Some Southeast Asian Junk

Goodbye from Singapore

Singapore is still clean as ever.  We got in yesterday evening at 5:15 and headed off to our hotel in Changi Village, had a final street food dinner of wonton soup, oyster sauce vegetables and char siew, and then headed off to bed.  Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Singapore's independence from Malaysia, so that was a big celebration.  When you think about it, 40 years just isn't that long.

Malaysia seemed to be enticing us to leave, in a way.  The smog and smoke was so bad that the government issued warnings for children not to play outside and for people with respiratory illnesses to avoid non-essential exertion.  Both JM and I could notice the effects--JM's allergies acted up, and I had a sore throat with a frog in it.  The reason for the unbelievable pollution is human activity, in this case the burning of rain forest land for cultivation.  Fire creates rich soil and clears the land for cheap.  Too bad rain forests have large economic value as well.

So that's it for us in Southeast Asia.  Those of you in the US, we'll see you soon; those of you in Indonesia and Malaysia, it's been a blast.

Pictures from Melaka and Langkawi

We've put up a whole bunch of pictures from our trips with Lindsey to Langkawi and Melaka.  We hope to get a couple more pictures when Lindsey gets here digital pictures all set up as well.

There are also a couple more pictures from our travels around KL, including one of me (TP) in my Indonesian batik shirt and a great picture from JM of a sunrise looking out of our apartment window.

To Melaka and Back

We are back from our trip to Melaka.  It was a blast, although it was pretty hot for most of the time.  We took the 9:30 bus from Puduraya Station in KL and got to Melaka by 11:30.  It's an easy trip on a nice air-conditioned bus.  Once we got there, we set off for the middle of the historic district.

To explain the significance of Melaka, it is worth it to recognize that when people talk about the Golden Age of Malay history--the specifically Malay one, as opposed to the other golden ages of the region like those of the Majapahit in Java and the Srivijaya in Sumatra--people talk about the Sultanate of Melaka.  Parameswara, a Hindu ruler from Srivijaya, left Sumatra and founded a settlement in Temasik (now Singapore) and then later the Sultanate of Melaka.  He converted to Islam and changed his name to  Iskandar Syah around this time, c. 1400 AD.  For over a century Melaka was a powerful trading kingdom whose influence extended from Ayutthaya in Thailand to include most of Sumatra.  This period of history has been romanticized in works of literature such as the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals).  Melaka received delegations from China and India and was visited several times by the famed Chinese eunuch admiral Cheng Ho.

Then, in 1511, the Portuguese came.  Under Alfonso de Albuquerque, they invaded and conquered and set up a fortress, called A'Famosa, through which they dominated the key trade routes through the Straits of Melaka.  They ruled there until 1641, when the Dutch managed to seize it to protect trade to Batavia (Jakarta).  They had Melaka until 1795, when the British took over while France had invaded the Netherlands.  The status of Melaka was in limbo until 1824, when the British traded their off-shore Sumatran holding Bencoolen (Bengkulu) for Melaka.  By this time, the Dutch had almost all of present-day Indonesia, and the British were firming up their control over the Malay Peninsula.

So the city is more than just an important part of Malay history and culture, it also reflects various periods of colonialism.  The Portuguese left little except for a fascinating Portuguese Eurasian community that still exists today, the orang Portugis.  The Dutch took most of what the Portuguese had left and converted it to their purposes--the Catholic Church Nosa Senhora became St. Paul's.  Because of the Vereenidge Oost-Indische Compagnie's policy of extracting surplus value from the locals and not wasting time converting them, few Dutch intermarried with Malays.  However, the Dutch did build a great administrative center, the Stadhuys, and a beautiful church of their own.  The English came and literally blew up most of the defensive fortifications because they wanted to move their trading empire to Penang in the north, but they did save St. Paul's, which they used as an armory.  Aside from that, all that remains of the Portuguese presence, aside from St. Pauls, is the gate to A'Famosa, which currently has a VOC emblem on it anyway.  The British converted the Dutch Reformed Church into a Anglican Church called Christ Church, which is still there having services every day.

So we got to see St. Paul's, the Stadhuys, the gate to A'Famosa, a bunch of cool graves, and Christ Church all in fairly good condition.  The Stadhuys actually houses a pretty cool museum.  We also got to walk around a bunch in the old British and Chinese section of town, which was crawling with neat little shops and restaurants as well as temples galore.

The other thing that Melaka has, as alluded to before, is an eclectic mix of cultures.  Aside from the orang Portugis, there is a large community of Peranakan Chinese, or Straits Chinese, descendent from Chinese settlers from way back in the 1500s and before, as opposed to the majority of Chinese Malaysians, who arrived in the 1800s or later.  Peranakans usually came from Chinese men who married Malay women, keeping names and religion but losing language and many traditions.  (Few, if any, Chinese women came in these first migrations.)  There is also a distinct Chitty community, referring to a similar group made up of Indian men and Malay women who intermarried hundreds of years ago.  All of this makes for great people watching.  It also makes for great food, which we sampled in abundance.  We had Portuguese-style Devil Curry, different from what we had last night and much better tasting, plus some other neat treats like English-inspired pineapple tarts and Peranakan roast fatty pork with spicy bean paste.  And then we hopped back on the 6:00 bus and were home in time for a meal of Indian breads in KL.

We'll put up pictures soon, we promise.
 

Back from Langkawi

JM, Lindsey, and I have returned safely from our whirlwind island adventure in Langkawi.  This trip was simply great.  We took lots of great pictures and will be sure to put them in our photo albums as soon as possible, but here are some highlights.

• Several troops of monkeys that terrorized our hotel, including one cheeky fellow who jumped onto our table at breakfast this morning in search of toast.
• Very noisy geckos who seem to have provided the inspiration for Yoshi from Super Mario III.
• An awesome cable car ride up 2000 feet into the air on a craggy mountain.
• A gourmet restaurant and art gallery connected to a boutique hotel with seven traditional Malay houses and, wouldn't you know it, a cat rescue center, meaning that over 100 cute kitties accompanied us for our dinner.
• Another dinner at a secluded Thai restaurant--Dr. Mahathir's own brain-child--set deep in a mangrove swamp.
• Snorkeling and swimming with clown fish, grouper, barracuda, and some two-meter long sharks, plus a chance for me and Lindsey to drive a giant boat.

All in all, a very nice time.  Langkawi comes highly recommended.

Pictures from Singapore

Pictures from Singapore are now available for your viewing pleasure.  Be sure to check out Betsy eating some noodles, me (TP) with some fish heads, a couple of baby monkeys clinging to their mothers for dear life, and a whole bunch of orchids.

Back in KL

It turns out that this is a holiday weekend.  That's nice because Monday is a holiday, but it's difficult because that means that everyone is travelling.  That meant that we were unable to find transportation between Singapore and Malacca, so we had to return to KL instead.  It was a nice trip on the train, made more interesting by the presence of two very cute children in front of us that played hide and seek with me and Betsy for most of the trip.

Singapore was nice, but it's good to be back home where things are familiar and prices are lower.  We hope to spend tomorrow walking around and  exercising.  A couple of days sampling local cuisine can really leave you feeling like a bump on a log.  Betsy has had an opportunity to taste a number of local specialties, including fish head curry, char siew (sweet roasted pork ribs), popiah (sort of like spring rolls), seafood noodles featuring octopus and cuttlefish, a Singapore Sling made with fresh juice at a nice restaurant, and the infamous stinky durian.  Let's just say that Betsy was least taken by the durian.

Travelling in Singapore

Travelling in Singapore has been fun.  Betsy is a very capable traveller, and has been a pleasure to have along.  This is most amazing considering that she spent 17 hours on a plane, arrived at 5:30 in the morning, and then proceeded to spent the next 14 hours up and about with us.  We thought for sure that she'd need a break, but she had no problems until she crashed at 7:45 last night.  We all woke up at 8:00 this morning, rested and refreshed.

So far we have mostly just walked around downtown Singapore.  We have seen loads of interesting religious sights (Hindu temples, Taoist temples, Buddhist temples, etc.) and the colorful shops all over this area, which is nicely gentrified and comfortable.  We did get a chance to see the Singapore Botanical Gardens this morning, which was really quite spectacular, especially the Orchid Gardens.  We also went to a park in the center of the island where there were 25 monkeys playing right at our feet and throwing mangoes at us from the trees.  They missed, but not by much.

Tonight we may try to see a night safari at the zoo and to celebrate JM's birthday.  Tomorrow we have plans to head to Melaka.  We'll be in touch soon.

Hello from Chinatown, Singapore

We're in Singapore now where we will be meeting TP's sister for a week of travelling and sightseeing.  We took a very silly bus down here.  The busline is called "Aeroline" and they pretend that their company is operating a plane.  For example, not only did we have a snack, we had a steward, and a "shuttle captain" instead of a driver.  The downstairs of the bus even had a first class lounge and a bathroom (for "light use only", though).  We, of course, held up the whole bus when leaving Malaysia because we have too many stamps and papers connected with our entrances and exits from Malaysia over the past couple of months.  Once again, though, whipping out a little bit of Malay expedited the process.  Much better than the alternative, which is bribery.

Singapore is crazy.  A long time ago we posted from Singapore, but that time we were only staying the night in a hotel while waiting for a connection.  Today we got a chance to really walk around.  The biggest difference between here and Malaysia is that Singapore is spotless.  Really, it looks like they have people who sweep up and wash a couple times a day.  We can't figure out where the dirt goes.  More than that, there aren't even any leaves next to the highway, let alone trash.  We have been reacquainted with two things we've missed over the past nine months: wine bars and pork.  It's not that they don't have these things in Jakarta and KL, it's just that they are few and far between.  We walked by half a dozen wine bars this evening, and our fried rice with dinner came with pork bits instead of chicken skin and fish balls (customary in Indonesia, at least).

My poor sister has been on her plane for about 9 hours now, and she'll be on the plane for 9 hours more.  We'll go to sleep tonight, wake up tomorrow, and then pick her up.  Now that's a long flight.

Sabah Pictures, First Installment

Our internet has been SSSSLLLOOOWWW today, so we've been attempting to upload some pictures from Borneo but only with limited success.  At any rate, here is the first installment.  If the internet behaves, we may get the rest on tonight; if not, it'll be some time still.  So far you can see orangutans and macaques galore.  Be sure to check out how ripped the wild orangutans are.  Those are some serious muscles.

(Oh, and hearts are breaking all over America tonight.  JM's brother just got engaged to a great lady and we're very excited.)

Primate Watching

So, where was I?  That's right, our trip to Bilit.  We should mention that our trip included six other people: an Italian couple that had immigrated some years before to Australia, a Dutch couple, and a German couple.  The village of Bilit itself is no more than a cluster of small shacks set off from the main dirt road we had taken through the palm plantations.  It sits alongside the Sungei Kinabatangan (Kinabatangan River), a wide, lazy, muddy river that is one of the largest on Borneo.  After we all arrived, we hopped into two small local-style boats and motored a couple hundred yards up the river to a small camp on the other side.  The boats were just wide enough for two people to sit comfortably next to one another, but were quite long, perfect for zooming along a placid river.  The camp was just one shack with six rooms, each containing two twin beds.  No fans, no air conditioning, cold running water from a small tank on stilts, and generator-supplied electricity from sundown to 10 PM only.

Now, to understand this next part, we should clue you into one of the highlights of this tour's brochure.  Apparently cognizant of the desires of Western tourists to be contributing to the local economy, the brochure proudly claimed that all the people employed were local people, "the chef, your guides, the other staff, all come from local villages."   It's part of the eco-tourism thing, sort of akin to buying fair-trade coffee and refusing sweat shop labor.  It lets crunchy Westerners assuage their troubled souls while still consuming.  Whatever.

Well, few of the folks working there spoke any English, but I spoke Malay to them, so we communicated just fine.  It was funny, though.  I had said no more than two words before they asked "so where in Indonesia did you live?"  It appears that JM and I have developed sort of a Jakarta accent, something that they could pick up on easily.  Why?  It turns out that none of them (save one) was actually Malaysian.  All were workers from Indonesia, mostly from Flores, one from southern Sulawesi.  So the company was actually banking on the tourists not being able to tell that their workers were not actually locals.  Seeing as they spoke little English and they don't cater to many Malay speakers, it's a safe bet. And, being illegal Indonesians workers, they would work for cheap and not complain.   More on this later.

After a drink--because really, when it's 90 degrees with 98% humidity, what I want is a steaming mug of coffee--we then set out again in the boats for a sort of riverine safari.  Our guide really wanted to find us some wild Bornean elephants, but after 2 1/2 hours, we concluded that we had missed them.  We did, though, see tons of monkeys, specifically, proboscis monkeys, which are found only on Borneo.  Flat out, that is one of the weirdest animals you've ever seen.  They have huge noses and big bellies and look so content up in the trees.  They spent their time chattering away, climbing to the tops of trees, and then throwing themselves off the highest branches only to fall 20 feet or so and grab onto a new branch with a large CRASH and a flutter of leaves.  This was one of the funniest things we've ever seen.

Along our trip we saw hundreds of proboscis monkeys.  We also saw several types of hornbills, giant birds with funny beaks and colorful feathers; silver lotongs, a different kind of monkey less crazy looking than a proboscis monkey but no less fun to watch; dozens of graceful egrets; a monitor lizard of disturbing size lying on a branch; kingfishers; and a large and weird bird whose name escapes us, but which proceeded to demonstrate its crazy behavior for us.  As we slowly approached on in our boat, it took one look at us and then did a mighty bellyflop right into the river.  Our guide explained that this bird fishes underwater and can stay down for more than 3 minutes at a time.

We missed the elephants, but that wasn't too disappointing.  Other animals that folks have seen along this river (according to our guides) include a wild Sumatran rhinocerous (which, despite the name, also is found in Borneo), orangutans, freshwater alligators, other types of monkeys, and various other types of birds.  This doesn't include the other animals found in the area that don't show up along the river, including leopards, civets, tarsiers, honey bears, and others.

On the way back we got caught in a thunderstorm that would have been quite refreshing had we not had no way to keep dry.  We pushed on through, though, and arrived back at the compound thoroughly soaked.  After a change and a shower, we had a nice dinner, only a little bit spoiled by our European companions complaining that the beer wasn't cold, and then went to bed.  These beer complaints were a little annoying.  I mean, it's the jungle, man.  They don't have refrigerators there.

The next morning we took another boat ride and then headed back to Sepilok to catch a ride to Sandakan for our flight.  Along the way, we had an interesting experience.  On the way out, we saw that at one point along the main highway, scary policeman with M-16s were stopping and checking all the cars.  This included ours.  We inquired of our driver, and he explained that they were on the watch for illegal Indonesians.  On the way back out, we happened upon the same group.  Now, while we became very friendly with our Indonesian hosts, we never asked it they were illegals.  It's just not polite.  We found out when, about 100 feet before the security check and out of sight around a bend in the road, our driver pulled over and let out one of the helpers who had snagged a ride in the bed of the pickup truck we were riding in.  We nodded to our driver, called out jumpa di bawah which means "meet below," and vanished into the thicket of palm trees and tall grasses.  We proceeded through the checkpoint with no trouble--the driver, himself Indonesian, was apparently confident that the police would not question a lone Malay-looking chap driving four tourists.  As we proceeded along the next bend of the road, our driver stopped for a cigarette on the side of the road.  Several minutes later our friend emerged from the plantation, a little sweaty, but with a nice smile on his face, and hopped in the back of our truck.  Off we went.