After Down Under

(turns on the TV)
(claps) (intro music)

(host walks to the front of the stage)

JS: Good evening everybody! Welcome to another night of Tonight with JS. Tonight, one of our guests is someone quite special. I am sure most of you know him. Some like him but most do not. Well, he is the blogger of http://www.risiblew.blogspot.com//. Recently it’s been very quiet in his blog. Where is this guy? What has he been doing? I am sure some fans of his blog would be curious to find out. Let’s welcome W!!!

(W walks out from behind the curtains and goes to shakes JS’ hand)

JS: Now take a seat.
W: Hey JS, thanks for inviting me. Congrats for your show for getting the most viewership everyweek. You are doing a great job, JS.

JS: Well, I must thank guests like you too.
W: Haha. Well….

JS: Yea. Now let’s start. One question that is one everyone’s mind now. Where have you been to?
W: Oh. I’ve been traveling around Australia…

JS(interrupting): Alone?
W: Nah. I was traveling with Edwin.

JS: Oooooh. Scandalous.
W: Haha. Of course it is nothing of that sort. Both of us signed up for this promotional trip by Quantas Airlines. So our tickets were cheaper. Not much. Each of us saves around $200. In the end the tickets were still quite ex coz' the airport tax there is like $200 plus, which is the most expensive in the world.

JS: (Cough) Wow. Ok. That's like daylight robbery! But how was the trip like?
W: Yea I expected you to ask that. It’s a good trip! It’s been an eye opener for me. The trip just made me feel that Singapore or rather me myself is so small on this Earth. I got to know lots of things from both the European travelers and the native people. My mind is enlightened after the trip.

JS: Wow. Sounds like I should go traveling sometime soon. Did you enjoy it?
W: Well. I do. As I have said, I have done lots of thinking during the journey. I kind of like the experience. But if you think my trip was full of luxury, 5-star hotels stay, continental breakfast, meals at high class restaurants, then you are wrong. Both of us have been scavenging for cheap eats or buffets. We rather walk 2 MRT stops just to save on the A$2.20. My life was basically like a nomad's in Australia.

JS: You mean you spend a $700 air ticket to go to Australia to live like a nomad!?! Are you out of your mind!?
W: First of all. The things there are, in Singapore context, ridiculously expensive. Say for a plate of fried rice cost like A$7.50 where as a Singaporean plate is S$3.00. You can see the huge difference here. Both of us were trying to save the money for traveling or sightseeing. Most of the food we get are from the Supermarket. Every new town we’ve been to, the first thing we will look out for it either COLES or Woolworths, the 2 highly competitive supermarts over there. The stuff can are pretty reasonable. My lunch can be a muffin and an apple and dinner would be instant noodles with a can of baked beans. Yea. That’s roughly my diet there. I slimmed down till my jeans slump down to below my hips. Now, to everyone out there, if any of you want to slim down, go backpacking in Australia.

JS: Haha. I think I should go for one too. But there’s the buffets.
W: Yea. Both of us realized we can’t survive long on merely apples and bread. So every 3 to 4 days, we’ll go for some buffet and gobble down as much food as we can. Edwin is like a nutritionist on the trip. He calculates the minerals and nutritents in the food we ate and will inform me what nutrients I lack of. Personally, I don’t mind have free consultations.

JS: Tsk. What a workaholic he is. One thing I want to ask on behalf of lots of Singaporeans out there. Did you face any racial discriminations over there?
W: Oh god no. In fact, Australia is so infested with Asians. Especially in Brisbane, every head-turn is an Asian in sight. I don’t think the locals dare to spout any racist remarks. They are surrounded by Asians! On the other hand, the natives there are friendly towards us. Maybe it’s because we are the ones fuelling their economy.

JS: Looks like Australia is becoming more like Asia. So what do you like most about Australia? I myself have been there before and I love the weather there. The air is so fresh!
W: Yup. The air here really needs purification. What I love most in Australia is the waves at the beaches. They are gigantic! It’s fascinating to me. The waves can reach as high as my height. With such waves, surfing will be fun too. It’s unlike the people surfing along East Coast Park where the most they can surf as far as 3 metres from the shore.

JS: Ha. Those people should find something better to do. W? You surf?
W: Yah? What’s wrong with that. It’s fun! Especially when you manage to stand on the board and the waves glide you. The wind blowing in your hair, as you do a pose. It’s not as easy as you see on TV. It takes a while before you know how to balance yourself on the board.

JS: Haha. I can’t imagine you surfing. You seem like a clumsy fellow.
W: You are right. I fell so many times before I could master standing on the surfboard.

JS: Being away for a long, do you actually miss home?
W: Yes a lot, especially when I was hungry most of the time. Miss the food back home. The first thing I ate when I touched down Singapore is a plate of chicken rice. Miss soccer and the people here. Singapore will always be my home. ( Starts to sing) This is home, truly. Where my senses tell me. This is where, I wouldn’t be alone…..

JS: Stop!! You ought to be considerate to the audience’s ears. I can imagine some of them changing the channels when you started singing.
W: Oh, I am sorry. I was too engrossed just now.

JS: Alright. So what’s next after this trip?
W: Well… I will find a job first I guess. I have to earn the money back and I want to go traveling again! I don’t know when will that be but I will try it again since it’s one of my dreams to travel around. Maybe Vietnam or Canada.

JS: Yup all the best to you. Thanks for coming to the show again. Everybody! W!
W: Thank you.
(both shake hands and the show goes into a break)

-doubleU