> travellin' man

i remember eons ago; when i thought "travelling was a waste of money".
i've only recently caught the "travellin' bug" ... seems in "the past" i wasn't that much of a travellin' man ~ content to just stay in singalalaland and work work work ... and reading about and having conversations with some fellow mutipliens (sorry dun have a better word for it *bah*) about where they live and their travels recently; brought the hankering back again ...

looking back at my mini-collection of digital and printed-memories, i can
only but lament the squandered times and trips of a lousy-errant-tourist ...
the longest i've ever "stayed" in a country; was in Vietnam, for a period of 4 months, during my tenure as Production Designer for a feature film. with 2 months worth of pre-production, t'was an opportunity to explore and discover, in addition to the work ... and i feel as if i squanderd it all ... to be fair, there where opportunities to explore and sightsee (tho not as much) but in retrospect; my "single-mindedness" in trying to do my job = screwed it all up. the irony being, becoz of my obssession crush being-sweet on my translator (as i've told many a frens. heh) then did actually allow me that reprieve of my otherwise one-track-thought-of-only-work (*PUI*). another irony being i did not take as much pictures as i should have as well ... and my vietnam album is littered with work-related snaps ... damn. i remember buying a videocam just for the trip - the irony being (again) most videos were of locations and the like (i never learn one) ~ but i do haveta admit there were "other" visuals as well (NOT gonna show youse all, innit? BWAHAHAHAHAHA) ... memories engraved in my mind ... but slowly scraped away by the torrents of time and senility ...


Hanoi in the late 2000 was gorgeous; in a chill way. a hustle and bustle city without the anger and desperateness (that seem to fill every moment of my time in Ho Chi Minh City) and her charms ... sitting on calf-high stools along the pavement, sipping cold-sweetened-to-death-coffee (when tis supposed to be hot) and watching all the knees of the world go by ... not needing to even look up ... puffed-smoke filling the immediate air around you, fingers nearly dropping the cigarette; becoz it was so chill and relaxed; you'd forget your basic body functions ...

the fried instant noodles at the side of the production office, a hole-in-the-wall with the auntie sat-out front - from a stranger me being "the regular" when i needn't even tell her what i want ... wooden table with a porcelain bowl of mixed greenaries (like something you'd pick out of a garden or roadside sial!) turned repulse to manna from heaven, when i developed the taste for it and i do miss the mint leaves ... all dipped into a bowl of fish-sauce (a staple for all vietnamese food / condiments). and even the small side plate of MSG with squeezed lime tasted ~ tasty! HAH ... but for the simple things in food ... and of coz auntie's fried instant noodles (i always order double servings *blergh*) with beef and bean sprouts were damned-delish! i truly do miss it, even now ... and i even learnt to order basic food from there! hahahaha

if being away from your homeland and home fills a person up with
loneliness and a longing, food for me, provides the comfort ...
and ya dun need a fancy expensive restaurant to do that fer ya! no place could ever provide me that taste, that warmth, that sense of serenity ~ each afternoon as i went back for a little comfort, ever ... and i have naught but my memories to remind me of the "taste" ... i wished i took a picture of the place ... but i took it all for granted ... an errant-tourist ~ most times forgetting that i am a tourist hahaha which is a good thing i suppose, for i wanna be able to know (if not "live") how the folk live, ya know? a fancy hotel with warm water is always cool, no doubt, but sometimes ya just don't wanna be just a tourist, ya know?


and yes, vietnam will always hold a special place in my heart (and sweet my translator had already gotten married recently! HAH) and is somewhere i will definitely go back to when i can ...


but one of my most memorable trips would have to be India in 2002. travelling down the coastal southern side of India with my then girlfren, i actually lasted 3 weeks (instead of the "planned" 2). the story of how the trip came about is long and dramatic ~ but i will spare you folks the details and just get down to the "trip" itself, horkay? heh :p

my initial "apprehension" of travelling to India was soon put to coma once i stepped foot unto the first boarding house after arriving at Chennai airport at 1am in the death of morning. even bathed in darkness and spilt light, the "charm" of the place got to me (as would any clueless-foreign-traveller like me, innit? HAH). but it was cool. and i enjoyed myself tremendously throughout the 3 weeks. i know my ex hated it (tho she now says she enjoyed herself then) ... but maybe i didn't know her that well then (and hence we ain't together now, innit? duh ;p) ... lemme put it this way: India ain't exactly a place for "romance" ... or lemme re-phrase objectively, if ya can't stand the heat and humidity, dun expect any romance to last thru the day ... but then again, that's just my experience :p ... heh ...


the food! oh man! wished i had been more "adventurous", but alas my weak constitution disallowed my wandering-tummy from ... "wandering" ... but what i did was (and this i remember too well) ~ at every single restaurant or eatery, if they had it? i would order the tomato soup ~ every single time! from the sweetened to the tangy. to the spicy to the bland ... i had actually planned wanted to write a journal / guide about my trip and experience in India, but sadly my lazy-ass got the better of me and what you're reading right now (years later), is the most extensive i've even written about the beautiful place ... sad right? dammit ...

sitting in the common courtyard of a defunct-maharajah's palace-turned boarding house, reading my first Kerouac, amidst dancing dry leaves in the hue of the sunset ... packed in a long bus ride, with total strangers asking us to sit down and rest our backpacks ... the cleanest public toilet ever (compared even to singapore!) in the middle of nowhere at a rest-stop of a 4-hour busroute ... dwarfed and humbled by the vaccum of silence and serenity of a holy temple ... a conversation with an olden indian man about singapore during the war, on a train which served chai from a tin-container-strapped to a man's back ... the magic of the mist which engulfed an entire valley and mountainside where our cottage was ... i miss India so ...

and oh yes, logging-online was a pure joy and relief, as compared to the nightmare that was Vietnam! hahahaha superb access in India, fugging slow downloads in Vietnam ... i could have a coffee, smoke a cigarette and have a snack before even a page of Yahoo-mail could even LOAD-UP! *sigh* ... anyways ...

the seeming "familiarity" of everything and yet the innate sense of alienation was both a wonder and excitment. "exploration" was the gameplan and i've loads of pictures to show for it *beams* ... tho i do wished i'd taken more ~ and not just as a "tourist", but perhaps more? looking at things differently then, as i do now ... and i will go back, someday or another ... :)


and what i loved about Hong Kong (circa 2004) was surprisingly not the sights nor food = t'was TOYS! endless toys! whoo-hoo! t'was a purely shopping tornado buying-trip, with no spare cash for any sightseeing (i wasn't interested AT ALL) and even food! i always tell peeps; "i didnt even eat a single piece of timsum" and all gave me the "wahlaoeh"-look hahahaha ... but t'was cool ... went with a toy-collector fren of mine (who had worked in HK for a coupla years) - the irony being he could hardly read the menus as well! and ya know i suck bad at my mandarin lor ... so ordering food every other meal was an adventure and a surprise! hahahaha tho i haveta say, what got to me the most was; french toast! wahlaoeh ~ cholestral be damned! i could near have it for every other meal! (but of coz i didnt - duh)


stalking pounding the streets and toyshops from daylight to nightfall; bags of booty in hand ... meeting up with an aquantaince met on the set of my 6th feature film; Jupiter Wong, who took care of us and even showed us his home, an absolute gentleman and host ... the homecooked meal shared with the landlady of the lil homestay along Temple Street ... the confusing but exciting bus rides ... me stepping into the middle of the streets to take digi-pix ... more toyshops with seeming endless rows of toys toys toys ... deciding what design mags to buy and taking a heck of a long time to ... having a hot snack standing in the middle of a closed street at 1am in the morning, teeming with people and fashion-victims ... the walk up the long dark corridor at the side of "Woman's Street" that led to a treasure-trove of toys ... (yes, tis ALL about toys lah)


Hong Kong ~ no doubt a place i'd go back = when i have moolah ... buy toys and shoes until can die lor ... hahahaha and i dun care if i sound like a toy-bimbo lor! muahahahahaha


the last place of slight import (becoz i spent 2 weeks there) was Europe, or specifically; Germany. and that was more than a decade ago. backpacked with a few long-lost frens of mine ~ the trip was mayhaps one of the most ive ever squandered. lemme put it this way: "when ya wanna travel wirth peeps, make sure ya go with the right peeps ~ at least peeps who'd share the same interests" ... and with that, i'd not go too deep into it ... coz i'd end up complaining and whining ... heh ;p


the dusty bookshop filled from floor to shelves with old movie memorabilia and the flea market which opened late in Amsterdam ... the appalling alienation and racism at the streetside bistro in Kolhn (spl) ... my first snow mountains ... the exceptional gay-lifestyle shop in Frankfurd (spl) ... the missed design fair/exhibition with a size that'll rival even the entire Singapore Expo (i kid you not ~ never travel with peeps who dun share similar interests! 'nuff said. *urghz*) ... first ever fries with mayo (love it now) ... recognizing cheap-ass Singaporeans at a McDonald's and turning away fast (they were arguing with the counter staff that they didn't haveta pay for ketchup in singapore - this is Europe, ya putzes!) ... the drama of miscommunication at Burger King's in London ... the running thru the rain trying to do last minute shopping at 6pm down London streets ... many other horror stories, mayhap in another post or when ya have the unfortunate chance to ever ask me in person ... heh ...


and that's about it really ... that's about the only places i have ever gone to ... of coz not counting the short trips, like the 4 day thailand trip a decade back, with my dad (how much fun can ya have, eh? heh :p) ... the random 1 day/2 day transists in Thailand (and im such a sucker for flea markets, lemme tell YOU ... ChatChuChat [Spl] RULES! muahahahahaha) and i never really count Malaysia (never go too far deep in actually), coupla times (hilarious stories too!) for a day, but never stay overnight ... and for my mate's wedding last year ... and yes, that's the length and breath of my travel mis adventures ...

and i hanker for more. so much more.

i've seen so little of the world and i dun think i've travelled
enough, for me to even begin to talk about anything...
mayhap a trip to England (quite jazzed about that ~ but mayhap partial "work"? HAH), if and when my sis decides to go back ... definitely India and Vietnam again ... and of coz Tokyo (dream desti) with all itz pink clubs japanese toys and more TOYS! (heh) ... the outback would be cool too, but somehow not on the top of me list ... hhhmmm ... now to think of it, there really isn't any particular new place which i'd liketa go ... any recommendations? :)