This is wat happens when u haf nothing better to
do on a weekday afternoon.

Few things that's on my mind

Whilst writing my entries for the last 2 countries tt i went to, i've decided to write about some stuff tt ive been feelin for the past 2 months.

1stly, i was practically jobless even though i was travellin around SEA like a rich man but really, im broke, its not funny, really. come to realise, as much as u'd wasnt to deny it but i really tin tt ur income is somethin tt's very important in life. especially i tin in s'pore. everythin has a value on it. how shallow can we be. man.h

recently ive been thinking abt how i live my life and my personality. ive found out tt im actually quite good talking to people and giving a good first impression, whatever impressions thy get after tt i guess most of the time, might not be the same. which might not mean a gd thing actually. well tt's if the person cares to even listen to me in the first place la. which directs my attention to something tt i heard the other day on the radio, about being someone who tells everyone everything about yourself and sometimes i tin i tend to do tt. and sometimes u become so transparent to other people that you become boring cuz of the fact tt everyone knows everything about you oready. there's no more surprise, there's no more mystery in me.

which makes me conclude why i tin most people actually want to be my close friends but none of them ever wants to go over that line. like go to the next lvl. cuz maybe im juz not tt kinda material. im like the shoulder to cry on, the

one to go to if ur relaitionship goes wrong. or if u need help or advise about some mishap in your life. but never the one tt u can sit down next to and just be quiet and juz love me for who i am. here i am being emo in the middle of 2am in s'pore. this is what being jobless makes you. ok im not tt free but i juz feel like typing stuff tonight k? i keep talkin abt other countries, im kinda bored.

ive looked back at my life and i see that i fell i havent been receiving a lot of love coming from my family. the way i was brought up, everything was so disciplined and i grew up as a good boy who'd do everythin according to how my parents wanted it that i became such a nerd. i never knew how to talk about my feelings to anyone when i was younger and never got to practice at hm with my family. cuz of tt i took to telling my school frenz about wat was on my mind and my philosophies to life. tin i started wen i was in PJC. they even chose me to participate in the class debate. then i realised my gift of the gap, haha.

which makes me tin even more... should i really be looking at design as my full time job and the rest of my life? will i be able to compete or even keep in par with the rest of the designers? i duno. sometimes i really doubt myself. but me, juz being myself, most of the time i tend not to show that weak side of me. i always like to present myself

as very confident and very assuring, so that the people around me feel confident abt me too. well, i'd say most ppl who are like tt are actually amongst the most insecure ppl in the world. they use this as a cover so tt ppl are not able to see their true weaknesses. and these ppl actually always appear as arrogant at 1st impression.

tt's wat some ppl tin of me actually before they meet me. as long as i don smile, ppl will tend to haf the impression tt im kinda stand-offish. ive tried lookin at myself in the mirror before, and i agree. haha. but then i tin most ppl actually change their mind when they actually start talkin to me. having tt kinda look can actually work quite well also sometimes u noe.

so my purposeless life carries on as i try to convince ppl tt im the best they can find around and then suffer in silence by myself. well, having lived my life like tt for the past 22 years... i tin i should be able to handle myself.

this is wat having too much time on your hands does to you>>>>>>>>>>>

mebbe i should think about straightening my hair...

Cambodia 28th - 30th May

My 1^st impression of Cambodia was quite surprising for me. The airport was very modern and nicely furnished. I think it's just me not knowing about Cambodia well enough. There was this English-speaking Tuk-tuk driver waiting outside out hotel building who was telling us that Phnom Penh has become a tourist destination, I think mainly because of it's recent troubled past of the Khmer Rouge in 1975-1979. He was also saying about 10 years ago it'd be unsafe to be walking around in the night there but now its fine. Most things have stabled now and most locals have actually took advantage of the tourists coming to earn some money for their survival. You do see people who suffered during those violent times, how they have become handicapped coming out of the incident and also the children who were born handicapped who are trying to make a living out of selling things to tourists on the streets. In Cambodia, whenever crossing the streets, you have to brave. Don't look at oncoming traffic as you can never expect a stop to the flow of traffic over there. You just have to cross and then all the vehicles (bikes especially) will swerve around you as you cross the road. Wat I'll tell people is that if you took a picture of somebody whilst crossing the road, you'll see him surrounded by vehicles to his left, right, front and back.

One thing I realized about the hotel that we were staying at was the fact that it was right beside the Tonle Sap River. After looking at some local maps and history books, I realized that this river was connected to Mekong River, the exact river that we were staying beside in Laos. Apparently these 2 rivers play a very important role in the economy in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia for a long time, for the fishermen especially. And another thing was also the fact that along the bank of the Tonle Sap river was the varying flags of nations of the world. Every flag signifying the existence of that country's embassy in Cambodia. The hotel where we were staying at was call the FCC, Foreign Corespondents' Club. Therefore the presence of a lot of tourists walking all around us.

Good fate brought us to meet this Tuk-Tuk driver who knew how to speak English, Makarra. He brought us to this temple on a hill but on the way a bunch of children by the street caught our eyes. It was a group of children barely even the age of 5 playing amongst themselves by the roadside. Pete decided to let them try coloring with crayons. It seemed like this was the first they've ever used crayons to use to color on a piece of paper. The first girl that used it, was staring at it (crayon) for a short while wondering, before continuing to color. It is evident in their faces that they we were elated to have received the drawings from Pete. When they went back home. They were shouting and jumping for joy all the way in to their houses. I think it was quite meaningful for those children that a total stranger just came up to them, gave them things and also gave them an opportunity to use crayons, something they might not had the opportunity to experience.

Makarra served to be an inspiration to me as he had this analogy of life and his big dreams. He wanted to study hard the next year and finish his degree about culture, history and traditions and eventually become a tour guide in Cambodia. The thing that was so inspiring for him was the fact that he had to work so hard everyday to earn that little money to help support his family of 4 siblings. And then also to save up for his degree. Even though he was working so hard and was so tired everyday, he wasn't feeling down about it. He was very happy to be able to meet and learn from tourists everyday and be able to chase his own dreams. This showed that in no matter what kind of situation you're in, as you're passionate about something and are willing to work hard for it, anything is achievable.

I was being asked the magic question again, 1^st thing the next morning, 'Are you Cambodian?'. A little bit expected that eventually someone will ask me that over in this country. We were ending this leg of this trip soon so our spirits were up even though we were tired from all those working and traveling.

Either Phnom Penh was really small or it just so happens the school were close to our hotel but when we were in Cambodia, we took very little time to reach the places we were going to. The longest, 20 mins. Which was a very big difference, especially compared to Indonesia. Part of the fact could be thanks to the driver because he knew the roads very well and he was very helpful too. Even knew how to set-up our stuff on stage. Despite the fact that he couldn't speak much English, he still pulled through for us.

Overall Cambodia was a relaxed experience for us as lesser time was taken up for traveling. The people there were nice and the children there were very cute. Very responsive to cameras even though they could barely speak English. Very rewarding experience and a good ending country to this leg of our tour.

Vietnam 25th - 27th May

At this point of time it became kind of confusing on how many countries we've actually been to so far. On the brink of almost forgetting which country we are at almost. We just wanted a break and some rest from stuff. We heard that it was dangerous to go out at night in Hanoi at night. But to me, it is only dangerous if you think it is dangerous. It's very psychological how you scare yourself into thinking what is reality. I didn't really wanted to risk it because I had my camera equipment with me. Rather not risk it. This was the first country where most of the locals were fair-skinned so that was why Pete was mistaken to be local, finally not me. Which made me come to the conclusion that there wasn't a lot of sun in Vietnam, thus the majority of fair-skinned people.

We went to this non-profit school called 'Blue Dragon' which is supported by World Vision and opened by 2 Australian, Michael and some other person. The reason why it's called that is because actually Vietnam is shaped like a dragon, Hanoi being the tail and Saigon being the head. It was even interesting how they came up with the logo because how they came up with the logo was through the many drawings of dragons done by many different children of the school. The other person in charge on that day was called, Binh. These 2 people were I think one of the few most benevolent people in the people I knew as they have such good intentions of trying to help out these Vietnamese school drop-outs. Instead of just letting them waste their lives away at home, they offer knowledge and life skills for these young people so they learn something that might be useful for them in the future. You can really tell that these children are really happy to be there and that these children really treasure the things they learn there and they seem like one big happy family. I feel that its good that these children are given the opportunity to know what it feels like to have someone care about your growth in education and allow them to realise and pursue their dreams. I think it's really big of them to want to start up this school for the Vietnamese children and want to improve their lives. Makes you think that it is a much more worthwhile cause to spend your money on rather than just yourself. I might want to come back to visit them again and maybe share some of my knowledge because I've always enjoyed being a teacher and being able to share my my knowledge with the younger generations.

We had an interpreter following us, he was an English teacher in University, called Tuanh. He was a natural comedian and he was practically taking over the show from Pete as he was helping him translate. I think he was putting in his own jokes as the children were all laughing whilst he was talking. Tuanh shared us a lot of insight regarding the education system in Vietnam. How the teachers didn't have a system to improve the teaching standards and how teachers don't see the need to nurture the children to become good adults rather than just to input information into their brains. And he was comparing it to Singapore's education system where the teachers here would have bonding sessions and sharing sessions to learn from each other so that they will be able to improve their styles of teaching. Somehow I agree that some teachers, even in Singapore don't see the importance of their roles in making sure that instead of just planting facts into the heads of children, they have to nurture traits like discipline and respect for the elders. They play a significant part to what they eventually turn into as adults.

What I liked about the Viet schools was the places that we brought to in the schools. One was in a courtyard, where there were these humongous trees which provide shade for the children to sit around on small plastic stools and carry own with their activities. I'd love to study in that kind of environment. Next was actually the school canteen where rearranged all the tables and chairs so that all the students would face the front and neatly- arranged.

Thailand 22nd - 24th May

We arrived in 'The Land of a Thousand Smiles' and we had to go straight to work the next day. The 1^st meal we had in Thai was excellent and was very satisfying. It was a very good welcome for us to Thailand. Of all the countries which I didn't understand their languages I'd say I understand the most. Well, I could at least say, “Mai Kao Jai” which means 'Don't Understand'. Which I happily use on everyone that speak to me in Thai. It works wonders, everyone should try it some day. Thailand I'd say is a cross between Indonesia and Malaysia in terms of the buildings around and the environment. Evidence of modernization and street side stalls all around. And they thrive on this because Bangkok is quite a tourist destination. Once in a while people will suddenly come to you and show this piece of white card saying, 'sex DVD & VCD'. Well i guess tt's the only way that they're able to make a living in those parts.

Thai Traditional dance, something that I've always wanted to see up close my whole life I finally get a chance to see it, and done by young students. I really am envious of the fact that the culture in Thailand is so strong even up until now, and that it is being passed on from generation to generation. So rich in culture and tradition.

One of the nights in Bangkok, me and Pete decide to walk around and go shop at a very long row of roadside stalls. We were looking for toilets when we walked into this alley which was lined with a few pubs. Seemed quite happening until we realised that it was filled with guys. Gay pubs. We were in the wrong alley, funny experience that was, some more the 2 of us went in together.

Even the place that we went to the next day, River City, it was called. We were brought along this long boat to this very steep temple. It was scary to go up the steps and even scarier to go down the steps. We then came to a place where there boat shops, people selling stuff to visitors on small sampans. I felt that it was very interesting that the tour guide that was on the boat with us was speaking mandarin, the many ways that the people in Thailand improve themselves to be able to create a career for themselves. And then we realized that the whole boat was filled with Singaporeans.

Then we went to 'Wat Pho', Sleeping Buddha. That place is a major tourist attraction as you can observe by the many different nations that congregated in this magical place full of refined and intricately-built buildings. Structures of gold, with tiny, little colored mirrors attached to the pillars that they give you a glittery feel when the sun shines on it. It's fascinating how all the individual structures were made in their own special way. And there was a grand temple inside where all it's walls and ceilings were with paintings and art, nothing could describe the details and all the effort that was being put into making these structures. It almost felt like the price that was paid to go in there to look at these structures does not do the place justice.

Of all the countries we went to i think i'm the most biased to Thailand. I really like that place and the people there are really hospitable. No wonder they call it, the land of a thousand smiles'. I'm definitely gonna go back there within the next few years if ive the money. More sight seeing and shopping for me! Khop Khun Khrap!

Malaysia 19th-21st May

By far, the most commercialized and modernized country of all (other than Singapore). First thing we noticed, after being in Indonesia, “where were all the jams?”. There was practically not much cars around on the roads. For most Malaysian roads, we were traveling on highways which were lined with plantations and tall trees, but when we reached KL, we were welcomed to by the cityscapes and the high rise buildings of KL Menara and the KLCC towers. Big difference from Indonesia and Laos.

The next day it was Vesak Day so conclusion; best day to go out and meet with the locals around. We found this great spot at KLCC park where there were tons of children and families. Excellent place to find people to draw, but after awhile of drawing, we were chased away by the security. We then went to another place to take more videos and pictures and got whistled by another security. We were just asking for it but then I guess that's what makes this trip more thrilling to be in. We were greeted by a treasure of Malaysian Art in a certain floor of the KLCC towers. A lot of stores selling handicrafts being made Malaysian people. This goes to show if you have the right avenue and the right market, pursuing a business in Art is not at all impossible. Even in such a modernized culture in KL.

The trip to Bandar Ileh after that was excellent as Malacca was the part of Malaysia which was the most historical compared to other cities. We saw a lot historical buildings and shop houses which were now being used as stores to sell souvenirs and items for tourists. Multi-racial shop owners, colorful trishaw riders. People came from all walks of life over at that place. There was very old buildings made by the Dutch and Portugese. So it was kind of a history lesson given by none other than our beloved driver, Mr Euga. He was quite informative about historical facts of Malaysia.

For those of you guys who havent been to Selangor before, well, there''s nothing much happening there. There are rumors that that place is where the rich people stay at. A lot of open space and the houses are far apart from each other. One of the teachers there told us that the families always stay at home because just to go the nearest shop they have to drive out for quite long. Well, i wouldnt wanna go out if it was that far away anywhere.

For Malaysia, nothing much to talk about. Somewhat similar to Singapore the fact that it's a multi-racial society here also and it's so modernized. A bit of nostalgia though when I brought Pete to Petaling Street. The chinatown night market of KL. A lot of bargains there and Pete is excellent at that. The last time I went to KL i was actually staying at a backpacker's inn down that street. Brings back memories when I was sitting down at this coffee shop called "Mawar Merah". Me and Habib sat down there late night when we were there the last time around. Had kopi and burgers, it was a nice experience. M'sia serves really sweet kopi btw. Can u believe it? we actualy stayed there for 3 nights for onli 30 Sing dollars each, but then of course 6 guys arent really particular abt accommodation la, so it was easy, the fact that we went there without even booking our hotel beforehand.

Indonesia 15th-17th May

1^st thing that the driver that fetched me from the airport said to me was, “Are you Indonesian?”. It was a bit expected that he'd ask me that because even in Singapore people mistake me for being Indonesian. Part of it because my Dad's Indonesian. One thing I need to mention, out of all the 7 countries that we visited, I was mistaken for being local in 6 of them. The one being Vietnam, Pete was mistaken for local over there. So I was greeted by a lot of people who spoke in their national languages. And to their disappointment I wasn't local.

My very first impression of Jakarta when we reached was, when will we reach our hotel. I think we took almost close to 1 and a half hours to reach our hotel from the airport. The traffic jams over there , made Singapore jams seem like nothing. You could sleep and wake up and sleep again whilst in the car to reach your destination. Either you have to be a really good driver to travel fast or you just get a motorbike. Because of the frequent occurrence of traffic jams in Jakarta, they made a career out of it. We see adults and even children walking around in between cars to sell things like newspapers, fruits and souvenirs to the people in their cars. And in the effort to reduce the amount of traffic in Indonesia, the government imposed a law where, during peak hours, no less than 3 people are to be in the vehicle at one time, or they'll be fined. So, during peak hours, you see rows of people standing by the side of the road holding up their fingers showing how many of them are there available to fill up your car. You just bring them to wherever that you want to and pay them a small amount of money as payment so you can avoid paying the fine. It's very disheartening to me to see all these children having to all these just to survive and maybe even for the rest of their lives. Really makes me be very thankful of the fact that my Dad's family migrated to Singapore, if not I'd be in a similar situation as them.

The Ascott manager, Michael, brought us out for lunch. To this very authentic Indonesian restaurant. Very nice food and very nice furnishing but then I just didn't understand why they used such huge plates to serve the food to us. They were excessively big for the amount of food being served. Michael then shared with us some of his thoughts about traveling overseas for work. How it all opens your eyes to how you realize that so many Singaporeans become too used to their comfort one when they stay in Singapore their whole life. They take everything for granted and become blind to the difficulties that are being faced now by our neighboring countries. How he met many people from many different countries and realized that people all around the world talk about the same problems in life. Borders and big oceans doesn't make you totally different person and you go through the same emotional phases in life at the same age all around the world. We then made our way to Sunda Kelapa port where there was a lot of people working to load cargo into ships. We even saw young teenagers working there but the thing is, they don't look like they were suffering or anything. They were smiling whenever we approached them and they just looked like they were liking each other's company at the busy port.

Before we left for Malaysia, we visited a local no-profit school opened by an Indonesian TV Presenter, Dik Duang. He was having a special event for street children living near the school. He invited a very popular Indonesian film actress, Luna Maya to become their model and let them draw her. She was there to share her experiences when she was still young and was growing up in a natural environment. And she was telling the children present there to cherish living in a natural environment and growing up in nature because these are the things that you'd want to remember and treasure when you grow up when you won't have time to 'stop and smell the roses' anymore. Something that I can't say I had the chance to experience when I was younger though. Something I can say about being human I guess, that you'll never be satisfied with everything that you have.

Laos 11th- 13th May

Laos is a place where it is very similar to Thailand. Already being neighbors, they have similar languages, the locals look somewhat the same, and their food, acquired. We lived right beside the popular Mekong River and there is this community and economy built around the survival through the utilizing the river's resources; fish. Tons of street side stalls selling salted fish, fresh fish covered with tons of salt. I'm sure someone will get sick eating too much of that. But apparently it's supposed to taste really good. Pace over there is still somewhat slow like Brunei but more people can be seen walking around as this place has some tourists visiting.

When we went to interact with this group of young girls at a fountain we saw this girl who was selling inflatable toys. Apparently she needed to do that to make a living. There was a very big difference between her attitude and the other girls who were around the same age as her. They could play the whole day after school but for her case she had to lug around all those inflatable toys just to help her family earn a living. Even when Pete handed her something, it felt like it she didn't even know how to smile. Like it took so much energy just to smile and show happiness. My perception was that she wasn't used to being happy about her life and her environment. I was just happy that we were able to make her happy even if for one second of her life. Like it mattered to someone and she was significant to a total stranger at that point of time.

We were drawing this old man which was holding little wooden cages which had small birds in them. For a moment I thought he was rearing these birds. Then I realized that people pay him to release the birds and let them free. I was just wondering, what if nobody pays for the birds? Wouldn't that particular bird be in captivity for very long? It's really amazing how the kind of things that can people be pushed to do just to survive.

Language barrier that we faced in Laos. I found out from Khamla, logistics officer from Laos Embassy that if you learn how to speak Lao for a month, you'll be able to understand Thai because they use similar words. “Neng, Song, Sam” 1,2 and 3 in both languages.

We made a new best friend after that, Mr Khamla. The Logistics Officer of Laos Embassy. He brought us to try some local food, by the Mekong River. He had an excellent sense of humor and he shed some light on the education system and look on education in Laos. He was saying that the children are becoming very dependent on their parents and the parents, showing care for their children will do anything to fulfill the wants of their children. So dependent the children become that they become lazy and therefore results in the disinterest in studying in school. This made me realize why over here in Singapore why education is so emphasized and enforced upon every Singaporean child. That's why I think almost every person in Laos stays in Laos their whole life because they become less marketable overseas due to the lack of education. I guess these are the kind of people that don't contribute to the improvement of Laos' economy.

On the night itself, the Deputy Ambassador brought us to this place with a live band. It was called, “Club Zai De”, if that's how u spell it. Quite modernized place in the middle of nowhere in the midst of rundown houses. After being fed all those authentic Laos dishes which were all acquired, we finally got to eat old school BBQ chicken. That made my night, it was excellent, best meal in Laos sad to say. Speaking of that, I think the most memorable food that Pete had was the Laos burger that he had one of the days. Just the sight of it being prepared at the stall with all the flies buzzing around I really don't know how he could have eaten it. He had diarrhea after that. Spoiler for Indonesia.

We went to his house after that and let me tell u it was HUGE! It cost US1K a month of rent and its damn worth it i tin. Its only that he's living there by himself so it was such a waste. I now know who to look for the next time i go to Laos, IF i go, haha.