Couch Surfing in Singapore!

A week before we left, I decided I should color my hair. It had been a year; long strands of gold stopped midway, like the celery in science class projects that carries dye half way up the stalk before giving up.

Hovering above the styling chair, my cousin Shannon applied color to my hair while chatting casually about my trip.

"Do me a favor." She said, speaking about my blog, "Write about the people you meet, not just the places you see."

I told her I would.

I month later and we are in the thick of our trip. I was hoping to gather some great stories about the people we met, and Singapore was just the place.

Singapore is expensive. A small island city that is also an independent country, it prides itself on becoming a developed nation on it's own-- It did not require western intervention. In less than 50 years, Singapore moved from third world to becoming one of the richest and most modern cities in the world. A beautiful place to visit, but tough on our Canadian wallets.

We heard about "couchsurfing" as an excellent way to see new places on a shoestring budget. We decided to try it. Now if you have been raised in a home with pragmatic parents like mine, you are probably thinking couchsurfing is the most ridiculous concept ever. Basically, there is a website that allows travelers to connect with hosts that offer a place to stay in their houses for free. Tell any mother about this and basically you will hear about it as a way to lure unsuspecting people into the claws of serial killers and thieves. Luckily however, this was not our experience. We were changed by the goodness, and generosity of the people we met.

Our first night in Singapore was spent in the home of Koen and Likki. They are a couple from Belgium and Indonesia who live in Singapore and work as Engineers. We arrived late at night, late getting there and frazzled by the confusing train tickets, long rail rides, and no phone. We had no idea what to expect. They greeted us with big smiles and were very gracious hosts. We were grateful they could stay up to visit with us even though they had work the next day.

Apartments in Singapore are small, so Steve and I slept head-to-toe on the tiniest cot, designed to fit a lean, asian body. The room the cot was in was only a few feet bigger than the cot itself. Though small, it was an interesting taste of Singapore life and the way people make life work in small spaces. Our hosts said that most people downtown live four or five to a small apartment, and even convert the kitchen into a sleeping space! There is subsidized housing, but it is not for everyone because buying it means you only own your property for 99 years and then it goes back to the government. Expensive cities mean people get creative.

Becasue it was the Easter long-weekend, Likki and Koen were only able to host us one night. An interesting thing about Singapore is that it is made up of four major groups: East Indian, Mainland Chinese, Singaporians, and Malays. The government is secular, but recognizes two major religious holidays a year for each group. That meant our hosts were able to take a much needed break and take advantage of cheap travel in Asia.

So the next day we met up with our new hosts, Zach and Janice. Zach is an american who moved to Singapore 7 years ago to teach in an international school. He met his wife Janice, originally from Singapore, and they were married about a year ago. Steve and I hit it off with them right away. Zach and Janice are two extremely kind and generous people who open their home as a way to meet new people and share what they have with others. Zach has hosted over 100 couch surfers! After meeting we were instant friends with lots in common: Zach is a teacher, (so am I!), Janice is an Engineer (so is Steve!), Zach and Janice are both musicians, (so are we!), and Janice's best friend Kara (who teaches in Singapore) is from Edmonton, and is connected with alot of people that we know. Small world!

On the first night, Zach took us to some food stands and we bought some weird food for us to share. Singapore is famous for its food scene. The streets are filled with food stalls called "Hawkers", and food is really cheap....just as long as you stay out of formal restaurants. For supper we had Indian Teh Tarick, which is a spicy black tea made with sweetened condensed milk and ginger, and Murtabak, a type of flatbread with onions, mutton, cheese, eggs and other mysterious things. You eat it with a special curry dipping sauce. It was delicious! The thing that amazed us the most though was the way they wrap up food for take out: The bread was wrapped in brown paper and the sauce was put into bags filled with air and tied with string. The hot drinks were poured into baggies open at the top with a plastic tie looped into a handle. We felt like we were carrying hot goldfish around!

After we ate, we all stayed up late and jammed. Zach and Janice are both talented musicians and it was fun to share songs. We also had deep talks about our countries, our lives, and about our beliefs. Janice and Zach are both very wise people and their insight really challenged and inspired us. I think what we learned the most was how humbling and honoring it is to receive such generosity. No matter what you possess, big or small, or where you are at in life, now is the perfect time to serve others. We hope we can remember and stay true to those lessons.

For the rest of our stay, we took the rail during the day to get out of our host's hair, and went to the Singapore zoo (number one in the world), Little India (a large ethnic open air market), Chinatown (we visited the Buddha Tooth temple), and of course all of the expensive malls and shops along Orchard road. It was a lot of walking but great to see such a clean and modern city, although we were always paranoid we were going to accidentally break a law (no spitting, no gum chewing, no littering, no jay walking, etc).

On Easter Sunday Zach and Janice invited us to go to a homechurch they attend to have Easter dinner and celebrate. When we walked in the small condo we were greeted by an amazing family, originally from Alaska, and were welcomed warmly. Every sunday they open up their home to new people and often have as many as 40 attend. We met many new friends and experienced church in a way we never have before. There was such a mix of cultural and ethnic backgrounds and hearing people sing out with different accents was a beautiful thing to witness. We were able to share some songs with them as well and felt really blessed to be surrounded by such genuine people. We had to leave early to catch our next plane to Phuket and we were sad to leave our new friends behind.

Now in Phuket, we are excited to continue our adventure. We will continue meeting new people, and take away an important lesson from the friends and family that speak truth into our lives: Life is about relationship. Traveling is not so much about the places you go or the dollars you spend, but about the people you meet and the important people you bring along in spirit.

We thank you all at home for coming along with us!

Captions (by Steve):
1. A boat stuck on a hotel
2. Alice in wonderland style gardens
3. Main party street
4. Hindu temple
5/6. Buddhist tooth temple
7. Random Canadian
8. A large cat
9. Awesome monkey
10. Apparently big bums are attractive to monkeys...
11. Savanahs cousins
12. Outdoor indoors
13. Speed walking
14. Buddhist tooth temple
15. Easter lunch/homechurch (zach&janice top right)
16. Koen&likke

Bali: Ubud and Beyond!

Ubud is the heart of Bali. Built on land that was once all rice paddies, it is a bustling centre for art, shopping, and culture, mixed with influences of the American yoga scene, circa "Eat, Pray, Love"(there were many middle aged women there for meditation and soul searching). It is a small city comprised of two main strips. On our first day in Ubud, we checked into our hotel, which we lovingly refer to as "the bug room". Thinking we could rough it without air conditioning, we did not foresee the open air concept that most buildings have. Don't get me wrong, we love nature, we just don't like nature in bed with us in the form of crawly things. Surprisingly, it was me that talked Steve into sticking it out, rather than spending more money to get a decent room.


After a day of exploring the town, we hired a driver to take us around Bali so we could see the sights. We paid him 30 dollars, and we had him from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm. His name was Wayan and he was a local who grew up in Kuta. He was very friendly and would tell us about anything if we asked.

Our first stop was to a plantation where we got to sample different types of tea and coffee made from the things they grew. The most interesting part of that visit was the cat-shit coffee. Having only heard of this coffee from movies, we were excited to be in the part of the world that produces it. If you haven't hear of it, it is called Luak Coffee and it comes from the Mongoose. The animals eat the coffee beans, and after they are fermented and processed in the animals digestive tract, they are collected and made into the worlds most expensive coffee. We both tried it, and we have to say, the delicacy was somewhat lost on our unrefined palates, although we had some good laughs as we drank it.



After that we visited three famous temples: The Royal Family Temple, Ulun Danu Bratan, and Tanah lot, which were beautiful. We also enjoyed being celebrities for a day-- there were many Malaysian tourists who stopped us often to get a picture with us because of our height and blonde hair. On the way back we stopped at a butterfly conservatory where we had all sorts of gnarly bugs put on us. (Well, I only let them put butterflies on me, but Steve was covered in stick-bugs and giant beetles).


The next day we booked a bike tour with our new friends Ben and Bethany from Chicago, and rode through the rice paddies and traditional villages. It was a truly amazing experience, we feel we really got a sense of Balinese life and it was a fun way to spend time with new friends. At the end of the tour we ate a traditional Balinese meal, which tasted amazing after a tiring trek in the hot sun. One of Steve's favorite dishes here is called Nazi Georing, which is an indonesian dish the Dutch stole when they colonized the islands. Steve said the dish tastes just like his mom makes (Steve is Dutch on all 4 sides).


After the tour we sadly said goodbye to our friends and headed up to the northern most part of the island, Lovina, where we saw black sand beaches and just relaxed. Our last day in Bali was ceremony day, so the streets were quiet. As I write this, I am on the plane about to touch down in Singapore. Many more adventures to come!


Captions:

1. Unprocessed Luak Coffee
2. Roasted and peeled Luak Coffee
3. Steve and the bugs
4. Steve on the bike tour
5. Our friends from Chicago Ben and Bethany
6. Grounds at the Royal Family Temple
7. The lake temple, Uluan Danu
8. Some fisherman on the lake
9. Steve and the Orchid Preying Mantis

Bali Life

" In Bali, kids are very happy. We have eachother, and that helps us to not be lonely or broken hearted", said our tour guide Mari, as we rode mountain bikes through thick rice paddies, cascading down the steep slope of carved mountain jungles. In Bali it is festival time- almost like Christmas, where the Balinese celebrate the dragon and the balance of the world of good and evil. As we coasted through small village streets there were symbols of this victory everywhere. Tall bamboo shoots elaborately decorated with banana and coconut leaves stood tall at the entrance of every home, lining the streets, waving well wishes to all who passed by.

A week ago was the holy day of silence. For 24 hours every person in Bali was confined to their homes. No planes entered or exited; police roamed the streets to confirm all was still. The silence rings in the new year, and from the evil places spirits pass by without taking notice. Now it is time to celebrate. Today as we make our way to the airport to continue on to Singapore, the streets are filled with sacred songs, traditional dress, and colorful offerings.

The people in Bali live differently from what I imagined. Despite being "poor" in western standards, the Balinese we met seem content with what they have. Every nation has its poverty, but we were surprised that there are very few slum areas or people begging. In Bali, people grow up in their traditional villages. The family unit is important, sacred. The youngest child, thought to be the most lucky because they live longest, inherits the family compound and looks after the elderly. Most of the locals do not know how old their homes are- they have been there since the beginning of time. Most Balinese live in small fenced compounds with a family temple in the middle, where they keep shrines to the gods and keep the ashes of ancestors. Outside of each home is an empty throne, symbolizing the protector and the one true god.

In Bali, single parenting hardly exists. Our guide Mari joked most marriages are "MBA", married by accident. If an unwed girl becomes pregnant in Bali, the father is forced to marry her by law, otherwise he will be required to spend 2 years in indonesian prison. This keeps families together and the risk of poverty lower. It keeps the community together. We met two fathers of young men who were just wed under MBA protocol. They were open about the circumstances, matter-of-fact; they were happy to be welcoming new grandchildren, and a wedding, held in the family temple, is a great celebration.

Along with the rituals of marriage, death is also a sacred process. In Bali they observe a type of caste system-- not the kind we imagine when we think of India where the rich and poor are at terrible odds, but rather a system that has to do with ritual. When someone in the family dies, they must be cremated in order to release their spirit, because the ground is thought to be evil. However, a cremation costs about 7,000 canadian, and most locals only earn 250 a month. Because of that, the person is buried for a maximum of 5 years until the family can afford the cremation. Other members of the community who have lost loved ones can pool together and the ceremony often involves many deceased people. If you are of upper caste, you get a free pass and can be cremated within the month. The Bali's observe a unique type of Hinduism and believe in karma and reincarnation. Everything is sacred, even the lowly bamboo that lines the streets for ceremony, which is thought to house the spirits of the most lowly criminals and murderers.


Although the world of Bali we experienced was full of peace, community, and spirituality, there is a much darker side to indonesia that our western wealth and good morals prevents us from seeing. Bali suffers from police corruption, terrorism, human trafficking, and violence. It is a side of Bali that is very hard to imagine beyond the walls of the traditional villages we passed through. It is a side that makes me grateful for my own country and the safety and justice we rely so much on.

As we finished off the tour as passed through the last town, I marveled at the many secrets the villages keep from the foreign eye. It was difficult to absorb meanings from monuments and carved statues, but the beauty of the rice fields, the smoke rising from the volcano, and the smiles and waves from kids as we rode by were all a great reminder of the creator who holds all of these mysteries in his hand and shows great love and compassion for his creation. We leave Bali now feeling we have grown and learned a little more about the world we live in. We are excited to see what Singapore will teach us!

Captions

1. The decorated village streets
2. The bamboo decorations symbolizing the dragon
3. A Bali family making chicken sauté for the celebration
4. View of the rice paddy from the bike tour
5. Us.
6. An offering at the foot of a god
7. Tanah lot ocean temple
8. Tanah Lot
9. Me after being purified so I could walk in the temple
10. A traditional Balinese granny
11. More rice fields
12. " "
13. Lake temple
14. Ocean temple
15. " "
16. Spiky jackfruit

Some pics to finish off Kuta!

I can't seem to caption, so:

1. Rooster at sunset on Balangan beach
2. Surfer riding the wave on his head
3. Steve at sunset
4. Cliffs at Balangan beach
5. A funeral for a fallen surfer
6. Funeral
7. Funeral
8. A circle of friends sending his spirit off.
9. A beach house on dreamland beach.

Beautiful Bali

Bali is far. 15 hours from Edmonton to Vancouver; 13 hours from Vancouver to Shanghai. 6 hour layover, and then an 8 hour plane ride to Bali. The small airport was hot and stuffy. Our tired bodies slumped through the visa line as we eyed signs posted in thick, bold writing,warning of the death penalty for drug smuggling. We arrived at 6:45 am, and our host Ed (who owns a villa and offers cheap homestays), from Spain, arranged for Neyoman his local driver to pick us up. The minute we met him we felt at home.

Bali is majestic place. The city of Denpasar was loud. Filled with motorcycles, winding roads and billboards. Sort of like mexico. But the minute we were outside of the city it was another world. Small baskets, called "Canag sari" filled with rice, flowers, and incense are found everywhere. In the middle of the street, on beaches, on sidewalks. The Balinese offer these to their gods three times a day. It is a way to give thanks, to show you are not living in fear and you trust in the gods provisions. The air smells sweet everywhere, and when you see the incense rise you can't help but feel a spiritual presence. We feel at peace here.

So far, we have broken many rules we have set for ourselves. No scootering, no monkey temples, no scary ocean swims. Where we are staying in Kuta, we are on top of a large hill. The roads are narrow and winding. It's dangerous to walk because there are no shoulders. Our host Ed insisted we rent a scooter from him (5$ a day), because where we are there are no taxis. Ed wasn't about to drive us everywhere. We sort of felt like chicks who were kicked out of the nest. We decided to go for it, and we drove to the market. Scootering here is exhilerating. You drive on the left side of the road and there are crazy drivers everywhere. On our first venture out we were passed by a car and another scooter at the same time, all while a van was oncoming. As I said the roads are too narrow to even walk, so it was a bit scary. We made it, and by the time we got there I realized I hadn't stopped smiling the entire time. We have been scootering everywhere since.

Yesterday we drove half an hour (by scooter) to an ocean temple called Uluwatu. It is a giant Hindu temple set on an ocean cliff. The view was amazing. It cost 30 cents to enter, which was the price of a sarong rental. We expected a spiritual experience, but for us tourists we were too worried about the crazy monkeys. When we entered the locals were offering themselves as "Monkey protectors" and they flashed us their slingshots and said it would cost ten dollars. They also offered us a bag of monkey food, which we obviously declined since we didn't want to attract them. We braved it and went alone. We found a heard of dutch tourists with large sticks and stayed close by. They laughed at us, calling Steve "Canadian Jesus" and said we could follow. After a minute, one of the older gentleman began to scream like a woman. We looked up, and a monkey had jumped on his head and stole his hat. The monkey then climbed up the roof of a building with his hat. A local "monkey defender" came to the rescue and climbed the roof. He tossed the monkey a bag of food, and he dropped the hat. That's what the food was for! An exchange for stolen goods! Those clever devils! The dutchies soon decided they had had enough, and left. We braved on and explored, but not without a big stick of our own. We came out rabie free, thankfully.

On our way back we stopped at Uluwatu beach, and incredible little cave mouth that you have to climb down a bunch of stone steps to get to. The sand is sheltered by rocks, and you can swim out to the sunshine and enjoy the crystal clear waters. I was afraid, but I braved it, and I am glad I did. The view of the ocean was amazing.

There are so many stories to tell, but already Steve is teasing me about my "Essay". I have broken lots of my "rules" and I can already tell I am growing! I have eaten traditional Indonesian food and loved it, tried crab soup, squid, and red snapper, and we have made many friends. We even met up with some Canadian friends from Edmonton, Rylan and Jen, who gave us tips and bought us dinner. Today is our last day here in Kuta, and then we travel to the centre of Bali to a traditional town called Ubud, to do some market exploring, rice patty walks, and volcano bike tours.

We will keep you posted!

Scootering!

Dinner on the beach!

Dinner at sunset with Rylan, Jen, Matt, and Tiff

Sporting a sarong at the temple

My new friend

Uluwatu beach

Stairs at Uluwatu beach

Sunset from a cliff on our beach

View from our beach, Balangan

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The airport is noisy, chaotic. I am sitting at my gate, my last timmies in hand, surprisingly calm. The Vancouver airport is bigger than Edmonton and unfamiliar- when I imagined myself saying goodbye it was at the familiar terminal I've flown from dozens of time. Things here have no nostalgia, and I haven't cried any real tears.

Kassia and Tim dropped us off this morning as they continue on to explore Seattle. We have finally settled into the intimacy of family life with them; two sisters and their husbands who have no concept of personal space or appropriateness, making for lots of laughs, and great memories.  We are thankful for family.


and now we get ready to head off! First stop, Denpasar, Bali.