Day 72 – 76: Amsterdam

The Netherlands reminded me a lot of Singapore. It is one of the most successful countries in Europe. Not easy, given that its neighbours, France and Germany, are important powers with huge economies. But for a small country, The Netherlands has managed extremely well. Per capita GDP is one of the highest in the world (actually Singapore is a pretty rich country too; when purchasing power is taken into account, we rank within the top 5 countries in the world, beating Japan, South Korea, North America and almost every other European economy). Prices are relatively low in its capital city, Amsterdam, especially when compared with exorbitant Paris. The country is very clean by European standards. Things work efficiently. And Dutch corporations are important players in the world economy – the airline KLM, the banking giant ING and the multinational Unilever which owns many worldwide brands such as Ben and Jerry’s.

Income disparity in the Netherlands is one of the lowest in the world, press freedom one of the highest, democracy works like magic with hardly any problems like those seen in other industrialised countries, and it has an education system the envy of the world.

Income taxes are above 50% too, by the way. Make no mistake, this is a welfare state, Northern European style.

New Dutch Living

Dutch people themselves identify more closely with Scandinavian countries like Denmark and Sweden than Central European countries like Germany and Austria or Western European ones like Belgium and France.

They are very conscious about their environment and aware of world issues. This is definitely not an ignorant and passive population. 

Especially my couchsurfing host in Amsterdam. Oscar is the most intelligent and talented person I have ever met in my life. I used to have a classmate who routinely topped the class in every subject, but Oscar’s still smarter. He has an active social life and doesn’t study a lot, but seems to remember every single thing he reads. He knows so much about the world and stuff around him – like what era a certain building dates from based on its architectural style. He can play many musical instruments, and most impressive of all, he has an incredible capacity for languages, being able to converse in Dutch, English, Spanish, French, German, Russian and Bulgarian.  This guy is definitely talented, and his enthusiasm for languages rubbed off me a little as well.

Cycling

Cliches of the Netherlands: windmills, bicycles and tulips. All true, but none more so than bicycles. There are so many bicycles in Amsterdam, its crazy. All kinds of bikes, parked in every possible place. Everyone has at least one bike in this country and most have two or three (Oscar has 5, by the way). They use huge locks to secure their bicycles, and because of the sheer number of bicycles and the ingrained cycling culture, safety and theft is not as huge a problem as expected.

It’s a country built for cycling. The Netherlands is as flat as a pancake, with hardly any hills or slopes. It is even flatter than Singapore. The landscape just stretches on and on, and that makes it eminently cycle-friendly. There are dedicated bike lanes everywhere, and bikes are given priority in traffic situations. Cars are respectful of cycle traffic, and despite the potential for chaos, bicycles, cars, motorised bikes, pedestrians and trams seem to coexist very well on Amsterdam’s narrow streets.

Dutch bikes have lots of different designs. This cute little fact alone will tell you how a bike is a central feature of Dutch commuting: there exists a kind of ‘pram-bike’, with a little barrow-like structure with a wheel attached to the front of a bike, so mum can bring her kids along on a bicycle.

Another City That’s Prettiest In The World

Like Porto and Paris, Amsterdam is a breathtaking city. All the European cities just seem to be so pretty, I can’t help but like each of them. Amsterdam is big but not too large, and crowded but not overwhelming. The fifth-most visited city in Europe, and filled with tourists, but it is surprisingly easy to find picture-perfect streets beside tree-lined canals. The old city is so large, and there are so many old buildings and old canals, that even the massive amounts of tourists can’t be everywhere. Many buildings date from the 17th century, and are perfectly preserved, and I was filled with a sense of wonder as I explored the hundreds of streets on bike, each turn revealing a new picturesque canal.

The Ugliness of Tourism

Amsterdam’s tourism office tries to make as much money as possible out of each tourist. They charge 2.50 euros (S$5) for a city map. A visitor from a foreign country isn’t treated as a guest by the city’s tourism bureau, but as a cash cow presenting an opportunity to be milked of as much money as possible.

Some tourists are just plain ignorant, no doubts about that, but I take the view that treating tourists like cash cows just brings bad-quality tourists to your city. What most tourism bureaus want, I suppose, are discerning, high-income individuals with an appreciation for local customs and an appetite for the new and unfamiliar. They’d like tourists who take the time to enjoy a city, understand its people and go off the beaten track to discover little gems and treasures that make a destination so special. No one likes busloads of tour groups who snap photos, comment tactlessly and buy 4 for $1 Eiffel Tower keychains. Unfortunately, the latter is the overwhelming truth of mass tourism nowadays, and Amsterdam isn’t doing much to help by making tourists buy a S$5 city map and having a visitor centre that gives one the impression of a over-bureaucratized public hospital waiting room, rude service, long waiting times and completely unnecessary queue systems with flashing neon numbers included.

Man-made Beauty

Amsterdam, and the rest of The Netherlands, is pretty much all man-made. There’s not much of a choice, really, because the country is low-lying and facing a constant battle with the elements, including a turbulent relationship with water. But its quite beautiful. The interplay of light shining through gloomy clouds, shimmering canals and narrow, historic houses would captive anyone’s imagination.

I spent a lot of time with Oscar during my stay in Amsterdam. We cycled through pretty neighbourhoods, dodging traffic, and I got an excellent crash course into why foreigners should think twice before biking along a main road in Amsterdam. We even did a cycling trip to Haarlem, a town near Amsterdam, and it turned out to be on the same day as a music festival, where I got to witness the spectacle of the entire country’s under-25 population doing crazy stuff to weird music, paying exorbitant prices for small portions of grub and a chance to relieve oneself in the toilet (I used the one in Delifrance instead; yes, Delifrances start appearing once you travel Eastwards from France), and turning the ground incredibly muddy from all that spilled beer.

Too Planned

I don’t like the weather in the Netherlands, but then again, I might just have been unlucky. Still, it reminded me a lot of England. Totally depressing and cloud-laden sky. Now my favourite kind of sky is a clear blue one, even in sweltering Singapore.

Besides the weather, I found the ‘suburbs’ of Amsterdam depressing. This doesn’t only apply to the areas surrounding Amsterdam, but to all the parts of the country that weren’t built before the 19th century. Perhaps this great weather of theirs inspired them to conjure up equally unappealing buildings, looking extremely dull and resembling parts of a hospital complex. I really don’t know how to describe it, but my heart sank at the sight of these buildings (and there are quite a few, once you get out of the city centre). They looked like they belonged behind the Iron Curtain, and it all seems like planned Orwellian uniformity, unimaginative and functional architecture.

A Tug

They like to play silly tunes at Giant to entertain shoppers. I don’t know whose idea it is, but turn off the radio anytime, I say. Imagine how ridiculous it is when the latest R&B trash bursts from the speakers when you’re frantically trying to pick the freshest and biggest-looking grey prawns with your hand wrapped in a transparent plastic bag while fending off other jostling shoppers at the same time.

The songs played change frequently, a playlist in flux according to the season and occasion. Hence, as we enter the month of August, the theme is now National Day. Songs of which are typically cheesy and repetitive, but hearing them, I felt a familiar sense of belonging wash over me, only to be replaced by a sense of nostalgia and sadness at leaving home soon.

It’s easy to say that we have no sense of identity, being a small and young nation. Are we first Singaporeans or ethnic Chinese? Are we first a city, or a country? Are we Southeast Asians first, or the descendants of Northeast Asians? Are we immigrants first, or are we natives? Singaporeans have a complex relationship with the place they live in, one that is constantly undergoing redefinition and reinterpretation.

While backpacking on my own, I was sometimes forced to confront these issues. Is my identity Singaporean or Chinese? Do I identify more with people of other races living in Singapore, or with other Chinese living in Taiwan and China? Do I like Singapore as a country, or as a city? Am I happy and proud when I see Singaporeans overseas, or do I want to find a hole to hide into? Do I like Singaporeans, or do I hate them? Why am I thinking this way?

I don’t know if my generation and I will ever find the answers to these questions, but I appreciate what I will miss when I am abroad - familiar comforts and support from family and friends. Homesickness is impossible to stave off, I know, and I have experienced it before. What is the best way to adapt to it? Force yourself to pretend it never existed and hope it eventually disappears, or confront it head-on and recreate a bubble of Singapura in a land far away?

Its a different feeling this time, because I don’t know for sure how long I’ll be gone for, and when I will next step foot in Singapore again. Might be soon, might not be so soon.

I felt a tug.

Decision Made

It’s done, I made the decision.

And I will not regret it.

I know the road down has now become even tougher than before, a result of my own doing, and yet the potential reward and self-fulfilment along the way will be greater. Starting from Friday, and stretching over the weekend to today, Tuesday, I took 5 days of agonising, worrying, poor appetite and sleeplessness to finally come to this conclusion. I’ve spoken to so many people wiser and more mature than me, and am grateful to everyone of them for their advice. Thank you so much, if you’re reading this. I feel like I’ve gained a whole year of experience in life just by pondering this matter alone, and weighing the pros and cons. And I count myself fortunate that I did it just in time, before anything serious has happened. I will stick with it, no matter what it brings me. But of course, this time, no matter what it brings me, I will be in the power to change it. Its empowering, but scarily empowering, tossing myself out there, without any support to fall back on.

P.S. Please don’t ask me what this decision is about online/on facebook. I’ll tell you if you want to know when we meet in person. Cheers

Decisions

I'm quite bad at making decisions, and I know it.

But I'm glad that at least I'm thinking this one through. Whatever my choice might ultimately be, I at least know that I've agonised over it, deeply, painfully and truthfully.

Next step, soliciting more opinions, to make a more informed decision. That's the best I can do, isn't it? Life's full of unknowns, sometimes you just have to believe in yourself.

And yes, I know I believe in myself.

I'll put this matter to rest for the rest of the night, and continue thinking about it tomorrow.

Peace

The End of the Trip

During the final few days of the trip, when I was in my last destination, Abu Dhabi, I eagerly anticipated returning home. By then, after 3 straights months on the road, I was getting sick of travel and longing for the comfort of home.

The last day in Abu Dhabi, I was supposed to wake up early to go to the sixth largest mosque in the world, the Sheik Zayed Mosque, but when my mobile phone alarm sounded early in the morning, I felt so drained and just content to keep sleeping that I just pressed the button and continued sleeping.

I still love travelling, but going home’s great. I couldn’t wait to return home, to see familiar faces, hear familiar lingo and eat familiar food once again.

My heart raced when it approached the time to board the plane. Taking Singapore Airlines direct back from Abu Dhabi to Singapore was the right choice, even though it cost me $550 for the single trip. I kept thinking about wonderful images of home, of seeing my family and friends again. I couldn’t wait.

And being on Singapore Airlines. Though I was originally supposed to fly on AirAsia, I changed to SIA in the end because the latter cancelled their flights to Abu Dhabi “to stave off bankruptcy” as their customer service representative stated in the email. Don’t really believe it has anything to do with bankruptcy, but whatever. It was nice to fly back with Singapore Airlines. Hearing the air stewards and stewardesses speak in that distinctive Singaporean-accented English was like music in my ears. I liked the flight not because it was comfortable, but mostly because it reminded me that I was going home.

“And to all Singaporeans, welcome home”

That statement sounded in the cabin broadcast as we touched down at Changi. It resonated strongly within me. After 3 months in a foreign land, I was returning home at last.

What did I learn from this trip?

Of course I’m now much more international in my outlook and receptive to new encounters and experiences. But in a world where far too many experiences get labelled as “awesome”, “great” and “fantastic” and looked back on in rosy-tinted glasses, I’ll be honest - its hard to pinpoint exactly how this trip has changed me. Maybe it has, in many little ways and in many different aspects, but it certainly wasn’t life-changing. I’m glad I went ahead with it though. And I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

PS Am still updating this blog with travel stories from the trip. Watch the posts below.

Day 95 – 96: Abu Dhabi

Like Dubai, but with worse shopping malls

The capital city of the United Arab Emirates has more in similar with Dubai than it has differences.

And so, its a city that I hate as well.

I hate the wide ten-lane roads built for cars.

I hate their excessive use of water to hydrate all those plants in their lush parks and gardens.

I hate the disconnect between the rich, minority Arabs and the poor, majority Indian foreign workers.

I hate the sweltering desert heat and that distinctive, slightly unpleasant smell in the air.

I hate it that they have almost zero public transportation.

I hate their dull fast food and staid, expensive restaurants.

According to CNN, this is the richest city in the world. Abu Dhabi’s oil reserves are estimated to last till way beyond the year 2100. In other words, they can continue building garish glass skyscrapers, ten-lane roads and nonsensical theme parks like “Ferrari World”, fill the desert with hundreds of water-sucking fountains and populate the city with thousands of foreign workers from the Indian subcontinent and the Philippine archipelago. And leave the air-conditioner switched on 24 hours a day. God, I really hate this country.

I think they are acquiring enough bad karma such that when the oil reserves finally run out one day, they will never, ever, ever be rich anymore for the rest of human history.

What are we going to do with so much money?

I mean, there’s only so many ten-lane roads and skyscrapers they can build.

So…

Here comes the prestige projects like yes, Ferrari World. Saadiyat Island, one of their no-one-knows-if-its-natural-or-reclaimed islands in the Arabian Gulf (also known as the Gulf of Oil) is their latest fill-in-the-blanks city.

This time, its Cultural City. I really don’t understand this love of building self-contained but otherwise disconnected and disparate mini-cities. To me, its just poor urban planning. The emirate of Abu Dhabi found that they had too much money from their endless oil reserves, so they decided to invite, wait, I mean, BUY OVER the Louvre and the Guggenheim so they will come build nice museums in the middle of the desert.

The entire project will cost billions and feature beautifully reclaimed waterfronts, more spewing fountains, more parks that look almost tropical-like in their lushness, and everyone’s favourite, more shopping malls. Emirati-style, of course, which means its likely to be populated with luxury brands for the conspicuous consumption of the rich locals, and staffed to the brim with Indian security guards and Filipino store assistants.

Have I already said that I hate this country?

Shit, Dubai is overtaking us

The UAE is really more of a federation than a country. When I was in Abu Dhabi, which owns over 10% of the world’s known oil reserves, I read of foreign workers in another emirate, Sharjah, suffering electricity cuts to their dormitories and flats. Yeah, you heard it right, electricity cuts in a country that has too much oil.

And of course, everyone knows that famous incident when Dubai built the tallest building in the world (along with tons of other tall buildings) and suddenly found themselves in trouble of defaulting on the international market. In steps their rich neighbour Abu Dhabi with a guarantee, and suddenly, the name of the tallest building changes from Burj Dubai to Burj Khalifa. Khalifa, of course, is the name of the current ruler of Abu Dhabi.

Everyone thinks that the capital of the UAE is Dubai, of course. Abu Dhabi sounds more like a backward backwater somewhere in Saudi Arabia than the richest city in the world. So now they want to reassert their wealth and status. CNN has its Middle East headquarters in Abu Dhabi, and they are keen in transforming themselves into a “hub of hubs”. Yeah, they want to be a business hub, financial hub, cultural hub, artistic hub, hub of the Middle East, aviation hub, shipping hub… Oops, that actually sounds a lot like Singapore, yeah? Except that we built this country by hard work, not by the unfair riches of oil.

In response to Dubai’s 7-star Burj Al-Arab hotel, Abu Dhabi built the also 7-star Palace of the Emirates. It was so opulent and lavish that even I felt like I was missing something by being born a regular Singaporean and not a rich-ass guy living in the UAE. In typical expensive hotel fashion, this one has a long driveway, tons of (foreign) staff, exorbitant prices, huge spacious lobbies and where you feel slightly afraid to move around in fear that you are dirtying their polished marble floors. They also have a private beach, numerous swimming pools and a butler for every room. The ultimate winner? A gold bar vending machine in the lobby, where you can feed all your spare thousand-dollar notes into and watch a real gold bar pop out. Perfect souvenior for those poor folks back home.

Good Old Expat Life

Stayed with an expat in Abu Dhabi, Florent from France. He’s a pretty cool guy, and I got to see expat life through his eyes. Abu Dhabi isn’t the most interesting city, but Florent seems to like it a lot. Alright, I’m going to lay off my attacks on the city for a bit. The weather may be sweltering but at least its good enough to go to the beach everyday. It seldom rains, and there are always clear blue skies stretching overhead, a rarity in cloudy Singapore.

Lots of beach activities and desert activities around Abu Dhabi. Florent and his French friends in Abu Dhabi seem to enjoy these a lot on weekends. And on weekdays, they meet each other frequently after work, hanging out in hotel bars (yeah, sadly, the only place you can drink legally in the UAE) or having dinner together.

The best part of the expat lifestyle? He gets an apartment and a car with the job. This apartment is no ordinary flat – its located on the top floor of a 16 storey building, with fine views of the corniche and the sea, has three toilets, a huge living room and plenty of rooms. By the way, Florent is 23 years old, having graduated from university the previous year, and is living alone in Abu Dhabi. If such a young, inexperienced guy already gets these perks, I can’t imagine what life must be like for an expat in his middle ages.

The Final Say

Well, I guess they need to offer people an attractive remuneration package to get them to come to a place as bad as Abu Dhabi.

Day 67 – 71: Belgium

Its always interesting to compare your experience travelling in a country to your impressions before coming. So I’ll do that for Belgium too.

Before coming to Belgium:

1) Expensive

2) Small

3) Capital of European Union

4) Boring

And that was about it. Does anyone really have any impressions about Belgium in the first place? Its so tiny (yeah, I know, still bigger than Singapore) and there doesn’t seem to be anything in the news about it except for the name of its capital in front of any story about the European Union. It always goes like that “BRUSSELS – Ministers from the European Union met to discuss…”. So my impression was, Belgium = Brussels = European Union.

The World Meets Here

The European Union does indeed influence Brussels significantly. From the interactive exhibits at the excellent tourism office, I learn that Brussels now has more ugly office buildings thanks to its status as headquarters of the EU. But Brussels has also become an important city for conventions and meetings. It is also the capital of NATO, and is home to many foreign companies as well. Business tourism is an important component of the economy in Belgium. Also, the second-highest number of lobbyists in the world are based in Brussels, after Washington, D.C. And as I found out from the Belvue Museum, a very tiny museum on the country’s history, Societe Generale, the multinational company that sounds French, is actually from Belgium. So is Stella Artois and a lot of good chocolate. It has the sixth-highest standard of living in the world. A country of just 11 million - roughly the same number of people as Portugal, but with much greater economic, political and cultural influence. Oh, and did I mention Belgium gave the world french fries? Yes, they are not from France, but Belgium (several conflicting explanations regarding this). I’ve been eating so much fries here in their country for origin; they are relatively cheap for Western European standards, and are the freshest and tastiest frites I’ve ever had in my life. Can’t imagine going back to McDonalds fries anymore. I’ve particularly enjoyed fries from a shop next to Bourse that opens till 1am everyday. The portions are huge, the prices reasonable (2.50 euros for a large serving with sauce, 1.80 euros without sauce) and the fries just the way I like it – sufficiently soft and not too hard, oozing with goodness. The fries at a random kebab place near plaza Flagey were great too, proving that even the cheap night-time fast-food takeaway places have decent standards too.

Tons of people from all over in Brussels. Brussels is definitely international in its outlook, and more so than Paris. Because Belgium is a small country, it has no choice but to embrace the world, while France sometimes seems to resist it. Brussels has one of the largest African neighbourhoods in Europe. I explored a little of the African quarter, and saw grocery shops with produce from the continent, travel agencies advertising flights to Africa, and lots of shops selling international calling cards.

Its hard to find a typically Belgian restaurant in Brussels, because there are just too many Chinese restaurants, African eateries and Greek/Turkish kebab/pita/falafel fast food places. Turkish kebab places are where everyone goes after a night out in town. Hearty, greasy food, perfect after all that alcohol. And they taste good too. Mmmmm. I’m a little addicted to them, I confess.

Bar Culture in Belgium

Belgium is one of the countries with a great beer tradition. Germany too, of course. But Germany is so much bigger, and Belgium is so small, yet you have such a strong tradition of brewing independent beers. There are thousands of beers from Belgium alone. My first couchsurfing host, Mathijs, comes from a city of 50,000 people and they brew their own beer there as well, a cherry-flavoured one.

Belgium is dotted with tons of bars. Mathijs estimated that his hometown alone has at least a couple hundred of them. That’s for a population of 50,000. Does Singapore, with its population now hovering at 5 million, have even twice that number of bars? Now it becomes evident why Belgium is considered one of the great beer countries.

The beer is good in Belgium, and so are the bars. I’ve been to an American-style live jazz bar, a bar with over 2,000 beers, a rock music bar, and walked past countless more I wish I had the time and money to try. Modern bars, old-fashioned bars, bars resembling cafes, cafes resembling bars, a bar beneath a railway station with funky graffiti design, gay bars, straight bars, bars where people listen to free live music with no cover charge, bars where people talk, bars where there are no music, bars in the middle of parks, bars in the basement of buildings, bars with ample terrace seating and bars with beer you can get nowhere else in the world.

An example of the latter was drinking a Mort Subite Lambic in the Mort Subite, one of Brussels’ famous old bars. Its beautifully old-fashioned on the inside, a throwback to an earlier era of romance, and the beer is delicious. Really. Delicious. I hardly ever say that about beers, but this one, brewed especially for this monument of a bar, is great. Its not exactly very strong and has a unique slightly lemon-influenced taste. OK, I admit I do not know how to describe beers. Just take my word for it: its good. If I had money, I’ll hop all around the bars of Brussels (and Antwerp after that), soak up as much atmosphere and try as many beers as possible.

Anything But Boring

Brussels is anything but boring. I know it brings to mind brussels sprouts and the European Union, both of which couldn’t interest a three-year old, but Brussels is definitely happening. Besides the thousands of bars, you have lots of hip clubs as well as the usual gamut of Irish pubs that seem to be found everywhere. Good graffiti on the streets, but not too much that its overpowering. And best of all, a vibrant street life.

On the first of May, I stumbled upon a free outdoor concert at a small plaza near the heart of the city. A half-black, half-white group was playing some tribal-rock African music, and half the crowd was going crazy. Beer was flowing like there’s no tomorrow, and people were dancing, throwing their hands in the air, waving around shirts, clapping along, shouting and hugging. The atmosphere was good, and best of all, it was free.

Outside Brussels

Brussels is amazing, but most travellers don’t actually spend much time in this city. They concentrate on cities with far more to offer the tourist, like Antwerp and Bruges, both of which I took side trips to.

Antwerp is a favourite of mine. Its prosperous and expensive. Very prosperous, in fact. Although the sidewalks are not clean, there are tons of upscale shops around. It is the capital of fashion in Belgium, and there were many small, independent boutiques selling designer clothes at unachievable and unbelievable prices. Many high street chain shops too, for the commonfolk who don’t want to spend S$70 and above on a T-shirt.

Antwerp definitely has more nice, old buildings than Brussels. But one thing I like about both cities is that they aren’t overly gentrified and touristy. Sure, they are touristy no doubt, but they’re still very much vibrant, living, breathing cities. Relics from the past stand side-by-side with modern concrete buildings. Small shopping malls and luxurious old-fashioned galleries alike dot the city centres. Bars and cafes full of character, packed with locals and some tourists.

Bruges is not my favourite. Its Disneyland Belgium. This city is beautiful, with its canals and medieval buildings. But its too touristy. Every shop seems to be selling postcards or chocolates. Every restaurant seems to be selling tourist-oriented overpriced food. Every bar seems to be purpose-built for one of those ‘Belgian beer tours’. And Bruges reminded me a lot of the UK. The architecture is very, very similar.

[to be continued]