A Few Days in Singapore

View from our room at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore

In a shopping mall in Singapore

Singapore. Hmmm. How do I describe it? A cross between New York and Los Angeles with a world class skyline. I feel a bit guilty classifying it like that, as it’s certainly an over-simplification, but really that’s what it felt like. Christmas is celebrated wholeheartedly there. I thought we had escaped the American machine of the holiday season, but oh no, I was wrong.  Christmas music was piped in to every public sound system and there is literally no escaping it. Songs like Jingle Bell Rock, and Oh Holy Night playing incessantly in every mall, restaurant, hotel lobby, elevator, and taxi. It was even playing at the zoo!  I found myself humming along, and then began to wonder if I was the only one who knew the words; and then wondered further if I was the only one who understood the meaning behind the words. The bombardment of holiday cheer didn’t stop with the music; Christmas trees and holiday decorations were seemingly everywhere. The hotel we stayed in had gotten a bit confused and there were a few scarecrows (fall decorations) mixed in with the Santa and snowmen decorations, definitely bringing me back to the fact that I was in a Southeast Asian city-state. The fall decor though was a bit of humor to dot our trip, and to break up the holiday  decorations.

 
We crammed a lot into our four days Singapore. Here are a few highlights. Breakfast with the Orang-Utans (as they are referred to there). Amazing! Just inches away; we weren’t allowed to touch, but I wanted to! The babies were so active and interesting to watch. We then tried a cable car ride. Nozar’s very first, and surprisingly he was a bit nervous.  Next was shopping, first for electronics., then on to Bugis market. I like to just say it over and over. Booogeess, booogeess, booogeess. It’s a Chinese market, packed with people who are shopping for, what else? ….Christmas. For an afternoon snack, I got some rambutan and mangosteen, while Nozar chose durian. We sat on little plastic seats right next to the vendor to eat them. It was one of the best experiences in Singapore. For dinner one night Nozar tried some Negra Paella (squid ink made it black). He loved it and insisted I take a picture of his black tongue!

Overall, Singapore was fantastic. The best parts, I would say, were the skyline, the big city feel along with the conglomeration of people, the unbelievable harbor, and certainly the taxi drivers, who were always willing to talk politics. Loved it!  

 
As a side note, during our trip from Houston to Singapore, Felix and I got to fly in a Boeing 787 - our first time. Felix wanted to show off one of the wings because that is a part of the plane Nozar contributed to while he was working for Boeing a few years back. The wing itself is an engineering wonder, but that we got to fly on it was even more wonderful. Experiences abound!

We hope you all had the most beautiful, warm, and loving holiday ever!

Attempting Life

Nozar, Tamara, and Felix

Tamara's First Days in Miri

The hotel view. Need I say more?

After what seemed like a really long time (almost eternity), I finally arrived in Miri. It’s my first day here: first day on my own (while Nozar is at work), and first day with all the insects and creepy crawly things on the island. Until we get settled into our apartment, we are staying at a hotel. Even at the relatively modern hotel, as I am sitting on the veranda, I am joined by a beautiful brown frog, lots of flying insects, a couple of variety of ants, two spiders dangling above my table, and a nearly dead beetle (I’m living in denial that this could be a roach). I am just pretending to be alone, so I won’t be so creeped out.

The frog visiting my veranda yesterday.

Getting here from Singapore was…uhmm….fun? We flew into Kuching, the largest city near Miri. There, we needed to alight (disembark) from the plane and go through customs. We failed to understand - also, no one mentioned - we were supposed to go through customs until we were boarding the next (although it was the same plane) flight bound for Miri. In a panic we thought we would have to stay over in Kuching and catch a later flight, but alas, no….here in the relaxed state of Sarawak, they held an entire plane of 213 people for us to: run to immigration, find not a sole working there, track down an employee, wait while they did a shift change, change all immigration stamp dates, get our passports stamped, and then run back to the plane. As we finally boarded, not a sole gave us a dirty look or thought it unusual that an entire 737 would be held up by 2 ignorant foreigners. So our lives here begin, with a new relaxed state of mind and patience to match the locals…hopefully…someday. I understand from the non-locals (expats) that I will need an enormous amount of it; patience that is. For those who know me well, you know that I am being punished for all past sins.

Daily life here will take a bit of getting used to. This morning, while I was waiting to be served my iced cappuccino, I was reading an article in the paper where female illegal immigrants (from the Philippines), if convicted, may receive a punishment of caning. Yeah, wrap your head around that juxtaposition. I’m still having difficulty with it myself. The article prompted me to read more about the practice of caning as punishment here. Wikipedia offers a surprisingly accurate portrayal of the punishment. Keep in mind that two laws rule this country; something similar to what we would consider federal law, and Sharia (Muslim religious law). That means that technically a person (if Muslim) could be caned twice for the same crime. Yikes!  It makes my coffee service not quite so appealing. I have a feeling this will be the first of many occasions where I just need to swallow hard and move on. As a visitor here, I have no rights, especially the kind which would allow me to voice an opinion.

On a more positive note, my first night dinner here was a lesson against gluttony. We, not really understanding how to order, ordered food for about 5 people. We will not make that mistake again. I can say however, that I was served the best snapper and fried rice I have ever had. The food was beautiful, even if served up, in a dirty (on the outside), road-side restaurant, with tailless cats begging under the table, and lizards on the wall. I was served an entire gutted snapper, about 18 inches long, deep fried (no breading folks), with amazing sauce, lemon grass, and green onion on top. I didn't want to seem like a total ignoramus so I didn't snap a pic, but since it was so good, I'll be going back and will provide a pic at that time. The local food here is fantastic, fresh, varied! Total yummy-ness.

As you can see so far, it’s an odd mixture of experiences and emotions we are having. I’m excited and open about proceeding, and can’t wait to share all experiences with you.

Unusual flowers in bloom.

Coming up, I have two more blog entries to finish writing and post. One with pics and info about our time in Singapore and what Felix was up to during his travels, and a second with Nozar’s adventures during his first two weeks alone here in Miri. I hope you all follow along.  I am only going to notify on Facebook and via email a couple of more times about the blog. I don’t want everyone to get burned out with my notifications. If you are interested in following, please choose to subscribe or follow, in the links provided on the right or bottom of the blog page; or, you may just make a note of the blog location, felixsadventures.blogspot.com so that you may visit at your leisure. Either way, we are happy to have you with us.

Attempting Life :)

Tamara

Nozar arrives in Miri!

As many of you know, Nozar has taken a job with Shell. This a real dream job for Nozar with great benefits he just couldn't pass up. Depending on how you look at it, the fact that the job is in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia could be a good or bad thing. Among those folks we’ve told, we have had some positive responses, lots of negative ones, and a few people who can’t identify Malaysia on the map. My favoite aunt, for example, refers to it as outer Mongolia. In our family, we know this as code name for - I'm going really far away. That part is accurate. Where we'll be living is on the island of Borneo. Here it is on the map… 

 
Nozar, who I believe still has the genes of a nomad, couldn’t wait to get to Miri. I, on the other hand, love adventure and new experiences but always enjoy returning to the comforts of home. It remains to be decided if I will relocate fully to Miri or split my time between Houston and Malaysia – either way I believe I’m in for the ride of my life.

Durian Fruit - Has the texture of custard.

On December 1st, Nozar departed from Houston and, after 30 hours of travel, arrived safely in Miri. In typical Nozar style he stopped by a street vendor on the way to the hotel and ate a durian fruit. For those who don’t know, or who Nozar hasn’t forced this fruit on in Houston, it is a very stinky fruit. It is like no smell on earth - it simply cannot be accurately described. The fruit vendor cuts it with a knife and one must essentially eat it right there - street side, as it is so smelly it's illegal in Malaysia to take into a hotel. Ha!

So, for only five days, things are moving along for Nozar very nicely. He’s safe and has opened a local bank account, purchased a phone, taken a tour of the city, spent a day at work, and viewed a few possible places for us to live. I think most American’s, who haven’t traveled much will be surprised at the quality of our “home” there. Although he has gotten all of these things done, I should point out that it’s a slower pace of life in Miri and things like, say.... getting the newly purchased phone activated, takes a mere two weeks. Whah, whah, whahhh. I think Nozar is realizing that “negotiating” is a skill he will have to take off the shelf to get things done in a timely manner there.

As for me, I have my tickets in hand, well…on the computer anyway, and will be flying to meet Nozar in Singapore this month. We'll have a quick 4 day vaca and then on to Miri. It’ll just be a three week trip to begin with, then back to America to decide what's next with our life here.

In the mean time Felix and I will be holding each other tight, until we see Nozar again. I’ll keep you all posted, via the blog, and will post lots of "real" pics soon. Stay tuned and wish us luck!

Tamara and Felix