odiata per le sue virtu

deery-lou.
one of the students brought her brother to the halloween party. he came as punk preppy.



be well…

custom concern

deer-lou.
well today is halloween here in korea. although walking around one would never know it. tonight i will spend my holiday watching a bad horror movie: halloween:resurrection. as i mentioned before our school had its halloween party on friday. the kids seemed to have a good time. once again there were lots of witches and vampires. many students even recycled their costumes from last year. here are a few pictures from the party. [note to self: always bring extra camera battery]. my battery died after taking only a few shots. oops!

apollo & artemis

the first class

sara & luke

trick or treat

look how god-like

deviled egg

the deviled egg girl didn't even get the beauty of her costume. i tried to explain it to her but it was useless. she kept calling herself egg monster. oh, well. after school we all went out for dinner, drinks, and then to the norebang. i left after the drinking and before the singing. there was a bit of school drama happening too that night so i was glad i left when i did. my boss was really creeping me out. but thats a story for another time. my saturday was spent in bed. on sunday i had grand plans of cleaning my apartment but then was asked by a friend to go get some drinks. how could i say no. needless to say i got pretty wasted. on monday i felt like the walking dead. not really sure how i made it through the day. on my way home i grabbed some greasy egg roll things. they actually taste like gino's pizza rolls. from the moment i popped one into my mouth all was getting better.

be well…

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

the arrival

deery-lou.
tomorrow is our halloween party at school. in traditional jethan fashion i threw my costume together at the last minute. it never ceases to amaze me what i can do under a deadline. now if i could only channel that effort to making it ahead of time i'd have an amazing costume. i did manage to get some white fabric thanks to christine's mom. unfortunately it was super long and not wide enough to make it into a ghost costume. on to plan b. which turned out to be my rendition of the greek god apollo.

apollo

here's what i made today:
2 bows
2 arrows
a lyre
2 braclets
a crown
the toga
shoes

yes, i'm gonna wear a toga. of course i didn't have anything to wear under it. i tried to find some white shorts or sweat pants but that was a bust. all of my shorts go down past my knees so there was only two options. either wear my bathing suit or cut my jeans into shorts. i want with option two. i must say it looks pretty damn good. i'll be sure to post some pictures.

be well…

s.o.s

deery-lou.
this was me on saturday night trying to get back to seoul:

not sure why it was soooo damn packed. i literally got shoved into the train from all the people behind me. the whole time all i could do was laugh. i could barely keep my balance. my bag was twisted all about, elbows were in my back, etc. with every stop more and more people piled into the maxed out car. at one point i was smashed up against 3 aunties. luckily for me i wear big shoes so breathing was fine. unfortunately for those shorter than me it meant they had to deal with my pits.

in other exciting news my evil taekwondo bear phone charm has endured serious battle wounds. he has lost both an arm and a leg. the leg is m.i.a. the arm was recovered but realized the peg was busted off so it wouldn't fit back in the hole. i decided to have a proper burial for the arm and tossed it into the construction site of the church. r.i.p. etb arm. for now the rest of it will continue to adorn my phone until i find a suitable replacement.

it was quite nippy today. that made me happy. i smiled the whole way to school. i love this weather.

song i had on repeat today the whole way to school:
set the fire to the third bar by snow patrol featuring martha wainwright

be well…

dog days

deery-lou.
sometimes all it takes is a song.
dog days by 50 footwave
Rats scatter after waves on the dirty beach
You're seriously losing me
A shiny object caught my eye, of course
These dog days always leave me with a stomach ache
These dog days always leave me with a stomach ache

One dip in the well and I'm done-in
Coffee and vitamins
Breakfast of champions
Don't touch me I don't know where you've been
Don't touch me I don't know where you've been

Simultaneously attracted and repelled
If you don't know by now, I'll never tell
I wake up a ton of un-kissed guilt
Just keep telling me this is life and we didn't miss it
Just keep telling me this is life and we didn't miss it

it rained today. the perfect kind of day to spend inside and in bed. i didn't. instead i met up with some friends to see art, eat spicy chicken stew, and be our fabulous selves. we even managed to squeeze in coffee and shopping. the art outing was planned by julie mccoy aka jen. our destination: kukje gallery to view the jean-michel basquiat exhibit. to me his work has a child-like essence, but with such deep meaning. it reminded me of this piece i purchased while at university. it's on a giant canvas and was done by elementary school students. everytime i looked at it i would find something new. looking forward to the day i can unpack it and remount it on my wall. we also went to gallery artside to check out the exhibit by hiroshi kobayashi. his work was pretty amazing. i have this thing for white so it really appealed to me. the gallery space was most excellent too.

hiroshi kobayashi, from a white room of unconsciousness

things i purchased:
1. archer & rin, palm characters from fate/stay night
2. be kind to the animal sticker [it had a bunny on it]
3. a photo album for my mini polaroids
4. "sticker pockets" with saturn on it for my scrapebook
5. cd skins
6. flyingbook 01 gallery journal

things i didn't purchase:
1. card holder with a bunny holding a balloon [thanks bc aka buzzkill]

the thing i was suppose to do today but didn't:
buy some white fabric so that i could be a ghost for halloween.

why is it so hard to find a white sheet in this damn country? i now have 4 days to figure out a costume. i use to love halloween but this country is slowly taking the joy out of it. i usually work well under deadlines, hopefully an idea will come to me. i'll keep you posted.

be well…

fire and ice

deery-lou.
just because i can and i got nothing else to say: purchases from singapore. plus i know you're just dying to see them.

my new bag

naruto charm

jacket [front]

jack [back]

yummy minced pork

robot [front view]

robot [back view]

fate

be well…

turquoise boy

deery-lou.
service. that word has become music to my ears while living in korea. you never know when it's going to pop up. when it does it often comes with a free gift of some sort. today i stopped in at my semi-regular coffee spot, java coffee, on the way to taekwondo. when i went to pay the owner shook his head and said those magic words "service". i smiled and thanked him kindly for my free cup of joe. and like so many other kind jestures in the past this incident wiped out away all the negative feelings i've been having lately. now if only this lingering cold and shortness of breathe would do the same.

be well…

monkey

deery-lou.
e.thoughts:
kids gone wild
while riding home on the subway the other night a woman sat next to me carrying a bouquet of balloons. there was one giant yellow one with giant lips, eyes, and a nose and several smaller ones around it. within seconds some boy came running over and started to hit the yellow balloon. then he squeezed the smaller ones. this prompted his baby sister to came over and start poking it too. the woman holding the balloons said nothing. the children's father came over and took the little girl away but left the boy there to continue to hit the balloon. i was waiting for it to pop but it never did. at one point i looked over at the boy's parents and there were smiling like it was the funniest thing they ever saw. now if this happened back home one of three things would have happened:
1. the boy's parents would have grabbed the boy scolding him for his actions
2. the boy would have been slapped by his mother
3. the person holding the balloons would have yelled at the boy's parents to control their child
my question: why do koreans indulge in such behavior and why do the parents let their children do anything they want?

be well…

i shall be released

deery-lou.
visions swarm through my head
eyes closed but still flashes of light loom
like lighting on a stormy night
they remain with me even when awake
never dying—only to come on strong and stronger
these mini dreams—glimpses of hope
glimpses of a life i so long for.

be well…

smalltown boy

deery-lou.
faces.
i've been seeing faces everywhere lately.
especially while i was on vacation.
they haunted my dreams.
one appeared on a tree in front of our chalet in tioman.
when i was in the jungle taking pictures a faint image of a face appeared and disappeared with the click of the shutter.
as our scuba instructor sat on the edge of the boat, his body curved in such as way that i could see a face.
when walking around the boat quay i saw i stumbled upon this:

hidden faces

at the bus stop:

poster

and then there was nuha asad's exhibit at city hall:

faces with one feature

not really sure what it all means, if anything. perhaps it was all a coincidence. at the time it struck me as being a tad bit odd. was someone sending me a message?

be well…

the day the world went away

deery-lou.
life is getting back to normal here in korea. its always hard coming back after having such a great time away. i managed to skip taekwondo all week. my master isn't too happy about that. i will be going back on monday though. making headlines once again is north korea and their nuclear testing. which has made me realize that i should get out of my bubble and pay attention to whats happening around me. not really all that concerned about it but feel i should be more informed just incase i got to bolt. i've also hit that point where i think i'm finally over this place. don't get me wrong, i still love korea and all it has to offer but the frustration with the simple things in life is starting to bug me. then there's the nonstop staring. this week it really seemed to set me off. on my way to meet bc i almost felt like i should turn around and go hide in my apartment. however, the day turned out to be quite awesome and i'm glad i didn't. it's always a "jolly holiday" with bc. she makes the world go round. our mission for the day: to knocked off one more item off the list. today it was the yangjae flower market. it seemed like the perfect thing to do on such a wonderful autumn day. near the subway station bc discovered an outside thriftstore of sorts. this is the place where all the bad clothes and crap the koreans don't want end up to be sold to those who are need of crap and junk. bc managed to buy a pair of shoes. i walked away with nothing but thoughly enjoyed my jaunt through the endless maze. i did manage to find a sonogram which is now in my posssession. so it wasn't a complete loss.

outdoor thriftstore

another happy customer

crap for sale

there's nothing like pushing your way through a crowd of people and hearing "chon won! chon won!" to make one hungry. so after wandering around aimlessly in search of a restaurant with some english, we gave up and went into a beef restaurant. the server came over to us and said "bulgogi". easy enough. while dining bc realized that the cut flower auction at the flower market stopped at 3pm. we missed it but decided to check it out anyway. the potted plant was opened until 7pm. it was nice playing catching up with bc. i got to bore her with my tales of singapore. i was surprised she didn't yelll out "enough already". i felt like i was going on and on. when we got to the flower market it was basically empty sans a few students sitting in some tables with what looked like calculators on them. in the back were a bunch of people making flower arrangements. it appeared we stumbled upon some sort of competition. there were zombie-like judges in the back that gave it away.

flower competition

tables with calculators

napping

we then strolled around some of the greenhouses which had the infamous potted plants. bc noticed an emart so we headed off to check it out. as we were leaving emart i heard someone say "help". i turned to look and some woman was pointing to her box of groceries and ask me if i'd lift them into her cart. i did. emart was connected to a shopping mall. with nothing else to do we decided to check it out. SNORE!! it was a ghost town. one family was enjoying staring at us though. on the way back to the station we came upon citizens' forest. its a giant park that has some war memorial stuff in it. we took a gander. we also saw some amateur photographers practicing their photo skills on some girl dressed in a stripy black and white top leaning against a tree. oh, the things people do. before heading home we stopped off at express bus terminal so that i could go to the art store. there's also a bunch of underground shops in the terminal. while bc was buying a shirt i started to dance in the store as a joke. the woman who worked there busted me and was laughing. they turned up the music and she motioned for me to dance again. of course i obligued. might as well give them a reason to stare. she loved my little jig. i stopped in at this new yogurt/coffee place on my way home. i was intrigued by this pumpkin slide thing they had and needed to try it. it was like a pumpkin milkshake. quite yummy if i do say so myself.

on sunday i headed to the national cemetery to meet up with chen and some others for a picnic. this was the same place we went last year. the day was spent chillin out, talking, and eating. what could be better than that. chen made some falafel and bread. it was all quite good. the best was when she busted out the feta cheese her mom brought from australia. hi feta. feta has never tasted sooo good. kudos to chen's mom for the feta. while strolling about the cemetery i notice an older woman by some graves. she had a giant bag with her and every couple of minutes she was looking at me quite suspiciously. i think she was stealing flowers. from the dead no less. how tacky is that. back at our picnic spot some security came by and starting yelling at us for laying down. i guess its ok to have a picnic and sit at the cemetery but laying down is a big no. not sure what that was all about. we had so much watermelon that annie was handing out to random people. one group gave us a persimmon and boiled peanuts in exchange for the melon. now its time to spend the rest of my evening joining season four of oth. oh, i'm so glad the fall season has started.

randomness:
earlier saturday i saw this boy riding this bike. my question: isn't he a bit old to have training wheels?

just odd

be well…

p.s. i just realized that the outdoor thriftstore we stumbled upon was the seocho flea market which just so happens to be on the list. two in one day. not bad.

hand in glove

deery-lou.
the new zoo revue
saturday, october 7
i awoke feeling completely exhausted. even with all the sleep i've had. my body was telling me its "time to go home". i felt drained. however, i still had one more full day left. my brain was in overdrive. not sure i could fit anymore sightseeing into it. we hung out in the room until check out. during that time i made several attempts to call korean airlines to see about getting on the sunday 1 am flight. no answer. lunch was had at another hawker. this one specializing in local indian cuisine. i sat at the table while don selected the goodies. what we got were some tofu, hot dogs, and some kind of bread things all mixed with a salad. on the side was a curry sauce for dipping. i know i sound like a broken record but what can i say—the food was fantastic. the bread dipped in the sauce was soo yummy. i couldn't stop eating it. we also had some kind of fried banana pancake which rocked too. i don't think i had one bad meal here. with full tummies we headed off for the zoo. we spent the next three hours or so walking around the zoo. of all the zoos i've been to this has got to be one of the best. i'm sure the natural environment of the jungle has something to do with it. all the animals looked healthy and happy,too. well as happy as one can be in a confined area. although they weren't in cages. their space was very open. most of the animals on this particular day had a case of the lazies. could it be the heat? the baboons actually looked bored.

bored baboons

i love monkeys. there were many different types of them. i could sit and watch them for hours. always entertaining. perhaps it would be fun to be a monkey. maybe in another life i'll find out. we had just missed most of the feeding times which meant the animals were either sleeping or just sitting there. we did manage to catch the elephant show. it was pretty entertaining. elephants are cute in their own ugly way. i wanted to see the otters swim but both times we stopped by they weren't doinganythingg. i wanted to poke them with a stick to get them moving but thought it best not to. inside the butterfly house a butterfly actually landed on my leg. he stayed for awhile. i was so happy to have made a new friend.

butterfly friend

it was really nice to spend the day there. you can tell they actually take care of the place. i remembergoingg to the sanford zoo in florida and being completely depressed. the animals there looked like they were on death row. ever since then i'm usuallyapprehensivee about going to a zoo. it often leaves me depressed. the singapore zoo was a positive experience. it actually restored some of my faith in zoos. another thing i liked about this zoo was that you felt pretty close to the animals. it wasn't like they were out into the distance. you could almost touch them. kudos to the zoo.

random building

after the zoo we went to a mini mall. there was one giant store which resembled a costplus and then several little stores nearby. i found a few pictures to buy. we also stumbled upon a store that sold my watch. earlier in the week i noticed that my band was starting to rip so i wanted to get a new one. he didn't have any white bands but told me of a store on orchard road that did. don ended up buying a gray watch like mine. it has a different saying though. we headed over to the odm store on orchard road. it was on the 9th floor in a one of the tall mall buildings. it was the same floor as the gaming center. not sure how anyone would know that the store existed up there without being told. i really wanted to buy a new one. they had one with silver studs on it. but i didn't. instead i bought two new bands. a black one and a white one. i asked about the studded band but they only sold the solid ones. oh well. with purchases in hand we left. we walked around the first level. i went into a couple of shops. i tried on a few button down shirts but they were a little snug. its korea all over again. we were going to grab some food but it was mobbed so we left to go elsewhere. dinner was had at a pizza joint. it was actually nice to have pizza that tastes like i remember it did back in the states. we went back to don's office to chill out. i bought some a pound of minced pork to take back with me. around 11 pm we went to the airport. i wanted to check about getting on the flight that night/morning. when i got there the guy basically laughed saying there was no chance to get on the flight. defeated we headed back to chinatown so i could get a room for the night. found one at the tropical which was right near the royal peacock. it wasn't as nice as the peacock but it had a balcony with a killer view of the coffee shop. posted one either side of the elevator were two signs. one said "no guests aftermidnightt" the other "no durians". durians are some sort of smelly fruit that i didn't try.

coffee shop

sunday, october 8
we went for coffee at the coffee shop. OMG!! this was the best coffee i've ever had. why didn't i discover that magical coffee sooner. it is only right across the street from the peacock. oh well. perhaps it's for the best. wouldn't want to have overdosed on the stuff. not sure what makes it so damn good. maybe its the spoonful of condensed milk they put in it. whatever the magical ingredient is, its one damn fine cup of coffee. for some strange reason i was struck with the shopping bug. we decided to head over to orchard road. we stopped for lunch at a vietnamese restaurant. verytastyy. on the way to orchard road we passed a skate boarding park. i love this place more and more every day. as we walked by i checked out the skaters. good times. the rest of the day was spent shopping and walking. i found a few shirts but none really fit. those that did, didn't look good on. i did buy a new shoulder bag and trendy sports jacket. i know!! me in a sport jacket type thing. who would have guessed. the jacket is quite cool. its atailoredd black jacket with blue and white stitching around it. it looks good with jeans. i figured it was time to add something new to my wardrobe. plus all the k-boys seem to be wearing them these days. i also managed to get to the toys r us. this time it was opened. i didn't buy anything for myself. just browsed. i love toy stores. don bought me a book. how sweet. its essays about an ex-pats experience in singapore. i read a few. they are quite entertaining. eventually we got bored of going into malls. there's only so much power shopping one can do in a day. before heading back to don's office we stopped for a drink. not really sure what i got but it was called chen dol and looked like this:

chen dol

i think it was coconut juice with red beans, assorted jellies, and some kind of sweetener. it was actually quite tastey. back at don's office i fell asleep on the couch. it was a much needed rest. we went for some porridge nearby. i got the pork ball porridge. yummy. we also got something called yam tan. it was filled with meat. again yum. i wanted an egg custard but they told me there were no more. sadness. my quest for egg custard tarts had failed. oh well there's always next time. we got to the airport around 11pm. i checked in then don and i walked around taking pictures of us.

at the airport

finally it was time to head in. don and i said goodbye. i proceeded to head through immigration. i cashed in my last 70 singapore dollars only to get 32,000 won. not a very good exchange. got some drinks then waited for the gate to open. in singapore you don't actually go throughsecurityy/x-ray until you're at the gate. interesting. the flight back was pretty uneventful. i slept most of the way. when them came by with food the flightattendantt asked if i wanted the korean or egg. i said the bibimbap. she looked surprised and then asked me if i knew how to eat it. we got to incheon around 8am. luckily my bus was at 8:20 and i made it home by 11 am. i had a few hours to rest before going to class. all i really wanted to do was sleep. i had been up now for almost an entire day. my vacation was officially. it was now time to enter reality.

photo albums
singapore zoo
singapore part 2

be well...

manual speed

deery-lou.
a return to singapore
thursday, october 5
checked back into the royal peacock. this place is being to feel like my second home. caught a bit of ellen degeneress on the tube. she's funny. then spent a little time just chillin. it was nice to do that in the ac room. i forgot what it was like to endure nonstop heat. after our rest we went into chinatown to a hawker. on the menu tonight was satay and wonton soup. there's nothing like a good bowl of wonton soup. yum-yum. after dinner we headed over to boat quay. bq is a stretch of restaurants along the river. a haven for toursits. there you can eat, get a boat ride, etc. we spent a few hours walking along the river. it was quite pretty at night with all the lights from the restaurants and the boats. saw some cool buildings, bridges, etc.

parliment house, boat quay

back in chinatown we got some coconut juice from a street vendor. i also wanted to try this thing that was made in bamboo. not really sure what it was called. it was some kind of bean in dough topped off with coconut and some orange sauce. i'm totally not doing it justice. it was actually quite tastey. i ate it for breakfast the next morning. hehe. don needed to go back to get his car. our plan was to meet up tomorrow in front of the peacock. i spent a quiet night in my pitch black room. i don't even remember falling asleep.

wonton soup

friday, october 6
rendevoused with don around 10. or maybe it was 11. don't really remember anymore. went to yet another hawker for pork and rice. i'm loving these hawker centers. the food is so good and cheap there. i managed to also eat two spring rolls. i feel like thats all i'm doing here: eating and drinking. i can't get enough of the teas or lime juice. don took me to few other little markets then off to see the goddess of mercy temple. got some incense. lit it. made a wish/prayer. place burning incense in holder. went inside to see goddess. said another prayer. then exited. the temple was packed. we then went to a few more markets. didn't buy anything. although did see lots of interesting stuff. we then headed to the swissotel to check in. this was our one "fancy" hotel for the trip. how come every time i step into a really nice hotel room i'm in awe. its such a different world than my budget lifestyle. i forget all the things the fancy hotels have to offer. like a real shower, more than one towel and channels on the tv. sweet!! the view from the room was amazing even with all the haze. singapore had been covered in a massive haze ever since the fires in indonnesia. it was a bit of a bummer but such is life. you can't control the will of mother nature. although those who started the fires should be dealt with.

swissotel view

don needed to do some work at his office for awhile so i headed off to city hall to check out the biennale. before reaching city hall i stopped at st. andrew's cathedral. as cathedrals go it was pretty cool. there's something about them in different countries that make them more interesting. perhaps it had something to do with the all the lanterns and the fish pond. anyway took a shit load of pictures.

st. andrew's cathedral

city hall was right next to st. andrew's cathedral so i went there next. this was one of the two major exhibition spots for the biennale. the theme of the singapore biennale 2006 is "belief". all around the city i have seen posters, cabs, buses, etc. advertising the event. i was quite excited to have the chance to see it. the first exhibit i encountered happened outside of city hall. artist takafumi hara's project "signs of memory" consisted of a series of painted panals and interviews place within the windows of city hall. he interviewed 18 local people from various religious backgrounds and cultures to discuss their own experiences of mulit-culturalism in singapore.

takafumi hara, signs of memory

the city hall exhibits were simply amazing. so many talented artists. the space itself was quite rad. i mean how often does one get a chance to go into a courtroom or judges chambers to view art. marvelous. i think this was the first time that they used it for exhibition purposes. it was definitely a good space to do it in. according to what i read i think they have plans of making city hall a huge gallery space in the future. the exhibition occupied the entire fourth floor and one room of the third. artist tzu nyen ho's the bohemian rhapsody project, a digital video, was a recreation of a courtroom drama to queen's bohemian rhapsody. pure brilliance. another artist who's work stood out in my mind was yason banal. dancing sons [tropic of virgo] was a mixed media installation focusing on the religious festivities in manila. i would love to be able to describe everything i saw but i don't feel that i'm that i'm well versed when discussing art. i did manage to take a few photos of some of the ones i really liked. that was until i got busted. oops.

jason weel, 1987

donna ong, secret, interiors: chrysalis (19)

sheba chhachhil, winged pilgrims: a chronicle from asia

jane alexander, verity, faith and justice

i got lost within the walls and halls of city hall for 2 hours before finally leaving. on my way out i bought a book and got some badges. badges are pins for those of you who aren't in the know. the lady even gave me a bottle of water. sweet. with my admission i'm able to visit each major exhibit one time. score.

meet back up with don at the hotel. feeling all ary, i wanted to check out the exhibits at tanglin camp. this was the second biggest space. they were having free admission from 6-9 so i figured that would be perfect. before heading to tanglin camp we stopped at mount faber. its a popular destination for tourist due to its great views of singapore. at mount faber you can take a cable car over to sentosa. there's also a lookout point where you can see a panoramic view of singapore. according to don this is the best scenic spot. of course it was still hazy so that limited the viewing. i got the gist of it though. would love to go back when the haze isn't so bad. i'm sure its amazing on a clear night.

mount faber

we got to tanglin camp a little after 6. tanglin camp was once part of the army; however, this section is not in use anymore. like city hall it was a great space to have a show. you can tell the organizers of the biennale really gave some thought to what they were doing. as it got darker around the camp i couldn't help but think that this would be an ideal setting for a horror movie. don kept telling me it was haunted. if only that was true. most of exhibits here seemed to have been films. honestly i have a hard time watching films at an exhibit. i don't have the attention span plus i feel like i don't have enough time. there were definitely some that stood out for me. the fog is rising, a mixed media installation, was created by george chua, alwyn lim, and chee wai yuen. the entire section [inside and outside] was painted black. when you entered the room a sole picture hung in the center. it felt kind of morbid and erie. why am i often drawn to such things? in silver thin paint on the outside where these words "the fog is rising". i did sneak a picture of my other favorite.

brian gothong tan, we live in a dangerous world

before leaving i managed to score even more badges. the lady asked me if i was collecting them and i said yes. she then told me to take what i needed. so i did. by now i was art-exhausted. two hours at city hall and another 2 hours at tanglin camp. that's a whole lot of art in one day. plus there was the time walking around mount faber. don drove us to the east coast to eat at a hawker near the beach. it was a nice evening to eat outside. the humidity had dropped a bit or had i just gotten used to it. who knows. i had some dry wonton soup which again was so freakin good. they served it with jalapeno slices. we walked around a bit. they have a wake boarding park, no boat needed. we watched for a spell. i was hoping to catch someone busting ass going over a ramp but noone did. next was a stroll along the beach. there were a lot of families out. people were still celebrating the mooncake festival. there were mini bon fires, lanterns, and incense, oh my! it was nice. i saw a giant sand castle, too.

fire & lanterns, east coast beach

we went back to the hotel to chill and figure out what to do next. it was only 10pm. needless to say i ended up passing out and didn't wake until morning. so much for going out.

to be continued…
next: a visit to the zoo

photos albums
biennale
singapore

be well…

butterfly mornings

deery-lou.
destination: tioman island, malaysia
monday, october 2
left royal peacock hotel at 5:30 am to head to bus depot. the tour bus for malaysia was leaving at 6 am. got there around 5:45 am. the bus was late and we didn't head out until 6:20. there were only 11 of us on the bus. singapore is a small island so it didn't take long to get to immigration. that took all of a minute then it was back on the bus. five minutes later we were in malaysia. we had to take our luggage through malay immigration. again not many people were there so it didn't long at all. back onto the bus we headed for mersing where we were to catch the ferry to tioman. the bus ride was pretty uneventful. i napped. in mersing we had about an hour to kill before getting on the noon ferry. it kind of reminded me of the harbor city we went to in thailand. there were some shops, restaurants, and lots of cats.

mersing

the ferry was packed. it took almost two hours to reach tioman island. we were the second stop once we reached the island. the ferry had made one other stop at rawa island. rawa looks amazing. along the way to tioman there was a small island with thousands of birds flying around it. it was like seeing something out of a movie. quite majestic and beautiful. we reached the paya resort dock around 2 pm. i almost busted ass jumping from the ferry to the dock while carrying both my backpack and suitcase. of course i was wearing the GIANT shoes so that didn't help much. we checked into our little chalet p1. there was one chalet in front of us but off to the right we could still see the sea. i was happy. we took a stroll up and down the beach. we found a little cove to the right of the resort. it looked like the perfect place to swim. since it was low tide we were able to get to the little island. there were some family fishing. we did a bit of exploring then went off to check out the other side of the resort. along the way were some local houses, abandoned boats, some gifts shops, restaurants, diving places, etc. most of these seemed to be owned by paya resort. at the far end of the island it look like some houses. we didn't notice any roads or any sign of a small town. there's was a boardwalk that headed off into the jungle. we would save that for another day. we grabbed a late lunch at the resort restaurant. at this time they were only serving western food. we both got the chicken burger. surprisingly it was good. the rest of the day was spent poolside swimming. from the pool was a great view of the jungle and mountain. it was quite relaxing. dinner was between 7-8:30 pm. although not starving we figured if we didn't eat we'd be sol later. nothing else but the resorts restaurant was opened. after dinner i opened some wine and had a glass or two on the porch. the evening was spent relaxing.

paya resort

tuesday, october 3
i awoke to the sound of pouring rain. it sounded like we had a tin roof. it immediately reminded me of rainy summers in florida. it never failed that we'd have a thunder storm everyday. i love storms. i opened the door to have peek. the wind was blowing extremely hard. back to bed i went. around 8:45 am we checked to see if the snorkeling trip was still on at 9am. it has since stopped raining but was still kind of windy. the trip was postponed til 2pm. since we were up we decided to grab some breakfast. afterwards we didn't to go exploring. we went back to the path we saw the other day. it lead to another part of the resort with more cabins. we walked to the end and thats when i saw some monkeys. the started to take off for the jungle. well all of them except the monkey king who jumped onto the ground and started to hiss at me. i didn't like that so i hissed back. we saw a sign that said rock falls so we decided to check it out. afterall we had plenty of time to kill. it was a mini trek into the jungle. the rock falls itself was nothing fabulous. however, it was cool to be in the jungle.

rock falls

we saw another path so figured why not check that out too. that lead us to an overrun soccer field. in the middle of the field were cows. jungle cows!! there was yet another path to check out that lead behind the chalets. the area where all the monkeys took off to. along that trail with saw some black squirrels. didn't see anymore monkeys but we didn't get too far because the mosquitoes there were off the wall. i could see tons of them flying behind don as he walked. we left mosquito trail and headed back. once on the boarded path that lead us to the beach i noticed some monkey. there were a whole mess of them. i snapped a few pictures. it was hard to see them in the trees.

beach to the cove

with still time to spare before the snorkeling trip i went for a swim at the cove. it was so beautiful there. the water was so blue. i couldn't figure out why more people weren't swimming there. i swam for awhile. enjoying the sea, the silence, and the scenery. it was like my own blue lagoon adventure. but where was christopher atkins? while swimming around i decided that i should buy an underwater camera. so i head to the store. my favorite store on the island where the "aunty" works. she's always so friendly. i bought a camera and she gave me a loaf of bread to feed the fish with. she also gave me an empty water bottle. she told me to break up the bread and put it into the bottle. once in the water open the lid and squeeze the bottle. the bread will shoot out like a bullet. she's so smart. i love aunty. at two we boarded the boat. there were only 8 of us not counting the crew of three. the first stop was at a marine park. it had a section marked off for swimming. the minute i jumped in i was surrounded by colorful fish. everywhere i looked fish. fish. fish. fish. all so pretty. of course i forgot my bread gun. but so many others were feeding the fish that i didn't need it. this area mostly had fish. not alot of coral . as i swam around i stumbled upon a group of concrete tables and chairs. it was like i had entered an underwater restaurant. i was so fascinated by these tables.

underwater table for two

our next stop was near a very small island. i jumped in this time with my bread gun. it was kind of hard to coordinate shooting the gun and taking a picture. the minute i squeezed out the bread there were a million fish surrounding me. it was cool to see them swarming the bread. that is until i actually got bit by a couple of them. i didn't like that. i was over the feeding of the fish at that point, so i squeezed out all my bread and watched them devourer it. with the bread gun tucked into my shorts i swam around pretending i was aquaman. there were lots and lots of coral to see here. it was all so amazing. being able to see underwater is way cool. its like another world. as i was swimming a large group of fish came towards me. once again i got bit on my back. damn fish. i came to the conclusion that since i'm so white i probably looked like a giant loaf of bread to them. little bastards. there was so much to see. besides the coral and numerous colorful fish i saw a stingray and lots of urchins. i also managed to see a lot of fish urinating. lucky me. that night we ate at the resort again. later i chilled out on the porch then on the beach listening to the silence.

wednesday, october 4
it was day three on tioman island. i rented a mask and snorkel for the day. headed off for the cove to check things out. don was going to meet me there later. how happy was i with the mask. it seems that there was a whole magical underworld to see right in my backyard so to speak. i brought my bread gun. figured i'd give these guys a try. they were a lot nicer. no bites today. since the cove is near an island there were lots of things to see. again i swam around for hours taking it all in. i was going to try to swim around the island but though it might be a bad idea. especially if i got really tired. plus the further i went the more jellyfish i saw. they were actually hard to spot. i didn't want to chance getting stung by one. so instead of going completely around i got out and walked to the other side to check it out. there really wasn't much to see. it was a lot rocker on the bottom. when i went to swim back to the island's beach it was going against the current and was kind of hard. it was nice to be able to swim at your leisure. no tour guide telling you 5 minutes left. the whole time i was swimming i kept thinking that i want to come back as a sea creature. how cool would that be. the ocean is so beautiful, magical, and peaceful. as long as i had a snorkel and mask i could swim all day. until i got hungry at least...

fish

after lunch i headed off poolside. i end up falling asleep in the chair. once i awoke i grabbed my mask and snorkel and headed back to the cove. i wanted to maximize my swimming. the tide was coming in so i left my shirt on the beach instead of taking it to the island. in the distant i heard some rumbling. couldn't tell if it was boat engines or thunder. the sky looked clear. i ignored it and continued on my way. during this swim time i picked out one fish and followed him all along the sea bottom. he took me on a wonderful journey. i saw another stingray. this one had a bright blue streak going down its back. i didn't get to look at him long though cuz he went under a rock. my guide was a hungry little fellow. the whole time he was swimming he was eating too. he dive down to the bottom eat something and then a couple of minutes later spit out a bunch of shells and sand. i was in awe. even though this was my third time out in the cove everything still felt fresh and magnificiant. i was looking off to my right and when i turned back my guide was gone. i thought it best to pop my head out of water to see where i was. the sky had turned dark blue. the wind was picking up, too. definite signs of an approaching storm. the wind had cause ripples in the once calm waters of the cove. i was actually pretty far out and started to head in. the wind picked up. the swimming was becoming much more difficult against the wind. it felt like i was getting nowhere. once i got to where i could stand it was all good. by the time i reached my stuff the rain had started. this wasn't a nice, soft, gentle rain but a hard, prickly one. it felt like little needles going into my skin. the wind continued to pick up and the rain started falling harder and harder. when i reaching the protective covering of the chalet it came pouring down. i sat on the porch watching the rain. it such a peaceful and calming sound to me. the storm didn't last long. when the sea had calmed down i went back out.

warning!

yes, this boy wanted one more swim with the fish before leaving tomorrow. the tide was much higher now. the once accessible island was becoming an island again. i had to start swimming much sooner than before. without realizing it the wind-current took me pretty far out in a short period of time. it was actually a lot rougher than it looked. again i found myself swimming crazily against the wind to get back. the land looked much further away than before. i think alot of this had to do with high tide coming. it didn't feel as safe to be out here so i headed back. i said goodbye to my fish friends for the final time. that night we ate at a different restaurant. yes, something else was finally opened. although i think it might be owned by the resort. one clue is that our server had a paya resort t-shirt on. the food was quite good and much cheaper than at the resort. the rest of the evening was spent strolling the beach and chilling. our time on the island was up. we leave tomorrow.

thursday, october 12
we opted to take the speed boat back to mersing. the main reason was that the ferry left at 7:30am. hi, too early. the speed boat was suppose to leave at 9:30 am. we actually boarded it around 10 something. i sat in the back outside. i wanted to feel the wind against my face and we zipped through the sea. on the way back we had to pull over so that someone could barf off the back of the boat. and no it wasn't me. there were alot of little islands to see. we also stopped back at rawa. i got a better look at this resort and so want to go there next. back on the water i put on my ipod and sunglasses and chilled. it was a great ride. again we had a few hours to kill in mersing before the bus left. we stocked up on snacks. i was trying to spent all the riglets i could. our bus back was upgraded to biz bus. much bigger seats and a lot comfier. again there weren't many people on the bus.

on the bus back

going back through immigration was pretty uneventful. although i had to smuggle in some smokes for don. smokes are a lot cheaper in malaysia than singapore. we got to the newton bus depot around 6 pm. our malay holiday was officially over.

to be continued…
next time: a return to singapore

photo albums
tioman island
snorkeling trip [note: these aren't the best photos]

be well…

p.s. while sitting on the beach one morning an actual coconut dropped from a tree right next to me. i heard the loud thud. good thing i wasn't sitting right under it.