I'm procrastinating from studying for my philosophy exam and listening to Hem. They're one of my favorite bands because their music is my kind of music. Some say boring, I say beautiful. They just released spring/summer tour dates, and they're coming to North Carolina! They will be in Charlotte, Asheville, and the good ole Chapel Hill, playing with Over the Rhine, a band that I don't know, but whose music you can listen to here and here.
I just linked Over the Rhine's music, and it kinda sucks. Now I realize that I can't link Hem's music, which is good. But you can go to their music page and download mp3's of their music. I suggest "Beautiful Sea" from the No Word From Tom album and "Redwing" from Eveningland.
Also, I just learned how to make links within my blog, so I'm going crazy with them! Below is the lyrics to my current favorite Hem song.
"The Beautiful Sea"
Me, I imagine places
That I have never seen
The colored lights in fountains,
Blue and green
And I imagine places
That I will never go
Behind these clouds that hang here,
Dark and low
But it's there when I'm holding you
It's there when I'm sleeping too
There when there's nothing left of me
It's hanging just beyond
the burned-out factory
Out of reach but leading me
Into the beautiful sea
And I remember something
It feels a lot like fear
Some kid is wild and shouting
Coast is clear
And it's there when I'm holding you
It's there when I'm sleeping too
There when there's nothing left of me
It's hanging just beyond
the burned-out factory
Out of reach but leading me
Into the beautiful sea
Into the beautiful sea
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Big Mouth Billy Bass
A couple friends of mine have been doing this thing where they choose a phrase and write 1500 words of fiction about it. They're Art Pansy types, so I guess it's some sort of writing exercise. I don't know what the point of it is. Keeps their juices flowing, I guess. Anyway, I was bored, so I joined in on their last exercise, the phrase for which was "largemouth bass." Here's my story.
Big Mouth Billy Bass
I met him when he was in full-on manic mode, though I didn’t know that. He flew into the restaurant where I waitressed, a whirlwind of energy, laughter, and most of all, charisma. Yes, he was the most charismatic man I had ever met. I overheard some of the conversation he was having with the suit as I served him his Deluxe Combo – an enormous grade A beef burger with all the fixins, a side of Kickin’ Kajun fries, and your choice of Auntie’s Apple Pie or the Chocolate Lava Cake, all for the amazingly low price of $7.99! He chose the chocolate cake. I didn’t catch it all, but he was outlining some sort of business plan for the suit. He was extremely enthusiastic and by the end of the lunch, the suit seemed sold. He must have had another important meeting because by the time I came back with the bill, only Jay was sitting at the table. After chatting me up a bit, he left me a huge tip and his phone number. He didn’t really seem like my type – a little too loud, a little too arrogant – but he was intense. And who am I kidding? I needed intensity in my life. Just that morning, I had looked in the mirror and said to my reflection, “Honey, you need some excitement to break up all this monotony,” so I went with the blue eye shadow instead of the usual none. Talk about foreshadowing. After some coaxing, I agreed to a date. I know, I know. I don’t usually date strangers. You never end up with what you bargained for.
I met him for dinner at Amadio’s, my favorite Italian restaurant. He wanted to pick me up, but I graciously declined. I may be dumb enough to take chances on dating strangers, but I’m certainly not dumb enough to let them know where I live. Amadio’s has the most delicious mushroom lasagna in the entire state, but don’t tell my mother that. Plus I’m friends with the owner, so I like to take first dates there, you know, just in case. Jay flew into the parking lot fifteen minutes late in a bright red shiny sports car. He strode confidently across the restaurant to my special table. Everything he does can only be described as confident. I’m not exaggerating when I say that every single one of the restaurant’s patrons noticed and admired his entrance, and then noticed me with what I like to think of as pangs of jealousy.
He was already talking before he sat down. And he kept talking. I only got him to shut up long enough to order our meals. It was a remarkably boring date with a remarkably interesting man. Strange combination, I know. He was interesting, it’s just, well, you can only listen to someone talking about themselves for so long.
After I finished my lasagna, I tried to excuse myself from his company by claiming exhaustion due to a long day at work. I was already planning my favorite pajamas, an old black-and-white movie, and a bowl of ice cream to finish of my evening. But Jay would have none of it. He practically begged me to do something “fun” with him; he said he had a surprise for me. When my skepticism visibly registered on my face, he laughed and guaranteed me that his intentions were pure and he just had a lot of energy to burn off. I briefly envisioned him burning off his excess energy by chopping up my body into little bits in the kitchen of his (no doubt) gorgeously modern bachelor’s condo. I have an overactive imagination and an inherent distrust of men. But after he convinced me of his innocent intentions to have “good old-fashioned fun” and I convinced myself that my little scenario wouldn’t happen because, let’s face it, I’m not special enough and my life is not interesting enough for something like that to happen to me, we left Amadio’s together. His charm is irresistible – any girl would have done the same.
As I walked toward my little old Honda, his face fell. Against my better judgment, he managed to convince me that a spin in his flashy car would make the night more interesting. Maybe all these poor judgment calls could be explained by the voice in my head that kept saying, “You’re so boring. You never do anything fun.” Maybe they could be explained by the glass of wine I had while waiting for Jay to arrive. Who knows.
Whatever my motives, I did have fun. I now have a slight bit more understanding of why people blow all their money on fancy little sports cars. We blew threw town, cruising the streets and showing off. He talked a mile a minute about all the things we could do that night. Every time he found the “perfect idea!” it would soon be replaced by a new “perfect idea!” Until he saw it. He almost gave me a heart attack when he screamed, “A largemouth bass! Whoa! I have to have that!” When I realized what he was talking about, I nearly choked trying to stifle my laughter. He had spotted one of those awfully gaudy Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish plaques that you mount up on your wall so that every time you walk by it, it belts some annoyingly mechanic, awfully punning song. It was in the storefront window of a nearby shop, which looked like it was about to close. But Jay had to have it.
By the time we parked and walked around to the shop, the owner was just closing up. Jay, with his irresistible charm, kindly explained to the store owner that he desperately needed the store to stay open for a few more minutes, and that he knew what he wanted and would be just a minute. The poor man looked at me, completely puzzled, but I just shrugged. Jay went on to explain that he just wanted to buy the Big Mouth Billy Bass. The owner informed him that another customer had just bought his last one. Jay went from nice and sweet high-energy to explosively angry high-energy in two seconds flat. Though Jay’s swift change in demeanor scared me, I did wonder for a fleeting second who the hell bought a Big Mouth Billy Bass at nine o’clock on a Friday night? Who the hell bought a Big Mouth Billy Bass? And then I remembered the guy standing next to me, who was still cursing the poor store owner. I pulled Jay away by the sleeve and half-dragged him back to the car, allowing the puzzled store owner to make his escape. On our walk back, he continued to let flow a stream of curse words, which I thought was a little uncalled-for, considering the fact that the Big Mouth Billy Bass is quite possibly the stupidest home decoration in the entire world.
As we walked across the parking lot, Jay noticed a man a few spots away loading something into the trunk of his beat-up Oldsmobile. I couldn’t make out what the something was, but apparently Jay, in all his Big Mouth Billy Bass rage, did. He stormed over to the man to hassle him about his purchase. Jay made it to the Oldsmobile just as the customer closed his door. I watched as Jay screamed at him through his busted window. I remember the phrases “worldwide conspiracy against me” and “you don’t even deserve a Big Mouth Billy Bass.” The offending customer, with his torn tanktop and Confederate flag vanity plate, mustered up all his contempt for the handsome, well-dressed man screaming in his face, and gave him a resounding, “Whatever, dude,” before pealing out of the parking lot.
Jay stormed back over to me and snapped, “Get in the car.” I quickly got in because being stuck in a car with a crazy man is one thing, but being stuck alone in a deserted parking lot off Grimes Street is quite another. I turned to him and began my spiel: “So can you take me back to my car now? I mean, this has been fun and all, but I’m really tired now. And I have to be up early for… church… tomorrow.”
“Yeah sure, but after I get my Big Mouth Billy Bass,” he replied.
“Are you serious, Jay? It’s just a fish. Let it go.”
When he braked hard for a stoplight, I recognized the car in front of us – the same beat-up Oldsmobile with a busted window. My disbelief manifested in my jaw dropping and my mouth forming a little “o.” O for Oh my God, this guy is insane.
“Listen, Jay. I’ll just get out here and call a cab or something. You can go on your little quest on your own. I think I’m done.” I started to open the door, but before I could, the light changed, and Jay slammed the gas. The Oldsmobile did not move as quickly, and we bounced off his bumper. When the offending customer looked in the rearview mirror and recognized Jay and his apoplectic fury, he floored it with a huge engine rev. Within seconds, we were racing down the street, chasing after the Oldsmobile. Although I was terrified of the lunatic sitting next to me, the hilarity of my little scenario did not elude me. I was involved in a high-speed chase over a Big Mouth Billy Bass. Absolutely ridiculous.
The chase lasted only a few blocks, but it seemed like I fearfully clutched the door handle for ages. The offending customer was apparently inexperienced in the world of drag-racing and high-speed chases. Maybe he was undeserving of the Big Mouth Billy Bass, as Jay had charged. The offending customer braked hard to avoid colliding into a minivan that was legally crossing the intersection that he was very illegally flying through. He fishtailed just in time for Jay to fly through the intersection and slam into the driver’s side of the Oldsmobile straight on.
I sat frozen in the car, shocked that my Friday night had ended like this when it could have just ended with Gregory Peck. After another eternity, I climbed out of the car and surveyed the damage.
Luckily, I managed to escape with only bruises across my chest where the seatbelt had locked up on impact. Jay managed to escape with a minor concussion and a jail sentence, which I could guess will only make him crazier. Big Mouth Billy Bass escaped in one piece, though it was annoyingly stuck on a too-deeply-toned endless loop of “Dooonnn’t Wooorrrryyy.” Bob Marley probably turned over in his grave that night. The offending customer barely escaped with his life. He was in the hospital for a week. I guess he learned his lesson about snatching a Big Mouth Billy Bass from underneath a lunatic’s nose. And I learned a lesson that my mother tried to teach me when I was in preschool: never get into a car with a stranger. Especially an overly charismatic, energetic, manic, narcissistic stranger.
Big Mouth Billy Bass
I met him when he was in full-on manic mode, though I didn’t know that. He flew into the restaurant where I waitressed, a whirlwind of energy, laughter, and most of all, charisma. Yes, he was the most charismatic man I had ever met. I overheard some of the conversation he was having with the suit as I served him his Deluxe Combo – an enormous grade A beef burger with all the fixins, a side of Kickin’ Kajun fries, and your choice of Auntie’s Apple Pie or the Chocolate Lava Cake, all for the amazingly low price of $7.99! He chose the chocolate cake. I didn’t catch it all, but he was outlining some sort of business plan for the suit. He was extremely enthusiastic and by the end of the lunch, the suit seemed sold. He must have had another important meeting because by the time I came back with the bill, only Jay was sitting at the table. After chatting me up a bit, he left me a huge tip and his phone number. He didn’t really seem like my type – a little too loud, a little too arrogant – but he was intense. And who am I kidding? I needed intensity in my life. Just that morning, I had looked in the mirror and said to my reflection, “Honey, you need some excitement to break up all this monotony,” so I went with the blue eye shadow instead of the usual none. Talk about foreshadowing. After some coaxing, I agreed to a date. I know, I know. I don’t usually date strangers. You never end up with what you bargained for.
I met him for dinner at Amadio’s, my favorite Italian restaurant. He wanted to pick me up, but I graciously declined. I may be dumb enough to take chances on dating strangers, but I’m certainly not dumb enough to let them know where I live. Amadio’s has the most delicious mushroom lasagna in the entire state, but don’t tell my mother that. Plus I’m friends with the owner, so I like to take first dates there, you know, just in case. Jay flew into the parking lot fifteen minutes late in a bright red shiny sports car. He strode confidently across the restaurant to my special table. Everything he does can only be described as confident. I’m not exaggerating when I say that every single one of the restaurant’s patrons noticed and admired his entrance, and then noticed me with what I like to think of as pangs of jealousy.
He was already talking before he sat down. And he kept talking. I only got him to shut up long enough to order our meals. It was a remarkably boring date with a remarkably interesting man. Strange combination, I know. He was interesting, it’s just, well, you can only listen to someone talking about themselves for so long.
After I finished my lasagna, I tried to excuse myself from his company by claiming exhaustion due to a long day at work. I was already planning my favorite pajamas, an old black-and-white movie, and a bowl of ice cream to finish of my evening. But Jay would have none of it. He practically begged me to do something “fun” with him; he said he had a surprise for me. When my skepticism visibly registered on my face, he laughed and guaranteed me that his intentions were pure and he just had a lot of energy to burn off. I briefly envisioned him burning off his excess energy by chopping up my body into little bits in the kitchen of his (no doubt) gorgeously modern bachelor’s condo. I have an overactive imagination and an inherent distrust of men. But after he convinced me of his innocent intentions to have “good old-fashioned fun” and I convinced myself that my little scenario wouldn’t happen because, let’s face it, I’m not special enough and my life is not interesting enough for something like that to happen to me, we left Amadio’s together. His charm is irresistible – any girl would have done the same.
As I walked toward my little old Honda, his face fell. Against my better judgment, he managed to convince me that a spin in his flashy car would make the night more interesting. Maybe all these poor judgment calls could be explained by the voice in my head that kept saying, “You’re so boring. You never do anything fun.” Maybe they could be explained by the glass of wine I had while waiting for Jay to arrive. Who knows.
Whatever my motives, I did have fun. I now have a slight bit more understanding of why people blow all their money on fancy little sports cars. We blew threw town, cruising the streets and showing off. He talked a mile a minute about all the things we could do that night. Every time he found the “perfect idea!” it would soon be replaced by a new “perfect idea!” Until he saw it. He almost gave me a heart attack when he screamed, “A largemouth bass! Whoa! I have to have that!” When I realized what he was talking about, I nearly choked trying to stifle my laughter. He had spotted one of those awfully gaudy Big Mouth Billy Bass singing fish plaques that you mount up on your wall so that every time you walk by it, it belts some annoyingly mechanic, awfully punning song. It was in the storefront window of a nearby shop, which looked like it was about to close. But Jay had to have it.
By the time we parked and walked around to the shop, the owner was just closing up. Jay, with his irresistible charm, kindly explained to the store owner that he desperately needed the store to stay open for a few more minutes, and that he knew what he wanted and would be just a minute. The poor man looked at me, completely puzzled, but I just shrugged. Jay went on to explain that he just wanted to buy the Big Mouth Billy Bass. The owner informed him that another customer had just bought his last one. Jay went from nice and sweet high-energy to explosively angry high-energy in two seconds flat. Though Jay’s swift change in demeanor scared me, I did wonder for a fleeting second who the hell bought a Big Mouth Billy Bass at nine o’clock on a Friday night? Who the hell bought a Big Mouth Billy Bass? And then I remembered the guy standing next to me, who was still cursing the poor store owner. I pulled Jay away by the sleeve and half-dragged him back to the car, allowing the puzzled store owner to make his escape. On our walk back, he continued to let flow a stream of curse words, which I thought was a little uncalled-for, considering the fact that the Big Mouth Billy Bass is quite possibly the stupidest home decoration in the entire world.
As we walked across the parking lot, Jay noticed a man a few spots away loading something into the trunk of his beat-up Oldsmobile. I couldn’t make out what the something was, but apparently Jay, in all his Big Mouth Billy Bass rage, did. He stormed over to the man to hassle him about his purchase. Jay made it to the Oldsmobile just as the customer closed his door. I watched as Jay screamed at him through his busted window. I remember the phrases “worldwide conspiracy against me” and “you don’t even deserve a Big Mouth Billy Bass.” The offending customer, with his torn tanktop and Confederate flag vanity plate, mustered up all his contempt for the handsome, well-dressed man screaming in his face, and gave him a resounding, “Whatever, dude,” before pealing out of the parking lot.
Jay stormed back over to me and snapped, “Get in the car.” I quickly got in because being stuck in a car with a crazy man is one thing, but being stuck alone in a deserted parking lot off Grimes Street is quite another. I turned to him and began my spiel: “So can you take me back to my car now? I mean, this has been fun and all, but I’m really tired now. And I have to be up early for… church… tomorrow.”
“Yeah sure, but after I get my Big Mouth Billy Bass,” he replied.
“Are you serious, Jay? It’s just a fish. Let it go.”
When he braked hard for a stoplight, I recognized the car in front of us – the same beat-up Oldsmobile with a busted window. My disbelief manifested in my jaw dropping and my mouth forming a little “o.” O for Oh my God, this guy is insane.
“Listen, Jay. I’ll just get out here and call a cab or something. You can go on your little quest on your own. I think I’m done.” I started to open the door, but before I could, the light changed, and Jay slammed the gas. The Oldsmobile did not move as quickly, and we bounced off his bumper. When the offending customer looked in the rearview mirror and recognized Jay and his apoplectic fury, he floored it with a huge engine rev. Within seconds, we were racing down the street, chasing after the Oldsmobile. Although I was terrified of the lunatic sitting next to me, the hilarity of my little scenario did not elude me. I was involved in a high-speed chase over a Big Mouth Billy Bass. Absolutely ridiculous.
The chase lasted only a few blocks, but it seemed like I fearfully clutched the door handle for ages. The offending customer was apparently inexperienced in the world of drag-racing and high-speed chases. Maybe he was undeserving of the Big Mouth Billy Bass, as Jay had charged. The offending customer braked hard to avoid colliding into a minivan that was legally crossing the intersection that he was very illegally flying through. He fishtailed just in time for Jay to fly through the intersection and slam into the driver’s side of the Oldsmobile straight on.
I sat frozen in the car, shocked that my Friday night had ended like this when it could have just ended with Gregory Peck. After another eternity, I climbed out of the car and surveyed the damage.
Luckily, I managed to escape with only bruises across my chest where the seatbelt had locked up on impact. Jay managed to escape with a minor concussion and a jail sentence, which I could guess will only make him crazier. Big Mouth Billy Bass escaped in one piece, though it was annoyingly stuck on a too-deeply-toned endless loop of “Dooonnn’t Wooorrrryyy.” Bob Marley probably turned over in his grave that night. The offending customer barely escaped with his life. He was in the hospital for a week. I guess he learned his lesson about snatching a Big Mouth Billy Bass from underneath a lunatic’s nose. And I learned a lesson that my mother tried to teach me when I was in preschool: never get into a car with a stranger. Especially an overly charismatic, energetic, manic, narcissistic stranger.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Reading Week
So once again, I'm bored as hell and trying to fill up some time. Reading Week is useless for people like me. I study the day before the exam. That's my rule. Studying for an entire week? Yeah right. If you need to study for 10 days for one exam, then you either weren't paying enough attention in class or you care too much. So if I haven't spent the week studying, what did I do? Answer: I was busy being pathetic. I sat on my ass for 5 days straight. I became even more attached to my computer than I already was. I have probably spent more time with this computer than any other person in the world. Sad, I know.
I discovered youtube.com, which was created by the same evil genius who created the rest of the internet. His internet has sucked us in and made us completely dependent upon it. When he decides the moment is right, he will exercise one of two options:
1. Launch a secret internet program that is so absolutely amazing that we will all be instantly enthralled. We will be so mesmerized by the new internet that all production will cease. We will be unable to go about our daily lives, leaving him free to take over the world.
2. Completely wipe out the internet. He will remove every last trace of the internet and all of its wonderful technology. We will no longer be able to communicate, read stupid chain e-mail, watch ridiculous videos, check the sports scores, read movie reviews, or any of the millions of mindless things we do on the internet every day. We will all fall into a deep depression over our loss. We will be unable to go about our daily lives, leaving him free to take over the world.
So that's his plan. Anyway, youtube.com is pretty cool. People can post videos on the domain and you can watch whatever you want. Some things are really stupid, like the people who think they are going to make it big in Hollywood by recording themselves singing Backstreet Boys and posting it on the internet. There are also a lot of videos of TV shows that people record and post. This, my friends, is where I got sucked in. I have an addiction disorder. I am addicted to Degrassi: The New Generation. It's pathetic, I know. I have spent an average of 2 hours per day watching Degrassi. That amounts to about 5 episodes per day. I've watched all the way through seasons one and two. I plan on launching to season three tomorrow. Pathetic, I know.
I spent an additional three hours per day watching TV and/or movies. I spent about 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night talking to friends online. I spent about 2 hours eating. And I spent another four hours checking e-mail, surfing the web, and sometimes, just staring at my wall. Pathetic, I know. That leaves 11 hours for sleep. This is just a rough estimate, of course. Some days, I only got 10 hours of sleep! So anyway, after 5 days of this, I nearly went crazy. On the sixth day, I finally got my ass up. I actually did my hair and stuff. And I studied. Woo, boy. I went crazy. I finally snapped out of it, so that I could study. I'm living life on the wild side. All that studying helped my exams though.
So 2 exams down, and 3 to go. Let me comment on my first two exams. I felt like I was in high school again. This overmanagement is getting a bit out of hand. Exams are assigned in special rooms. We can't have them in the lecture halls, because that would mean we would be sitting too close to each other. So we have them in the smaller classrooms, with the old-fashioned desks-in-a-row thing. Then they assign you a number, which corresponds to a specific desk. Yes, assigned seating. During the whole exam, you have to keep your ID card on the top right corner of your desk so that during the exam, they can come around and check it and mark you off on their little clipboard. During the two-hour exam, no one is allowed to leave the classroom for the first hour or the last 15 minutes. If you need to use the restroom, you have to sign out when you leave and sign in when you return. And you have to leave your bags lined up against the wall, not next to your desk. WHOA. I wanted to stand up during the whole exam and say, "I'm not a moron. I'm an adult." But that's simply not done in Singapore.
On a funnier note, I got assigned to seat #1 in two of my exams. Apparently, the English and Psychology departments think my last name is "Alyson."
I discovered youtube.com, which was created by the same evil genius who created the rest of the internet. His internet has sucked us in and made us completely dependent upon it. When he decides the moment is right, he will exercise one of two options:
1. Launch a secret internet program that is so absolutely amazing that we will all be instantly enthralled. We will be so mesmerized by the new internet that all production will cease. We will be unable to go about our daily lives, leaving him free to take over the world.
2. Completely wipe out the internet. He will remove every last trace of the internet and all of its wonderful technology. We will no longer be able to communicate, read stupid chain e-mail, watch ridiculous videos, check the sports scores, read movie reviews, or any of the millions of mindless things we do on the internet every day. We will all fall into a deep depression over our loss. We will be unable to go about our daily lives, leaving him free to take over the world.
So that's his plan. Anyway, youtube.com is pretty cool. People can post videos on the domain and you can watch whatever you want. Some things are really stupid, like the people who think they are going to make it big in Hollywood by recording themselves singing Backstreet Boys and posting it on the internet. There are also a lot of videos of TV shows that people record and post. This, my friends, is where I got sucked in. I have an addiction disorder. I am addicted to Degrassi: The New Generation. It's pathetic, I know. I have spent an average of 2 hours per day watching Degrassi. That amounts to about 5 episodes per day. I've watched all the way through seasons one and two. I plan on launching to season three tomorrow. Pathetic, I know.
I spent an additional three hours per day watching TV and/or movies. I spent about 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours at night talking to friends online. I spent about 2 hours eating. And I spent another four hours checking e-mail, surfing the web, and sometimes, just staring at my wall. Pathetic, I know. That leaves 11 hours for sleep. This is just a rough estimate, of course. Some days, I only got 10 hours of sleep! So anyway, after 5 days of this, I nearly went crazy. On the sixth day, I finally got my ass up. I actually did my hair and stuff. And I studied. Woo, boy. I went crazy. I finally snapped out of it, so that I could study. I'm living life on the wild side. All that studying helped my exams though.
So 2 exams down, and 3 to go. Let me comment on my first two exams. I felt like I was in high school again. This overmanagement is getting a bit out of hand. Exams are assigned in special rooms. We can't have them in the lecture halls, because that would mean we would be sitting too close to each other. So we have them in the smaller classrooms, with the old-fashioned desks-in-a-row thing. Then they assign you a number, which corresponds to a specific desk. Yes, assigned seating. During the whole exam, you have to keep your ID card on the top right corner of your desk so that during the exam, they can come around and check it and mark you off on their little clipboard. During the two-hour exam, no one is allowed to leave the classroom for the first hour or the last 15 minutes. If you need to use the restroom, you have to sign out when you leave and sign in when you return. And you have to leave your bags lined up against the wall, not next to your desk. WHOA. I wanted to stand up during the whole exam and say, "I'm not a moron. I'm an adult." But that's simply not done in Singapore.
On a funnier note, I got assigned to seat #1 in two of my exams. Apparently, the English and Psychology departments think my last name is "Alyson."
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Birthday Bash
I'm 20! That's crazy. I don't feel any older, yet "twenty" sounds so much older than "nineteen." There's something about the transition from 12 to 13 and then 19 to 20. Maybe we just think these transitions are important because being a teenager sucks. You turn 13, and your youthful ignorance shouts, "Yes! I'm finally a teenager." And probably the next day, you realize it's not all that it's cracked up to be. So when you turn 20, your youthful ignorance shouts, "Yes! I'm not a teenager anymore." Hopefully I won't find out next week that your twenties suck. I'm pretty sure they don't. At least not as much as the teens do.
Anyway, my birthday was pretty cool. I celebrated prematurely because a lot of people were away on vacation on my actual birthday. We started off with a nice Singaporean Italian meal. Pasta Fresca is pretty decent Italian considering, but still, it's not the same. I had some pretty excellent cannolis. But they were made out of bread instead of noodles, so it was sort of like an Italian burrito. Sounds gross, but tastes great. The Rum and Coke Janine made me probably helped in that review. I got cool presents from cool people. That was happy. Janine et al gave me an awesome card with lots of embarassing pictures of me on it. It was very cute. My birthday advice included "Don't try to outdrink Janine: you will LOSE" and "Beware of *Natalie*... you don't like fluids, but she likes to share them!" Haha... inside jokes are so funny to me and so boring to my hypothetical readers.
Our next stop post-dinner was karaoke. The first place was a bust. Their version of karaoke was to sit around their bar singing to the radio. No song list, no microphone, nothing. So we bounced and headed to our next stop in Boat Quay. That was slightly more entertaining.
The song list:
"Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia - Natalie, May, and yours truly
"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!" by the Venga Boys - Natalie and May attempted this song but didn't entirely pull it off. That's because this is a difficult song to sing and it's lame.
"We Will Rock You" by Queen - Chirag made a valiant effort with the verses, and both he and Erik chimed in for the chorus. Most excellent.
"Eternal Flame" by the Bangles - My solo debut. Might I say, I rocked. JG tried to sing too, but he didn't know the words. I think he got some nice harmony in, though.
There were a few more songs, but I don't remember them. Seeing us we were the only ones singing in the whole place, I'm sure we annoyed the hell out of the Singaporeans. We ran out of time though and left before JG and I could sing our songs. Too bad; it would have been great. We so kindly left Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys for the rest of the bar to enjoy.
Next stop: dbl o. Surprised? You shouldn't be. I'm so sick of that damn club. But it was the closest club around, and nobody wanted to take any taxis anywhere else. And since some people skipped out on the karaoke, it was an easy place to meet up after. I'm proud of myself for not getting completely smashed. In fact, I was quite sober by the time I got home. It was a relatively uneventful night, though. I've had better stories. But it was still fun. Being the total loser I am, I pooped out first. Despite being the birthday girl, I was utterly exhausted. I wasn't even dancing anymore. I was just standing in the middle of the dance floor kind of bobbing up and down. I mean, I guess it looked similar to some guys I've seen "dancing." But still, it was painful. No rhythm, no dancing, and no vision as I was pretty much sleeping on my feet. Janine saw me and was like, "Hey, are you ready to go or something?" Friends are cool. They leave the club early with you when you're too tired to stand up. It wasn't even that early, though. The club closed a half hour later.
So fun birthday. Drinking, dancing, singing... there's not much more a girl could ask for.
Anyway, my birthday was pretty cool. I celebrated prematurely because a lot of people were away on vacation on my actual birthday. We started off with a nice Singaporean Italian meal. Pasta Fresca is pretty decent Italian considering, but still, it's not the same. I had some pretty excellent cannolis. But they were made out of bread instead of noodles, so it was sort of like an Italian burrito. Sounds gross, but tastes great. The Rum and Coke Janine made me probably helped in that review. I got cool presents from cool people. That was happy. Janine et al gave me an awesome card with lots of embarassing pictures of me on it. It was very cute. My birthday advice included "Don't try to outdrink Janine: you will LOSE" and "Beware of *Natalie*... you don't like fluids, but she likes to share them!" Haha... inside jokes are so funny to me and so boring to my hypothetical readers.
Our next stop post-dinner was karaoke. The first place was a bust. Their version of karaoke was to sit around their bar singing to the radio. No song list, no microphone, nothing. So we bounced and headed to our next stop in Boat Quay. That was slightly more entertaining.
The song list:
"Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia - Natalie, May, and yours truly
"Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!" by the Venga Boys - Natalie and May attempted this song but didn't entirely pull it off. That's because this is a difficult song to sing and it's lame.
"We Will Rock You" by Queen - Chirag made a valiant effort with the verses, and both he and Erik chimed in for the chorus. Most excellent.
"Eternal Flame" by the Bangles - My solo debut. Might I say, I rocked. JG tried to sing too, but he didn't know the words. I think he got some nice harmony in, though.
There were a few more songs, but I don't remember them. Seeing us we were the only ones singing in the whole place, I'm sure we annoyed the hell out of the Singaporeans. We ran out of time though and left before JG and I could sing our songs. Too bad; it would have been great. We so kindly left Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys for the rest of the bar to enjoy.
Next stop: dbl o. Surprised? You shouldn't be. I'm so sick of that damn club. But it was the closest club around, and nobody wanted to take any taxis anywhere else. And since some people skipped out on the karaoke, it was an easy place to meet up after. I'm proud of myself for not getting completely smashed. In fact, I was quite sober by the time I got home. It was a relatively uneventful night, though. I've had better stories. But it was still fun. Being the total loser I am, I pooped out first. Despite being the birthday girl, I was utterly exhausted. I wasn't even dancing anymore. I was just standing in the middle of the dance floor kind of bobbing up and down. I mean, I guess it looked similar to some guys I've seen "dancing." But still, it was painful. No rhythm, no dancing, and no vision as I was pretty much sleeping on my feet. Janine saw me and was like, "Hey, are you ready to go or something?" Friends are cool. They leave the club early with you when you're too tired to stand up. It wasn't even that early, though. The club closed a half hour later.
So fun birthday. Drinking, dancing, singing... there's not much more a girl could ask for.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Cambodia
This past weekend I went to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Here’s a little background information. Siem Reap is the town closest to Angkor Wat, the giant ancient temple complexes of Cambodia. It’s not a very big town at all, but they get a lot of tourism because of the temples. Although Cambodia is much safer now that the Khmer Rouge regime has fallen, it’s still extremely poor. They’ve had economic growth that all comes from the tourism industry. Before 1998, when the country was still closed to outsiders, only about 200,000 tourists visited Cambodia in the entire year. Since 1998, over one million tourists have visited Cambodia each year. Being a poor, underdeveloped country, Cambodia lacks the infrastructure to support this influx of people. There’s a huge amount of construction (roads, sewage, etc) in Siem Reap in an attempt to better prepare the town for tourists. There are also giant projects underway to restore the temples in and surrounding Angkor Wat. This is why it’s fairly expensive to go to Cambodia. The fees to get in and out of the country (US$20-25) go towards the development of the infrastructure and the fees at the temples (US$20 per day) go towards restoration. The Cambodian currency, the riel, is practically worthless. One US dollar is equal to 4000 riel. Because of this, US currency goes a long way in Cambodia. Nearly every transaction is made with US cash, both in big hotels and in small sidewalk or market stalls. They don’t use US coins though, so change is made in riel. Cambodia still has a huge amount of problems to deal with, including poverty, AIDS, poor health care, and a large amount of unexploded land mines still hidden in the countryside. There are charities set up by NGOs (non-governmental organizations) all over Siem Reap. One man (I think Australian, maybe?) has set up a children’s hospital, and every Saturday night, he takes the night off to give a free cello concert, during which he talks about his experiences with the children in Cambodia. There is no charge for the concert, but he asks for donations for his hospital. There’s also a restaurant where the food is cooked by teens and young adults as a development program to teach them job and language skills. So there are a lot of sad things in Cambodia, but there are a lot of people working to do something about it. By the way, anything Cambodian is called “Khmer.” That’s the name of the ethnic group that primarily composes Cambodia. So it’s khmer food, khmer language, khmer dancing, etc. That was enough of a history/humanitarian lecture, so I’ll move on to tell about my weekend.
When we first got to Cambodia, I was miserable. I had to wake up at 3:30 am to catch a taxi to the airport for our 6 am flight. This was after going to bed at midnight so I could finish an assignment before I left. So I didn’t go to sleep, really. I just took a nap. We checked into our guest house and promptly went to bed. After sleeping much of the morning away, we arranged for a driver to take us to lunch, a temple, and a floating market. Of course, lunch was our first priority, and it was pretty good. When we left to get back into the van, there were 4 or 5 adorable children begging us for money. We all gave them some money, and when other kids saw that, they ran over too. We ended up just getting in the van and driving away. We just don’t have enough dollars to give to all the children of Cambodia. It was heartbreaking to drive away while they all stared at us through the window.
To get to our next destination, we had to drive through a lot of residential areas in the countryside. I sat in the front seat and got a good view of everything and saw a lot of interesting things. Babies and toddlers are almost always naked. Little boys run around in just shorts, and little girls in just skirts. I saw kids running errands on a parent’s bike, so they sat on the bar instead of the seat in order to reach the pedals. I saw a 12 or 13 year old kid driving his little brother on a motorbike. I saw four guys crammed onto one motorbike. I saw kids playing in a well. I saw a lot of people lying in hammocks trying to escape the heat. Some of the houses were set up where 4 or so houses were set back from the road and one small wall-less building would be right on the edge of the road. This building would sometimes have things for sale, like drinks. Sometimes what seemed like a whole extended family would be hanging out in there and socializing. Pretty interesting stuff. There were a good number of cows in the residential area, but there were far more in the more rural areas. Right now is Cambodia’s dry season, so it’s very dusty and dirty. The cows would be roaming the fields, looking for grass. And then we would see one big mud hole, and the water buffaloes were often neck-deep in it. It was a drive with plenty of sights to see.
We arrived at Beng Mealea, an old overgrown temple in ruins. First, we asked the people nearby if they had a bathroom we could use. We ended up paying 500 riel to pee into a hole in the ground. But hey, they can use 12.5 cents more than I can. We went up to the temple ruins, and it was amazing. There were guides there who helped us climb through them and explore. There was a lot of rubble and a lot of trees and roots taking over the stone. But there were still some hallways and windows that were intact. It was tough (and dangerous!) climbing, but well worth it. And, of course, I took way too many pictures. But it was beautiful. Important lesson to learn: nature will eventually reclaim its property. The pictures of this place are a lot better than the words describing it, so I’ll stop with this topic now. Before we left, we stopped at a roadside stand and got Cokes. The little girl serving us was maybe 8 or 9 and when she handed me the Coke, she said, “Madame,” and she said it again when she gave me a straw. It was very cute. On the way to our next destination, we had to slam on the brakes a few times to dodge cows in the road. It happens.
After the temple, we drove a ways to a floating village. This village is a bunch of houseboats and a few houses on stilts on a huge lake called the Tonle Sap. We took a boat out there. Just outside the village, when we could see everything but weren’t actually in it, our boat broke down. While we were waiting for our guide and driver to fix it, three kids from the village rowed out to beg us for money because tourists in the middle of a lake is like shooting fish in a barrel. Two kids rowed over in a small canoe-like boat. Another kid rowed over in a bucket. Yes, a bucket. It was a shallow round basin tub-thing. As he rows over, we can see that it’s filling with water. And then the entire thing just slowly gets sucked under water. I start freaking out thinking the kid is going to lose his bucket and drown. Then he just stands up. Turns out the lake is only 4 feet or so deep. So he stands up, empties the bucket, puts it upright, climbs back in, and paddles the rest of the way to collect his money. It was hilarious. We moved on to the village and went through seeing the sights. We stopped at the village market and did some souvenir shopping. About halfway through my shopping, I look up and through one of the slats in the wall, and I see a crocodile. A real live crocodile. I didn’t realize that the whole time I was shopping, there was a 20-foot long box full of crocodiles in the water about 5 feet from me. They had a crocodile farm. Scary, but cool. So we checked out the crocodiles, finished out purchases, and headed back. We managed to catch sunset on our boat ride back, so it was very pretty.
That night we went to a restaurant called Madame Butterfly. It’s French and Cambodian food and is owned by French dude. It was pretty good, though slightly typical food. On the way home we had to walk through a rainstorm. We got soaked. We also had a few Cambodian guys offering us rides. Fun stuff.
The next morning, we ended up hanging around the lobby of the guest house until nearly noon. We were waiting for a tour guide who never came. When he finally did, we headed to the Angkor-Thom temple complex. Our first stop was a small temple. Our guide explained the frescos to us and what the pictures represented. It was pretty cool, and once again, good pictures. We got back in the van and headed to lunch. We ate at a place right outside the main temple, Angkor Wat, so they were all ready to sell us tourists their wares. We sat down and a 12 year old girl who told us her name was Princess Diana served us. As soon as we sat down, children started to crowd around us to sell musical instruments, figurines, hats, books, and more. I bought a few things, but then I just didn’t have enough change to buy anything more. At its peak, we had 20 kids crowded around our one table. It was insane. The kids’ favorite selling tactic is to ask you where you’re from and tell you the capital of that place, in hopes that they will impress you into buying something. One girl told John the US capital (Washington, D.C., guys) and John said he would buy something if she told him the capital of Idaho. I yelled at him for being a jerk, but the girl was quick, and she said, “How about the capital of the US and the capital of Madagascar?” I made him agree to the deal, and the girl promptly told us the capitals, though I don’t even know if she was right because I don’t know the capital of Madagascar. He bought it though.
Next we headed to Angkor Wat, the big famous temple. It was really interesting, and we walked around taking lots of pictures again. The others climbed up the temple and looked at it from the top. I’m a bit nervous with heights and with stairs that are 4 inches wide but a foot tall, so I didn’t join them. Once again, the pictures describe this better, so I’ll move on. When we left, we walked through a market. After 10 minutes of women screaming “Lady!” at me, I decided I had had enough. We headed back towards the van, where we were accosted in the parking lot by 7 children. I had just bought some bracelets (15 for $1) in the market, and the most adorable kid in the world was trying to sell me the same bracelets (10 for $1). I told him no and kept walking, but he followed me.
Cute Kid: Lady, you want bracelets?
Me: No.
Cute Kid: Where you from?
Me: The United States.
Cute Kid: The capital of United States is Washington DC.
Me: Good job, honey, but I don’t need those bracelets.
Cute Kid: Yes, you do. You buy.
Me: No, I already bought bracelets.
Cute Kid: You didn’t buy these bracelets.
Me: Yes, I did. I bought bracelets exactly like that.
Cute Kid: You didn’t buy 10.
Me: Well, I bought 15.
Cute Kid: You didn’t buy 20.
These kids are heartbreakers. I didn’t buy the bracelets because I didn’t have another dollar bill and I knew the kid would keep the change from my twenty. So I got in the van and left and nearly started crying when the kid just stared at me. Oh, while this interchange was occurring, another kid tried to sell a book to me for $20. It was the same book my friend had just bought for $4. I just laughed at him.
We headed on to another temple. We had to climb up this huge hill. We got to the top of the hill, and of course, there were three sets of scary stairs to climb up the temple, but I made myself do it. Then we sat on the top of the temple and watched the sunset. It was really pretty. Unfortunately, I didn’t think through the part where I would have to climb down the temple and the hill in the dark. I made it down the stairs while there was still some light, so that was good. Instead of braving the steep hill to get down in the dark, I found another path that is used for the elephants. (You can pay $15 to get an elephant to take you up the hill on a side path.) So me and all the other tourists, about 5 million of them, headed down the trail, constantly on the look-out for “mushy rocks.”
Back in the van, our guide asked us what we wanted to do. He suggested dinner at a good place. These kinds of suggestions are not uncommon. The guides/drivers typically get some sort kickbacks or commission by taking tourists to their friends’ restaurants. It was a nice place though. It was $12 for a buffet dinner and a show with traditional Khmer dancing. So we got tons of food and saw some people dancing around onstage. It was fun.
Some of our group went out to a bar, but I hung out at the guest house with Janine. Neither of us really felt like going out. We played with the owner’s kitten. I don’t remember her name because it was in Khmer, but the name translated to “Black Girl.” Also, I didn’t want to stay out late since we had to get up at 5:30 to catch our flight home. There are only three or four flights per week between Singapore and Cambodia, so our flight choices were limited.
The next morning we got up to leave and pay for our hotel, guide, trips, etc. It took quite a while to organize 10 people to pay their bill and get the right change back. The people at the guest house were so nice though. Their kitchen hadn’t opened yet, and they knew we had to go, so they made us to-go boxes of bread and jam for breakfast. It was so nice of them. So if any of you plan a trip to Cambodia, I recommend the Earthwalkers Guest House in Siem Reap. Write that down. We got to the airport early since that’s what you’re supposed to do. Except then we realized that there’s no need to be at this airport early. It’s so small that it’s one big building without any gates or anything. The plane lands, you walk down the stairs, and you walk across the landing strip to go inside. That’s it. The whole building is divided into two parts. One part is for checking in. Then you go through security and customs and the next part is one giant sitting area. There’s a store and a coffee stall. It was a long 2 hours wait. But we got on the plane and it was fairly empty so I got my own row. We got back to Singapore around noon, which gave me all day to write my psychology essay. So it was a great weekend and still productive. I think Cambodia might be my favorite place in Southeast Asia.
When we first got to Cambodia, I was miserable. I had to wake up at 3:30 am to catch a taxi to the airport for our 6 am flight. This was after going to bed at midnight so I could finish an assignment before I left. So I didn’t go to sleep, really. I just took a nap. We checked into our guest house and promptly went to bed. After sleeping much of the morning away, we arranged for a driver to take us to lunch, a temple, and a floating market. Of course, lunch was our first priority, and it was pretty good. When we left to get back into the van, there were 4 or 5 adorable children begging us for money. We all gave them some money, and when other kids saw that, they ran over too. We ended up just getting in the van and driving away. We just don’t have enough dollars to give to all the children of Cambodia. It was heartbreaking to drive away while they all stared at us through the window.
To get to our next destination, we had to drive through a lot of residential areas in the countryside. I sat in the front seat and got a good view of everything and saw a lot of interesting things. Babies and toddlers are almost always naked. Little boys run around in just shorts, and little girls in just skirts. I saw kids running errands on a parent’s bike, so they sat on the bar instead of the seat in order to reach the pedals. I saw a 12 or 13 year old kid driving his little brother on a motorbike. I saw four guys crammed onto one motorbike. I saw kids playing in a well. I saw a lot of people lying in hammocks trying to escape the heat. Some of the houses were set up where 4 or so houses were set back from the road and one small wall-less building would be right on the edge of the road. This building would sometimes have things for sale, like drinks. Sometimes what seemed like a whole extended family would be hanging out in there and socializing. Pretty interesting stuff. There were a good number of cows in the residential area, but there were far more in the more rural areas. Right now is Cambodia’s dry season, so it’s very dusty and dirty. The cows would be roaming the fields, looking for grass. And then we would see one big mud hole, and the water buffaloes were often neck-deep in it. It was a drive with plenty of sights to see.
We arrived at Beng Mealea, an old overgrown temple in ruins. First, we asked the people nearby if they had a bathroom we could use. We ended up paying 500 riel to pee into a hole in the ground. But hey, they can use 12.5 cents more than I can. We went up to the temple ruins, and it was amazing. There were guides there who helped us climb through them and explore. There was a lot of rubble and a lot of trees and roots taking over the stone. But there were still some hallways and windows that were intact. It was tough (and dangerous!) climbing, but well worth it. And, of course, I took way too many pictures. But it was beautiful. Important lesson to learn: nature will eventually reclaim its property. The pictures of this place are a lot better than the words describing it, so I’ll stop with this topic now. Before we left, we stopped at a roadside stand and got Cokes. The little girl serving us was maybe 8 or 9 and when she handed me the Coke, she said, “Madame,” and she said it again when she gave me a straw. It was very cute. On the way to our next destination, we had to slam on the brakes a few times to dodge cows in the road. It happens.
After the temple, we drove a ways to a floating village. This village is a bunch of houseboats and a few houses on stilts on a huge lake called the Tonle Sap. We took a boat out there. Just outside the village, when we could see everything but weren’t actually in it, our boat broke down. While we were waiting for our guide and driver to fix it, three kids from the village rowed out to beg us for money because tourists in the middle of a lake is like shooting fish in a barrel. Two kids rowed over in a small canoe-like boat. Another kid rowed over in a bucket. Yes, a bucket. It was a shallow round basin tub-thing. As he rows over, we can see that it’s filling with water. And then the entire thing just slowly gets sucked under water. I start freaking out thinking the kid is going to lose his bucket and drown. Then he just stands up. Turns out the lake is only 4 feet or so deep. So he stands up, empties the bucket, puts it upright, climbs back in, and paddles the rest of the way to collect his money. It was hilarious. We moved on to the village and went through seeing the sights. We stopped at the village market and did some souvenir shopping. About halfway through my shopping, I look up and through one of the slats in the wall, and I see a crocodile. A real live crocodile. I didn’t realize that the whole time I was shopping, there was a 20-foot long box full of crocodiles in the water about 5 feet from me. They had a crocodile farm. Scary, but cool. So we checked out the crocodiles, finished out purchases, and headed back. We managed to catch sunset on our boat ride back, so it was very pretty.
That night we went to a restaurant called Madame Butterfly. It’s French and Cambodian food and is owned by French dude. It was pretty good, though slightly typical food. On the way home we had to walk through a rainstorm. We got soaked. We also had a few Cambodian guys offering us rides. Fun stuff.
The next morning, we ended up hanging around the lobby of the guest house until nearly noon. We were waiting for a tour guide who never came. When he finally did, we headed to the Angkor-Thom temple complex. Our first stop was a small temple. Our guide explained the frescos to us and what the pictures represented. It was pretty cool, and once again, good pictures. We got back in the van and headed to lunch. We ate at a place right outside the main temple, Angkor Wat, so they were all ready to sell us tourists their wares. We sat down and a 12 year old girl who told us her name was Princess Diana served us. As soon as we sat down, children started to crowd around us to sell musical instruments, figurines, hats, books, and more. I bought a few things, but then I just didn’t have enough change to buy anything more. At its peak, we had 20 kids crowded around our one table. It was insane. The kids’ favorite selling tactic is to ask you where you’re from and tell you the capital of that place, in hopes that they will impress you into buying something. One girl told John the US capital (Washington, D.C., guys) and John said he would buy something if she told him the capital of Idaho. I yelled at him for being a jerk, but the girl was quick, and she said, “How about the capital of the US and the capital of Madagascar?” I made him agree to the deal, and the girl promptly told us the capitals, though I don’t even know if she was right because I don’t know the capital of Madagascar. He bought it though.
Next we headed to Angkor Wat, the big famous temple. It was really interesting, and we walked around taking lots of pictures again. The others climbed up the temple and looked at it from the top. I’m a bit nervous with heights and with stairs that are 4 inches wide but a foot tall, so I didn’t join them. Once again, the pictures describe this better, so I’ll move on. When we left, we walked through a market. After 10 minutes of women screaming “Lady!” at me, I decided I had had enough. We headed back towards the van, where we were accosted in the parking lot by 7 children. I had just bought some bracelets (15 for $1) in the market, and the most adorable kid in the world was trying to sell me the same bracelets (10 for $1). I told him no and kept walking, but he followed me.
Cute Kid: Lady, you want bracelets?
Me: No.
Cute Kid: Where you from?
Me: The United States.
Cute Kid: The capital of United States is Washington DC.
Me: Good job, honey, but I don’t need those bracelets.
Cute Kid: Yes, you do. You buy.
Me: No, I already bought bracelets.
Cute Kid: You didn’t buy these bracelets.
Me: Yes, I did. I bought bracelets exactly like that.
Cute Kid: You didn’t buy 10.
Me: Well, I bought 15.
Cute Kid: You didn’t buy 20.
These kids are heartbreakers. I didn’t buy the bracelets because I didn’t have another dollar bill and I knew the kid would keep the change from my twenty. So I got in the van and left and nearly started crying when the kid just stared at me. Oh, while this interchange was occurring, another kid tried to sell a book to me for $20. It was the same book my friend had just bought for $4. I just laughed at him.
We headed on to another temple. We had to climb up this huge hill. We got to the top of the hill, and of course, there were three sets of scary stairs to climb up the temple, but I made myself do it. Then we sat on the top of the temple and watched the sunset. It was really pretty. Unfortunately, I didn’t think through the part where I would have to climb down the temple and the hill in the dark. I made it down the stairs while there was still some light, so that was good. Instead of braving the steep hill to get down in the dark, I found another path that is used for the elephants. (You can pay $15 to get an elephant to take you up the hill on a side path.) So me and all the other tourists, about 5 million of them, headed down the trail, constantly on the look-out for “mushy rocks.”
Back in the van, our guide asked us what we wanted to do. He suggested dinner at a good place. These kinds of suggestions are not uncommon. The guides/drivers typically get some sort kickbacks or commission by taking tourists to their friends’ restaurants. It was a nice place though. It was $12 for a buffet dinner and a show with traditional Khmer dancing. So we got tons of food and saw some people dancing around onstage. It was fun.
Some of our group went out to a bar, but I hung out at the guest house with Janine. Neither of us really felt like going out. We played with the owner’s kitten. I don’t remember her name because it was in Khmer, but the name translated to “Black Girl.” Also, I didn’t want to stay out late since we had to get up at 5:30 to catch our flight home. There are only three or four flights per week between Singapore and Cambodia, so our flight choices were limited.
The next morning we got up to leave and pay for our hotel, guide, trips, etc. It took quite a while to organize 10 people to pay their bill and get the right change back. The people at the guest house were so nice though. Their kitchen hadn’t opened yet, and they knew we had to go, so they made us to-go boxes of bread and jam for breakfast. It was so nice of them. So if any of you plan a trip to Cambodia, I recommend the Earthwalkers Guest House in Siem Reap. Write that down. We got to the airport early since that’s what you’re supposed to do. Except then we realized that there’s no need to be at this airport early. It’s so small that it’s one big building without any gates or anything. The plane lands, you walk down the stairs, and you walk across the landing strip to go inside. That’s it. The whole building is divided into two parts. One part is for checking in. Then you go through security and customs and the next part is one giant sitting area. There’s a store and a coffee stall. It was a long 2 hours wait. But we got on the plane and it was fairly empty so I got my own row. We got back to Singapore around noon, which gave me all day to write my psychology essay. So it was a great weekend and still productive. I think Cambodia might be my favorite place in Southeast Asia.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Dream Update
My boyfriend and I are walking along this rock-cliff thing overlooking a lake. While we're jumping around the rocks and goofing around, we see a guy a ways off fall off the cliff into the lake (it's only a 15-foot or so drop). Boyfriend plays hero and jumps in after the guy to save him. Although his efforts were quite honorable, the guy is fine. He didn't need any rescuing. Pleasantries are exchanged with Guy. Boyfriend climbs back up and is with me. We start to leave the rock cliff, and we have to climb back over some rocks to get back to normal ground. Boyfriend is in front of me a few steps. When I have to make a particularly big step up from one rock to another, I grab a fence (I don't know why a fence is there; plot device, I guess) to keep me steady. But when I pull on it, the fence falls over, throws me off balance, and I fall in the lake! The fence falls with me and lands over me. In the water, it's on top of me holding me down, so I can't swim up. My hand is tangled in the fence, and I can't get it out, so I can't swim away. I'm trapped and drowning. Boyfriend is trying to jump in and save me, but when my section of the fence fell, the rest of the fence got tangled and somehow formed a barrier between him and the lake. I'm still drowning! Guy swims over to help me, accompanied by my EMT friend. (I guess they were hanging out on the other side of the lake?) But they're taking forever to reach me, and I'm still drowning! I flail around a little while longer, and then...
I wake up. Right then. I'm going to have to yell at the writers in my brain. You do not just end a show at the intense part like that. It's suspenseful. It's even more suspenseful because I know that I'll never have that dream again, so I'll never know the ending. Damn you, dream writers.
I wake up. Right then. I'm going to have to yell at the writers in my brain. You do not just end a show at the intense part like that. It's suspenseful. It's even more suspenseful because I know that I'll never have that dream again, so I'll never know the ending. Damn you, dream writers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)