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We All Look Alike

Thursday, June 22nd, 2006

An interesting thing about Malaysia is that, unlike most, if not all, other Asian countries, they don’t have their own script. They use our alphabet. The official language of Malaysia is Bahasa Malay, but there are a lot of Chinese living here so you see some Chinese script as well. But most signs are written in Bahasa Malay only, so it is not always easy for tourists who are not familiar with the language. A few important signs are written in English though, like, “Please do not throw trash in the toilet.” However, if you look closely at the words you can easily figure some of them out:

For instance, at the feri in Butterworth you would know how much it cost to cross if you were on a basikal or a motosikal. And if you want to take a bas from Penang to Kuala Lumpur, and you did not want it to make any stops in between, you would take the ekspres. And if you ate some bad food at a restoran and got sick, you could take an ambulans to the klinik. But most words are impossible to decipher without a diksineri.

While walking down a street in a mid-sized town in Maylasia called Taiping–a town that receives very little western tourists–I heard an unmistakably familiar, and surprizing, sound, emanating from one of the shops–a clothing shop I think. The sound stopped me in my tracks, and I laughed. Then I felt a slight ache in my soul, because I miss the sound very much. It was Dennis DeYoung belting out,

” . . . Thank you very much Mister Roboto for doing the jobs nobody wants to! And thank you very much Mister Roboto for helping me escape just when I needed to! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I wanna thank you . . .”

Okay, I know that Mr. Roboto is not one of Styx‘s proudest moments, it’s actually kind of an embarrassment to them and some of their fans (I know at least Tommy Shaw–one of the members of the band–is embarrassed by it). But it’s their earlier stuff that made them one of my favorite bands, as some of you know. The fact that it was Mr. Roboto is what made me laugh. If it was Come Sail Away piping from the shop’s speakers I wouldn’t have laughed, but I still would have stopped, been equally surprized, and felt the ache.

In some of the more developed countries in Southeast Asia you hear more western music, especially in Singapore. But in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, 99% of the music you hear is local. And it all sounds pretty much the same. Thai pop-rock has a simailar sound to ours, but with Thai lyrics of course. So that is somewhat listenable. Otherwise, the karaoke type music eminent in this region is all the same. And it’s horrible! (Sorry June if you are reading this, I know you like it, but I also know I’m not the only farang who feels that way. But I do like when you sing it at karaoke).

Actually, while in Singapore I splurged and went to a concert at the fancy concert hall there, The Esplanade. I saw the world renowned jazz drummer Billy Cobham with his current band, Billy Cobham’s Culture Mix. I have a couple of cd’s by The Mahavishnu Orchestra, a jazz fusion group from the 70’s where Cobham displays his phenomenal talent on the skins. I didn’t expect the music to be anything like Mahavishnu, and it wasn’t. But it was still cool to see, and hear, some good live music.

Anyway, I digress, it wasn’t as much that it was Styx I heard coming from the shop, as it was a reminder of music that I haven’t heard much of in a long time, and that I miss my music. Before I left America my sister recommended I get an Ipod or the like, so I could listen to my music while I travel. But I thought it would just be one more thing to worry about losing, so I didn’t bring one. Now I wish I took her advice. (Or is it, “Now I wish I had taken her advice?” If I’m going to teach English I better learn this stuff.).

From my seat in the middle of the minivan, a sense of hope swept over me as we crossed the border from Thailand into Malaysia. I’d heard so many great things about Malaysia, and immediately upon entering the country I was struck by the distinct difference between Malaysia, and where I’d previously been (Thailand, Loas and Cambodia specifically). Although the ride through southern Thailand was also quite nice.

The highway infrastructure in Malaysia is first class. If it wasn’t (or weren’t? . . . hmmm) for the language on the signs I would have thought I was in America. Nice, wide, smooth roads, a well manicured landscape, and even call boxes and food and fuel rest stops reminded me of the highways back home. As did the tollbooths . . . and they even had speed pass. Here the highways may even be nicer, because they are probably newer. And the scenery along most of the route is breathtaking. I couldn’t wait to get to my destination: Georgetown, on the popular island of penang.

Our minivan crossed into Penang on the feri from Butterworth. The Georgetown skyline looked welcoming as we floated toward the pier. There was one other westerner on the minvan, and he sat next to me, an older chap from Switzerland. He had been to Penang before so he told me where all the cheaper hotels were. That’s where he was going so I got off with him on a road called Chulia. He pointed around where I could go then he went on his way. Immediately, the hope that filled me earlier was infiltrated by disappointment and dispair. I was surrounded by interminably run down and grotty old buildings. And the ones that said “Hotel” on them wouldn’t even beckon a junky and his two-bit crack ho to step inside. How can this be? Did this country spend all of its money on its highways?

Not to be defeated, I walked with my–increasingly heavier–backpackpacks in search of suitable accomodations. This was a popular tourist spot so there had to be a nicer area. My long walk brought me all the way back to where I started, but I did see some better looking places nearby on the main road. So I went into one place and asked to see the room. From the outside this place looked considerably better then the flophouses I saw on Chulia. But the room itself was depressingly grotty (my new favourite word). It was small, and in dire need of a paint job, among other things. There was no way I would pay 60 Ringgit (RM60, approx. $16.67) for that room, so I declined. Before I went to that place I had passed a more upscale looking hotel, Hotel Continental, which cost RM80 ($22.23). My shoulders felt like they had been lugging around 4 two-bit crack hos, so I just went directly to the Hotel Continental and checked in.

This room was much better. But the AC was central air, uncontrollable from the room, and the air entered from a vent in the wall. And you know from watching movies that not only air travels through vents, but also sound. A hard of hearing guest in a nearby room left his TV on late into the night. I was going to stand on a chair and scream into the vent, but that only would have riled me up, and I never would have slept. So I just laid there with pillows covering my ears. It didn’t work.

The next day I went on another quest to find a cheaper place, not because of the noise–I finally did sleep–but because of the price. I found a room for RM35 ($9.72) at a place called 75 Travellers Lodge. It was a very basic small room with a cold shower directly above the toilet, so you could take a dump and have a shower at the same time. They did not supply a towel, TP, or even a blanket. But there was a sheet on the bed and the room was relatively clean. It had a concrete floor. Oh, and it had an air conditioner too, a window unit. Luckily, June gave me a large all purpose cloth that I was able to use as a blanket. And I have my own TP.

That evening on my way back to the Lodge, I was going to stop in a nearby bakery. But in the gutter, about 20 yards from the bakery, I saw 6 rats huddled over some garbage. I turned around and went back to the lodge. That’s another thing about this place. The sidewalks and gutters here are breeding grounds for rats. The gutters are large crevices filled with garbage and water. And you better watch your step.

It rained most of the time I was in Georgetown, so I spent most of my time at the mall.

A couple of days later I went to another part of the island called Batu Ferringhi. That’s where the beach is. The beach was okay, nothing special, but again it rained most of the time I was there, and rained hard. And there was no mall. But I’d say the area was a step up from Georgetown. The really nice beaches and islands are supposed to be on the east coast of Pennisular Malaysia, and I am planning on visiting them eventually.

Now though, I’m slowly working my way down to Kuala Lumpur, the capital, and the major city in Malaysia. I’m actually looking forward to going.

My first stop after Penang Island was, as previously mentioned, Taiping. Taiping was much, much nicer than Georgetown as far as cleanliness goes, but it still suffers from some grottiness, as I’ve learned most Southeast Asian towns do (Somebody give these people some paint). And I saw a number of rats there as well. (Incidentally, I just finished reading the book Rats, by Robert Sullivan.) However there is a gorgeous lake garden park in Taiping as well as a zoo and night safari. I didn’t make it to the zoo or night safari. I woke up to late for the zoo. It’s best to go early when the animals are out while it’s still relatively cool. I woke up too late because I was up all night watching CNBC (the financial channel) on cable. It was market hours in the US. I stayed at a decent place again, hence cable TV, but curiously the toilet didn’t flush properly, so they left a bucket for flushing. But I went to the beautiful park, which is where I wrote a good portion of this post in my notebook. The park alone is worth a visit, and I’d imagine the zoo as well.  As I mentioned, Taiping does not receive many foreign travelers. I think I saw one, maybe two other westerners. I’m not sure though, it might have been the same guy twice, we all look alike. We were both in Pizza Hut at the same time. Seeing only 1 or 2 westerners in two days is not the only reason I know they don’t get a lot of foreign travelers. I also know because I got a lot of looks, even people yelling to me in their cars. But some people didn’t give a shit.

I’m in The Cameron Highlands now. I just got here so I don’t have much to say about it yet, but the ride up here was magnificent. I’m staying in a place with shared bathrooms. My room is just a cube with a bed, and some bugs. It cost RM20 ($5.56), the cheapest place I’ve stayed in Malaysia so far. Accomodations here are pretty expensive compared to the rest of Southeast Asia, except for Singapore. In Singapore I had to stay in my first dorm rooms. It was an experience and I should have written about it, but that was during my lazy period of writing. Maybe I’ll write about it later. But I didn’t take any notes.

Okay, I owe this internet place a butt load of money, so I better end now and get out of here. It takes a long time for me to write these things. And besides, I probably lost a lot of readers along he way. If you are still with me, here’s a bit of information. The word dictionary in Bahasa Malay is kamus, not diksineri, I just couldn’t resist. I really did hope it was spelled something like that though. Now those who abandoned this post some time after reading that will go through life thinking Malays spell dictionary, diksineri. Now aren’t you glad you stuck around?

Blindsided In The Face With A Supersoaker

Tuesday, April 25th, 2006

I’ve been trying to write and post this for 3 or 4 days now, and either the site or the internet I’m using keeps crashing on me before I can finish writing it. So I haven’t abandoned you again. Hopefully I finally get to post it.

Well, looks like no one came up with the right guess of what happened to me here,

It's some kind of talcom powder mixed with water on my face. Also I'm soaked with water from head to toe.

I'm also soaken wet from head to toe

although that Stephen fellow had some interesting guesses.

What happened was I got caught out in the streets during Songkran, in Thailand. It’s the Thai New Year celebration, also known as the water festival, where everyone gets water, either shot at them from a supersoaker water gun, or dumped on them from a bucket, or whatever other means they can think of to soak a person with water. While some people douse you, others apply the talcom powder paste on your face. No one is immune. If you are outside you are fair game. It was kind of fun and interesting the first day, and maybe even the second, but they do it for like 5 or 6 days in a row. At least it’s hot here and it provides relief from that. But eventually you would like to just go outside and not have someone dump a bucket of water all over you, or rub the paste on your face.

Here are a couple of pictures of the festivities.

People getting the paste rubbed on their face.

The old bucket dump

These are from Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The pictures of me are from when I was near Khao San Road in Bangkok. It was completely insane there. I didn’t get any pictures though because I didn’t want to ruin my camera. What’s amazing is that it goes on for that long, and everyone is just as enthusiastic about it the on 5th day as they were on the first, like they hadn’t just done the same thing the previous 4 days in a row. It was okay, but it really sucks getting blindsided in the face with a supersoaker.

I also went back to Cambodia for a few days. I went to Siem Reap. I didn’t go there the first time I visited Cambodia. I think I was the only person in the history of travel to go to Cambodia and not go to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is where Angkor Wat is: the famous ruins from yesteryear. This is me with Angkor Wat in the background.

You like the hat?

You might recall I had some anxious moments during my last trip to Cambodia. This time I crossed at a different border, Poipet. This border has a sign above the booth that lists the price of the visa as $20 US, but they still have the balls to ask for 1000 Thai baht (about 25% more than $20 US). Even after you act like a monkey and point to the sign 5 times, they still demand 1000 baht. But again, I eventually only paid the $20 US.

My cousin posted a comment to my last post–with the pictures of me from Songkran–in regard to my perceived weight loss. Well her perception was right, I’ve lost quite a few pounds. That’s what a diet of rice and vegetables will do. Most people would think it is awesome that I’ve lost so much weight, but they are people who don’t realize that I had no weight to lose in the first place. I’m not too worried about it though, I’ve read on the forums here about others who lose weight travelling here long term. Plus most people who live here are just as thin as I am. And I still have my appetite, so I don’t think I’m sick or anything. I had been checking my weight by wrapping my hands around my upper thigh–I don’t have access to many scales here, and even if I did, they are in kilograms, and I don’t know how much I’m supposed to weigh in kilograms–and if my fingers touched it meant that I’d lost too much weight and needed to start eating more pizza. Well, I never thought that my fingers would ever actually touch, but recently, the tips of my fingers met for the first time. So I’ve been frequenting a place called The Pizza Company. It’s actually not too bad. It’s not New York or New Jersey pizza, of course, but it’ll do.

Okay, I think I may finally be able to post this, so let me do it now before it crashes on me again.

Too Big A Number To Mess With

Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
I have learned something that breaks my heart, and levels my soul. I've recently discovered that I am not a true vagabonder. I had my suspicions, but now it's been confirmed. As I mentioned in my last post, my ... [Continue reading this entry]

Nothing Happening, So How About Some More Pictures?

Friday, February 3rd, 2006
Not much interesting has been happening. I've been with June in Bangkok for almost a month now, so it's kind of like I live here. Not really doing any vagabonding. So since there is nothing much to report, except that ... [Continue reading this entry]

Some Street Photography

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
I'm still doing a whole lot of nothing in Bangkok so here are some more pictures, with a concentration of street photography. And some experimental editing. The same park on the same day as my masked musicians photo in the ... [Continue reading this entry]

A Lot Of Not So Good Pictures

Sunday, January 15th, 2006
Well, I think I must have confused a lot of people with my last post. And I am a bit humbled too, because I thought it would be well received, especially from those who have been there. Oh well, here ... [Continue reading this entry]

Devastating Disease Hits Southeast Asia, Not Bird Flu

Friday, January 6th, 2006
There is a very dangerous and potentially fatal disease currently afflicting the residents of Southeast Asia (SEA). A disease so devastating, when it strikes, it can kill an otherwise healthy adult in an instant. I'm not talking about bird flu. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Are American’s Too Cautious?

Friday, January 6th, 2006
The seemingly negative tone of my last few posts: the boat ride from hell; asshole, scamming touts; border nazis; and even the sadness of Pattaya, have prompted my sister to ask, "Are you having fun? Are ... [Continue reading this entry]

Speedboat To Sihanoukville

Sunday, December 25th, 2005
. . . . I ended up staying at the Phumin Hotel that night. It looked nicer than Otto's, and after what I had just been through, and what I knew was coming next, I needed nicer. Although ... [Continue reading this entry]

Touts and Scams: A Border Crossing Adventure, Part 2

Thursday, December 22nd, 2005
***Before you read "A Border Crossing Adventure, Parts 1&2", let me just say that it's been a while since I've written them and I've since regretted some of the ways that I tried to save money on this ... [Continue reading this entry]