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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?

Some Complementary Pictures

Thursday, March 23rd, 2006

Well, the last time I wrote a somewhat disconcerting post, I followed it up with some pictures. My last post was, I’m sure, somewhat disconcerting to some people, so I will follow that up with some pictures as well. These pictures are not as good as some of the others I’ve posted, but some of them complement previous posts.

And yes, from my last post you may have gathered that I did have a pretty horrible last couple of weeks. Everything that could go wrong did. I spent a night in the hospital, among other things. And for the first time, I actually considered coming home. I have hit the midway point of this trip, and with it, I hit a wall as well. But I’m not going to let these setbacks beat me. I think I will stop worrying so much about money, and start staying at better (not bat shit infested) places, and eating better, and doing more to have fun, even if it cost some money.

So on with the pictures.

Click on the images to see them full size.

This is the room I puked in. I don’t think it had anything to do with the fact that the room had this bat in it. But check out all the shit that had accumulated on the bottom of the window. Some of it dropped down onto the floor. I didn’t notice it when I first arrived because the door to the bathroom was swung open, hiding the bat . . . and the shit.

It really was a bat shit infested room

Saw this scene on my bicycle ride depicted in this post

From my bike ride on Don Khong

Sunflowers near the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

I stood among the bees to get this picture

Have you ever seen one of these?

Oh, I forgot to mention that I went to the planet Septron, and this was the only animal life I saw there.

My hammock outside the bungalow from my famous squat toilet post

Lounging in my hammock on Don Khon, and not feeling nauseous

I got wasted on shrooms at this place. And listened to reggae music all night

I don't know this guy, but he reminded me of Larry Bird.

Vang Vieng, Laos. I only rode on one of those tubes, down the river for about 2 hours.

Riding the Tubes

Chiang Mai, Thailand

I Pissed there

My bungalow from this post

You can't see the huge stain I mentioned in the post, but it's there.

On Don Khon, of the 4000 Islands, Laos

I'm a monkey, I'm a monkey

Shot from Don Khong, of the 4000 Islands

Blue

So cute I had to include him twice.

He tried to eat me!

Sunset on Don Khon, 4000 Islands.

Pretty

Found this guy in my room in Vang Vieng, Laos

Remember the video game centipede? Well, this is a millipede.

Feeding Time

The famous bungalow

Hey, Bungalow Bill

Vang Vieng, Laos

Do I look any different to anyone after 5 months?

From one of the 10 hour boat rides to the Thai border.

It's funny watching The Flintstones in Thai

From the waterfall, at Don Khon

Waterfall, but you wouldn't know it

Okay, that’s all for today

Billionaire!

Wednesday, March 8th, 2006
Two consecutive 10-hour slowboat rides in two days--without the aide of Dramamine--up the mighty Mekong River from Luang Prabang, Laos, to the Thai border, with nary a queaz, has all but confirmed the eradication of my embarrassing, lifelong affliction with ... [Continue reading this entry]

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]

Cuddling With Strangers

Thursday, February 16th, 2006
About a minute after the dubbed kung fu movie ended, the lights inside the overnight bus from Vientiane, Laos to Pakse, Laos went off, engulfing us in darkness. Thirty seconds later, her head found my shoulder. It had only rested ... [Continue reading this entry]