pendulum

deery-lou.
i'm in the midst of uploading photos to snapfish. so in the meantime i figured i'd go ahead and start with my vacation post. i'm sure you are all just dying to know who and what i did. don't worry i won't put everything in one post. i'll stretch it out like a good old mini-series on tv. and now on with the post…

saturday, september 30
e-notables [pre-arrival]
1. while on bus to airport [its a 2 hour ride] i think i witnessed a k-boy band photo shoot. the bus went by pretty quick but what i saw was some boys all decked out in black and white standing in front of what looked like a building that had been destroyed by fire. in front of them was someone with a camera. will have to look into this.

2. while going through security the guard checking my passport remarked how my hair changed. he then said my hairstyle now was good and told me to have a good weekend. he went on to inform me that next week was a korean holiday.

3. there were a lot of trendy asians walking about the airport. all high fashion. figured they must be from japan.

4. conversation overheard in lounge:
older yuppie guy to a younger guy in a faux army jacket drinking a beer and smoking: are you american?
ajg: fuck yeah! [holds up his beer and smoke]
oyg: from where?
ajg: philly!
oyg: how bout them eagles?
that was enough to make me leave.

5. while sitting at the gate which was empty when i got there i soon looked up to see that i was surrounded by the entire flight crew. creepy!

6. on the mini pizza box i got on the plane were these words:
eet smakelijk
bon appetit
buon appetito
hyvoa runkahalua
god appetit

*****************************************

by the time i went through immigration, picked up my luggage, had a smoke, used the restroom, etc. it was midnight. don was there to greet me. we stepped outside and i was immediately slapped in the face by the humidity and heat. it was like i had returned to florida. i guess i should have expected it. i mean it is a tropical jungle island afterall. i adjusted rather quickly although my hair decided to fro out even more. i had my first experience with driving "on the other side of the road". i kept thinking i should be driving but there was no wheel where i sat. that too took some getting use to. we got to the royal peacock which was located in the city near chinatown. the building and the surrounding ones used to be old shop houses.

coverted shop houses

we dropped off my stuff and took a little rest before heading out. we went to mox [a g-bar]. it had a retro 70s decor about it. there weren't many people. most of them were crowded on the balcony smoking while the rest were gathered at tables talking amongst themselves. much better then what we got in korea. we had one drink then left. not only was i extremely beat but i was having a hard time breathing. i needed a hit off my inhaler and it was back at the hotel. probably shouldn't have been smoking but i never said i was smart. before heading into the hotel we stopped in 7-11. THEY HAD BIG GULPS!!! someone definitely hates me. actually i wasn't even tempted. imagine that. i checked out what they had for snacks, drinks, etc. i love checking out stores in different countries. i decided on some sweet tea. oh, how i miss different sweet teas in a can. back in the room i took my puff then passed out. i was one tired boy…

sunday, october 1
i awoke to a room that was pitch black. i had no idea what time it was. one could sleep the entire day away in this windowless room. luckily it was only approaching 10 am. we rallied and headed out into the heat. don took me to a hawker centre for lunch. we had rice with gravy, eggs, some veggie, fried pork, chicken stock rice, and boiled chicken. its was sooo good. i washed my meal down with a sweet red tea.

chinatown hawker center

from there we went to exchange some money for our trip to malaysia. we were leaving at 5am monday so figured it would be best to do it now. near the money exchanger was a bakery and other goodie place. i got a pineapple drink and some pork balls on a stick. we also got some goodies for our trip. then it was off to the minced pork stand to get some of that for our trip, too. they had some samples so i tried a little first. words can't even describe the deliciousness of it. [note: i brought some back to korea]. don needed to do some work so i went off to walk around the markets in chinatown.

one entrance into the market

the markets kind of reminded me of the ones in hong kong but way less crowded. they were selling everything from coconut drinks to hanging paper lanterns. love it! love it! love it! i spent hours just walking around exploring all that there was to see. i stopped in at the sri mariamman temple, a hindu temple.

sri mariamman temple roof

they were getting ready for an event that was going to happen on the following sunday. it was a pretty nice space. met back up with don. went to a grocery store to get some bread and other stuff for our trip. i found wasabi peas so bought a couple of bags. i also got some mints since the only thing i ever see in korea are mentos. we chilled out at the hotel for a bit to cool down. don needed to take his car home so he dropped me off at orchard road where he'd meet up with me later. orchard road is one giant mall after another. like the markets in chinatown it reminded me of hong kong. a much cleaner version of hong kong. all those malls can be quite overwhelming for someone. especially when they don't know which one to go into. and to go into them all would be madness. i wasn't much for shopping that night so i just cruised up and down the street to see what was there.

sign on orchard road

i found a toys r us but they were closed. two t-shirts i saw on guys were: big bad wolf, i heart bears. there was also an orange julius stand. hi, flashback to high school and the altamonte mall. of course i had to get one. it was orange julius. i got a raspberry julius. its too bad it wasn't connected to a sams pretzel like the one in the altamonte mall. while sitting on a bench resting, a prostitute approached me asking if she could "talk" to me. i kindly told her that i was meeting someone. i headed off to borders since everything else was closing. browsed through some local magazines then went outside to wait for don. we took the bus back to the hotel. we opted for an early night since we had to wake up early. we need to be at the bus depot by 6am to head off to malaysia.

to be continued…
next up: malaysia & tioman island

be well…