Rodney Ee - My Name is Not Konnichiwa: The Misadventures of a globe trotting Singaporean

RODNEY EE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY HERV COTTON

Copyright 2013 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited

Illustrations by Herv Cotton

Published in 2013 by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196

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National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

Ee, Rodney.
My name is not Konnichiwa! / Rodney Ee. Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2013.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978 981 4484 57 2

1. Ee, Rodney Travel. 2. Voyages and travels. I. Title.

G149
910 dc23 OCN828156103

Printed in Singapore by Times Printers

I wish to thank the following people. Without their contributions and support, this book would not have been possible.

My family, who are and will always be dear to me special mention to my mum and my aunt Evelyn for reviewing the preliminary drafts of the book.

Julie, for helping me to crystallise my thoughts and correct my improper Engrish!

Herv, for the wonderful illustrations that are dotted throughout the book.

Lynelle, for linking me up with the publisher.

Melvin, Stephanie, and the team from Marshall Cavendish, for giving local writers like me a chance.

And finally, Michelle, the love of my life. Thanks for putting up with my travel bug and giving in to my need to visit exotic places and do crazy things!

I love travelling.

I love going to new places, experiencing different cultures, taking lots of pictures and trying different food. In this sense, perhaps you and I are very much alike.

But, Im not just a traveller Im a travel addict.

As soon as I return from a vacation, Im already planning for the next one to satisfy my wanderlust. I read about and research so extensively on potential travel locations that I sometimes know more about a countrys attractions than its citizens themselves, even before I have set foot there! My travel library is so extensive that I have guidebooks covering a host of countries on all seven continents (yes, even Antarctica!). Will I ever get to visit all of them within my lifetime? Only God knows that answer.

Several years ago, I decided to write about my experiences on a travel blog so I would always remember the highlights of my journeys. The idea of putting together a book from these blog entries gradually crept into my mind.

Each trip was unique in its own way from the people I had met, to the places I had stayed in and the landscapes I had seen, to the activities I had done and the way my senses were constantly being surrounded by the new and unfamiliar. While navigating this diversity sometimes requires temporary suspension of what we personally define as sanity, I have, for the most part, truly enjoyed these experiences.

As I became a more seasoned traveller, I began to yearn for more exotic travel experiences, and this yearning led me to places further away from my comfort zone. Earlier in my career, my work in the aviation and air cargo industry also brought me to many new and unfamiliar cities. Each time, I found the experiences more exciting and perhaps even more harrowing, but almost always, more hilarious.

Whether it was getting lost in translation, being caught between a rock and a hard place or braving sub-zero temperatures, I always found reasons to look back on all these trips with a big smile and a chuckle.

This book is a selection of notes on my most engaging and memorable experiences in the last ten years or so. Be they good or bad, my adventures have been one hell of a rollercoaster ride, and Im still hanging on for dear life and screaming at the top of my lungs!

The last time I checked my birth certificate, my name was still clearly stated as Rodney Ee, first son of Lionel Ee and Irene Chua. I was born and raised in Singapore, an island nation located at the confluence of the South China Sea and the Malacca Straits; a country also affectionately known as the Little Red Dot or Where in China is That?

If you trace my lineage through my last name, you would probably end up in a village somewhere in the Fujian province of China. But even though my ancestry is Chinese, my cultural identity is a hotchpotch of influences that include Malay, Indian and Western lifestyles, all mixed up like a flavourful blend of exotic spices.

At last count, I have travelled to 44 countries, a paltry number when you consider the exploits of a certain gentleman named Kashi Sammadar who travelled to all 194 countries of the world in a record time of six years, ten months and seven days; or a certain Matthew Harding, who despite being born with two left feet has managed to get thousands of beautiful women in almost every country in the world to dance with him and get paid for it in the process!

Each time I visit a country, I always return feeling more humbled than before. Humbled at being just one out of seven billion other people on this incredible planet; humbled at its vast expanse and the diversity of its people and landscapes; humbled at the ease with which cultural barriers can be brought down with a simple smile, and immensely grateful for the many friends that I have made all over the world.

Travel around the globe has never been easier, and there is so much available information on virtually every country in the world on the internet and from travel channels on TV. With the advent of smartphones, this information has even moved from our desktops to our fingertips. And with satellite technology and map applications, getting from point A to point B is now a breeze, so long as you are not using Apple Maps to get to Mildura in northwestern Victoria.

In spite of all this readily-available knowledge about the world we live in, there are many people who still dont seem to know where Singaporeans are from. Despite holding the record for the worlds largest cupcake mosaic and producing a onetime world record holder for SMS texting, many of us are still mistaken for other nationalities. Perhaps it is because we are such a tiny island devoid of any natural wonders, or because we dont have a renowned beauty such as Aishwarya Rai or a football team that ever qualifies for the World Cup?