38 DAYS LATER

6-5-13

I'm back in LA, back to work, back to writing, back to reorganizing my apartment, working out, running, visiting with friends.

In fact I've been back more than a week now.

Already the trip is fading.

Not permanently, (I'm not senile yet! :), but the intensity of it.

Sure, I look at the photos and peek through my journal and see all the amazing things I did and felt and saw. When I see Alicia back here in LA it's fun to reminisce and think of what we did. We're so fortunate to be able to take trips like this and see the world that is out there.

I wanted to type up a "in conclusion" of the trip. Something that sums up the observations... but it's strange how some of them are probably already lost to time. Still, I'm going to do my best to give some final thoughts on the Southeast Asia Odyssey 2013.

1.  TRAVEL is AWESOME!

If you haven't figured that out yet, I haven't done my job or expressed how I feel. :)

Pick your destination. Buy your ticket. Pack your bag and go.

Trust me, it's possible to find the time. It's possible to have the money. If I can do it, so can you.

It's a matter of prioritizing what's important. If your $5 starbucks a day gives you more joy than a couple weeks in Indonesia, then keep drinking the Starbucks. (By the way, they have those in the touristy spots over there so you won't be left out.:) But that $5/day ads up to a plane ticket very quickly. And the memories of those two weeks will likely be better than that caffeine fix... just a guess.

2. INDONESIAN thoughts

I love Indonesia. I never thought it would rank so highly in the cool places I've visited. Sure I only saw a fraction of the 17,000 islands, but I saw enough to make me love it. From the safe, yet exotic Bali to the wild west of Flores. It's my kind of place. So many things to do, beautiful places to see and wonderful people to meet. You can be as rough and tumble or safe and pampered as you'd like. The price is right, the place is paradise. Go.

3. MALAYSIA thoughts

Who knew? Malaysia is way more modern than I expected. Nice roads. Great food. Wonderful people. It consistantly surprised me at every turn. I would arrive someplace, think "hmmmm, this isn't what I was hoping for" and be 100% on board in less than a day. Every single time.

And the food! Yep, so good. Go. Eat. If you're a foodie you've gotta go there. Yum Yum.

4. And both these places are predominately Islamic.

And no I didn't feel unsafe. No there were no "terrorists" lurking at every corner. No Islam does not make one evil.

It baffles me from both sides of this stupid battle between Islam and Christianity. The religion does not make one evil, or close minded, or violent or radical. It's the people who choose to use religion as their war cry. Neither of these religions preach murder. And every time I visit these wonderful places with wonderful people who might believe something different than me I am grateful to see their faith. To see that they care so much about what they believe in.

And it was really interesting to see how each country embraced it differently. In Indonesia it seems like they don't just do the call to prayer 5 times a day over the loud speakers. They do the whole prayer! 20-30 minutes. I heard far fewer calls in Malaysia. In fact there was a heavy blending of religions there. Even though the country is official Muslim, all religions are welcome. Believe what you want.

Isn't that how it should be?

5. SINGAPORE thoughts

With only the 1 day it's hard to say I really saw Singapore. It was a great experience since I've heard so much about Singapore and how clean it is (true) and how many rules it has (also true) and how many strange laws they have (also true. No gum. No Urinating in Lifts. No this. No that). But again. Nice people. Sure it's a big city and things are moving along rapidly. But it was a fascinating mix of different cultures (Chinese, Singapore, Indian). And of course, having a friend there to show me around made it even more awesome. Friendship around the world. That's a great reason to travel too.

6. HONG KONG thoughts

Love it. New York meets Asia. Energy. Excitement. I love the weather: bring me a thunderstorm any day. The harbor is amazing. The trains rules. And Disneyland. Oh yeah. And I barely saw a fraction of it. So much more to see. I'll enjoy catching up on my Hong Kong cinema now that I've been.

7. Food.

Did I mention the food on this trip was amazing? I'm not a foodie. I don't get all googly-eyed over food. But damn, this was a tasty place to eat. So many types: Indonesian, Balinese, Lombok-ian, Malay, Indian, Chinese, Dim-Sum, Indian, Western, Indian... did I mention how good the Indian food was? :)

8.  Perspective

Every time I travel I like to get out of my comfort zone. (Leeches, here I come!).

I think it's important, I'd even say critical to my life.  And honestly for everyone's lives, to get out of our comfort zone.

It's easy for people to have their worlds shrink. Mine can. If I'm in LA to long I'll lose some of my gusto. Some of my free spirit. I think it's just part of how human beings are wired. If we aren't getting out there, seeing and doing new things, then what we will be OK tends to become less and less. I'm not saying we'll get in fights or run away in fear if something new happens. But we'll shrink away. We'll choose the comfortable path. I know I do it. I doubt I'm alone in this.

So getting out to see the world is my way of forcing myself to expand. To open up to all the amazing things the world has to offer. To interact with people that I might shy away from in normal life. Sure, there were times on this trip that I was uncomfortable. That boat ride with 25 people. The first afternoon I was not feeling it. I knew it was going to be cramped and their was no place to sit and chill... but a strange thing happened. By the 2nd, and 3rd and 4th day I was suddenly fine. It was okay to be in such close quarters with people. Sure, there were times with a bit of annoyance or need for space. But it's awesome how I could find my own space when there wasn't any. How we got comfortable being right on top of each other. Sure, by the end of it I wanted to get the heck off the boat, but now I know that I will be fine if I'm in such close quarters with people.

And the leeches. The jungle. The nasty.

It was dirty. Wet. Stinky. Awesome.

Very quickly the jungle makes you it's bitch. And being able to adapt in that environment was great. If I'd had another day I think I really would have gotten comfortable with that level of uncomfort. :) Yes, it's nice to have a perfectly climate controlled house and car and have everything clean and a shower. But its surprising how important dry feet become when that's all you can get. Just dry feet. It's good to be aware of how little I need to be happy...

That's always a great lesson I learn and relearn. When I'm backpacking I have so little with me. So few clothes, so few items. I always, on every trip, feel like I have too much stuff. When I'm packing I think "I'll need this and that and this and that", but once I've got my See Legs and am on my way, I think I could get by with half the items. And I only have a small bag to begin with. :)

Maybe travel isn't your way to find perspective. Maybe you like to cook, or draw, or play sports, or meditate, or... But listing off all those things. None of them do for me what Travel does. Not even close.

So I will urge you to try it. Push you even. Do it. Get out there. Don't be afraid. And if you are... face your fear down. Stare it in the eye and tell that fear to kiss off. Your confidence will grow. Your heart will grow. Your mind will grow. YOU will grow.

See what you're made out of. Likely you'll be surprised.

This is Craig Ouellette,

Last surviving member of the Nostromo

Signing off.

Flores.

A TASTE OF SINGAPORE

May 24, 2013

Singapore.

City. Country.

40km wide by 20km tall.

4.5 million people.

24 hours.

Let's do this.

I arrived by train after 15 hours of travel from Taman Nagara National Park in Malaysia. (I will fly home from Hong Kong in less time. :). But honestly, it was a well needed day off from traveling. Yes I was traveling, but I was able to mostly zone out on the boat, bus and train. Just enjoy the scenery. Write in my journal. Think of all the great things that have happened, and the few things I regret not doing. And also laughing at my complete misread of a certain situation that will make for great comedy in a movie someday.

The best place to be when the AC went out... and even when it didn't.

But for now: Singapore.

I took a cab from the train depot because it was 11:45pm. Had to hit the ATM. Grab some food since there was only snacks on the train. Yikes! The ride was going to cost about 20 Singapore $. But at midnight he said: "Now there's a 50% up charge for after midnight". Then there was another surcharge for something else. In fact, that's a joke of Singapore cabs is that there are always surcharges on surcharges.

It's all good. Check in, head to bed. For tomorrow...

I'm up and out and ready to go. it's Sunday, so few things are open to eat at for breakfast. Thus, I go for Starbucks. Yep, I'm in an international city now. In fact I've noticed and accepted that what makes a "world city" a "world city" is that it has Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC, Nike Stores and on and on. The first world of consumerism is what makes the first world I think.

I walked along the riverfront and thought: I'm in Chicago... with buildings on only one side. :)

It's a great place. The people are nice. The energy is good. It is indeed as clean as you think Singapore would be. There are FINES for everything. In fact it's a big joke that Singapore is a "Fine" city. Smoking: S$1000. Jaywalking: S$500. Urinating in Lifts: $5000. (I bought a magnet that said that. It's so specific). In the end this makes the place safe and easy to travel in and really doesn't affect tourists much.

I saw the MerLion. Yep. Half fish/ Half Lion statue on the bay. There were dragon boat races. I went to the Science/Art museum and they had a LEGO SCULPTURE exhibit! Called "Art of the Brick". So I had to check it out. Some really moving pieces, which is strange since it's Legos. But it was cool. I wanted to buy the one called GRASP. It has a life size red man pulling away from six grey arms holding him back from his goals and dreams.

GRASP

UNDERNEATH

After a brief view of one of the many botanical gardens and the casino I hopped a train to meet up with Jeremy.

Jeremy is a friend I met in Zanzibar in 2008. We hung out with a few other folks for 4 hours total. But we kept in touch and now we get to reconnect in Singapore. And I have to say, having him as a tour guide and friend really made the day special and wonderful. I got to see things I never would have without him. To enjoy food and places I wouldn't have seen. It was a really great way to see the city and learn about it, as well as learn about his life growing up here and his family. Very cool.

First stop: Eating.

Real Singapore food this time. :)

A curry with all sorts of stuff that we got a food court. This used to be all about Hawker stalls (which ironically in Singapore they can't "hawk" their wares anymore, but they still have places with hundreds of them you can walk around in). It was great.

We checked out the History museum which had a piece about Singapore cinema.

Then to Little India. Which, is well, full of Indian restaurants, markets and foods. We wandered a wet market, filled with fresh fish and slaughterhouse stalls where you could just pick the piece of meat you wanted. We stopped into a place and ate some south Indian bread and sauces. Yep, meal number 2.

His parents live nearby, so we went up to their 30+ floor flat. Said hi. They were super nice. The view was amazing from up there. It's such a different way of growing up than what I had. Many folks in Singapore live in Public housing, and unlike the USA where that often meant "The Projects" and bad news. In Singapore it's normal and really one of the few ways you can afford a place to live. A house with a yard would be multiple millions for a tiny place. The view from their place was great and they pointed out all the buildings that would be gone in a few years and new ones being built. Jeremy says most of the places he used to go as a kid are gone now, rebuilt and changed into something else.

To Sim Sim building (shoot, I forgot the name). It's a building where you can buy electronics. Like 10 floors of them. Shops on shops on shops. Back in the day there would be a lot of pirated and fake stuff. But now it's all legitimate, and other than Apple products, they're at great prices.

On to Chinatown. The sun has set and we wander a very touristy street, with a market. But then we hit hawker stall heaven. It was hot and noisy and people were eating tasty food and snacks all over. We had bbq stingray, and a traditional clay pot rice with chicken and veggies and soup. And this nasty ass salted fish that I don't recommend. Jeremy hates it too, so we took it out.

The best part was just talking and learning about the politics, the history, the people of Singapore. How it was part of Malaysia and got kicked out. How the founder and first leader was a lawyer, thus all the laws. Also a hard ass. How crime is very low, but it does exist. The death penalty for anything involving drugs is always carried out and never negotiable. The casino costs 100 S$ if you're local, but free for tourists (though you need an ID). How he used to race dragon boats and did so on the river to cheering crowds. He's got a little boy and a wife and how life is with them. It was fabulous.

Off to the Marina Bay rooftop bar for a view of the city. And conversation with a Kiwi couple traveling. They spoke of swimming with whale sharks and touching them and it nearly made me cry. Man I want to do that.

A long walk back to the hostel along the lit up bay brought the day to an end. A fabulous time. Thanks Jeremy.

Rock on Singapore.

CraigO

PS: For all my gamer friends. They have a SETTLERS CAFE. It was closed when I walked past, but they have an entire WALL of board games. Floor to ceiling. You can play anything you want, have drinks. It's rad. If I'd have had more time, I would have traded some wheat for wool and rolled some 12 sided dice!