give my mind (and heart) a break

Decisions, decisions. Small decisions I make easily. Life decisions, not so much. Before one takes off on a life changing experience, the unknown is scary. When one is in the middle of that that so-called life changing experience, I don't know what that is...something like the maze in the last challenge of Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire, except I don't have a magic wand to fight off the beasts.

So I'm feeling a little lost. I'm fortunate enough that things in my life usually work out in the end. This time, I know I'm going to have to work very, very hard for it.

I'll leave it at that.

an education

At times I feel like my life is at a standstill. I still find it strange that I am at home, and doing graduate school. Undergrad felt like a natural (or shall we say expected) choice but grad school was not expected and in a way, I feel inadequate to live up to the standards I set in my mind.

I keep going. Education is safe. The realities are talked about, debated, and critiqued. However well that prepares me for practice, I shall not know until I am there. So many times, people refer to the working life as "life in the real world" or "reality". Why should there be a gap between so-called reality and education? Why do we distance ourselves in a cocoon away from "reality"?

I find myself asking more and more questions. Perhaps less so about what is "reality", but questions about my choices, my morals and ethics, and my values. A lot of the times, it's about self-confidence and whether or not I can muster up the courage to do what I ought to do, or do what I want to do.

There just seems to be too much knowledge in this world. My life has been sheltered and I have been well-fed. I don't want to perceive myself to be atop of a pedestal and looking down at the world.

I may be incoherent or incapable of flow at this hour. I do know one thing, I will always value education. Education can be in so many forms. It should be accessible and not necessarily formal. I find myself thinking about what I should have been taught in elementary or high school instead of realizing such simple connections to subjects such as biology, chemistry, and social studies 10 years later. Maybe I should be a teacher.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

- Nelson Mandela

How many men did it take to build Angkor Wat?

Finally, I am writing this last bit of my South East Asia trip. Hopefully it won't be my last. 

My final destination: Siem Reap, Cambodia. I've always wanted to visit one of the Wonders of the World and the temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom were wondrous. I flew here with my Dad after Denise left for Singapore. My first impression when I arrived at the airport was positive as the airport was quite pretty and felt resorty. However, things quickly changed as we were going through customs. Basically, the Cambodian immigration often give certain Asian passports hell, such as my Dad's. First as we left Hanoi, the Vietnam customs took away my Dad's Visa, which wasn't stapled into his passport. When we arrived in Siem Reap, they asked where our last destination was, and my Dad did not have his Vietnam Visa to prove it. Anyway, after I did some explaining, we were able to get ourselves the Cambodian Visa and then through the stamping process. I went through very easily as the slicked-hair immigration official stamped my passport. My Dad on the other hand, had to face something else apparently common in this area for the certain Asian passports. Basically, as correctly stated in my Dad's guide book, he had to pay a tip to the official, which I find ridiculous. He was flashing a dollar bill under his hand to hint to my Dad that's what he wanted and of course my Dad obliged and handed over the Dollar. After some consideration, it was apparently that all the officials were men, and it was also very likely that they bribed their way into these jobs. 

Anyway, we board a taxi to our hotel. As expected, the driver tried to sell us his services to give us a tour of the temples. I admired his enthusiasm but we already had a guide lined up. We checked into our hotel, and watched the sunset from our balcony. It was really quite pretty. We decided to just have dinner at the hotel and boy was it a good idea. I had this delicious Cambodian fried rice and a nice thick mango juice. After dinner, we walk around the main street around our hotel and stumbled upon the Hotel de la Paix and decided to go in for a tour. A tour turned into a drink in the outdoor lounge which was so gorgeous. My dad sipped on his orange juice while I sipped on a cold Tiger. It was really relaxing and I didn't even care about the mosquito bites I got. I doubt I'd be going to Siem Reap again anytime soon but if I do, I want to stay at this place.

We decided to have an early start the next day. Our guide was waiting for us at the lobby at 7:30 and we decided to visit Angkor Thom first since it was bigger. The road entering the Heritage Site was tree-lined with beautiful large trees and there was an air of ancient times. It's a difficult feeling to describe. We get to our first temple. Note: at this point, I've forgotten a lot of the names of the temples so bare with me. We visited Ta Prahn first - where Tomb Raider was filmed. It really was quite beautiful and I was in awe. We basically visit other temples in Angkor Thom (and this is where the short term memory loss kicks in). Basically saw the main places like Terrace of the Elephants and the Terrace of the Leper Kings and Bayon. Boy was it ever hot. I don't think I've ever sweated as much as I did in my life, but I didn't stop. The sights were beautiful. We headed back to the hotel after lunch for a shower and a little break and then continued to Angkor Wat after.

Angkor Wat is obviously the more popular one due to its alluring and symmetrical spires (can I call them that?) All the layers of Angkor Wat had so much detail. It was quite interesting to see the same temple change religions (Buddhism and Hinduism) back and forth several times. But boy, it was hot at Angkor Wat since I changed into...jeans...just so I can climb the top tier. I didn't have any other longer shorts nor a scarf to cover my legs so I rolled up my jeans and sweated like a hog again for a few more hours. The view really was beautiful and the moat felt so elegant and calm.

After we finished at Angkor Wat, we still had some time left so we went to the museum that housed more statues. My dad had a great time looking at old Buddhist relics and it was nice to soak up the AC. We concluded our tour with our guide (who was a very nice and pretty Cambodian girl) and went back to the hotel to shower, once again. We decided to head out to the main restaurant street (Eight Street I believe?) and got some not to great food, though the smoothies were fantastic. We should have totally dined at the Hotel de la Paix! Oh well, we wandered the streets a little longer before we went back to the hotel to shower for the 3rd time and head to bed since we needed to be up early for the sunrise.

We awoke, and rode a tuk tuk (motorized carriage of sorts) to Angkor Wat. Boy it was early and unfortunately, the sunrise was not all that spectacular. I sat with a group of women doing meditation with this instructor and it was nice since I felt I sort of got a free lesson. The sun finally came and I hurried and snapped some photos.

We headed back to the hotel after the sunrise for some breakfast and checkout. My Dad's tour guide friend happened to be in the same hotel so we went for lunch together and then to Tonle Sap Lake, which is apparently the world's second largest lake in peak water levels. Unfortunately, the situation was not pretty at the Lake. The environmental resource issue of "Tragedy of the Commons" was apparent right away. Not only was the water polluted from agricultural runoff, and lack of sewage treatment, they were dredging the canal to widen it. It was difficult to believe people live off this water that is so untreated. On top of that, there are families in boats selling trinkets to the tourists in boats. There were also children with snakes around their necks as if it was a circus show. I felt terrible for these families because they needed to make money for the day to feed their children. I'm glad some people from the tour group brought some toothpaste and toothbrushes as well as some snacks for the children instead of handing them money off the bat. 

So the visit to the lake concluded my tour on a sad note. I flew back to Taiwan via Ho Chi Minh and had a pleasant layover at the updated airport. I was blessed with this opportunity to travel around so many countries and learn so much from the cultures. South East Asia is a region full of warm people (and hot weather) living in many vibrant cultures. This trip allowed me to have an introductory understanding of the region for my potential thesis as well. I'm hoping I can return in the next few years before too much has changed. 

Where are all the traffic lights in Hanoi?!

I apologize for this lengthy delay! But this is the longest entry yet for my travels just because I enjoyed myself so much.

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Hanoi by far, was my favourite destination out of all the places I visited on this trip. It was refreshing after being in Malay culture for so long to be somewhere cooler with non-spicy food! However, my first impression as I entered the airport was not great. I needed a visa to enter Vietnam and I thought I had to apply beforehand and paid USD50 for the application. But turns out I could've applied for one upon arrival (as many other travelers did) and I had to pay an addition USD25 when I arrived too... Granted, my process was way quicker and I was greeted by someone holding up my name as I approached immigration. I thought he was sent by the hotel or something and not by the visa office I applied through. Anyway, he took my application and he basically just handed it to the processing officials and cut my application in front of everyone else's. I wasn't surprised at all but I still feel like I was ripped off through the website. So a tip for you travelers, just apply for a visa upon arrival. It'll be slower but it'll save you USD50.

I was also meeting up with my dad at the airport as he was joining me and Denise in Vietnam since he deemed the country "unsafe" for two girls traveling alone. His flight from Taipei was about an hour after ours so we waited in the baggage claim for him. When he finally arrived and we left to search for our airport pickup, we couldn't find the placard with our names or hotel name on it. At that point, I thought the guy who greeted me with my name upon arrival was from the hotel, not the visa office, and I was quite mad that he left us. My dad, true to form, said, "This is still a developing country. It's not surprising they would rip us off." Oh dad. Anyway, we found the person holding the sign. Turns out they were holding a sign for their other hotel, and they flipped it over after a while (they were too cheap to make two signs). The ride from the airport to the hotel was quite long - about 45 minutes or so on a bumpy and noisy highway. Once we crossed the bridge over the river to enter the city, the traffic started and we were surrounded by non-stop honking from cars, trucks, mopeds, and even bikes - many with customized horns! It was quite intriguing how they get around other cars by honking incessantly. We finally arrive at the laneway our hotel was situated on. Yes, the car could not fit through the lane! Some porters came to receive us and pick up our luggage, and the attractive manager spoke English quite well while reviewing our stay details. Oh yes! We were also welcomed with the BEST, and Denise agrees, the BEST mango juice ever. I've never had such deliciously fresh mango juice.

We couldn't check into our rooms yet since we arrived in the morning, so we decided to head out for some lunch and wander around the Old Quarter, the district we stayed in. Thanks to Dave's Lonely Planet guide, I found some vegetarian options for my dad, one of which was only a short distance away from our hotel. We eat the overpriced food, and head to Ho Hoan Kiem lake. We surprised at the number of people by the lake - it's as if all the tourists in Hanoi congregated at the lake at that exact time. People were waiting for a sight of an ancient, giant turtle. It would've been terribly difficult to even see the turtle in the murky green, eutrophic waters.

traffic = my worst nightmare

Uncle Ho's preserved body lies within

Water puppets. Too bad we didn't get to see the show

After checking into our beautiful room with rose petals on the beds and a complimentary laptop, we take a taxi out to the Temple of Literature - a thousand year old library/academic centre. The Chinese influence in Hanoi is clearly visible on plaques and stone carvings. We then take a cab to the administrative centre to see the citadel and to see Uncle Ho's mausoleum. Let's just say we did an awful lot of walking, and I was coughing constantly from the dusty, polluted air. It was a nice walk however along the tree lined streets and passing by parks where locals hang out and play badminton. I really did enjoy my walk around this area, though I felt the beady eyes of plainclothes officers (or spies) on the back of my head around the walled central government buildings. We head to the other vegetarian place for dinner, and boy was it ever delicious and affordable! We wander back to the area around our hotel and browse the weekly night market.

We were heading to Halong Bay the next day and woke up early to a breakfast of PHO! How I adore having pho for breakfast! Our journey to Halong Bay took four long hours (when realistically it could've just taken two on a better highway and if the driver drove the speed limit). The road was bumpier than ever and we were constantly in a horn battle with other vehicles. It was nice when we finally arrived and saw the beautiful karst landscape surrounded by the emerald waters. While waiting to board the "junk" as they call the ships there, this little marmalade kitty jumped on my lap and started napping! It was so adorable. When I got up to leave, he dug his claws into my jeans as if he didn't want to leave my warm lap. The cats in Vietnam make me want to own a cat.

Overall, the short journey in Halong Bay was really enjoyable and relaxing. There were no TVs, radios, reception...which was a bit of a problem. See, the Japanese earthquake and tsunami hit as Denise and I were kayaking around. We had no idea there was an earthquake until we turned on the TV in Hanoi. It was a huge shock to all of us and lucky that the tsunami didn't travel down to where we were.

delicious and fresh salad on the Junk! just the right amount of sour.

Lonely boat in the Halong Bay

Pho Ga! for breakfast :D 

On our last day in Hanoi, Denise left in the morning to return to Singapore. My dad and I had some time to kill before we had to head to the airport so we wandered to another part of the city. I've read many articles about tourism in Hanoi. It truly is a slow, laid-back city. I wish I got photos of the locals just sitting on the low stools in the Bia Ha's (like beer cafes) by the street, drinking domestic pints and chowing on food. I enjoyed the vibe, the food, and the people in this City. Despite its lack of traffic lights, I survived crossing the streets (thanks to my Dad). 

Next stop - Siem Reap, Cambodia (Where Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom lies) 

Why...don't I have a question for Kuala Lumpur?

My last Malaysia stop was in the heart and capital of the country, Kuala Lumpur. My first impression upon landing in KL was not a great one since my flight was delayed 3 or 4 hours and by the time we landed, it was 8:30 PM and we were starving! The airport was also an annoying distance to the City Centre. The only thing that made up for the inconvenience was the smart life decision made by Denise - she purchased a bus ticket from the AirAsia website as she booked the tickets for 3 RM - that's ONE DOLLAR Canadian everyone. So yes, that is definitely the best purchase made.

We arrive and check in at the hotel finally around 10PM. We drop off our luggage and high tail it to our neighbouring bar/club/restaurant street for some food. We settled for some pizza and I needed a drink after a long day, so I got a Long Island. It felt nice to be in a more developed metropolitan city again after leaving Singapore. Anyhow, after chowing down our pizza within minutes, the bartender comes by and asks how my drink was and if I wanted another one. I declined. He continued to ask us if we were heading out to "party party" after this. We told him we were pretty tired from our long day and will probably go back to the hotel to rest. But man was this guy persistent. We asked for the bill and he brought it over with a complimentary shot of limoncello for me, and asked if we wanted to go "party party" with him, and to drop by after he's off work at 12:30, 1 ish. Again, we say no, paid the bill, and left with him waving at us as we hurried away.

Our second day in KL was...sweaty. Penang was HOT, but dry hot. KL was HOT, but HUMID HOT, which is a lot less tolerable. We slept in a bit more in KL and finally wandered out to Chinatown in search of some lunch. Our visit in KL was just a lot of meandering and slightly getting lost in the streets. We hung around Chinatown, the old civic centre, and Little India a bit and went into malls a lot because it was so flipping hot. We spent the evening at the Patronas towers, snapping photos. It was a beautiful sight to behold. I didn't really have much memorable experiences, but it was a must-see place as KL is the symbol of Malaysia. The City was indeed beautiful and very metropolitan. It was obvious it was a hub for visitors too as we encountered so many tourists everywhere we went.

colourful Little India

Really yummy glass noodles with soft shell crab :D 

You know what this is.

In the end, our one full day spent in KL was pretty relaxing and enjoyable despite the heat. We had to leave quite early to catch an early flight to Hanoi. Boy, was the airport ever busy at 4:45 AM. The earlier the flight, the cheaper it is I suppose. The Low Cost Carrier Terminal, or the LCCT, was a complete...disaster. It was literally a large box, made out of metal. It was just a mess, full of people and aggressive Asians everywhere. Yes I am harsh at my own race. We finally check in, and located the entrance to our gate...only to discover you can only enter 45 minutes before your flight. Ridiculous. We were pretty dead tired from our 3 hours of sleep and was grateful for the three hour flight to Hanoi.

I'm not sure I would revisit KL again unless I was there in transit. I'm sure the City has a more varied night life but we were just too exhausted to explore at night.

Next up - Hanoi, Vietnam (my favourite part of my trip!)

Why are taxis so expensive in Brunei?

Brunei. Many people don't know where this tiny nation is located. Well, if you refer to my previous post, you would see a little tiny country located on the north coast of Borneo, lodged within Malaysia. The main reason behind our visit to Brunei is from sheer curiosity. I remembered memorizing the long capital city name for this tiny nation in Grade 6 geography. Bandar Seri Begawan. BSB for short. Such a long name for such a small nation. Brunei is a constitutional sultanate nation, ruled by...well a Sultan and other ministers (mostly family members). The Sultan is highly revered in the nation, as every public place we visited had photos of the Sultan and the Queen on their walls. Bruneians speak a standardized form of Malay, but they did display quite a bit of Arabic on signage around town.

We intended a short stay in Brunei. We flew Royal Brunei Airlines from Kota Kinabalu to BSB in 40 minutes. It was a beautiful 777 plane with really pretty flight attendants.

Royal Brunei Airlines flight attendants

Brunei Dollars, equal in value to the Singapore Dollar

Now, I had to dress a lot more conservatively in Brunei as they have stricter Muslim rules than Malaysia. It was also bloody hot though so I was sweating profusely walking around the city centre. Walking around the small city centre, it was pretty evident that everything is done by the government. There was nothing extravagant about BSB except for a few buildings here and there but the streets were well kept. The city centre also did not feel like a city centre. Unfortunately, BSB seems to be quite sprawled and of course, very vehicle-oriented due to the cheap oil available in their country. There was no way we could've walked from our hotel (which felt like in the middle of nowhere) to the city centre without heat stroke or crossing a dangerous road. Thus, we had to hire a cab...(I'll get to my problem later on).

We toured the Royal Regalia Museum, which is where the Sultan shows off some of his gifts from countries around the world. No photos were allowed though, so I can't share with you all the gift from Jean Chretien to the Sultan... It was a granite sculpture of a seal. When other governments were gifting swords, gold necklaces, and the like, we gave him a sculpture of a seal (or was it a walrus)? After being excessively chilled by the violent air conditioning inside the museum, we headed outside to tour the city centre but then it was pouring rain while it was sunny. It was a strange weather phenomenon. When the rain finally slowed, we visited the post office where I mailed some postcards and visited the Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, decorated with gold leaf. The attendants were very nice and quite chatty and showed us a separate side where the women pray. Since this is the mosque the royals frequent, there were escalators for their use to their VIP room upstairs...We went to Kampong Ayer afterwards and took a half hour boat road around the village. It was pretty shocking how many people still lived in this water village on stilts without any sewage treatment.

Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque, decorated in a gold-leaf dome

Brunei's version of Teh - with palm sugar. SO GOOD.

It was unfortunate how small the city centre was. Denise and I ended up wandering around the mall nearby and discovered something fun and interesting inside the arcade - it was a karaoke box! We sang 2 songs - Leehom and FIR. That was the most Asian moment of the entire trip. We explored the water village some more by foot and took some photos and then decided to head back to the hotel. Due to the lack of taxis, we went to the Sheraton in the city centre to ask for their assistance in calling a cab. We waited about 15 minutes and a cab finally showed up and we paid the 15 Brunei dollars for the 10 minute ride...Had a pleasant Indian feast for dinner and headed back to the hotel since there was not much to do in BSB at night.

Kampong Ayer (Water village) with the Mosque in the background

Inside of the Empire Hotel and Country Club - $1.1 Billion US was spent on the construction of this place...

The next day, we decided to visit the Empire Hotel and Country Club. The interesting story behind this hotel was that it was built by the Sultan's brother, who was also the ex-finance minister. His brother spent excessively on a lavish life. Apparently, he owns over 90 properties around the world with a 2000+ car collection. Anyhow, he built this country club as a royal getaway for family and friends. In total, he spent USD1.1 billion - a hefty sum considering the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur cost about USD 1.6 billion. It was from all the imported Italian marble and other luxuries inside the country club. The Sultan apparently fired his own brother from the finance minister post and sold a lot of the other lavish and silly facilities his brother wasted money on. 

Now, getting to the question of this entry - why are the taxis so bloody expensive in Brunei? Well, according to our taxi driver who drove us to the Empire hotel, there are apparently only 45 taxis in the entire country. He broke it down for us - about half are waiting at the airport, 10 in other parts of the country, and the rest in BSB. Our cab from the airport to our hotel was 25 Brunei Dollars. Our trips to and from the city centre were 10 or 15 each way. Our ride to the Empire and then to the airport was 50. FIFTY! It wasn't even that long of a drive. So in total, we spent over 100 Brunei Dollars on cabs within 2 days. 

At the end of the trip, I was quite surprised at what I saw in Brunei. Even though the country has the 2nd highest HDI in South East Asia after Singapore and the 4th highest GDP per capita in the world, the regular inhabitants did not seem wealthy at all. They seem to live comfortably without worrying about money but they also did not live a wealthy life. It was obvious the money was controlled by the Sultan and distributed on top of people's salaries. People drove modest cars, dressed conservatively, and had the necessary day to day items. According to my Lonely Planet guide, Bruneians apparently like to shop - but I didn't really see too much evidence of that during my stay.

We waited a lengthy delay for our flight to Kuala Lumpur and was thoroughly bored at the airport. Next entry - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! 

Blog, Interrupted

Interrupted for good reason. You see, I'm leaving Taipei tonight. The city is crying and I'm a little reluctant to leave. This has been the longest I've ever stayed in Taipei since I moved to Canada when I was seven. It's been such a wonderful trip back and exceeded all my expectations. The best part has been reconnecting with my relatives and with my native country. I still regard myself as Taiwanese after all these years even though I said earlier that I had trouble fitting in with the culture. That is still true to a degree, but I'm sure if I lived here for a year or two, I'd feel a bit more at home. But, "real life" for me is still in North America and I have to head back to live that life. I know have the choice to move back to Taiwan to be with my family, but I know that that option is not the best choice for myself.

我今晚就要離開台北了. 台北正在為我哭而我也有點捨不得. 至重到Canada, 這一次回來是所有最長地. 這一次回來真的有感受到家人的團圓而且也再次認識. 雖然我以經跟台灣現代文化有點落差, 我還是台灣人. 如果再住了一兩年就可以容入台灣的社會. 可是, 我的"真實"生活還是在Canada而我必要回去面對現實.

So thank you Taiwan...the last three months have been memorable and eye-opening. There are still so many places I still need to visit in this tiny island of Formosa (and much more to eat). See you...soon.

謝啦, 台灣. 我會努力的每一年回來的!

Where on earth is Kota Kinabalu?

Many of you may not have heard of Kota Kinabalu (from now on referred to as KK) before. I never heard of this place until we were doing our trip research. Kota Kinabalu is in Borneo Malaysia, in the state of Sabah. Here is a context map of Borneo:

So now you have your geography lesson of the day. It was quite interesting because when you enter Sabah from Peninsular Malaysia, you still have to go through customs and get stamped. We thought we were in the wrong line at first haha. We arrived at KK pretty late at night and didn't spend time exploring the area at 11 PM. Our stay in KK was by far the shortest in total. We pretty much had one full day in KK since we arrived so late and departed early in the morning.

Thanks to our trusty Lonely Planet guide and its maps, we already decided on where we wanted to visit on our full day excursion - to Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, where there is supposed to be pretty decent snorkeling. We devoured a filling breakfast at a nearby kopi tiam in our Asia City Complex, and walked for about 30 minutes to the ferry terminal where we got our boat tickets and paid our marine park entrance fee. There are quite a few islands in the Marine Park, and we chose Manukan for its snorkeling availability and the fact that its not so deserted that we feel stranded. In the end, we did see some nice fishies and got our tan on a bit. However, it's pretty evident that tourism has played its part in both preserving and destroying the coral. We saw a lot of dead, bleached coral and the areas that were still alive had relatively small colonies. That's the thing about tourism - the concept of preservation will still have negative effects from the masses of tourists that flock to this area. However, without the Marine Park designation, the coral reefs may also be destroyed by pollution, overfishing, and the like. 

We left the island around 2PM due to a change in weather. We went back for a nice shower to wash off all the salt, and fell asleep to National Geographic...I guess we were a bit worn out and the beds were just so comfy... We finally got ourselves up and headed out for some kopi tiam food and a walk around the city centre. KK is not known for its urban attractions. Many visitors head up to Mount Kinabalu or to the jungles nearby to see orangutans and the world's largest flower. But since we arrived so late in KK and didn't want to spend a lot of time traveling to other destinations, we opted for a more relaxing snorkel. Anyhow, KK really isn't too interesting to go around at night. Like many Asian cities, the main attractions are food and shopping, which we did. 

Dinner in KK. it was a bit strange. Delicious lemon tea on the left. 

One of the main streets in the city centre. a lot of cars.

grilled seafood (slightly overpriced in my opinion)...I was too full from dinner to have any though

I left KK (en route to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei) feeling a bit empty to be honest. I think it was because we were there for so little time. I think it would be worthwhile to check out the orangutans and Mount Kinabalu with more time and more money to spare on tours. Several airlines fly to KK's international airport (which is surprisingly quite updated) from many countries. I really wish I had more time in Malay Borneo. Kuching is supposed to be worthwhile checking out too. 

Next stop: Bandar Seri Begawan or BSB (give yourselves a pat on the back if you thought of the Backstreet Boys) in Brunei Darussalum, the land of oil and the Sultan! 

Why do the food vendors close so early in Penang?

Penang by far was my favourite part of the Malaysia leg. I stayed in the UNESCO World Heritage Cultural centre of Georgetown. Although a small historical/colonial centre, Penang is known for hot weather and thus my walking speed was greatly reduced. Georgetown really is an interesting place. Its colonial history along with the groups of immigrants from all over S.E. Asia has created a diverse cultural location. It's essentially a melting pot of the former immigrants and they all seem to get along so well.

One of the many mansions built by wealthy Chinese merchants

One major qualm I had, was the fact that so many of little eateries serving good Penang food closes at 2 PM! Yes they have night hawker stalls, but they're not the same thing! Nonetheless, food was pretty decent in Penang. I've never really been a fan of curries and the same goes for the laksa. I think it's the smell of the fish sauce that I find unappealing. However, I did have a whole lot of other, very cheap food that suited my tastes very well - especially this duck rice we had for lunch. Yum.

DUCK RICE <3 

Penang has the largest (I think percentage-wise) Chinese population in all of Malaysia. Thus, it was quite easy to get around using Mandarin. It was nice being able to identify with Chinese cultures that exist elsewhere as there were similarities as well as differences (especially in dialect). On our last day in Penang, we visited Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Penang-based house. The curator there was pretty excited about my Taiwanese heritage and spoke to great detail about his life and his accomplishments that I never knew much about (I really don't know too much about Taiwan's history).

Other Malay, Islamic, and Hindu cultures are integrated but their identities seemed to be kept separate as well. In Canada, the cultures and especially the offspring seem to integrate too much into western society and cultural identity is lost. Cultural districts are also extremely apparent in western culture. In Penang, so many places of worship are in such close proximity to one another (quite easy for sightseeing) despite there being cultural districts as well.

Our four day stay in Penang (and one day trip to Langkawi) was a great introduction into Malay culture(s). We met a lot of friendly people in the tourism service industry around town. We also had a pretty fun time shopping in Penang as Denise bought a pair of shorts for 10 RM (just a bit over 3 CAD) and I bought a pair of nice sandals for 22 RM (less than 8 CAD).

Langkawi

Beautiful Pantai Tanjung Rhu

I'll speak briefly about our day trip to Langkawi as well. We initially wanted to visit the Cameron Highlands (inland, hilly, and known for their tea growing fields). However, due to the lack of timely and affordable transport to and from Cameron Highlands, this tour operator at a travel agency suggested we visit Langkawi via the 3 hour ferry. We hired a tour guide/driver to take us around Langkawi in four hours.

Langkawi was reaaaaaaaally pretty. I know there are a lot of other beautiful beaches in Thailand as well but I really enjoyed the scenic karst/limestone landscape of Langkawi. The beaches were so clean and the little island was so cute and quite well maintained. I also got a bit of a sunburn in Langkawi too... It was obvious much of the recent development on the island was due to tourism influences but there were still some local agriculture and cattle in the interior of the island. I wasn't on the island long enough to get a holistic feel of the island so I would love to go back there someday. Did I mention the island is also duty free?

I highly recommend Penang (and Langkawi) as destinations in Malaysia. I noticed a lot of travellers stop in Penang, take the ferry to Langkawi, and then move on to Thailand from Langkawi via several ferry services. Just a warning, Penang is quite hot (but thank god it wasn't humid).

The night hawker stalls by Gurney Drive

Why are things so pricey in Bintan?

Ok I'm getting off my procrastinating arse and writing about the places I visited!
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To be honest, there's not too much to say about Bintan, Indonesia. I have never been to Indonesia before, and Bintan would not be my first choice place to visit in Indonesia. However, to keep my parents from worrying, I decided on a resort-y locale just a short ferry ride from Singapore. Bintan was definitely a place to relax by the pool and read a book. It was unfortunate that costs in Bintan have been driven up by the Singapore visitors. The food was extremely expensive, as were the activities. Not wanting to spend too much at the beginning of our trip, my friend and I were thrifty and just went on one excursion to a mangrove area. Bintan is also known for their beaches. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and too windy to venture into the ocean. The beaches also weren't very clean when I was there, so I was quite disappointed.

From the rather pleasant mangrove tour. 

As for the food, I had the spiciest meal of my life at the Indonesian restaurant.

I literally could not feel my tongue after this meal. This dish is pretty much a fish dish cooked with this pepper sambal sauce. The rice and shrimp chips were all gone at the end of this meal, as was the Strawberry Fanta (kinda gross) and two glasses of water.

My short time in Bintan (barely 3 days) gave me a small insight into Indonesian culture. The people there are all quite friendly and spoke decent English. Our driver who picked us up to go to the mangroves was very chatty but kept stressing how poor Indonesia is. The same goes for our guide for the mangrove tour. An outsider might feel, well I'm paying quite a bit of money here in Bintan...so how can you be poor? I think as a collective, the nation of Indonesia is poor. In Bintan where tourism thrives from Singapore, the tourism dollars don't seem to have too much local benefits. Sure it provides jobs at hotels and tours, but they aren't highly paid at all.

I wouldn't recommend Bintan as a place to visit unless you lived in Singapore or Malaysia. It was relaxing but I was also slightly bored and irked at the high price of food. The island was a lot larger than I thought and costs of hiring a car and exploring the island is also not suitable for more frugal travelers. My goal of the trip was not really to stay at a resort but to explore and experience the local culture. Definitely did not do too much of that in Bintan.