After Penang I went back to Kuala Lumpur to spend the night and left the next day for Malacca (also spelled Melaka). Many people told me before I went that one can see all of Malacca in 20 minutes, but I hoped that I would be a different sort of person who would find more to appreciate. Unfortunately, it turned out that I went on one of the worst days possible. On Tuesdays, most places are closed. Since Malacca is so small, that left me very little to appreciate. Malacca was a Portuguese, Dutch, and British colony at different points in time, so there are some remainders of that influence, but not as much as one might expect. To say the least, I was disillusioned by my experience there. Luckily, I had a standing invitation from a Fulbright ETA in a somewhat nearby town in Malaysia, so the next morning I left right away.
I had been struggling with the idea of what one is 'supposed to do/see' while traveling. Going to a new place and seeing everything listed in the guidebook feels like an accomplishment, but it also feels sort of superficial. But going somewhere and following whims and interesting alleyways can result in feeling like I've probably missed out on something that some greater authority deems important. Obviously, I must find the balance. Meanwhile, though, going to Pontian to visit Janice was the perfect escape from that. There is nothing to do there, no must-sees, and so I was free to do whatever I wanted.
Janice was the perfect host, and took me to try the last few things on my Malaysian culinary checklist. (Ok, I guess there were must-dos, but they were things I wanted to do, so it was ok.) I had roti cenai, a standard Malaysian snack food composed of a flatbread and dahl. I even got to try to make it, and it was a doughy disaster. But, the food was good and I had roti telur (with an egg) as well. Janice ordered roti tissu for the group (she lives with Julie, another ETA, and Julie also had a visitor). Roti tissu is thin and crunchy, covered in sugar, drizzled with chocolate syrup, and tastes like caramel popcorn. We hung out for a while and later went out for more food. I had tomyam, a traditional spicy soup, and ice tea with whole lychee, but all of us were still pretty full from our first meal so we had a hard time finishing this second round.
The next morning Janice took me to the one notable point near her: the southernmost point of continental Asia. After about 40 minutes on motorbike, through some coconut palm areas that made me nostalgic for Ben Tre, we arrived at park and mangrove swamp that would lead us to the end of Asia. It was more significant conceptually than physically, but at the same time it sort of felt like we were at the end of the world. Then again, I could see an Indonesian island across the water, so it wasn't that epic. More than anything, it was significant to me because last summer my dad rode his motorbike to the southernmost point of the continental US to raise awareness for anti-human trafficking efforts, and this summer he has set out for Alaska.
Now I am in Singapore. It was a confusingly easy trip, and at about 60 US cents for a bus across a bridge, probably my cheapest international travel ever. I took a bus from Pontian to Johor Bahru, and then in JB got on a bus to Singapore. The driver said it would take over an hour. Five minutes later everyone got off the bus to go through customs. I went through customs and when I came out I got back on the bus, which had crossed over. However, two minutes later everyone got off the bus again. I thought that somehow we had gone in a circle and I would have to go through customs again, which would be odd to explain to the officials. I asked the bus driver if I could just stay on, but he told me I must get off and change buses. I asked a man where I could find a bus that would take me to Singapore and he looked at me like I was crazy and told me I was already in Singapore. It turned out I was at a rail station. I don't know why that original bus driver said it would take so long. I took the rail to Little India, where I found my hostel, and got settled in.
More to come on Singapore. Tomorrow I'm headed to Bangkok.
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