Generosity Abounds In Lion City

Gwynne and I had a magical whirlwind of a weekend in Singapore (Lion City). The city itself was beautiful, clean (of course), and full of life, but the kind people we met along the way were what really put this trip over the top.

A short back story: When my family came to visit in early June, we traveled all over Malaysia together. While we were in the Cameron Highlands, we met a couple staying at our hotel and struck up a conversation with them one night before dinner. It turns out they are from Texas but will be living in Singapore for the next three years (it was a work-related relocation). Our family loved getting to talk with Geralyn and Rick, and after dinner we exchanged email addresses and the Corneliuses offered us a place to stay in Singapore if we were ever in that area. Well, fast forward to a few weeks ago. Gwynne and I were planning to visit Singapore, and the Corneliuses came to mind. True, we had only spoken for a while, but I could just sense that they were kind and genuine people, and so I decided to see if they'd let me take them up on their offer to house us during our stay. I began an email correspondence with Geralyn, and she assured me that we were welcome. Unfortunately, we soon discovered that she and Rick would be out of town the weekend that Gwynne and I would be in Singapore, but they decided to let us stay in their apartment anyway. This generosity was astounding, and Gwynne and I were so fortunate to be guests in their home. Upon arrival (early Friday morning after our overnight bus from KT) we found that Geralyn had left us well equipped with labeled maps of the city, detailed typed instructions, and many suggestions of places to visit and things to do. Their home is absolutely lovely, in a peaceful setting within walking distance of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Thank you again to Rick and Geralyn for welcoming us into your home. I hope to be able to repay the kindness one day!

After what started out as a short nap but then turned into a four-hour siesta on Friday, we set out to explore the city. Fortified by a delicious lunch at a coffee shop called Beviano (thanks for that great recommendation, Geralyn!) we headed to Orchard Road, the famous shopping street in Singapore. We did a lot of window shopping and then finally gave in and made a few purchases. We also ran into a few lion dancers on the way, which was a fun and unexpected surprise.















We continued on, new clothes in hand, to the Singapore Art Museum (SAM), and soon made a wonderful discovery. Our visit, on Friday the 25th, happened to be the day of a special event called the Night Festival in the city. This meant that, among other things, many of the city's museums were open until 2 a.m. and had free admission for that day only! Also, there was a free concert at one of the local universities that night. Gwynne and I spent about two hours in the art museum, soaking up culture that doesn't exist where we've been living. We were so impressed with the museum, which was housed in a building that used to be a Catholic boys' school. They did a beautiful job keeping the integrity of the building's structure while tastefully updating it as well. One of the coolest things was the lighting on the outside of the building. When we first arrived, it looked like a normal facade. Then when we left the museum, the lighting had changed and images were projected onto the building and then, when we walked by a few hours later, the image had been changed yet again.

























































We continued our trek to some of the must-see locations in the city: the famous Raffles Hotel, the prickly porcupine-looking Singapore Opera House, and the Quay. Getting hungry, we chose a riverside restaurant and shared an extremely picturesque Italian meal overlooking the water.





























Our stomachs full of pizza, we paid a quick visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum (with a really well done Southeast Asia exhibit) and then, on the way back to the Cornelius' apartment, we stopped by the Night Festival concert and heard a great band from New Zealand called Van She. The atmosphere around town Friday night was lively and fun, but not overwhelming or unsafe. We really enjoyed being a part of the Night Festival!















After a glorious night of sleep on a soft bed in an air conditioned room, we awoke recharged for Singapore Day Two. My wonderful mentor Anis has a Singapore connection (her brother's wife's sister lives there) and she had given me this woman's phone number. I called her (Ida, pronouced "ee-duh") on Saturday morning and she offered to take Gwynne and me to the Singapore Zoo, because she lives in that area of the city. Keep in mind that this is a woman I had never met or spoken to before. Gwynne and I hopped on the MRT (Singapore's remarkably clean and efficient subway system) and headed to the Woodlands area to meet up with Ida.



















We were warmly greeted by Ida and her 17-year-old son, and Ida took us to the zoo and paid for our entry. We loved seeing the zoo (it, like the rest of the city, is landscaped perfectly and is well planned and lovely) and, perhaps even more, had fun getting to know our new Singaporean friends.





























































After our zoo visit, Ida treated us to a delicious lunch at a nearby mall (Gwynne and I got great Chinese tofu and vegetables with noodles) and then shopped together for a little while. We were blown away by this woman's kindness, to spend hours of a precious Saturday afternoon with two Americans she had never met. Now we have a wonderful new friend!















We only had a few hours left in Singapore before we were to board our 9 o'clock bus back to KT, so Gwynne and I hurried to the Singapore Botanic Gardens (a place highly recommended by Geralyn) and were extremely impressed by the place. The gardens are HUGE, and are full of tropical plants and trees that work together to create an appealing and peaceful atmosphere. The huge lawn was full of people enjoying the afternoon, and joggers and dog-walkers filled the pathways. A highlight was definitely the National Orchid Garden, filled with flowers so beautiful and perfect you'd swear they weren't real. I have never seen so many kinds of orchids before, and especially not so many healthy ones. Singapore's climate must be ideal for these flowers, because they are certainly flourishing there.



























































































































Returning to the apartment to pack and gather our things, Gwynne and I set out for the Lavendar Street bus station, confident that we were leaving in plenty of time to make it to the bus. On the MRT, however, we began to get a bit anxious. Things were taking longer than we'd anticipated, and the MRT was really crowded during that time of day. By the time we got to the Woodlands stop, it was 8:30 and our bus was going to leave at 9. We still had to catch a taxi to the bus stop, too, so we rushed to a taxi stand and waited a while before one arrived. We got into the cab and told the driver where we wanted to go, and he looked incredibly confused. We repeated our destination a few times (trying to think of any possible pronunciation for the word "Lavendar"), but his expression remained blank. I finally got out my bus ticket to show him the name in print, and it took a while but finally he seemed semi-confident. It was unfortunate that the the only person we met in Singapore who did not have perfect English came at this crucial point in the journey. The cab ride was taking much longer than we felt it should, and Gwynne and I started to get incredibly anxious. I kept checking the time: 8:46, then 8:51...things were looking grim. We both silently started planning for an extra night in Singapore. Suddenly, our driver pulled into a tiny parking lot full of buses and said we had arrived (this bus stop was in a completely different location than the one we had arrived at on Friday, which explains our confusion with the distance). I threw 20 Singapore dollars at the driver to cover our 15 dollar ride, told him to keep the change, and we frantically grabbed our bags and sprinted for the Transnational bus line counter, where a woman pointed us toward a bus. Thank goodness, the bus was still there. There was a group of good-natured men outside the bus, and when we ran up looking frazzled they laughed and said they had waited for us. "Next time come earlier!" one man kept saying. We were so fortunate, and (after our heart rates slowed down and the stress had worn off a bit) we realized how much goodness our trip had been filled with. We were only in Singapore for 48 hours, but in that time we came across so many wonderful people and so much good fortune. This trip will not soon be forgotten!

Remembering Why I'm Here

I just got home to my apartment after eating dinner at my school's hostel. I've been trying to eat there with the girls every week, and it's a great way to spend time with them outside of school hours. I always have fun when I go to eat at the hostel, and tonight's visit was especially good. I really enjoyed talking and laughing with the girls, asking them about their families, answering questions about America, and having positive dialogue about Islam and Christianity.

Spending this time with the girls at my school really reminds me why I came to Malaysia. I came to learn about a new culture, to be a representative for my country, to have travel opportunities, yes, but above all I came to be a teacher. I came here to interact and build relationships with students, and during times like these at the hostel, I'm really able to do that. True, so many aspects of my time here have been difficult, frustrating, confusing, and sad, but many good things have happened, too. I'm convinced that some of the kindest people on the planet live right here in Terengganu. Even though we believe different things, have different customs, and sometimes have different ideas about interaction, I am able to recognize that the opportunity I've had here is an extremely unique one, and something that will impact the rest of my life.

Cat City

The word "Kuching" means "cat" in Malay, and so when Ellie, Gwynne, and I boarded a plane to Kuching last Thursday, we were heading for Cat City. We had heard positive things about this place from Zoe, who raved about it after visiting last summer, but we had no idea it would be as wonderful as it turned out to be.

We were going to Kuching (which is in Borneo - East Malaysia) to see the 11th Annual Rainforest World Music Festival, an event where music groups from all over the world come together to perform and share their music with a very international audience. The festival took place at the Sarawak Cultural Village, about 40 minutes outside of Kuching's city center.

Upon arrival in Kuching, the three of us were picked up by a car sent by our hostel, the Borneo Seahare. Our hostel choice turned out to be a great one. The place we were staying was small, clean, and, most importantly, full of fun people and a helpful staff. Wesley, one of the hostel's owners, immediately sat down with us to tell us about how things worked at the Seahare, where to go and what to do in Kuching (he even marked things on a city map for us), and got us excited for the music festival. All this for only $6 a night...pretty great.

Then it was time to explore. We spent the rest of Thursday just wandering around the town, and we discovered the picturesque river walk, two of many cat statues around the city, and a gorgeous rooftop view of Kuching and the river. We ended Day One in Kuching with dinner at a charming restaurant called The Junk about a block away from our hostel, so named because its decor consisted of mismatched odds and ends, which made it quirky and fun. The three of us split an order of bruschetta, salmon gnocci, and vegetarian lasagna and were beside ourselves with excitement. No rice, no eating with our hands, no fish with bones. Life was good.





























































On Friday we woke up bright and early to pay a visit to the Semenggoh Orangutan Sanctuary and watch the orangutans eat breakfast. The 40-minute bus ride there was peaceful and cool, and we arrived at the sanctuary with just a few other tourists (we made it before the official feeding time). We walked down into the forest reserve, past orchid gardens and fernariums, and finally came to the feeding platform where reserve workers were feeding a mother and her baby and also a young male orangutan. They were beautiful animals with wise, kind eyes and fuzzy fur, and we couldn't believe we were able to stand so close to them. Everything the orangutans did was impressive. Watching these flexible animals swing deftly from branch to branch, grabbing onto branches with their hand-like feet, was hypnotizing. Their breakfast was all different kinds of fruit, and at one point the mama orangutan opened a coconut - a job that warrants the use of a machete for humans - with ease, using her teeth alone.

































































Basking in the glow of our remarkable encounter with the orangutans, we returned to the hostel for a quick rest before heading out to the Sarawak Cultural Village for the music festival. On the way to the shuttle bus to the festival, we went on a semi-frantic search for large plastic bags and ponchos, because Wesley at the hostel warned us about rain that night. It was somewhat ironic because we had the hardest time trying to convince shop workers to give us large bags, and usually in Malaysia we are refusing the multitude of plastic bags that we are constantly being given. We finally ended up with some bags, though, and caught the shuttle bus out to the festival.

The Rainforest World Music Festival was a three-day event, but we were just attending the first two days. We showed up early - at around 4:00 - because the festival consisted of much more than just music. Before bands started playing at around 7:30, we visited a few workshops where musicians from the different groups got together and played music together, sometimes explaining their instruments and introducing the different performers. It was a chance for audience members to answer questions and interact with the musicians.

































In addition to the workshops, there was an extensive craft fair going on, featuring handicrafts from countries all over Asia (even Korea was represented). We enjoyed looking through the crafts and also exploring the grounds of the cultural village.

































































































By 7:30, our bellies full of yummy international food, we had picked our place on the lawn and were ready to hear a band from Trinidad and Tobago get things started. Unfortunately, just then it started to rain and the lawn quickly turned into a mud pit. We were so thankful for our plastic bags, rain jackets, and ponchos!















Despite the rain, the concert was a huge success. My two favorite groups were from Portugal and Greece. The Greek group was a quartet consisting of two lyra players, a strange guitar-type thing, and drums like bongos. Their music was classical, Irish-sounding at times, and absolutely mesmerizing. The Portuguese group was so much fun. They were rock and rap (Jason Mraz-style) but had a dynamic flute player, a dorky-but-cool lead singer, and a female vocalist who sounded like the girl from Evanescence blended with Shakira. They were really high energy and amazing.

The atmosphere there was different from any festival or concert I've ever been to. There was a huge array of people there, and things were full but not crowded. No long bathroom lines, plenty of room on the lawn...things like that.















A final Kuching memory was a visit to The Cat Museum on Saturday. You know those movies you see sometimes that are so bad they're good? This was the museum equivalent of one of those movies. It was as though someone had gone door to door around a nursing home and asked lots of little old ladies for their cat figurines, and then just put them in cases all over the museum. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans, it was kind of like Delores Umbridge's office had exploded in there. Intermittently, there were sections on things like "Cat Whiskers," "Cats In Egypt," "Cat's Sleeping Patterns" and on and on. We laughed so much during our 45-minutes or so in that museum, and had such a good time. Our visit to Kuching was certainly enhanced by The Cat Museum, and we wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

English On The Beach

I'm a lucky girl, because just a couple of weeks after my parents came to visit, I got another super special visitor to Malaysia -- George! Together we visited Tioman Island, spent some time together in Kuala Terengganu, and celebrated the 4th of July with other ETAs on Kapas Island. All in all, it was magical and incredible and amazing all wrapped into one. George even got to visit my school and meet some of my fellow teachers and students. Wan Zu, a favorite teacher and friend of mine, brought her adorable kids and sweet husband (also a teacher at my school) to my apartment to meet George. Then Anis, my wonderful mentor, "kidnapped" George and me for a while to take us for tea with her and her husband. It meant a lot that people went out of their way to get to know George.

To read more about our time together on Pulau Tioman and Pulau Kapas, please read George's blog at http://www.travelpod.com/members/gajemison. He has written some great entries about our time together and also has posted pictures.

On George's last full day in Terengganu, he was sweet enough to help me with an English Pen Pal Camp that I was planning with three other ETAs: Sarah, Gwynne, and Mike. For a couple of months, students from our four schools have been writing pen pal letters to each other, and we thought it would be fun to plan a time for them all to meet. We decided to make a day of it, and so we threw an English camp on the beach near Gwynne's school last Saturday. About 150 students showed up, and the camp (despite being hot and causing sunburn) was a huge success.





























We had planned activities like the human knot, an egg relay race, learning the words and silly motions to the song "Lean On Me," and, of course, meeting pen pals face to face. This part turned out to be slightly difficult in some cases, as male and female pen pal pairs were EXTREMELY hesitant to even look at each other, much less spend time together. At one point, Ezra put a boy in a headlock in an attempt to make him turn around and say hello to a girl. I mean, I know that talking to girls is difficult in any culture, but this was a little intense.





























Needless to say, most of the day was gender-segregated (we had to be careful to separate boys and girls for the human knot activity because it involves holding hands, and that would definitely not be allowed) and even taking the group photo at the end was a struggle (the boys would not cooperate and for the longest time just stood in a clump off to the side).





























Still, the camp was full of fun and good memories, and all four of us have had wonderful feedback from our students, telling us how much fun they had. Sweet George was SUCH a help during this event (no surprise there) and the kids all loved him. At the end, we let the kids sign each other's "yearbooks" that they had decorated earlier in the day, and as you can see George was a popular guy.















Yesterday, the day after the camp, George and I took a bus up to Kota Bharu (three hours north of KT), where he would continue his journey into Thailand. We had a few precious hours together in Kota Bharu, and then had to say goodbye when I boarded the last bus back to KT. George went on to take an overnight bus to western Malaysia, and should be entering Thailand today. Saying goodbye was just as hard as ever (it just doesn't get easier) and we are looking forward to spending time together again in Hong Kong at the end of July.