Twenty-eleven, in Review

Another year has passed by, so it's time for another annual review! Here's a look back at what I've done over the last twelve months, or rather where I've travelled to, 'cause I've spent a lot of time up in the air since January 1st, 2011!

January was rather uneventful, but I managed to finish up my most recent tattoo. Soon after I blogged about a sort of realization I came to, about my self esteem and self perception. Not really heavy stuff, but personal stuff. Suffice to say I'm at a much better place now than I was a year or two back.

February marked the beginning of my worldly travels for the year, with a quick jaunt down to Mexico for reading week with a few friends. We may have only been down there a scant three days, but we stretched those hours to the maximum extent and had an absolute blast. Some people thought we were foolish for spending so much on so short a trip, but I can't say I have any regrets about going - even the unscheduled stay in Texas! I can still remember those buffalo hot wings. Mmmm.

A few weeks into March I participated in the Cut for the Cure, a UBCO fundraising initiative (started by some friends of mine a few years back) for the purpose of cancer research. This time around I actually shaved my head, which wasn't as terrible as I imagined it would be. In fact, I think I managed to pull off the look and since my fear of having an odd-shaped skull didn't materialize. Huzzah! I may or may not shave the ol' noggin again this year.

Nothing happened in April, apparently. No blog posts, no trips: only one exam and a few papers.

After moving back to Victoria in May, I barely had enough time to unpack before jumping a plane to Turkey. I was there for two weeks with my family, and had an absolutely amazing time. I still miss Turkish food (especially Turkish breakfast, those Mediterraneans know what's what) and long to go back one day.

June was my only full month at home for the summer, and for the most part it was fairly laid back. I met up with lots of friends for coffee, put in some time at the Gap, and celebrated a very low-key 22nd birthday.

However, I also went to Vancouver for a big concert, Janelle Monáe and Bruno Mars. Mars was good, but I was there for Janelle. Boy, did she deliver! Easily one of the highlights of my concert-going experiences.
 
July took me and two bags across the Pacific Ocean to Singapore, my new home for the next five-ish months. I had been to the city state ten years earlier, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the city almost immediately, and count the journey as one of the most important parts of my university education. 

I met a tonne of rad people out in the tropics, some of whom I hope to see again soon. Despite being so far away from home, I still managed to fall in with a Vancouver crowd (figures), so I know I'll be seeing them again in the near future.

In August I did the first bit of my Southeast Asia travelling, a short ferry from Singapore to Indonesia. It's one of those trips that, while it was difficult to enjoy it at the time, will always be remembered with much laughing and inside jokes. Like, "We are just so cool."

The month also marked the beginning of my classes at NUS, my first Singaporean club experience, National Day celebrations, and a music festival. Not bad, eh?

September took me to the island of Borneo, to Sarawk province and Brunei Darussalam. Although I went alone, I joined up with some other backpackers to see the various sights in Miri, Mulu, and Bandar Seri Begawan. The jungles and mountains were a welcome change from urban Singapore (even though the meaning of "urban" in Singapore is a whole lot more green than in North America). 

When I came back from Borneo I attended the F1 Grand Prix and saw Linkin Park in concert. Another full month.

Compared to other months, October was a little more quiet. I took a relaxing vacation to the tropical island of Tioman in Malaysia, where I took full advantage of the sun to get my tan on. Long story short I fell asleep near the equator and got a sunburn. Surprise, surprise.

I also checked off one of the big Singapore Bucket List items: swimming in the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool. It was rad. Mad rad, even. 

By the time November rolled around I still wasn't tired of flying around the world, so I went to Macau and Hong Kong. Macau exceeded my expectations, Hong Kong didn't live up to them. I ate lots of food, sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes downright strange; went to a few theme parks; toured each city by foot to a point that I forgot what exhaustion was; and took far too many pictures in Disneyland.
 
Well, by December I really was tired of all the travel, but I still needed to see so much. Somehow I managed to fit a week in the Philippines, two days in Siem Reap, an afternoon in Kuala Lumpur, a day in Singapore, and countless hours in airports and airplanes into the sixteen days before I went back to Canada. It was quite the whirlwind, and I'm still not quite sure how I survived it. A fine end to a great year, I must say.


photos by: vcateyesv, me, me, kanikey, Janelle Monáe, me, me, me, me, Ed Coyle, Ezyan Y.

a Little More Travel

i might have just come back from a week long trip to Macau and Hong Kong, but i'm already anxiously anticipating my next excursion. next week i live Singapore for good. on my way out i'll be spending just over a week in the Philippines, relaxing on a beach in a town called El Nido. i promise to think often about all you back home, suffering through winter. being in a tropical paradise in December makes me feel a little guilty. but only a liiiiiittle.

when i'm done in the Philippines i'll be off to Cambodia for a scant two days, just long enough to pop into Siem Reap and see Angkor Wat. this might be the one thing i am most excited for, even above lying on a beach and snorkelling with tropical fish. Angkor Wat is one thing that i wanted to do when i made my Singapore bucket list. of all my travel plans, Cambodia was the only country that was an absolute necessity. figures that i would be barely able to squeeze it in between the Philippines and Canada.

oh, and because i'm so keen on getting in as much as i can before heading home for the winter, i've somehow managed to include an eight hour layover in Kuala Lumpur. you read that right: eight hours. my plan is to ditch my bag in the airport and run frantically about the city with my camera before returning to the same airport to fly back to Singapore.

but wait, didn't i say i was done with Singapore after this week? pretty much, yes. i'll be back in the Lion City i've called home for just over 24 hours, most of which will likely be spent saying the remainder of my goodbyes to the friends who will still be here. then it's a 24 hour travel day before i arrive in Vancouver, only 8 hours after i leave. gotta love that time change, eh?

photos by nucksfan604, Strevo, and hdrapprentice

Music Monday: in Paradise

I've just come back from a weekend vacation to Pulau Tioman, a tropical island off the East Coast of Malaysia. I know that I already live on an island in the tropics, Singapore, but it's just not tropical enough. The beach scene is quite lacking here, y'know? So I set off with two friends to Johor Bahru, just across the strait, to catch a regional coach to Mersing and then a boat to the island. All that travel time was definitely worth it.

Tioman is your stereotypical tropical island. On approach, the first thing you see is the massive mountain covered in jungle descending into the ocean, with waves crashing against the rocks. This gives way to long stretches of sandy beaches, lines with palm trees and hammocks. We spent a lot of time in those hammocks, actually...

We were afraid that the weather would be sour, as the forecast was calling for heavy rain all weekend. Luckily, we were spared. The downpour didn't start until this morning when we were getting ready to leave, and it put even the Singaporean rain storms to shame. There were a few panicky moments where we were afraid that the ferries would be cancelled.

But back to the beach. I have never seen water so blue in my life. It was like a tanker carrying blue food colouring sunk nearby. And the water was incredibly clear, too. We went snorkelling and saw tonnes and tonnes of fish. They are very social. And curious. More than a few decided to offer my cleaning services, or peck at my mask. I was literally part of the school of fish. Also, I came across a reef shark. It made my day much more rad.

So, this is a Music Monday post, and I do have a song, video, and download for you. I'll keep it quick now. The song: "Paradise" by Norwegian Recycling, a mash-up group who offers all their songs for free on their website. The video is below for your listening and viewing convenience. Cheers!


 all photos by me

Tripping Out: Anticipation

One of the main reasons I chose to study abroad in Singapore was the opportunity to travel. These are the trips I have lined up before the semester ends.

Pulau Tioman is in Malaysia, and will provide me with my first real tropical island get-away since arriving in Singapore. Yes, this is an island in the tropics too, but it doesn't have beaches like Malaysia! And that Indonesia trip was a beach-less disaster. Fun, but a disaster. I'm hitting Tioman for a weekend at the end of the month.

I just booked a flight to Macau for the middle of November, during the reading week before exams. I know, I know, I'm supposed to study during reading week. Pfft. Whatever. I'm an exchange student, I'm expected to be a slacker here. So it's off to Macau!

And just what is Macau, you ask? It was (apparently) the first European colony in Asia, settled by the Portuguese. It was also the last colony to be abandoned, which occurred in 1999 in a hand-off similar to Hong Kong. Now it's regarded as the Las Vegas of Asia. Should be fun!

After Macau I'm hopping a ferry to neighbouring Hong Kong, which will make up for the bulk of my reading break trip. I honestly have no idea what to expect in Hong Kong, aside from Disneyland (and yes, I am planning to go) and dim sum.

Counting down the days is difficult, especially knowing how much I have to get through before I leave on this trip. Namely two small group projects due in the next week or so, a paper due on the 7th of November, and two papers due the 8th of November. Ack! Hard to believe it'll all be over in two months.

photos by CW Ye, Toby Simkin, and Ed Coyle

Seven Days in Borneo

This past week I have been in Borneo, wandering around Malaysia and Brunei with my backpack. I left Singapore alone, but met so many people while away.Here's what I got up to those seven days away.
I spent my first full day at the Niah caves outside Miri.They have huge archeological importance because of the cave paintings and burial grounds found in one of them, which changed the migration and settlement theories for this part of the world. Also one of the sites for harvesting birds' nests to be used in soup.

After only a day in Malaysia I hopped a bus to Brunei Darussalam, literally Brunei the Abode of Peace. It is certainly a peaceful country, with not much going on and little in the way of tourism.
Thankfully the Buddhist temple down the road from my hostel was holding a Chinese opera the night I was visiting, which I was able to watch free of charge. The costumes were stunning, and the acting was well done, too. That said, it was all in Chinese so I'm not quite sure of the details of the story. It was the highlight of my trip into Brunei, though.

I left Brunei the following afternoon, so I had a little time to explore the city some more, or rather revisit everything I had already seen. The capital is very small, and there are really only a few things to actually see.
The Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque is the sole attraction, and every single tourism guide or article has a photo of it at the front. I have the obligatory photos both at night and day. So, check mark for the photos, check mark for the passport stamps.

The fourth day saw me back in Miri, where I was finally able to take a look around the city. I met an Aussie, who I ended up sticking with for the next few days, and we grabbed Japanese buffet for lunch between city walks. One such walk took us up Canada Hill (not lying, no-one could tell me why it was called as such) to the Grand Old Lady, the very first oil well drilled in Borneo and Shell's first ever.
We also hit some of the city parks, toured the wet markets, and poked through the handicraft centre. When all was said and done we joined a Brit and a Fin for beers on the roof.

In the morning all four of us (Canadian, Aussie, Brit, and Fin) boarded a flight to Mulu National Park. There we checked into a longhouse homestay, a sort of plywood shack on stilts with electricity only from 6pm-9pm. It was quite the, erm, cultural experience to say the least!
In the park we did some more caving, this time in one of the largest cave chambers in the world. They claim it's the largest, but apparently the same claim has been made by a park in Thailand or Vietnam or somewhere. Whatever. Suffice to say it was huge. Also, swimming in the river!

For the second day in Mulu I broke off from the group and did a canopy tour. In another big claim, the suspended pathways and platforms of the sky walk make up what is apparently the longest tree-supported path system in the world. Sure, whatever you say.
It was cool, but there isn't much to see up in the canopy besides the tops of trees, pygmy squirrels, and the occasional stick bug. Being 25m in the air on a wood and rope bridge is rad, though; great view of the jungle and the river.

My last day in Borneo was rather abrupt, as I had to catch a flight to Singapore in the morning. The night before was fun, though, and played through like almost all my previous nights in Miri: dinner at Ming's, the restaurant and bar across the street from the hostel, World Cup rugby with whoever was watching at the time, and beers on the roof with whoever wanted to join.
So although I went for the adventures I was able to fit in plenty of relaxation as well. That, and I remembered to pick up chewing gum before leaving the country. Score!

all photos by me