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.

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…

venus in furs

deery-lou.
i'm baaaack! stayed tuned for a full report on my tropical vacation. must get some rest now. been up for over 24 hours. teaching was TUFF, today! at least there's instanst coffee in the house.

be well…

beat city

deery-lou.
tomorrow i head off to singapore for a holiday. i'll be gone for 9 days. three of which will be spent at paya resort on tioman in malaysia. i'll post again when i return on oct 9. i love vacations.

the go-go's
vacation

Can't seem to get my mind off of you
Back here at home there's nothin' to do
Now that I'm away
I wish I'd stayed
Tomorrow's a day of mine that you won't be in

When you looked at me I should've run
But I thought it was just for fun
I see I was wrong
And I'm not so strong
I should've known all along that time would tell

A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you yet

CHORUS
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away
Vacation
Meant to be spent alone

A week without you
Thought I'd forget
Two weeks without you and I
Still haven't gotten over you yet

CHORUS

be well…

fur immer [forever]

deery-lou.
i simply couldn't resist. oh, how i love thee smurfette.




be well…

measure

deery-lou.
it's a record. i actually completed a book in less than a week. for those that know me, i'm not a big reader unless its comics or mangas. give me a book thats over 300 pages plus being a biography of sorts and it takes me forever. it's not that i don't like reading i just get sidetracked with tv and napping. i actually love browsing through bookstores. when princess was over at my apartment she kept pointing to books asking me how it was. my response was always, "i don't know. i haven't read it yet". this prompted me to start diving right in. the first on my shelf i grabbed was girl sleuth: nancy drew and the women that created her. i believe this book was given to me my mistyl for either christmas or my birthday. whichever it was its been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for months. i was a bit aprehensive about this book since it was a biography. my initial thoughts was that it was going to be a long boring read. thankfully i was proven wrong. the writing style was sharp, fresh, and quickly paced. it was quite interesting to read about a character that was created in an era where women were still coming into their own. i found it to be both a fascinating study of a character's creation as well as glimpse into historical events. i was even more excited to reach page 285. that's when the book started talking about pamela sue martin who played nancy on the hardy boys/nancy drew mystery show.

the hardy boys & nancy drew

it interesting to see how nancy changed and how the books were revised for the changing times. i never really realized just how popular she was. its great to see a character who has been around for so long. as of last year nancy has found herself in a new form. that of a graphic novel. i've only read the first one and i must say i was quite impressed. it was alot better than the hardy boys graphic novel. if you're a total nancy fan be sure to check out the following site: the nancy drew sleuth. so here's to nancy and her friends for over 75 years of publishing. my she continue to live on.

be well…

sushi bar song

deery-lou.
my favorite tv quote of the week:
"I've never known an Asian person in my life and the Cho brothers, I love them to death. Honest to goodness, we've never been around gay people, but buddy, I like them."
— mary, coalminer's wife, contestant on the amazing race

if you're not watching you should. goodstuff!

be well…

green

deery-lou.
monkey see, monkey do. since misty decided to post her results, i will too. see how much fun you are creating miss chen.

Using only songs from one artist cleverly answer these questions...

Name: jethan

Pick an Artist: throwing muses

1.) are you a male or female? him dancing
2.) describe yourself: pretty or not
3.) how do you feel about yourself? i'm alive
4.) describe your ex boyfriend/girlfriend: no way in hell
5.) describe your current boyfriend/girlfriend: limbo
6.) describe your current location: vicky's box
7.) describe where you want to be: white bikini sand
8.) your best friend is: golden thing
9.) your favorite color is: bright yellow gun
10.) you know that: america [she can't say no]
11.) what's the weather like? clear and great
12.) if your life was a television show, what would it be called? and a she-wolf after the war
13.) what is life to you? matter of degrees
14.) what is the best advice you have to give? shimmer
15.) if you could change your name, what would you change it to? surf cowboy

be well…

black plastic

deery-lou.
in celebration of the 30th anniversary of charlie's angels, farrah's official website has launched. click here. i know! it's about time. ummm, hi t-shirts for me to buy. farrahtastic!

fawcett online

be well…