Strange Dreams in Singapore

Singapore is the stepping stone to Southeast Asia, they say. It's clean, urban, user-friendly, English-speaking, and easy to connect to other countries in the surrounding area. And it was the cheapest flight we could find out of SFO, so we decided to wing it over here and lay over for a few days before going to Bangkok.

We found that Singapore was indeed exactly as described, more expensive than we thought, and not all that special. We stayed in the neighborhood of Little India, which was pungent and colorful and filled with Indian sights and smells: garish gold costume jewelry for sale, heady curries, men holding hands in friendship.. The hostels we stayed in ranged in cleanliness and modernity but rarely in price (S$18-30, or about $15-25 a night, per bed). It was Formula 1 race car week (? who cares ?) so a lot of foreign people were in town for that. I had a lot of dreams every night, some unpleasant and some just strange.

Singapore is a tiny little country, and I would say we made the most of it. The public transit system was super efficient and clean, so we were able to zip around and see a lot. One day we wandered through the botanical gardens, and saw amazing little bonsai trees and wild orchids. Another day we hiked through the Bukit Timah rainforest nature reserve north of the city, where we met the cutest little monkeys and learned all sorts of interesting rainforest facts. One of the best parts of Singapore life was the street food, which was sold by one hundred tiny little vendors all lined up in great big "hawker centres" around the city. These places were super cheap and hectic and nitty-gritty, but delicious nonetheless and wholly memorable. Every kind of Asian and Indian delicacy was available here, from delicate dim sum and mango salad to enormous vats of chicken biriyani and whole legs of fresh mutton. Old folks, hip young teens, Indians and Chinese and southeast Asian people all mingled together for a snack and discussion of weather, gossip, who knows what else. The smells of seafood and Indian spices and ripening fruit and iron-rich raw meat made me dizzy (and sometimes queasy) but it was nice to sit with J and sip on two mugs of cold Tiger beer and watch it all come together.

We bought tickets for Bangkok and promptly regretted it upon discovering that it is rainy season all over Thailand (we could have easily avoided this by heading first to Indonesia, then to Thailand in November) but we'll make the best of it, as we always do.

This final bit on Singapore: for our last night, we bought a camping permit (for free..) and slept in a public pavilion on the beach (beneath a "no camping" sign, oops), resting on top of our packs and resolving to leave early in the morning for the airport. We closed our eyes and promptly fell asleep, but were woken up maybe half an hour later by this huge procession of people dressed entirely in white, banging cymbals and blaring music and generally celebrating something as loud as possible. It was the weirdest, funniest thing: we woke up, heard them coming from afar and saw all their colorful lights in the distance, and within about a minute and a half they were practically on top of us, clanging and clapping and confusing the hell out of us; one of those enormous gilded paper dragons came undulating up (carried underneath by about 17 teenaged boys dressed to be the dragon's legs) and rested right there in the pavilion! Talk about a wake up call. Apparently it was some sort of Chinese "welcoming the emperor" ceremony, and they all walked down to the beach and lit incense and left offerings of oranges and animal vertebrae, sang and danced some more, and then took the whole procession elsewhere. It happened so fast, I hardly had time to rub the sleep out of my eyes and grab my camera. If not for those few photos I would swear that the whole thing happened in a strange Singaporean dream. Did it?

11:54AM
In-flight to Bangkok, Thailand

It's natural

These signs were EVERYWHERE. Rough translation: "Don't Mess With Singapore"

Strange Dream

Westbound

We laid low in San Francisco for a few days, gearing up for our big move west. The weather was so sunny and warm and beautiful, and we enjoyed the last bit of San Francisco (and some killer bluegrass) with our friends. We said goodbye to Mike and Doug, who were brave enough to make the move across country, and who we may not see for a long time. It's good to have friends in different places, but it made me a little melancholic to think of the distance between those boys and their homes, their families, their pets... Will I ever be brave enough for that one way ticket?

At the airport, further worries ensued, at least for me. I thought about all the things I'm going to miss while being so far away-- birthdays, Christmas, a new year with my closest friends, watching movies with my little sister, with Birdie at the foot of my bed, laughing with my mom.. And all in exchange for this unknowable chunk of time we've cut out of our future, to pass through strange new lands and weave in and out of so many strangers' lives. I find it all a little overwhelming.

The prospect of doing it all with J is also daunting, sometimes. Sleeping together, eating together, riding the same buses and trains and getting lost together. Sharing maps, beers, friends, expenses, good fortunes, disasters, the constant compromise. He can be such a pill! So bossy and snarky and quick to bite. Sometimes I just wanna walk away in the opposite direction, and then I remember that J is all I've got out here, the only familiar thing for thousands of miles. I'm no peach either- he'll be the first to tell you. It's a real lesson in patience and tolerance, for both of us.

J and I have been dating for about four and a half years, and we've traveled to all sorts of places together-- Australia, Spain, Morocco, the USVI... We're a good team, for the most part, and at this point I'd trust this guy with my life (he's gotten a lot better about losing things) but still. It's not easy..

2:00PM
Singapore

Yosemite

We were a little desperate to leave Reno, so we splurged on a rental car with the intention of driving back to San Francisco by way of Yosemite National Park!

What a good idea that turned out to be. We camped out in the Sierra Nevadas right near Buckeye Hotsprings (hot springs: my new thing) and drove up and into the park early the next morning. Very abruptly, the lazy rolling desert in the rearview disappeared into the shadows of the mountains. Giant granite cliffs loomed over us and dropped off into deep forested valleys. In some areas, wildfires burned across the hills and left in their wake the skeletons of tall, solitary pines. It was a long and winding drive, and the whole morning the moon was still high in in the sky, dodging in and out of sight but following us all the while. Reminded me of that famous Ansel Adams photograph, only more beautiful. Despite the throngs of tourists and disneyland-like appeal of the major sites and hundreds of RVs rumbling everywhere (all this felt wholly American to me) It was clear to
us that Yosemite is a special, sacred kind of place.

We learned all about the Paiute Natives who lived in the area for thousands of years, until the gold rush of 1849 brought sloughs of settlers and their subsequent territorial disputes. We learned about Galen Clark, the park's first caretaker and the man responsible for it's preservation under the authority of President Lincoln. We learned about the mountain lions and muledeer, the peregrine falcons and gray wolves. Gosh, we learned about it all! Each day we were there, we took day-long hikes to the remotest places: Unicorn Peak, where we found our own secret valley with rivers and lakes unspoiled by the masses; Yosemite Point, where we hiked to the very top and took an icy dip in the tallest waterfall in North America. The temperature dropped to a low 35 degrees at night, and I abandoned our tent to sleep fitfully in the backseat of the car. It was an exhausting time; we bickered a bit, and slept and ate so little, and hiked so much. But every vista was worth the climb, and every morning we woke up stiff and sore, we were greeted by the majesty of our surroundings and reminded what a beautiful world we live in. Historically, people have always been wowed and a little mystified by Yosemite-- John Muir, Ansel Adams, my dad... But every cheesy thing that's ever been said about it is true-- it really is an incredible place.

8:14AM
Oakland, California

View from the top: Unicorn Peak

More photos after the jump?

Biggest Little Shitty On Earth

Why Reno? Because we didn't feel like going back to San Francisco to spend another week bothering Doug and Mike and sleeping on their crappy air mattresses. Because we thought it would be too expensive to rent a car out of Truckee. Because we scored two free nights at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, and why the hell not!

I had never been to a casino before, so the whole experience was a little bewildering for me. First off, the place was huge--and designed to disorient people so that they stay there forever, gambling their money away. Inside it was neither day or night, and there were no clocks anywhere-- just glowing numbers and a mechanical, musical din coming from hundreds of slot machines. Aging waitresses (it was Reno, after all) weaved in and out periodically, bringing free drinks to everyone on the floor. We had all sorts of cocktails on the house, and spent a while betting pennies on the slots. I found out that I do not like gambling-- makes me feel really anxious. It was eerie and uncomfortable being there in that environment, especially seeing so many elderly people sitting at those machines for hours, whittling away their life savings. When we left at eight o'clock in the morning, they were already there, slumped over in front of the slots being served coffee. I think all the flashing lights and music and frenzied activity distracts them from the loneliness of old age. Still, pretty sad and disturbing social construct we came up with-- casinos. I was glad when we left that place.

1:22PM
Sierra Nevadas, California

Truckee

Our stay in Truckee with Mary and all of her friends was such a fun and wonderful treat. We spent the whole weekend paddle-boarding on the lake and camping in the woods, enjoying delicious foods and tasty beers with good company in this little town nestled righti beside Lake Tahoe. Some nights we shacked up with Mary's friends Steve and Charity and their beautiful 3 month old daughter Bella. We slept in a neat RV on the side of their house, and it was fun to hole up in there and play house for a bit. They gave us invaluable advice regarding our pending departure to Southeast Asia (such as: take a cooking class in Chiangmai. Purchase travel insurance for our expensive camera...) and let us spend time with their teeny baby girl, who was a just a delight to be with. It's not every day that you get to hold a just-born person in your arms and count all those perfect little fingers and toes. J even learned how to change a diaper!

Other than that, it was just nice to be with Marybird in her element. She moved out here a few years ago and only comes back to the east coast two or three times a year, so I don't get to see her very often. I'm glad that we got to hang out in this big, beautiful place she's been talking about for years- and I understand now why she decided to stay. Her friends were so awesome and fun to be around too, and it felt nice to know that she's surrounded herself with good folks. We parted ways early Monday morning- her to Park City, Utah (where she works for some months) and us to Reno, Nevada- the biggest little shitty on earth.

Many, many thanks-- to Steve, Charity, badass Mallory with her new machete and badder Travis with his new knee-- for taking us in, for sharing stories and advice, and for showing us an awesome time in Truckee :)

10:00AM
Reno, Nevada

the old gang!

beautiful Lake Tahoe

Humboldt Fog

Thinking we would take a break from hitchhiking and ride sharing, J and I rented a car and spent 2 days driving from Portland to San Francisco. We took route 101 all the way down and drove along the Pacific coast to Humboldt Redwood National Forest- the largest old-growth redwood forest in the world. Anybody who has seen these trees can attest to their great and monumental beauty; this was my first time in Humboldt (I've been to Muir Woods, but that's just a patch of Sequoias, not 52,000 acres of Redwoods looming over the coast and sprawling inland across the state) and it was hard to wrap my head around the notion of these prehistoric creatures- unmoving, undisturbed for centuries, quietly growing for hundreds and hundreds of years up to this very day! They're still alive! We put our hands on a cross section of one of them and felt their rings. I thought, here is when the Moors took control of the Iberian Peninsula. Here is where Jan Van Eyck became the father of the northern renaissance. Here is where we dropped the bombs. Here is where I was born (the very last sliver of wood). It's a strange thing, to conceive of these trees on the timeline of human development; we've been creating and destroying our world like ants on an anthill, and these trees have been there for it all, steadily living through and past all of it. Standing next to one of those big suckers is a very humbling thing.

Upon getting into San Francisco, we met up with our friends Mike and Doug (recent transplants from the east coast) and Joey, who was visiting. We've been crashing with them and exploring the city together, generally enjoying the company of old friends. And on the note of old friends, we left this morning for Lake Tahoe, where we will spend the next few days with my dear friend Marybird! Camping, swimming, bar-be-queing, meeting her people and having fun in the sun.

Looks like Tahoe is going to be our last stop before going west. This weekend we're going to buckle down and purchase a pair of tickets to... Bangkok? Jakarta? Singapore? Da moon??

11:00 AM
Greyhound bus to Truckee, CA

The Pacific!

J and some big trees

Portlandia

Now that I've graduated college and have a more or less open-ended chapter ahead of me, I like to imagine what my life would be like in every new place I travel to. Could I live here or there? What is the weather like year-round? Who lives here anyway, and what do they do for work and play? I've been living in New York for so long now that it's sometimes refreshing to wonder about life in British Colombia (boring) or life in Seattle (rainy) or a beautiful life in Portland, Oregon.

We stayed in Portland for a few days with some awesome friends of J's sister, in a lovely home in a fun little part of town. Portland feels like one big, happy neighborhood: green plants and vines and flowers of every kind crowd the sidewalks and front yards- fragrant rose bushes and gigantic sunflowers and thick, thorny blackberry patches - growing happily in the sunshine and warm weather. Doesn't snow, never gets too cold, and in the winter it just rains a lot. There are one hundred organic coffee shops and rare book stores and antique shops and co ops and unique food vendors. Everybody was so nice- smiling at passers by, walking their dogs, strolling arm in arm with their honeys, composting and gardening and riding their bicycles to work.. It seemed like a place I would really like to live.

The folks we stayed with really sealed the deal for me, as far as the joys of Portland are concerned. Cargo and American and their band of lady musicians and traveling boys were all so cool and interesting and easy to laugh with. They played great music for us and told us the best places to check out around the city and shared their stories and listened to ours. For me, having lived my whole adult life in a gigantic anonymous metropolis, it felt so nice connecting with good people right away in a new and unfamiliar city. We landed in a place that felt sort of like home to me, and it really made me feel like I could have a happy and wonderful life out here.

Thanks to Cargo and company for taking us in and showing us a great time in Portland. Thanks also to J's sister, who hooked it all up for us. BA, you've got good taste in friends :)

12:03 PM
Portland, OR

3B waffles: bacon, basil & brie

and berries

Mt Hood!

This pretty much sums up Portland

Surviving the AlCan

By Jove, we made it! And after two and a half days of epic road tripping through Alaska, Yukon Territory and British Columbia we feel particularly blessed to have arrived unscathed in the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon.

The Trip: Early Saturday afternoon, we set out walking to the highway to get picked up by this potential Craigslist rideshare, who spoke really fast over the phone and sounded really hippy dippy - a farmer/massage therapist/burner/etc named Alannah. She had just driven to the Arctic Circle, she had fallen in love with a guy on a boat, she was trying to drive straight through to Burning Man... when we met up with her on the side of the road, things got even wackier. She arrived in a beat-up, mud-covered Dodge Dakota pickup truck with a covered back, where she had been living since June with her friendly, 80lb black lab named Kaya. The truck was filled with camping gear, massage pillows, sleeping bags, bags of clothing, boots, sneakers, books, boxes of paperwork, three spare tires, motor oil, handfuls of rhubarb and turnips and other root vegetables, dog food, snow shoes... She said that she intended for us to alternate between driving and napping in the back, so that we "wouldn't have to even turn the ignition off the whole way down". When we were done throwing our packs back there, there was hardly enough room for the dog. "we'll just figure it out later, we'll manifest it.." she kept saying. Me and J were a little iffy about the whole situation, but it was too late to figure something else out, so we took a leap of faith and piled into the teeny cab and rolled off towards the horizon.

Other things about her Dakota: it had been given to her free by some good samaritan a few months back. The driver's side door didn't open. The gas meter didn't work (we'd have to eye ball it based on the odometer) the gear shifter didn't work either, and the breaks and power steering were on their way out. The suspension was blown, so the whole truck would rock back and forth after 50mph and anybody stuck in the back would risk getting sea sick with all that motion. Other than that it was a pretty solid machine!

It was long and hard, driving through all kinds of weather and terrain. Sometimes it was scary- especially at night driving around the mountain bends and nearly hitting bison and elk and moose (almost totaled the car that way). Mostly it was amazing, seeing far away mountain ranges loom in the distance and then driving through and past them, past so many forests and rivers and wide open valleys. We talked and laughed and enjoyed getting to know one another- me and J and this light and colorful girl flying by the seat of our pants. We stopped off in Wrangle/St. Elias National Park, home to the 2nd largest mountain in North America (also home to endless wild blueberry thickets). We stopped at Laird Hot Springs in British Columbia, punctuating our 60 hour drive by soaking in some steamy natural mineral waters. It was my first time in a natural hotspring, so I was especially thrilled. What's nicer than a giant earthy bathtub with hot waterfalls and smooth stones and lush green beds of moss and ferns? Nothing, that's what!

We also saw the northern lights, which were a rare and memorable treat. Late night driving out of rural Alaska, and all of a sudden they just opened up above us from horizon to horizon - these mercurial bands of green, silvery light, weaving in and out of each other in a great swath across the sky. Outside the air was cold and dark and silent, and they shimmered and shape-shifted high up in the ether. The whole experience just knocked me out, it was so other-worldly and insanely beautiful. It was one of those moments where you witness firsthand "the wonder of it all". Definitely something I'll never forget.

We woke up in the back of the parked truck at nine in the morning, barefoot and strung out from driving and no inkling of where we were and no sign of Alannah. Turns out we had arrived in Portland, Oregon! It's as far as she was going, and we parted ways that afternoon- us to go stay with some friends of J's sister, and her to Black Rock Desert, NV in a car that by that time was a pothole away from breaking down. I said a little prayer that she would make it all the way, and that was it. Bye Alannah and Kaya! Thanks for the wild ride!

2:42PM
Portland, Oregon

J 

Wrangle

G

Laird Hotsprings with Alannah