Having Fun in Singapore

March 16

        I'’ll start with a confession:  the last few days I was really bored in classes, didn’t have any school work, and pretty much spent all my free time playing cards and hanging out with friends. It was sorta a mini-spring break where I did nothing, which was a lot of fun but has taken away from my blogging and journaling. So yes, I am fully aware that I have not blogged about my travels in India, but fortunately I have a pretty detailed itinerary with me so I won’t leave anything out when I do finally write it up.  I absolutely promise I will post that before we arrive in Vietnam on Saturday.  Before I continue about my travels in Singapore today, I should also mention that I shaved my head completely bald (we’re talking shaving cream and razor bald) a few days back, so I look a little different but honestly have been told it looks pretty good.  This decision was part of the Neptune Day festivities, so there are a lot of bald guys (and girls!) on the ship now.  More to come on Neptune Day in the next post.  So with that lengthy and rambling introduction I would love to share about my experience in Singapore.
        Like Mauritius, we were only in port in Singapore for one day.  On ship time, which basically is like a curfew to be back on the ship, was about 4 hours later than in Mauritius, so at least we had the opportunity to eat dinner in the city before returning to the ship by 2030.  Singapore was an absolute blast, one of those places I immediately promised myself I would try to return to later in life.  We pretty much had zero plans going in and even stepping off the ship had no idea what we were going to do.  It was a good and liberating feeling though, and after wandering around the harbor center for a while we made it to the metro station and bought an all day rail pass. The metro system in Singapore literally makes the DC metro look like a toilet bowl.  The trains were clean, modern, efficient and quite a bit of fun to ride.  Actually, the entire city center of Singapore puts almost any US city to shame in terms of cleanliness, architecture, noise, smell, attractions, city planning, efficiency of public transportation and just general city vibes.  As an example, despite being in the heart of the city, I don’t think I heard a single vehicle honk its horn the entire day, just because everyone followed the traffic laws and was generally courteous.  It was quite a nice experience, and not something I have been at all accustomed too considering the constant blaring of car horns in India.
        Our first stop off the metro was Chinatown.  We spent about an hour there, wandering the shops, visiting an elaborate Buddhist temple, and smelling all the great food.  Next we headed closer to the waterfront area, hoping to find the Sands Casino.  What we didn’t quite realize about the Sands was that it was much more than a casino.  After crossing a pedestrian bridge called the Helix (designed and constructed to look like a twisting helix) we were confronted with this massive complex of towers and buildings.  The hotel portion of the Sands consists of three, 55-story towers arranged in a row.  On top of the three towers is a massive platform linking the rooftops and extending about a hundred feet out in front of one of the towers, called Sky Park.  In front of the hotel is a massive mall and casino, and in front of that is a science museum that was constructed to look like an opening flower.  Seriously, everyone reading this should google the Sands Singapore and just look at the buildings, it was pretty impressive.  We went to the mall first and ate some great noodles and chicken in the food court next to the indoor ice rink. Next, we were on to the casino where we spent about an hour.  Despite appearing to be rich Americans, the massive casino was way too expensive for us (the minimum bets at all the poker tables was 50 Singapore dollars, or about $40).  We all lost about 10SD on slots, got a complimentary bottle of water, and left with our heads held high.  It was on to Sky Park, boasting panoramic views of the entire city, an outdoor restaurant and one of the world’s largest infinity pools.  It cost 20SD to take the elevator 56 flights to the top, but the experience was well worth the price of admission.  We could see the hundreds of ships anchored just off the main island, the massive city skyline, the floating soccer field and stadium in the harbor, and the armadillo inspired theatre concert venue.  We met up with some other SAS friends at the top and spent 45 mins snapping pictures, trying to sneak into the infinity pool (unsuccessfully) and generally pretending we had way more money in our pockets than we did.  This attitude of snobby American wealth continued after Sky Park when we were in the mall, at which point I assumed the role of the son of a rich white business man, vacationing in the country.  At one store I was presented with a “lucky” stone bracelet costing a cool $200,000 (the store also had a statue costing 20million).  After the sale associate’s pitch I told her I would have to ask my father.  At another store I received a free massage in a $5,000 electronic massage chair (which was absolutely incredible) and was given the store worker’'s personal phone number to call if I decided to buy one of the chairs.  It was fun pretending, but couldn’t quite justify investing in a bracelet, no matter how “lucky” it was.
        After the Sands experience, we wandered over to the theatre center and had the pleasure of sitting in during the sound check for one of the evening’s performances.  The artist was one of the most incredible guitarists I have ever heard and, although we had to leave to meet some other friends, we thoroughly enjoyed our 20min show, which was free, and the seats were oversized beanbags.  Next we were off to meet up with friends at the world famous Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore Sling drink.  Again, everything was crazy expensive ($20 for a tiny mixed drink!) but we did manage to play a free game of billiards in the cigar room, which was pretty classy.  After Raffles, we went to Center Quay, which is a fancy waterfront dining area.  We walked around for a bit, played in the fountain, and eventually ended up at a waterfront seafood restaurant for dinner.  This decision was made after a thorough discussion of going to the Clinic for dinner.  The Clinic is a bar/restaurant where the customers are treated like patients and the staff is doctors and nurses.  This means that guests are seated in gold wheel chairs, drinks are served in IV bags and syringes and all the lights are surgical lights.  It was fun to watch but too expensive and the restaurant we ended up at was great.  Our table of four just split a seafood bucket and a Singapore Sling, but despite not eating a full meal, the atmosphere and company was perfect after a long day.
        We took the metro back to the ship and managed to board with about 2 and a half minutes to spare.  If we had been just a few minutes later, we would have gotten “Dock Time” and been kept from getting off the ship in our next port for up to 24hours.  But everything worked out, as things tend to do with a lot of prayer, a little bit of hustle and perhaps the exposure to a ludicrously expensive lucky bracelet.  So that was Singapore, a place where I would have loved to spend a few more days and could have spent a few thousand dollars.  The city was great, the buildings were spectacular, everything was expensive, and I feel like I did a great job traveling with the lack of planning.  Certainly no regrets or "I wish I would have done that"” from Singapore.  Vietnam is in two days, China soon after and then a yet to be determined new country.  Which reminds, since I suppose I haven’t mentioned it, we are of course, no longer traveling to Japan after the recent tsunami.  I feel guilty even thinking of being disappointed for not being able to go considering the massive scale of tragedy and destruction that is occurring there.  It certainly puts this trip into perspective.  The rumor is we will be going to the Philippines instead, but S. Korea is also an option and would be an incredible destination.  Either way, I am sure I will find adventure and excitement. 

Don’t spit in public or you will get arrested,

Ben

Indian Insights

March 11

  Salutations America (and other foreign locations)!  My last post listed the things I planned to do in India.  It would make sense that this post would describe the things I did do in India, but for some time I have been promising some more creative, and perhaps humorous insights into my travels, and so will take this opportunity to attempt to stray away from my typical chronological accounts (I will post a blog detailing all the things I did later) and instead offer some observations from India.  It should be noted that I have not slept more than about 20 hours in a bed (I have slept a lot on planes, trains and buses though) the past 6 days and so if any of what I am saying does not make sense or contains errors, I suggest you, the reader, stop being so critical and pretentious.  With that said, here are some of my reflections on India.

1.      Mustaches are the dominant fashion statement among males in India.  Literally 90% of men in India sport a mustache without a beard.  This impressive display of lip fur, coupled with the shear volume of men in India, makes me confident that 75-80% of mustaches in the world come from India.  It also makes me want to grow a mustache.
2.      The typical things you would expect to see in India, I did in fact see in India.  This includes snake charmers, rickshaws, the Taj Mahal, train stations just like the ones in Slumdog Millionaire, street beggars just like the ones in Slum Dog Millionaire, every single meal containing curry, cows wandering the road, people talking with an Indian accent (an obvious observation), things smelling (more on that later), very crowded cities, silk and monkeys.
3.      Some other typical things you might expect to see in India that I did not see are: elephants, tigers, 1 billion people (although I did see a lot of people), telemarketing office buildings, the customer support center for Microsoft, massive slums (I was asleep when our train passed them) and 7-Elevens. 
4.      Things smell in India.  Not everything smells and the places that do smell do not all smell badly, but taking a rickshaw around the city of Chennai reveals some intense olfactory sensations.  The things that did smell good in India were: any location within around 4 feet of burning incense, which there were a lot of.  Also, the flower necklaces we got smelled good.  Things that smelled bad in India were: the tons of trash on the streets in the poorer parts of the country, the rivers of poo and pee that run through these streets, copious amounts of curry, the airports, the bus stations and the shops (all probably related to the poo, pee and trash everywhere), the River Ganges, the bodies being cremated in the open on the banks of the River Ganges and the tap water at the hotel.  I do not want to sound like a whiny tourist and therefore do admit that the strong and many times disagreeable smells all enhanced my India experience.
5.      I believe there exists a correlation between the socioeconomic status of an India city and the type of vehicles in that city. In Chennai there were hardly any private cars but tons of rickshaws and motorcycles filling the wide roads.  In Varanasi the roads were not as big or wide, and the more dominant vehicles were buses and bicycles.  In the nicer areas of Delhi there were private cars, the roads were wider and traffic was a little easier.  So it was interesting experiencing all of the different vehicles and traffic scenarios.  I traveled via taxi, bus, motor rickshaw, bike rickshaw, motorbike rickshaw, ship, canoe, train and plane.  At the end of the voyage I want to try to remember all of the types of transportation I have used, since the list is pretty long already.
6.      A three-wheeled motor rickshaw is cheaper, more fun and a lot more dangerous than any amusement park ride in the world.  Literally these tiny vehicles would shot gaps in traffic with inches to spare going 30+ mph.  My legs and arms stuck outside the open frame ever so slightly, but I still had to squeeze myself into a tiny ball just to keep all of my limbs intact.  Richshaw drivers also have these deals worked out with shop owners where they get a commission if they bring customers to the stores, so every rickshaw ride includes a bunch of stops at the driver’s “family” shop or a lot of yelling and negotiating to avoid these unnecessary stops.  I took a video during one of our rickshaw rides, which is really the only way to describe the experience.
7.      It appeared that I was the tallest and biggest person ever to go to India.  The only clothes that fit were 5XL (about 3-4 sizes bigger than normal), my legs barely fit in bus seats, and I had to constantly duck to avoid the low ceilings.  If I opened a Big and Tall store for American tourists in India, I’d be a rich man.
 
   I think that is all the insight I can muster for now.  Tomorrow we are celebrating Neptune day, which was supposed to happen when we crossed the equator back on the Amazon, but for some reason we are going to pretend that we are crossing the equator right off the eastern coast of India.  Classes are cancelled so there is no need to complain and the tradition is to shave your head, so ill probably do that (A bald head would nicely complement a mustache).  I’ll also try to post some specifics about the past 6 days, so look for that. 

Hope all is well

-Ben

The Indian Ocean

March 5

        Greetings from somewhere off the eastern coast of Sri Lanka! We have been at sea since Monday and are set to arrive in Chennai tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  The Indian Ocean has literally been like glass (for those not nautically inclined that means there are hardly any waves and the water surface appears like a sheet of glass), which has made for an incredibly smooth journey without any noticeable rocking.  Last Monday we were making almost 30kts an hour, which is a pretty rare occurrence.  The next morning at around 7:30am the captain made an announcement stating that we had been rushing to a remote military island in the middle of Indian Ocean in order to evacuate two students who needed medical attention (I also heard that a crew member was evacuated, but that is not official).  The students were suffering symptoms from pre-existing conditions, and the latest report is that they were successfully airlifted from the military base to Singapore and were recovering well.  However, they are not expected to rejoin the voyage, so I’m not exactly sure what their condition is.  The military base is named Diego Garcia and is currently one of five locations that help keep the US military’s GPS running.  It is the only “black” location, which I don’t really know what that means, but as soon as we entered their restricted waters there was a flotilla of marines carrying machine guns in about 6 zodiac crafts constantly circling our ship.  We also were not allowed to take any pictures.  The whole process was rather exciting and we are probably in a very, very small group of non-military people who have ever seen the island. 
        So that was the excitement for Tuesday morning and other than a slight head cold that kept me resting in bed more than I would have liked, the past few days were a pretty “normal” week at sea.  On Thursday night we had a fellowship service that was attended by a lot of students, of which about 7 was their first time.  It was very encouraging and again I am blown away by how God has blessed me with a great community of believing brothers and sisters and the opportunity to worship Him no matter where I am on the globe.  After the service the ships crew turned off all of the exterior lights and let the students go out on the top decks to star gaze.  I don’t know a lot about different star formations or anything like that, but you didn’t have to be an astronomer to be in awe of the night sky.  It was incredible to lie on my back, have a deep conversation with one of the new kids at the fellowship service about faith and life, and be mesmerized by God’s universe.  Not a bad way to spend a Thursday night.
        Anyways, tomorrow we arrive in India and as tradition has been so far on this voyage, I’ll try to give you a rough itinerary:

Sunday: I am attending a street theatre performance for one of my classes.  Kinda bummed about not having the day free to explore, but it should be a fun experience and I know a few friends on the trip.
               
Monday: My only free day in Chennai.  Hopefully I can take a bus into the city and get lost for a bit.  I also want to see some of the temples in the area, but I am really trying to leave that day plan-free so adventure can pop up.
       
Tuesday: My SAS overnight trip starts today.  I fly to Delhi and then on to Varanasi starting at about 3 in the morning. In Varanasi we are going to a bunch of Buddhist and Hindu temples and some museums.

Wednesday:  We wake up way early in the morning and board a small sailboat for a sunrise trip down the Ganges River, which I am incredibly excited for.  Then we fly back to Delhi and spend the rest of the day exploring Delhi.

Thursday: Again we wake up ridiculously early and board a train to Agra, where we hit a few temples and forts and then the Taj Mahal.  Obviously I am excited for this.  Then we take the train back to Delhi.

Friday:  Today we wake up really early again (shocker) and return to Chennai. We are scheduled to be back on the ship around 1pm, so I probably wont have any time (and will be ridiculously tired) to go back out in Chennai to explore before on-ship time. 

So that is the plan for India.  Should be fun.

Just tryin’ to blend INdia,

-Ben

Gettin Vicious in Mauritius

Feb. 27
      
        So today we had the pleasure of getting off the ship for about 7 hours, exploring a remote foreign country and then leaving.  This blog post will be pretty short, because there simply wasn’t any time to do much of anything, so it won’t take me too much time to explain the one thing I did.  So without further ado, the one thing I did in Mauritius was…. to go on a catamaran cruise to an island, swim around, eat lunch, and sail back to the ship.  It was fun and relaxing, but probably not one of the more memorable things I have done so far or will end up doing.  Literally about 200 SAS kids all were at the same island on about six different catamarans.  It was funny because when we were let off the ship this morning one third of all the students got in taxis, drove to the north side of the island, got on a catamaran and all ended up at the same spot.  When we reached the island, which was uninhabited and you couldn’t really climb the rocks to get on land anyways, all the boats tied up and anchored together and all the SAS kids spent a few hours swimming from boat to boat, jumping off the railings, eating the barbeque from the catamaran’s tiny grill and generally enjoying themselves.  I had debated not going and instead exploring some of the capitol city Port Louis, but had a free ticket for the catamaran and had told some friends that I would be going, so I figured it would be worth it.
        The experience of only being in port for one day was really strange considering we visit most other countries for at least 5 days.  When we are in a country for a longer time like that, we all go through this process of preparation, adjustment and equalization with the local culture, and then the strange effect of being back on the ship.  It is actually rather draining and requires a lot of someone.  Today however, it really felt like a Saturday afternoon (it was Sunday to be technical), where a bunch of us just went sailing, for a while and then got back on the ship.  No packing, no hotels or hostels, no getting lost, no finding a good restaurant that you want to go back to, just getting off the ship and getting back on a few hours later.  I have heard this will be the last time SAS stops in Mauritius, mainly because there isn’t a whole lot to do in one day, and the SAS kids have a reputation of being raucous and drunk.  On previous voyages, the ship had stayed overnight, but the Mauritian government was so upset by the damage done to the island that they were not cooperative and would not let us stay overnight even if ISE had wanted it.
        Anyways, at least I can say I have been to Mauritius and it really was a beautiful island that I enjoyed immensely during my few short hours.  However, the great land of India is less than a week away, and that is really where everyone'’s attention has been since leaving South Africa.  I have a little bit of sunburn on my shoulders to keep me warm when I sleep tonight (even though we were only here for a day everyone is exhausted), but I figure it’s better than getting cold from the winter temps on the East Coast.

Enjoy life,

-Ben