FUN
Still remember couchsurfing from my last post? As soon as I had Lauren, Duncan and Arturo as my first wave of surfers. I had second wave after resting for a week. My parents were not very happy with my second wave as they were complete strangers to me, just some random travellers who put up open request on couchsurfing.org. Dad was skeptical about their personality although I rest assured him with the good references on their (Marti from Barcelona and Caxia from Poland) profile. Despite some disagreements from my parents I insisted to host them. It has been awhile since rebellious last shown up but I was quite aware that if I did not host them that time I do not know when will I get the chance to do it again. My experience with couchsurfing has been amazing so far and I believe I will continue to benefit in the future.
Beer buffet with couchsurfers and guests at hostel
from left: Caixa from Poland, Justin from Wellington, me, Marti from Barcelona, guy from Canada, Jereon from Holland, Stephen from the UK, Symon from Sydney, last three also from Canada.
FRIENDSHIP
afternoon I was at Brian's place still wondering what was going to happen next
as it was my first time doing couchsurfing and Brian told me there were a few
girls from Germany, United States and Austria arriving that night. Not knowing what
to expect but I was getting a mixed of both anxiety and excitement at the same
time. The next day we went outing in a big group. Brian was like our guide
showing us around Darling Harbor in Sydney. That was when I started to get a
closer chance to have proper conversation with Lauren. I forgot what the
conversation was but I remembered there was a part where we were talking about
hobbies and I told Lauren I am sort of like an IT geek and she asked if I could
fix the problem which she couldn't play certain video on her Mac. I have the
problem solved the following day. At night we went out around Redfern to hunt
for Indian food (Lauren explored the area earlier on so we were following her
instinct). We found the place and I had rice with some chicken curry if I
didn't remember wrongly. We were sharing our travel experience during the meal.
I learnt that she was going to China, Japan then Indonesia after Australia but
not Malaysia. I was like "Why not come to Malaysia since you're going to
Indonesia?" She said she will look into that but I thought she just said
that as a gesture of goodwill not to turn me down.
She wrote me a message on Facebook asking me how long would
be sufficient for her to spend in Malaysia. I was suggesting a few days in
Penang and Langkawi or any other island on the Peninsula like Redang or Tioman
and maybe a week and a half in Borneo. We were doing this discussing remotely
on Facebook for a few weeks before she finally confirmed her itinerary for Malaysia.
Lauren ended up spending a week in Kuching. We went to Gunung Gading to see the
largest flower on earth, went trekking in the tropical jungle, spotted
Proboscis monkeys in wild, tried most of the local delicacies and billions
more. I had to admit that it was the most fulfilled week I've spent in Kuching
for my vacation back home that round. Not only that through couchsurfing we
also met other travelers from Australia, France and Spain who joined us for
most of the excursions we have done together in the vicinity.
Three weeks later...
We met again in Singapore. Although this is the shortest time
we traveled together (2 days) but the fun level always stayed on peak. Did some
really touristic thing in Singapore which I reckon we were both not used to.
Went to the shopping district in Orchard road, seen the Marina Bay Sands,
Gardens by the Bay and the highlight was the SEA Aquarium (it claims to be the
world's biggest but seriously not jaw dropping huge to me at least). Had our
old-fashioned Indian food, dumpling noodles which I doubt if she would have it
again and of course some really good ice-cream and gelato. I was trying to
squeeze in as much as I could to let Lauren experience the most of Singapore in
such a short duration. The outcome was definitely exhaustion bounded with heaps
of fun that never failed to cease.
Finally we waved again at Changi airport. I don't know when are we going to see each other again but definitely not as soon. She told me she has a feeling that we're going to meet in the States. That sounds so encouraging and I hope her instinct is right.
Finally we waved again at Changi airport. I don't know when are we going to see each other again but definitely not as soon. She told me she has a feeling that we're going to meet in the States. That sounds so encouraging and I hope her instinct is right.
We've met 3 times within 5 month in 3 different countries. Can you imagine that? I am amazed by how our friendship grows. Totally psyched.
FUTURE
Always wonder how will my life be in the next few years. I am definitely going to spend a few year in Singapore before further plan is made. Three years ago Singapore was always my dreamland, I spent almost every school holidays here. With the strong "settlement" of almost half of my relatives here I somehow call Singapore my second home. So when I decided to come here for studies I was quite happy as I do not need to worry settling myself to a whole new environment, everything just felt kind of familiar. When I was young (in high school when I frequent Singapore) I always admired Singapore how advance the city state is and always wanted to move here. My dad even wanted to send me here when I was in Form 3 but luckily I did not. Or else my Mandarin and Malay would not be as good as my English is now. In my impression, Singapore used to be a perfect city - clean, readily available public transport, world leading economic hub, almost corruption free government and a lot more.
Everything started to change when I moved here to pursue my diploma. For me who originated from big land getting suffocating in small unit here. Houses are way too small for my comfortability. I had also encountered some biased treatment in my college, those who are familiar knew what was going on. You can refer to my earlier post if you want to find out more but I suggest you not to. I tend to enjoy my life now and put aside those which drag my mood down. Most of the things on the island are artificial. Man made island Sentosa, man made trees at Gardens by the bay even the entire suburb Marina is built on the sea. I am now more inclined towards nature in pursue of discovering wild flora and fauna and that just would not happen here. Too many retails. Shopping is one of the reasons why I used to love Singapore. There are shopping malls everywhere to fulfil everyone's desire from the luxurious designers chain along Orchard to wallet friendly brand names like H&M, Zara, Uniqlo and so on. Singapore is definitely one of the shopping paradise for shoppers. Now I would rather spend my money on experience than materialism. By experience I mean travel to see how the rest of the world differ from where I live, difference in culture, food, practice and almost everything.
To make it short, I love Singapore as how organised it is. This city is no longer a place where I would want to spend the rest of my life with. It now serves as a jumping board to achieve my dream to do a round the world trip - which is I want to save up enough money to travel a year round the globe few years later. My blue plan in 5 year time:
1 Get at least a Master degree
2 Round the world trip
3 Pan Borneo road trip
4 Start up
I wish
Dirty Paws by Of Monsters And Men
*A song that keeps looping on my iTunes
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