went to were overrun with school kids. School kids who were very interested in talking to Westerners, taking Westerners' pictures, having their pictures taken by Westerners, and wearing the hats of Westerners in pictures... We are going to be in the snapshots of dozens of Indian kids. :)

Ashifa's dad gets his first lesson in traveling in India - waiting with the hippy kids of Gokarna beach for our three-hours delayed train:
Ashifa's dad checks out the oldest Christian church in India - St Francis in Kochi, Kerala: