Hi everybody!
I had a tough time finding an Internet cafe both in Singapore and in Bali. Hence there was no epic emails and pics sent to you during my trip. So what I decided to do was post all my pics on here and write about my trip in a blog. This way everyone can check it out at their leisure.
Now, onto my adventures in Asia. Now I know that my trip happened over 2 months ago, but hey, better late than never, right? 😉
Here is a collection of my thoughts and reflections of my trip:
1.) I am getting old… That is the only explanation I have for me feeling sick and taking fricking forever to recover from jetlag! I arrived in Singapore at midnight on Jan 27th, went to bed right away, and proceeded to spend the better part of the next 3 days sleeping!
2.) It was a good thing that it was Chinese New Year during my recover period. All I had to do was greet and chat with the gazillion relatives that kept dropping by as per CNY tradition. Plus most of Singapore shuts down during CNY anyway, so I can’t go shopping. Thus by the time I finally felt like myself again, I can go shopping! Thank goodness for week-long national holidays
3.) 2006 is my "find myself" year. And what better way to kick start this than by coming back to Singapore, the place where I was born? The first thing that I reaffirmed is that while I love Singapore and it is a fantastic country… I could not live here. Vancouver is home for me now. Yay Vancouver! Another thing that I found out about myself? I really am a big city gal, with all the bells and whistles and all the modern day amenities. Sorry all you outdoor enthusiasts, I won’t be going camping or hiking with you anytime soon. I’ll stick with the nice hotels and spas and stuff. 🙂 I learned a lot about myself on this trip, which will really help me figure out who I am. But that’s a different entry altogether. 🙂
4.) I hate mosquitoes… Too bad they love me. I’ve never been bitten so much than in the 7 days I was in Singapore. I once counted 6 bites in about an hour! My mom claims that it’s because I have sweet blood. So I guess I am sweet after all…Ha! Take that all you nay sayers! I am sweet, really, I am! The mosquitoes proved it! There is one good thing about living in a cold climate…NO MOSQUITOES!
5.) I truly believe that the national past time in Singapore is eating and shopping. Everyway I go, my relatives are always asking if I am hungry or if I want something to eat. At least I know I will never starve in Singapore, especially since food is so cheap too. I do miss Singapore food. You just can’t replicate the experience of eating $2 plate of chicken rice with its unique aroma and flavor sitting in an outdoor coffee house. There are so many kinds of food in Singapore that you just cannot get in Canada, especially on the West Coast in Vancouver since it’s so health conscious there. (Not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just that some of Singapore‘s cuisine can’t exactly be considered healthy!)
6.) All of us shopaholics unite! Singapore is definitely a place for us. There are all kinds of shopping available for everyone’s tastes. There is a mall just for designer stuff; any designer you want is here. If I ever become a kazillionaire, and can justify dropping thousands of dollars on clothes and shoes, I would definitely come here. The stretch of shopping heaven is called Orchard Road, it’s similar to Robson and Yonge street (I think) but better. It took us close to 8 hours to go up one side and back down the other side! 🙂 Now that’s shopping! There isn’t just Orchard Road when it comes to shopping, in fact, if you take the MRT (similar to the skytrain and subway), at every MRT station, there is a shopping centre attached or very close by. So in theory, you can just take the MRT and go shopping and not have to walk on the streets for the entire day! How’s that for efficient? I bought a bunch of stuff, but you can read about that later on when I talked about reaching shopping heaven. 😀
7.) We really are very fortunate to be living in one of the best countries in the world. And those of us living in Vancouver, we should be doubly grateful as we also live in one of nicest cities in the world. No offense to those who don’t live in Vancouver. But hey there’s still time to move! Seriously, we don’t appreciate the place we live in until we see how other people live. There are more important things than having the latest IT bag or hanging out in trendy lounges. I totally appreciate the fact that I CAN go out to places like Yaletown and Kits and be able to afford to live in a condo downtown. There are people in other countries who don’t know where their next meal is coming from. I know that there are people in similar situations in our neck of the woods, but it’s easy to block things like that out when you live in a nice neighborhood and hang out in nice areas. Traveling and seeing how people live in the entire country is quite eye-opening and definitely made me more thankful and more appreciative of my life in Canada. I have freedom to do what I want and there are many opportunities available to me that are not available to a lot of people in the world.
8.) Bali is definitely very cheap. The cost of living is very low, but that is because the standard of living is very low. It does make me sad when I see the hawkers trying to sell their fare to tourists. Especially since everyone is so nice and so happy to see us. There has been a dramatic drop in the number of tourists ever since the bomb in Kuta back in Oct 2005. The tourism industry has definitely taken a hit and it’s the Balinese people that have suffered the most. Personally, for some reason, I wasn’t scared to go to Bali. I wanted to go because I had already planned my trip. I felt that if I had cancelled, then the terrorists would have won. That may be irrational or foolish, but I didn’t want the terrorists to make me change my plans. So to everyone, I highly recommend going to Bali for a vacation. It’s great and pretty cheap (once you get there) and it really is a very safe place. The bombing was done by non-Balinese people and the Balinese people are very peaceful.
9.) As you can probably tell by my pics, there are tons and tons of temples in Bali. There are so many that no one actually knows the exact number! Each family actually has a family temple in their backyard, and every village have their own temple in the region. Religion is very big in Bali, and I feel that it is the one thing that keeps everyone going with their lives. There are many ceremonies that the Balinese people perform, some for the humans, some for the animals, some for the tress and other inanimate objects (such as cars), some for their God and his many manifestations, some for the good spirits and some for the bad spirits. Our tour guides on the bus tours provided us with numerous stories about the various ceremonies, one of which is called a tooth-filing ceremony. And yes, that is exactly what it entails. Apparently once a Balinese male reaches a certain age, he undergoes a tooth filing ceremony where his incisors (I think) are filed down (no, not into vampire fangs).
10.) We went on 5 different bus tours, 3 full day ones and 2 half day ones. It was a very educational experience and I definitely recommended doing the tours if you go to Bali and are interested in learning about Bali, its cultures and traditions. Our tour guides taught us many interesting tidbits about Bali. One of them is that in the Balinese calendar, a year consists of 6 months, and then one’s birthday actually always falls on the same day not date. So if you were born on a Monday, your birthday will always be on a Monday, regardless of the date. Cool huh?
11.) The tour were great in the sense that they allowed us to get a better idea of what Bali is like, that there is life besides the beaches and resorts and touristy stuff. Bali is full of rice fields and there are a few active volcanoes as well as forests and lakes. Farming is one of the most common forms of making a living. The major crops are rice, coffee, and cocoa. Did you know that Bali actually produces two types or rice? Me neither. They have one type for export and another type for national consumption. They also produce many spices as well as grow many different tropical fruits. Their coffee is very strong and distinct, their teas are very good and their cocoa is very rich and soothing. 🙂 We got to see a couple of the traditional Balinese dances, their well-known wood carving, stone carving, jewelry and art villages, a monkey village and even a bat that drinks coke! That’s right folks, a bat that lives in a bush by a store and he drinks coke out of the bottle. One bad thing about the tours is that a full day’s tour takes up an entire day and by the time you get back to your hotel, you’re wiped and don’t feel like doing anything. But now that I’ve done them, I won’t have to do them again, so the next time I go back to Bali, I’ll be able to have a truly relaxing time doing things like like surfing and lying on the beach. 🙂
12.) Nasa Dua is the area that we stayed in, and it’s considered the high end resorts area. Where 4 and 5 star hotels and resorts are located. This is good and bad. It’s good because this means that the area is very safe but it’s bad because it feels very isolated from the rest of Bali. Plus, being a more expensive area, the tourists there are definitely much older than us, which meant that I didn’t get to meet any cute Aussies! 😀 After being there, I would want to stay in Kuta the next time since that’s where the good surfing is and is considered the city centre where the shopping and clubs are hopping and where all the young tourists are. 😀 The Ramada Hotel was a 3-star place and it was really nice. I guess it’s not really that big a deal when it comes to a hotel since the idea is that you’re not gonna be in there that much. The pool is great with a swim-up bar, a requisite in a tropical place and the rooms are clean, although there were bugs sometimes (but one phone call to housekeeping solved that problem in a hurry.), the people are very friendly and helpful, and the food was great. The only compliant I have is that it is located at the end of the street, so it feels really isolated from the other hotels and has less shops and restaurants around the neighborhood.
13.) So what did I do in Bali besides going on the bus tours and lying by the pool? I did a lot of firsts, like snorkeling, parasailing and surfing. I learned to surf in Kuta and it was one of the highlights of the trip. The water was warm, the waves were not huge yet it was big enough to get a feel of surfing. I took two lessons and I was able to stand on the board and glide to the beach by the end of the first lesson. The second lesson I focused on timing and being able to turn as I surfed. It was hard work and a solid workout, and it was totally awesome! I can’t wait to go surfing again, but I am a wimp so I’ll till I go to a warmer climate than Tofino. 😀 Parasailing was very fun, it was really cool being high up above the water and seeing a breathtaking view of Bali from above. It was only a couple of minutes long, but it was long enough to get the feeling of freedom. I would like to do it again, a bit longer, and have a camera with me to take some fantastic shots. Snorkeling was also very fun, but the area we snorkeled in wasn’t the best area so the water wasn’t as clear as I’ve imagined/expected it to be, so next time, I’ll definitely try a different spot.
14.) When I wasn’t busy with trying new activities, I was participating in one of my favorite activities. That’s right, shopping! Shopping in Bali is a very different experience from shopping in Canada. First of all, the currency is in Indonesian Rupiah (Rp), not to be confused with Indian Rupee (INR). $1 USD is about 9000 Rp, so it was fun trying to calculate the prices of things with all the zeros. To make things simple for me, I just take off 3 zeros off the prices and that was my estimate on how much things cost in USD. Of course that is not very accurate, but it was a fast way to estimate. If I really want to get an accurate price, I bring out my trusty phone with the calculator function. Secondly, you are expected to barter. That was pretty fun cause it’s like a game. You know that the vendors are going to start high so you go low and just go back and forth. The trick I find is that you have to have a pretty clear idea on how much you think the item is worth and how much you are willing to pay for it. Otherwise, you’ll just lost and frustrated at the bartering system. To be honest, bartering isn’t for everyone, but hey, when in Rome…or in this case, when in Bali… 🙂 Surprising enough I didn’t buy a lot of things. Mainly because I didn’t really have anything in particular I was looking for, only souvenirs, and also I was trying to keep myself on a tight budget after going to shopping heaven in Singapore. 😀
15.) So what did I do to achieve shopping nirvana in Singapore? Well, the coolest tradition of Chinese New Year is that children get hong baos (red envelopes containing money). Anyone who is unmarried is considered to be children so even though I am 26 years old, I still get to receive that marvelous hong baos. 🙂 Let’s just say that the money I received came in handy for buy those things that I have on my wish list. That’s right; I actually compiled a wish list of the things I would like to buy in Singapore. Why? Because all the cool gadgets come out in Asia first and then arrive in North America months, even years later, and not only that, North America only gets some of these cool gadgets, not every thing that comes out in Asia makes it to North America. So what was on my wish list? A new (cool) phone, a PDA, a Sony mp3 player, Bluetooth headset, jewelry, sunglasses and even a laptop. What did I come home with? A very cool O2 XDA II mini PDA/phone (http://www.seeo2.com/product/XdaIImini/template/Product.vm), a pink Motorola H500 Bluetooth headset (http://www.motorola.com/motoinfo/product/details/0,,101,00.html), a pair of bright red (totally trendy) Guess sunglasses (http://www.modernglasses.com/mg2products/GUs-6150.html), a very pretty 3-flower pendant with chain, a number of CDs, clothes plus a number of other things. Like I said, shopping nirvana, I have not bought so many things in such a short period of time in ages. 😀
16.) Besides doing a lot of shopping (even my brothers got into the shopping frenzy) I visited lots of relatives, some of whom we are very close with and some of whom I don’t even remember having (something about 3rd cousins twice removed, and children of cousins of 2nd uncle). I got to see my grandmother who I love very much, but never told her that enough. She took a nasty fall last Oct in her bathroom and had to stay in a nursing home for about 6 months. My mom actually went to Singapore before us in order to help tend her house and keep her company. She was doing so well when we got there, she could sit up and move from the bed to the wheelchair. It looked like she was gonna make a full recovery, until recently. I found out when I got back from Toronto that she fell again and fractured her hip! 🙁 She was so stubborn that she refused to go to the hospital until a week later when the pain got too unbearable. She ended up having surgery and now it’s another long recovery with physiotherapy. I hate it when things like this happen cause it is completely out of my control. So all I can do is call her every week to tell her that I love her and that I am thinking about her and hope that she has a speedy and full recovery. So all of you should tell the people that you love how much you love them and that you are thinking of them, cause you never know what will happen.
17.) My cousins are grown up now! I’ve always pictured them as how I knew them before I left Singapore. This time when we went back, they were either in University or graduated and working. One of them is even engaged! Wow…That sure feels weird. It was really cool to hang out and party with my cousins though, cause they are no longer “little kids”, they are adults with their dreams and ambitions. We went to a club cause all of us were of legal age. Apparently, the legal drinking age in Singapore is 18 years old! Who would have thunk? I thought for sure the legal age is 21 years old since Singapore is so strict with everything else, but their legal age is even lower than Canada! Totally trippy! So anyways, the club we went to is actually three clubs in one complex. There are Velvet Underground, Phuture, and Zouk. The way cover works is if you pay for Phuture, you get to only go to Phuture, if you pay for Zouk, you get to go to Zouk and Phuture, and if you pay for Velvet Underground, you get to go to all three. The cover is $18 for both Zouk and Phuture (so you might as well pay for Zouk and that way you get to go to both) for females and $25 for males, and $23 for Velvet Underground for females and $35 for males. Cover charge includes 1 free drink. There were drink specials all night, and the music was pretty different. The night that we went, Phuture was playing something called “drop-beat”, not sure how to describe it, but it was pretty funky and cool. Zouk was playing house and dance, and Velvet is more high end with house and lounge music. The other club that I was gonna check out is the Ministry of Sound. They’re really big in London and so it would have been cool to see what it was like. Next time!
18.) We have now come to the end of my ramblings about Bali and Singapore. Congratulations on making it this far, you really are a trooper! Thanks for taking the time to read my collection of reflections on my trip. It didn’t really follow any sort of order (just like the way my brain works!) so I hope you didn’t get too lost trying to follow my train of thought. If you have any questions about anything that I have written or about the pictures that I’ve posted, please feel free to email me or call me and I will do my best to answer them (I mean, it has been two months since the trip happened! :D). The next installment will be about my trip to Toronto. Keep yours eyes peeled for it! Come back soon!
Lots of love,
Ying Ying =)
