Leaving Singapore

Day 7-9, July 23-25, 2008 - No Malaria (started taking the Malaria pills yesterday)

Hi everybody,

I am currently sitting in the airport in Johor Bahru, Malaysia waiting to begin the next leg of my adventure. Before I begin to recap the last few days, I wanted to again thank everyone for all of the response that I have received on the blog. It's hard to believe that I'm only a week into a several months trip. Judging by the last week has gone, several stupid things will happen to me at which you can all laugh and I guess that is good for everyone.

Today was my last day in Singapore. I am flying out of Johor Bahru to Kuching, Sarawak which is on the Island of Borneo. Borneo has three countries (or parts of three countries) on it. Sarawak is a state of Malaysia. Most of the island is covered by Indonesia, which encompasses several hundreds islands as a country. The last country on Borneo is Brunei...as in the Sultan of Brunei. Brunei is a small, extremely rich country. The inhabitants of Borneo are predominantly Islamic priding themselves in keeping true to the original teachings of Mohammad and distancing themselves from the violence that is commonly associated with Islam in the West. Also on Borneo are tribes of indigenous people that still live in the jungle in long-houses. If any of you watch Anthony Bordain, you may remember his adventure to a jungle longhouse. Also, Borneo is one of only two places on Earth that is a native habitat for the orangutan. Hopefully, I'll see some while I am there.

I have set up my trip to Borneo through a tour company in Kuching that was recommended by several guide books. They have been extremely helpful, accommodating, and friendly. I asked them to make lodging reservations for me because I didn’t know what would be convenient for both them and me and they put me up in a hotel that they repeatedly assured me will be to my liking. The hotel that I'm staying in during my stay in Kuching is called John's Place. Think about the name of the hotel...John's Place. I hope that it is not so well endorsed because it is the biggest brothel in Sarawak!

The last few days have been busy. On Wednesday, it rained in the morning so I took advantage of the downtime to research some more of the trip and start to book some more lodging. In the afternoon, I went to the Asian Civilizations Museum. I thought it would be good to learn a little bit more about the history and people of the countries I will be visiting. It was a great museum and I think that I was there for most of the afternoon.

Thursday, I started the day by going to the US Embassy to get some more pages added to my passport. Across from the US Embassy is the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Orchids are the national flower of Singapore so they are predominantly featured in the Garden. Singapore really spares no expense to make sure that their country is clean, green, and convenient. The Botanical Gardens were no exception.

The Garden was followed by the Juroong Bird Park. I got to watch a few very cools shows and also see several exhibits. I absolutely loved the park but anything with animals will is usually first with me. For me, animals are like food...my favorite is usually what is right in front of me. One of the best parts of the park was the lori aviary. It is huge and has hundreds of colorful lories. I’ll include some pictures. The best part is that you can feed them so they flock all around you like pidgins in central park…OK, I guess that only I like that…On the way to my next stop, I met a person after my own heart…a kindred spirit. My cab driver, Andy, happened to be from the neighborhood that I was going to tour, Katoong. He was excited that I was going to tour his neighborhood and sample the local cuisine. As the conversation quickly turned to food in general, I quickly felt like we were old war buddies trading stories of bravery and comparing scars…except we were actually two fat guys trading restaurant tips and comparing what we had both eaten in the last week. Andy was so excited that I wanted to try the local specialty, Katoong Laksa, he took me directly to his favorite restaurant, got out of his cab with the engine running, and ordered for me to make sure everything was perfect. So began what I believe will be an obsession for the rest of my time here in SE Asia…Laksa.

Laksa is a noodle dish served in a coconut broth. The Katoong varitey contained shrimp, cilantro, fish, and spices. This dish, much like pizza in the US, is served with variation depending on where you have it. Laksa in Singapore, Kuching, and Penang will all be different. There are even different varieties in Singapore itself. The Katoong laksa, originating from this neighborhood, was so delicious and spicy. When I say spicy, I mean spicy. Of course, I did add some extra chili sauce to it because I like to punish my palate. I was choking and gagging so much through this spicy bowl of goodness that the locals were very amused. I like spicy but this took it to another level. Maybe Katoong laksa will finally grow back the hair on my chest that Kieran pulled out 6 years ago? I was very fond of that hair.

The gorgeous Katoong neighborhood is my kind of place. Everyone was extremely friendly and passionate about their food and drink. This is the only place that I have seen in Singapore with the local neighborhood pub. I have seen several trendy lounges around town but no pubs. Katoong not only has pubs but, from what I can tell, one pub for every 3 residents of the neighborhood! I took a photo above a pub in Katoong which, in my brief experience there, summed up the neighborhood pretty well.

So goes my time in Singapore. I met some great people, saw some beautiful sights, and ate some amazing local dishes. If I can say that about every city I visit, I will say that this trip was successful.

I wanted to thank Irene for all of her hospitality. If you are ever in KC or anywhere else I live, for that matter, you always have a place to stay. Thank you so much.

As they say in Singapore, “See you later.”