Hello Everyone! Does anyone check this blog anymore? Sorry for the lack of updates, but toward the end of my trip I got kind of lazy about posting. I've been home for about two weeks, but I decided I needed to include the last part of my trip in order to fully complete the blog. My writing my lack some of the excitement and enthusiasm of the past because I am no longer in a foreign country and my trip has been over for a few weeks. Right now I'm in San Luis Obisbo visiting my brother and continuing my journey as a vagabond.I'll pick up where I left off in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That place is very very humid and hot. Anytime I stepped outside during the day I would instantly be coated with a layer of sweat and water from the air. Anytime I walked around I would bring multiple 2 liter jugs of water and constantly chug water from them and most of the time I didn't even have to pee, I would just sweat it all out! It was crazy. KL is extremely westernized. Pretty much everyone speaks English because that is the language of instruction for math and science during school. There are McDonald's, Starbucks and 7-11's everywhere. It is a wealthier country than any of the other countries I had been to, so things were a bit more expensive, but still cheap by international standards.
The most interesting thing about Malaysia is the people. The three main ethnic groups are Chinese, Indian and Malay. As I walked around the city, it seemed like I would equally see members of each of these groups. Even though it is a Muslim country, each group is free to practice the religion of there choice and from what I hear, each race has pretty much equal representation in the government. Despite some racial strife a few decades ago, the people of Malaysia all get along with each other quite nice and the country prides itself on that racial harmony.Everyone that I met was generally pretty friendly and I ran into no trouble being an American in a Muslim country. I feel like the perceived negative reputation that Americans have abroad is severely exaggerated. Before I left, many people told me not to tell anyone I was from the US, to say that I was from California or Canada instead. Yet everywhere I went I told people I was from the US and I didn't get one negative response or dirty look. I think that most people are intelligent enough to separate the citizens of a country from the policies of their government. On the other hand, a lot of people I talked to were trying to sell me shit, so maybe they were just being nice to me because they saw me as a walking ATM machine. If I was a loudmouth asshole wearing an American flag T-shirt and preaching to everyone about how great George Bush is, then I probably would not have got such a positive response.
I stayed in KL for 3 nights and 2 days and one of the days I was pretty sick and could barely eat. Yet during my time there I was able to see the Patronas tower and walk across the skybridge. The Malaysians are very proud of their Patronas tower which held the record as the highest building in the world until recently. It is an amazing structure. The architecture is beautiful and the sheer size of it is breathtaking. After looking at the tower, I walked around the city and checked out the Chinatown area. Like I said before, the city is so modern, it really felt like I was in America. I had my camera on me and I kept looking around for things to take pictures of.... but there really was nothing of interest to take pictures. People say that Malaysia can be boring compared to other less westernized countries in Southeast Asia, and I can see what they mean. The Chinatown was nothing too special and there was a large market with people selling a bunch of crap. Everything was more expensive than Thailand so I couldn't bring myself to buy anything after being spoiled by the cheap Bangkok market prices. During this time I think I got dehydrated even though I was drinking massive quantities of water. I went back to the hotel to rest up and take a nap.
That night, I met up with some Irish and English guys that I had met on the bus from the Airport. Even though the country is Muslim and Muslims do not drink, there still is a significant nightlife catering towards the Chinese population that is not Muslim. The nightlife was fun and I actually met a girl who was Muslim yet had put a significant dent in her bottle of Johnny Walker Whiskey that her and her friends were enjoying. I suppose that some of the younger people may not be as strict in following the rule against drinking. But who knows, maybe she was an anomaly. I had to leave early that night because I did not feel well and suspected that I had a case of travelers Diarrhea. Unfortunately, my suspicions turned out to be correct as I did not get that much sleep that night because I had to get up so often to....uh....take care of some business.
The next day I felt like crap all day and could barely eat. In the afternoon I forced myself to go to this famous bird park that is the largest covered bird park in the world. It was pretty amazing. There were tons of peacocks walking around and all sorts of exotic birds that I would probably never see on my own in the wild. It was really cool because most of the birds were just flying around and walking right in front of the paths, not couped up in a cage like most western zoos I have been to.
The following day, I took a bus to Melaka, Malaysia a town a few hours south of KL which was historically a very important port town for Malays. I was pretty disappointed in Melaka. I thought it was going to be a really rural, ancient feeling town but it was almost as westernized as KL with McDonald's and large shopping malls around every corner. The highlight was a night market in Chinatown that I checked out the first night I was there. It was full of Chinese people and they were all speaking Mandarin. I think I saw one other white person. In the middle of the Market there was this crazy Chinese street performer that was breathing fire and then punching holes in fruit with his fingers. I was sitting in the front row and of course I stood out so he decided to pick on me. He made fun of me a lot, but in a joking funny way and he had me help him with his performance which was cool. He was selling this special Chinese herbal tonic that you pour on your aches and pains which supposedly makes it all better. He sold like 20 bottles in the middle of the performance, I couldn't believe that people actually believed it would work. But then again, I had to remind myself I was half way around the world and people still hold on to their belief in Eastern Medicine. I got a free bottle of the tonic, and who knows, maybe it actually works!
The following day I took a bus to Singapore which only took about 4 hours if my memory serves correctly. I had heard mixed reviews about Singapore, but decided I would like to check it out for myself to see what it is really like.
Singapore is even more westernized than Malaysia. Most of the people are Chinese, but there is also a significant Indian population. Things are more expensive there, almost comparable to US prices and it is unbearably hot and humid. There are shopping malls everywhere and lots of plants which makes it a very beautiful city. The hostel that I stayed at was by far the best of my trip. There were a lot of cool people there from all over the world and they had a bar right in the lobby of the place! I met a German and a Swede and we explored the city together. There really wasn't anything special to see or do, but i was nice to get the experience of Singapore and see how sharply it contrasts with the rest of Southeast Asia. The next day I went to the world famous Singapore Zoo. They had some great animals and there was dense jungle all around the walkways of the Zoo so it really felt like I was in a rain Forrest. There were no cages for the animals, rather motes which prevented the animals from attacking the guests. This created a really cool atmosphere of proximity to the animals habitat, rather than at regular zoos where there is a giant cage to separate the people from the animals. It was way too hot though, and by the end of the day I was so tired and exhausted.
That evening I went out to the Ministry of Sound with a bunch of people from the hostel. The Ministry of Sound is this world famous nightclub with a bunch of rooms playing different types of music from house, to hip hop, to 70's funk. It was a fun night but also very expensive. I paid 24 Singaporean dollars for two drinks!!!
I'm glad I went to Singapore just to experience it for myself, but I don't think I ever want to go back there unless there is a really good reason for me to go. It is way too hot, too expensive and the people aren't as friendly as other parts of Southeast Asia. From what I hear, Singaporeans only like you if you have a lot of money, they don't care about anything else. I'm sure that's an exaggerated statement and of course you can't typecast an entire population of a country, but I definitely did get that vibe. Another stereotype is that Singaporeans think they're the shit because they became so modernized in such a short period of time. I think they do have a right to be, because the country was created only forty years ago, yet is now one of the richest and most modernized countries in the world. The people I talked to at the ministry of sound were friendly enough as well as most of the people I came into contact with in the city, but it just wasn't the same as the rest of Southeast Asia.
At this point in my adventure, I was very burnt out on traveling. It was fun being on my own for the first week or so, but after that point I started to get a little lonely. I only stayed at each town for 2-3 days and although I met a lot of people, there really wasn't enough time to really get to know anyone or form any meaningful relationships. Plus, I was tired of staying in overcrowded hostels, living out of my backpack and not having any personal space. Therefore, I was looking forward to going back to Bangkok and eventually going home.The next morning I flew back to Bangkok to meet up with my good friend Charles who has been blessed with the amazing opportunity of landing a job in Bangkok working for the largest alcoholic beverage company in the world, Diageo. A lot of what went down in the next 5 days and 6 nights is not appropriate for this blog since I have some underage readers. But needless to say, we had a fantastic time.
The first night we decided to check out some of the infamous red light districts of Bangkok such as Nana, Soi Cowboy and Patpong. I have heard that these areas have become a lot more touristy and less scandalous in recent years, but I was nonetheless shocked at what I saw. During my previous adventures through Southeast Asia I came across a few hookers here and there, many of whom were undercover hookers who would try and recruit men at touristy bars and clubs. In addition, I was exposed to the red light district of Hua Hin, which I found incredibly disturbing. But those experiences could not prepare me for what Charles and I saw that night. We took a cab to the area and made our way to the heart of Nana. Lining the streets were scantily clad women and ladyboys (guys who have surgically turned themselves into women). Many of the hookers would call out to us as we passed them and even physically get in our way and try to seduce us by telling us how handsome we are and actually grabbing our crotches. The most disturbing part were the ladyboys. Many of them were obviously men judging by the shape of their head and the size of their body. I consider myself a pretty tolerant and non judgemental person, but for some reason the ladyboys haunt me to the depths of my soul. Maybe it has something to do with my own unconscious fear of losing my own manhood and then switching into a girl. But whatever it is, these people really freak me out. Anyway, everywhere we turned we would see old, dirty, white European men with young girls. They would have their arms around each others waist or be holding hands. It was really disturbing. We walked through one of the side streets that was lined with girly bars and young women who were catcalling us and trying to get us into their bar. Charles and I decided to grab a beer at one of the places. After we sat down we were instantly bombarded with with women trying to touch us and talk to us. I chatted with one of the girls and was surprised to discover that she was quite intelligent and spoke excellent English. She told me that she is from Northeastern Thailand and goes back home twice a year to visit her family. Apparently a lot of girls who work in the sex industry are from the country and they earn a pretty decent living to help out there family back home. She seemed so nice and friendly, if I wasn't in a girly bar I would never know that she was a hooker. My experience talking to this girl was totally different than my preconceived notion of all hookers being on drugs and emotionally screwed up. Even though this girl seemed happy about what she was doing, I can't help feel pity for these girls that sell their bodies to make money. And it amazes me how prostitution is accepted there as a legitimate way to earn money for girls. It is one thing to read about prostitution in Bangkok, but to experience it first hand really makes it hit home and humanizes the girls who work in this industry.
The next night we went out to this trendy nightclub with Charles' co-worker. The club consisted of a huge metal tubelike structure and had two levels line with beds on the sides. People would order a bottle of Johnny Walker and then just chill out on the beds and enjoy the atmosphere. That is another thing about Southeast Asia that I forgot to mention. When the locals go out, they rarely drink beer. Instead, they order a bottle of whiskey and drink it over ice with their friends. After spending time there, I think I'm starting to develop a taste for whiskey. It was a pretty cool place and we met a few interesting locals.
The next day we went to the famous weekend market of Bangkok which is one of the largest markets in the world. They have pretty much everything there from little puppy dogs to firecrackers. It is impossible to cover the entire market in one day, that's how big it is. We had fun wandering around the market and sampling the local food vendors.
That evening we met up with some of the locals that we met the night before at another club. All of them were pretty high class Thais, meaning that they were educated and had good enough jobs to get into these expensive clubs that we were at. They all spoke excellent english and were very friendly. It was really fun hanging out with them at this club, we drank together and talked just like they were my friends from back home. Afterwards we went back to Charles new bachelor pad apartment to hang out some more. It was a fun night because we really got to connect with some fun locals. On the way over to Charles' place, one of the girls was telling us how she used to hang out with the son of the owner of some huge company. This guy would go out and party all the time and then start fights with people who he didn't like. He almost beat a guy to death once and then just payed off the cops so they wouldn't press charges. Thailand is crazy like that, if you have enough money you can proably get away with just about anything.
My last day there, I went to this giant mall called MBK which consists of about 10 floors and on each floor there are hundreds of tiny stalls selling every imaginable item. I got a really good deal on a carry on luggage piece and a few DVDs. While at the mall I randomly ran into this lady who cut my hair a few days earlier. It was crazy that we ran into each other because Bangkok has over 1o million people in it. I asked her out to dinner that night because she was pretty friendly and I wanted to hang out with a local. Even though she couldn't speak english very well, we were still able to communicate enough to have a great time together. Whenever she didn't understand a word, she would give me her Thai-English dictionary and I would find the word in english so she could read the Thai version. Our interaction together really embodied a recurring theme of my trip... that it is possible to connect with people on a human level despite barriers in language and culture and that the vast majority of people are friendly kind hearted people.Hanging out with Charles was a fantastic way to end my trip. At that point I was so tired of being a tourist and traveler, that I just wanted to relax during the day and have fun at night which is exactly what we did. I was having so much fun during those last few days that I really didn't want to go home when the date of my flight rolled around. At the same time I was kind of excited to get back to get started on the next stage of my life and to catch up with friends and family.
It was a very strange transition for me to return back home after being gone for so long. First of all, things are not as exciting or fast paced as being abroad. Second of all, this is the first time in my life that I don't have school or a job to keep me busy and give me something to work for. I also really miss all the attention I got from girls while traveling. In all of the countries I went to besides Singapore, I would get hit on my random girls. "You are very handsome, you have girlfriend? What! Why you no have girlfriend!?!??" they would say. Most of them were probably after my money or wanted me to marry them and take them back to the US, but nonetheless it was great to get all that attention from girls. I would walk around and feel like a god as girls gave me looks and complimented me. I had to return to reality eventually, but it has been a slow adjustment for me to get back into the swing of things.
Overall, I had an amazing experience on my trip. It was not without frustrations and annoyances, though. I have learned that those are a part of traveling and it is not all fun and games. I experienced so many cultures, countries and people that I feel like I'm a richer and wiser person because of it. I'm much more open to trying new things, meeting new people and traveling to foreign lands. Charles is trying to convince me to find a job abroad like him, and it is something I would seriously consider if the opportunity came up. The opportunities are very hard to find and the most common way for an American to work in a foriegn country is to teach english. That is something I'm seriously considering if my current job options do not work out. I'm also sending my resume out to as many international food companies I can find with the hope that one of them will take an interest in me. I got a phone call this morning from a phone number that had way too many digits to be from the US, so there might be some potential there. They didn't leave a message, and I got an email today in a foreign language (Dutch maybe?). But anyway, if anyone knows about any job opportunities, definitely hit me up.
Well that about concludes my blog for the trip....I may continue this blog to update everyone on any interesting things that have been going on in my life, so continue checking out the site if you're interested. Thanks to everyone who actually read this, hope you all enjoyed it!
-Patrick
P.S. Here is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Look closely at what book I'm reading.
