Playing a Lion Being Led to a Cage

I've been having strong feelings lately, like messages from within that can't be silenced. Believe it or not my friends, I feel like I'm selling myself short. Sure I'm on the other side of the world taking 18 months to teach scuba diving, but honestly I'm not completely satisfied. Too many things about my way of life simply don't seem, well... right.

I've assessed my life here in my humble accommodation on this meager island out in the middle of Indonesia. As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm a slave to civilization, a pawn in man's deliberate quest to detach himself from natural being. Here's a list of a few brilliant inventions surrounding me that man has created to better his life over the course of thousands of years: brick, mortar, chair, bed, fan, toilet, sink, running water, pavement, light bulb, motorboat, restaurant, computer, the list goes on. All of these and other great inventions which I have been successfully trained to love and rely upon my entire life are for what purpose? Are these inventions a means to a “better” life or simply hindrances to a truer life? Let me put it straight. What are you living for? What are the most important things to you in life? Have you found true happiness or simply discovered things that make you smile?

As for these instinctual feelings I've had, here are some details. I want to get away. I want to leave the grips of civilization for a while. I am yearning to get away from it all and live where nothing can hinder natural life. For how long, I don't know. In what way, I don't know. Where, I don't know. Why it is so strong now and never before, I don't know. All I know is that these feelings are real. Are they any stronger in my soul than in my neighbor's? I propose that it is not a matter of having these feelings but rather recognizing and listening to them. Listen to yourself. Where is all of this suddenly coming from though? Is this what it feels like to get a message from God? Perhaps could it be a human instinct no different from the desire to obtain food? Maybe there is simply something wrong with me and I need to snap back into reality and sort my life out as it should be. Nay, I implore you: those who have resigned yourselves to the goals put forth by society, open your eyes! Open your minds! Listen! We are only sculpted by society as much as we allow ourselves to be. Go to school, get a job, make money, wear fancy clothes, get married, buy a house, own an expensive car, have children, teach them to do the same thing, retire, and die. Anything we do outside of that framework seems to be simply a brief break from that unalterable plan. How are we supposed to find meaning in life let alone find ourselves if we're always busy trying to stick to that program? Even I could come up with excuses all day long why someone might not want to break the mold. However not a single one is more important than following your dreams.

Did I forget to mention that a tourist died right off the north end of the island while snorkeling a couple days ago? The fragility of life makes the question ever more pressing. What are you living for?

So here I stand on the uncharted frontier of my life, a stranger to closed roads. The shackles of society around my ankles can still be heard with every step I take and the scratches on them are clear evidence of many attempts of removal. Alas, they hold strong for now. As the morning dew lifts, I stretch my arms and gaze in awe upon the multitude of options. One deep breath fills my lungs with new fresh air and clears my head. Without wasting another moment, I step into the unknown. There is no destination, but only direction: forward.

Thinking Ahead

I figured I would just give a brief “what's on the agenda” so you can all be completely up to date with what's to come.

Gili Trawangan:
I leave on the 21st for Auckland. Between now and then, I need to pack, pay my last 2 weeks of rent, buy a ticket out of New Zealand, say my goodbyes, sell my junky bike and dear guitar, and most of all, finish certifying the two divemaster candidates that I'm currently teaching. Quite a lot to do in just over a week, but I like being busy better than being idle. I am getting tired of the much needed rain though.

New Zealand:
The reason I am going there is to talk to the Marine Science programs at the University of Auckland and University of Otago. In case anyone was still left out on my plan, I am hoping to spend two years in New Zealand getting a masters in some sort of Marine Science such as Physical Oceanography. That makes two required errands that need to be completed within my planned 3 week stay. When not visiting schools, I will be rafting through caves, hiking, camping, taking trains and buses across the countryside, having at least one proper meal with lamb, and taking LOADS of pictures.

Next Step:
My New Zealand trip is going to end around the 15th of February at which point I need a place to go. It's looking very likely that it will be northern Australia since it's the option with the least amount of risk. If there is no work there, I only lose about $150 on the ticket there instead of the $1k+ I'd have spent going to the Seychelles or Mauritius. If Australia doesn't work out, who knows, maybe I'll end up in the Caribbean. Anything's possible.

Summer Camp:
I haven't officially announced that I will be working as a Broadreach leader this summer but let it be known that I will. Hooray! For more information refer to www.GoBroadreach.com. The reason I haven't said anything about it is that they haven't decided where to send me. As soon as I find out, it will be posted here.

Post-Summer:
Are you kidding? You expect me to plan this far in advance?! If anyone knows what dive destination is in high season from September until December, please let me know toute suite.

Funny Transnations

I'm sad to say that funny translations hardly have any effect on me anymore. I have been living for two months in Indonesia where shops advertise services like "we sell haircuts, watch, etc" and "Lightning Internet Faster," and restaurants offer such mouth-watering culinary selections as "Facos [tacos] with spicey saus" and "Sandwith"s. The list goes on, on, on, and on. Oh and that's not mentioning the Indonesians' use of +/- to mean "approximately." When you find "+/- 5% alcohol" on bottles of beer, according to Marcus, by the end of the night you can drink yourself sober. Mistranslations like these are rarely funny on their own anymore because not only have I seen so many of them day in and day out, but it often makes conversation more difficult and confusing. Explaining things 5 times and getting a smile and nod in response is common. Asking for chips and guacamole and suddenly finding yourself sitting in front of french fries, tortilla slices, and a bit of mashed avocado is normal. This has been my motivation for learning Indonesian and the little that I do know has paid off immensely.

As I was saying, I am largely unaffected by translation mistakes anymore but when I went to Ubud (on Bali) with my family to see a traditional play, I was handed a playbill marked as English. This is what it said word for word, plus pictures that I took throughout to go along with each act.


THE BARONG AND KRIS DANCE
The Barong Play represents an eternal fight between good and evil spirits. A Barong (a mythological animal) represent good spirit and Rangda (a mythological monster) represent evil one.

THE DANCE START WITH MUSIC OVERTONE
Followed by his friend the monkey, the tiger comes up. Three masked dancers appear, representing man making palwine in the forest whose child is killed by the tiger. The three men get angry and attack the tiger which is helped by the monkey. During the fight, the nose of one the three men is bitten off.

FIRSTACT
Two Girl dancers appears, representing the servants of the Rangda. They are looking for the servants of Dewi Kunti who are on the way to meet Patih (Prime Minister).

SECONDACT
The servants of Dewi Kunti come. One of the servants of the Rangda changes into a witch and enters both servants to make them angry.
They meet their Patih and go together to Dewi Kunti.

THIRDACT
Dewi Kunti and her son, Sahadewa [I SWEAR Sahadewa is a woman] come up. Dewi Kunti has promised the Rangda to sacrifice Sahadewa. A witch appears and enters Dewi Kunti. She becomes angry and orders the Patih to bring Sahadewa into the forest. The Patih is also entered by a witch so he does not have pity on Sahadewa. Sahadewa is then taken into a forest and tied up on tree.

FOURTHACT
Unknown by Rangda, God Siwa appears and gives Sahadewa immortality. The Rangda appears, ready to kill Sahadewa and eats him up, but Sahadewa is still alive. She than surrender and asks him to redeem her, Sahadewa agrees and kills the Rangda. The Rangda goes to Heaven.

FIFTHACT
One of servants of the Rangda called Kalika comes up before Sahadewa and asks him to redeem her too, Sahadewa refuses. Kalika gets angry and changes into a boar and fights Sahadewa. The bird can be defeated. She than changes into a bird but defeated again. At last she
changes into Rangda. Sahadewa can not kill her. In such circumstances. Sahadewa meditates and than he changes himself in a Barong. Still the Rangda seems to be too powerfull and the fight is unending. Followers of the Barong appear and help him to fight the Rangda.

Thank you very much




By the end of the final act, it turned out that the summary of the play was actually more comprehensible than the play itself. Welcome to Indonesia. I can't go without commenting however on how fantastic it was to see a legitimate gamelan ensemble in Bali. For those who don't know, I was part of the gamelan ensemble at Denison for a semester as we were piloting what turned into a credited music performance class.

Blessings in Disguise (very big disguise)

Last night started awfully enough with signs of a sore throat and going to bed before 10 with no power to run my fan. I woke up with the sunrise on sweat-soaked sheets sneezing and blowing my nose like it was my job. The sneezes were agonizing as they sent crippling waves of pain from my nose all the way down to the back of my throat. At 8:10 the power came on and my fan that had been poised all night finally started but it was too little too late: I left for the dive shop 10 minutes later. The early start was due to a French speaking fellow who came in the night before. He knew less English than I knew French and so I was utterly thrilled that I had the opportunity to speak with him and felt that I did so quite successfully. Not only that, but he didn't believe that I was American, a certain compliment to my accent.

I arrived at the dive shop with one thing in mind however: hot tea. After losing about a cup of snot from the crippling sneezes, all I could think about was getting something soothing to sip. As soon as it arrived, the dive manager said to me in a serious tone, and I paraphrase, “The Russians [the owners of the dive resort] have been talking and they're not sure why you're here. They don't like you using their power all the time (I very often have my laptop plugged in, hooked up to the free wireless hotspot) and have asked me to tell you to not hang around here anymore. That being said, let me separate that from how the rest of the dive staff feel: we don't want to kick you out and would be pleased if you simply cut back the amount of time you spend here. For instance if you're here in the morning, leave after lunch or vise versa.”

Ten minutes later after my tea was finished and said goodbye indefinitely. If the owners don't want me there carrying tanks, organizing gear, washing new masks, and making the dive shop look busy, I frankly don't want to be there.

Candid shot of Buddha Dive staff

I headed up the road and talked to three dive resorts getting the same response as the day before: “we're set right now, we have your number, and we will call you when we need an instructor, etc.” However, my last effort proved successful. As it turns out, at one of the dive resorts up north, the instructor isn't getting along well with his divemaster candidate, another is ready to begin, and the instructor is going to Bali for several days. Within 2 minutes of walking into the shop I was assigned both candidates going from completely unemployed to training two divemasters. Today started out as one of my worst days in months and turned into the best day since my family was here (now I just have to knock this sore throat). I have 16 days left here on Gili Trawangan and within that time I will certify two divemasters; it looks like we have to get down to business!

Family Visits - Tiga

Robbie the Hard Bargainer by Liza

I am thankful that Robbie has practically shopped his way around Bali and Gili Trawangan because he paved the way for the women in his family. Right away, Mom and I were practically drooling over the beautiful jewelry, silks, and sarongs for sale in our first hotel in Padangbai. Robbie quickly stopped us and assured us that we would find better selection and prices later in Ubud. He also began firing us up for haggling – a skill weren't too keen on developing.

Never to fear, though, he's a great teacher. From getting our horse cart price down to $4 to getting $55 off the price of a carved sea turtle I wanted, my brother is a man who knows what he wants. I was impressed, since he spent most of his life answering to me. 0:)

When we finally arrived in Ubud, our last stop, Robbie reviewed his haggling tips in the car all the way to the village. Here are his quick tips that I remember:
1.Never buy an item from the first store you visit. Use this stop to price check.
2.Whatever price they offer, you offer at most half of the price. (This is a really difficult point for me, but even worse for Mom, who has to practically leave the store at the first sign of conflict.)
3.Whatever second price they offer, you work up a really sour grimace that makes them think you are very dissatisfied with that number. (I'm extra good at this one.)
4.As you continue to negotiate, assure them that you found the same item in a different store for the first price you offered.
5.Whatever final price you get them to, Robbie is going to ask what you got if for and he will not hide his disappointment in you if you were to soft in your negotiations.

Overall, I learned that Robbie is super good at getting his way. I thought I had this down, being the first-born and all, but I've got some refining to do! I also learned that while negotiating is kind of fun, fixed prices are much less draining.

Family Visits - Dua

Robbie the Scuba Instructor – by his Dad, Rob

Robbie not only loves diving and spends as much time doing that as possible, but immediately stepped into his instructor's role and began our lessons on our first full day on Gili T, at a beautiful dive shop about three doors up the road from our hotel. It is immediately evident that Robbie grew up in a family with many teachers. With no formal teacher training, he easily managed to impress his dad as we began our pool work. While Mom and Dad are Open Water and Advanced Open Water certified we have not dived for about 25 years, so Robbie had to run us through the refresher course while also doing Liza's complete Open Water certification. He put us through all the paces right by the book with thorough explanations and demonstrations. We were all thrilled when we reached Liza's first open water dive and we could all don our gear and head for the ocean.

While cruising around underwater with the colorful fish, sea turtles and beautiful corals, it is easy to see why Robbie can tolerate his spartan existence in this boiling heat. It is way too much fun. With his experience, he has certainly developed an eye for spotting many beautiful things that I would have easily missed had he not been pointing them out. One memorable occasion in particular bears sharing here.

On Christmas Day there was no diving. No boats were operating on the holiday. Not being able to stay away from the water, we elected to make a snorkeling expedition. After navigating our way over the dead coral in the shallows near the shore we reached an area of underwater life at the top of the drop-off. After a while of enjoying the sites we hear Robbie yelling through his snorkel “SHARK! SHARK!” while pointing and swimming at top speed - no, not away from the direction he was pointing. He had me swimming after him, marveling at a beautiful black tip reef shark. I had always thought that people went the other direction at the sound of that word, but found myself understanding his enthusiasm.

Family Visits - Satu

Dear Readers,

If you check this blog as often as I do, you've been wondering if Robbie has disappeared under the sea. Not to worry, all is well. We have just been thoroughly enjoying our time together and also without internet for much of our visit, so no updates. I begged him to let us (Mom, Dad and sister, Liza) do an entry to give you an outsider's eye into Robbie's new life. Fortunately, he agreed, so here goes!

Robbie's Life on Gili Trawangan by his Mom, Tory

After one night at the shore of Padangbai in Bali, we took a “Fastboat” over to Gili T. We were four of about 20 passengers. Robbie jumped off the boat as we hit the dock, determined to get us two horse carts (cimodo - chi-MO-do) for a very good price (40,000 rupiah=$4) to take us and all of our luggage 20 minutes up the beach to our hotel. As we staggered off under our heavy packs, in the steamy heat, he proudly ushered us to our tiny carts, which barely fit our luggage and 2 people each. The horses are more like mini horses the size of ponies. Although they run up and down the roads day in and day out, I never saw one sweating. I don't know how they do it.

After settling in our second floor un-airconditioned room in a beautiful traditional hotel, Alam Gili, we changed and walked into town to see Robbie's apartment and get dinner. On our way, people all along the way shouted, “Robe-y!” Women, men and children all seemed to know him and were eager for him to introduce us to them. Even the people who didn't know him often called, “Hal-o.”

Robbie lives in the back streets of Gili T. There's nothing at all fancy about his location or apartment, but he is very proud of it's $100/month price. It consists of a tiny veranda with room for two chairs and the bike he bought for $30, a single window, a twin bed, and a bathroom consisting of a “squatter” toilet, shower hose and sink. He has a fan, which can help with his lack of air conditioning, if the power is working. I'm hoping he'll upload one of the pictures I took of him at his apartment. He says he spends very little time in the apartment because it is so hot. Oh, I forgot to mention it has a tin roof. In any case, he lives a very simple life, spending little money and having very few creature comforts. I've been really happy to spoil him rotten on this trip with massages and lots of good food. I must say, though, he doesn't appear to be losing weight, in spite of his $5/day budget for food.

Unemployment and Silly Complaints

Alright. Forget about what I had to say before. Guitars, language barriers, teaching guys from Jakarta, forget it. Maybe I'll throw it back in someday, but it pales in weight to what I have to say now.

Lionfish

I have been diving with a particular dive resort since I got a call to do a one-time job (teaching guys from Jakarta) at the end of November. They are the only dive shop that actually let me volunteer around the shop and keep an eye on customers in exchange for regular diving and so I naturally stuck with them. I had finally found my place on Gili Trawangan: great staff, fun to be around and hang out with on a regular basis. They have never pressured me into drinking, and thus I actually enjoyed going out with them. They are really the only ones I can call friends on the island: Donna, Sebastian, Marcus, John, and Rhiannon. I forget how much I said before, but I was not happy a few weeks ago when I was sitting around idly waiting for work. During the past two weeks I have been having an incredible time. Even without an income, I was thoroughly enjoying myself every day, diving up to 3 times per day like in the Philippines.

Clownfish in anemones

After going to Singapore and buying my camera, I have been taking pictures on every dive. Some of them are turning out very well and I am quite pleased with the purchase. I told the staff that I would donate some of my best pictures for the website as a further payment for them allowing me to dive. What's more is that I discovered I could make money selling pictures! After one dive, I sold 51 pictures for $20 to 5 Irish girls, then about 80 pictures for $30 to a really cool Dutch woman (I was essentially her personal guide for all 7 or so dives she did with us). As I was editing another 60 pictures for an English couple, Rhiannon came to me and told me the freelance videographer was a bit upset that I was selling pictures. She goes on dives with students (as opposed to certified divers coming for a few fun dives) and takes video. She then edits and sells the video to them. Because she doesn't do pictures and doesn't come on fun dives, Rhiannon and I thought it would be fine if I offered to sell pictures to certified divers. The videographer is freelance so she works elsewhere anyway. As it turns out, she is put off by me selling pictures. Apparently she can (but doesn't) go on fun dives and takes video for customers. If they don't want video, she reluctantly freezes the video and copies still images from it and adds them on the end of the dvd. Regardless of how I feel about that, that's the way it is, that's the way she feels, and there's no negotiating and thus no more selling pictures (which was turning out to be a very promising source of income - $50/week is nearly enough to live on).

I humbly accepted that nothing was going to change her mind and said goodbye to my short-lived photography position without putting up a fight. I was just getting back in the routine of diving and not taking pictures until yesterday immediately after unloading from the morning dive; Sebastian came to me and told me that he had some bad news. As it turns out, the 23-year-old Russian who owns and operates the small dive resort with his boyfriend decided that he doesn't like me diving there. Since I am not going to be there for the 2 weeks of high season (family is coming!), he doesn't want to be wasting tanks of air for me to go diving in low season. Ultimately he told Sebastian to tell me to stop diving. Realizing nothing I did could change their minds, I pretty much said “okay, no worries” straight away but felt quite distraught. It felt like I had been fired.

Blue spotted stingray

Back into unemployment I fell. No selling pictures, no guiding, no teaching, no income, and not even any diving. I have been banished from the water and can only dive if I get a call from a dive center overrun with customers. I figured it was not too much of a problem and today I made another round to all of the dive centers here hoping that one may need an instructor, a guide, or even just a volunteer. Alas, most of them seemed tired of seeing me and some answered my question even before it was asked: “sorry, we'll call you if it gets too busy.” So here I am on this beautiful paradise unable to do the ONE thing I came here to do, whether I get paid or not. Ironic, isn't it.

I have always been one to find the humor in irony no matter how unfortunate its outcomes. However, I've never been in a situation of this sort of irony. Allow me to lay everything out on the table: I have little money, no income, few friends, no one to really talk to, and I can't even do the one thing that I came to this island to do, the thing that really makes me happy.

Sea turtle.  Hawksbill or green, I'm never sure

And finally I have arrived at the heart of this update – the reason I said the other updates don't matter. Here I am living on this gorgeous tropical island with an abundant crowd of interesting tourists and locals, surrounded by palm trees and warm ocean water, I'm wearing shorts and t-shirts every day, spending an average of $1.40 on lunch and $5 on dinner, able to read, snorkel, play guitar, ride my bike, wander around, hang out, meet people, swim, etc. whenever the heck I want. Through all of this, I have the audacity to complain?! I need to seriously reconsider what is important in life if I have the nerve to say that I'm upset while living in a place like this. One of the great things about traveling alone to such distant and foreign lands is that I can learn a lot about myself. After seeing myself get down about this unemployment situation, I don't like what I've learned. It's a powerful life experience to be unemployed and not able to get work regardless of my efforts, but I'm being ridiculous. It took me an entire day and night before I was able to see how stupid my complaints were, and even then it was only because I was talking about it online and realized how dumb it all sounded. It's true, the frustration is real. However, I now have as many responsibilities as any tourist on this island and I'm only poisoning my mind if I don't allow myself to enjoy it as much as they are.

Sing a Song of Singapore

Important note: check the post after this one for a few days. I will post about what I said I would, but I'll post-date it and it will be placed between this post and the one on Dec 2nd when I apologized for my lack of writing.
And without further ado...

Flying into Phoenix

I've been to a lot of big cities in my life: New York, Milan, San Diego, Philadelphia, Cape Town, Detroit, Raleigh, Paris, Columbus, Nairobi, Denver, Honolulu, Manila, Zurich, Portland, Washington DC, Phoenix (pictured at right), the list goes on. Each city has its own character, its own vibe, its own personality. Each one has things that make it special. Venice for instance has brick alleys and no cars. What Detroit lacks in cleanliness, San Diego makes up for in beauty. Zurich is filled with enormous painted and decorated teddy bears, Milan with cows, and Cleveland has the equivalent in guitars. While Manila is a nightmare to drive in, residents of other cities like DC happily take the metro beneath the streets. Each city is special in its own way. Each one has pros and cons. Here's my take on Singapore (pictured below).

Singapore

Singaporians sometimes joke that it is a “fine” city, meaning you get a fine for just about anything. There is no spitting allowed, no jay-walking, no chewing gum, no leaving a public toilet unflushed, no littering, the list goes on with hefty fines on each violation. The result is a country where people follow the rules. Where roads make sense, where organization and simplicity are essential, where there is no trash on the sidewalks, and no graffiti on the buses. Singapore combines the clockwork organization of Germany and Switzerland, the technology of Japan and Korea, the friendliness I've seen all over Southeast Asia, the prices also typical of Southeast Asia, the food of China and India, the natural cleanliness of the back country, the safety of Granville (well, almost), filled with the most diverse group of people I've ever seen in my life. Never have I seen a city with so many parks and open grassy areas. Never have I seen a city that doesn't have traffic jams. First it was Portland, then San Diego, and until last week Venice held the title of my favorite city in the world. Singapore is the first international city I have been in where I can actually see myself living. Not that I will move there, but it gets my special “Robbie would willingly call this city home for a while” award.

Anywho, as the story goes, Indonesian visas obtained upon arrival are nonrenewable and only last a maximum of 30 days. My first option was to call a guy named Andre from immigration who gave me his phone number so he could illegally hook me up for another month (I would have to do it not once but two more times). My other option was to book a flight out of the country, apply for a 2-month visa, and return legally. I'm not much of a rule-breaker and the idea of seeing Singapore (cheapest international flight) sounded very appealing, so the latter option was the clear choice. While there, a few notable things took place.

Green Sea Turtle

First of all I bought a camera with an underwater case. There's not much of a story behind it. I bargained with several shops to get the best price. Although I ended up paying slightly more than I would have had I ordered it online in the states (my American friends, allow me to tell you all – everything is cheaper in America!), I got it nonetheless. It's funny how as much as Singapore is a developed country, you still bargain in the malls.

Modeling

As I was leaving the mall with the plastic bag of goodies in hand, I felt a tap on my shoulder and reluctantly turned. In the interest of catching up on the blog, here is the Reader's Digest version. Employed by a modeling agency, her job was to stand in a busy area and find candidates with features fit for advertisements. I would have thought it was a complete scam had I not heard of it happening to two people in the past. Flattered, I took her card and laughed all the way along the metro to the hostel where I dropped off my fancy new purchase and turned right around and headed for the woman's office. They did a photoshoot with me straight away and assured me that once my pictures are sent around, they would text me with offers and fly me back to Singapore if need be. We'll see what happens. If nothing happens, no worries. I don't expect to be called back anytime soon but I would jump at the opportunity if I got the text.

Sebastian with grouper

The following night, I had an interview scheduled with a company called Broadreach. Based in Raleigh, NC, they run adventure teen summer camps throughout the Caribbean and even parts of Central America, Fiji, Egypt, and Australia. Many of the trips are scuba-based, and the housing situation for most of them is on a sailboat with the other 10-12 campers and two leaders. Adventure activities include water skiing, hiking, zip lining, sailing small boats, wakeboarding, rafting, with a touch of community service, all packed into a 2-3 week trip. When I first read about the program, I sent an email to them immediately expressing my interest in joining the squad. After two rounds of applications, I was asked to appear for an interview, which brings me back to Singapore. I talked to the Broadreach representative for over an hour, and by the end of the conversation, I was told that unless something unexpected comes from the references, the prospect of being a leader is very good, which gave me something new to smile about. Since the interview I have mulled over the site where it outlines each trip they offer and chose the 6 trips I thought would be the most fun to be a part of: Fiji, Red Sea, and the “Arc of the Caribbean” (top to bottom) were my top 3 and then the Yucatan, Grenadines, and St. Kitts/Nevis were my next 3 picks. Honestly, wherever I go, it is going to be amazing. I will find out my placement (assuming I get the position) within two weeks and I will post to the blog immediately.

Singapore botanical garden

The next day, I decided to go to the botanical gardens and other than the rain, it was a fantastic choice. The gardens span about a mile by a half mile and the grounds are filled with beautiful trees, grassy areas, a couple large ponds, and plenty of gorgeous vibrant flowers.

Blue spotted stingray under coral

Otherwise, my other noteworthy experience is worth spending the time to be descriptive about. To keep the streets clear, Singapore has mandated that hawkers, people selling food, clothes, souvenirs, etc are restricted to certain areas throughout the city. These hawker stations are gold mines for traditional Southeast Asian products. One night, I decided to dine at one of these stations. Much like a tourist, I wandered around the small stalls rather aimlessly, closely inspecting all the pictures that were plastered around the counters advertising the culinary specials. Had I had company, I likely would have been wild enough to try the frog selection, beef organ soup, or even the pig tendons with noodles. However, without anyone to share and enjoy the novel experience with, I decided to have something that my mouth would most likely appreciate. One entire lap of the large station was entirely fruitless. Most of the writing was in Chinese and the small pictures with writing all over them were far from helpful. I decided to grab a snack at one while I waited. It was a piece of white papery-feeling bread wrapped around vegetables, sauce, and who knows what else, then cut like a roll of sushi. In Singapore, it is believed that the customers should fill all the seats, not the tables. What I mean is that it is expected that you will sit down at a table that is already occupied; there is not much choice when the tables are full. As I politely intruded on a couple sharing a meal, I ate my unusual but tasty roll of ... stuff while wondering what to do for dinner. Surrounded by a menagerie of shops eager to serve me, I was in a state of indecision. Finally, it occurred to me that one stall above all others had a line that never actually got shorter. In between stalls that were frequently idle, this stall had not a second of down time. My decision was made.

Without a single English word on the stall and no menus to speak of, I nervously tried coming up with a plan for once I reached the fast-paced counter. Like a detective, I watched every customer order, wait for the food, then walk away. Sometimes with a bowl and a plate, sometimes with two plates, sometimes with only a bowl, and sometimes with enough food for the entire family. I had no idea what was included in a regular meal or what any of the food was called. Luckily my choices were not hard: there were only 3 pictures above the counter. When I realized watching the other customers was useless, my eyes fell upon the husband and wife cooking, preparing, and serving the food. The years of experience between the two of them were shown burned into their faces and wrinkled but perfectly controlled hands. The woman hidden behind the food had a faint hint of a smile, almost imperceptible. Clearly overworked, she still seemed to find enjoyment in serving the food, proud to be the most popular stall in the station. When the husband who acted as the cook caught my eye, I couldn't look away. His back was hunched after what must have been decades of cooking. Wrinkles covered his dark skin which in places seemed to hang from his frail bones. The unbuttoned shirt he was wearing showed clearly his thin stomach. My eyes gazed down to his hands with their forceful yet deliberate movements. The finger that was cut short did not seem to slow his routine of stirring, mixing, and draining the noodles and broth. Careful not to stare, I found that his unforgiving face showed thin pursed lips and sunken but sharp eyes focused only on the food with no interest on the goings on around him. He had a routine, and there was nothing stopping him from doing what he had been doing for so long; cooking was his life, and I will testify that all the years of practice have paid off.

Hindu ceremony

When I reached the counter I pointed to the first picture, the one that appeared to have meat. When I tried to ask also for a small bowl of soup, the gentleman in front of me had to translate. About a minute and four dollars later, I was walking toward a table with a couple lone strangers going about their daily routine. Sitting down, I proceeded to have the best wonton soup I've ever tasted with noodles that cannot be found anywhere in America. A post-dinner walk was in order and after happening upon a small soy ice cream stand, I stumbled across a traditional Hindu ceremony. I didn't have my camera, but the picture here is one of the following night when I again stumbled upon another ceremony.

Update Madness

I'm so bad at updating! Aaaah! Since my replacement charger doesn't charge my battery, I can only use my computer when it's plugged in...AND when there's power. Here's a list of things to keep an eye out for whenever I do get around to updating:

Buying a guitar
Difficulties of teaching Indonesians to dive
The language barrier
Assessment of Singapore
Eating experiences
Random modeling offer

Until next time friends, take care and don't forget to smile one more time than usual today.