Bored but content
CURRENT LOCATION: Melaka, Malaysia
I have to admit. I have been struggling to find stuff to write about over the last few days. My trip has taken a dramatic turn away from the excitement and adventure of Africa to the pleasant, slow paced, but often boring mall infested land of Singapore and Malaysia. Don’t get me wrong, I am not having a bad time and I do like it here but I think I am having a bit of withdraw from Africa.
For my last night in Singapore I wanted a taste of home so we hit up the first Hooters in Asia and split 20 medium wings with ranch dressing, curly fries and beer. It tasted no different than any Hooters I have been to in the U.S. It even had the same tacky signs and photos on the wall. Hooters is in Clark Quay which is a very trendy part of Singapore and home to Ministry of Sound (some what of a chain of clubs around the world), trendy bars and night clubs and… you guessed it, MALLS. There are easily more malls in Singapore than any other city I have ever been in. It is all about commerce here and it lacks a certain character. That being said, it is the type of place overseas that I could see living in. Has all the comforts of home but is different enough to offer new things and of course is a great jumping off point for the rest of this hemisphere. Just saying. No plans of actually moving.
Similiar to Singapore is Malaysia. I took the border crossing through the Malay city of Johar Bahru (which like the locals, I will refer to as JB from now on). I can’t believe how easy it was. We jumped on an aircon bus brought to immigration on both sides, stamped and got back on the bus and headed to JB. Once there I stayed at Footloose Homestay. A Homestay is basically someone’s house that has extra room for travelers to crash in. I didn’t have a reservation but I figured I had a couple of other options if this didn’t work out. It is apparently run by 3 women. One older, one middle aged and one about my age. I took a single bed. So far every hotel I have stayed at in Malaysia there have been no sheets so I am glad I brought my sarong. The room was simple. A bed and a fan. I woke up the next morning to the sound of chickens outside my window. Immediately thought of all the warnings about travel in Asia and to make sure you stay away from the local poulty population. I wasn’t sure if Bird Flu is only contractable from eating poultry or if just being in close contact could do the trick. Either way it made for an uncomfortable wake up if only for the ungodly noises they make.
After lunch I took a bus north to the city of Melaka, where I currently reside. The bus ride was a joke. I paid $4 to sit in a lounge chair for 2.5 hours where I could actually fall asleep. I know I am still just in shock after 2 day bus rides in Ethiopia and runaway bus rides in Rwanda jammed packed with Africans that never left when they were suppoesd to. I am certainly not complaining.
Once I arrived in Melaka I went straight for the Traveler’s Lodge which is a really great hotel run extremely professionally. The hotel staff does have a strict set of rules in place in order to comply with their religious customs. No shoes or sandals are to be worn inside, no alchohol can be purchased on premises however you are allowed to bring your own and drink it in the lounge. You can’t bring any Chinese food inside and they only serve Halal food (which is food permissable by Islam).
I am currently stuck at a bit of a decision making point. Next Saturday I want to be back in Singapore. There is a drum and bass show that I want to go to. Chinese New Year is on Sunday and being at Shawn’s place for that will eliminate the need to find a hotel that is available. Then on Monday there is an all day outdoor music festival with the Beastie Boys and Jurassic 5 plus other local talent and some imported. I am really excited about it but for now I have a week to kill and I’m not really sure what I want to do. I can either stay around Melaka and southern Malaysia for the rest of the week or I can head north about 3 hours or so to Kuala Lumpur. I am just afraid if I head too far north I will end up not wanting to go back down to Singapore. You know, just watching myself write out my “problem” is hilarious. Prior to the trip if you were to say that one of the issues that will come up in Asia is not knowing which direction to go in and not being sure if I want to go to Kuala Lumpur yet, I would laugh.
I guess for now I will just stay in Melaka and see how I feel. I am actually going to head over to the mall after this and pick up a pair of sneakers. I am going to ditch the boots and make room for some walking shoes. I am tired of using my flip flops every day because my feet are black and I only slightly cleaned them after scrubbing for 10 minutes in the shower last night.
(restaurant in melaka)
Tags: kuala lumpur, malaysia, Malaysia & Singapore, melaka, singapore
Joey
quite different from africa, eh?