Travels in the 10/40 Window

Elephants

2008-08-20T00:40:00.001+08:00

Elephants in Siem Reap. I've never met so many of them in one place.

Elephants at the hotel...Elephants at Angkor Wat. This is the Elephant Terrace, also known as the Terrace Of The Elephants. Built by the Angkor King Jayavarman VII in the 13th century, it is part of the walled city of Angkor Thom, a ruined temple complex in Cambodia. You can see the elephant carvings at both sides of the steps.The original complex was made of wood and has long since disappeared, but the ruins of the terrace which remained are the foundation platforms of the complex. The terrace is named for the carvings of elephants along its eastern face.
Hey, isn't that a rampaging elephant by the river?? Somebody catch it, quick!

City Tours

2008-08-16T00:40:00.000+08:00

I've discovered that the only way to get to know a city well and begin to feel at home in it is to go out and walk, or take public transport and go shopping. Most of the time, we get ferried around in style and comfort by one of our local friends in a spanking clean van, and that's fine if we needed to cover long distances. However, getting a ride in a car or a van too many times will soon make one completely reliant on 'the ride' and not dare to venture out on our own.

After several times in Dumaguete City, I'm quite adept at taking the little pedicab to the Super Lee shopping mall and back, but that was after I've walked a great deal in the town and familiarised myself with the streets and the various landmarks. I have to thank Pastor Mike and team for that 2003 trip - he walked around a great deal, even though he ended up red-faced and dripping wet with prespiration in the heat, and he made me think, if this white American guy can eschew the five-peso-a-ride pedicab to walk, I will too!

And so, in Dumaguete, I walked, from the pension house (hotel) to the mall. From the mall to the market. The market back to the pension house. The pension house to the old student center. I went about late at night too, and was bold enough to take the pedicab to the internet cafe, and even to the NORSU university campus at night, at 8pm. On hindsight, that was too reckless of me. Dumaguete has changed quite a bit since 2003 to Jan 2008 (my latest visit) and is no longer a quiet, sleepy little town. No more late night outings, I think!

Iloilo City is much, MUCH larger and scarier than Dumaguete, and here, I don't go out by myself at night. And I always make sure I get back before sundown, That, in the Philippines, can be quite early, by 6pm. I had been alarmed by a couple of very blur taxi drivers, but thank God they were just blur (meaning confused or clueless), not criminal.

So many people have asked me, is it safe in the Philippines? Oh come on, there are over 7,000 islands, and the kidnappers aren't on every single one of them. Don't go about dressed in expensive clothes, dripping in gold and diamonds, don't open your mouth and loudly proclaim you're a rich Singaporean, and nobody will arrow you for a ransom.

Durians

2008-08-13T00:40:00.002+08:00

Durians. A whole truckload heading for Koh Kong, Cambodia.

Everyone I know says you either love 'em or hate 'em. Either worship 'em as the King of fruits, or declare them to be the worse stinking stuff imaginable, and run away. No one can be 'bo chap' er... have no strong feelings (whether of love or of revulsion) for the durian. True or not?You haven't met me, then. I neither love nor hate durians, for a very simple reason, I think. I have a durian lover at home and a lot of times when I open the fridge, its strong smell wafted out, but do I faint? No. Can I help myself to the fruit? Nooooooo! Touch, and I die. My durian lover family member wants to have it all for himself. After years of such conditioning, I do not drool or go bonkers or run away screaming 'Yeeeks! Smelly!' whenever I encounter the durian. I can sit and watch you eat it, no problem. In fact, it is highly amusing to watch a durian lover gorge on the stuff.I do not mind eating the fruit, though, if I'm invited to, and if there's nothing else better on the table, but unlike the durian connoisseur, I cannot tell which brand I'm eating or which type is better, creamier, more or less bitter, big seed, small seed, thick or thin skin, from Malaysia, Thailand etc. A durian is a durian is a durian, detectable by its aroma a mile away, thorny on the outside, a bit messy to eat. That's all it is to me.So what do I go bonkers over? Chocolate. Take note, that chocolate ice cream in the fridge is mine, all mine. Touch, and you die.

All right, now it's your turn to confess. What do you think of durians? Like? Don't like? Never had it before, but you've heard the horror tales?

Why I Am Singaporean

2008-08-10T00:40:00.004+08:00

I found on the front page of the newspapers this morning this one huge word - WOW! Wow, did they finally run out of ideas for a good headline because I think I can do that too - just stick one-worded WOW! or HEY! on the front page. Well, it was eye-catching for sure, for it described the just concluded Beijing Olympics opening ceremony. I got home late and managed to catch the last part of it. Unable to compare it with previous Olympics, though, because I completely missed the previous two. How did they light the big cauldron in 2000 and 2004? Anyone like to fill me in? I don't have time for Olympics or World Cups which other people go mad over, but this one in China (Yes, I confess lah!), I turned on the seldom-used TV in my room and took a peek. Ok, I agree, it was a WOW.

Today on 9th August, there's another similar merry-making, fire-works celebration right here in Singapore - for our 43th National Day (i.e. our Independence Day). If I have to work today I'll arm myself with a telescope to get a free view from my office floor-to-ceiling windows, but no, my soon-to-be ex-supervisor isn't so mean. She told me and the rest of us, 'this weekend no need to work lah, but next weekend, on 16th and 17th, be prepared to come back.' Eh, but there's no fireworks then! Sheesh!
©@tF2008.5 All rights reserved.
I turn the newspapers again, and on the second page was the headline Why They Hate Singapore. Tsk tsk. On her birthday, no less. Why, why? When did she ever offend you? I also remembered a comment or two from my foreign blog readers that they had come expecting a lot of facts and photos about Singapore but they find so little. Very well, just for National Day only, I'll digress from my usual travel stories-and-photos-in-other-countries to talk about me, being a fourth-generation 100% authentic Singaporean, living in Singapore.

Firstly, an important geography lesson - Singapore is not a province, city or a part of China. We are an independent country in South-East Asia. My parents and grandparents were born here when Singapore wasn't independent yet - it was then a British colony.

Now that we got that out of the way... what shall I go on to next. Let's see, chewing gum, fine country, freedom of speech, oh no, too much politics. Well, let's take a few tips from the newspaper article and answer a few questions, shall we.

Question one: Why is your English so good?

Short answer: Because my Chinese isn't.

Long answer: My parents were born when Singapore and Penang (my mother was born in Penang) were British colonies and they suffered during the Japanese occupation and they studied in English schools after that, and they knew people who returned to China after 1949 and were never heard of again and they experienced the riots by Chinese school students (Hock Lee riots) in the 1950s and so they are sort of anti-Chinese/Japanese and when their children were born they spoke English to us right from the beginning, and also told us never to go to China and Japan and so to this day I've never visited Japan and have no reason or desire to, and I would never, ever have gone to China (my first visit was in 2003) if not for the ministry. And so, growing up with English at home, encouraged to read widely, this is my only medium of communication.

How can you live in a country that does not guarantee freedom, such as, for example, freedom of speech?

Freedom of speech? If I don't have that how can I blog today? Of course I have freedom of speech! I have lots of freedom which you may not have - I am free from fear when walking alone going home late at night after a long day in the office; I am free from the inconveniences of strikes and demonstrations which cause delays and shutdowns of public transport, businesses and services; I am free from having to pay bribes to public servants when I apply for licences or permits or to get things done; I am free to convert to Christianity, to be baptised at a very public beach 16 years ago, and to continue practising my faith without fear of persecution or having my church burnt down; I am free from scraping chewing gum off the soles of my shoes...

Ah yes, chewing gum! Why does your government ban chewing gum?

I haven't finished my unending list of freedoms yet but since you interrupted, let me clarify this HUGE issue once and for all. If you need to chew gum, just cross the causeway to the next country, buy what you want and chew all you like till your teeth fall out. You can bring a few back for personal consumption only, and continue chewing in your own home (and stick it all over your house if you like). No police will batter down your doors to haul you to jail for that, but please don't stick the stuff in public so that I get it under my shoes because if I do, I have the freedom to report you to the police who still won't batter down your doors but they will keep a vigilant eye out for the irresponsible chewing-gum sticker and catch you in the act one fine day.

Up till now I still don't know why it's such a huge issue. Has anyone died from malnutrition from not being able to buy and chew gum? Tsk tsk.

In conclusion... I've travelled the region often enough to note what goes on in other countries, and I've experienced corruption, inconveniences, strikes, demonstrations, and all sorts of oppression first hand which resulted in very miserable conditions for the poor and the weak. Singapore doesn't have corruption, inconveniences, strikes and demonstrations, but I'm not saying she is perfect. She isn't, but this is my country, and I'll come home to it no matter how often or where I travel to.

That said, there is such a country which is absolutely, wonderfully perfect, and it's not anywhere on earth. It's called heaven, and I hold a free ticket to it, although I can't use it yet until God, who owns the place, calls me there. Last I heard, He's still building my house, and it's not finished yet (John 14:2-3). Some house, eh? It's sure to be a very, very big WOW! And there's definitely no chewing gum on the gold-paved roads to stick to the soles of my shoes, I'm pretty sure of it.

PicK Of The Day: Happy Birthday Singapore

2008-08-09T00:40:00.002+08:00

Celebrating Singapore's 43rd Independence Day today.