If I could Travel...

Watching Asian Food Channel or TLC or Discovery Travel makes me wonder about the world...Me being somewhat trapped in my dwellings & the mind-numbing routine and suffocating expectations of 'becoming somebody'....I cant help but think about what i'm missing out there. Thanks to the wonders of television, i'm trying to narrow the list of places that one day i may visit. If i ever have the time & money to travel, i wanna go to :

1. Egypt
Well, unfortunately that'll have to wait with all the riots & protests and all... Egypt is a country i've been wanting to go for a long time, but somehow i've never felt ready for it. I've had a long time fascination with ancient egypt from watching excavations & stories from the Discovery channel or NatGeo...at one time i wanted to be able to read hieroglyphics. I wanted my tour of Egypt (Cairo, Giza, Alexandria) to be an educational trip; I hoped i'd be able to meet Dr. Zahi Hawass so i could ask questions and hear his stories first-hand. After all he is the go-to guy for all things ancient Egypt. He discovered the mummy of Hatchepsut, looking for the high priest Imhotep, & he is also the curator of the Cairo Museum.

2. Syria
This is thanks to a show i watched with Bobby Chin in it. He went to Aleppo, the food capital of Syria. It being a Muslim country, i reckon halal food would be everywhere and it would be great to have a culinary adventure. And besides, i love lamb and have never quite tried middle eastern food before. In Syria, they usle a lot of pommegranate in their food. Doesnt that just sound exquisite? Then there is this world-famous traditional ice-cream shop that is a must-go destination...i ain't saying no! Then there is the ancient city of Damascus, or better known as Damsyik in my old Pendidikan Islam textbooks. This is the soul of ancient Syria, and i'd love to just be able to stand in the courtyard of one of the old mud-brick buildings, surrounded by the desert landscape and just take it all in. Definitely a change of scene.

3. Morocco
Before i 'discovered' Syria, i wanted to go to Morocco, coz it's the crossing between middle-eastern and african culture/civilization. I wanted to experience it for similar reasons as Syria, but also for Marrakesh, a huge open-air bazaar that looks absolutely amazing. Food, fresh spices, decor, trinkets...i kinda imagined that i'd have an area in my house decorated Morrocan-style, with a harem feeling to it...you know, large cushions, a hookah pipe, lanterns, strings of beads & drapes, inscence....but i'd have to go to Morocco to get stuff so it'll be more authentic.

5. South Africa
This is a no brainer : Safari. I like animals, but not so much to say i'm passionate. If i'm lucky, i wanna go see penguins & whales. When i was a kid my dad went to South Africa for business and bought my sis & i this small carpet that we can colour using magic marker. Mine was the picture of a bird that looked like a hornbill. I had so much fun doing it, and because i've never had anything like that before, I became fascinated with South Africa. Also it's to avoid cliche' : many people say they wanna travel the world but most only talk about going across Europe. I wanna spread out a bit, and if you'll see later, that's why I don't have that many Asian destinations....I want a different culture/experience entirely.

6.Italy
Although i like the sort of Italian food i get in Malaysia, i doubt i'd be able to eat my way through Italy because of the scarcity of halal meat & the abundance of wine in their food. I can't say for sure, but who knows if one day i'll break down that barrier just to savour the cultural experience....only for food though! In Italy, of course i'd have to see Rome and all the famous landmarks like the colosseum, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But what i really want to do in Italy is spend my time in Venice...oooohhh... People say Paris is the most romantic place in the world, but for me, its Venice. You see, i like water. It's cleansing, relaxing. Nothing can beat a slow sunset spent cuddling in s gondola, gliding below the bridges & passing by beautiful buildings through the city's elaborate waterways. Of course, to dine by the sea would be luxurious.

7. Australia
Yet another destination i don't feel ready to go to yet. 3 words : Great Barrier Reef. I'll need my scuba licence for that and i don't have one! Snorkelling just don't cut it in a place like that. My mum promised me my scuba licensce if i pass my MBBS. I can't afford it myself. Maybe later in life i'll upgrade my depth, but for now, i need the basic stuff. Also in Aussie, it's the wildlife that attracts me. Sharks & marsupials...if i'm not mistaken, marsupials are indigenous and almost exclusively found in Aussie. I also wanna see a kiwi bird!! The outback? Maybe. I hear there is a restaurant that serves all kinds of wild meat..again comes the issue of halal-ness.

8. New Zealand
Again a story from my childhood. I remember going through my grandma's drawers in PJ and i found this bar of soap that says Rotorua. It was so pretty & colourful, and she told me it was made from volcanic mud and it was the different minerals in the mud that gives it the different colours. So i wanted to see it someday. I heard of Rotorua again in Form 3 Geography, and the mention of fiords/fjords that make for wonderful views. And who can forget the beautiful locations from Lord of The Rings?

9. USA
Everywhere! New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Florida, Disneyland, Yosemite, Washington, Arizona, San Francisco...maybe literally just to drive through the States. This is perhaps the most obvious influence of TV but who cares. I wanna go to the museums : the Smithsonian, the museum of natural history, the museum of crime & punishment...damn, why can't i remember my other destinations? NASA, hell maybe even the CDC in Atlanta, and the FBI headquarters, just to see the real thing instead of just those on tv....maybe even a ski resort. Somehow the possible destinations are endless. Hopefully if my aunt is still living there i can bunk in & save on accommodation a few days...i think she's in San Diego, i'm not sure...I have another aunt somewhere, maybe i'll go find out.

10. Amsterdam
This is obvious : i wanna wake up on the street one morning with a stripper & next to someone else's vomit. Haha! It's no secret that i wanna smoke weed. Over here, its illegal...but not in Amsterdam. The misconception about weed is that it is addictive like heroin...it's not. Cigarettes are more addictive and more dangerous to health. If one get's hooked to weed, its more a psychological need than physical dependence (which commonly happens with heroin). And so far there is no 'marijuana overdose'. So yeah, its an educated decision. Of course there are other things to Holland/Amsterdam/Netherlands, like tulip plantations, windmills, wooden shoes and the dykes...you know the story, about the boy who stuck his finger in the hole of the dyke, saving the city from inevitable flooding...overnight, his finger froze...i don't know what happened after that

Wow...10, and i'm not even done! I barely cracked Europe and haven't even touched Asia & South America....Oh well, i guess i'll save it for next time. In the mean time, i'll keep on dreaming. Toodles!