Just go, C!
I'm Charity, a proud auntie, wine lover, semi-nerd, and dreamer who can't stay in one place for too long.
Those of you who follow me on Facebook and/or Instagram know by the flood of photos I've posted recently that I just returned from a two-week trip to Singapore and Malaysia. There were plenty of other photos that didn't get posted, so please congratulate me on my restraint. (wink) I think my travel "style" has evolved somewhat in the past year. I used to try to pack in as much as possible within a short amount of time and never really take the time to savor and truly understand where I was and what it was I would be looking at. I think that way of traveling is fueled by the Western way of living where you are encouraged to cram as much as possible into short periods, whether it's work, meals, family time, school, etc. Always go, go, go. The Insta-world we live in doesn't help much, either. I've read a couple of articles recently about how people travel to places now based on how Instagram-friendly they are. Agree or disagree, you can't really argue that it probably has more influence than it used to. And I am certainly not an exception, as is evident from the number of Instagram posts I churn out whenever I go somewhere new. But, these days, I try to be a little more intentional about my travels. My "quick weekend trips" have turned into weeks, months, and (approaching soon enough) years in a country or location. I realize that not everyone has this luxury due to jobs and family obligations, but I think I've been there and done that enough to enjoy the blessings and opportunities that are presented to me now. One of the goals I wanted to achieve by traveling the world was to acquire more knowledge. I have always been a curious person. I wasn't really allowed to ask a lot of questions when I was growing up, so now that I have the whole world in front of me, I'm trying to make up for lost learning. I don't want traveling, for me, to be a series of pretty pictures with no substance. I read a lot of travel blogs and visit a lot of web sites that just seem like a lot of younger, mainly white people posing in their "unplanned" "oh so random that I happen to be wearing this lovely dress with heels and broad-rimmed hat that I happen to be touching right now as though there were a strong breeze blowing in front of this placid lake" sort of poses. Haha. I just read that last sentence to myself again and literally snorted. BECAUSE IT'S TRUE! Go visit a few blogs/sites and tell me I'm wrong. I dare you. But that's kind of the perception that surrounds traveling these days, you know? I'm already an oddball in that I'm a nearly-40 (WHAT? eeek), pudgy, never-married, childless, amazing-job-quitting female traveler, so hell, I might as well make sure that my experiences aren't cookie cutter, either. So, all that being said, I wanted to make sure that when I went to Singapore and Malaysia, that I actually learned a thing or five while I was there. SINGAPORE For starters, Singapore is an independent city-state which makes it unique by that fact alone. Initially a British colony, it joined the Federation of Malaya in 1963. A hefty number of tensions and disagreements later, Singapore was voted out of the Federation in 1965 and declared its sovereignty mere hours later. Several things make Singapore truly unique from my perspective, aside from its beginnings and current independent standing. It is one of the most culturally and ethnically rich cities I've ever visited. About 3/4 of the population is Chinese; another 15% or so claim indigenous Malay heritage, and about another 7-8% are from India. With those demographics, you have a number of different religions, styles of architecture, cuisines, and languages that follow suit. My favorite part of Singapore was all of the colonial shophouses. I don't use this word often, but man, they were so CUTE!! You can find them all over the city, but my favorite area with a high concentration of shophouses was Joo Chiat Road. Chinatown was another personal favorite. Yes, it's very touristy and there are many shops that cater to the souvenir-driven shopper, but I loved how vibrant it was. And, I got my first taste of hawker dining in Chinatown. Hawker stalls are basically street food but with more structure. It's still the cheapest and most authentic way of eating. My first hawker meal was the famous Hainanese chicken rice from Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle, which earned itself a Michelin one-star rating in 2016. It's also probably the cheapest Michelin meal I'll ever have at a measly S$2. The chicken was very... (wait for it) ...moist and delicious. The rice was just rice, so nothing too impressive there. Hey for S$2 I could have eaten a lot worse. While in the city, I was also able to visit Little India; the Arab District and Haji Lane; and the Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay. I stayed in a hostel called Tree In Lodge which I highly recommend for anyone who may visit the city in the future. I was also impressed with the local transportation options - I used the MRT and buses to get around virtually everywhere, but Uber is also popular. The MRT & buses are very clean and modern. Singapore is a very clean city with strict rules about pollution and it is one of the most progressively eco-friendly cities in the world. One of the most exciting things about Singapore was that I got to drink water from the tap. Something I hadn't been able to do for several months!! If you have plans to visit in the future, let me know and I would be more than happy to offer insight and suggestions based on my time there! KUALA LUMPUR I've gotta be honest - I didn't love KL. It's quite possible that it seemed more brash to me because I was still fresh from my stint in Singapore. The city definitely has an edge to it. I don't think it's good or bad, it just didn't quite win me over, personally. The biggest issue I had was with the local transportation system. You've got the MRT, the LRT, the Komuter, the monorail, and a few others I'm forgetting on top of the expansive bus network. I'm all for options, but I found it to be tedious and confusing. I started to get the hang of it after a few days but I definitely walked around looking lost and confused more times than I would care to admit. I was also less than impressed with the Chinatown area which seemed to be more about non-Chinese, mainly Indian folks selling souvenirs and overpriced clothing, shoes, and gadgets than anything really to do with Chinese heritage. I'm not saying it wasn't there, but I guess I was expecting Chinatown to be a little more, well, Chinese? Again, I was probably just spoiled from the Chinatown experience in Singapore so my expectations were a little higher than they probably should have been. I would certainly not say I didn't enjoy myself in the city, though. I loved all of the mosques and Islamic architecture scattered throughout. This was my first experience in a primarily-Islamic country and the mosques were definitely a visual treat for me. My favorite was Masjid Jamek, which sits right where the two main rivers meet (the Klang and the Gombak). When you look at it from a certain angle, the location of the mosque is symbolic since you can see the tall modern city buildings behind it, then you've got the confluence of the two rivers in front of it. Sort of like old meeting new, ancient religions meeting new modern ways of living, peace and prayer meeting the chaos of city life. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but I still thought it was neat! I did a LOT of shopping in KL since there were a lot more options for my size, so I stocked up. I don't have a large wardrobe to begin with since large wardrobes don't travel well, and I tend to wear the same things over and over again. As you can probably imagine, after over a year of constant wear, certain things begin to lose their "integrity". I was very happy to replace them. I made it out to the Batu Caves the day before I left KL. Again, another example of having expectations before you go someplace that don't quite get met. I really hope I don't sound like an entitled snob, but it was just waaaayyyy more touristy than I was expecting. There was also a lot of construction going on while I was there which blocked some of what I was hoping to see. I was also surprised to see that it was still basically in the city. I was expecting it to be further out since they are caves, after all, carved into limestone mountains. Not something you'd expect to see a few blocks from a grocery store. HOWEVER it was still pretty cool, and it is a very important site to Hindu worshippers so it was neat to watch them perform their religious tasks. The limestone around the caves is supposedly hundreds of millions of years old, so that's fascinating and humbling. And I'll give this credit to the transportation system, it was easy and cheap getting there since there is a train station right outside the entrance. PENANG Be still, my heart! I absolutely adored Penang. More specifically, I adored George Town. Penang is actually a state in Malaysia, and Penang Island is part of that, which is where I stayed, in George Town. GT is actually the 2nd largest city in Malaysia. The "old town" area of GT is actually a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. My hostel was situated in the heart of the old town area. If you ever visit, you could easily spend a few days just exploring the old town area and still feel like you just scratched the surface, which is exactly how I felt when I left. The most obvious feature of old GT is the architecture, where you see plenty of British colonial and my favorite (CUTE!) shophouses. You also have many mosques, temples, and churches for Hindu, Islamic, Buddhist, and yes, even Christian worshippers. This part of Penang is also famous for its street art. It's not the sort of bold, in-your-face art that you would see on Haji Lane in Singapore or Hosier Lane in Melbourne. You see it when you least expect it, and if you're not careful, you'll walk past it without noticing. Luckily, there are plenty of maps available that tell you exactly where to find these subtle treasures. One of my favorite attractions in GT was the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, otherwise known as "The Blue Mansion" just a few blocks from where I was staying. I find the life story of CFT to be quite interesting. He grew up very poor, working as a water carrier since plumbing wasn't a thing back then. As a young man, he married the daughter of his boss who owned a provision shop, who thereby began supporting him financially, giving him his "break" into the life he was destined to have. Despite his humble beginnings, he had a sharp business acumen and was ahead of his time in terms of the decisions he made with his businesses. He would eventually be known to Westerners as the "Rockefeller of the East." He had 8 wives, the 7th of which was his favorite. We only know this because she was the only wife mentioned in his will. His youngest son also seemed to be favored, as CFT made a special stipulation in his will that the Mansion could only be sold once the last son had passed on. Sadly, the mansion fell into disrepair and became the home of poorer family members and squatters for many years. It wasn't until the youngest son finally died around 1989 that the house finally went to auction. At that time, most people were looking to develop the land for businesses and apartments, so the Mansion nearly saw the end of its days, until one man was lucky enough to snatch it up and made it his life's work to restore the Mansion to its former glory. The Mansion was actually a huge factor in GT gaining the UNESCO heritage status. All in all, I learned quite a bit in two weeks and I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to visit these places while I was in Asia. (Please view my slide show below to see a FEW of my hundreds of photos.) I'm back in Phayao now, about to start my next teaching position. I'll be here for at least six more months, and then we'll see where my journey takes me! Thank you for reading and following along. Happy Halloween to my goblins back home!
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AuthorHi! I'm Charity. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska, USA. I quit my job in October 2016 to travel the world. Archives
June 2022
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