For our last day in australia we took a daytrip up to an old childhood friend of my dads, who has bought a piece of farmland with her husband, which is largely planted with indigenous forest and orange orchids. We had a lovely evening listening to childhood story's of my dad and meeting her daughter, who is named Bella as well, the first human named bella i have met so far.
We fly to Singapore on Tuesday evening, and make our way straight to our hostel for the night. Its hot, humid, sticky. Our hostel thank goodness has air condition, otherwise we would have not have survived the night with 40 other backpackers in the dorm. (But why, WHY do they have to arrive at 2 in the morning and yell around that they cant find a switch for their laptop, and why, WHY does the dude next to our bed have to start packing his bag at 4.30am and constantly shine his torch straight in my face while muttering about not finding his boxershorts..do I look like I am hiding them under my cushion, for damns sake??
Yeah.. at least we had aircon.. We get up the next morning, barely rested and head down for our price included breakfast at the hostels. We store our bags and hit town before noon to explore little India (the area of Singapore we are staying at)
We stroll down the streets with hundreds of thousands of shops selling saris, henna tattoos, Indian cousin , kum kum powder (used to make the red dot Hindus wear on their foreheads)and fried ducks, head and feet still attached. We stay cautious though, for this quarter is known to have certain streets where traders push around trolleys piled high with goats heads, while the halal butchers go to work in full view of the customers.. we pop into the Veeramakaliamman Temple, dedicated to the ferocious Hindu goddess, Kali. Footwear has to be left outside, and inside is clattered with colorful statues of various Hindu gods, some with, some without Elephant heads, always with 2 sets of arms and draped over and over with banana leaves and flower banquets.
We head away from Little India and towards Singapores Botanical garden, where thanks to my faked student card, (thanks mom) I get into the National Orchid Garden for only S$1. Lots and lots of Orchids all sizes and colors, the best is the "cool house", a very tempting escape of the heat and humidity..
Our next stop is China Town, where we spend most of our time trying to make head or toe out of the masses of street markets and food courts. Two hours and lots of spent dollars later, we come across the Buddah Tooth Relic Temple. A lot less chaotic and kitsch as the Hindu temples we had seen before. Here you find a certain piece-fullness, cameras are not allowed and women have to cover knees and shoulders with colorful scarves, which are handed out in front of the Temple. After I have been dressed appropriately, we step into a world of red and gold, with the constant chanting of Buddhist (I nearly wrote Nudist) monks being interrupted only by the occasional ring of a bell that carries through the room, bouncing of the walls and slowly fading back into the background of the chanting. we witness what must have been the blessing of a group of people, and are allowed to step into the meditation area, which is sited out with piles of cushions which are only permitted to use during meditation. sadly, no photos allowed. We take a visit to the Temples rooth garden, where we see even more Buddahs and Orchids.
After this amazing experience, we head back into the crowded streets of Chinatown. We slowly make our way back to our hostel, where we pick up our bags and take our final flight back home.
Oh, and as on every "Grande Voyage", there have been some men over board..
LOST-list
1 x Credit Card
1 x Favorite T-shirt
1 x Sock
Lots of dignity, walking into shops sleepy headed and barefoot
1 x Towel
1 x Dishcloth
1 x Spork
1 x Zippo Fire Lighter (damn you, Rarotonga security check)
1 x Nail Scissors (damn you, Sydney security check!!)
and just mentioning, singapore cheeseburgers have three, instead of one slice of pickled gurken.. just observing..
So, we are back in the world of Pretzels and Spellcheck, J is thrilled and I am confused, for even more than ever, I cant figure out if I have just arrived or left home, am still looking for home or am never going to find home..
I just want to use this opportunity to thank all our hosts during this trip. Many knew we were coming their way, others were called and hour before we arrived, and all took us up with so much welcome and warmth, for which we are grateful beyond words. You made most of this trip, if not all of it, possible for us, and not only did you welcome us into your homes, you shared your food, your family and your stories with us, you lent us cars, picked us up from service stations, took us to airports, offered shoulders to cry on and built little bubbles of safety for us, in this world full of unknown.
Of course, if any of you or any of your family ever come our way, our doors will always be open.
We have such special memories linked to all of you, and we are proud to count you as our friends. Thank you, so much, for giving us this possibility.
Looking back, this trip was very different to our South Africa trip. We left full of confidence after "conquering South Africa" without realizing that this next part would be so different, in so many ways. We dived head first into a swirling rapid of ice cold water, and we finally realized what "culture shock" really means. We where hardly organizes or prepared for what was already happening, and we frantically had to adjust to constantly changing situations and conditions. but, by the time we reached California and then Canada,I think we managed to find a balance, partly because we had some time to breath and do some research, and partly because we where taken in by warm and loving families that gave us the feeling of being wanted and understood. Only then we realized how much we missed sitting at a table for dinner, not being alone while dinner, and just taking an evening stroll around the neighborhood without jumping out of the way of wailing sirens and hooting taxis. California and Canada offered us the sense of family and the open nature we missed so much in new york and Miami and we slowly managed to regain faith in what we were doing.
Of course, I don't think I have to mention what a fantastic time we had on Rarotonga..
New Zealand was cold, Australia wet, but the Outback and Kangaroos where worth the trip.
Singapore was a great opportunity to test the waters of South East Asia a bit (a very, very small bit) and good to realize that my South East Asia dreams have not completely evaporated in my fear of the unknown. Sometime in the future I will definitely give it a second try.
All in all, I cant say that all that we hoped for came true in this trip. There are still 1000 pictures, memories and experiences I was hoping to make, but I think my high expectations are bases on our very successful trip in South Africa. But i am not to forget that the situation was very different. In South Africa, we always where with a something I knew, and in an area I knew, with people I knew. We barely had to organize anything on our own, and there was always someone only 6 hours drive away to help us if need be. We didn't ever feel so utterly alone as we sometimes did on this trip.
Even is some of them weren't what we expected them to be, we have been to places and seen things that other may never. And as we noticed in Kruger Park, the best experiences are those you arent expecting/looking for. We've shared donuts with homeless, witnessed weddings on the beach, had snowcaps at baseball games, shampooed horses, watched the sun set over the grand canyon, learned how to hitch hike, adopted three leged dogs, partyed under the stars and made friends with koalas. We learned that cheeseburgers in Singapore have not only one, but three slices of pickled gurken and illegal parking means a 99$ fine in Sydney (we learned that the hard way)
This trip might not have been what we hoped it would be, but in exchange, we we're able to make experiences we never dreamed of.
If anything, it has helped us to see our home with different eyes. there is so much in Germany we have taken for granted before we knew better.
Before this world trip, I at least knew with certainty that I didn't belong in Germany.. now I don't even know that. I hoped that with this trip, I was about to finally finish the Bella-Puzzle I have been working on for so many years. Now that I have found those missing pieces I knew where still in South Africa, I have lost others during the rest of my trip, and now that I finally know what the picture should look like, I notice I have got my edges all wrong.. I don't know if I will ever finish my puzzle, and at times it seems it is impossible to get it looking like i want it to look, and at times i don't even know why I try..
Maybe I was not meant to achieve everything I wanted during this trip, so that I have to carry on striving to fulfill dreams, because, if all your dreams have come true, there is no more reason to dream, is there.. and the night would be a terribly long and boring time, if it weren't for dreams..
This Trip has come to an end, but my travels have most certainly not. Blogging has given me the reason I needed to write all our little "adventures" down, and I will carry on doing so in future trips, even if not as extensive as this one. Of course, if you wish, I will carry on sending out notes when updating blog. Otherwise, live in peace, social contacts, may the force be with you and until we meat again, personally or virtually.
Over and Out
xx b&j
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