Infinite Love with Kate
Infinite Love with Kate
S4: Ep: 59 "Magic and Mishaps: Southeast Asia Unveiled"
Ever wondered how a broken suitcase or a spicy ramen meal could lead to personal growth and unforgettable memories? Join me on a solo travel adventure through Southeast Asia, where the magic of Phuket, Thailand, and the unexpected challenges in Singapore paint a vivid picture of the highs and lows of traveling alone. From navigating language barriers with the help of a kind stranger to the frustration of a bedridden night, this episode encapsulates the messy, beautiful dance of life as it unfolds in unfamiliar territories.
As the journey continues, I dive into the stark societal contrasts between Singapore's strict regulations and the initial travel woes in Bali—think missing baggage and language barriers. Yet, amidst these challenges, I find profound moments of relief and gratitude, especially when finally meeting my driver in Bali. Wrapping up the chapter with heartfelt reflections, I express thanks to everyone sharing this journey with me and highlight the personal growth and healing experienced along the way. From the serene backdrop of Bali, I sign off with love and appreciation, eager for the adventures that lie ahead.
Welcome back to another episode of Infinite Love on the Go. If you've been following me along this far, you know that I took a journey of a lifetime across the world to Southeast Asia Another solo trip in the books. Loving, enjoying my self-healing journey. Loving, enjoying, embracing the unknown, allowing the world to take me wherever it wants to lead me into the dance of life. So here I am. First stop was Phuket, thailand, a magical, magical eight days to then hop over to Singapore, which did not turn out the way anyone would imagine. I arrive suitcase is broken, which this has happened to me before. Last year, same time, I arrived in Madrid for my first solo trip ever and my suitcase was busted. Now, I was all over the place last year, my first solo trip, so I already had a little bit of anxiety there. I'm in a country that does not speak the language I do and this airport is massive, so you can only imagine what I was going through silently. Oh, and on top of it, my flight was switched so I left earlier rather than later, which then meant that I would be up majority of my flight to Madrid, which means I was running on zero sleep. But I got through it. It was an amazing journey. My first solo trip to Madrid and Greece was spectacular. So, one year later, I am now successful in Thailand.
Speaker 1:So I jump over to Singapore to discover that my suitcase the wheel had been busted off. Now I'm dragging this thing around and luckily there was a beautiful, beautiful soul that led me straight to where I needed to go. The language barrier was there, but it was okay. I thought, oh, what a savior right there waiting for me. So I go to talk about my suitcase and file a claim. And unfortunately the success of help was not there. She had no answers for me, she had no empathy for me and basically told me to just drag my suitcase to my hotel and go from there to figure out how to file a claim and get reimbursed. And I just looked at her like I'm supposed to drag this thing, okay. So I took that deep breath because again, I could have lost it. I could have been sad, I could have said this is it. This is going to be the worst, but it's just a suitcase, it will be replaced. And I found my way to a taxi, got my ride to the hotel and I could already feel the switch of energy. I don't know if you've ever been somewhere where you don't quite connect or align with the energy, and I will say this was the place. Now, mind you, I know I'm coming off of a bad moment with my broken suitcase, so I did not hold that into perspective, I did not carry that with me, I was just intuitively feeling something was off.
Speaker 1:So I check in and unfortunately I still had to wait an hour and I thought, okay, well, let me ask them where, the nearest places, I could purchase a suitcase. Well, I was lucky because Singapore literally has a shopping center, slash mall, around every corner. I wish I was joking, but I'm not. My hotel literally had a shopping center, a mini mall within itself. But then if you walk outside my hotel, walk about, I would say, about 500 feet to the corner and turn, there's another mall, eight floors, ginormous, whole different world. When you enter it it was surreal. But I didn't even notice that part yet. I had crossed the street, like the young gentleman had told me, and just happened to walk right past and saw suitcases for sale. I checked them out, grabbed one I saw that I liked, thinking it was only a singular suitcase Dragged it back to the hotel, sat there inside the AC lobby because by now it is sweltering with heat and humidity.
Speaker 1:So I get up to my room, my bed looks amazing and I still need to go grab something to eat. So I take a walk. I take a walk and I walked around the other way of my hotel because I was a little hesitant, because my phone reception wasn't working quite the way it was in Thailand and there was nothing worse than losing your GPS in a new city. So I stuck to the vicinity of my hotel just for day one. I found a nice restaurant, said ooh, ramen noodles, I want to try it. Restaurant was beautiful, the people were amazing. However, the ramen noodles were beyond the spiciest food I'd ever eaten in my life. It was so spicy my entire mouth went numb, I couldn't feel my lips and I knew right then. And there my intuition went off and said this isn't right, at least for me. I like spice, I can handle a lot of heat, but when your body goes numb, no. So I took a couple more bites and that was it. I mean, this meal was huge and I just begged her for another Coke and I, up and left, felt fine, went, got to the hotel room, showered, unpacked everything and went to bed early because I was just exhausted from all the traveling.
Speaker 1:And I got up the next morning, probably about 4.30, just violently ill, cramping, nausea, heartburn. I knew, I knew what it was. It wasn't food poisoning, but it was rather like my stomach just was on fire. It had a hole in there. Basically I killed it with the ramen noodles. I couldn't even think about eating. I couldn't even fathom the thought. I didn't even desire food, period.
Speaker 1:And I still have a hard time. It's been a couple days but I chose to lay in bed. I said you know what? I cannot walk around like this. I question life right now. I question moving away from my bed, away from the comforts of my hotel room, away from the comforts of a bathroom. And I was okay with it, I wasn't sad, I wasn't all boo-hoo. So I laid there. I slept a lot and if I wasn't sleeping I was just up. I went downstairs.
Speaker 1:The other beautiful thing about Southeast Asia is around every corner. The other beautiful thing about Southeast Asia is around every corner, even feet away, is a 7-Eleven or a Quick Mart. So I bought myself some medicine, I bought myself a ton of ginger ale and several bottles of water and there I went back up to my room and that was the extent of how far I went that day. And for the next two days I laid in bed and finally on day three I had some fruit and a. For the next two days I laid in bed and finally on day three I had some fruit and a croissant, some bread, and I was better. I wasn't 100 but I was at least up, showered, moving, but back in bed and I figured, okay, well, I only have one day left in Singapore.
Speaker 1:It was a quick stay, but I figured I am feeling better, let's just get up and try a couple excursions, or at least one to at least see Singapore. So I didn't come here for nothing and so I signed up for like a morning tour. I did one of those silly tourist bus travels only because I didn't have to do a lot of walking, just in case, and with the heat I didn't know to do a lot of walking, just in case, and with the heat I didn't know. It was the best thing ever, because our guide was hilarious, he was just so kind. They picked me up from my hotel room, I was able to see a majority of Singapore, and what I didn't see I was able to visualize. Therefore, I could set up other things to do later that day. So it gave me like a map of what I wanted to do for the rest of the trip. Perfect, exactly what I needed. So there I did.
Speaker 1:I got back from the tour, got upstairs, did a quick shower, grabbed a very quick, simple bite to eat. When I say simple, I mean I ordered a bagel and a croissant from Starbucks. That was the extent of my breakfast and my lunch and my dinner and I had a cup of coffee and that felt good. So we were on roll here, I was going places and I was leveling it up and about to just embark on the next craziest part of my journey, which was going to the Gardens by the Bay. The most amazing experience I could have ever been in Singapore was going to the Marina Bay and seeing the cloud, forests and all the lights, the water, the Dragonfly Bridge. Everything was just stunning the flowers, the orchids. I did so many steps in such little time. I don't know who I thought I was, but I put on my superwoman cape and did it and loved every part of it. So finally, I was walking my way back and I was losing reception. Like I said, my phone was just not working that well in Singapore.
Speaker 1:So I traveled back to where I was and from there I got a taxi and said you know, I still had like another hour and a half. I really wanted to see the light show. However, another hour and a half I hadn't even been out all day. I was sweating from head to toe because it was really humid and I had to just reevaluate and reassess and ask myself is it worth it? Is it worth seeing the lights? What if you go back to the hotel shower again and then you might feel a little bit more energized and you could probably walk to one of the spots to see the light show.
Speaker 1:And so when I got back, the guys at the hotel were like, how was it? I'm like great, but I really would like to see the light show. And so when I got back, the guys at the hotel were like, how was it? I'm like great, but I really would like to see the light show. Where's the best way I could walk? And they all looked at me like I don't know if you want to walk, it's gonna be like a 25 minute walk. Now, when I took the tour, the bus tour, it didn't feel like it would have been a 25 minute walk, but I will listen to them. So they're like you could take a taxi.
Speaker 1:And then it kind of dawned on me I was like, well, what if my phone doesn't work? I'm like it's fine to get a taxi out because I can utilize the hotel's wi-fi, but you're not always in the right spot to utilize wi-fi. So, and I have the global package, but for some reason singapore is just not working with me the way Thailand was. So I didn't want to risk being stuck somewhere and then trying to navigate at night alone in the dark, so I chose to just skip the light show. I figure, well, I'm already getting up really early to go to the airport, to see the waterfall at what they call the Jewel of Shanghai Airport, and so I pack and I get ready and I just lay low, I go to bed and of course, the one night the one night I am always in bed early, and this is the night I don't want to sleep like a kid on Christmas.
Speaker 1:Anyways, fast forward and now I'm at the airport. I thought I left my wallet in the cab and I'm panicking as I'm watching the cab go away. But then I took a deep breath. I realized it's all right there. I just zipped it up. It, you know, tucked itself away. So all is well.
Speaker 1:I'm at the airport at the fuck crack of dawn, before sunrise. My flight's not until 1115, but I wanted to check out this waterfall. I get to the waterfall and guess what? It's closed until 11 o'clock in the morning. I won't see it. I'll be on my flight.
Speaker 1:So what do I do at seven in the morning when I have so many, so many hours to kill? Well, I go rough around. This airport is huge and can I tell you, I have been to several amazing airports flying out this way. I don't ever want to go back to O'Hare Airport in Chicago. That is just no America. What are we doing wrong? Why are we not doing things right? Because other countries are doing it beyond right, successful, and yet we are not. So don't even get me started. I don't even want to talk about my experience when I get back and I'm just not even going to think about it. Oof, it's gone, anyways.
Speaker 1:So I frolic, as I always do. I make the most of it. I grab myself a coffee, a couple croissants, because I'm still not 100% yet, people. So I'm still living off the bread and it's working for me. So why change something that's working? And all of a sudden, I see a butterfly garden exhibit, and where? Oh, it's? In my terminal. How lucky am I.
Speaker 1:So I'm scouring the lands of this airport and I find it. And I spent an hour and a half in this beautiful but tiny butterfly exhibit, watching butterflies all over, saw them landed on me, taking a million pictures, feeling like a little kid. This place was my zen the lush forestry, the beautiful flowers, the orchids, and then these gorgeous butterflies, over 30 different species. And I'm just sitting in here in gratitude. Yes, I was sick for most of Singapore, but I don't look at it as I missed out. I look at it like universe saved my energy for something better, something greater. I didn't align to Singapore's energy.
Speaker 1:It is not because the country isn't beautiful, but I think when I was taking the tour, I learned that 80% of the country is owned and run by the government, which tells you something. In the section I was staying they call it the central section the guide was telling me that majority of the migrant workers that come there to work. They work six out of the seven days a week, all stay in central area, so obviously they save their money because it is extremely expensive in Singapore Extremely. Yes, it's a beautiful country. Yes, they do a lot of great things with their rules and their laws no littering, no chewing gum. They recycle and utilize the landfills into something beautiful by compacting everything, destroying the pollution through air and filtering it and then exposing it. Therefore, every piece of their land is utilized beautifully, remarkably, however expensively for the tourists, for the sake of money for government.
Speaker 1:I learned I mean when I say strict. You're not allowed to come, you will be fined or arrested. You are not allowed to hassle or harass others in regards to heckling them, so, so if you want someone to purchase something, you're not allowed to go at them and say purchase, buy, buy this, buy this. You will be fine and jailed. It's crazy and it made sense then because you're either elite or you're nothing and that's the energy I could feel and I definitely don't align to that, because all are equal and I already come from a country that focuses on the green and I, as much as I love our democracy of being free.
Speaker 1:Are we free in America? Are we that free, that we have to live by these standards that are constantly changing, and we're always supporting and protecting the higher class at the expense of the middle and low class. So you're always being divided by money, by race, by religion. There's always a division and it's not okay. Always a division and it's not okay. The world is falling apart before our very own eyes and the only way we can change that is if we truly make changes within our own selves. But in order to do that, you can't change anybody else if you can't or are not willing to change for yourself. So that's where the world has to do the work, by stopping the finger being pointed outwardly and point the finger inwardly.
Speaker 1:Anyways, that could be a whole different topic and I don't want to go off topic because the experience of Singapore. I am grateful that I got the opportunity to go. I'm grateful that Universe blessed me with my illness, kept me indoors, kept my energy safe, protected, was still able to rally it up and still able to see the beauties of Singapore. When it has the offer, the gardens, the flowers. You can obviously tell that I'm very earthy. I love that side of the world that brings beautiful energy and light, the waters, being surrounded by the ocean, was perfect, so I got all my elements in my grounding earth wind, fire, water. So I'm at the airport enjoying my day, finally get boarded on my flight really quick flight and here I am in Bali, indonesia, and just from flying, in, the clear waters, the gorgeousness, the energy changed already and I was brought well here. I'm not even going to tell you I was brought to the hotel First. Universe had a test for me and it was a beautiful test.
Speaker 1:One another airport that is ginormous and amazing and centered around everything anybody could need or use Very homey feeling to it. And then there's also the very business-y side Currency exchange everywhere. I was able to walk through all security. I never got stamped, so this might backfire when I leave. However, I stopped at every security officer and asked for directions or guidelines, but I did everything I was supposed to online, which helped, but it sent me to different lines, which I think is kind of what bypassed me from getting stamped, and hopefully universe has my back on that one and I'm okay when I leave.
Speaker 1:But I was waiting at my baggage and I'm waiting, and I'm waiting, and I'm waiting. Now, you know already what I experienced in Singapore. So now I'm trying to remember because I forgot what color the bag was I bought because I haven't really stared at it long enough yet, you know, it hasn't been broken in yet. So I'm waiting and waiting, and waiting, and I am the last one standing there and obviously I want to go in the panic mode, right, and I'm like deep breath, kate, get it together. So I go over to the baggage area and I ask staff, I'm like help me. Now, yes, there was a little bit of a language barrier. But I said, you know, pointed, I said baggage, my baggage is gone. So he brought me over to the next terminal and he pointed, he's like is this one of yours? And I look and there it is, my bag. And it was just accidentally placed in the wrong section, thank the Lord. So my bag was in one piece and I wheeled my way out Very long walk. I'm pretty sure I got like 50,000 steps in just trying to exit.
Speaker 1:Now I'm trying to find my driver because I this part of my trip was set up through my travel agent. Big shout out to Markeisha. And they redirect me. The taxi people redirect me and they're like they're over there. Now I'm walking and when I say, universe said alright, buckle in, you're about to be tested. I'm walking and walking.
Speaker 1:Now it's sunny out, right, I left when it was dark out, now it's sunny and the sun to my eyes. I don't have my sunglasses on and all of a sudden I just see a school of people holding signs not big signs, now, if I do, I'm a little nervous so I can barely see well and everybody's holding a sign. And I'm forced to find my name in the sea of all those names. And I'm going to tell you there was probably about at least 30 to 40 different people there picking up their peoples. So I just started shouting hey, anyone from, go away. That's all I could think of, because I didn't have time to see every single name that was posted. So I'm like go away, go away.
Speaker 1:And then obviously there was some language barrier. So finally I pull up my my pdf on my phone and I'm showing some guy. I'm like do you know or have you seen this? And the guy was like yeah, and he points down that way. And so then I go halfway down. I'm like, all right, well, he didn't tell me where.
Speaker 1:So I finally hold my phone and I go away and the guy was like kathleen. I'm like, oh, thank god, that's me, that's me, I'm kathleen, and this beautiful man I'm on, oh, come on holding up my sign. He's like meet me over there. And he's so sweet. He's like come with me. And then he's like I am going to be your tour guide for the whole week. It's just me and you. I'm like, oh, great. And he's like let's go find our driver. He's like it, let's go find a driver. He's like it's going to be us three, awesome. So we get in the car. It's about a 20-minute drive, and he's just basically telling me a little bit of that, a little bit of this. And he's basically telling me I'm in luck because it's just me for the week and we could see whatever I wanted to see.
Speaker 1:I can add more things to my trip. I can add more things to my trip. It's all taken care of, no worries. And I just thought you are just the sweetest soul ever and I feel like a goddess warrior, like I am the queen of the castle and I just arrived. The treatment was just beyond.
Speaker 1:So they dropped me off and now I'm in this beautiful hotel and I mean beautiful, I walk in. It's all within security, so you can't even enter without being checked in and all you see is this gorgeous long pool all the way down, straight down. And I check in, I go to my hotel room and I open up the door and there is my own little entrance to the pool, like my own private section of the pool, and I just looked at myself in the mirror like who are you? I never in my life get this lucky when it comes and I'm not even going to say that it's needed or necessary or desired, but it's like wow, I don't expect it. Therefore it comes. I didn't expect a room to be this upscale, but I appreciate it, I'm grateful for it. Like this is such an amazing experience. I am floored, I, I just it's. I feel blessed and I feel loved and lucky and grateful. All I can say is grateful, grateful, grateful.
Speaker 1:So I get my stuff together, I unpack, I reassess my life because I'm tired. You know it's been a long day. I mean I was off very early and I do want to kind of walk around to kind of gather what's where, and it's a little bit different, a little bit faster pace and there's a lot more people here than thailand, so I have to be very weary. So I asked the lady where's the beach, where's the ocean? She said it's right over there, just take the street down. Well, this street is more like an alley, but there's still a lot of cars that come through and there's a lot of more people that kind of heckle you to say buy this, buy that. Um, but I did find out later that it is safe, because I wanted to know if I could walk this way to see a sunrise. And he said you know, bali is one of the safest countries. I said okay, I'm gonna take your word for that, but it's a little bit further of a walk, it's not, you know? Straight across the street they said all right, well, maybe I'll do that, because that's my thing is. I love a good sunrise and a good sunset. But here I am. It's already been day two and I'm yawning Because today was such a beautiful day.
Speaker 1:I was out all day, all night and I got to experience the temples, take pictures with the monkeys, enjoy some good coffee and tea at this beautiful plantation, see some rice fields, go to a fruit market and try all the vast majorities of fruits they have for free, because the mod is great. And he just he said stay close to me, don't let anyone tell you to buy anything. We've got this. So, okay, sure, you are going to be my bodyguard and I will just graciously stand here and follow suit. But everything was success and tomorrow's supposed to be my day off and he said let's go. What would you like to do? I said I would really like to hang out at the beaches and possibly go snorkeling, but I don't want all that tourist crowd crazy. So if it's crazy, we don't have to do it. He said no, I got you and so he's got me.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be doing something again tomorrow. I'm excited and this journey is exciting and I know it's not coming to an end just yet. But this is the final leg of my journey and I thank you all for joining me in my experiences and walking through life through this, healing this, through all these blessings. So thank you. From bali, indonesia. This is kate on infinite love. Have a great night.