oh singapura~

Friday's trip to Malaysia was a blast... ever since i renewed my passport a couple of weeks ago, it was like the possibilities where endless... i held in my hands my very own personal document of Freedom~

it was great knowing i could leave in a moments notice...

the last time i left the country was on the 4th of June 1998 to Indonesia... its now 2009, that was 11 years ago. Imagine my excitement when i crossed the line into another country and saw that the lamp posts where red instead of Grey, with an eccentric bend of steel curled to the side with 2 potted plants dangling very so gracefully from the tips~

Imagine my exhilaration as hundreds of motorbikes and Protons with the letter "J" fronting every plate number reigned over the slightly reddened streets of Jorhor~

the little differences also amused me, like how everything's spelled in Malay... "Exit" is called "Keluar", Restrooms called "Tandas"... the word "Tandas" doesn't even sound like toilet... if it weren't for the picture of the Male and Female logo i would've figured it for a storage room or something~

there are no Hi-rises in Malaysia... which makes it look pretty rural but a relief to me in some way... having all the buildings built so low makes the sky look bigger... u could look up and see everything~ it may not have been the most breath-taking view of a picture perfect blue sky but at least u could see it, u know...

Actually the difference between Singapore and Malaysia doesn't really differ that far... they pretty much had the same stuff we have cept cheaper and.. well, sometimes even better... but development wise, i would say SG takes the cake~

things aren't as clean, certain infrastructures aren't as well developed... basically most of the superficial stuff like the roads being a bit Off & all that, is sightly flawed compared to Singapore's...

but the thing that makes me overlook these minor discrepancies were the people~
you'd never find people behaving like this in Singapore cause everyone here is friendly as Shit...

i wouldn't say its cause they were constantly happy like they just won the lottery or anything like that... its more of the impression they gave me...

that their here to live...
to go about their lives, to survive..
and to do so peacefully & with respect~

im walkin around City Square lookin at all the people and not one, NOT ONE OF THEM gave me the "Guai Lan" look you'd often see in the faces of Singaporeans... everyone was pleasant, like one big family.... i heard stories bout how they'd judge u by the colour of ur skin or how everyone there'll try n cheat u of ur money when they see ur not local... that any moment u can get robbed or some guy would just stab u for bumping into him...

i felt non of that hostility~

i walked around with my head held high, smiling at everyone who so much as looked in my direction:) being in a strange country, not knowing anybody there... its extremely liberating... i felt this constant wave of self-confidence and empowerment, like the laws don't apply to me... like i could do wadever i wanted...

being a tourist gave u unique privileges the locals weren't entitled to... u could walk up to a stranger and strike up a random conversation and no one would think twice that ur some weirdo cause ur not, ur a tourist... a visitor in our country who means us no harm~

it's a great way to express urself, i fucking luved that :)

Omg, and the food! holy shit was that ever the highlight of the day~ Duck ever so succulent to the taste, Dumplings the size of ur palm, fish with the taste of the sea, Deer meat in all it's splendor!!!
(i could go on... )

both dinner and lunch, all under S$40... so divided by 2 people, tats 20 bucks per person... and all, with the taste, quality and portion fit for Kings and Superstars alike~

think the only trouble i had over there was that of communication... SM had to do almost all of the verbal transaction, accept for the movie ticket.. i bought that since the ticket girl was Malay... but i bet her mandarin would've been better than mine anyway~

Looking up at the night sky above after dinner made clear that it was late, and it was time to go home... all my life, since i can remember.. i've hated Singapore... i hated the govt, the rules, the restrictions, the lifestyle, the people... i found no good reason to ever wanna stay, even when comparing sg to msia... sg lost~

but... for some strange reason.... i actually wanted to go back~

& i hated myself for feelin tat way, but it was home... seeing the MRT again didn't exactly make me overflow with patriotism~ and hearing the Singporean accent being spoken again instantly turned me off. i didn't feel glad to be back at all...

but, it was home i suppose... i spent all my life living here, we're creatures of habit afterall...

the only thing i can embrace from this is the fact that i have the choice to leave... the option to 'get-out'~

think i'll just hold on to tat idea for now..
& maybe brush up on my "lahs" & "lors" in the mean time~



-peace-