The Darkside Does Malaysia: Part 1 Of The Epic Borneo Trip

In what can only be described as a whirlwind of a month, I have finally found some time to sit down in relative peace and calm to write this post. The last four weeks have involved, in no particular order: (low cost) international travel, white water rafting, mountain climbing, jungles, bat shit, caves, Nasi Lemak, 3am wake-up calls, lots of driving, a wedding, lots of walking, and a high school graduation. And a substantial reduction in my savings.

Where do I even begin! Well, at the beginning, no doubt.

On June 26th, one of my high school friends (S) and I took off from Colombo to Kuala Lampur. We were on route to Kota Kinabalu, which is part of Malaysian Borneo, where we were planning on meeting another of our high school friends (R) who was at that time busy backpacking his way through most of South East Asia (much to our envy). The plan had been thrown together all very suddenly, with a little over 4 weeks of preparation for this week long adventure holiday. Either way, it was a much needed break for me, and I eagerly devoured all the material R had sent me regarding the itinerary for our stay.

Our first day was mainly spent travelling, from Colombo to KL, and then KL to KK. We landed sometime in the night, and took a cab to the lodge R was staying in. As our cab sped along on its way to the small side street off the main road that was our destination, I took in my first view of Malaysia. While most people are enamoured with the glitz and glamour of the capital, I knew that we were literally not going to set foot in Kuala Lampur, save for the transit in the airport. Kota Kinabalu would have to welcome me to Malaysia all on her own, and it did so with a brave attempt of emulating her capital, though without nearly half the grandeur. The streets were well lit, full of colour but the city seemed simple and unassuming to my eye.

As we carried our bags to the lodge, I was surprised at the place we were staying at. The word 'lodge' was a slight exaggeration; it had one medium sized central living room, and a few dormitories with bunk beds. The entire place was air conditioned, and very clean, the beds looked very clean and comfortable as well. We were bunking with 5-6 other people though, all travellers by the looks of them, yet no one seemed at all bothered that three loud Asians had just infiltrated their sleeping quarters with loud enthusiastic conversation.

Our first night we walked to the pier where R was already having dinner with a few travelling friends he had met that day. This concept of meeting random people while travelling and then joining them for meals and lodging was new to me; perhaps it is my Sri Lankan nature to expect the worst while travelling with strangers. However, we all had a great time as we got to know each other. And what a group we were! One Japanese nurse on holiday, one Texan oil rigger on leave (he was working on a rig off the coast of Malaysia if I'm not mistaken), one 19 year old Swiss girl who had just completed high school and was on a break. And of course, three Sri Lankans; one living in Singapore, one living in Switzerland, and yours truly. The night was long, yet enjoyable and full of fun, especially when R was offered free sexual favours from some transsexual prostitutes on the way back to the lodge. We literally fled the scene laughing, it was so awkward.

Day 1

Day 1 began early, because we had used some of S's contacts to get us on a white water rafting tour. We had heard the river we were going to was pretty rough, providing at least level 3-4 rapids (level 5 is the highest you can do without a license, if I'm not mistaken), so we were pretty excited about it. We got picked up by van, and a couple other vans joined us as we made our way to the river. As it turned out, the river was a good 3-4 hours drive away; that is, the train station was 3-4 hours away. From there we go by train to the river, because apparently it's not accessible any other way. No complaints, since the journey there was beautiful! We were climbing up to some serious altitude; at one point, the road climbed at such a steep angle that the van had to switch off the a/c and crawl up it.

After a light lunch on the way, we got in the train and headed to the river, where we loaded up the boats, got our life jackets, helmets, and got broken into squads. We three were in one boat, along with a Scottish/Irish single mom and her adorable 8 year old daughter. Now, you may think 'what is a single mom and her 8 year old doing white-water rafting?', and let me just inform you that she happened to be a former competitive Thai boxer. Yep, she hardcore. As for the kid, well, they said it was safe, so I was not too worried.

We got in the boats along with our guide whose name was King Kong. I can't remember the last time I've seen a man so chiselled. Needless to say, we felt pretty safe with him at the 'helm'.

The rapids were amazing! I doubt I can do justice to the whole experience, but me and R were in the front paddling our arms off and it was no easy task, especially when your boat is climbing up a crest and you can see the bottom of the wave a good 10 feet below you! Fantastic fun, especially when after hitting a particularly large wave head on, me and R turned around for a split second to see King Kong pulling S back in to the boat after a short 'out-of-boat' experience in a rapid. No time to burst into laughter though, another rapid was approaching! Between the rapids though we managed to coast and even get in the river ourselves to cool off a bit, while R bravely (or foolishly) took out his camera from his water-proof bag to take a few pictures on the way.

After a little over an hour, we reached the end point. It was quite a tiring ride but the fatigue was negated by the adrenaline rush. Truly a fun experience, and we made our way back to the train and back to our vans. After a short tea, we made the long journey back to KK, but not before taking in the amazing sunset from the mountains.

After reaching our rooms we decided to try out some of the famed sea food in the area, and after asking a few people for their recommendations we ended up at the largest sea food food-court I had ever seen. Only, it wasn't what you would expect.

Yes, there we were, surrounded by more aquariums than Sea World, filled with every variety of sea creature that is edible by man. I'm sure if we looked hard enough we'd find an aquarium labelled "Aquaman's Mom". All one had to do was pick one, tell them how you wanted them to die prepared, and Bam! there's your dinner. Now, I love my seafood, but this was a bit much. I had never craved chicked so badly; we decided to head back to the pier for some Singaporean cuisine instead.

So that was the end of Day 1; the next day we'd be travelling to the Mulu National Park in Sarawak, where we'd be staying for the remainder of our trip. I think this is enough of an update for now, will post the rest later!

The Return of The Headless Videos: 311 - "Love Song"

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year since I've uploaded a cover! It goes to show that I've just been that busy, and also I suppose, that lazy! However, since the last time I posted a video it was for T's birthday, I thought what better occasion to return to the musical scene than again on her birthday.

This isn't my usual style of cover, but I must admit it felt good when T suggested I cover it, and soon it grew on me. It's not the best quality because sadly my camera has suffered a series of unfortunate events and rendered it near inoperable. I will be setting up the "Raise Money For Gehan's Camera" fund shortly.

Anyway without much further ado, here it is: "Love Song"

PS: Dear T, wishing you a very, very happy birthday, and I hope you like this cover as much as you liked the last!

You can view it on Youtube here, and you can download the mp3 here.

Killing Fields: Why Are We Not Talking About It?

Last night, I sat and watched the Channel 4 documentary "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields".

If you haven't seen it yet (and there's a strong chance that you haven't) I urge that you click on the link above and set aside 40 minutes of your time.

I've had a good 12 hours for this information to digest before writing this post, so I'm trying my best to weigh my words as best as possible. As soon as I had finished the documentary I was filled with outrage; outrage that such inhumanity could exist so close to home, outrage at the very acts shown in the film, and outrage that no one was talking about it.

For those who are still clueless, the documentary shows the final few days and months of the civil war in Sri Lanka that ended two years ago when the Sri Lankan army stormed and wiped out the remaining LTTE resistance with one fell swoop. It was a great military victory, one that we were quick to portray as "the only military victory over terrorism in the world" and such, but one that nonetheless ended 30 years of a bloody, painful civil war. However, the documentary also shows the horrific conditions in which the fleeing Tamil civilians endured as they were shelled out of their homes, herded into supposed 'No Fire Zones' which were quickly shelled as well, while watching their injured loved ones being blown to pieces while being attended to in makeshift hospitals. The documentary also shows clips taken by Sri Lankan Army soldiers, on small cameras and mobile phones; clips showing Army personnel executing naked Tamil soldiers, laughing at dead bodies, jokingly calling them 'properties of the state' before shooting them in the head.

The images are much too disturbing to describe; you have to see it to understand.

The documentary goes on, detailing what it calls as grounds for war crimes, as well as detailing the inaction of the United Nations (especially Ban Ki-Moon, who apparently visited after the war by doing a fly-by, getting garlanded and leaving). It is a horrific documentary, not for the faint of heart, and something that just gripped me.

So, what now?

The reaction to these videos has been startling to say the least. Let's document them:

1) "The videos are doctored and fake".

Ridiculous. Anyone with moderate knowledge of technology can tell that these videos are real. The soldiers are clearly speaking Sinhala as they laugh, insult and mock the dead (or soon to be dead) Tamils. The idea that someone has digitally edited something to make it look like a Sri Lankan soldier is executing Tamils is mindless, idiotic thinking, and a train of thought that is apparently being held by the government. Yet, perhaps this is the only option for some, unlikely as it may seem. For the alternative is even more unthinkable; our so-called 'heroes' commited vile acts in our names.

2) "It's over, so what?"

Apathy seems to be the most common reaction. Many people, including some anonymous commentors on Youtube posts, blog posts etc, seem to think this is all irrelevant now that the war is over. They feel that this will just 'add fuel to the fire', so to speak, and that we should simply ignore this documentary as no good can come from it. I find this the most disturbing reaction of them all, because what kind of human being can be indifferent to the sort of senseless killing that is shown in this film? How can we, a supposedly 'Sinhala Buddhist Nation', allow these acts to go unpunished, and that too by our own troops? If after all this time, all this bloodshed, all this loss of life, we are still so unmoved by this, then the end of the war has achieved nothing.

3) "The LTTE has commited much worse, they've killed so many innocent Sinhalese people!"

According to this line of thinking, the soldiers in the videos are justified in commiting these atrocities because the Tigers commited much worse over the last 30 years. This includes using child soldiers, human shields, and suicide bombers. Yes, the Tigers did commit atrocious crimes, but how in the world does that give the army (who are NOT a rebel guerilla faction) the right to behave in the same way?? What kind of bizarre "He did it so I'm doing it" playground thinking is that?


Last night, I sat and watched the Channel 4 documentary "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields".

This morning I realised that it doesn't matter, and no one really cares. We're all free after all, and that's all that matters, right?

Have a nice day.

Another Confession

She always knew it would come to this.

As often as she had tried to ignore it, the fact remained within her mind, bursting at the seams of her subconscious like a relentless river against a rickety old dam. And now, here it was being realised before her eyes. She hated confrontation, but this was much worse; a goodbye long overdue.

How did she get here, she asks herself almost incredulously. But no, she stops herself from going down that road; that road leads to self-loathing, and God knows she has enough reasons to hate herself without having to add this to the list.

Her mind finally returns to the present. She sits at the edge of the bed, her sacred bedroom in total disarray. Drawers hang open, their contents upset or missing. With a heavy heart she takes it all in, not missing a single corner of the room. Well, that's not entirely true; she makes a distinct effort to ignore that space taken up by the person standing right in front of her, his hands on his head, his face an expression of total incomprehension.

She looks him in the eyes, and tries not to notice the pain behind them, the confusion that engulfs him. His things were neatly packed in a cardboard box at his feet, when minutes ago they were in her drawers, together with hers. His hands are clenched, when a few hours ago they would have been surrounding hers. Her heart is cold and empty, when a few days ago it would have been his.

"Why?", he says, softly.

She looks back down at the floor and sighs, gathering her thoughts, before speaking.

"I don't know. I don't know how to explain it in a way you would understand. I'm not entirely sure I understand it either. All I know is.."

She pauses. This will be hard.

"'You think we're happy, and even I did for a while. We were comfortable with each other, you moved in without any trouble, we never fought about a thing. But, you never fight about anything! You never question me, you never stood up to me, you let me steam roll right through your life and you assume that's what I want but it's not!"

Her eyes find his now; she wants him to understand this, more than anything.

"For God's sake, were you born to resist, or be abused?"

Silence.

"You probably think I'm just bored, just looking for something new to excite me, some new toy to play with; but - I've got another confession to make," she says, as her voice drops to almost a whisper.

She turns to face the window, taking in the last remaining light of day as it reflects off the city's skyline, before saying with finality:

"I'm getting tired of starting again somewhere new..."

---

This was part of the Indie Ink Challenge that many bloggers seem to be taking part in recently. It's pretty simple; you enter your name in a database weekly and you get to challenge and be challenged by other writers to write a post on a specific topic within the next 5 days. Mine was given by Sunshine , and I was supposed to use a line from my favourite song to tell a story. It's not my usual type of post, so I'm not sure how it turned out. The song is "Best of You" by the Foo Fighters. Hope you liked it! Also, in turn I challenged Catherine, and you can see her response here.

Liberation: A Rock & Roll Monologue

"I'm thinking here, in Rock n' Roll's great cathedral that is Madison Square Garden, thinking in this moment about all the pilgrims, all the pioneers that got us all here, the saints and the heretics, the poets and the punks that now make up the Hall of Fame. It's a dangerous thing, this business of building idols, but at least Rock n' Roll is not, at its best, about worshipping sacred cows; it's about the thousands of voices gathered in one great unwashed congregation, like tonight. For a lot of us here, Rock n' Roll just means one word: 'Liberation'. Political, sexual, spiritual - liberation, that's what it is." 
- Bono

I was watching a few videos on YouTube one night when  I couldn't sleep, and I stumbled across U2's performance at the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Madison Square Garden, back in 2009. Bono, performing with Bruce Springsteen, is legendary enough; but then he opens his performance with this little monologue, and I found it mesmerizing that anyone could speak so passionately about music, live, and impromptu. The emotion in Bono's voice adds to the sincerity behind it, as does the Boss' little "Let's have some fun with that!" nudge at the end of it.


Magic. Give it a listen. Also, after hearing this, I can't believe I didn't see how perfect Bruce Springsteen's vocals are for this song.

You can see more here, and here.