Why Even? [Travel]

I never caught the travel bug, which I'm sure is a travesty when I’m finally adulting in the free world, and at a time when travelling is an affordable and common pastime for people my age.

Nevertheless, I am fortunate enough to have friends who drag me out every once in a while to some non-airconditioned adventure that would yield lots of opportunities to take photos of them taking photos of our trip. Last month, it was to Teluk Intan, Perak, Malaysia, for a day trip that would only last about 8 hours, transportation and milling about included.

Teluk Intan (“Diamond Bay”) is a small town in Perak most known for its own version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Subtly tilted to the left, the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan was also known as the Clock Tower, as its primary function was to tell the time with its large clock-face on top. It’s now just an official national monument and tourist attraction.

I wasn’t as awe-inspired as I thought I’d be, disappointed as I was that I couldn’t even see where the lean was, no matter how far from the building I stood. I consoled myself with my angled photos, however, because lean or no, the structure is beautiful – a Chinese-influenced pagoda that on the outside looks like it’s 8 storeys high but really only has 3 floors.

In the old days, the tower was also used to store water for the locals in case of fire. It is said that the building leans because the soft ground it was built upon couldn’t hold the weight of the stored water.

In the middle is a well with surprisingly clear water, which I doubt serves a function now other than being the dumping ground of legal tender and also an Incredible Hulk action figure (I can’t be accused of not being interested in history when all I could think of looking at that green Lego-looking toy floating face-down was whether it was an accident, who the owner was, and whether there were tears on their way home).

The well inside the clock tower. Look closely to see Hulk.

The Perak River can be seen from inside the tower, and in fact, it used to function as a lighthouse to guide ships to the port. We tried the mee rebus – steamed noodles in thick, spicy-sweet tomato sauce and topped with curd soya bean, and fried onion and potato fritters.

The river bank. Man taking selfie.

Mee rebus at the popular Abdullah Mastan Ghani restaurant with its own family recipe.

We noticed that they don’t keep regular hours – many places, restaurants mostly, close shop at 1pm and open again at 5pm, and yet others are done for the day by 5pm.

Friendly old men at a local barber shop.

A church and a mosque right next to each other.

Candid shot of me and Angelique taken by Chukwudi, moments after I took the photo of green door above.

I had a great time, because I went with friends who are more seasoned travelers than I am, who seem to have a genuine interest in going to a new place and learning about its people and culture (read Angelique's blog post about the same trip here). But meanwhile, I’m just as happy to do this from the comfort of indoors and an internet connection.

Do I so lack culture? Am I so close-minded, so basic, and do I not have appreciation for different cultures and people and places? I always go through the motions of how I think traveling should be done: tourist stops, experiencing local culture, learning history, trying the food, and so on, but at best, I’m only ever excited to walk into a familiar, no-identity establishment, like a generic bookstore, and then getting a pen or stationery I can get anywhere else in the world.

"This," future me would say, "is a pen I bought from Teluk Intan, Perak, a small Malaysian town I once visited with friends in my younger days."

Alternatively, I would forever lose that pen and not have any proof that I had in fact spent many hours walking the streets of a small town in Malaysia once upon a time, and I would not have been bothered by this loss.

Perhaps with a few more travels, I will find more meaning in it.