Senegal Teranga

Greetings from dusty, vibrant, ever-lively Dakar, Senegal. I am here on a 4-month semester abroad as a third year student from Soka University of America, under the Development Studies program offered by CIEE. Currently, I am sitting with DEET on my ankles and my 5 year old host sister leaning on my left arm. The dining room space is occupied by my host father and two other siblings, and the never-absent background noise of the television set. My sweat trickles down my temples and evaporates at the slope of my newly-tanned shoulders, beads pooling at the little crevices of my joints. As I type silently on my laptop under the harsh glare of the fluorescent ceiling light, I am reminded of any other day of the week I have experienced so far.

Before I jumped right into this turn-table journey, I made a few promises and objectives to myself. Of course I see this experience to be more than a timeline of achievements and "realizations" set in stone, but to deny that I chose this path without a sense of eventual "achievements" would be a denial of the self. With that said, I wish to document my stay here in Senegal at least once per week. Plainly aesthetically speaking, it would be a personal (and if you my readers find it somewhat useful, then otherwise) photo journal of the places I visited, the people I came to know, memories I've made, and the things I've come to love. I acknowledge that I speak from a fresh slate, not knowing the place and time and changes and wide history of the African continent, not more than that diaspora literature piece I read in class. Hence, I would like to express any apologies for any ignorance my posts may display, as far as interpretation goes. Please bring to light any insinuating instances, and I will do my best to achieve the woke-ness I should possess, the humility I should come to learn. As a work in progress, walking into a brick wall head on is only a natural phenomenon.

Until then, toodles as I continue to shift through my photos!

Kuala Kubu Bharu

Just days after my touchdown in Kuala Lumpur, my parents spontaneously decided to bring the fam out on a day trip to Kuala Kubu Bharu. This small town in Northern Selangor is known for a few eateries, its quaint main square (go google it), the flooding tragedy (interesting rumour behind its cause), rumoured (?) communist guerilla hideouts, and the Chiling waterfall. About 100 minutes after leaving Subang, we reached this sleepy little place after a steady wind up the hill. 

First off the list was lunch at Restoran Nine Thy Eight 98 海鲜饭店 . We went in with zero knowledge on what to order, so we had to solely rely on the waitress' recommendations. Going off what she said, we ended up having stir-fried long beans with salted egg, porridge with crab, smoked chicken, and tapioca leaves. Maybe I was too eager to savour all the Malaysian food I can get my hands on, but the meal was actually pretty good. Original flavours were very much present in each dish, playing off savoury palettes. I do not clearly recall the porridge dish, but the both the salted egg stir-fry and smoked chicken still stand out.

We then went in search of Sungai Chiling. Somehow, we missed the signs (I attribute it to poor visibility due to the rain) and ended up at the entry point to Fraser's Hill. On the way back, we took a quick stop at the Sungai Selangor Dam.

Whill waiting for the baked goods to be ready, we went to Kedai Makanan Hailam Sun Sun Nam Cheong. This restaurant is a staple in all documented guides to KKB. I would not refute it nor vocally back the crowd consensus, as my Hailam food exposure is minimal.

Post-tea, we went (rather, my mom) to collect the kaya puffs and butter cakes my mother ordered earlier. Much to her dismay, she ordered butter cakes instead of the butter sponge ones. I have to say that neither were amazingly delish. The kaya puffs just had good flaky pastry and the cakes had a nice butter aroma. 

'Till the next post!

I went to L.A.

The Fall of last year, I had the wonderful to participate in a learning cluster that gave me a good glance around L.A.. Learning clusters are part of the undergraduate curriculum at SUA, where the first and second years have to participate in, as part of establishing a deeper understanding of subject matters of our concerns and interests. One of my professors offered a learning cluster entitled "What is a city? What is L.A.?", which looks closely at L.A. in the study of urban life, cities, and planning. My professor, who is a L.A. native, whipped up an intense syllabus and planned out a "treasure hunt" for us to see the our syllabus come to life in L.A.

To instil some sense to this otherwise disheveled series of photographs taken throughout our helter-skeltered hunt, I have arranged the photos by day, and accompanied them with crude descriptions. Voila:

PS: We compiled our findings and bits of our tour, and created a write up to wrap up our cluster. Now, we have a PDF of our magazine, which may act as a book of LA treasure sites. Please email me if you are interested in our little pride and glory!

Day 1

Sites: LA Union Station, Olvera Street (not pictured), Chinatown, Bunker Hill, Bradbury Building, Central Market (np), Grand Park (np), LA Public Library (np), Pershing Square (np), Angel's Flight (np), and The Last Bookstore (np, book heaven). 

General themes: Rainy LA, wet sandals, lost & confused tourists, and food-happy people.

Day 2
Sites: Mariacha Plaza (Boyle Heights area), Little Tokyo (np), Kyoto Gardens (np, on top of DoubleTree by Hilton), Skid Row (np), Arts District (np) and Urth & Zinc & Blue Bottle Co. (np).

General themes: Ominous skies, the gentrification experience, SoCal homelessness, train commute close-shaves, and hipsters galore.

Day 3

Sites: Playa Vista (np), Baldwin Hills, Augustus F. Hawkins Nature Park, South LA farm (np), La Mercado La Paloma, University of Southern California (np), and Exposition Park.

General themes: Sunny, warm, beautiful men, rekindling relationships between nature & humanity, South Los Angeles, coincidental meetings, and getting lost & confused again.

Day 4

Sites: Santa Monica, Tongva Park, Venice, Global Green (np), the LA river (np), and our professor's house.

General themes: Bike-friendly communities, sweaty t-shirts (courtesy of biking), urban planning and consulting, salty air, food porn, trying not to get hit by cars, Santa Monica night life, quirky inhabitants of Venice (old, toned guy in speedos), and excitement (not related to speedos).

Day 5
Sites: Miracle Mile (LACMA, La Brea Tar Pits, etc.), Original Farmer's Market, The Grove, Hollywood, Koreatown, and City Hall.

General themes: Jakun-ness, chasing bus lines, food porn, un-glamourous Hollywood, rip-offs, sustainable development, Mayor Garcetti, and extreme satisfaction.

*All photos are taken by and owned by me. Please do not use without permission.*