Mosaic

So it's been confirmed. Bought my coach ticket to Penang's Sungai Nibong Terminal yesterday, then popped over to the train station to buy the ticket from Butterworth to Singapore. And so, the jump up to Penang at the end of the next week is confirmed.

Taking the train is such an uneconomical choice. It's slower and more expensive than express buses. But the KTM has something that Grassland and Konsortium won't have: the prestige of history. The only thing, I think, that is alluring about train travel nowadays in Malaysia is the impression that passengers have that it is nostalgic or stylish to take a train, that the experience of a train ride is in and of itself a desirable commodity, worth sacrificing time and money for. At any rate, I bought myself a second-class ticket (since economy tickets were all sold out). I am told that it would have been cheaper to buy the ticket from Butterworth Station rather than from Tanjong Pagar - but what the heck. I want to make sure I can come back before I leave! I'll save that tactic for a time when I am more secure in travelling alone.

Another note: Tanjong Pagar Station is really a gem. From the outside, it looks scruffy and run-down, but the interior waiting hall is grand and shockingly white, with a majestic set of stained glass windows that rivals anything I've ever seen in Singapore churches. It's something of a throwback from the colonial era, with statues that still pay homage, in their own quaint and endearing way, to Agriculture, Commerce, Transport and Industry. Arriving at that station is therefore also a plus point, in that it panders to a sense of partaking in an enriching dose of history.

Haven't booked the accommodation yet, though. Found a very promising-looking lodge near Chinatown in Georgetown, called 100 Cintra Street. Apparently it's designed by a high-flying avant-garde Malaysian architect, fitted out with furniture almost exclusively made of recycled materials. But haven't been able to contact them. Oh well - if KK was anything to go by, finding somewhere to stay the night will not be a problem. If there turns out to be no space at 100 Cintra Street (which I highly doubt), I'll just go to the next one down the street.

Been reading up about Penang, at their very helpful (and, admittedly, very enticing) tourism site, and it's exciting to read about all the colonial landmarks, religious sites, Penang Hill vistas, and, especially, all the markets. I will have to make a pilgrimage to what the site calls the mother of all used book stores, apparently just a short walk away from Cintra Street. Besides that, there are flea markets, night markets and food markets to bump into. It all sounds very, very promising. If KK, which was so small and intimate, could throw up such surprises as the Filipino Market that only appears at night, then what will Penang offer?

So, all in all, very much looking forward to this latest jump, and this break from Singapore. And, not least because I will be travelling alone. A part of me still feels that this is the best, most immersive form of travel possible, because when you're alone you have much more flexibility and autonomy, and in certain areas you definitely have less to worry about and fret over. There are few experiences as liberating as walking down the street of an unknown city, knowing that you have no obligations to anyone that you may come across, and that you have no external demands on your own time. That being said, it's not that I don't appreciate travelling in groups. Experience that is shared with another is that much sweeter. But company is best when it is offered freely, and not demanded as a matter of course, and it's the most special when my travelmates do not begrudge me if I break off myself to pursue an interesting-looking alleyway or side street, and, even better, decide to follow me for the heck of it. The trouble with that model is that, in my experience, very, very few people are looking for the same things that I look for when I go exploring.

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Spent the evening today at the Esplanade, soaking in the vibes at the Mosaic Music Festival. It has been a long, long time since I last visited the place for a performance, and definitely even longer than that since the last time I saw the place rocking with so much energy. The evening started with a quiet indie band in the foyer that played their own compositions. Then, moved out to the outdoor stage at the power substation to catch an Australian group, Angels are Architects, and their eerie, yearning sounds.

The highlight of the night, though, is definitely Imago, a band from the Philippines, with their rocking Filipino songs that whipped up the audience feverishly, jubilation jumping through Filipino supporters and other assorted observers alike. There is something about the Filipino music scene that always surprises me. I guess it's partly because they are so good musically, but they have such a low profile in Singapore. The level of technique and energy that they bring to the Esplanade clearly shows that they deserve much more recognition than they are getting.

Devoted a lot of time to photography and videography also, since Mosaic always produces scenes and scenarios that positively beg for a camera lens. And I was not the only one; Imago was being snapped from all conceivable directions, flashes erupting and photographers dashing forward to the stage, brandishing fearsome-looking SLRs at the band. Anyway, I expect that these photos will go into a new video that I'm conceiving - one last summary and love letter of Singapore before I go.