Things I don't normally do

I like how travel changes a person. In real life- okay, in everyday life, I can be a real lazy bum sometimes. I only get out of bed at 9am, unless it's a work day, which means I'm up earlier. Even 9am is considered being a little on the late side in my house. I know, I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Everything, however, changes when I'm away. When I'm travelling -and this includes non-working holidays- I can wake up at the most ungodly hours. Not a problem. I've woken up at 3am for a drive to Taman Negara. I've gotten up at 4.30 in the morning to go to the airport for a flight to somewhere-or-other. I remember waking up at 6 o'clock in winter in Beijing to get ready for a hike on the Great Wall. In fact, if I'm travelling with friends, I'm usually the one who wakes up first. This never happens at home.

I think I'm also much nicer when I'm travelling. I smile more and open up to people more. I'm more patient, less grumpy (that's obvious) and generally in a better mood when I'm away. I like me when I'm travelling; I prefer Travel Mode me.

I'm sure I can't be only person who changes overnight when they're travelling.

Do you do things differently when you're away? Are you totally transformed when you're travelling?

Roman trails

I had walked right smack into an Italian tussle. Two gladiators were brandishing swords and shouting at each other. The taller man, who was particularly loud, looked as though he was ready to eat his opponent.

The brawl ended when one of them fell to the ground. He had lunged at the other man, but had tripped and lost his balance. The gladiator who was still standing laughed as the other man got up and brushed his tunic. None of the spectators around them looked alarmed. A few even grinned. 

The setting was perfect- we were outside the Roman Colosseum, the men were dressed as gladiators and they had been arguing in Latin. 

Unfortunately the fight wasn't real and this was the 21st century.

If you like ancient history like I do, you'll like Rome, an amazing city which was founded in 753BC. If you also like walking, even better- Rome is best enjoyed on foot as the main attractions are located close to each other.

Did I mention that I like history?

The two major periods in Ancient Rome were the years of the Roman Republic (510BC to 27BC) and the Roman Empire (27BC to 476AD).

The heart of the city was the Roman Forum or Foro Romano, which was the political, commercial, legal and religious centre. Ancient Rome's main street, the Via Sacra runs through the Forum. This was the route which Rome's generals used to take through the city in a public show of triumph whenever they returned from a successful campaign in a foreign land, so when you walk along the Via Sacra, imagine the hoards of admiring citizens cheering you on as you enter the Forum.

Beyond the Forum lies the Palatine Hill where the Emperors' palaces were located. Stand on the edge of the Palatine and see the ruins of the Circus Maximus below, the site of chariot races for which Rome was famous. 

Another interesting sight is the complex which houses the Baths of Caracalla (Terme di Caracalla). Built in 206AD, these are the best-preserved Imperial baths in Rome. This complex could accommodate up to 1,500 guests and came complete with a library and sports hall. Blue and white mosaics on the floors of the baths, although faint, can be seen if you look closely.

I had taken the Metro one morning to the Colosseum, the city's most famous landmark. After agreeing to meet up later with my travel companions, I headed for Stazione Termini. 

A local I met told me of plans to expand the underground rail network. The city council hadn't been able to progress very far, though. They keep finding ancient tombs every time they dig up the city, he said. "This, of course, makes it difficult to build more lines." 

The Colosseum's formal name is the Flavian Ampitheatre, after the dynasty of emperors which oversaw its construction in 72AD. Its seating capacity was 50,000 spectators. Parts of the arena floor have completely disappeared, allowing us to see the underground barracks and animal cages. From their barracks, gladiators would be transported to the surface via elevators worked by pulleys. The Colosseum was usually uncovered but an immense awning would be hauled into place in case of rain. 

It was crowded outside the Colosseum that day. The grounds were swarming with men selling either umbrellas or plastic wind-up toys. That alone did not make it strange; what was odd was that they were from the Indian subcontinent, and spoke Italian. 

How long had they been in Italy? Just a few months, said a man from Dhaka, Bangladesh. "But when you speak a language every day, you become good at it," he said. "You would like an umbrella?" 

The two gladiators, now revealed as part-time actors, were enacting their little battle for the benefit of tourists, waving cardboard swords as menacingly as they could. 

A foreigner in front of me whipped out his camera. The fight between the gladiators ended immediately and a verbal one began. 

"You must pay for photograph," said one of the actors, raising his hand. 

"Just one," said the man. 

"You must pay," insisted the Italian. 

"What the hell," the foreigner said, and left the scene. 

I watched him walk some distance away and saw him slink behind one of the ice-cream vans. He took out his camera and focused from afar. 

I turned back to the gladiators, who by now had stopped fighting. Their audience had disappeared; people had gotten bored of arguing over money. 

The tall gladiator took out a mobile phone from within his tunic and began stabbing away at the keys. The other one, who had two silver hoops in his left earlobe, yawned widely.

All around me, Indian and Bangladeshi vendors called out to tourists in English and Italian, their wind-up plastic cars and helicopters whirring on the ground.

This was definitely the 21st century.

This week's photo- Tea shop in Seoul

I was in Seoul last November and boy, was it cold. I don't remember how long I'd been walking, but my feet were killing me and them being flat just made it worse. We found this rather nice tea shop/cafe in the Insa-dong area so we went in. It looked very plain from the outside but once we got in, we saw that the seating section was divided into little alcoves and nooks, which gave it a very cosy atmosphere- good for gossiping! Tables and chairs were made from solid blocks of wood so it was all very rustic, which we liked. The fragrant flower tea I had simply completed the whole experience. Bliss.

On the T56

Somewhere in a flat or house in China is a Lonely Planet phrasebook in Mandarin which used to belong to me. It has ‘Anis Ibrahim, Feb 2005’ written in a big, happy cursive script on the inside cover. I hope it’s been of some use since I gave it away.

I met Fan on the T56, the overnight train from Xian to Beijing. He was 22, and a student at a university in the capital city. He was sitting at the window bunk in my compartment and had noticed me struggling to lift my rucksack onto the luggage rack. He immediately got up to help and I immediately decided I would try to speak to him.

We introduced ourselves after the train left Xian.  He brightened up when he heard that I’d worked as a lawyer before becoming a journalist. “I want to be a lawyer; I want to help the people,” he said in English, then stopped.

He looked around. The remaining four bunks in our compartment were occupied by a teenager with spiky hair, two sullen men who appeared to have come together but had not said a word to each other and a heavily-made up young woman who was preoccupied with her mobile phone.  None of them seemed to be too interested in where our conversation might lead.

“My father studied politics. Politics is very interesting but of no use in China, there is no point,” Fan said, shaking his head.

I remarked that I too, found politics fascinating. “I just don’t like politicians,” I said.

This time he nodded. “Politicians always want you to do something for them. I don’t like them. They are never sincere.”

Fan looked out the window.  His hometown Xian was already miles away. His Spring Festival break had just ended, he said, and now he was on his way back to “more studying, exams and noisy Beijing”.

I commented on how wide the roads in Beijing were. “On my way to Xi Ke Zhan the other day, I saw a very wide road with six lanes on one side.”

It was the cue for Fan to be negative again. “Oh, Beijing. Its traffic and transportation system is very bad. I never go to the city centre unless I have to.”

I asked him about his university. Was it a national university, or privately funded? 

National, he said. “Thank you to the government that English is part of our syllabus!”, he added in a sudden show of patriotism. “Thank you to the government that I can actually talk to you like this!”.

I suddenly remembered my Mandarin phrasebook and showed it to him.

“This is a good book,” he said as he turned the pages back and forth. “There are different sections for different subjects and there are some English words I never knew.”

Fan looked up. “Say something you learned from here.”

“Wo shi jizhe”, I announced proudly and he laughed. I am a journalist.

He flipped through the book and pointed out to a sentence to me. “Zuijin de cesuo zai nali?” he said, with a very serious expression. It was my turn to giggle. Where is the nearest toilet?

The two men in our compartment looked at us and frowned disapprovingly at our frivolous conversation.

We arrived in Beijing the next morning, only to discover that it had been snowing.

“Xue”, Fan said, pointing upwards when we emerged from the station, telling me the Mandarin word for snow.

I took out my phrasebook, remembering how interested he had been when I first showed it to him. “You can have this. Maybe it will help you.”

He thanked me profusely then apologised for not being able to give me anything in return. He asked for my email address, which I wrote in the book.

“I will write to you and I will tell you about my graduation in July,” he said, and we said goodbye.

I never received that email. We meet so many people in our travels- some we’re happy to see the last of, some, like Fan, we wouldn’t mind hearing from again.

So assuming that Fan never gave away my phrasebook, it’s probably on his shelf, maybe in Beijing, maybe in another city and hopefully not gathering dust. And hopefully helping him along his way.

Photo essay: Markets in Kota Kinabalu

One thing which I really like about Asian countries is that there's almost always an open-air market nearby, wherever you are. They could be selling food, household appliances, antiques, vegetables- whatever it is, you're guaranteed an interesting experience.

Kota Kinabalu in Sabah has several markets. Among these are the main night market which is packed with food stalls, the so-called Filipino Market which sells souvenirs and jewellery and the various produce and fish markets in the city itself or further out.

Grilled fish at the KK night market. We ate this with steamed rice and a hot and sour sauce

Never knew tomatoes could be so pretty. Also at the night market

Giant doughnuts at the Donggongan Tamu, or market

Fresh seaweed, usually eaten with rice

Colourful bead necklaces for sale at the Donggongon Tamu

That's right, you're seeing correctly- blue fish. They taste like normal fish, apparently

And if you're lucky, you may even get to hear some local music 

Why do I love Asian markets again? They're great for people-watching, chatting with the locals and if it's a food or produce market, everything is always fresh, cheap and tasty.

Riding the rails- The North Borneo Railway

This was a train on which time stood still. Not figuratively speaking, but literally.

Jual, the Head Steward on the North Borneo Railway, was going from carriage to carriage. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are not leaving Papar yet. We need another five minutes for the engine to heat up." He turned to leave, then stopped and grinned: "You must remember, this is an old train."

"That's okay. We're not in any hurry," shouted one of the passengers. Nope, we certainly weren't.

Collecting tickets at the counter

Established in 1896, replaced by petrol-powered locomotives in 1971 but re-launched in 2000, the historic steam train known as the North Borneo Railway is back and riding the rails.

This train was originally used by the British to transport sugar, tapioca and rice from the interior regions of Malaysian Borneo to the port at Jesselton (present-day Kota Kinabalu in Sabah), but now it's become its own tourist attraction.

Get ready for old-style travel here, for the route from Tanjung Aru to Papar uses a Vulcan steam locomotive built in the United Kingdom in 1954. Just like Australia's 'Puffing Billy' and India's Darjeeling 'Toy Train', the North Borneo Railway (which doesn't have a nickname yet), is one of the few steam trains left in the world.

I felt the atmosphere even before I boarded the train. Happy, 1950s music which made me feel like dancing blared from speakers on the platform. Train stewards in period-style white and khaki uniforms complete with pith helmets showed us to our seats.

One of the best things about the ride on the North Borneo Railway are the people you'll see along the way. You'll see farmers, vendors selling fruits by the roadside and children waiting at their windows just to see the train. Children and adults will stop what they're doing and wave to you. Make sure you wave back! I can't remember the last time I had fun waving to complete strangers.

The carriages are cozy, with dark wood panelling and brass fittings. There are also Western-style bathrooms in every carriage.

Fresh pastries and croissants for breakfast

Tickets: RM250 (US$80) for adults, RM150 (US$47) for children aged three to 12, while children below two ride for free.

Don't: Come on a full stomach! Prices are inclusive of a Continental breakfast and a Tiffin-style lunch.

Do: Sit back, relax and have fun.

Travel days: Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10am sharp. This is a popular ride, so book in advance.

Duration: About four hours, from Tanjung Aru to Papar and back.

Expect to see: The South China Sea, villages, schools, rice fields and buffaloes.

More information, including on where to buy tickets, can be found on the official North Borneo Railway website here.