Topper's TravelsTopper Kain's blog. Topper Kain is a world-famous kazoo player and traditional norwegian food chef. He wants you to use the comments. Saturday, July 30, 2005So I am definatly in the depths of anti-homesickness (awaysickness maybe?) I'm bored out of my mind with most of my friends gone/working. I just kind of wish I was some place else.My dad and I tried to put the boat in the water today, always a recipe for disaster. He treated me like i was still 10, and I got a little snippy. Honestly though, he spent the entire time under the assumption I had no clue what I was doing, even though I know about as much as he does about that boat. Grrr.... Anyways, other news in my life... I got a new iPod mini for free when my bro bought his new Powerbook, I got a new mobile phone because my old one broke, and since my time in Australia tought my to drive a stick, my Mom has been having me drive her around in her BMW convertible. After I got my new mobile phone my dad yelled at me because I wanted to spend 50c on a ringtone. He thought it was the stupidiest waste of money in the world. I bet next week he has a Stevie Ray Vaughn song for his ringtone... So overall, I've gotten pretty lucky in the new stuff department, and hanging with my brothers has been really good. And overall, honestly, I have cool parents. Still, I'm feeling listless, bored, and feel the wanderlust still pulling at me. And I wish I could go back to Melbourne. Or visit Lauren and Kara, that would be cool too..: posted by Topper 9:57 PMFrom an e-mail I wrote, I thought it was pretty good: I just got done (finally) with cleaning the gutters and now smell like decomposing vegetable matter. I'm covered in dirt and grime; I will soon go to a place called Earl's Marine in a town called Belfair, which makes Geelong look like downtown London, to pick up our boat. On the way I'll be passing people setting up for the town festival tonight, at least 6 different brands of fast food and probably twice that in fast food resturants. I'll gaze over the evergreen hills and see a significant portion of the greatest Navy the world has ever seen being repaired and refurbished in the Bremerton Naval Yard, knowing that those ships are the entire reason for my, and everyone elses, presence in this little corner of the world/nowhere/paradise/my home. I'll pass a diner, BBQ house, scrap yard, car dealership and really disgusting strip club, pick up my boat, drive back past a planned housing community, the naval hospital, the people (stilll) setting up for the festival, at least a thousand pick-up trucks, and that new fangled round-about that they put in while I was gone, and that people still have lots of accidents at, but at much lower speeds then when it was just a three way stop. Finally I'll pull back up into my now paved driveway and think "well, that was quite the stereotypical scene from small town America." .: posted by Topper 9:53 PMMonday, July 25, 2005Ever had that sinking feeling? That what I had as I left Melbourne a couple days ago, and it wasn't just because my side-trip to Malaysia had resulted in some digestive problems. I had just spent 6 months with some of the most amazing people ever, and I knew I was never going to see most of them again. And never is a big word. It's just with two weeks of vacation time a year and incentive to not even us that I don't think that I'll have much time to visit Australia after I graduate and enter the working world, and, well, frankly most of my Australian friends weren't too keen on visiting the US, despite the promise of having a sexy accent.I couldn't sleep at all on the flight, a result of a combination of too much sleep the night before and far too much on my mind to want to. However, this did mean I got to watch a few good movies on the back of the person in front of mine's seat. After I landed in good old Los Angeles I was greeted by the symbol most represented of that fine city: 40+ year old women wearing clothing meant for slutty 14 year olds. I mean I'm cool with the young at heart thing, but a t-shirt that says "Princess University" or "Slut" in glitter after the age of, well, actually no one should ever wear those shirts, but most DEFINATLY not at 42. I also got to see American Lauren in LA. She was visiting her cousin in LA and kept me company within the dull beige walls of LAX. You know, considering that LAX is the primary port of entry into the USA on the west coast, you'd think that we'd make it not look like crap... oh well. I got back to Seattle around 8 PM, waited for about 45 minutues for my luggage and then got back to Bremerton around 10 PM. A wonderful homecoming with hugs and kisses and stuff quickly turned into me falling asleep standing up as I had not had a full nights rest since I'd left Australia. Washington in the Summer is absolutely amazing. Sunsets light up the whole sky, the mountains highlight the land, everything is green and sunny. It looks like an evergreen forest version of eden. The only thing that could make this more perfect is if my brother HADN'T hit a sandbar and ripped off the rear end of the family motor boat the day before I got back. Regardless it feels good to be back. At the sametime however, I'm definatly missing Australia. I'm already planning a trip to the Aussie pie store in Seattle to get some of that meaty, gravy goodness, I'm finding everyone talking with American accents kind of weird, and I even tried to give the lady at mackers 25 cents for ketchup. Everyone in the land of Oz should know that I left part of my heart there and I think I'll always hope to come back. Until then keep in touch: my e-mail is topkai22@hotmail.com . And if you are ever in the United States look me up and you'll have a place to stay, food to eat, and a tour guide eager to show you that his country is cool too, even if we don't have kangaroos. Take care everyone. .: posted by Topper 10:13 AMThursday, July 14, 2005Well, there have been a few minor cosmetic changes to the blog, mainly the addition of Blogger supported comments, instead of the crappy old system I was using, and the addition of the title bar. What I really want to talk about though is some thoughts I've had while travelling through MalaysiaOne of the greatest things about going to Malaysia is the massive amounts of diversity and multi-culturalism. Malaysia has three (count em, THREE) primary ethno-religous-linguistic groups: the Muslim Malays, the Buddhist/Christian Chinese and the Hindu Indians. All most all Malaysians speak at least three languages: there own (home) language, the state-dictated langauge of Bahasa Melayu, and at least some English (this being a former British colony and all.) Almost all the signs are printed in at least two langauges, and you never quite know what langauge the next TV or billboard ad is going to be in. Each ethnic group does tend to group up into its own community, but these groups get along. What it all comes down to though for me is this though: this country is practicing a version of multi-culturalism that is very different from the US's version, BUT IT STILL WORKS. Despite our proud beliefs, we in North America do not hold the only title to a pluralistic society. True, Malaysia has its problems with equality and race relations (the Chinese are by far the most affluent group, but the Malay's control the government and deny some rights to the rest of the groups), but no more, and possibly less than, the US. It's just a good reminder that it remains important for us in the USA to pay attention the rest of the world, it still has stuff to teach us. Also, I've definatly learned that we need to encourage Malay and Indian migration to America, because the food here KICKS ASS!!!! .: posted by Topper 10:15 PMMonday, July 11, 2005OK, this should be a really big update, but we'll see how long I actually want to write. As I speak I am sitting in an internet cafe in Penang, Malaysia. Yes, I Topper have finally become a real backpacker. I'm in a country that doesn't (actually, it's more like barely) speaks my langauge, with a giant backpack and an INCREDIBLY good exchange rate. You can stuff your face for like $2 here, with really good food. Internet is $0.50 an hour. It's great, I feel like I'm a colonial overlord... AHAHAHAThe way I ended up in Malaysia is a long involved story that basicly goes like this: I met a Malaysian girl at Monash, Malaysian girl invited me to Malaysia, I went to Malaysia. Vivian Chen is the best Chinese Malaysian who wants to be Australian ever. Vivian's brother is a hotshot in the hospitality business, so i just got a really good deal in a four star hotel on the island of Langkawi with Viv and family. There I saw the tomb and museum of the legandary princess Mahsuri, who was falsely executed for adultery and cursed the island for seven generations, then Pedang Gallery (actually I think its called something else), which is where the former prime minister of Malaysia put all the cool stuff other country's gave to Malaysia, and gave to him. The gallery was AMAZING in so many ways. The stuff that states give in high-level exchanges is beautiful and EXPENSIVE, but it also gives an incredibly cool look into how a nation thinks of itself, and how it wants other people to think of it. BTW- the gallery only had two things from the USA as far as i can tell- A box of potpurri and wooden peaches, and a model of a helicopter. China had hundreds of items, including the most amazing jade carvings and gemstone flowers. The rest of the day was spent at a crocodile farm, a black sand beach, and in a very impressive cable car ride that allowed us to see the entire island. At both nights the Chen's treated me to incredible chinese seafood, and I treated them to the site of a white boy who could eat foods as spicy as they ate. Mr. Chen said I must of been a Mexican in my past life. Ole`. Today I went diving in a marine park where the fish were so thick that they blocked your view. Amongst other things I saw stone fish, a school of squid, schools of huge groupers, and a massive school of yellow fish that kept on making designs that looked suspicously like slope fields. I hear a bio-math research project coming on. (Christ, wouldn't that be a great way to do research, diving in Malaysia). Okay, I need to go check into a hotel and (hopefully) find a way to call my parents. Later everyone, I hope to see everyone soon. .: posted by Topper 5:48 AM |
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